Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Hi Scott,

Maybe a few more pics of the mounting would help as there may be a few options .

It seens as it is mounted to one side and not utilizing the full travel of the cros slide or maybe not designed for this machine .

I would think that you would want it to center up at about half way of your cross slide travel so you have equal travel on both sides .

You could maybe make a spreader plate to mount it up so the mounting bolts arer away from the cross feed nut etc .

Ian

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies and ideas .

My machine isn't (unfortunately ) the most rigid unit and parting off is usually an adventure using the front tool posts even with a Glanze type tool .

The problem is how the compound slide / toolpost unit mounts to the topslide as i can see it flexing as i f eed in and it has a safety clutch on low gear that seems to want to add to my grief !

I made a rear mount and it gets me by but plans are afoot to remedy this issue - keeps getting put on the back burner until i get time !

Thanks to Rob C , John F and Jim Cahill for the links they have been a most useful source of info and i never knew there were so many videos on machining

I have down loaded the info on vee pulleys in the links from John F and filed them away for future reference as i did do a search on vee pulley / belt dimensions and seemed to get little of use from it as it seemed that most of the sites were trying to sell belts or pulleys - Might try a different search engine !

From what i can gather here i think a form tool would be faster and give more consistent results pulley to pulley provided the lathe can handle it .

I think for my machine (until i fix the toolpost anyway) i will stick with the method in the you tube video and as i have a few pulleys to make it would seem wise to make a stepped mandrel to fit the various bore sizes of these pulleys and machine them in one lot .

Once again thank you to all who took the time to answer this thread as you have made the procedure of this machining operation much clearer .

I 'm off to trawl you tube for more videos on machining /model engineering - cold beer in hand of course !

Ian

H i all ,

I need to make some pulleys for some lathe and T&C projects and did the usual search on this site but got a big fat 0.

The pulleys are for sub horse power belts that are 10mm width across the outer dia and are about 8mm deep - the pulleys will be made from alluminium.

One thing i have never done is make a vee pulley as i usually use belts with a round cross section cut and glued together to form a belt .

I was thinking that if i first use a parting tool to cut down to the root dia + some clearance  (say 2-3mm)for the bottom so the belt rides on the vee sides then set up a small tool steel bit in the tool post and use the compound slide to machine the angle on each side of this groove .

I can set the compound slide angle accurately enough and was thinking that if i lock the saddle and use the the cross slide to feed in each cut until i get to the required width and note its total travel using the cross slide dial or lock the cross slide and use the saddle with a dial indicator set up to show its total travel so i can gauge the amount of metal removed from each side of the vee and hopefully they will be identical.

Any ideas ,links ,thoughts and hypothesis are welcome !

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 04/04/2013 06:25:46

Hi Becky,

I have had no probs using an andriod o/s to view the magazine but an i pad may be different or need an app to view it .

If you are logged in the the info pane on the left of the home page will show your user name and a list of links .

if not then you need to sort out why you are not logged in.

If you're logged in :

Click the link for digital issues and a new page will open showing what you're subscriptions are - either mew , me or both .

If the page is empty then youre subscription may not be active or activated yet as it can take a day or two for it to go through .

Click the mew link and it should open the veiwer but could take a while to open depending on the speed of your internet connection .

Barring that i'm sure some one on this forum will know more about the i pad than do .

Ian

I don't think the Editorial team would remove any of the content just to fit in a chart but rather use this as filling when there is space to do so .

If a few of the regular advertizers come on board and sponsor them then everybody would benifit as well.

Having something like this could help to fill the center fold of the magazine when there is space as not all article fit together perfectly as some are one page only and others may run for a few issues .

In the long run we will never lose as we have no control over the content anyhow !

There are articles that are interesting to some and not the others so we just have to cop what we are dealt .

I know that there may be some who have every chart ever written and may not need these but there are the newcomers who may not have the technical library , money or time to source these and therefore would appreciate MEW doing these charts .

There is a lot of info on the internet that is wrong or unsuitable for Model Engineers so as David mentioned earlier in this thread some one will need to check them .

I subscribe so what ever is in the Magazine is what is - so if i want to see something in the Magazine i let the Editor know so that they can keep an eye out for relevant articles .

Ian

Myles , looking at your photo it seems as there is a black finish to the piece of steel you are machining ,i would suggest this is not a free machining steel but could be anything and more than likely black mild steel or black round bar .

This stuff is usually crap to machine at the best of times as it can have tougher layers and found getting a decent finish difficult with TC tooling so i did the bulk of the material removal wth this then switched to a very sharp tool steel bit for finishing and i found it a lot better .

Keep tool overhang to a minimum also .

Wait until you cop some work hardening steel then you're in for some fun !

Ian

Fantastic idea David !

There are literally hundreds of data sheets you could use and many are relevant to model engineering and some more towards general engineering etc i'm always a little cautious of things like speed and feed charts as many are for industrial use and not really suited to our smaller machines . Maybe there are some charts more suited to these machines ?

I have the set that was produced by MEW a few years back and while they have been handy the size was anoying as i did not have room for the wall chart format so the A4 size would be ideal and i could put them into a spiral binder .

Probably going out on a limb here but maybe this could be a series of data sheets run monthly in both MEW & ME that can be built into the ultimate data book of data sheets for model engineers with a nice binder available at the end ?

Other than the usuall drilling / tapping charts & cutting tool angles there are a few i think could be usefull.

Dividing charts and relevant info .

Gear cutting info .

Sine/ cosine and general trigonometry tables.

Press and slip fit for roller bearings.

Lathe spindle nose thread dimensions for common lathes used by ME's.

Morse taper info .

There must be some stuff that I/C engine , loco , aircraft , boat or ship buiders could add to this even though maybe not of use to every one it is always usefull to have or interesting to read and one never knows when a "OH SO THAT 'S WHAT THAT MEANS " moment is just around the corner !

You could even add a Dictionary so i can learn how to spell !

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 26/03/2013 05:41:50

Thanks Niel, If 1/2hp works fine on your lathe then it gives me some confidence to mve forward with the conversion.

Hang on a minute !

I'm only 44 yrs old

Mayb\e different countries but here in OZ a lot of the kids don't know nothing from school and i wonder what the metal work coarse even teaches them.

If i talk to my older brothers they had basic mechanical principals they were expexced to learn which gave them a basic grounding with cars etc but these days even the most basic mechanical principals are not being tought .

Actually do you know what i learnt from 4 yrs at high school ?

I was addicted to metalwork and couldn't get enough of it !

Ian

I bought a cheapie drill sharpener from my local supplier which is sort of good for anything over 1/4 inch but under this it grinds uneven so it is what my mates get to use ! i use the four facet tool by Harold Hall on an improvised tool and cutter similar to what Harold describes in his book and i find the whole lot works well and does what i need including millng cutters . I don't know about any one else but i found that once i went to 4 facet i never went back. Actually the tool honing device in the latest MEW has me thinking about a device to sharpen small drill bits using the 4 facet system but i need to develop it to suit my needs . and i would of course pass this onto the author of the article as they should be the one to submit it to MEW besides i have enough trouble typing let alone photographing or playing wiith cad !

I wonder if they even get any applicants as the kids today ,well most of them are scared of getting dirty and you would be lucky to pry thier i pad out of thier hands long enough to do so !

I had an experience of just how mechanically inept the younger generation have become when my friend asked me to " HAVE A LOOK " at his Nephews motorcycle as he had to fit a new stator and re fit the side cover .

Well actually both side covers as he was to stupid to work out which side was the stator  was on and which was the clutch side  - didn't look for the wiring harness going into the motor so he removed both sides .

After i fitted the stator and covers while this nong stood there with his hands in his pockets asking stupid questions i asked him if he had some oil to fill the motor .

He did have oil and the correct type/grade but had no idea where to fill it from or how much it required and immediately reached for the i phone to look it up .

I remove this from his grasp and pointed to the dipstick and the sticker that tells you the volume required 2.4 L !

Next morning i copped the questions about changing the thermostat in which i showed him where it was , how to do it and let him know in no uncertain terms that "IT WON'T GET DONE BY ITSELF "and took off fishing !

It's not as if the bloke has had no mechanical experience as he has but just does not want to try or learn - very frustrating !

I don't know where the Australian metalworking industry is going as it seems as most of our contracts are going overseas and i imagine the UK is in the same boat .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 21/03/2013 02:22:43

Thanks for the replies and much needed information .

I had a dig around on the net to see what is available in the way of reasonably priced inverter units and found one made by hounyang (think thats right ) anyhow after a good read of the specifications it seems it has connectors for external emergency stop and braking resistor along with a lot of other featurs i probably will never use .

It has ramp up/down or coast stop features etc and amazingly cost less than the DC controller for the C2 lathe - can't work that one out !

All the components on the DC controller wouldn't cost $20-$30 !

While i'm on here i may as well ask if anyone has a recomendation for motor power rating to use on the C2 ? Original unit was around 400w DC so would a .55KW 3PH unit suffice ?

I have plenty of room behind the machine so physical size is not a problem withing reason anyhow .

I know on the larger lathe it has a .55KW motor single phase and it has been fine as the machine has a 6 speed v belt drive

I will have to make some pulleys for the C2 so i may as well make some 3 groove vee pulleys to give 6 speeds in total using the high and low gearing in the head .

That way i can use the VFD to fine tune my speed settings as needed without slowing the motor speed down too much .

Any thoughts welcome .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 20/03/2013 19:28:25

Hi all,

I have a question about inverters /vfd units that you may be able to sort for me .

I have a few good 3 phase motors laying around and was contemplating converting my two small lathes to use them and an inverter seem fairly cheap to buy .

All the motors are under 1HP and i have a C2 sieg and a little larger lathe that is a bit bigger than say a C6 sieg and is 230V mains single phase powered (0.55kw motor)

The C2 i got cheap as the controller is stuffed and not worth fixing but at  $280 AU here in Australia for a new one i think i like the reliabillity of AC MAINS powered motors !

How do these inverters deal with emergency cut out switches that one needs to have for safety ?

You need to be able to cut power to the motor fast if there is an emergency so there must be a contactor in there some where with its actuator coil connected in series with the shut of switch.

Now the inverter is isolated from the motor windings once the contacts open, can the inverter sense this ?

Is there any provision for emergency braking on these that can be connected to the emergency cut off switch?

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 20/03/2013 03:21:44

I for one am looking forward to it particularily the arbour press and the tool hone and i feel this could possibly be adapted for small drill bits .

I don't know how i missed that as it plainly states overseas subscriptions .

Thanks Les i will give that a go .

I have been trying to subscribe to the ME digital issue but it wont accept my postcode as i do not live in the UK . Where to from here as i already have a subs to MEW Digital and had no probs subscribing to it .

A few weeks ago here in Sydney it topped 46.5 C at the local weather station and i guess it would have been over 50C in the workshop .

Apparently the hottest day ever recorded for the Sydney region and the aircon was struggling to keep the living room at a comfotable temperature .

There was no way i was going anywhere near the workshop and even hanging some washing out on the line was a chore but it did dry quickly !

I usually plonk myself down on the lounge,cold beer in hand and draw some sketches of what i am making or going to make next , after all it may be too hot / cold to do physical work but a perfect oppertunity to let the mind run wild .

You would be amazed at what comes out of it especailly when correctly lubricated !

Hope you lot down in Victoria are well away from the bushfires ?

Ian

Hardchrome possibly ? not as hard as carbide but low co efficint of friction , i have plated rocker arms from bikes to repair them and had no probs but they dont spin a cam at 10,000 rpm plus !

One could always build a dividing head if funds are tight and Harold Hall has described one that is relatively easy to build and can be upgraded as needed .

I don't see the universal dividing head with the gear train getting a lot of use in model engineering but one never knows what bizzar project will pop its head up next !

Ian