Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Could this be the starting point for a future editor ?

One never knows !

IT background but drive a truck ???????????????

Good luck mate and remember - Life -family- work -play and model engineering in that order although some would have it in reverse !

I would be hoping that all will understand that you are not available 24/7 to moderate and behave .

Ian

A link perhaps?

I agree with getting your tank tested but still cannot understand why you don't have to considering it can kill just as easily as a small boiler taking into consideration the difference in the expansion of steam versus compressed air etc .

If it were a boiler you would legally have to get it tested and in industry it would be yearly , here we have to have any compressor other than domestic use done yearly also .

You can get it tested with ultrasonics which will give a general idea of its condition but a pressure test is the best .

You also need to get the pressure relief valve checked as it could be faulty .

I know it costs money but i would rather spend the money on maintaining my equipement rather than paying for my funeral or even worse some one elses !

A copper gasket will be easier to make and anneal as you can see when it is red hot .

You can use soap as an indicator as to the heat level in alluminium , just smear it on and heat from the other side - when it ggoes black and burns it is hot enough .

You can also blacken it with the soot from an oxy torch ( don't breath in the soot as it can cause cancer ) then heat until the soot burns off which is close to melting point .

With the leaky mud door it will depend on whether it is a corrosion problem or if it is warped .

Corrosion - i would recommend getting rid of it as it is most likely corroded elsewhere .

Warped - i would be asking the question how it has happened ?

If the door has never been opened it should not be leaking so it could be a warning as to an impending failure .

If the door was opened then why ?

When buying a new unit please ensure that it meets or exceeds your local manufacturing / safety standards as there are some dodgy pieces out there .

Oh and by the way EVERY time you start up the compressor give the blow of valve a tug to ensure it is not frozen - same goes for water heaters give the pressure relief a a tug here and there as they too can flatten a house !

Ian

John ,

There have been many adjustable toolpost articles in MEW and one only a few issues ago .

Surely one of these would suit ?

Other than that a tangential tool holder allows the tool height to be set with an allen key .

As for time wasters i have manged to rid myself of most of them and tool storage was a big problem .

I ended up buying a large steel cabinet and this is much better although i immediately purchased more tools so it too is now getting cluttered again !

Now i need to sort out some material storage issues and fix the low speed drive on my lathe as it has a friction type safety clutch that slips when parting off and eats carbide tips in the process !

The only thing worse than dropping something and not being able to find it is when you do eventually locate what ever you dropped you find it has damadged it

Ian

My supplier has a section for returned items and old display stock that is sold off cheap and i usually head there first to see what bargains i can get .

I have picked up a few items like chucks and vises that took less than an hour to fix and cost 1/3 of the retail price .

They simply replace any items returned with a manufacturing fault then chuck it out the back usualy with a tag stating the problem and of course the reduced price .

I have an asian made workshop as buying anything else was just too expensive and even second hand gear would have cost way more than new far eastern made gear .

You can get a decent mill ,lathe and tooling for what they ask for a second hand bridgeport !

As long as you have a close look at what you are buying with an open mind as to what you need , what you would be comfortable with customizing to suit your needs then you can save a large sum of cash .

Things like vises are a real lottery particularily the cheaper machine vises , this is why i purchased a screwless vice and it is excellent.

I have a swivelling machine vice that was supplied with my mill and it needed some work to make it nicer to use but nothing that a few hours of tinkering at leisure didn't fix.

Are we not Model Engineers ?

If so get it on the cheap , make it work and use it !

Ian

I always wondered if a factory had different grades for their products as i have seen quite a few pieces of equipement that looked identical but some had obvious faults . Maybe some suppliers are buying "A"grade and others "B" & "C" etc .

Hi Johan.

If you use a rectangular shaped bucket you could glue in a couple of baffles to slow the coolant flow down and this will allow the sediment to settle out , you could use some sheetmetal and glue them in with sealant just to hold them there .

I find the silicone type sealer that works on wet surfaces will stick to just about anything includine me !

What about using some flyscreen mesh as a filter ? Maybe you could use some of this to form a swarf bag that could be cable tied (zip tied ) over the end of the return pipe ?

You could remove it to empty it easily and re -use it .

Ian.

David ,

I was not questioning your motives in regards to the moderation issue i was just curious whether a person who has had their posting moderated was contacted to explain why.

That explanation should be enough - end of story .

Hi all,

Complaining or demeaning an event just before or whilst it is still in progress regardless of who is running it does nothing to improve the event or Model engineering as a whole .

If there are safety issues the organizers themselves should be made aware so they can fix them , Complaining about them on this forum will not fix them ,

If one is unhappy about how an event was run then send the organizers a message outlining this so they can change it for the next one .

I agree with Skarvan about some of the negative replies to posts and my least favourite one is "this question has been done to death go and search the forum "'.

Problem is they may have already done this and could not find what they were looking for - not very inviting to a new comer.

Spelling - Do the best you can as you are not being payed for it !

I think that if one wants to have a slagging match with another member they should remind themselves that this is a public forum and not the parliment !

That is why there is a Moderator to keep us on the straight and narrow .

I hope David gets to enjoy his last few days as Moderator (nothing to moderate)and will find time to contribute to the forum in the future .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 21/01/2013 23:13:07

I have seen people pull out of events because some one sent an E-mail around with a gloomy outlook in regards to the weather , this was over a week before the event .

When you have to travel 500km + to an event you don't want rain particularily if it is held outside .

This was all it took to put an element of uncertainty into thier minds so they made other plans .

I see no reson why one can't ask current weather conditions for a region a day before or even on the day of an event as long as they don't mention the events name .

So they may ask for current conditions say for example London but there is no need to say they are going to such and such exibition but may not if the weather is crook .

Weather reports i take with a grain pof salt as they are rarely correct and never correct 3 days beforehand .

When a posting or thead is Moderated is it possible to message the person who has breached the forum regulations to explain to them what thie issue is ?

I'm sure this would eliminate any cofusion ,stop tempers fraying and give the person who posted it the chance to submit new posting minus any issues as they may have something important or interesting to add to the forum.

Ian

I would guess the cylinders are made of aluminium which would make it difficult to do much with other than drill storage . If they're steel ýou could solder on fittings and make small fuel tanks or exhausts for model i/c engines . Plastic milk bottle tops i have - I have read somewhere about melting these in wax to make a machinable wax that can be cast into what ever shape nedeed then machined to make patterns for casting etc. May have been in my local model engineering mag here in australia .

I was once told by a pest controller to leave them be as they keep the other insects under control so i do as much as possible although the daddy longlegs poo on everything and seem to be imune to the bomb type pest sprays as it killed everything except them  .  I have an older fibro garage which has open eves that allows all sorts of wierd bugs in and out and my biggest enemy is the wasp as they chase you when diturbed and sting the hell out of you and we need to be mindfull of redback spiders as they up under benches etc . 

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 09/01/2013 02:26:27

According to wikapedia it is 1/4x32 UNEF .

Siddley,

There is a book by L.C Mason, titled building a small lathe .

While this unit as described is small i see no reason why it can't be scaled up to suit your needs .

It is entirely fabricated from flat ,square and round bar stock .

I think i purchased it from Amazon books .

The previous thread in the last 6 months was probably me asking about these books .

I want something smaller in size than my current lathe that could be set up indoors etc where it is airconditioned !

Ian

Thanks Terry , i will have a look at my local supplier for something similar .

Anything that keeps my lathe, mill and anything else gunk free and running smoothly has to be a bonus !

Ian .

Hi Chris ,

Congrats on the new lathe !

My suggestions are after a good clean give the machine a good going over and check for any faults etc .

I would then check for adjustments like spindle play, end float etc , i would them turn my attention to the saddle , cross and top slides looking for correct adjustment then if your happy look at how the lathe will be mounted and leveled to ensure the bed is not twisted .

There have been many articles in MEW covering this and a few on the mini lathe by Dave Fenner so if you're a subscriber you will have access to these and they are worth reading .

As fore lubrication i use a spray on chain oil for my back gears as oil gets flung off everywhere and never use ep gear oil (diff oil ) as you will never get the smell of this stuff out of your workshop !

I will not give a rust prevention cure as i live in a different climate to you . My suggestion is to get some clean bare mild steel give it a clean up with a grinder to expose bare metal then apply a few different types of of what ever takes your fancy in sections along the steel ( note which one is where ). Leave some untreated areas and put it in the dampest place you can find at home (not out in the rain ) but somewhere condensation is more likely to happen .

Remember what ever you put on you may have to wipe off before using the machine !

The feed srews for the cross and top slides will benifit from some grease and i noticed that copperslip is what Dave Fenner used on his mini lathe .

Terry,

Is there any specific additive in the dry lube that you are looking for or just teflon ?

I had though of using something similar but was unsure if it would work and it would help to keep the machine much cleaner as well .

I also would like to try this for the slideways of my mill as once i fit the DRO to the front of the mill table the useless little button oiler that is fitted will not be accessable .

I was thinking i could wind the table to each end and give the dovetails a spray .

Ian .

I had a set of the cheapie readouts with dedicated diplay for each axis on my HM46 mill (chester lux equiv) and removed them for a better set .

I will use the old ones on either my lathe and drill press or X2 mill and i am leaning more towards the lathe and drill press option as having 3 separate display units mounted on a board looks a bit like a dogs breakfast !.

Or maybe use them on my home made tool and cutter grinder !

Decisions ,Decisions !

I like the new type with one combined display as i found the old style with a dedicated remote display for each axis was fragile in regards to the usb plugs - very easily damaged or can work loose , they needed button cell batteries which go flat all the time and have no backlight.

The newer type with the combined 2 or 3 axis readout is much neater , uses different connectors on the display ( clips in like a phone connector ) but still has the mini usb on the scale which would be protected by a simple gaurd made from sheet metal , it has back lighting and its rechargable battery or powerpack will run the reader head units as well so no button cells .

You can use this type also as a stand alone unit as it has its own digital readout on the scale but it could be difficult to see if you fit gaurds over the scale - recommended also.

There was another thread on this forum a month or two ago abouth this and there were some photos of various fitouts so have a look back through the posts for digital readouts .

Just remember that they are not waterproof so coolant and oil will kill them very quickly !

Ian

I don't think it would warrant a full page but was thinking more along the lines of something that used to appear in the early MEW issues .

Every so often there would be helpful hint or quick tip added to one of the pages and i guess it helped as a page filler as well .

Maybe MEW could have a "did you know " sort of thing added here or there and a couple could be taken from this forum thread alone , asme and manchester plumbers .

I'm sure the scribe a line section would be running hot with arguments from every angle !

Ian

I stand corrected !

Just goes to show how useless search engines can be !

I must have typed in asme a hundred times in every way i could think of and it still lead me to the same location with the same useless information.

I wonder if there are any books written about these old and obsolete thread forms and thier history ?

Something like this would make a good ongoing article in MEW .

Ian

I have searched the web for an hour or so and found nil .

Jason , i can find no reference to 16-18 asme (which is ansi ).

I did find some reference on a website called Engineers edge that listed the smaller asme threads .

There were only references to the following thread dimensions relavent to this forum thread :

1/4-20 (or28) tpi maj dia .250"

5/16-18 maj dia .3125"

If this candle holder is that old it is possible that they had thread forming tools made and they would have used what was at hand and 18tpi is used in whitworth , maybe they had a tap and die made to suit the wire dia ?

Ian

I think you will find 1/4 ansi is for 1/2 OD pipe .

The nearest i could find is 1/4 x20 whit or 1/4 x 16 acme .

18 tpi is really odd at this size as far as i can see .

The only othe one was 17/64 but this is 26tpi as far as i could see .

Ian