Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Hi Dean,

Try a motorcycle wrecker or junk yard as the ignition coils and generator coils have laminated cores .

You may get a burnt out unit for free or near to it .

Also any small I/C spark ignition engine like edge trimmers and lawn mowers have magneto coils so you could try them as well .

Ian.

I was thinking of using a small reverse cycle air conditioner as they pull moisture out of the air and can heat as well as cool .

Ian

After a hard days play in the shed i would have to say the Beer fridge !

There is nothing better than a couple of bottles of Liquid Decision maker to end the day - after the machines have been cleaned up and everything packed away of course .

Other than that i would say the wet & dry vacuum i purchased last year as it really has made cleaning up swarf a breeze - no more broom and dust pan for me and guess what - More time for beer !

And how could i forget the one thing that started me on this journey and has helped me to set up and use the all of the equipement that i have amassed over the last 10 yrs or so - MEW .

Ian

Have a search for a local toolmaking company as they use stellite to repair dies etc .

They may have a welder onsite so may be able to sell you some rods .

If not they may know of a company that does stellite welding that may be able to help you .

Ian

Why Neil ?

Isn't that what Hacksaws are for ?

Never been one for re - inventing the wheel as those i have seen always seem round enough for me !

Hacksaw did the job and the reader head is no where near the cut anyhow .

Give it a clean up with a fine file and fit it .

The static build up will not hurt the bar as stated there is no electronic components on it but could it jump to the reader head which has CMOS components ?

Probably a long shot but if you have luck like mine it will happen sooner or later !

More important than cutting is getting the mounting set up right and you will find the pressed metal brackets supplied to be lacking .

Make some from square alluminium bar stock on the mill and it will help .

Once you have Digitized you will never go back !

Ian .

I cut two of mine with a hacksaw and had 0 problems .

I would probably be worried about static build up using a grinder .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 21/11/2012 23:52:10

What about increasing the width of the rubber band so when fitted it is still wider than the thickness of the capstan?

Maybe you could make one out of an inner tube from a kiddies bike tube ?

If you wanted you could glue it in place with contact adhesive so it conforms to the profile of the capstan then trim off the excess width with a sharp knife .

Ian

Hi Ron.

Maybe something like the SEIG X1 or X2 would do as they can be moved around by two people  and both fit into a wheelbarrow !

I have an X2 and it  works well  for a small machine but the depth of cut is limited due to rigidity compared to a larger machines like  the chester lux etc but this only means you may have to run a few more passes to get the job done .

And the only other thing with the X2  is the plastic gears that will eventually fail but metal gears are available as is a belt driv conversion ( if you buy this conversion from litle machine shop in th U.S make sure your machines maker or seller is listed as there are a lot of clones that have minor differences that can make the fitting of this kit difficult )

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 03/11/2012 21:54:05

Robin ,

I have been a digital subscriber for a couple of years and had no problem with the system in place .

I purchase equipement from all over the globe using a similar system as MEW uses and the paypal system .

So far i have had no problems with either and i have had refunds deposited into my account by paypal with no problems .

You could of course use a debit card with minimal funds on it or transfer the required amount to it when you wish to purchase something over the internet after all they cant steal what isn't there !

My friends next door neighbour had her card scanned whith a handheld devce at a petrol station when she was paying for fuel and the account was raided .

Pitty the person who did it was not aware she is a cop !

The return visit to the petrol station would have been interesting !

Ian

Hi Bob .

Welding 2.3mm dia rod would not be an easy task but not impossible .

The heat from the weld may have relieved the internal stresses formed during the manufacturing of the stainless rod or it has gotten so hot it has burned out some of the elements in the material .

Try silver solder as it is done at a much lower temp than welding .

Maybe the special holder could be modified ?

What if instead of machining the flat across the top and trying to weld the hook to it maybe drill and ream a hole at the required angle then feed the rod  through this hole .

You would have to form one of the bends after it is fed through the holder then you could use an epoxy to retain it .

The other rod i would cut a thread and loctite it into the holder .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 02/11/2012 20:47:31

Ok after what seemed like an eternity of playing around ( and no i'm not an electronics technician or engineer ) i have i supposed fluked upon the solution for the Z axis problem with my DRO as mentioned before in this thread .

I found i could get it to work with the original battery in the scale unit but if i tried to run the lot from a SLA battery via the power unit i had constructed it still would not work .

So not a noise problem but maybe a voltage sensing issue and without a schematic or any idea what hides underneath the little black lumps on the circuit board there is little one could do .

Anyhow after a few beers i was fumbling around and happened to touch the pads with my finger of some SMD capacitors mounted next to a large black lump i believe to be the main controller for the display and it shot into life !

It seems that one of the four capacitors next to the controller ( all104k ) has something to do with reseting the display and as this terminal is connected to the positive rail via one of the capacitors my touching this must have created a - voltage or maybe a logic low to this terminal of the controller .

So a 10uf electrolytic capacitor was soldered to the + supply and to the low or (-) side of this SMD capacitor and the original reset button was pressed into service to to creat a new reset button by connecting the power momentaritly to this display .

So now if the display shuts down to power save mode and i just feed the quill downfeed then press the red button and all of the stored info is there as it should be .

JOY !

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 02/11/2012 08:41:52

Hi Robin.

Yes you are correct and there were a few vendors on Ebay but i chose that one because everything that was advertised i could see in the pictures including the name of the manufacturer .

Another seller was selling a similar unit but it just had a model number on the front .

After transfering the money across i received an E-mail from JJ very quickly thanking me and asking what scale lengths i needed and another a few hours later to let me know it had been shipped .

Very efficient !

The E-bay feedback on this seller are 100% positive also .

As Martin stated you can get it direct in the UK but here in Australia mine will come direct from china so if you can pick it up yourself that will save you some cash .

Ian

John ,

I have tried this to no avail as the readouts are stable and work well but thanks for the tip anyhow .

I will try running the regulator unit from a battery to see if there is a change and if there is i have a noise problem with the swichmode powerpack.

If not i will try running the scale from its original battery and see what happens then switch over and run the display on its own battery.

If all else fails i will scream at it and threaten it with my largest hammer !

Probably won't do anything but i will feel better!

I followed your link for the DRO's and purchased a 3 axis kit for less than i can buy a display unit from my local supplier !

Thank you !

Now i have to wait for it to turn up so i can get my grubby little fingers on it !

Ian

I have spent the most part of last saturday fixing the cheap set of DRO 's i fitted to my mill earlier this year and while the entire set up came in at under $300 i now wish i had spent the extra cash for better quality .

The only problem is my local supplier only supplies Easson brand and to do a 3 axis set up will cost well over a thousand bucks and more if i want the top of the range scales .

The cheaper scales seem to work ok and i used some capping channel for colourbond fencing to make up some covers that keep the oil and swarf away but there are some niggling issues that will drive you nuts eventually .

If they have any sort of USB fittings for cables they will rattle loose and if they are mini USB they are fairly fragile .

I damaged one of the plugs and ended up having to solder the wires directly to the circuit board as i couldn't find a replacement cord that hada male mini usb plug at each end .

This was no fun at all and gave me a great deal of grief as the tracks on the pcb are minute to say the least !

If they are battery powered as mine were you will need to replace them often and i found mine went flat every few weeks even if not used .

So they are now powered by mains adapters and i had to make up a regulator box with 3 separate regulators to supply the 3 different voltages as the x & y units are 3v , the z axis scale is 1.5v and its remote display is 3.7v.

They now work well but the auto power off that is inbuit is annoying and for some reason the z axis scale display is controlled by the power off feature on the z axis scale which turns both of after 2 minutes of idle time .

The problem i face now is getting the display to turn on again with the scale as the scale will re start with any movement of the quill and when both were battery powered i would just switch the readout off and back on to re start it up again and it would read the last stored reading .

The z axis scale has a mini readout like a digital caliper that still works fine- maybe it is something to do with the main display as you could not use it whilst charging the old battery ( mobile phone type with 3 connector pads .

So for now i have a reset button fitted to the regulator box that cuts the power to the entire z axis system which resets something internal in the main diplay and it fires back up ok but now reading zero .so i have to write down each depth of cut for reference or only use the small readout that is on the z scale which fires up with movement - very frustrating !

My main though on this is it could be electrical noise from the power supply causing some issues with the data stream from the scale to the readout or in the readout itself or maybe that middle pad connector on the battery that is not marked with anything actually does something ?

The other 2 are marked + & - and measure as marked .

Ian

I bet that somewhere in that Haynes Manual there will be the phrase " using special tool # 256432146 press part 'A' onto part 'B' whilst performing a handstand and whistling Dixie from your rear end "

I had a manual for a Toyota Lancruiser that even gave a supposed Toyota part number for a tool to align the swivel hubs on the front diff , pity that Toyota didn't have a listing for it though !

Ian

I use ER32 x 3mt as both my of mills and my lathe have 3MT spindles so it is a universal fit .

I don't know of a hobby lathe that runs R-8 in the spindle .

Ian

I hope that they film the excavation and recovery as it will make interesting documentary .

I have heard that there is WWII machinery buried in australia and have heard of a jeep being recovered but who knows what is buried out there !

Even if they only find 1 spitfire it is a bonus .

The skilled people needed to restore these planes must be getting thin as most of those who worked on them in the war must have passed on by now so i hope the knowledge is being passed down to the younger enthusiast .

I'm sure i remember a tv show about the pro's and cons of various WWII fighters and from memory they liked the Hurricane because of its ruggedness and reliabilitty and it could turn inside an ME 109 and i think had i higher dive speed ?

Could be wrong though as it was a while ago !

I would love to go to an air show that pitted all of the WWII fighters against each other in a mock dogfight so i could see the various attributes and deficiencies of each for myself .

Maybe a knockout series so it would be axis vs axis for top place then allies vs allies for top top place then the two winners go head to head ?

So the spitfire would go up against the mustang , corsair , hurricain etc etc .

And the me109 against the zero etc etc

Then the winner from each side duels for the win .

Ian

Ok you have a few issues here and getting the old bush out is one of them .

Alloy castings will need very carefull heating if they are in any way delicate as alluminium will lose a lot of its strength if heated too much .

If possible i would try to grip the flange of the bush and see if it can be turned .

If so try twisting and pulling .

If not then i would try filing a groove through from the inside using a triangle shaped file then try to crush the bush in so it releases- being carefull not to cut into the housing with the file of course !

I would use heat as a last resort as it is difficult to control and alluminium will not show how hot it is until it melts - you can blacken it with the soot from an oxy acetylene torch and this will burn of just before it melts but knowing how much weaker the casting is at that temperature is a lottery and what aboult distortion ?

You could use a large soldering iron to apply some heat on smaller items and this will weaken any loctite that may have been applied to the old bushes .

Another way is to heat up a suitable piece of steel until it a drop of water will skitter across the surface then sit the item on it until it is too hot too touch comfortably as the alluminium will suck up the heat very quickly - obviously if the item is large this will not be practcal .

I take it that you do not have a lathe to make the new bushes yourself ?

Once you have these made- with the bore undersized (.001-0.003 inch ) you will have to push them into the housing and ream them otherwise both bushes will not be aligned to each other and the forces applied to the bushing by the housing will more than likely squash it a little or knock it out of round so the throttle rod will not fit .

As for the press fit it wil depend on what temperatures this item will have to endure as the coefficient of linear expansion of alluminium and its alloys is different to that of bronze but i would suspect .02mm or .001 inch would suffice and you can use loctite etc .

If the bushings are thick enough you could possibly bore/drill them out oversize and push and loctitein a new liner then ream as above - maybe easier .

Ian

Has anyone ever made thier own ?

Maybe make the pump and spout unit but use the can from a cheapie or an old unit ?

Now there's a project !

I would seriously think about returning it to the supplier as it is obviously faulty from the factory .

It is not really worth trying to salvage as it is not designed for milling .

I hate when companies advertise drilling or milling as a use for cheap vices as it is misleading to the newcomer .

At a minimum the warco DH6 may get you by for light machining and at least the closing jaw has some lenght to it -also would make decent drill vice , the 5479 would be better although i have never liked swiveling vices - just one more thing that can move on its own accord when you least need it !

I use a vice similar to the 130-040-1100 or 1300-040-1200 stocked by ARC EUROTRADE (usual disclaimer ) but in 3 inch .

I can recommend the workshop practice series of books- particularily the ones written by Harold Hall if you are new to milling and wish to learn and once again usuall disclaimer applies .

You will see that for many operations you don't need a vice and a decent angle plate coupled with some toolmakers clamps and a few lengths of flat bar can get you into a whole lot of fun !

although if you have the table length a vice set up on one end permanently can be very convenient for many jobs

Usual disclaimer = i don't now and never have worked for or received any payments or gratuities from these suppliers or people- just a happy customer and believe that when you're onto a good thing share it !

Ian