Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Just a though but i have noticed some disc are crossed drilled ,i wonder if the drilling is accurate enough to be used to allow the disc to be used for indexing ?

IAN

Hi Steve .

It Depends on how the tile was made as i think they press them so it could be quite flat .

Set it up in front of a decent light source and lay a known good straight edge (Rule or Engineers square ) across the surface you wish to use .

By starting at one end and carefully dragging it across the surface look for any light to appear between the straight edge and the surface of the tile then do it again at 45 degree increments .

If little or no light appears then it will be flat enough for what you will want it to do .

For mounting i found it best to use a thick ply base as it won't distort as much as plain timber and it is pressed flat during manufacture then glue the tile to it with a silicon type sealer (Silastic or similar )as it will take up any differences in expansion rates of the two materials .

Also check to see if it is square because this can be an asset for marking out odd shaped objects particularily sheet metal parts as you can use use the edge of the tile to set a square against , just hold the piece down with some tape so it can't move then set up a datum piont and everything will be at right angles to it or parrallel with  it .

IAN

Edited By IAN B on 11/05/2012 02:07:44

Hi Pailo.

You could also trade down to a smaller unit that can be set up on a bench or a larger cabinet , if you are only drilling reasonably small holes there are the ones that will fit under a bench and can be set up and pressed into service as needed .

IAN

One very simple use is as the base of an adjustable roller support stand for a bandsaw, used when cutting longer lengths of material to size or if you need an extra support on the bench or saw horse / tressle .

Hi Alan.

Without a photo it is difficult to make a suggestion but i would think this disk and spring are part of a magnetically released brake system .

When an EMF is present in the windings a magnetic field is created and could be used to pull or force the disk along the shaft alowing the armature to turn freely .

IAN

Hi Ron .

Welcome to the MEW forum or the Brains trust as i call it and no the brain part isn't from me !

Whilst i can't name anyone specifically as i live in another country i would try to find a local model engineering club and approach them even if you're not into making models there should be someone willing to help and if anyone knows how to use an ML7 it will be a model engineer !.

Also there is the workshop practice series of books available - # 34 lathework a complete course by Harold Hall # 45 basic lathe work by Stan Bray are both excellent guides for beginners with the added bonus of making some usefull tools for your machine in the process .

There is also a series running in MEW that has dealt with basic lathework and metalwork so check out some of the recent issues .

There are also some DVD available from little machine shop in the USA but they will cost you some $$$ although they are are usefull but not specifically based around the ML7 .

It may take a while for other forum readers to respond as many only check them here and there so be patient !

IAN

Hi John .

From your original posting it sounded like you were doing a cut and shut job and not replacing whole panels .

The spot weld drill Terry mentioned will do the job and if used correctly you will have very little grinding work to do .

There are 2 types of drill though , one is the type as Terry mentioned (the best )other is like a small holesaw .

The latter leaves a circular piece attached to the parent panel and a hole in the one you removed thus needing a hit with a grinder .

The proper drill leaves a small dimple in the parent panel from the nib in the centre of the drill and a hole in the waste panel , if used correctly it will need almost no grinding of the parent panel .

I have also used a #4 centre drill to remove panels but in no way is it as good as the proper tool and you will be surprised how fast it is to use .

If you keep the speed of the drill down to 500rpm it is not that noisy and the bit will last a lot longer .

Regards ..

Ian

Hi John .

Your main issues with anything that puts out heat (with the exception of a plasma cutter as the heat is intense and very localised ) is distortion of the panel you are cutting and fire.

The nibbler will do most things , will keep the noise down and what ever it can't do will still minimize the usage of a grinder then thier are reciprocating saws , jigsaws , shears etc that may get into places the nibbler cant .

Ian

Hi Wolfie.

Harolds posting jogged my memory and i remembered a little trick that one should always do when squaring up material on a Mill and that is to run an engineers square over the whole piece to ensure that the four sides are square to each other then do the same for the ends to find the highest point on the end and mark with a texta or some machinist blue etc .

This will allow you to set your first cut so it is removing material from the high point and the cutting forces will lessen as it traverses towards the lower portions , if you start at the low point and start cutting the cutter will have to remove more metal as it traverses the along and the cut will deepen .

If the ends are out of square more than say 2mm i would clean up first with a bastard file or small angle grinder .

Another source of info is some of the DVD productions available through Little Machine shop as these are set up on the X2 Mill and i found them quite well made and informative (they may be available through a retailer in the UK but i'm not sure as i'm in Australia and just about anything usefull has to come from overseas and that's where i bought mine.

IAN

Hi Wolfie .

You don't need a vice mostly but they can be convent.

For square bar i use an angle plate with a piece of flat bar set up as a fence fitted to the angle plate ( and 90 degrees to the mill table or the face of the angle plate that will contact the mill table ) then mount the angle plate on the mill table so its face( the same one that the fence is bolted to ) is 90 degrees to the X axis , pack up the part i want to machine so its top surface clears the top of the angle plate with sufficient clearance for the needed removal of metal  then clamp it to the angle plate ensuring that is also set hard against the fence that is bolted to the angle plate .

Check out Harolds book ( Milling a complete course ) It is worth every penny and you will keep going back to it for reference many times !

If you dont have an angle plate it can be set up using a fence on the mill table itself but this requires a lot of care as you can mache into the table if not carefull !

Once again the book will reveal all !

Ian

Edited By ian bertenshaw on 13/03/2012 02:33:17

Hi Bob.

Sub "C" NiMH are available but a quick price check here in Australia through an electronics outlet would drop about $180 AU out of the bank account to buy the 20 needed to attain 24v.

Yes there are probably cheaper here and in the UK so shop around !

The charger could also be what has killed the batteries as many battery packs don't have the internal temperature thermistor either fitted or connected (that is what the third terminal on the battery is for ) and some chargers don't have this third terminal fitted either .

This is to protect the battery pack from overheating when charging which kills batteries pretty quickly .

An Electonics magazine (silicon chip ) i read did some stories on this and also produced a charger kit that was available through Jaycar electronics but i'm sure Elektor magazine did the same in the UK .

A later edition saw an old battery drill revived with the use of 2 gell cell batteries mounted in a small plwood box with a carry handle on top , it was not as convenient as the drill with an internal battery but still had its uses as you did not need mains power to run it or have to run power leads everywhere .

IAN

I clean rusty machine parts the same way i would to pre-pair a steel panel for paint .

1) mechanical clean using wire brushes( hand of power ) ,scourer pads etc and don't push to hard on the wire brush if it a powered unit as you will gall the surface .

2) Degrease using thinners or similar and let it dry .

3) De-oxidize using a rust converter (phosphoric acid type ) this can be purchased at auto parts stores etc - keep the solution fairly weak and wear your PPE !

4) Wipe off with 2 wet rags , one is to take the bulk of the acid off the second to clean off any residue and neutralise it .

5) Immediately rinse with Methylated spirits to pick up the moisture ( it absorbs water ).

You would then allow it to dry and oil it .

The rust converter will kill the rust left in the pits on the surface that mechanical cleaning won't remove and NO IT WILL NOT EAT THE PARENT MATERIAL AS LONG AS IT IS STEEL OR CAST IRON !

If you want a shiny appearance then polish with a scotchbrite wheel (green type similar to a buffing mop) mounted on a bench grinder of power drill.

I had a problem similar to this 2 weeks ago but i was machining some 36mm round bar for a T&C grinder .

It ended up being a belt problem as some of the lube i used on the back gears had flung off and contaminated the belt .

The belt on this machine at the moment is one of those horrible and expensive little vee belts that are only 4 or 5 mm across so it took only a small amount of contamination to cause some slippage .

After a clean all was well again but i think i will peg this system and go for a toothed belt and a decent variable speed set up so no more belt changes .

Ian

Edited By ian bertenshaw on 13/02/2012 01:58:44