Member postings for GaryM

Thanks for that Jason. Funniest thing I've read on this forum in weeks, although "doubleboost" John's posts on Mad Modder take some beating for all round education and entertainment value.

Gary

edit: where do these bloody 'smilies' come from.

Edited By GaryM on 21/06/2013 22:53:19

Hi Ed,

I would echo the comments about your prescription changing. I have vari-focals and because my prescription is high, around -8, I paid more for Zeiss high index lenses. The trouble is, if you're in your fifties, then as others have said your near vision might change fairly quickly and then you will need to replace them which is not cheap. I've resorted to using an older pair of single vision glasses for most activities apart from driving. I also resent the way we are restricted to letterbox frames because of fashion. These are pretty useless for vari-focals and I've been searching for some round frames for years.

One last thought, don't throw your old pairs out. As your near vision gets worse they become useful again.

Gary

I like the idea of mounting it on the bed. It seems so obvious when someone points it out to you. There are just so many ways of doing the same thing. As I said to Andrew I'll have to leave it until the weekend now.

I understood what you meant by the 180 flip but couldn't get why it would equalise out any inaccuracy. Say for example (with exaggeration) the right side of the vice base was 0.1" higher and you were machining a piece 1" high then after the first side was machined, the piece would be 0.1" larger at the left end. Then when the piece was flipped in the vice, wouldn't the right end start off 0.2" higher than the left. If this was now machined until flat, wouldn't the piece still have a 0.1" taper left to right? The penny will probably drop soon.

Gary

Andrew, I think you're right about the swarf. It was on the last cut and as the total width of the two parallels was ~19mm and I was taking cuts of 3mm the last one was ~1mm. The end mill was a no-name one from RDG and as Dormer 12mm end mills seem to be about £30 it would probably fall within the definition of 'cheap'. I might have a go at checking the tram at weekend.

Gary

Thanks for the input Chris & Neil.

I did cut it dry Chris, as I said above I've not got round to buying any soluble yet. I'll try some more test cuts when I've got some and see what I learn. Also, your eyes don't deceive you, the finish isn't good. Material was bought as EN1A.

Can't get my head round your "flip it 180 deg" idea at the moment. It seems to me that it will still taper. I'll think about it a bit more.

I think I just need more experience with different bits of steel. One of the chaps in the engineering workshop at my place of work told me a while back that bought in materials had become a lot more variable in recent years.

Gary

Work was travelling right to left (conventional milling). I've been very careful to avoid climb milling until I know better what I'm doing.

I have a vice, it is further along the table. I was using Harold Hall's technique for making a parallel by using two cylinders bolted to the angle plate. Then take a light cut off the top of both cylinders and mount the workpiece on top. I think it is supposed to ensure that the two sides are parallel to a much better accuracy than just mounting in the vice.

Gary

To throw a further query into the mix, one cut resulted in this:-

I'm sure this will tell most of you quite a lot, but it didn't tell me much apart from something might be wrong.

Gary

Andrew, sorry for the delay responding, been in the garden all afternoon. Of course you are right about the handle speed it should have been 1 rps, doh! I can't even go back and edit it now.

Comments like "In theory D/2 is to be avoided as it hammers the teeth as they enter a cut." are really useful to newbies. I've not read that in any of the articles, books and forums. I'm not sure I understand why though.

I only have one item of carbide tooling at present and that is a boring bar.

There's a lot more to this lark than meets the eye.

Gary

Thanks for the comment Paul. I'm beginning to get the feeling that I'm pussyfooting around here with tiny cuts. That's why I put X3 in the thread title as the experience of someone who owns the same machine is invaluable. I've seen your pics of your flood system and you're right about the power feed, I hadn't even considered one until now although they are a lot of cash and a bandsaw might be a better choice for saving time.

I'll try some of the suggestions and let you all know how I get on.

Gary

Thanks for the comments Andrew, Bazyle, Chris and Ian.

Andrew: I think I am just getting the hang of these tooth load calculations. 2 thou per tooth per rev doesn't sound much does it. It is a four flute end mill. I think I'd struggle to wind the X feed much faster than 1 rpm which is how I got my approximate 100 mm/min. I was going to try a squezee bottle as Ian suggests as I don't have a facility for flood coolant and was hoping not to go down that route as it will entail a lot more mess. The cutters were about £6 each from one of the usual UK suppliers so I don't know if that's cheap or not.

Bazyle: I think it may have been rubbing for some of the early cuts as I started off with about 0.25mm DOC and feeding slower. I was keeping to D/4 for width as various people suggest although when I machined between the flanges on the cast iron cylinder for the S50 I'm making, the cut seemed fine.

Chris: As they are parallels I think the flatness is more important than appearance but I'll try the flycutter sometime soon on some scrap.

Ian: I'll get some soluble soon. I hadn't realised at first that some people apply it with a bottle, I thought it was only useful if you had a coolant pump.

Gary

Thanks for the reply Jason. I started this job with a brand new cutter as I think my previous one had been blunted a little on the S50 castings. I'll try your suggestion on some spare metal and see how it goes, I'm usually over-cautious.

I bought the common set of three fly cutters at Harrogate and just the other day sharpened the largest one to the shape 'Bogs' suggests on Mad Modder. Haven't tried it yet though. I also need to get some soluble oil and use it. I tried some non-soluble cutting and tapping oil but it seemed to make matters worse by making the chips stick around the cutter.

Gary

Edited By GaryM on 03/06/2013 08:45:53

While not wishing to resurrect the debate about hidden text and page displays, I was having trouble with this page and found that if I turn compatibility view off the page displays perfectly. If I then turn it on again text is hidden. Weird? I'm forced to use IE at work but detest it like the plague.

Gary

Aren't the magazine owners just trying to protect themselves against illegal copying?

Not that I'm justifying the system, just suggesting why it is done this way. If I can't get a particular music album on CD and have to buy a digital copy I still like to be able to download the MP3. Which is why I steer clear of the well known fruit music store. Then again I'm in my fifties and still actually buy music. The vast majority of twenty-somethings have never paid for music and don't see why they should start now.

Gary

Maybe all the preserved railways will have to switch to 5" gauge.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway would be entertaining at that scale.

Gary

Hi Dave,

Why not pay Huddersfield Society of Model Engineers a visit.

**LINK**

Gary

Hi David,

Encourage your wife to go to the Turkish Baths for a spa treatment.

**LINK**

There are lots of model engineering widows to be found in there when the exhibition is on. My wife is one of them.

Also, she will be less concerned about any money you spend as it will probably be less than she spends.

Gary

Frank,

Arc Eurotrade have a special offer on the C6 at the moment including some of the accessories you'll inevitably need:

**LINK**

Gary

Edited By Gary Marland on 22/05/2013 20:47:21

Fizzy, this forum really needs a "like" button.

Gary

Hi Frank,

Welcome to the forum, the folk on here are very helpful even if they argue with each other occasionally.

I'd say you already possess the most useful skill you will need - accounting. You'll need to find creative ways of extracting more money from somewhere without it being noticed. There will be no end of things to buy.

I bought my lathe 18 months ago and have really enjoyed learning to use it. It's a steep learning curve though. I went with new for the same reason as Chris but as Ian says the best thing is to buy something and start using it. Only then will you know what you want to make and what tools you will need to make it.

I found the following sites useful

**LINK**

**LINK**

Gary