Boring bar/head

[RANT MODE}

Well I ordered the items from RDG Tools and oh boy what a joke that company is.

I had decided to order this **LINK** however I thought its was confusing as it states "R8 SILVER BORING HEAD (50mm DIA) NEW METRIC" but when you read the description it states "EITHER 3MT OR R8 SHANK (NOT INCLUDED)".

I sent an email Sunday, asking if the arbour was included, hoping I would get an early reply Monday morning. I did not (not a problem) so I rang and spoke to a lad called Ben who confirmed that it did not include the R8 arbour and that I need to order this **LINK**. He confirmed that the items were in stock and woulkd be delivered the following day, so I went back on line and ordered them, This was at about 9:30am.

I then get an email at 15:30 from a guy called James answering the mail I sent on Sunday, saying "Yes it does. The "Not Included" part is a mistake."

So I rang and spoke to James to find out what was going on. He confirmed that the boring head included an arbour and that the arbour I had ordered was, in fact, the wrong one! This had been picked up at the packing stage. He informed me that I had missed the deadline for delivery for Tuesday and would ring me on Tuesday to confirm my order. James rang Tuesday saying that it was all sorted and was being dispatched that day. He also confirmed that he had spoken to his boss about the problem re the wording and said they were going to revise it.

Its now 5.30 and no sign so I check my email to see an email from RDG statinmg that my order has been dispatched today for delivery Thursday! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Obviously I am anoyed. First because or their cockup and second because I have no appology, thirdaly their website is still wrong

So, first and last time for me. I will just stick to ARC who have always been excellent

Edited By petro1head on 12/04/2017 17:33:46

Don't ya just love it. METRIC with an imperial drawbar thread!

Yeh, its always puzzled me why that is

Probably isn't metric, just the same screw with different numbers on the dial. And if it's anything like my cheapo boring head the socket head grub screws will be BSW - and made of cheese. First thing I did was replace my grub screws with US/UK made ones.

Andrew

PetrolHead's extremely brave. Criticism of anything Myford related usually results in the offender being cast into the outer darkness with their epaulettes ripped off!

(RDG own Myford now don't they, or did I imagine that?)

Dave

Pah! Bring it on

I have to say i've bought quite a bit off rdg over the years and never had a moments trouble with them. Andrew said to ditch the cheapo screws on the far eastern boring heads, and thats a very good idea. The ones they come supplied with are pure rubbish.

https://youtu.be/DtNn5_N9wu0

Edited By ronan walsh on 12/04/2017 21:06:52

8mins 57 secs... "I have managed to do some very good work with this even before all the improvements..."

This after an initial recommendation not to buy the junk but to spend a bit more on a used American item.

So what is the price of a few cap screws and a bit of time??

Interestingly in my day job I have recently purchased two similar boring heads and one is being used 24-7 on a production job. The "completely wrong" cutting tools are still in use and receive a few seconds lapping on a diamond lap once a day. Cutting circa 50mm bores in cast iron components.

Second head - purchased "just in case" is still in its box.

For the price they are a no brainer. In our case it has also released a CNC mill as the bore is a second op which can be done easier and quicker manually.

Grum

All sorted, finally arrived yesterday.

I am sure I read somewhere that its a good idea to replace the set screws as the chineese ones are like cheese?

Perhaps in two messages a bit higher up this page...

Dave, strictly speaking it was the father of the owner of RDG who purchased old Myford.

You get what you pay for with RDG, some good, some is not so good, but they will always treat you fairly.

Any idea where I can buy UK/US set screws. The ones on ebay are from the far east ie **LINK**

I have a Chinese made boring head that proved quite serviceable. There were only two issues. The grub screws were soft. The dial for adjustment was numbered backwards. Lathe type boring bars work quite well but need to be shortened. High speed steel works quite well because the surface speed will be fairly low. Cheap boring bars from China that accept round tool bits work quite well. Always use the shortest tool that will reach the bottom of the hole. Too much stickout almost guarantees chatter.

Did you replace the grub screws and if so where did you get them from?

If I want decent quality fixings I go to Sterling Nuts & Bolts Ltd of Peterborough. All their stocks are certificated for use in industry. More expensive than the cheap stuff on epay but, as nearly always, you get what you pay for.

Did my first job using the boring bar and wasted a day creating a lot of swarf.

However the head cuts fine but the problem is the adjustment. It just pants ie dial in 0.40mm and it cuts 0.60mm then the next time 0.55mm

Its my own fault for being a cheapscate so am looking again but this time something of decent quality where the scale actually does what its mean to.

So looking again for suggestions.

Edited By petro1head on 24/04/2017 20:51:25

Erikson "Tenthset", adjusts in increments of 0.002mm on diameter, available with various size tool sockets, 1 just sold on ebay for around £75 but they can go for as little as £35. Shanks are screwed in so different types are available, there are a couple on ebay at the moment if you want to see what they look like.

Emgee

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bristol-Erikson-Ltd-No-10-Tenthset-Boring-Head-30-International/302293447491?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40656%26meid%3D96923960027b40258f534d1ee0fa2a56%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D132157401608

Edited By Emgee on 24/04/2017 21:15:56

Edited By Emgee on 24/04/2017 21:17:05

Clearly he was some kind of marketing genius as he is now able to sell the same machine as years ago for a tenfold increase.

Maybe try the boring head build in M.E.W? It was a good one if I remember rightly, and none of that fuss of having to measure taper thou per foot with morse tapers when you can be smugly satisfied cutting a whole 8 degree taper for the shank.

Michael W

Edited By Michael-w on 24/04/2017 21:31:28

Hi Petro1head,

I'd suggest spending a bit more time getting used to the tool before parting with your cash.

Boring bars are bendy things and the amount they take off varies with each pass. What you're seeing could be normal.

When boring (which I do for England), I take deep cuts without worrying much about dial accuracy until the hole is close to the required diameter. Then I stop, measure the diameter, and use the dial to move in to size. The important part is to finish off with shallow cuts, with a number of passes at each dial setting. The idea is to minimise the boring bars strong tendency to act like a spring.

A quick way to check dial accuracy would be with a digital caliper.

Dave