Issue 218 will be a bit special...

Naw.

Precision is plus or minus a post code............................

On re-reading No. 218, I studied Malcolm High's article on a quick change tool post stand, and I was flabbergasted., laser cut out of 6mm steel?, tool holders with ears on them to stop them falling out? (and welded!). Out of curiosity, I looked at the website to find the cost of the bits and I could not find it. I had intentioned to find the cost and suggest a cheaper alternative system, I have thought of multiple solutions, none as complex or expensive as Malcolm's.

I think that Neil should run a competition to find the "best" solution with a beer drinking voucher as the prize, a photograph of 1L bottles of water hanging at each of the 10 stations, one inch out from the back, providing the entry, with a breakdown of materials.

I shall not be cancelling my subscription.

Frank

Strangely enough I know of several of the traction engine boys (and girls) who have found getting lazer cut parts cheaper than buying in plate due to the lazer companies ability to purchase at lower rates than we can for a small offcut. I found it the same when I wanted some 5mm plate for my Galloway Wheels, cheaper to buy four 6" lazered discs off the net than buy a 12x12 sheet.

Small items like this will likely be nested in withlarger jobs so they are really just uising up the waste material and you are just paying for lazer time

So maybe not as expensive as you may think

Edited By JasonB on 15/07/2014 20:44:07

Hi Frank,

Malcolm sent me an email which included; "10 holders are £30 including Vat but plus P&P at cost for your information."

Which doesn't seem excessive to me?

Neil

Jason,

Are you Amerrrykun ?

There is no Z in laser. It's an acronym that stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Only our redneck cousins say Light Amplification by Zimulated Emission of Radiation

He's been building too many of these Yankee barn engines

Neil

"I think Keith hit the nail on the head .... remove the "Model" from the title. (Of course you may stand to lose as many subscribers from the Model Engineering community as you gain from the vehicle builders and others)."

You say that like its a bad thing.

Sorry but I disagree with the tool holder rack.

I think it's quite an elegant solution and there is nothing to stop it being mounted vertical in the odd space at the end of shelves or even as an end to a set of shelves hanging down.

Laser cutting may not be for everyone and could be out of some peoples reach cost wise but these sort of people [ no disrespect ] have more time than money so it would be as easy for them to mill so many slots and if they are being welded in then a straight piece of bar will suffice to save even more work.

I think what you need to do here is look outside the box, not take what Malcolm has put as gospel, and see how a similar idea can suit you.

For the impecunious, issue 219 will include a collet rack with a net materials cost of 13p, although it will leave you with £19.87 worth of offcuts.

Neil

P.S. 4 feet of 1/4" by 2" mild steel comes in at at £48 from a hobby supplier, Malcolm's ready-cut rack costs £30...

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 17/07/2014 10:54:37

.

Pay you to buy the whole bar.

Just rung up and 50 x 6 in a 6.1 metre length that's 19 1/2 feet for the unwashed is £19.69 delivered to my door and VAT included.

Sorry I looked at the wrong table, the cost of the raw bar I found should have been £21.

must clean spectacles...

Still just an extra £10 for the cutting seems very fair to me.

Neil

Chris,

If I did one that's how I'd do mine with two pins but my tool holders are a bit special in that they are like the 200 Aloris series but reversed with the external dovetail on the holder and not the post.

They were made this way many years ago before cheap imports as it's easier to make an external dovetail [ think horizontal mill and do a long strip and cut off ] than the modern internal type.

I really enjoyed this issue, and I like the short articles like Stub Mandrel. That is a great little project to use some scrap. The spade drill article is good too.

I even enjoyed the beginner's article about the Stuart engine.

Regards,

David Taylor.

Interesting. I came up with the same thing independently 3 or 4 years ago .... although mine used plastic rod. I'm honoured to be in the same company, John.

And talking about cheap and nasty pliers mods, if you take a pair of end-nippers (this kind of thing) and machine/grind the tops of the jaws (to remove the top part of the bevel), they're handy for removing most of the burrs left by machining even when these are quite heavy. The merest stroke with a file will finish the parts off.

You'd probably want to use a cheap imported pair for this.