A Welcome Visitor (Bogs thread relocated)

[Brass_Machine]

Trekking in from the monster mountain region of deepest North Wales, came our favourite glass valve hi-fi man, Darren.

After a while of gum beating and supping fresh brewed coffee, we went to a place Darren had never been before.

A model engineers dungeon (sorry, workshop).

After running round like a kid in a sweet shop, he eventually came down to earth, and I showed him the way our machines run. Darren has only been dabbling on the outskirts of machining and I think he came away that maybe he can achieve what he wants to do, and there is no black magic involved in what we do, just plain and simple thinking (in my case, emphasis on the simple).

Then came a bit I didn't think would impress him much. But when I got my engines up onto the boil with the new compressor, they surprised even me. Especially the turbines. They actually screamed, a thing that my old compressor could never get them to do. Now I know that my three rotor turbine was a good design as I could never get it off the simmer. The elbow engine, as is usual, mesmerised him for while, until it sunk in how it actually worked.

Anyway, the time came for his excuse for venturing into deepest Cheshire.

The poorly lathe.

I had visions of having to do major surgery on it, but as it turned out, with the correct measuring instruments, it showed it was only a minor scratch, and could easily be fixed with a bit of sticky tape (well, an hour on the mill).



There is a slight bulge under both sides of the bed in the same position on both sides. Almost certainly caused by original bad machining. So the jibs had to be adjusted to go over this 'hump', and invariable, anywhere else on the bed, the saddle would be wobbling about because the jibs just wouldn't be tight. Once these 'humps' have been hacked off, the jibs should be able to be adjusted to a much more stable setting.

So once my shop has been sorted a little more, this bit on minor work will be carried out, and hopefully the lathe will be brought back to full health.

I don't know how his first impressions were when meeting a model engineer full on, complete with missing top teeth, but I am sure he went away with the feeling that we no longer lived in caves, and don't eat the offspring of our enemies.

It was a long trek for Darren, I just hope he thought it was worth all the effort.

Bogs


**originally posted by Bogs

[Brass_Machine]

Coffee..... I always found that this works well for the mugging John....     Grin  Cheesy  ;)

Shame about the height gauge.... But the recycled side of it should prove worthwhile

Oh and John....




Ralph.

**Originally posted by Divided He ad

[Brass_Machine]

Ralph,

I prefer to have no machinery sent the way of the recycle bin, but sometimes, if a new sympathetic owner can't be found, the dastardly deed has to be done. I am having to carry out euthanasia on that cursed ball bearing height guage soon.

I was truly surprised at how the turbine runs when it has the air volume behind it. Maybe a new little vid is in order.

Darren didn't fall over once while he was here, so the coffee must have been OK. He even had a second one. Normally unheard of. One is usually enough, puts them out of it, while I go thru their pockets, but he seems to be immune.

John

**Originally posted by Bogs

[Brass_Machine]

I don't know if this will work, I'm having a weird problem in that I can't see this thread whilst I'm logged in but it seems I can post a reply ........... "Computers" ....... I believe that's why God invented the "Sledgehammer"   ;D

Anyway, glad Darren had a good time .............. btw I have a nice 9x20 lathe coming up for sale soon    8)

CC

**Originally posted by CrewCab

[Brass_Machine]

Well, I managed to get all the posts consolidated into one thread. Feels kinda odd replying to myself. 

One of the things I like about this place (and HMEM) is the chance for us to meet and befriend all different kinds of people. Over the internet is cool, but in person meetings are the best!

Darren, hope you had fun at John's place. I am jealous.

Eric

** originally posted by Brass_Machine... oh wth...

[CrewCab]

That's working fine Eric ............ Cheers 

CC

[bogstandard]

I went in and tried to delete the old post, but it wouldn't let me.

So Eric has done the right thing and moved it. 

And just to reply.

There is nothing like the feeling you get when meeting internet buddies, you have never seen the person before, but you already feel as though you have known them for ages. Breaking the ice is a lot easier.

John

[Bernd]

Thread hijack.

OK Eric working for me. 

Bernd

[Darren]

Thanks Eric,that's much better now.....

Well John, like a kid in a sweetie shop was I? Ha, yep suppose I was. Tools have always fascinated me, so when so many were on display I just couldn't help myself could I... ;D

John was kind enough to demonstrate his new Miller, well you would wouldn't you !! Very impressive machine. Firstly some fly cutting followed with some slot cutting, very nice finish,,,sooo sharp.. Gave me a good chance witness 3 things, speed rate, depth of cut and feed rate. None of which I had much of a clue about.

The lathe was not demonstrated in anger much to the relief of Johns fine collection of metal stock, but having seen it go through the motions one can't fail to see it's potential. John has gone overboard with DRO's, I think he has a fetish with them. However to save his dignity it was clear how well they would serve after a couple of demos. Now it's hard to see how we manage without.
Darn it, never a good idea to see this stuff is it, now all I have in my head is "I want, I want......" One day......

Well that's enough about the tools, and there was much more, I picked up loads of info, got back home with plenty to think about I can tell you.

John was the perfect host, nothing like what I was expecting. A simple man just like most of us here. Many that get to this level in their own field end up with their head firmly stuck up their arse , but not our John. I found him to offer very pleasant company and quite willing/able to suffer fools like myself.

Now then, those engines, I was previously fascinated by them from what I'd seen on the net, but seeing them in the flesh is a whole new ball game.
For some reason I hadn't twigged that they where actually of any use other than simple amusement. Doah, they are steam engines, fool....!!
Silly me...yep they really got to me when fired up and running. The work involved  in some of them was astounding.

Now then the Coffee, what's wrong with the coffie, seemed fine to me....hic !

PS, what was that scraper, and what on earth where those carbide tipped drill bits called. I can't find any ref to them on the net?
And...
and...
and...
and...

Oh later then..... ;D

Thanks John for sharing a few hours, yes a long drive it may have been, but more than worth it. Thoroughly enjoyed myself and looking forwar to the return trip to collect my little lathe

[bogstandard]

Sorry about that Darren,

I have been flat on my back for most of the last couple of days.

For what I use as a deburrer, go to ebay and search for 'olfa laminate cutter'

For drills of all sorts go here

http://www.leofixings.com/fixings_Drill+Bits-10.html

I always use the ground drill bits, stub drills, long series etc. You will be pushed to find better quality at such low prices. The tungsten tipped ones are called Hard Plate drills. Supposedly you can drill holes thru files with them, if that sort of thing turns you on.

Glad you enjoyed your visit.

I am looking at fitting your lathe with tapered gibs. But that will have to wait until I get a few rush jobs out of the way.

John

[Darren]

You will be pushed to find better quality at such low prices. The tungsten tipped ones are called Hard Plate drills. Supposedly you can drill holes thru files with them, if that sort of thing turns you on.


I am looking at fitting your lathe with tapered gibs. But that will have to wait until I get a few rush jobs out of the way.

John

Blimey John, I know you have mentioned the taper gibs for the mini lathe, (and indeed showed me how to adjust them properly for my mill which I have now successfully done).
But I wasn't expecting you to modify the lathe gibs on my behalf..!!

Now I'm really excited, the original saddle gibs (apart from a wavy bed) must the the worst design area on these otherwise capable little lathes.
The level of upgrade this modification will bring about will truly bring this lathe up to precision status.

I'm stunned at your generosity...... 

Thanks for the info above, I visited the scrap yard again a couple of days ago and came away with quite a lot of very clean polished SS flat bar 50x10x2000mm. Those drills or at least some smaller pilot sizes might just be the ticket.

All I need to do now it find a way of cutting it into smaller usable sizes when required !! Any ideas, would a bandsaw cut SS ok ??

All I have at the mo is a cutoff saw, messy and eats discs with steel. Not tried SS with it.

Darren

To think I'd almost abandoned it. 

[bogstandard]

Darren,

For the little extra effort involved, it would be silly not to carry out the tapered jib mod. As they say about a job worth doing. No thanks needed, please refer to Ralph for rules and regulations.

On your little bandsaw, forget the cutting of anything ferrous, it will knock the teeth straight off. Unless you can get a special blade for it, specifically for cutting ferrous. I showed you mine with a good quality, fine pitched wood cutting blade. It easily copes with ali and brass.

Next time you visit, if you remind me, I have a few steel cutting discs knocking about somewhere, they just might fit your monster chopper. Be careful using those grinding chop saws, the metal gets so hot at the cut interface, they can change properties very quickly, and you could end up with a rock hard cut edge. DAMHIK.

John

[cedge]

John
While you have the cross slide apart, there is one other small and simple mod you'll want to make. I'm assuming Darren left the bronze lead screw nut with you. Most of the slop in the cross slide is due to the small center screw sliding across the top of that little bronze cube. Drill a small indention in the nut to accept the end of the screw and the screw will index itself when it's reinstalled. This will remove most, but not all of the lash.

The other spot it needs attention is where the lead screw flange is trapped between the bezel of the handle mount. It needs a small brass shim to take up the slack when the two outer adjustment screws are adjusted. The shim worked best on the bed side of the flange.

The two outboard screws adjust the nut tilt to compensate for the loose fit of the lead screw threads. The center screw cants the whole lead screw assembly to remove any play at the afore mentioned flange, on the lead screw. With the screw nicely indexed, it can no longer slide across the top of the nut. Trust me... it was a major improvement to mine. Now, if I could just find the right solution for removing that annoying compound slop.

Steve

[bogstandard]

Steve,

Welcome to our little discussions BTW, and many thanks for the tips and fixes. When it comes to reassembly, they will all be carried out as per your instructions.



Then Darren can blame you if it is a load of crap.

That is called passing the buck.

John

[cedge]

John
Cowardice under fire?....      The mod is so stupidly simple that I almost didn't do it here. I'd seen mod suggestions that required installing bearings, splitting the bronze nut, moglice tricks of all kinds.... you name it. Each one was deemed futile after it was tried. One lone small voice mentioned this one on a Yahoo board and the poor guy was either ignored or beaten up by the board's "experts". You know the story.

After thinking about what he'd suggested, I decided to give it a try, since it couldn't do much harm. No regrets.

Steve

[Darren]

That's what's so nice about this site

It allows us "simple" ones to feel alive.......oh, and learn without being flamed 

[bogstandard]

Don't worry Darren,

Good sites NEVER put a person without skills or knowledge down, they should always be assisted in any way possible.

BTW, don't worry about the banter between Steve and myself, just good clean fun.

John

[Brass_Machine]

Darren,

I seriously doubt you are 'simple'. I have seen your projects and I wouldn't consider them simple by any means. 

Bogs is right. I want this to be a site where anyone can ask without fear of being put down. It is also a fun place so a little bit of riding is also acceptable until someone says 'enough'. John and Steve have known each other for awhile.


Steve

I am going to try those mods you suggested. The first one about the lead screw nut... seems like it would work with the X2 as well??

Eric
 

[cedge]

Eric
Which screw is giving you problems on the X2? I'm not quite sure the lathe trick will work on the mill. Different physical layout.

John who?.... 

Steve