Member postings for Russ B

Thats exactly what I just thought when I read it!

Searching for one now.......

I'm going to give RAL 7012 a try instead of RAL 7011, it's ever so slightly lighter and has a slight tip towards more green and red over blue (this makes it more cream in colour) -

RAL 7011 RAL 7012

They look so much darker on screen than they are in real life, I'm not sure why.

+1 from me too, have ordered several things and been surprised every time by the speed of delivery.

Edited By Russ B on 12/08/2019 09:49:13

I'll probably miss a few ....

Sieg SX1L from ArcEuroTrade - really great little machine once I'd removed the tilting column however the 100-150w motor was a pretty serious issue, I'd still happily have that machine now if it weren't for that.

Bridgeport dual speed motor belt driven (J head was it?) with mechanical variable speed cross feed on the table. Easily my favourite machine, it could tackle anything and had a shaper on the back, I loved it, but it was 7 feet tall and took up half the width of my domestic garage by the time you'd allowed enough space to rotate the ram and move the table left and right. Miss it, but it was impractical in a garage my size, maybe one day I'll be able to have one.

RF-30 machine, really heavy duty piece of kit, round column means you lose x/y coordination when raising/lowering the head which has to be done quite alot when changing from end mills in the spindle collets to drills in a chuck etc, can be worked around with stubby drills & hold everything in an ER collet - solid, reliable, and with the mentioned work around, very useable, would outlast me.

RF45 - seriously big hunk of kit for a desktop, the quick speed changes on the mill head was handy (bought at auction it was going cheap, sold to a friend + £100 for my troubles/transport)

Astra L4 horizontal and vertical mill - probably the nicest machine I've owned, it was so capable, but so small, it had to go! Being a horiztonal mill, the vertical milling was done via a knuckle type head mounted directly on the horizontal spindle, leaving very very little room down to the table. It was a very very small machine with very limited x,y travel, ideal if you only want to make small things on a 3.5" lathe but no good for my general purpose, I miss it, and i dont miss it at the same time!

My current machine and I don't think I'll ever sell it, unless a VMF falls in to my lap(... Frank.... ahem.... just in case you need the space in crete.... ) Myford VMC with 5 micron M-DRO scales and central lube system, the slides and screws are the smoothest of any machine I've ever used, they're on par with bad ballscrews, it's a dream to use, I will make a small column riser if/when needed as it's ever so slightly tight but it's not given me any real trouble yet (I've got two pieces of stock the right size for a 3.5" raiser, I'll use one and sell the other once made).

I had to get a small mill for general use and heavy duty drilling at work and I went with an RF30 clone as it's just a solid piece of kit, belt drive, very little to go wrong - someone drilled the table within a week, bloody apprentices and electricians.......

This should make light work of my CES/Jacobs hobber castings

https://youtu.be/otUPiTs5vFg

Looks like it's a nice 10 inch shaper with a few neat little features. A chap called Mark correctly identifed it by PM but I'd not checked, thanks to mark and as I said to him, I look forward to getting it and hope it's all present and correct.... And if it isn't a new project is born (The shaper works I've just not explored all the features as I don't know what I'm looking at)

Edited By Russ B on 22/07/2019 22:55:10

Well I'd googled for hours before posting this and now after half an hour of looking I've found it!

Eriksen Shaper

Does anyone know what this shaper is, it's stroke is about 8 inch off the top of my head.

Flat ways on the ram and table etc not dovetail

Looks like a little lever on the back perhaps sets the speed to 3 or 4 presets (I'm guessing due to its proximity to the input shaft)

Can be set to index left/right or up/down

Nice piece of kit, I'm hoping it'll be in my garage very soon, I've always wanted a shaper although I'd envisioned it would be vice mounted and hand operated, but what I really need is just a bigger workshop!

I did search AirgunBBS and BSA owners forum but I didn't have any success. I have left John a message and have been assured he will call back.

Many thanks for the quick replies, I honestly spent an hour or more looking for even a crumb trail - forum skills need more of a refurb than my rifle apparently!

Does anyone have contact details for the legend/gunsmith/designer John Bowkett. I've picked up a Titan Manitou which seems to have a few unusual features. I'm planning on stripping it, having it hot blued locally and giving the stock some love, I just wondered if the man himself would be able to service it or even refurbish it for me.

I'm going to have a good look when I get the chance, but I think the barrel and receiver are extended but I'm not sure. The top of the dovetail is also serrated/grooved, looks to be the factory finish, I've not seen this before and can't find any photos similar online.

All the best,

Is the saddle thicker on older machines? I'd seen some photos online which seemed to show some meatier than others, but I couldn't tell if it was age,model or rebrand specific etc

The saddles on these things are very low profile and seem to get thinner and thinner in terms of meat on their bones, I wouldn't be overly surprised if you tightening the two front screws to lock the x axis is causing the Y ways to bow slightly.

Just to clarify, i think the weakest point of the saddle will run right to left where the cutout is for the X screw, I seem to recall it gets down to sort of 1/4" steel thickness which means load is transferred across the thicker Y dovetails below.

Next question.... how tight is tight? I only nip mine, a good squeeze with a screwdriver sort of tightness, I wouldn't use an allen key or spanner to gain any leverage.

Edited By Russ B on 05/06/2019 11:46:12

I remember picking up a centre punch from the car boot tool man for 99p..... I remember thinking how hard could it be to get a centre punch wrong..... I'll chance it for 99p.....

it lasted 20 seconds, blunt after the first hit, domed after the second and bent on the third...... I was only using a small tapping hammer!!

Ed,

How about using a 110v transformer and a rotary switch to run through the 110v or bypass it. This keeps your CAP running at the correct frequency for the phase shift

This spring disintegrating reminds me of changing brake fluid types on my trails bike, technically both compatible as per the manufacturers recommendation, however the change in PH caused the spring to disintegrate.

i would have guessed repeated use with a toolpost grinder without protecting the bed

Sounds like you're speaking from experience there

Useful comments here, I need to strip my Myford VM-C to change the bearings, although I'm having a bit of difficulty finding the plain thrust bearing at the bottom (NTN 2907) - I prefer not to order online as there seem to be a lot of fake bearings around.

I was also considering doing away with the thrust altogether and fittings a pair of angular contacts top and bottom, but I'm not sure what I'd gain, if anything. If it isn't broken.... etc......

I used a company on ebay called Paints4trade, very knowledgeable, they can make anything you want. You can also get Toluene and other useful solvents for cleaning really stubborn grease/grime stains.

The enamel paint I bought was specifically for plant and machinery and was Xylene based. Just go easy on the Xylene and Toluene as they are a bit toxic, affects the nervous systems etc. Well ventilated area needed!

Tractol is a Xylene based enamel paint too.

Edited By Russ B on 20/03/2019 08:13:15

LandyLift

I've used him several times for machines including a series 1 Bridgeport which was a task and a half. Affordable, very hard working.