Member postings for Russ B

Ron,

Sorry for the delay. I was out in the garage today and can confirm when the saw is lowered to horizontal the blade is about 5 or 6mm above the vice, thus the pivot point is obviously a but high. This means the saw has to be lowered further than it should reducing the depth capacity by about that much. I few simple spacers under the vice will resolve this, a slightly longer bolt and nut between the vice and stand would probably be a very adequate quick solution, albeit a bit unrefined.

On the plus side, you can fit a larger vice!! I'll roughly measure the actual height of the pivot point next time im in there which will tell us how high of a vice we can make/mount.

I'm in doncaster if anyone wants to have a go with the Aldi bandsaw.

There are a few minor things like the vice, but at £150 all in, it is an incredible amount of usefulness for the money - a good vice would cost £150 on its own?

Edited By Russ B on 08/03/2019 09:32:42

The best built quality old english lathe in the country won't give you any better results if its worn out or incorrectly set up. The latter can be rectified almost cost free, the former is a bit trickier, assessing a old lathe and determining how much falls in to each of the above two categories is key.

One thing with the old Myford 7's (super and ML) is the flat bed is easy to measure, it should be off the top of my head, 1/2" out the factory. If you give the shears a dam good scrubbing with solvent and make sure they're sparkling, it's very easy to compare the thickeness at the tailstock to the thickness at the spindle end, giving you a very quick idea of the sort wear the bed has. The white metal spindle bearings on the ML7 are irreplaceable, requires a new spindle and bearings to rectify, so make sure there are no issues with that and you're good to go.

I have an ML7 that I had every intention of refurbishing (rebuild, repaint, and I think the belt guard might be missing) -no idea what condition the bed or spindle is in. I've got 4 lathes and an 8 month old daughter, they don't go together very well, if you're near doncaster let me know, i might let it go cheap.

Never had a boxford but always fancied one, they look really nice.

I have Kennedy Hexacut and have just sold my Blackgates Power Hacksaw.

I'm now using this and absolutely love it, £150 delivered from Aldi of all places, 5" capacity off the top of my head. It is primarily a free hand saw but it comes with a stand and produces very accurate cuts and also rotates to cut mitres, the blade is variable speed so you can adjust it to suit but i think is mostly a gimmik, I just run it on minimum all the time.

workzone-240v-portable-bandsaw

A few caveats,

• the cam mechanism on the vice jaw isn't amazing but it's sufficient.
• because this is primarily a free hand saw, when mounted in the stand the blade cuts towards you rather than away
• also, the flex also points towards you - it's not really a problem, just something you wouldn't encounter on a purpose built bandsaw.
• There is no hydraulic mechanism to drop the blade
• you have to keep your finger on the trigger.

Still, prefer it to the Kennedy and the Blackgates as it's quicker, quieter, smoother and more accurate - plus it comes in a nice blow mould case with blade storage that takes standard 1140mm bandsaw blades- Milwaukee manufacture 10, 14, 18 and 25 TPI bimetal blades (£19 for 3) as well as 10/14 and 14/18 variable pitch bimetal blades (£22 for 3) - the saw comes with a very nice M42 bi-metal blade as standard.

Edited By Russ B on 06/03/2019 13:24:13

I used this method to mount a coolant pump, which on its own, is COMPLETELY silent, you can't even tell its running, unless you put your hand on it. As soon as it's rigidly mounted there is humming sound that just resonates through the whole house, it is now completely silent again (I didnt use rubbers as big as the ones in the link obviously!)

Edited By Russ B on 28/02/2019 10:55:37

I would guess the majority of the sound will not be air borne, so sound deadening on the walls and floors won't do much.

Mount your machines stands on anti vibration motor mounts, this will be the main source of sound that is passed through the floors and in to the walls, shaking the whole building.

**LINK**

Just to be clear, I was not suggesting the cheap helmets give me arc eye?

I meant exactly what I said, they clearly give me headaches and sore eyes, like not wearing my glasses kind of eye strain. Granted, I might be using it for several hours but still, it is a sign of the protection difference.

Clive, I've got the FX not the XX, however the XX shares the same optics (there are 3 different versions of the glass). The FX has a lithium battery powered belt that filters and feeds fresh air in to the helmet and the welding front flips up to reveal a full face grinding shield.

I have 4 or 5 helmets, ranging from cheap fixed shade ESAB's to my £1200 3M 9100FX helmet with 9100XX glass.

Going from one end of the spectrum to the other, I find I get best visibility on the fixed shade glass! in my opinion, they seem to do a better job at blocking the arc without blocking so much light you can't see what you're doing. If you can used to starting blind it's the way to go especially on a budget.

I bought a £120 3M 100v series, great helmet but as above, despite being good quality, and my go to helmet actually, you can see more with the fixed shade, but its comfortable and quality.

I have just bought a 3M 9100FX helmet with 9100XX glass (its a modular system, you can get various different UV filters depending on budget). The auto darkening filter on this helmet is very different to the cheaper £130 100V, for a start when you turn it on, the shade changes immediately, so it's obviously using power to become clearer, when tinted it is also more clear the 100V, allowing me to see more of what's going on around my weld, more like the fixed shade helmet - it doesn't seem brighter, but somehow I can see more?

And finally, I also have a cheap Chinese helmet (ive had 2 actually, the current one was from Cromwell, the other was eBay) I wouldn't recommend them at all, they clearly give me headaches and sore eyes, I suspect the time they take to switch isn't any where near as fast as they claim and you get a bit of a flash each time you start, and possibly the UV protection isn't what it should be - I'm sure they claim to meet all the required standards but who actually checks, and who could be held to account. The one from Cromwell doesn't have a brand on it, I know it's their own brand but they aren't taking responsibility.

I'd happily have another £120 3M 100V although I haven't tried ESAB's offering for that price range so I can't say which is better.

I think you might find that motor is a direct replacement, ask the seller if he can roughly measure the square flange face on the motor and the shaft diameter - might just be a simple swap.

You lathe might also be the same but 250w to 350w ish - I'd put the new 500w motor on the lathe, and the lathe motor on the mill.

Just to make things complicated of course.....

Sorry Chris beat me to it

check the vee pulley hasnt siezed to the spindle ie. with the backgear disengaged, release the backgear key and check that the spindle is able to turn freely from the vee pulley or visa versa.

Check the back gear is also able to spin freely when disengaged with a suitable long pointy thing poke down into the bottom and spin the backgears on their shaft.

If they're both turning freely...... who knows

Edited By Russ B on 06/02/2019 12:39:43

I'm not just converting the drawing, this would be an entirely new set of drawings from scratch generated from 3D part and assembly files. It wouldn't be a straight 7/16" to 11mm conversion, I would use nominal sizes, whatever is cheaply available, I may even cheapen it off to more easily available "things" if I see fit.

I'd also be creating 3D printed items (certainly the gears for the drivetrain which I can accurately print from ABS and then make steel/aluminium copies as and when required (although it's far easier to just print another)

The original Jacobs machine (based on a prototype unit made by Tom Jacobs to demonstrate the process) was featured in Model Engineer from January to August 1976 and was fabricated not cast, intended to made at home, and then Helix Company made a set of castings some years after, followed by College Engineering Supplies, who also provided drawings.

Presumably, this is no different to what CES did when they created their drawings based on the original Jacobs hobbing machine?

I'm unsure who if anyone actually owns the design in principal, College Engineering Supplies clearly own the copyright for their own drawings, and Model Engineer magazine no doubt own copyright for the fabricated Jacobs unless used under licence from Tom Jacobs himself - or perhaps just accepted to free to use ??

I don't know?

What I want is for my drawings to be available to anyone free of charge, forever.

Just a question regarding copyright.

I've picked up a set of castings for the Jacobs Hobber (CES version + drawings).

If I create my own drawings to metric standards - is that copyright infringement, CES own the copyright of their drawings, but I guess the Jacobs machine isn't copyrighted or patented in itself.

- just to add to the above, I'd want to share my work freely/however I like if that's possible.

Edited By Russ B on 05/12/2018 13:53:57

Thanks for these suggestions, they're going on my list of things to do!

Brian G's video hits the nail on the head, I want to make a small differential, for an RC truck although not that small!! I'm looking around 1/10th scale - however....... I'd love to make a torson differential on day. I'm sure by the time I actually get to the stage where I've enough knowledge and the skills equipment required to give it a shot, I'll have other interests, but for now, this is good.

I'm holding off on buying anything, this is purely academic for now, I have an 19 week old baby so I'm out of the workshop and into books now, although I do still get 2 or more hours to myself most nights during the week as both mum and baby go to bed early!!

I do not know how small a gear/worm I could make on something as big as that Koepfer (althoguh it looks very compact) I would guess, I might want to make my own miniature hobber, I've a slight inclination towards horology too, some of the things I've seen online are incredible pieces of engineering, and then when you realize the scale, it's just mind blowing!

again, thanks for these suggestions, things are becoming clearer, it's a very in depth niche though!

Can anyone recommend any literature on gear hobbing. Its something that's always fascinated me, I'd love to get a little hobbing machine and have a go but I'm afraid it would just be overly complicated to setup and wrap my head around.

I'd love to be able to cut the gears to make a small differential gear one day.

Regards,

Russ

For Charlie, and anyone else missing their spindle speed sticker - it isn't actually in the manual, perhaps it depends on your motor?

I haven't verified that my motor is original, or that these are the actual speeds, my RDM is still in a shipping crate on my to do list at work.

Here's a link incase the below ever stops working - as they eventually tend to.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/unui0l9uomeo5u6/Photo%2007-03-2018%2C%2016%2002%2008.jpg?dl=0

Edited By Russ B on 07/03/2018 16:16:15

I'd much rather shop locally, and don't mind paying a little bit more to do so, but when they can only offer sub par goods that's a problem, and when they then want to charge the same or more as online shops charge for good or average quality goods, that's a moral line crossed and my opinion becomes that they can now go and fornicate with themselves.......

I think there is a demand for a place like Maplin's on the high street and hopefully if they vanish, it will leave an opening for someone who's not stupid enough to light both ends of a candle.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I'll have to give these a go!

I've always been a fan of good old plastic erasers, I use a Staedtler brand "Mars Plastic" - marks and grot on painted walls, computer cases etc etc vanish (so does the paint on soft matt emulsion if you keep going at it so its just a gentle job, dont go ballistic)

I clean the eraser by putting it in inside a sock in the washing machine with my smalls, comes out like new! (I'm sure many of the pencil draftsman will know that trick)

Edited By Russ B on 16/02/2018 14:41:42

Bill, I think you'll find these are two very different types of shredder.

The one from homebase uses a sort of gear wheel rotating slowly at 45rpm to hog lumps out of branches, you set the choke width using a hand wheel on the ouside, it's kind of like a thickness planer. They chuck about 5 or 10 lumps out a second.

The Titan one you linked is a rotating flywheel spinning at ultra high RPM, they're kind of like a lawnmower upside down, personally, I don't like these, it seems like you have to force everything in to them, more of a mulching effect than a chipping effect, I find the blades dull easily especially with harder wood.

Ady1 how are you finding it, I'm very tempted since I have the flywheel type, and these slow gear type things make it looks so much easier!

IanSC, I was disappointed with the R8 spindle, I thought it was MT3 which would have made for nice cross compatibility with existing machinery/lathe etc but never mind, it's still a superb machine for our little odd jobs and modifications. I think they were sold with MT3 or R8.

We have a Pinnacle drill press at work, and that's made by Naerok, I think I've seen a Rexon and that looked the same too, I'm guessing they're all made by Naerok (now out of business I think, no doubt lost the price war against Rong-Fu)

John, I've sent you a private message regarding the mods. What model Grizzly has this type of column raise/lowering arrangement.