Member postings for Metalhacker

You can buy 1 litre bottles of acetone in any french supermarket or diy store. Freely available there!

I have Machine DRO on my mill and Newall were on my lathe when I bought it. The Machine dro nes are, I think, basically Sino ones, but Machine DRO have an ace in the hole, their manual, which is quite frankly the best technical doc I have ever read. So very highly recommended, and no battery issues. As they say, the pleasure of quality remains long after the sting of the price is gone!

Andries

Sad Day. He will be much missed for his sensible advice and practical solutions. RIP

There is a good photo blog somewhere on the web about reassembling a Hercus, the aussie South Bend clone. That might be helpful too.

slightly off topic, I want to replace the link belt on my 500 VSL. Anyone know how long it is?

Andries

just tried that website Brian, it doesn't work. it is actually : hrs-ccl.co.uk a minor difference but could be frustrating

Andries

If you want kids fainting in the boiling heat, try the first month of term in February in WA.. 40 degrees plus for weeks and no aircon. No wonder they can't spell!

Nice website Roy. Can't say I'm into the gun stuff though. Your chuck key article demonstrates the power of metal flung out at high speed quite enough for me!

welcome all the same.

andries

I was thinking of an arrangement the allows one to bolt on various accessories, like dividing gears and worm wheel, handle and watchmakers dividing plates. Will do some sketches when I get time but the hollow mandrel idea is good. I have an R8 adaptor for the spindle nose which will hold my ER40 collets so i could use the collets and divide at the same time!

Thanks Steve,

I do have the book, so I will have a look

Andries

Hi,

I have checked out that article and the subsequent one on the divider, and it looks as if it could be the right idea for the VSL, if a little bigger. I will sit down with my thinking cap on and see how I can incorporate gear dividing as well as division plates which I bought years ago for my Unimat. It may be a multi function spindle attachment in the end!

BW

Andries

Thanks Neil,

that looks a real possibility. Is that ME Edition in the electronic archive?

Andries

I have a Boxford 500 VSL, which, as you may know, has a huge central spindle hole. The latest MEW has a design for a titchy Myford sized one. To upscale to the 1 1/2" plus size needed for the boxford would be quite an undertaking, and would the mandrel expand enough at that size to lock the crank to the spindle? I have somewhere seen a central insert with a diagonal cut across it so one part would slide across the other and lock crank to spindle. Would this be a viable alternative to the centrally expanding type. I would also be using it as a mount for a gear based indexer. What do you all think?

I have been wearing varifocal ordinary glasses for years, and after I had my cataracts fixed, opting for good distance vision, I needed reading glasses. Over the counter glasses are fixed focal length so you need different ones for reading, computer, shopping etc, very tedious to change all the time. I got varifocal readers which were great soasked my friendly local optician (also the local vicar) about varifocal safety glasses. After some xplanation of what I wanted them for they agreed to produce some. As i had opted for the widest reading field in my ordinary ones, very pricey, I went for a smaller field. Big mistake for looking at rules, micrometers etc. but otherwise much better than goggles over glasses. As Lofty says, they fog up! But do try to avoid 'overlooking' them as of course then they aren't protecting your eyes! How do I know........?

Andries

A good threadlocking technique I found with model aircraft engine mounts, which is to put a short length of thin nylon fishing line down the hole before screwing in the bolt or grub screw. Voila a nyloc type thread

My condolences on your loss.

a resource like this could be of immense-historical and possibly commercial value. If all those editions could be electronically reproduced, I am sure lots of us would want to consult them or even buy a set recorded on a DVD. Added to the archive on this ite we could all consult them in perpetuity. What do you think Diane or Neil?

Andries

Hi Bill,

how have you got on?

andries

I have always felt that the MODEL in the title was irrelevant anyway. It purely represents the magazines initial derivation from ME. HSM does not have Model in its title but does a lot of articles on them. Perhaps Home Engineers Workshop would more accurately represent the diverse interests of the readership. I don't make models but the techniques discussed will, I hope, prove invaluable when I build the engine for my steam launch project. We are in danger of being bogged down by our differences rather than benefitting from our similarities. The content is the relevant thing, and I usually find something to divert me from reading a real book!

BW to all

Andries

No worries Mate. I'd like to think we'd all help each other out when needed.

Hi Bill,

it sounds as if the roll pin that joins the allen head to the pinion has bust. I would follow the Arc instructions to detach the head from the rotation plate behind it

you then need to detach the side head elevating plates from the block attached to the Z leadscrew, it means taking the sheet metal back cover off. Then raise it as high as you can and there is a round plate screwed in accessed from the back of the rotation plate. There is a spring in there so be careful. The pin will come out leaving the pinion held by a screw which prevents lateral motion. Once that is out you can manoevre the pinion out the side. Not easy, I used a sharp right angle marking scribe which gave just enough grip to pull it out. If the allen head bolt is broken, as mine was turn down an M8 bolt to fit, then replace the rollpin and you are ready to reassemble. It is important to see the locating screw allows free movement before replacing the locating pin etc. Or....... Dont replace it at all and rely on accurate tramming to locate square and prevent further hassle!

good luck

Andries

Bill,

I had this problem when I first used mine. The allen head screw is not in fact a screw. It controls a pinion which moves a locating stud backwards to release the head to tilt. When I tried it I turned anticlockwise which sheared a pin in the assembly and it would not release. I then had to disassemblle the head to repair it. To release turn it clockwise about 1/4 turn or so. On mine it does not hold the head located square anyway whenlocated so i will remove it when and if I next strip the head down.( good guide on arc eurotrade website.) Tram the head straight when returning to upright and hold the pin out till the front bolts are done up. There is a better user guide to the SX3 on the Grizzly websute. I forget the number their machine is called but the PDF is freely downloadable and has a good exploded diagram of the machine.

good luck

Andries