Unimat boring head

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

I have no desire to hijack Gray’s thread and the stunning boring heads that he has designed and built, however it prompted me to look out one that I started some time back.

I believe that the design would have been published in the early 1980s and was designed for the Unimat. As may be seen, the design used the rotation of a concentric ring to mesh to a gear that moved the boring tool holder, eliminating any other external adjustments. As can be more clearly seen, this was at the limits of man and machine at the time, especially man! The best thing about it was the knowledge gained in all sorts of ways including making gear cutters and cutting what looks like a sub-0.5mm pitch thread. I have also learned to break the edges on machined items in the intervening years, my fingers can confirm that this was not the case when I made the head.

It all came to a stop when the combination of minor errors finally culminated in an inability to continue. It has lain in my Unimat box of bits ever since.

Size can be imagined from the 5mm squared paper that the photos use as a background, roughly 40mm OD.

I wonder if anyone else remembers this design – and could refer me to the original drawings?

Simon

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Disappointed to see that no-one has replied

I’ve never seen this project before, so I can’t help … but it looks very interesting, and I hope to pick up a few ideas

Therefore << BUMP >>

MichaelG.

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Thanks Michael, I had rather expected you to respond with a full reference and background……

I couldn't initially find any reference to it in ME indexes but that was using my iPad which is a bit user hostile in those areas.

My PC has come up trumps (am I allowed to mention that name?) with a reference to A Small Boring Head for the Unimat 3, written by B.R.Davies in 1980 (v146, n°3644)

Neil, how about a reprint on the website…..?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

This may inform or confuse … I’m not sure which: **LINK**

[ I have only viewed the first page ]

MichaelG.

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Michael, you have hit the money – as usual!

Certainly as far as the 1st page is concerned anyway, not having an account at scribd, I cannot see the rest of the article either.

So issue of 4th June 1982 and the 2nd July 1982…

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Hi Simon,

I am not sure, I think Rex Tingey did something similar, but I may be wrong. I do not have his Unimat book any longer so I am unable to check.

Someone also modified a Unimat 3/4 topslide to make a boring head.

Regards

Gray,

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Hi Gray,

I thought Rex Tingey did something as well – but I have his book "Making the most of your Unimat" and it is not in there, although I vaguely recall that he wrote others.

The modified Unimat topslide was the first one that I found – written by B.R.Davies in 1980. The article that describes the one that I (partly) built was found by Michael and published in 1982. I eventually found another site where someone had copied the article into a pdf, so I now have the drawings and instructions. I am slightly awed by my (over) confidence some 38 years ago!

Regards,

Simon

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Hi Simon,

His article on this particular boring head may well have appeared in "Model Mechanics". I know his "Gear Cutting" articles are in these magazines somewhere.

I distinctly remember the single circular cutter he made to cut the internal gear, but that is as far as my memory goes. He did encourage the Emco user to experiment with the capacity of their machines. I learnt a lot from him in the early days with my Emco Unimat SL and 3.

Model Mechanics used to be available on this site, I don't know if they still are, as I have not looked for them lately.

Regards

Gray,

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Hi Gray,

PM'd you.
Regards,

Simon

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