Graham Meek’s Boring Head in MEW 336 larger version of that in 311

[Mark SlatterParticipant @markslatter13251]

Hello everyone,

I purchased volumes 311 to 313 specifically for Graham Meek’s boring and facing head as I thought that would make an interesting project one day. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the latest edition of MEW (336) had detailed plans for his “new” design. Upon purchasing and reading the first installment it appears this is the same design (in fact parts of the text are identical)…or am I mistaken? If it is the same design will there be additional material over and above what’s contained in the earlier editions?

I realise I’m asking a question on material that hasn’t been printed yet, but I thought perhaps the moderators might have some input?

Many thanks!

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Photos look the same and the bit of text I have read is very similar. Affraid only Neil and possibly Graham will know. I’ve emailed Neil.

EDIT looking at the drawings they do seem to be of different size heads. Take the feed ring, although it does not show  that it is the feed ring in the latest set of drawings. The offset of the two holes is 20mm on one and 14.4 on the other so 50mm? and 36mm heads

I’d also suggest you get digital copies as some of the detail only shows up when the drawings are zoomed right in, things like hidden detail and thickness of construction/dimension lines don’t work at 1:1

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

sounds a bit like history lessons at school ! Our teachers had fought in the second WW, it was recent past ! It is now taught as History ! To me history was 1066, 1665,6 and 7, 1805 ! May be the term Archive has been up dated to mean recent past ? Noel

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

To be fair to Graham, he does explain early in the text that this is a development of his earlier design, notably in the method of advancing the facing cuts and the gearing that it involves.  If I still had a mill, I would be tempted to make one as I’ve been very impressed with the standard, not only of Graham’s designs, but the superbly engineered results he consistently achieves.  Let’s see what comes up in part 2 et seq….

John

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

This, from 2020 might offer some enlightenment:

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/topic/cutting-small-gears/#post-468590

 

MichaelG.

[John Hinkley]

On John Hinkley Said:

To be fair to Graham, he does explain early in the text that this is a development of his earlier design, notably in the method of advancing the facing cuts and the gearing that it involves.  If I still had a mill, I would be tempted to make one as I’ve been very impressed with the standard, not only of Graham’s designs, but the superbly engineered results he consistently achieves.  Let’s see what comes up in part 2 et seq….

John

 

It’s the same text in both articles at the beginning.

Having looked further I would say the one in 336 for the 50mm “NEW” design should have been published first. Then the 36mm version of the “new” design in 311 published after as Gray mentions the smaller one was designed as his 50mm was too big for soemone elses machine.

The Photos are of the 50mm head shown in Michaels link in both 311 and 336

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Ive had a go at the one in his book and as far as the drawings are concerned they are spot on but I did have trouble with the feed mechanism. The recent article has made me get it out and try to get it sorted and lo and behold I have found a mistake (mine) so am in the process of trying to rectify . The boring head part works perfectly.

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Sorry for the delay in posting.

I think a bit of chronology might not go amiss. The large B&F that appears in the TEE Publishing book, Projects for your Workshop Vol 1. Is the first B&F that I made, which was in fact based on the Emco design, (66mm diameter). This was originally made to complete a sub-contract job and was made in rather a hurry. A further Intermediate design 50 mm was based on this design and is currently with my good friend John Slater.

The smaller 35 mm “New” design with coaxial dial was published earlier than the current 50 mm version which I still have and which was made first. Although the article for this was submitted first before the 35 mm version was made, the 35 mm version appeared first. A larger 66 mm version which was described in Home Shop Machinist some years back went with the sale of the Emco FB2 milling machine. These last designs were an attempt to make a very accurate piece of tooling without the rather large Emco dial appendage whizzing round.

A second example of the 35 mm design is currently being used on my Proxxon FF 230. (see the Proxxon Mill post)

The smaller one is a godsend on my little mill and the current latest feed attachment for the Proxxon mill was made using this head. It could not have been done any other way given the sizes of my current machines.

I hope this clears the air, all texts were written separately, but I would not doubt similar wording would be bound to creep in given the description of what is basically the same design. The design is after all only scaled up or down, but with a bit of tweaking to make the parts fit.

Regards

Gray,

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi folks,

This is actually a larger design than the one in issue 311 et seq. For example, the body is 50mm diameter instead of 36mm, and all the internal parts are distinctly larger with different dimensions (compare the sizes of the worm in the figures for the two articles).

I appreciate the similarities in the text. Graham has helpfully made some clarifications. I suspect that chunks of the same draft text ended up being carried forward into the articles about both versions.

The text in issue 311 does explain that some of the photos show this ‘new’ 50mm head, but the drawings and description apply to miniaturising it. With hindsight, the current series could have had some repetition edited out, but it would only be a fairly modest amount. I’m afraid it’s beyond my powers to memorise every article published and picking up similarities of this kind.

I’m going to carry on with the series as submitted by Graham, as trying to revise out the similarities would be largely pointless, and the 50mm version is certainly worthy of appearing in its own right, notwithstanding the 36mm version, as it is likely to be of value to many readers.

I hope that helps,

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I’ve taken the liberty of changing the thread title, as people may be misled if they only read the title and not the subsequent discussion.

Neil

[noel shelley]

On noel shelley Said:

sounds a bit like history lessons at school ! Our teachers had fought in the second WW, it was recent past ! It is now taught as History ! To me history was 1066, 1665,6 and 7, 1805 ! May be the term Archive has been up dated to mean recent past ? Noel

I too had teachers that fought in WW2, one (a Mr Grimshaw) was our form master for a couple of years and on the 5th of May 1955 remarked that the date had some significance to him as on 4-4-44 he was in a submarine and that day they had survived (or avoided) an enemy attack.

Every 10 years or so when the numbers align, it brings back (mostly) happy schoolday memories.

Ian P

 

P.S. I know we are now well off topic, not so much drifting but more powering at full speed!

 

[Mark SlatterParticipant @markslatter13251]

Many thanks for the replies and clarification everyone, much appreciated!

[colinbParticipant @colinb]

A quick question – as the 36mm version reflects the latest design iteration, it’s the one I’d like to put on my (very long) learn-by-building list. However, I’d like to scale it to suit my larger mill. Can it be simply scaled to suit?

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

 

There are three versions of this “NEW” style of boring head you can choose from. The largest is 66 mm diameter, the Intermediate is 50 mm and the smaller one you know about.

All have been described in various publications, as well as two styles of the OLD B&F heads at 66 mm and 50 mm. Although the latter are simpler in design they do not give a continuous feed when doing Facing cuts.

Hope this helps,

Regards

Gray,

 

 

 

[colinbParticipant @colinb]

Thank you Graham – and my apologies for the delay in replying to you, I didn’t get a notification for some reason.

Are all three sizes of the new versions in MEW? Or can you point me to where I find the new 50mm and 66mm versions?

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Hello Colin,

The 50 mm appeared in article form in MEW, the 66 mm was published in HSM.

Regards

Gray,

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