Help with 2 tools I have recently Aquired

[Roy BirchParticipant @roybirch29994]

Hello All

 

I have recently been given 2 tools, one of them is a potts milling spindle which the owner wants to gove to me or I can sell it and give them the money.  The second is a Boring head that I have seen before but I cannot remember who the design was by, I have only ever seen this head as I have it but someone has pointed out that it is missing a striker to turn the gear, any help would be much appreciated.

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Seems a bit of a backhanded arrangement. Use it yourself or sell it and give the money to the original owner. Why dont they sell it themselves or are they going to cut you in on the sale monies ?   Sorry but I have no idea who the maker/designer of the other item is.

[Frank GorseParticipant @frankgorse]

I think that’s a Dore boring head, designed by Arnold Throp.

[Frank Gorse]

On Frank Gorse Said:

I think that’s a Dore boring head, designed by Arnold Throp.

It is a Dore yes.

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

and the other one is a Potts’  [or maybe Pott’s] milling attachment.

Two classics !!

MichaelG.

[Anonymous]

Items are as described above. Neither seems well made; in particular the boring head is pretty poor. Technicallly the boring head is a boring and facing head. The striker is just a fixed peg at an appropriate location that moves the toothed wheel one tooth per revolution of the head to allow facing. For boring it is not needed.

Probably best to recycle them.

Andrew

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

By ‘recycle’ I hope you mean pass them on to someone who appreciates them and not melt down!

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Why are they not well made Andrew ?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I think there are a couple of different type of makers.

Taking the boring head to my eye the MT taper has some marks which could be down to machining or it having spin in a socket, finish on the GM diameter is not great and the alloy casting could have done with some fettling to remove the flash.

Others may see beyond the external appearance and find that it is perfectly functional. But could also be indicative of other poor workmanship that may affect it’s function

I’m of the first type liking my engines to look right to me yet someone like Graham Corry of Alyn Foundry that I have been developing a few new engines with will do the absolute miniumum to castings and only machine the surfaces that need it flash and surface finishstays as it left the foundry. But he makes running engines many of which have not been modeled before or have unusual cycles like the Brayton or Loyal. We have just been workng on a Hardy and Padmore “ideal” engine which has a form of Loyal cycle but he has got it running with cobbled together ignition, sparkplug, valves and then with hot tube. Should it be scraped, I don’t think so. Mine will be more refined and finished as that is how I like ’em.

 

Another example may be those who build a traction engine as they want to get out and enjoy it on the rally field, probably build it to drawing and may use a few stock bolts with stress grade markings on them or even cap heads a sit gets them to where they want to be quickly. On the other hand some will remodel the whole TE to be as true to scale as possible and may never finish the project or like that Dutch guy with the immaculate BB1 ploughing engine find it is too pristine to be steamed.

That boring head may have been made as quickly as possible by someone wanting to use it where the main purpose was not the making of the tool but the part it was used to make so they did not want to put in the time tarting it up to exhibition standard.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

I think Andrew is being a little harsh.  The functional part, the matching hemicylinders, look to be well enough made.  The Dore boring and facing head was originally designed to fit on the nose of a Myford milling machine. The morse taper in this case probably screws on to the head with a Myford nose.  The example that Roy has is so similar in look to mine, which I bought on ebay, down to the poorly finished ends to the retaining bars and cheese head and square ended screws that I am tempted to wonder whether Dore sold some completed versions for sale.  Mine certainly works very well, though I have only used it on my milling machine which has a Myford nose thread.  Very useful for cutting a flat seat at the bottom of a hole.

Rod

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

By ‘recycle’ I hope you mean pass them on to someone who appreciates them and not melt down!

Neither, as I would have never accepted them in the first place, if for no other reason than I have no use for them!

Andrew

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Does seem odd!

Presumably the owner thought you are better placed to find a buyer than he or she is; and wants them to find a home not merely be scrapped. Are these bereavement items or something like that?

Of the two the milling-spindle looks the better made and hence useful, but as Jason says a rather poor finish is not a necessarily a guide to functional ability. Their maker might have wanted them simply and quickly useable to help him get his own BB1 ploughing-engine built and on the rally field!

That scored taper on the boring & facing head may be from the maker’s turning skill rather than by it slipping in a spindle; though I might have expected at least some general fettling, and a better finish on the indexing-wheel. The taper shank could be replaced using a purchased soft-end arbor.

Have you any idea of their value or is this another example of whatever people will offer?

[Roy BirchParticipant @roybirch29994]

They do not use the internet, so if I had no use for it I agreed to sell it and give them the money, no backhanders as I am not interested in taking money from retired model engineers at my club.

[Roy BirchParticipant @roybirch29994]

The taper shank does unscrew and inside is the same thread as on the Myford. The boring head was just given to me but the milling spindle was an item that in conversation came up and I knew of someone on the Boxford forums that started a thread about milling spindles for a Myford Super 7, he mentioned a Potts spindle and as a friend mentioned he had 2, I told him about the person from the Boxford Forum so he said take them and see what happens, if nothing happens I was told to just keep them. I know people are saying it seems a bit odd but it is just the way I worded it that makes it look that way, anyone can always go to the Boxford Groups I.O site and take a look, they will see the same photo’s there.

Does anyone know if the drawings are still available?

[Roy BirchParticipant @roybirch29994]

Nigel

I do not have a value in mind because I have not found a price of any that have sold, as said the boring head was just given to me but the potts is really for sale and he has another. The boring head I would like to clean up and see if it produces accurate work.

[Roy Birch]

On Roy Birch Said:

…………………

Does anyone know if the drawings are still available?

Roy, send me a PM with a real email address, I have a zip file with some useful info on the boring head.
It’s about 17 Meg, so best for computer downloading, rather than on a phone
Bill

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

WRT my comments above, the boring head was originally designed for use on the Myford lathe.  I’ll also have another go at posting some pics of mine:

[Roy BirchParticipant @roybirch29994]

Hello All

I want to now make the striker plate and test this out, does anyone have this that I could possibly measure up?

 

Peak4 very kindly sent me a lot of information but a lot of dimensions are missing for the striker set up which I suspect is because it was a casting that needed a bit of work to working surfaces to clean it up. They do say on the build article that the dimensions have been omitted.

 

 

 

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