Toys for Boys

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

My ole grannie used to say :- "The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys." – Later in life I realise how right she was.! (especially as a newbie to this)

What are members latest purchases regarding model engineering be it a new lathe or a 1/8th drill bit.

More of interest is why you bought it.?

Was it for a specific job, replacement, upgrade or simply you did not have one.

Me.! Well my latest purchase is a metric dial indicator and magnetic base. Reason being I did not have one and and figure I will need one. (understatement of the year)

I am asking this as just staring out from total scratch I am going to need to pirioritise my purchases.

Cheers, Nick

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Latest purchases and why.?

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Well, I am considering a MIG welder, but haven't bought one yet – does this count?

My problem is that just a five minute drive away I have access to a complete fabrication shop with a couple of cracking sets and a great Tig. But sometimes when I am just making a little jig or bracket I don't want to go bothering the lads with trivia as they are earning a living. And I can be a bit of a handfull some days

So I want something for the workshop that isn't too big but will weld what I want when I want. Ah, decisions, decisions…..

graham.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

A replacement reading head for the Z-axis on my mill.

At less than £7 including postage it's worth remembering that the cheap scales can be cheaply repaired – the scale doesn't go wrong.

Next up, a cheap deburring set because the one I've got already has proven itself invaluable, but I've lost one of the four tools.

Neil

[Anonymous]

I can't recall the recent small tooling purchases, but the last three bigger ME acquisitions this year are:

1. Sievert propane burner set (£65) because, while I currently use the oxy-acetylene set for silver soldering, it can be problematic for even heating of larger assemblies.

2. Pultra instrument lathe (£300) because I can use it in the kitchen (much warmer than the workshop in the winter) and it will be useful to have a high speed lathe for use with small drills when I make the pressure gauges and injectors for my traction engines.

3. Clarkson drill and tap grinding accessory (£850); idle curiosity really. It's nice to see one in the flesh and it'll be fun to try it out on some of my medium size drills and taps.

I've also bought the following engineering, but not ME, items. A 3D printer (£2000) and I've just ordered a spectrum analyser (£1200).

Next purchase will probably be finite element analysis software.

Andrew

[Martin CottrellParticipant @martincottrell21329]

Hi nick,

I'm looking at upgrading my milling machine to assist with the build of my 4" Traction Engine build which will start as soon as I get my new Warco GH1232 lathe installed. I actually purchased it about 10 months ago but have had to wait while I convert one half of my double garage into a half-decent workshop. My most recent purchase was a trip to B&Q this morning for a bag of mortar and four concrete blocks to construct 2 raised plinths to set the lathe cabinet onto so as to get the bed up to a comfortable working height.

You will find you gradually acquire tools as your experience grows, it's very difficult to recommend a " basic tool kit" as it really depends on what you intend making, the scale and to some extent the materials you intend working with. If finances mean you have to prioritise your tool purchases, it is often more cost effective to purchase individual items such as taps and dies as you need them rather than being seduced into buying shiny boxed sets which may contain several items that you may never need to use. Also don't be afraid to explore the second hand market. eBay for instance can turn up some great bargains on small tooling, cutters, end mills, material off-cuts & measuring equipment to name a few.

One thing you'll find for sure is that your pockets are never deep enough and the tools you bought for your last project probably won't be big enough for your next one! Best of luck!

Regards, Martin.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Bought a set of sheep shears off Ebay so the bloody dog doesn't walk around looking like something out of Wild at Heart.

Tell you now he wasn't impressed one bit.

Because the bastich takes some catching and won't hold still he now has a diagonal go faster stripe on him where I had to ratchet strap him to a pallet and get him up on the fork truck to save my back.

Got the other one to do next week then get the jet wash out and steam clean the pair of them. That should take them up to about August and repeat.

[Martin CottrellParticipant @martincottrell21329]

Posted by John Stevenson on 21/04/2014 23:09:45:

Bought a set of sheep shears off Ebay so the bloody dog doesn't walk around looking like something out of Wild at Heart.

Got the other one to do next week then get the jet wash out and steam clean the pair of them. That should take them up to about August and repeat.

John,

I'm surprised you don't just tie them to the forklift and give them a haircut with your blow torch, should be fairly pain free if you stand upwind while your doing it!

Regards, Martin.

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by John Stevenson on 21/04/2014 23:09:45:

Bought a set of sheep shears off Ebay so the bloody dog doesn't walk around looking like something out of Wild at Heart.

Ummm, you didn't go to spec savers then?

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Nick,

my latest purchase was some reamers, slot-drills and some gauge plate I need for a project.

Thor

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Neil,
It might be worth mentioning where you bought the read head as others would find them useful as replacements. (Particularly if they use the original 2 x 24 bit protocol on their data port.) I have not seen them on sale on Ebay for a few years.

Les.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The only supplier of replacement read heads appears to be Machine DRO, one of our advertisers —>

Neil

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Thought you said Redhead for a minute there…………………………….

no chance by mail order then?

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 21/04/2014 22:54:41:

3. Clarkson drill and tap grinding accessory (£850); idle curiosity really. It's nice to see one in the flesh and it'll be fun to try it out on some of my medium size drills and taps.

Andrew

Andrew, show us a picture of it, I thought this was a mythical beast. I don't think I can afford to be that curious.

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Jhon S- try driving the dogs thru' heavy gorse etc. That usually gets rid of most things not bolted on !

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

That's a good idea Gordon as the dangly down bits on this dog has already been unbolted.

 

Seriously these are Old English Sheep Dogs and they don't have fur but wool. Historically they would have lived out in the fields with the sheep to protect against wolves.

At shearing time they would have been sheared with the sheep but because their wool is second grade this would have been kept back by the crofter to use in making their own clothes and release all the high grade wool that they needed the income from.

 

These animals, often referred to as Dulux dogs do have differences in the breeds, one of the main ones is the coat.

Some like the Dulux dogs you see on the TV have long straight coats which can be easily groomed but it's very hard work. The other type has a springy wiry coat that defies any normal grooming short of a rotary wire brush.

Add to the equation that they have two coats, a top coat and a waterproof undercoat and once these coats have reached a certain length the only way is to get under, next to the skin and shear away. For a couple of weeks they look a bit of a mess but they grow fast enough that everything gets smoothed out.

 

 

Sulking because it's raining.

Edited By John Stevenson on 22/04/2014 11:08:05

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Andrew's out and about, gliding and soaring in the skies somewhere Oop North. But here's a photo he sent me of his Clarkson.

Can't tell you much about it although I doubt the chuck key was made that way. Apparently the chuck itself seems to have survived the process.

Murray

[Anonymous]

Thanks Murray! So they do exist, albeit rather rare I suspect. Despite the wavy chuck key the chuck itself seems to operate smoothly throughout it's whole range.

No gliding today, 'cause it's raining. Good flight yesterday though in my small glider, unexpectedly nearly 4 hours in very weak wave, a 1 knot climb rate was luxury. Flew the big glider down south last Tuesday; not a great day but we did 280km without getting particularly low. There was a bit of an 'oeeer missus' moment over Silverstone on the way back to Cambridge, as the sky looked a bit ratty. But we met up with another two seater from Cambridge over Milton Keynes and flew back in loose formation.

Regards,

Andrew

[StevoParticipant @stevo]

I needed 4 small pullies … all of 8mm diameter. So I HAD to buy a lathe to make them on… Working out the costs, that's around £150 a pully. Bargain.

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

Posted by Stevo on 22/04/2014 18:45:42:

I needed 4 small pullies … all of 8mm diameter. So I HAD to buy a lathe to make them on… Working out the costs, that's around £150 a pully. Bargain.

I need a lathe so I HAD to buy a pulley to make……….

no no no that's wrong, I need to get my story straight for the other half before I come home from Harrogate with a WM180/DB7VS/920 in my boot…………

[JoParticipant @jo]

Latest purchase 8 more Swiss Multifix tool holders for my Colchester, before that 10 smaller ones for the Prazimat. Why did I buy them? Then you haven't tried Multifix.

Next purchase is planned to be a Schaublin 70 lathe which will replace Cowells number 1 (Cowells no 2 is staying). The only real question is does the Schaublin or Cowells 2 move into the house with the Sixis? If it comes on a stand then I don't think the floorboards in the house will appreciate it. Why am I buying it? After I brought the Sixis I realised that Swiss machine tools are too desirable and once you have tried them nothing else will do. (Except a Hardinge but that is already on order )

Jo

 

 

Edited By Jo on 22/04/2014 21:57:37

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Bought a Leytool divider setting gauge because it was there, it has little dots 1/4" apart to 6" and a vernier scale to set to .001", don't know if it's any use, we'll see. Also an old vernier calliper by Zeus, reading in 1/128" and .001".

According to my computer, vernier is either wrong spelling, or not a recognised word?

Ian S C

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Vernier is accepted by the spell checker here (set to British English). Perhaps Antipodean English is different

Russell.

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Ian,

Try spelling it with an upper case 'V', maybe your spell/grammar checker knows it's a name.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Good old Wikipedia: **LINK**

[Author]

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