What did you do today? (2014)

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 21/04/2014 18:42:02:

. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with my welding technique (is there anything right about it?) that I get large, shallow pits appearing up to half an inch from the weld? Am I just a bad shot with the sticks?

Neil

.

Parkinsons ?

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Neil

Probably lack of practice, just find some scrap and have a play OK you'll use up some consumables but in the long term it will pay dividends.

Bob

[Alan .204Participant @alan-204]

Maybe try and keep a tighter arc think that's what some one told me once when i had a similar problem.

Al.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

I think the technique is called, 'Weaving'. move side to side and form a puddle and move on slowly, also try and weld on the flat and not uphill, upside down or downwards which take special skills. Make allowance for penetration by giving generous chamfers. Practice and practice again. I forgot to mention the rating of the welder is limited, try not to weld too long, weld a bit and wait a while to allow the welder to cool. Maybe fit a fan to the welder. The holes might be too much amperage? or your rods are damp?

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 21/04/2014 21:42:25

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

I'm not sure whether to use a couple of simple cast iron pads, or get a small pair of bicycle ones? Has anyone got experience of this?

Bicycle ones. Quite a few of our fellow club members here use them, pressing on a disc on the middle of each axle. They work really well.

Just my 0.02c worth;

Another JohnS.

[Anonymous]

Murray: Good grief, you're making rapid progress, and it's looking very good. I reckon you must have trained the dog up to be an expert machinist while you're doing other things.

Andrew

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 21/04/2014 22:16:34

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Disc brakes now used a lot on mountain bikes and on some road bikes too, so the discs, pads etc are easily available.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Bike pads then.

Not much room for weaving trying to weld around a 14mm shaft!, but yes I need a lot more practice. Oddly I seemed to do a lot better when I first bought it, but that was just lobbing sheet metal patches on a rusty van.

It's also been suggested that the 2mm rods I have are harder to use than bigger ones. What's the biggest rod I can use off a 13A supply?

Neil

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Neil- rod size depends on what amps your welder can supply, but I would agree that 2mm is small. For that sort of job I use 10swg (3.5mm now ?) In fact I use those rods for most things, heavy metal use more runs. If you can weld car body with a stick welder you are doing well- I can't. As an aside- I once knew a man who welded up cars with a stick welder and 10swg rods and made a good job of it, I found out later it was because he didn't know that it could not be done. PS buy good rods, can make all the difference esp. on small stuff.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Neil, I found that my welding (blobbing) improved very much when I got an electronic helmet. I would hold the shaft at 45*, to work in the V formed by the disc. Three short tacks on one side, the do the other side with three tacks between the ones on the other side. Fill in the gaps if required. Ian S C

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

It is necessary to keep the rods dry and when using them heat them up by holding the rod in contact for a moment to get it hot! It will get rid of moisture.

Clive

[JoParticipant @jo]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 22/04/2014 15:28:51:

It is necessary to keep the rods dry and when using them heat them up by holding the rod in contact for a moment to get it hot! It will get rid of moisture.

Clive

I find leaving the rods for a few mins under the grill before trying to weld does wonders, even for mine which have been stored in a damp shed for 20 years.

Jo

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Doesn't the cheese stick to them ?

[James BParticipant @jamesb]

I keep mine in the airing cupboard – welding rods that is, not cheese…

James

[VersabossParticipant @versaboss]

Well, last week a box landed on my doorsteps, containing 20 different threading inserts. They came from a tooling firm not too far away, and I am (or was, mostly) a very small customer there. So they wanted me to test these 20 inserts, on steel and stainless steel, and I should give my thoughts about their quality. Steep task, given that I never used threading inserts before. But.they wanted that all be done by the same person and with the same procedure for all.

First problem I saw: according to the catalog these chips need high speed, not the manual handle in the spindle end I usually use for threading. I had a length of 26 mm free cutting steel around, and for this the speed of 1200 rpm on my lathe would be perfect: But I can't stop from that in a microsecond! So first had to produce a mandrel (not a stub one!), on which the workpieces could be mounted far away from the chuck. Then preparing the workpieces, about 30 mm long, bored and reamed 12 mm. A small notch axially in the end for a positive drive – bad if they would turn on the mandrel. A pressure pad from the tailstock keeps all aligned.

You see also a finished example here. The threads are all 1.5 mm pitch, and accidentally my leadscrew is 3 mm. So I could open the clasp nuts and bring the saddle back manually. This way the mandrel could have been shorter, but I left it as it was…

That's how it looks installed and ready for work. F.c. steel done now; have to fetch the stainless tomorrow.

Ah – and I don't know what I should say about the quality of the threads. In my (very humble) opinion all work the same…

Greetings, HansR.

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Airing cupboard ! That's where I left them.

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Having spindle bearing problems on my little CNC mill.

Choice to make: either replace with a slightly bigger mill, or just get bearings replaced. Right now, I'm in contact with the factory for a new spindle cartridge.

Hopefully, when in place, I'll be able to have the spindle pre-load loaded enough to keep the spindle rotating about its axis, without drowning out the local airport with noise. (more for any remotely interested on my little blog: **LINK** )

Another JohnS with a Dog.

[wheeltapperParticipant @wheeltapper]

Hi

Going back to page 9 of this thread John Steveson describes a tailstock conversion.

I am interested in doing this but I'm confused by the first picture.

It shows the replacement block that fits on the end of the tailstock and I can see the brass clamp that locks the barrel BUT it appears to go right through the bottom fixing holes.

Could someone please shed some light on this.

thanks

Roy.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

The Bees, a week ago I had a swarm, and today I had 2 in the same bush. The bees were easy but the bush, a Holly bush left its mark on me from the prickly leaves. I suppose better that the Blackberry shrubs they usually swarm to. Both swarms now housed in their Nucleus boxes and seem happy. The main hives i have added empty honey boxes and they are filling nicely from fruit tree blossom.

Clive

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

Posted by wheeltapper on 23/04/2014 18:19:37:

Hi

Going back to page 9 of this thread John Steveson describes a tailstock conversion.

I am interested in doing this but I'm confused by the first picture.

It shows the replacement block that fits on the end of the tailstock and I can see the brass clamp that locks the barrel BUT it appears to go right through the bottom fixing holes.

Could someone please shed some light on this.

thanks

Roy.

Hi Roy,

I have done this conversion and it is described here:

http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/lever-feed-tailstock.html

This may help you.

Mike

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

Posted by wheeltapper on 23/04/2014 18:19:37:

Hi

Going back to page 9 of this thread John Steveson describes a tailstock conversion.

I am interested in doing this but I'm confused by the first picture.

It shows the replacement block that fits on the end of the tailstock and I can see the brass clamp that locks the barrel BUT it appears to go right through the bottom fixing holes.

Could someone please shed some light on this.

thanks

Roy.

Hi Roy

I think that it goes through the counterbores so the screws will be infront of it.

I am making the same for my minilathe. I am going to try the Bogstandard2 method which is to screw into the key.

Cheers Michael

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Posted by Michael Horner on 23/04/2014 19:27:53:

I think that it goes through the counterbores so the screws will be infront of it.

I am making the same for my minilathe. I am going to try the Bogstandard2 method which is to screw into the key.

Cheers Michael

Michael, It was I who used the key to lock the dummy barrel, see pics below:

And I can confirm, after much use, the locking method works very well, no regrets going down this route. This has to be one of the best mods I've done to this lathe (Spindle drive clutch next followed by screwcutting clutch)

Graeme

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Definitely an improvement on the barrel lock I fitted, less parts and easier to make.

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

Sorry about the misdirection Graeme. I remember reading what you wrote but could I find it afterwards!

Cheers Michael.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Damn. I took out our airing cupboard when we did the new bathroom (condensing boiler, not hot tank).

Must get a bar of 19mm steel for the tailstock mod.

Neil

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