Recent content by IanN

Lathes.co.uk is your friend Ian

Hi, When turning a taper on a small machine, the usual problem is the travel available for the cutting tool. A number of years ago I got involved in a discussion about ways of turning a precision taper on a small lathe and how to cut the taper in two steps, and how to pick up the first cut...

Hi Peter, It seems I didn't explain myself very clearly - apologies. Within the CAD software there is only one set of "dimensional scales" used to store lengths, angles, and so on - there is not a millimetre standard, a metre standard, an inch standard, etc. All length units ultimately trace...

I second Stan's observation that it is best to drill small (or deep) holes by rotating the work rather than rotating the drill. There is no need to use very high rotational speed. Below are links to some youtube videos showing the process of drilling by hand in the lathe (appologies for the...

Hi Richard, Attached are some pics of my Otis King. I see that a link has already been posted to a video showing its use. The slide rule in the video is a model K with two slider scales end to end to avoid "end switching" when the result of a calculation goes "off the end" of the scale. My...

Hi Chazz, I agree totally with your comments, but look at it from the point of view of the people creating Solidworks: If they display the mm/in conversion result to the full resolution of the software, they will be mocked by some people for quoting to a unnecessary number of figures. If they...

Hi, Just to clarify the background behind the Solidworks table of fit dimensions (listed to 7 sig. fig.): Solidworks (like all current CAD packages) uses SI units for its native dimensions - the dimensions quoted in the original table were all millimetre dimensions to three decimal places...

Hi Piston, I think you only touch on one aspect here - a reasonably well made IC engine will run happily at "low speed" (whatever your personal definition of this term may be) as long as the mixture, ignition timing, cam profiles, valve timing, fuel type, etc, etc are all apropriately selected...

Hi "Thread" I agree with Dnalot - every workshop with a mill and/or pillar drill will have vee-blocks (a "proper" shop will have matched pairs but most sets seem to separate and wander off in different directions over time....) Using vee-blocks is a standard workshop technique for...

Hello Group, There have been numerous references to the age of members of this forum, and a few to the age of machines in our workshops. It is machines that I believe are of greater concern - my lathe was made in 1910. On its hundredth birthday I sat down in the workshop with it and we shared...

Hi Ajoeiam, Do not waste your money on drill sets. As others have pointed out you will only ever use 20% of them When I started (UK) most of the industry I was in used Imperial dimensions and I invested in a full set of fractional-number-letter drills - never used most of them In the early...

Hi ajoeiam, You are right - what you call a “carriage bolt” we call a “coach bolt” All the best, Ian

Hi Chrsbrbnk, Do you believe the debris shown in the video is the result of natural wear of the gears? We have a differing opinion on the problem shown. You favour ignoring the cause and curing the symptoms to hide the true issue. I prefer to solve the source of the problem I am aware of...

Hi Mr Hippy, I think we are in total agreement with each other: Swarf will always go places you don’t want it Cleaning with a brush or shop vac is not perfect “Blowing down” a machine is not a good idea and will introduce more problems and make the existing ones worse I agree on every point...

Hi aRM, Sorry for the delay in responding to your comments, I only check forums once or twice a week. As I said to Tom, you are quite right to pull me up for my frustrated reference to "idiots". As I stated, I teach engineering apprentices (I don't know your background, but if you are a...