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Hi, I came across this video on youtube: If you're interested in old engines this video is well worth a look. If you don't know a lot about them you can learn a lot as the bloke tries to figure out how it works. Regards, Alan

Hi, I've made a new 2mm pitch topslide and nut to replace the old imperial set on my boxford lathe. There is a bit of backlash in the operation which I would like to take out with some 3/8"ID x 5/8"OD shim washers. I've made one 0.5mm thick but I need to take out a bit more play using...

Hi, I'm going to have a go at a marine engine for my next project. http://www.john-tom.com/MyPlans/Steam%20Engines/MarineEngine.pdf In the past I have made the pistons from phosphor bronze with a couple of fine grooves cut into them to retain oil. I was watching Keith Appleton on Youtube ()...

Hi, I'm going to revisit a Stirling engine I couldn't get to work. I'm looking to swap the aluminium piston with one made of graphite. Any tips on machining graphite? I'm going to need to turn it and put a slot in it with a slitting saw and maybe thread it as well. Regards, Alan C.

Hi, There is an interesting video by Keith Rucker on YouTube which shows how to drill through a broken tool steel tap or drill at the bottom of a hole. There have been numerous discussions here in the past about how to deal with this. The video is here...

Hi, I'm in the process of restoring an old lathe and I've got to the stage where I want to remove the name tags and data labels in preparation for painting. They are made of thin aluminium sheet appear to be held in place with round headed aluminium nails. There was one tag which was so...

Hi, Has anyone had a crack at making the engine from the plans shown below? The link to it is: www.john-tom.com/MyPlans/Steam%20Engines/MarineEngine.pdf There appears to be some missing views. There is no side view of the cylinder block for example so it's height isn't specified. I can...

Hi, Has anyone here made the weight driven 8 day wall clock described in the John Wilding book? I started making one and came to an awkward bit and so I set it aside for a bit to think about it. That was 10 - 15years ago. I've spent the last week or so trying to remember what the problem...

Hi, Has anyone had experience with an Optimum TU2907 Lathe? Also, how do you get quoted text to appear shaded in these posts? Regards, Alan C.

Hi, I splashed out $100 on a drill sharpener as shown in the picture - mainly because I'm hopeless at freehand sharpening. I thought there might be some interest in how it performed. On the plus side, it does what it says in that the old drills I sharpened were in fact sharpened and cut...

Hi, I've been cutting threads on a lathe for years in a rough and ready way. I keep removing metal until a nut will just about go on and finish the job with a die nut. I needed to cut an m8x1.25 thread today and decided to calculate the infeed required on the compound slide and do the...

Hi, I came across this on youtube. It certainly seems to have an advantage over dividing heads and rotary tables for odd numbered gears. I have an old Myford vertical slide. I wonder if I can get it fitted to my current machine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBlBJ5RWTSk He's also come...

Hi all, I was at the steel merchants a while ago and came across an offcut of 5” schedule 80 pipe. I've wanted to make a flywheel out of heavy duty pipe for a while so I bought the offcut. I managed to make the flywheel although the 5” pipe was at the very limit of what I could...

Hi, I'm interested in trying some carbide end mills but I'm getting a bit confused. I've found some which are described as carbide end mills, but later are described as HSS (high speed steel?) with a AlTiN coating. Are these carbide end mills? I thought carbide meant they would be made of...

Hi, Has anyone out there tried one of these drill sharpeners. Do they work? It's listed as a Hafco EDBD-13 (D070). I'm not very good at hand sharpening drills and I'm fed up with struggling with blunt ones. I bought an Eccentric Engineering kitset endmill sharpener which I managed to put...

Hi All, I came across this lot on the local auction site. Who would have thunk it? A set of tool steel cufflinks would go well with it. Regards, Alan C.

Hi, I ordered an SX2.7 mill from the local (NZ) Sieg agent on 9/10/15. It finally turned up more than 4 months later on 25/2/16. On the 29th February after cleaning it up I found I couldn't clamp the spindle because the spindle sleeve locking shaft which sits between a cap screw and the...

Hi, Has anyone tried the inverted parting tool from Eccentric Engineering? ( http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=45 ). I purchased a diamond tool holder from them and I really like it - probably because I'm not much good at...

Hi All, On 10/10/15 I ordered a Sieg SC4 lathe and an SX2.7 mill from the local Sieg rep. The rep here in New Zealand doesn't have a show room and I ordered both items sight unseen based on various favourable reviews I found on the net. About a month later I received an E-mail from...

Hi, I've got a Sieg SX2.7 mill and an SC4 lathe on order which should arrive by the end of November. In the meantime I'm going to install a bench for them to sit on. I was originally going to make it 500mm (20") wide but looking at the specs I'm not sure that is enough. Can any members out...