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Hi all I recently picked up an Elliott boring head, but as usual I didn't bother to look closely enough at the pic on the listing and now that it's arrived what I assumed was a MT3 taper shank is actually a 3/4" straight shank. Was hoping that this would be a simple swap but the shank seems to...

I've been offered a shaper at a great price but I'm undecided if I should go for it !! main concern is that space is an issue in my workshop (just a single garage) I could just about squeeze it in but it would make things pretty tight. I've seen Artie's posts on his shaper, in his cavenous...

Evening all, I've got some issues with my milling machine and am hoping that the expertise here can point me in the right direction. Although I've owned my Elliott Omnimill for almost a year it's only recently that I've actually started to use it ! When I bought it I knew that it had seen some...

I've picked up a new (to me) Atlas 10F lathe today and although it's the same as my current one it has a T-slotted cross slide which I think will be much more useful. The only downside is that the crosslide sits about 7mm higher than the old one and I'm going to struggle to get some of my insert...

I've just noticed that the oil level on my Elliott Omnimill is showing slightly low and a quick look at the manual recommends either Shell Vitrea 37 or Mobil Vactra Heavy, neither of which appear to be readily avilable locally. From what I can see Vactra Heavy is a ISO100 which I think equates...

My new (to me at least) lathe came with a couple of spare chucks and out of curiosity I've taken one apart to see how it works. It all seems pretty simple so I've also taken the opportunity to give it a good clean. On reassembly should I be using any oil or grease on the rear of the scroll, back...

Guys, when measuring dovetails using rods as shown in the attached pic, if measurement 'x' is 0.990" and I actually need it to be 1" is it simply a matter of taking a cut of 0.005 from each side. I can't get my head around if a 5thou increase as indictaed on the DRO will actually translate to...

Hi all I'm having a go at making my own toolholders for my AXA style toolpost, I've cut away the centre section of the dovetail but now need to do the angled bit. Had a look around and the consesus is to take the cutting of these easy but as I'm relatively new to this what sort of depth of cut...

Hi guys I want to get my compressor set up a bit more organised rather than use the 15 adapter arrangement I have cobbled together at the moment. Rather than have half a dozen different sets of hoses etc I want to try and keep it down to 2 sizes ie 10mm id for the air tools etc but not sure...

Hi all Is there a way to restrict the search function on the forum to look for an exact match and not a word within a word. ie I'm trying to do a search on the word 'hose' but it brings up 40 pages of results because it's treating 'those' as a hit. I don't want to exclude 'those' because I may...

A little whicle ago I picked up an old Moore & Wright micrometer at a car boot sale. The spindle/thimble assembly all moves freely but the lock not appears to be seized which makes using the micrometer tricky as by the time I've manouvered it into a position where I can read the gauge the...

Hi all I've just bought a AXA/100 style QCTP, but I only got 2 toolholders as I want to make a few more myself. I haven't got any steel of the right size but do have a bin load of cast iron sash weights and was hoping to use a couple of these but before I start can anyone confirm if CI is a...

I've got a standard 6" bench grinder but the wheels seem to be very soft and also throw out a tonne of dust. Are all grinding wheels the same or do you get what you pay for and I should be avoiding the car boot cheapys and buying a known brand ? Also bearing in mind I use the grinder for...

Hi all Now I'm finally starting to use my miling machine (after 18 months of ownership !) I'm finding the shortcomings of inexperienced buyers purchasing second hand machinery. The machine is an Elliott Omnimill and my biggest problem is that the Y axis appears to have a fair bit of wear. No...

I'm still having problems drilling centrally on my lathe, as per a previous post the bit always seems to jump up and away from the operator. I've doubled checked and the tailstock is as aligned with the headstock as I can get it so my next thoughts are towards the tailstock ram. It looks a bit...

Hi all I'm very new to this hobby and am having problems trying to get a straight thread when tapping. Today I was trying to make a part which had an 8mm male thread at one end and an 8mm female thread at the other. The male thread went OK but when I screwed some rod into the female end you...

Gradually building up my stock of tooling etc and for my next job I need to drill some 2mm holes through some brass rod. Do you guys normally just go with standard HSS drill bits or are 5% cobalt split point bits worth the extra expense. Cheers Jim

I know that as a rule of thumb you should not have more than 3 times the diameter of the work sticking out of the chuck without support but are there any guidlines on how much you need to be inside the chuck. More precisely I need to make a top hat washer - the 'brim' is 1" diamater and 1/8"...

Hi guys How tight should the gibs be on the milling machine. I've got an old Elliott Juniormil which has a 28" table and if I grab the ends of the table and rock it back and forth I can feel the table moving, if I put the gib lock on the table feels solid. I've tried tightening up the tapered...

Hi all I'm looking at ways of keeping the dreaded rust at bay on the bits and pieces of equipment that I don't use too often - things like spare chucks, the large rotary table etc. They're stored on the bench under the lathe but as the workshop is a non insulated garage it's pretty cold and...