Machining wi' Sladey

[911hillclimber]

Ah...
The multi-way fitting tasks, enough to make you cry (in some cases literally) and my Chief instructor already mentioned was a sadistic old git when he assessed your 3rd+ attempt.
One lad had his uncle make the parts in the toolroom.
The fit was understandably fantastic and the machine marks were almost removed by fine emery cloth.
He was found out and chucked out!
I thought he was very enterprising and lateral thinking!
That 1st year was tough and deliberately so to separate the determined from the laid-back of the 30 lads, and if you were a Craft apprentice or a Student Apprentice.

[Magnum]

Darren

I know a little about engineering theory but barely know anything about such skills......however I can quickly tell that is impressive! I suspect you may have a material advantage on some of us when it comes to working on a car or restoring.....

Regards

[Darren C]

Thanks Magnus,
As impressive as it is I’m just a child of my generation (1960’s). This is what engineering was when I was growing up. It was saddening to me to know that by the end of my 5 year apprenticeship the whole syllabus had changed for new entries and very little emphasis on skill of hand remained. I finished my apprenticeship as the last of the old skool.

We’ve had 30+ years pass and (IMHO) so called Engineers these days don’t have any ability to comprehend old skool, they’re mostly delusional about their own abilities, lack fundamental knowledge, skill, grounding, understanding, ability, commitment and innovation it brings and as such engineering in general is not well respected, rewarded or anywhere near as prevalent in the UK as it once was. Granted there are a few youngsters who get it, but in general the majority do not deserve to be called “engineer”.

The so called “Government” are waking up to the loss of our countries ability to manufacture rather than consume (more so now we’ve taking the Brexit path) and want to re-invest in British engineering but with 30 years gone by, most of us old skool engineers are nearing retirement and true tutors to pass on these skills are thin on the ground. Plus I doubt the kids of today would stick with all the sh*t like we did.
What we’re left with is the “head in the clouds” clueless college DT crowd instructors to progress this, should it happen.

My son’s DT teacher at school didn’t know how to operate a power tool let alone a lathe, and thought that sawing a bit of 2” x 2” wood up into blocks, glueing it together and drawing a face on it with a marker pen was a worthy “Robot” project for a 16 year old DT student……God help us!

[Simon Rudge]

Hi Mark,

Good work getting your head around using machine tools, just about as rewarding as you can be in a workshop!

I picked up on your comments about grinding up you own tools, may I offer a thought on this?

Unless you are making a form tool to produce a particular shape, I suggest a few quid invested in a few carbide tip tools could help you along. Simply, you can do pretty much anything with a left hand facing and surfacing tool, a parting off tool and a boring bar. I recently did this for my new (old) lathe at work, and have been able to produce much better results more quickly.

Have a look on line, there are loads available, please pm if you need any advice.

Cheers

[911hillclimber]

Echoing Darren's thoughts, When I finished my 5 year indentured apprenticeship in 73 the whole lot had closed down.
All the apprentice positions stopped, even the evil Howard lost his job.

I ended up as Director of Design engineering and did this for nearly 20 years and the real engineering has been lost.
All my bosses would not invest in the Apprentice Schemes but exported tons of industry to China, inc the one I was in.
Dissolution end, I took early retirement.

As I said earlier, and now above, good modern tools are such an advantage and super cheap too.
£50 and you are set up.

[sladey]

Hi Mark,

Good work getting your head around using machine tools, just about as rewarding as you can be in a workshop!

I picked up on your comments about grinding up you own tools, may I offer a thought on this?

Unless you are making a form tool to produce a particular shape, I suggest a few quid invested in a few carbide tip tools could help you along. Simply, you can do pretty much anything with a left hand facing and surfacing tool, a parting off tool and a boring bar. I recently did this for my new (old) lathe at work, and have been able to produce much better results more quickly.

Have a look on line, there are loads available, please pm if you need any advice.

Cheers

Thanks Simon - I have actually bought some carbide insert tools and they've been pretty good. However I understand that to get the best finish from carbide you need to be turning at a high speed, and I'm not convinced my Clarke goes fast enough.

I understand with HSS I should be able to get a good finish at lower speeds, and in addition there's the satisfaction of learning about grinding my own tools.

That said, I'll keep trying different ones and seeing what works

Also grinding tools give me a chance to try out this bad boy that I picked up on Tuesday - it weighs a ton!



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[Simon Rudge]

Ha, that will stop your bench blowing away....

Appreciate you are keen to develop your skills, go for it. I did that in my apprenticeship (like others, old school stuff, with a miserable but annoying good lecturer and so on)

Finish on your workpiece is a result of using the correct speed and feed for the material and tool. there are many websites both manufacturer and forum type with information, have a look and find one you like. Similar to a certain forum, there is a wealth of advice available. Also, make sure you use a suitable cutting oil for the material, cast iron can be cut dry, Aluminium is better wet, paraffin is best, Steel needs more lubrication, specialist fluid, plastics/nylon, dry and very high speed and so on.

As you have found, how you set up the workpiece makes a big difference. Once you have got your head around that, there is very little to limit to what you can do, or the time you end up absorbed in making stuff.

The Clarke machines are a pretty good place to start learning, they have a big enough capacity and capability. Be warned, it is infectious and you will be looking at Myford and Bridgeport sites soon...

[sladey]

Thanks for all that Simon

ON the infectious side of things I'm currently wrestling with my conscience over a Colchester student on eBay that ends in a couple of days time

I"m thinking everything I can do on the Clarke Lathe could be accomplished with greater reliability on a solid lathe with a milling attachment - giving me movement in 3 axes

Part of me just loves old 'proper' machinery but also I appreciate how much nicer it is to work with tools that were built up to a standard and not down to a price.

[PeterK]

Thanks a lot !

That's another hour of my life gone, drooling over secondhand lathes
Peter

[911hillclimber]

Got the old Drummond back into action with a tricky bit of machining this afternoon on my 1950 Terrot motorbike carb.

Task was to machine a very thin wall sleeve to fit the throat of the carb and the stub inlet tube of the cylinder barrel.
The sleeve needed to be 0.75mm wall thickness, but had to be machined to be a snug fit on the stub and a lighter snug fit in the carb body where the clamp collar could just pinch the lot air tight.
The general diameter was 24mm and the sleeve 20mm long, so the chances of the wall buckling when cutting was great...

First attempt was just too tight everywhere.
Second attempt was great in the carb, tight on the stub but when fitted the expansion when on the stub made it too large to go in the carb...
Third attempt and all it well!

Simple task, fine cutting and bloody determination paid off.

[Saxon46]

did someone mention cnc.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiWL3DYhTwM
come a long way since I was in the engineering game back in the early 80's

[Mr Pharmacist]

Have you bought a new lathe?! Pictures?!

[smallspeed]

guys, I have a lathe that was my grandfathers, which I have no real use for - its been sat in my garage for about 12months and I need to bite the bullet and move it on
I am going to dust it off and take some pics, plus get some info on it over the weekend and will probably list it on ebay, however if anyone is looking for a lathe and might be interested please let me know. It could do with some recommissioning, but nothing major - the bed is all in good shape, could just use a clean up and a re-wire. I don't have a make/model, but i'm guessing its about 1950's and British. Its got about a 3" capacity by about 2'6" to 3ft length (guess), has back gears, etc., and is belt driven from a separate motor. Comes with a few spares and bits and pieces
I will add some info and a listing here next week, but figured I'd mention it in this thread incase to give any of you fellow amateur machinists a heads-up.

P.S. If I ever go CNC, I hope to have a Rottler P69

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKbmrQIQOr0

[sladey]

ON the infectious side of things I'm currently wrestling with my conscience over a Colchester student on eBay that ends in a couple of days time

My conscience lost - picking this beauty up tomorrow

[Gary71]

Awesome. Pretty much what I learnt on! Do you have a forklift to move it...


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