Thread: Not a DRO - An indicator instead.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

If I could work out how the remove the tips from my Mahr and Compac indicators,

Vice Grips? just kidding, I'm go wash my own mouth out.

Looks great BT.
How do you find the blackfast compares to oil blacking as far as rust goes?

Stuart

Came out great as usual for you Bob, he Blackfast finished it of nicely as well.

There was a thread on the HSM a while back talking about designing things in your head or having to draw them. I was amazed to see how many could not picture the job in their head and needed a picture or drawing to understand it.
Evidently it must be a gift some of us have, I always thought it was normal and everyone could do it.
It doesn't mean one is better than the other, but I thought it interesting hearing how others think.

As for the tip, what ever you use to grip it, use some rag around it to stop any marks appearing. It is always a daunting job removing stuck ones.

Dave

Hi BT,

Beautiful work, that blackfast looks good, based on your results, I'll get some for a trial blackfast ltd : room temperature blacking of iron and steel

I'm bemused by the line...

Originally Posted by BT

In my mind , a DRO would look garishingly out of place on this 49 year old machine.

You could always paint the DRO scales a drab pastel green... and replace the digital readout with a black bakelite analog meter...

As for the design process, I work the same way, start out with an idea and then let it evolve as you make it, sometimes you have to backtrack, but more often than not, you think of extra features, or easier ways of doing something as you go along. I find it hard to work to drawings without making changes as I go...

Nice job.

Regards
Ray

PS for removing the indicator tip, use the tailstock chuck with a bit of cloth.

Boys,

The Compac is brand new. My concern is destroying the rack by exerting undue force on the shaft. I have a bunch of Baty indicators and the styli readily unscrew, the stainless steel extension shown was something I made years ago to fit them. Unfortunately the Batys have a 5/16" mount compared to the 8mm of their European counterparts. I had thought of making some reduction bushes enabling the fitting of various indicators but then thought "stuff it" too much trouble. I decided to stick with metric.

The Blackfast worked well because I left the cast iron in the blackening solution for a lot longer than the prescribed one minute, probably three. Maybe the solution looses some potency after numerous uses. The sump oil worked well on the travel stops I think because the stops had been brewed in the manganese dioxide / phosphoric acid solution that bubbled away on the kitchen stove during one of my earlier experiments. Not a process I was in a hurry to replicate. I haven't had encouraging results simply sump oiling cast iron.


The spontaneous design process works well in situations like this one. Bear in mind that during my 7 day a fortnight at work, I draw details. At the moment , it's some glazing and Alpolic cladding details for two roof lights in a small, maybe 1 1/2 million dollar house down in Fremantle. Last week it was some wall cladding details for an apartment building constructed during the sixties. I don't have the luxury of toying with the material in my hands, experimenting with proportion etc. I will sketch and discuss variations but it's not the same as playing around with the real thing. Designing for others is far removed from designing for yourself. Whilst I can draw I'm loathe to do it for myself.


Ray, I'm partial to drab pastel green and Bakelite. The Mahr moves in the latter direction.

BT

hi every one. wonderful work and photos bob. seeing how far you have moved the cutting tool or table on a solidly mounted dial is very reassuring. .
Do you have to move that axis on you mill . during a job or just for set up?
If its not to much troble can you post a photo like 022 0r 013 showing the hole mill.
aaron

On some Euro mills, Deckel, Schaublin, Thiel, Perrin, Mikron.....the table is fixed on the Y axis and the horizontal spindle head moves to provide feed in that direction. The best finish is achieved using power feed which on my machine is limited to X and Z axes. But with care Aaron, a pretty acceptable finish is attainable by hand. The mill is an absolute joy to use.

My daughter Beck concentrating.

BT

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Ray, I'm partial to drab pastel green and Bakelite. The Mahr moves in the latter direction.

BT

Hi BT,

I have a Mahr Federal Digital Dial Gauge, I thought Mahr was an American brand, but your Mahr appears to be made in Germany?

Regards
Ray

PS, Your Daughter looks like she knows what she's doing, must have a good teacher...

I think Bob does my favourite work of all the various forums. He's one of the few to whom the aesthetic considerations of a project go hand in hand with the utility of the piece.

His indicator is a Carl Mahr, a different beast to the Mahr-Federal. I like them the best and am fortunate enough to have found a few for relative pennies on ebay.

Greg...taking a break from studying for a minute. How is everyone?

Hello Ray,

The Federal brand is American. They were located in Providence, Rhode Island along with Brown and Sharpe. Mahr GmbH is located in Göttingen, Germany. Maybe they have a similar marketing arrangement to that of Tesa and Brown and Sharpe.

Beck has good hand skills. We worked together on a lamp she designed for a final year TAFE Interior Design project. I would have been more than happy to show her how to do shed stuff and let her loose. Sadly, she now lives in Melbourne.

BT

Originally Posted by Greg Q

I think Bob does my favourite work of all the various forums. He's one of the few to whom the aesthetic considerations of a project go hand in hand with the utility of the piece.

His indicator is a Carl Mahr, a different beast to the Mahr-Federal. I like them the best and am fortunate enough to have found a few for relative pennies on ebay.

Greg...taking a break from studying for a minute. How is everyone?

Thank you Gregory.

How are things? I thought that you and young Pete must have been up to your necks in it hence the absence of correspondence.

The Mahrs I own have a very narrow range of measurement. The Compac wins in that respect. Compacs were the original indicators offered as accessories by Schaublin. I do love the form of the Mahr indicators. Got to be the bakelite look! .

BT

Bob, Pete has been submerged in work lately, and if he's like me, in a deep funk of fear and loathing. (Not in Las Vegas )

I bought a Carl Mahr conventional style recently...solid stainless with a faint gold hue to the dial. Let me see if I can find where I hid it.

GQ

Below are some dissection photos from an old post about the Zentimess. Whilst the rack is out of harm's way, I still reckon there is the potential for things to turn bad if I attempt to twist off the stylus. Maybe I'll walk away from the idea.

p.s. Ray, you may have already looked at this old post regarding Blackfast. If not....
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/bl...cookup-124959/

BT

Here's the conventional style Bob...It lacks that old world funkiness of the Zentimess but feels like it was carved from a solid block.

Greg

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

p.s. Ray, you may have already looked at this old post regarding Blackfast. If not....
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/bl...cookup-124959/

BT

Hi BT,

Thanks for that, I had missed that post, I've had mixed results with "Black Magic" sometimes it's good other times it's blotchy, I'll look at getting the kit from Blackfast Australia.

The indicator tip should come off without too much force, you might have to make up a brass clamp (if you don't want to risk it with a chuck), I just get a bit of 1/4" brass flat, drill a hole close to the size you want to clamp. Then cut a lengthwise slot with a hacksaw to act as a clamp. Drill and tap for a screw that closes the hacksaw slot and clamps the part.. I could do a sketch but I'm pretty sure you have the idea.. Put those vise grips well out of reach..

Regards
Ray