Thread: Tips and tricks

My daughter, the would be jeweller, told me this one.

When faced with drilling a large or not so large number of small holes in thin metal, she uses balsa wood as a backing. The balsa is weak enough not to deflect and break small drills ( in Beck's case, sub 1mm ) as does a harder timber when the drill seeks out a nearby hole. Bunnings sell balsa.

BT

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

My daughter, the would be jeweller, told me this one.

When faced with drilling a large or not so large number of small holes in thin metal, she uses balsa wood as a backing. The balsa is weak enough not to deflect and break small drills ( in Beck's case, sub 1mm ) as does a harder timber when the drill seeks out a nearby hole. Bunnings sell balsa.

BT

ruddy hell ....another one I have to try and remember

Oh well.....................

Hi Guys,

Just a reminder that if you need a cheap profile cutter, a woodworking router cutter works well, particularly in softer materials like aluminium and brass.

28012015-007.jpg 28012015-008.jpg 16062014-011.jpg 16062014-010.jpg

These cutters all have 1/4" shanks.

A tip I got from here but surely worth repeating, if you want your Morse taper to really grip in your tailstock, squirt it with wd40 first. I was amazed how well this works.

Originally Posted by sossity

A tip I got from here but surely worth repeating, if you want your Morse taper to really grip in your tailstock, squirt it with wd40 first. I was amazed how well this works.

Yes I do that, but it also helps to keep them clean.

I have 2 100mm chucks, one a Burnerd 3 jaw and the other a 4 jaw self-centering Tos. I use these on a Myford Super 7 but the Burnerd has never centered accurately. The Tos was accurate when I bought it 15 years ago but now not after some misuse by me when I hammered on an 80mm piece of pipe to prepare for a welding test piece. Bugger!
Does anyone know if there is an 'easy' way to get them on center again.

Originally Posted by DoctorWu

I have 2 100mm chucks, one a Burnerd 3 jaw and the other a 4 jaw self-centering Tos. I use these on a Myford Super 7 but the Burnerd has never centered accurately. The Tos was accurate when I bought it 15 years ago but now not after some misuse by me when I hammered on an 80mm piece of pipe to prepare for a welding test piece. Bugger!
Does anyone know if there is an 'easy' way to get them on center again.

How far out is it?

Originally Posted by BobL

How far out is it?

I've never measured them but visible and the Burnerd is worse. I'll get around to doing a measurement. Fortunately I have a collet chuck for any accurate work.

0.17mm measured at the jaws.

There are quite a few videos on the subject, here's a couple:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nALN0qGZbgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yWsjeY6nJU

I used a cheap electric Dremel type grinder clamped in the tool post. Make sure all is set up correctly before starting and use the grinder sparingly. Each grind results in the gripping faces of the jaws becoming wider so increasing the diameter of the stock able to be held in the chuck.

Short answer to your question is NO.

Originally Posted by casjon

There are quite a few videos on the subject, here's a couple:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nALN0qGZbgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yWsjeY6nJU

I used a cheap electric Dremel type grinder clamped in the tool post. Make sure all is set up correctly before starting and use the grinder sparingly. Each grind results in the gripping faces of the jaws becoming wider so increasing the diameter of the stock able to be held in the chuck.

Thanks and I'm glad I saw that bit about locking the jaws in tight as I had been thinking about grinding and missing that aspect might have really brought me undone.

Another method I've seen is mounting a square file in the tool post and running the carriage back and forth. I don't think there would be much chance of removing too much metal that way, but if you're elderly, you might never see the job finished.

Originally Posted by casjon

Another method I've seen is mounting a square file in the tool post and running the carriage back and forth. I don't think there would be much chance of removing too much metal that way, but if you're elderly, you might never see the job finished.

On hardened jaws? I don't think so.