The Bucket Foundry

[Yow Ling]

Guess if I were to build one (ie sander), it would need a decent motor to drive it? (ie more than a normal small bench grinder) I'm sure that it would be used for all sorts, not only draught, draft?? angles on patterns,( the British Vs American way of spelling things is "daft") maybe we should invent a Kiwi way of saying it!.

Although I have dabbled with CAD and do actually use DesignCad 3D a little I haven't as yet gone into the 3D "solid stuff" - would be great to get into CadCam like Rhino etc. but really I think I've left it all a little too late and there's not much point in me wasting my time and money in that stuff (wish all this had been around in 1960). so will just stick to learning the basic foundry stuff,which is quite fulfilling.

Neil, you reckoned that the best way of turning pine would be to glue it together with the grain positioned the right way, do you mean (for example when turning a round piece), it should be running in a radial direction from the centre to the OD as near as possible?

You could just make a disk that you could chuck in your lathe, would work ok

[WilDun]

You could just make a disk that you could chuck in your lathe, would work ok

Trouble is, I've only got a Boxford (like Neil used to have), 9'' swing, and a belt that will slip at the slightest provocation, ( I bet you'll remember that Neil) - that means trouble every time you try to sand a decent amount off! - also extremely dangerous for me, my blood pressure will go right off the scale with the frustration hence the likleyhood of a stroke!
Might be better to start from scratch and build one, or even convert my bench grinder!

[WilDun]

Could kill two birds with one Microdrive VFD, use a 3ph motor with a decent shaft size, (>25mm?) and drive it with a 1ph>3ph VFD.

A decent usable VFD doesn't just fall out of the blue (well, sometimes they might fall into a skip)
but even with my Goldcard, there wouldn't be much chance of finding a cheap enough one for me! (although having said that, I did manage to score a good 40:1 Penfold box for $2 at the tip).

[GerbilGronk]

The sander of Neils is a real beast. It has a huge amount of inertia which is great for sanding but it takes about 15 minutes to stop spinning when it gets turned off. As it winds up the earth slows down slightly. You wouldn't want to get tangled up in it.

[WilDun]

The sander of Neils is a real beast. You wouldn't want to get tangled up in it.

No, I'm going to play things safe from now on, I've got tangled up in too much machinery (including bikes) over the years! So I might design some sort of belt sander which could also be used for doing the draught angles on patterns, but today I'll be making a proper lid for my furnace (hopefully).

[seattle smitty]

. . . and Claire would just switch the power off, no matter what, even if I was half way through a cut on the Boxford lathe as happend one night, broke the cutting tip . . . .

Bet the tool had a carbide tip. It's typical of carbide that if the lathe spindle is allowed to coast down, the very last thing that happens before it stops is the tip of the carbide tool breaks off. You quickly learn not to leave the tool in the cut when you stop turning.

That's about the second thing I learned when I went from HHS tooling to carbide many decades ago, the first being that carbide let me make gigantic cuts that could generate huge smoking blue coils winding out of the cut!!

[Ocean1]

Bet the tool had a carbide tip. It's typical of carbide that if the lathe spindle is allowed to coast down, the very last thing that happens before it stops is the tip of the carbide tool breaks off. You quickly learn not to leave the tool in the cut when you stop turning.

That's about the second thing I learned when I went from HHS tooling to carbide many decades ago, the first being that carbide let me make gigantic cuts that could generate huge smoking blue coils winding out of the cut!!

My old boss would have kicked my arse for that. He'd have insisted that the feed and cut be set so the chip breaker worked.

[Flettner]

Bet the tool had a carbide tip. It's typical of carbide that if the lathe spindle is allowed to coast down, the very last thing that happens before it stops is the tip of the carbide tool breaks off. You quickly learn not to leave the tool in the cut when you stop turning.

That's about the second thing I learned when I went from HHS tooling to carbide many decades ago, the first being that carbide let me make gigantic cuts that could generate huge smoking blue coils winding out of the cut!!

Yes, High Speed Steel, I call it low speed steel. It's only used for "special" jobs now(special shapes etc).

[WilDun]

Yes, High Speed Steel, I call it low speed steel. It's only used for "special" jobs now(special shapes etc).

I find that "Low Speed Steel" is a very good thing for rescuing and getting a smooth finish on a final cut which might not be going well with carbide. By using a slow rotational speed, small feed and plenty of cutting oil. it produces a dull but smooth finish. - HSS can't be written off!

[WilDun]

My old boss would have kicked my arse for that. He'd have insisted that the feed and cut be set so the chip breaker worked.

Yes, however that's hard to keep constant as each cut will be different, but big blue coils coming off are a real menace and so are blue chips if they go down your shirt, or hit your face!

[Grumph]

There was a guy here in ChCh who was a very good engineer - and a well known special builder and driver - Hec Green. Long dead now.
However one of his parlour tricks was to grind a HSS tip to shape and machine hardened steel with it.
This trick became known in trade circles, to the point that a visiting Japanese trade mission actually turned up at his factory with a new HSS toolpiece and a piece of hardened steel shafting, demanding to see it done.
He made them stay in the office where they could see him but not see detail, went out and ground the tip, machined the piece as requested, then ground the shape right off the toolpiece and gave it all back to the japs...proved it could be done.
Not even his business partner - another very good engineer - ever knew what the shape was. Hec was a very secretive old B....

[Ocean1]

Yes big blue coils coming off are a real menace, but so are blue chips if they go down your shirt, or hit your face!

I've had one adhere to my tongue, in the split second it took for me to lick my lip. Couldn't get the bastard thing off.

I once did a job on a big planer, about an 8ft stroke. Was finishing a cut on a stainless steel table insert with a carbide, easyflowed tip, had a curved face about 10thou deeper in the middle than the sides and about 30deg top rake. Feed was something like 1/2", it was making 8ft x 1/2" razor blades, you could just about see through the edges.

Didn't have much choice about the swarf, the tool did a good job but it piled up beside the machine. I told the old cleaner, (who was at least a sammie short of a picnic) to leave it alone until I went to get a fork or something. I came back to find him sitting on the floor with most of the front of his hand missing. I felt like shit for ages.

[WilDun]

He made them stay in the office where they could see him but not see detail, went out and ground the tip, machined the piece as requested, then ground the shape right off the toolpiece and gave it all back to the japs...proved it could be done.

Sounds like a challenge for someone! - amazing the stuff we lose forever through people being secretive, but then look what happens when we share it all - some other b*****d cashes in on it!

I heard somewhere that a Russian delegation went to England a while after WW2 to check out the RR Jet engines. RR had supplied details and drawings to them earlier to see if they were interested in trade but didn't disclose the materials being used.
The Russians had brought their own "safety" boots to use in the workshop, stood round the machines doing the turbines etc and walked over the chips then packed the boots back in their suitcases and went home complete with all the chips collected by the special sticky soles they had on the boots.
They analysed the chips and found out what materials to use and proceeded to copy the engine which was then fitted to the very successful MIG 15! - that's how the story goes anyway.

OCEAN, as I said, that swarf is a menace, but you can't tell some people (many people!) - some people also will insist on looking at arc welders!

[F5 Dave]

Nice story, they were given complete engine though as part of a political deal, in secret to get them on side with the Brits in some misguided move. All this stuff was released a while back & subject of a few telly programs. Apparently the 'mercans were somewhat surprised at the sudden development hike the Ruskies had achieved.

[WilDun]

All this stuff was released a while back Apparently the 'mercans were somewhat surprised at the sudden development hike the Ruskies had achieved.

Yeah, I heard it secondhand and I thought that there might be another angle to it, - I didn't see the documentaries. Even so, it's hard to believe some of the things which take place at diplomatic level, (ours is not to wonder why.........etc.)
Also, we were quite brainwashed too, we were told that Russian aircraft were inferior to anything in the west (not so) and that Russian and Ukranian etc. women were ugly looking cows who looked and worked like men!! (also not so).