In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-03-20, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-03-18, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-03-14, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

[ ... ]

I haven't tried Opera recently, because when I first tried it, it
crashed my Mac, and also it lacked the ability to work through a proxy.

Hmm ... how long ago was it? The current one has the ability to
work through a proxy -- even on a site-by-site basis, just as you can
turn on JavaScript and the like on a site-by-site basis.

A few years. But it takes many years for me to try something again,
when it was originally vastly oversold. Usually the perp dies first.

Well ... Opera has been the best browser for my use (on a Sun
UltraSPARC Workstation running Solaris 10) with only one site regularly
crashing it on the first visit each time the page is changed. That is a
web-based comic called Ctl-Alt-Del.

OK. Maybe they have solved the many problems I found.


There are pages which don't *work* unless I move to Mozilla or
FireFox -- but those are pages which are *designed* to only work on
Internet Explorer -- which I can't run anyway. :-)

Well, partly.


And it is faster -- both at starting up and at downloading pages
than the alternatives.

Also -- unlike a few years ago, it does not require registering
to download any more.

Yeah. I tried the demo version when the real thing cost ~$40. I had a
lonmg conversation with Opera's Tech Support, but they were not able to
help.



Hmm. Another project for me.

Of course, your bearings are the spindle ones, not the motor
ones. But I worked some Starrett "Tool and Instrument oil" into the
bearings and that smoothed things up nicely -- and they seem to be
staying that way.

The same lube might do for your spindle bearings, too.

Meaning the Clausing 5914 spindle? That's DTF24.

No -- meaning the spindle on your toolpost grinder, which I seem
to remember had bearing problems in the spindle, not the motor as I was
experiencing.

I wouldn't be surprised if DTF24 worked for DuMore spindles as well.

Quite possible -- but I use a thinner oil on the spindle of the
Sanford surface grinder than on the Clausing -- probably closer to the
oil for air-powered tools.

Now there is a thought. Also, I wonder if DTF comes thinner.


But the riffled clamping surfaces should cause accurate alignment to
the nearest 15 degrees.

*If* a chip doesn't make it in there as you are changing. :-) I
would rather set this sort of thing up *once* per project instead of
changing angles in mid-project with the likelihood of needing to return
to the same setting.

Well, one must always clean mating surfaces to keep chips out.

Yes -- but that can be difficult with the multi-angle tool
holder (the BXA-22) when changing in the middle of a project -- and
changing back again for the next part. To be sure, you have to remove
the holder from the toolpost, then unscrew the screw which holds the
insert arm, set it aside, clean the radial serrations, and then
reassemble it -- without dropping some crucial part into the chip pan of
the lathe.

Given that the ripple pattern is radial, it should locate in both angle
and location well enough.

As long as you manage to get the chips out whenever you reset
it, which is what I was talking about as an opportunity to lose parts. :-)

OK. Well, the take-away message is that the 16/16N is sufficient.


Using a 0.25" square bit would have worked, as would a 0.250 spacer
plate between compound and toolpost.

Hmm ... the spacer plate would work -- if you knew to install it
before you started the project. :-)

Well, it would become a permanent part of the setup. The BXA toolpost
has a 3/8" (by eye) blind hole in the bottom, clearly intended for an
anti-rotation pin. So such a spacer plate would have a ridge below and
a 3/8 hole to accept a short 3/8 dowel rod.

Hmm ... something for me to check whether is present in the
Phase-II Series 200 (BXA size). If so, then perhaps I should make a
plate with a pin for the standard 29.5 degree setting for threading
(which is where I normally leave the compound setting). But I seem to
remember the holders nearly bottoming when I use full 5/8" high tools,
which would mean that they would have to fall *below* the baseplate for
anything which is near the same height. And the plate would be made
starting a little too thick, and milled on the horizontal mill to leave
a ridge to fit the T-slot so it would not rotate.

I was thinking of milling a plate down so the thickness away from the
ridge is about 0.125". That's plenty for the pin to engage. The
alternative is to drill a hole in the compound.



The Dorian and Aloris setups ought to be able to achieve reasonable to
good longitudinal accuracy. Not that I've actually tried this, or will
anytime soon, but the design is plausible.

The longitudinal accuracy would be dependent on bed stops for
the carriage, not the indexable toolpost. The best bed stop which I
have found (and which I have) has four turret positions, not enough for
my typical project. (But, I have the real bed turret so I don't *need*
that. Two positions is plenty -- one for parting off, and one for the
groove at the shoulder to allow things to thread on fully even though
the Geometric die head always produces incomplete threads (like pretty
much any die) near the shoulder.

There is the key difference: the carriage doesn't index along the bed
ways.


All [turret stuff] is certainly way more complex that one would try with an
indexable toolpost system. That said, there are plenty of applications
where an indexable toolpost will more than pay for itself.

The indexable toolpost is designed for swapping tooling in a
particular order -- with the tooling all being normal turning/threading
tooling, not things like Geometric die heads or Roller box tools or the
like. You could not even use it with the BXA sized knurling tool which
I prefer, because it hangs down far enough so that it would hit the back
of the compound as you tried to rotate it. It is only good for when you
lift off one tool holder and drop another on in the two normal dovetails
on stationary BXA toolposts. (You probably could use it with the cut
style knurler with a standard shank instead of the turret-mounted one
which looks like a 3-jaw chuck which I have. :-)

OK. I haven't been tempted to get an indexable toolpost. First, I'll
use the non-indexed stuff, for the experience.



[ ... center drill sets ... ]

Yes. I've seen those sets. I'll probably buy new here, as what I've
seen come up used is in bad shape.

I bought new -- twice. One to keep near the Clausing, the other
to keep fairly near the Compact-5/CNC and the drill press.

Matches my experience.

As it should for anyone who actually *does* something in their
shop. :-)

Well, right now my shop is my personal schoolroom. My first debate is
still if the problem of the moment is due to a mistake I'm making, or to
something needing repair or adjustment.

Joe Gwinn