In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-05-08, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

[ ... ]

O.K. But you also probably don't have as much adjustment range
in the tapered gib so you can't tune out as much wear as you could in
the cross-slide.

I don't understand. Both gibs are tapered.

With a shorter total dovetail, there is less linear travel
before the gib gets too far off center to give proper support. Assuming
that the taper is along the length rather than the width, which would
require an interesting adjustment system.

Well, in theory yes, but the gib adjustment range is the same for both
dovetails. The taper is indeed along the length, and is the same (5/32"
per foot) in both gibs.


Now this is a very severe test, yielding chips about -0.008" thick by
0.200" wide, and involves very large forces, so the toolbit rising is
not a surprise. One has to push pretty hard before the tool starts to
bite with an audible bump, and it then yields the 0.008" thick chip. If
one maintains the pressure, one can make a very long and curly chip.

Yes -- though the long and curly chip when parting can be a
problem, because it can wedge in the groove and result in a broken
parting tool.


But the tool is upsidedown, so that won't happen. Well, not often.

One of the benefits of upside down is that chips tend to fall
out of the cut. But with a long curl, you would have the chip feeding
back cycle after cycle until there was enough to drag into the cutter
from pure edge friction.

The tool tip is slightly angled, and so the chip usually curls into a
helix, versus a tight jellyroll.


[ ... ]

But it has not happened yet. And while Solaris isn't completely
hack-proof, it's orders of magnitude less vulnerable than Windows.

And I've also turned off quite a few things which I don't need
or want. And, at least in unix systems, it is fairly easy to learn how
to turn things off or on.

True enough.

And only a fool says that a system is hack-proof (using the
wrong sense of "hack".) I prefer to call that "cracking", as it has no
constructive target.

I don't think the hack/crack distinction has any traction in the
language at large. White hat versus black hat seems to be how the
distinction is made.


[ ... ]

Now, Microsoft is slowly changing Windows so people don't have to run
their software from an administrator account, but this is like turning
the Queen Mary. But it five or ten years it will have been done.

If they are still around by then. :-)

Oh, they will for sure, It's damn near impossible for a billion dollar
company to fail, even if they try real hard.

They appear to be trying "real hard". :-)

Well, they have always been good at understanding their business. After
all, they managed to achieve 90% market share selling products that were
far from "best in their class" technically.


[ ... ]

The hand cranks are woodruff keyed to the screw shafts on the 5914, and
are kept on the screw shaft with a thread and cone nut as well.

I had to go back to the manual to make sure that I had
remembered it properly. It is a threaded collar of fairly small
diameter with a step towards the crank on which the dial slips and
rotates when the thumbscrew is loose. And yes, the collar *does* thread
onto the end of the shaft, with a nut which locks against that, and then
the crank screws on. But there is not the cone nut which I thought that
I remembered.

On the 5914, the collar is not threaded (aside from the setscrew).

O.K. A definite difference. You've seen the 5418 design in the
manual which you have.

Right. The mechanics are quite different.


[ ... ]

Mine turned OK albeit with drag, and I worried that people might not
realize how much better it would work after a cleaning, in particular if
one wants to move the dial to a new zero without disturbing things.

Indeed -- and the drag for the crank actually helps avoid
disturbing the crank position while re-positioning the dial.

I found the drag to be a problem.

Well ... it needs to be just right. Too loose and vibration
will change it -- even with a balanced crank. Too tight, and it is easy
to overshoot when you get past the friction limit. Just right and you
can steady the crank with one hand as you loosen the thumbscrew, rotate
the outer dial, and re-tighten the thumbscrew.

Thumbscrew? Mine came with hex socket cap machine screws riding on
brass slugs. Hmm. The 5914 manual shows knurled thumbscrews, also
riding on brass slugs. So both thumbscrews were lost and replaced. The
cap screws are clumsy to use.


[ ... ]

The Nichols horizontal mill takes a lot less space than many,
and (usually) offers a choice between leadscrew or lever feed through a
rack-and-pinion drive for the X-axis feed. And -- there are a pair of
micrometer stops which can be set up to restrict the X-axis travel
rather precisely. Nice for certain forms of production work.

I've seen pictures, but never met one in person. What do they weigh?

About 1100 pounds.

That puts it into the same weight class as my Millrite MVI vertical mill
and of course the Clausing 5914. Seems to be a reasonable size for a
home shop. When I was looking for a lathe, some Logans came by, but I
let them pass because they weighed only ~300 pounds. Far too floppy for
my taste.

:-)

There are some larger Logans, I think. We've got an expert on
the newsgroup -- Scott Logan.

Yes, there are suitable 1000# Logan lathes, but none came onto the local
market while I was looking. Logans were a definite possibility because
Logan Actuator still exists and still supports their old iron.


[ ... ]

Someday. Space is my issue. I saw a local Nichols horizontal hand mill
go for ~$500 about six months ago. There were few takers.

Mine was $200.00 on eBay -- and cost more to ship down to the DC
area from the Boston area. :-)

That's a bit of a drive. How much did the shipping cost, and what year
was this? Perhaps I should have considered non-local sources.

Joe Gwinn