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Hi, Thanks for all the comments. I'm in the process of selling off my old EMCO lathe/mill combination at the moment and have ordered a Sieg SX2.7 mill and SC4 lathe which should arrive towards the end of November. Once I have that out of the way I think I'll have a crack at converting an...

Hi, I used to need to regulate low flow air supplies to measure liquid levels by measuring the back pressure when the air was discharged from the end of a submerged pipe. I found needle valves were not particularly reliable as the gap between the needle and the valve body was generally...

Hi, I came across a die filer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bM3Jhy_3TU at about 4'30" in. It looks to be really useful. It struck me that rather than driving the file from below, it might be possible to use an old sewing machine and drive it from the top. The old Singers were built...

Hi Brian, I have been looking at a WM250V-F which looks to be the metric equivalent of the next size down (10 X 22). The sales guy fired it up and I noticed a loud electrical humming noise at the lowest speed. Does your lathe do this? Do you know if the motor is brushless...

Hi All, A while ago I needed to measure a large diameter shaft which my vernier callipers couldn't cope with. I remembered there was an old set of callipers in a box of tools I inherited from my Grandfather about 45 years ago. I dug them out and they were covered in rust and needed...

Hi Barry, Just a few more questions about the Sieg gear if that's OK. As I understand it you need to change the gears at the back if you want to change the longitudinal and cross powered feeds on the SC4 lathe. Is this much of a nuisance when you change from a coarse cut with a...

If you want a cheap source of lead for this try the local tyre shop. They get only peanuts for their scrap balance weights and I've bought some for only a couple of dollars a kilogram. The steel bits float to the top during melting and are easily picked out. Regards, Alan C.

Hi Barry, I'm from New Zealand. I'll probably go for the SX2.7 or an SX3. Although I can see the advantage of a speed contolled motor on a lathe, what is the advantage of a speed controlled motor versus a fixed speed motor with manual gear reductions on a mill? I seem to...

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I've figured out the chuck mount on the SC4 lathe. My current ER 25 collet holder is only 78mm OD with a 41mm recess so I'll either have to make an adaptor - as you did Bazmak - or splash out US$17 for an MT3 holder from CTC Tools. This is the same as the cost...

Thanks Bazmak. Do you know where to find detailed specs for the Sieg gear? The info I can find on their website is very basic. I want to know things like the distance between the mounting bolts and the system for fixing the chucks to the headstock so I can decide whether to keep some of my...

Hi Bazmak, What is your current opinion of the X2? I'm going to replace my Emco V10P lathe/mill combo with separate machines early next year so I'm looking at mills and lathes now. I want a machine which will work well out of the box without having to modify it to make it work...

Hi All, Thanks for all the comments. I'll certainly give the correcting fluid a go as a masking agent. When I was buying the silver solder (45% Ag) I also bought some 34% Ag solder. It was a lot cheaper and I had a job where I wanted a big fillet on the outside of the brazing rather...

Hi All, I had to buy some more silver solder the other day and all that BOC had was the flux coated material. I bought some and tried it for the first time today. The only good thing I can say about it is that it's relatively easy to chip the flux off. I looked at the video on youtube...

Hi all, Thanks for all the comments. I've made a cylinder by drilling and reaming the bore on a drill press and turned the flange ends between centres after mounting it on the mandrel shown in the pictures above. The piston moved freely in the bore after the head was tightened down...

Hi all, Thanks for the suggestions. I've done a bit of work on this today and have come up with the system shown in the photos. The work is held on a 1/4" mandrel which is mounted between centres. I reamed a 1/2" hole in a length of 1" aluminium and mounted it in the lathe as shown. I...

Sorry, I used a 1/8" wall o-ring for the 1/4" shaft not a 1/16" wall. Alan C.

Hi, I've had a bit of a play with this today as the mandrel is relatively quick to make. What I ended up with is shown in the pictures. I've gone for a 1/4" shaft with a 1/16" wall o-ring to expand into a reamed 1/2" hole. I mounted the cylinder (a scrap one I managed to destroy when I was...

Hi, I came across this video on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYeFlDaxMCM About 8 minutes in the guy (keith Appleton) shows an expanding mandrel inside a cylinder bore using o-rings to lock the cylinder onto the mandrel. Has anyone here had experience with one of these? I'm not...

Hi, I tried making his horizontal Stirling engine and failed. I'm sure his design is OK as other people have made it and posted videos on youtube. They really are tricky buggers to get right. I suspect I'm not the only one here who has a Stirling engine on a shelf of shame. Alan C.

Thanks Mauro. I'll try an O ring. Regards, Alan