One more Aussie to the fold....

[Pony]

Found this great site during my morning "surf" and have signed on. I have had a LAM lathe for several years and recently purchased an older Taiwanese mill. I have not made much, friends find me very useful, but that IS going to change! I have just discovered CTC Tools in Honkers and am ready to place a second order today - prices and service are outstanding.

I note another "Fighting 41'er" is a member here (D41 - HMAS Brisbane Guided Missile Destroyer 1967-2001)

 

[dreeves]

Great to have you aboard. I know how you feel I have lots of friends that need things turned of milled :big:

Dave

 

[b.lindsey]

Welcome Pony,
Glad to have you ...you definitely "surfed" to the right place. So what are your interests as far as macnining projects for yourself

Regards,
Bill

 

[Maryak]

Pony,

Welcome to our forum. wEc1

Stood by Brisbane's build in 66-67

back again 71-73.

I paid off 74.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Pony]

Thank you all for kind welcome! I'm sure I have come onboard at the right place.

Dave, one the 'friends' recently wanted some stub axle mounts milled level - sounded easy. But he wanted 10 mm off each side! Multilply that by 2 and with metal that was HARD - all day, job done, worn out tool, see you later and a carton of beer some weeks later!

Bill, I'm interested in making things (models interest me) but first I want to become more proficient at using the machines, learn to read drawings, and measure things accurately. At present close enough is good enough! I have made a die holder so far (works OK) and am about to drill and tap a Weaver rail to my Ruger MkII. My main interest originally was restoring single cylinder vintage engines.

Bob, looks like we served together! I was the birdie Phot (Photographer) with Brisbane's commissioning crew in '67! (Also quartermaster, postman and any other job possible) - Pony Moore (Allan)

 

[tel]

Welcome Pony

 

[Maryak]

Bob, looks like we served together! I was the birdie Phot (Photographer) with Brisbane's commissioning crew in '67! (Also quartermaster, postman and any other job possible) - Pony Moore (Allan)

I guess we did............. being one of the black gang, (ERA1 at the time), I never got to where the sun was shining so you could take my piccy. ;D Well that's not quite true, I remember freezing my AR$# off on the wharf in Boston during the commissioning ceremony and AA Willis banned us all from wearing anything over our No1's and no gloves, I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[ruzzie]

Hi
I had machined parts for the Brisbane and most of the other ships in the fleet during my stint at Garden Island.
I did all my work in the FFG machine shop from 86 to 95.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Pony]

Yes Bob it was COLD - all of the Yanks (friendly term) were in great coats, ear muffs and hats! Loading film in the freeze was not fun!

Barry Young - Stoker, is a neighbour of mine.

Hi Ruzzie - what a wonderful place GI was! Attended the decomm for the "Brisbane"

Pony

 

[Pony]

Pony Update: I have been quietly working away building my tooling stock, mainly from CTC. Boring heads, ER32 collet chuck with 20 collets - end mills, ball end mills, edge finders, the list goes on and my wife has no idea of the cost!

Two things have gotten in the way: RC helicopters (450 & 600 size) and an 1858 Remington Black powder .44 revolver - I have previously owned a Ruger .44.

However the lathe and mill have been in use as I have recently made some Nipple Wrenches for the Remmy. Version 2's are coming out this week where, hopefully the lugs don't break!

Pony

 

[Tin Falcon]

Welcome to the forum.
Tin

 

[AussieJimG]

Welcome Pony, I hope you enjoy this site as much as I do. They are a great bunch of blokes.

Jim

 

[steamboat willie]

Hello Pony!
I too am a new member and have already gleaned much from the friendly and the helpful on this Forum. I am pleased to see another Aussie aware of the services of CTC Tools - I have been using them for several years now and have had nothing but excellent service from them. It is good to find somewhere reliable these days, and when I do, I tend to stick with them. With postage being what it is from the other side of the planet they represent a great saving for us here.
What are your areas of engineering interest?
Cheers!
Steamboat Willie.

 

[Pony]

Hi Steamboat Willie,

Thank you for your kind words. I must apologise for not replying sooner but my excuse is that I did retire in December - poor excuse I know!
I'm interested in all things turning and milling as a learning experience. An engine will come but in the meantime I have designed and built several black powder loading presses for fellow club members. I will attempt to upload an image and maybe take orders - LOL!

 

[Swifty]

Hi Pony, a belated G'day. So the black powder goes straight into the chamber with a ball on top? Obviously for a revolver.

Paul.

 

[Tinkerer58]

Hey welcome Pony, Aussie here from Sydney, best way to learn some machining or if you just wanna brush up from school days I went to TAFE and did a few night classes, well worth the time and investment. After my renos are finished I'm going back to do some more (as long as the Mrs doesn't have any other bright ideas LOL).

 

[nowramfg]

"However the lathe and mill have been in use as I have recently made some Nipple Wrenches for the Remmy. Version 2's are coming out this week where, hopefully the lugs don't break!"
I always used my fingers for nipples.
welcome from this expat. nasho in '68 4RAR.

 

[AussieJimG]

Hello Pony!
I too am a new member and have already gleaned much from the friendly and the helpful on this Forum. I am pleased to see another Aussie aware of the services of CTC Tools - I have been using them for several years now and have had nothing but excellent service from them. It is good to find somewhere reliable these days, and when I do, I tend to stick with them. With postage being what it is from the other side of the planet they represent a great saving for us here.
What are your areas of engineering interest?
Cheers!
Steamboat Willie.

Hi Bill, I was thinking of you only the other day when I needed more light on my milling machine. Time I came over to see what you have been up to.

Jim

 

[Pony]

Hi Pony, a belated G'day. So the black powder goes straight into the chamber with a ball on top? Obviously for a revolver.

Paul.

Hi Paul,
Yes it does,17 grains then Semolina as a filler with the ball pressed into the chamber with about 2 mm clearance. The revolvers do have an inbuilt ram but are really hard to use and can be easily bent. The .44 calibre ball is in fact .451 so that there will be a shaved ring as the ball is forced into the chamber. This ensures a tight fit for maximum pressure and accuracy. The top of the chamber is then lubricated with a non petroleum grease. I use the American Crisco solid oil, works great.

There is a percussion cap fitted to the nipple at the bottom of each cylinder. Somewhere else I mentioned making a Nipple Wrench!

Why Semolina? Need to make sure there is no air space otherwise the chamber can EXPLODE.

 

[Pony]

Hey welcome Pony, Aussie here from Sydney, best way to learn some machining or if you just wanna brush up from school days I went to TAFE and did a few night classes, well worth the time and investment. After my renos are finished I'm going back to do some more (as long as the Mrs doesn't have any other bright ideas LOL).

Hi Tinkerer58,
Thank you for your welcome. I did in fact attend a hobby machining class here at Canberra Tafe. Unfortunately hobby classes here, like the trade classes are basically defunct. Made a nice plumb bob.

Cheers,

Allan