Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe !!!!

[Pete.]

Better make sure the drain plug is in tight

[vtsteam]

I have to hand it to you awemawson, you think big! 

[Pete W.]

High there, Awemawson,

When you get it all going, shall you do guided tours?          

(It looks as though there'll be no trouble finding a place to park the charabanc but will there be a burger stall?)          

[awemawson]

Parking: well we've just finished (today) laying 40 tons of pea shingle over the parking area and bits around the cottages - something like 750 -800 sq metres so lots of room for the odd charabanc or two

Burger Stall: Well much to the annoyance of our nearest neighbour half a mile away, there is often a burger stall in the lay by on the opposite side of the A21 so catering isn't an issue

Accommodation: Well there's a field to camp in if the weather holds like it is

So when are you all coming?

 

[awemawson]

Re video - why not buy a cheap 2nd hand GoPro (or even a proper 250 quid new one), IIRC there are various kits, some of which will include a suction mount & a waterproof case; ideal for mounting inside the the machine to get those full HD swarfy shots.

Well Adev I've acted on your advice and ordered a GoPro 2 Outdoor Edition - so hopefully video quality might improve a tad as the camera can be inside the machine enclosure. I'm tempted to get a wifi back for it, but I suspect that would compromise the watertightness, and I'm not convinced that the signal will penetrate the few non metallic openings in the machine enclosure.

[Pete W.]

No guarantees but you could try a couple of wi-fi antennae (classical scholar, me!), connect them with a suitable length of coax and fit one inside the enclosure and the other outside, sort of a deliberate RF leak.

[awemawson]

  amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant 

[AdeV]

Re video - why not buy a cheap 2nd hand GoPro (or even a proper 250 quid new one), IIRC there are various kits, some of which will include a suction mount & a waterproof case; ideal for mounting inside the the machine to get those full HD swarfy shots.

Well Adev I've acted on your advice and ordered a GoPro 2 Outdoor Edition - so hopefully video quality might improve a tad as the camera can be inside the machine enclosure. I'm tempted to get a wifi back for it, but I suspect that would compromise the watertightness, and I'm not convinced that the signal will penetrate the few non metallic openings in the machine enclosure.

Woo!

They seem to be really good, those GoPros, I never quite got around to buying one myself (none of my machines are encolosed, so the cheapo Kodak thing I bought suffices for now), but I would like to.

Where, approximately, are you in the country? Might have to swing by one of these days....

Also - for lube, don't forget you can get a discount from Lube Tech Shop (see the "Vendor specials" board) IIRC it's 10%, I bought a 25ltr drum of "Excelfluid Ultra EPDX Soluble Cutting oil 25 litre" - not cheap, but the first batch I made up about 9 months ago, is still in the sump of the Bridgeport now, & still neither stinks nor has it gone lumpy, so I'm assuming the bugs don't like it. Dilute 10% and 1 drum will fill your lathe... with a few litres spare for spillage!

[awemawson]

PM sent but TN33 0RG

[chipenter]

Good grief that's not far from me , and I thought I was in a desert on the A28 , been following this thread from the start you have put a lot of time and effort into this , keep it up .

[Pete W.]

amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant 

Caesar ad sum iam forte, Pompey aderat.
Caesar sic in omnibus, Pompey sic in at.
                 

And a line from a poem by Catullus, I've forgotten the Latin but I identify with the English so it has has stayed with me:

"Alas, my purse is full of cobwebs".

I see you have a Rother, so do we, it eventually flows into the Arun.  Man's best friend enjoys its cooling waters this weather.

[awemawson]

Today's task: Make a replacement for the corroded side cover for the X axis and turret slide
Make one of these:

[awemawson]

Into one of these:

[awemawson]

Fairly easy, except that there is a thickened mounting for the 'way wipes' for the other half of the cover@

[awemawson]

So first I traced it, then extended the lines to the edge to ease cutting

[awemawson]

Then guillotined the easy bits, remembering to cut strips from the waste for the thickening at edge while it's still big enough to hold. The other cuts had to be with a thin angle grinder disk

[awemawson]

I decided to spot weld the strips to the edge but these tips need a clean up:

[awemawson]

A quick trip to the lathe did the job:

[awemawson]

I made a few test welds with some scrap of the same thickness to make sure the spot was properly welded but not too unsightly adjusting the welding time between welds:

[awemawson]

Then clamp it up and weld it:

[awemawson]

Then use the old one as a drilling and filing jig to get the holes in the right places:

[awemawson]

Then re-assemble with the way wipers ready to fit back on the machine:

[awemawson]

All went quite well really - another example of tools that don't get used for weeks on end being indispensable for some jobs. The spot welder is rarely used but does make things so easy when the need arises. Similarly the guillotine, although used a bit more, usually just gathers dust.

Last night I tried my hand at a bit of programming - up till then I've just been moving axis's and starting spindles under 'MDI'. Managed to write a diddy to position the 'C' axis (main spindle but precision rotary location) in increments of 120 degrees round the circle - simple stuff but satisfying that it works.

Currently working on the tool setting system. There is an optical tool setter - you bring the tool tip under it, and the machine automatically puts the tip offset into the tool file to compensate for differing tool lengths etc. It measures from a reference point on the turret. Seems to work except that values are in microns not millimetres to 3 decimal places. So a 1mm offset is registered as 1000.00 and not 1.000 with the result that the control errors complaining the value is too large! Hey get real mate - YOU measured it

[awemawson]

Spare relay arrived today for the Platinum Resistance Thermometer Relay box that had kept failing. It's been ok since I bent it's contacts but I've changed it anyway. £6.40 for 5 of them brand new off ebay and they're not made in China ! How do they do that?

[tom osselton]

Re video - why not buy a cheap 2nd hand GoPro (or even a proper 250 quid new one), IIRC there are various kits, some of which will include a suction mount & a waterproof case; ideal for mounting inside the the machine to get those full HD swarfy shots.

Well Adev I've acted on your advice and ordered a GoPro 2 Outdoor Edition - so hopefully video quality might improve a tad as the camera can be inside the machine enclosure. I'm tempted to get a wifi back for it, but I suspect that would compromise the watertightness, and I'm not convinced that the signal will penetrate the few non metallic openings in the machine enclosure.

Just letting you know any of the gopro extra's come with a asortment of case's watertight and vented for audio.