Importance of a good earth!

[Rail_Head]

Plus jiffy bag which are about 10p, and they may include card transaction charges in that aswell, still, it amounts to far less than £3.95


Where could I go to get a second hand lathe?

Alex not sure about where to get second hand lathes from but this link it to a place called Chester machine tools. There is a forum on this site as well.

I have a Emco Compact 8 lathe and do a far amount of machining on it. So any questions that you may have let me know.

Also a link to another lathe site which gives some good information.

http://www.chesteruk.net/
http://www.lathes.co.uk/page2.html

 

[Alex]

Thanks Rail Head I'll check that out.

 

[Agroshield]

What do you think of some of the cheaper lathes they do like this one.


http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-SIEG-Axminster-SIEG-C0-Metal-Turning-Lathe-559017.htm

If you are at all interested in lathes and stuff, seek out and join some model engineering sites and groups (you do know what Usenet is, don't you?).

All the Chinese/Taiwanese lathes come from similar factories. Axminster, Machine Mart, Chester, Warco sell them. One of the better importers, however, is ArcEuroTrade, in Leicester. No connection, other than a satisfied customer.

IMHO, buy the biggest lathe you can afford. You will not go far wrong with an old British lathe such as Myford or Boxford (or Colchester/Harrison for bigger).

 

[Pc Plum]

400amp is overkill for most small MIGs.

Bigger is better in my book Plus for a couple of pence whats the harm?

Just checked with my local welding supplier & they have 400A in stock for £3.80. Will drop in tomorrow to get one!

 

[weldequip]

You will not go far wrong with an old British lathe such as Myford or Boxford (or Colchester/Harrison for bigger).

The British designed & built the best machine tools in the world, flogged the blueprints to India & China and are now wondering why they cannot compete!!
weldequip

 

[Alex]

I have used a big lathe (Colchester) it was good, but I don't think I could find the money for such a machine.

Most stuff I have had that is built in Taiwan has been pretty good, China not so great, but things like bearings, nuts and bolts made in china have been flawless. I suppose its because there isn't a great deal of operator skill involved in building bearings, nuts and bolts, rather they just man the machines that do it.

When you compare Chinese Mini motos to Italian there is a big difference and the Chinese one usually ends up in the bin after a few uses, its just not worth the initial saving.

 

[Rail_Head]

The British designed & built the best machine tools in the world, flogged the blueprints to India & China and are now wondering why they cannot compete!!
weldequip

There are still many Myford super 7's in operation and they are 50 years old + !

The British use to lead the way in ALL things engineering..... my local hero is a Mr Whitworth (creator of the Whitworth Thread and a lot lot more!!)

but what engineering are we good at now? ?

we even bought the Vitrification process from the French!! (a way of vitrifiying [turning into glass] waste nuclear waste) but we broke it and still cant fix it!!! enough of work

 

[Alex]

I think the only engineers really nowdays are getting old and they aren't being replaced (in a serious level at least).

We got to accept that we have totally lost it now, like people say we were the best, unfortunately not anymore.

I suppose its a lot to do with kids coming out of school undisciplined and favouring easier subjects like Media studies or other 'Mickey Mouse' subjects.
They dont want to get their hands a bit dirty or have to think hard, like i'm sure most of us do when we want to acheive something, giving up is not an option.


Lack of engineering companies left leaves less opurtunity for apprentices etc.


Red tape, tax and employment law shuts down British factories and some move to the far east.

And dont even get me started on the Trade Unions, the day they get the message that you actually have to work to earn a living, they may cease to exist. They have totally lost touch with the reality of the world and have probably made more people loose their jobs than keep them.

 

[malcolm]

Britain are still world leaders in engineering. Though much of the work is in consultancy, high tech, and things that are tricky to import. Oddly engineers are undervalued in the UK. A lot of my engineering friends are working abroad.

 

[Alex]

Oddly, Engineers are under valued in the UK

Totally agree.

In Germany they are valued much more.

 

[bump]

Most stuff I have had that is built in Taiwan has been pretty good, China not so great, but things like bearings, nuts and bolts made in china have been flawless. I suppose its because there isn't a great deal of operator skill involved in building bearings, nuts and bolts, rather they just man the machines that do it.

You missed some of the major stories about critical failings of Chinese fixings then?

Major construction firms won't touch them now, and the A2/A4 has always been ropey.

 

[Alex]

I didn't know about that, but it doesn't suprise me. The Chinese tend to make things for their own market.

I still haven't had any problems with chinese fixings for small scale use though.

I hear that the chinese use scrap alloy/swarf from Japanese factories and melt it down to make things like crankcases but the scrap still has coolant and stuff on it when they melt it.

I'm not too keen on casted metals, they tend to crack when I get hold of them, or threads in cast metal strips when I tighten a bolt.

 

[Lippyp]

Theres a model engineers shop near me (In hebden bridge) that sells used smaller machine tools, most areas will have companies selling secondhand machinery, have a squint in yellow pages or even try local auctions.

 

[bump]

You don't want to know the half of what comes out of China, there isn't enough steel to go round so it's recycling (sort of now).
As for some of the electronics, how they ever got through into the EU I have no idea.

 

[weldequip]

You don't want to know the half of what comes out of China, there isn't enough steel to go round so it's recycling (sort of now).
As for some of the electronics, how they ever got through into the EU I have no idea.

Now that's what I like to hear! Things are cheap for a reason & not just because of cheap far easten wages. Quality control is near non-existant with a lot of far eastern sourced goods & their abidedance of international copyright is non existant! So, buy your Chinese imports at your own peril people - some are good, some are OK, most are bloody awfull!
weldequip

 

[weldequip]

Strange how the two main 'casualties' of the second world war, ie.Germany & Japan have come to become economic power houses?!
Britain lead the world just 30 or so years previous but now we have gone to ****! We have only just paid off our war debts to America & Canada (just this year in fact) & I'm sure Germany & Japan are still doing so! Can anybody explain this? I'm sure Mr.Blair, or any preceeding or proceeding leaders could not explain (nor could they give a **** as their nest is already made!)
Interseting stuff.
The 'square mile' of London accounts for well over 30% of Britains GDP & the Yanks (and Germans) are after buying that!! What then chaps?? Do we all service 'service' industry? And what, exactly, does 'service' industry service??
weldequip

 

[bump]

We (the population) were sold down the swanny a long time ago, thanks to a combination of the Thatcher government and the unions.

"We" (read the market) undervalued ourselves and killed the economy that way. You do have to wonder when Easyjet gets called the unacceptable face of capitalism by the man who is trying to sell of the NHS, has sold off education and continues to destroy what is left for the sake of the "market".

Tig round here is apparently worth £5.98 p/h, a skills shortage is declared when over regged UK welders won't work for that much then cheap labour is bought in.

Humn I'm rambling now, it's been one of those days.

EDIT: It was Ryanair, apologies for anyone who was confused by this.

 

[weldequip]

You get it off your chest & ramble away, that's what forums are for! (although I think we are supposed to be rambling about welding ).
weldequip

 

[Uh Oh]

Bigger is better in my book Plus for a couple of pence whats the harm?

Just checked with my local welding supplier & they have 400A in stock for £3.80. Will drop in tomorrow to get one!

I prefer the screw type as the clamp on ones tend to over heat and the cables burn off due to poor connection

something like these 400 amp ones, they cost a bit more but good welds is what its all about

http://www.nuweld.co.nz/earth.htm

an electrical crimp lug to suit cable size, crimp it on and slide some heavy wall Heat shrink (from your local electrical wholesalers) over the join,where the cable enters the lug .
shrink it down with a heat gun etc ( this gives it some strength so the cable strands don't fray)
and bolt it on.
good for ages

 

[DaveBunse]

We (the population) were sold down the swanny a long time ago, thanks to a combination of the Thatcher government and the unions.

"We" (read the market) undervalued ourselves and killed the economy that way. You do have to wonder when Easyjet gets called the unacceptable face of capitalism by the man who is trying to sell of the NHS, has sold off education and continues to destroy what is left for the sake of the "market".

Tig round here is apparently worth £5.98 p/h, a skills shortage is declared when over regged UK welders won't work for that much then cheap labour is bought in.

Humn I'm rambling now, it's been one of those days.

EDIT: It was Ryanair, apologies for anyone who was confused by this.

Less than 6 quid an hour for TIG? The snotty 16 year old apprentices who can barely spell their own name, let alone weld are on more than that

On topic, it isn't that hard to make up your own earth clamp... Strip the insulation down, put it in some 15mm copper pipe, stick it in a flypress and attach to work piece via mole grips But at 3 quid or so a pop, it's almost not woth it