Model Engineers Workshop June 2024 issue **20 PAGE FREE PREVIEW**

Anaccurateand robustdesign forlong workpieces.

An accurate and robust design for long

ANADJU STABLE PL AT FO RM

Nicholas Farr ’s solution to providing anaccuratelevelsurface. elsur face.

SENDUSYOUR WORKSHOP TIPS

UK Readerscanwin Chester Machine Tools Vouchers.

Aneasyand economicaldesign from Stewart Hart.

INSIDE THISPACKED ISSUE: ATOOLANDCUTTER GRINDER

 UNDERSTANDINGMILLINGSPEEDSANDFEEDS.  AWALLMOUNTED WORKSHOP CRANE.

 MICROMILLING –AUTOMATINGMOVEMENTS.  ASIMPLELATHE BEDSTOP.

 MAKING GEAR SPROCKETS.  EXTENDED STEMFORDIALTEST INDICATORS.

 AMECCANOLANCASTER.  FREEHOBBING -SIMPLEGEARCUTTING.

Getmoreout of your workshop with MEW

EDITORIAL

Editor: Neil Wyatt

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EDITORIALCONTRIBUTIONS

Accepted photographsand articles will be paid foruponpublication.Items we cannot usewillbereturned if accompanied by astamped addressed envelope, andrecorded deliverymustclearly statesoand enclosesuffcient postage. In commonwithpractice on other periodicals,all materialissent or returned at thecontributors ownrisk and neither ModelEngineers’WorkshopMagazine theeditor,the staffnor MortonsMedia Ltdcan be heldresponsible forlossordamage, howsoevercaused. Theopinions expressed in MEWare notnecessarilythose of theeditor or staff. This periodicalmust not,without thewritten consent of thepublishersfrstbeing given, be lent,sold, hired outorotherwise disposed of in amutilated conditionor, in anyunauthorised coverby wayoftrade or annexedtooraspartofany publication or advertising, literary or pictorialmatterwhatsoever.

This issuewas published on 15 May2024 Thenextissuewillbeonsale21June2024

On the Editor's Benc h

rated chair is essential.,asisregularly stretching the legs.

WEEKEND PROJECT

Tenyears and severalchairs later…

This morning Irealised thatthe last issue of Model Engineers’ Workshop,number 339,marked the tenth anniversary of my taking up the editorialchair. In fact, I’vewornout at twoofcechairs and I’m on my third, so theyseem to have alife expectancy of about fveyears. Ishould say, having aproper ‘twenty-four-hour’

Taking alook at the contents of my frst issue, number 215, May 2014, it’sverysimilar balanceof articles to thatwesee now. There arethree ‘constructional’ articles, from asimple lathe stop (see the archivepages in this issue)toan ambitious raising block forthe WarcoVMC milling machine, via a between centres boring bar

Thereare also ‘techniques’ articles: grinding radiused endmills, parting blade choices, guidancefor beginners and error-freeindexing. Thereare ‘modifcation’articles looking at a Myford Super 7and aUnimatSL. Iwas interested to see that though thereare no 3D printers, an ongoing Beginners’ CNC series continues. There’salso an article on workshop lighting thatfeatures the nowobsolete compact fuorescent bulbs and whatappearstobea very primitiveLED spotlight. Some things change quickly!

I’mglad to saythatthis anniversary also sees me becoming moreactive in my workshop again, as Ihave efectively reached the end of along house refurbishment.

Neil Wyatt

9 The PottyEngineering Cutter Grinder

Stewart Hart describes a‘quick and easy’ design to build agrinder to restoreyour blunted milling cutters.

15 3D Printing Workshop Ideas forBeginners

Robert Walker shares several practical ideas forprinting workshop accessories.

20 An Adjustablelevelling Platform

In our coverarticle, NickFarr demonstrates howtomakea stable, accuratebase forjewellery or pockettype digital scales.

27 NOTAnUltrasonic Cleaner

eof heasbymakes abasic but efectivevibrating cleaner

29 Getting the most out of your Brushless Mill -Part 2 his time ason allamy looksatusing shell end mills and face milling cutters, with particular attention to speeds and feeds.

32 From the Archives his month, another stop,but this time forlathe beds.

34 Handling HeavyLathe Accessories and Parts

Paul Zeusche explainshow he deals with changing chucks and other accessories forhis large lathe.

39 HowtoBuild aLancaster Bomber!

Without ausable workshop to keep him occupied, Mark Noel turned to a Meccano kit of this iconic aircra

40 Tales From the Workshop he extraordinary story of arry rindell Matthews and hiscurious inventions.

42 Micro-Milling

his month Mike ilbylooks automating the various movements of the micro-milling machine.

52 Beginner’sWorkshop

his month eometer looks at roller chainsagain, with tips on making your ownsprockets.

54 Free Hobbing

Stub Mandrel shares hisapproach to making worm and wheel gear pairs.

58 Lengthening aDTI stem a ues Maurel improvesthe versatility of adial test indicator with asimple, reversible, modifcation.

59 AFlange Mounted ER32

Chuck ForThe Minilathe Michael Coxmakes an accuratespindle mounted holder forER32 collets.

63 The John Stevenson Trophy2022

Readersare invited to enter the workshop competition thatputs practicality and function ahead of appearance.

Coming up…

in our next issue

In our next issue Marcos Diniz makessomeoversizevicejaws.

Regulars

3 On theEditor ’s Bench he ditor has abee in his bonnetovercheap blades.

26 Readers’ Tips

Our winner thismonth hasasuggestion formakinglathe chuck keys kinder on the hands. Send your tips to meweditor@ mortons.co.uk,you could win aprize.

50 On theWire

his month brings news of printedchuck awsand foating solarpower forAfrica.

56 Scribe ALine

In this month’s postbag morefeedback from readers, including information on thread chasing. We arealwayskeen to hear from you–send an email to meweditor@mortons.co.uk.

65 Readers’Classifieds his month’s collection of readers’for sale andwantedadverts.

ON THE COVER

Ourcover featuresNicholas Farr’s adjustableplatform to ensurereliable results when using electronic scales. Seemoredetails on page 20 anddownload thefilesfrom www.model-engineer.co.uk

THIS MONTH’S BONUSCONTENT

ExtraContent!

ee the video which accompanies ason allamy’sarticle on speeds andfeeds formilling here, it’svaluable foranyone using larger cutters, whether your mill is brushless or not.

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/topic/getting-the-mostfrom-you-brushless-mill/ Or search the forum for‘gettingthe most’.

Hottopics on the foruminclude:

Lifing aMyfordS7 hat’sthe best waytorig asling to li a heavy lathe y eter impson .

Roman Dodecahedron So whatare these mysterious objects really for y Michael illigan.

Newmill user,whatdoI need to start. Looking fortips and advice, by obert owen attry

Come and have aChat!

As well as plenty of engineering and hobbyrelated discussion, we arehappyfor forum memberstouse it to share advice and support. Come and join us –it’sfreetoall readers!

The PottyEngineering Cutter Grinder Part 1

Stewart Hart describes a‘quick andeasy’ waytobuild agrindertorestore blunted milling cutters. Thefgureswill appear across the threeinstalments of this short series.

This project wasslowly developing over anumber of years, it wasprompted by the realisation thatI wasslowly accumulating acollection of unserviceable blunt milling cutters; in fact Iwas rapidly approaching the point whereI would havemore blunt cuttersthan sharp.Aspart of my apprenticetraining, I’dspenta short time on the cutter grinding section wheremyfather wasthe

charge hand, Ican well remember him teachingmehow to sharpen drills by hand, askill thatI still have to this day, and of him passing on agood understanding of the cutter grinding process. Ireasoned thatI should be able sharpen my owncutters, if only I had acutter grinder.Financeand lack of workshop spaceruled out buying asecond hand Clarkson or Cincinnati grinder,so Istarted looking around for other options:- Icould build Professor

Chaddocks’Quorn Tool and Cutter Grinder,orthe grinder in Harold Hall’sexcellent book Tool and Cutter Sharpening (workshop practiceseries No 38), then there’sthe Stent Cutter Grinder,but all of theseoption would demand afair bit of workshop time and efort, Iwanted something thatI could put together with the minimum of efort.

Then, by chance, theopportunity presented itself of buying an as new

The cutter grinderinaction

X/Ytable at averyreasonable price, quite afew companies sell this type of table in arange of sizes, theidea being is thattheycan convert apillar drillfor co-ordinate drillingorevenfor useas alight mill drill, photo1.I wasn’t too surewhatI wasgoing todowith the table at the time, but Ihad theinkling thatitwould help in my quest fora cutter grinder. It then languishedin the back of my garage fora couple of yearsgetting in the wayofthings whilst my collection of bluntcutters increased. Then forsome unknown reason at amodel engineering exhibition Ispotted aMyfordVertical slide, photo 2.I’d known aboutvertical

slides, butbeing lucky enough to have had amilling machine ever since Istarted model engineering I’dnot given them must thought,but Ihad one of those eureka moments– why notuse it with the X/Y table to make acutter grinder? It should be possible to adaptany robust vertical slide for this purpose. When Igot home aquick search of an internetauction sitecame up with anumber of possibilities, I placed my bid on alikely candidate and came up trumps by winning a practically unused specimen at agood price. My quest then centredonthe search forsomething to mount the partson, Ithought of using akitchen

work top,but at one of my foraging trips to the scrap yard Idropped on a chunk of 1½”thickaluminium jig plate thatwas moreorless the correct size and except fora fewexisting holes was virtually untouched.

Harold Hall’suse of asmall readily available of hand grinder answered the question, as to whattouse fora grinding head.

The X/Ytable and vertical slide were mounted onto the jig plate using M8 bolts. Carewas taken to getthe orientation of the parts correct so thatfull advantage could be taken of the travel on the X/Yand vertical slide along with its swivelling action, this wasmainly asimulation and trial and error processes to getthe optimum positioning forthe parts Iwas using. Ifound it necessary to higher the vertical slide by 50mm by mounting it on ariser block,inorder to getfull advantage of its tilting action, photo 3 he o and grinder wasmounted to the vertical slide using an aluminium adaptor plate and Tnuts in the slide, it wasatthis point that I raninto aproblem, most of the small commercially available grindersare mounted on apyramid shaped plastic base which is fne fornormal use when the grinder is mounted vertically on abench, but to getfull use from my setupI wanted to mount it horizontally this meant that the heavy overhanging electric motor moved the centreofgravity out, in this

Axminster X/Ytable. Myfordtypevertical slide.

50mm riser block under vertical slide.

1

Part 1. ER32 Straight ShankColletHolder Shanksize:

Part 2. IndexRing

EndMillGrindingFixture G.A.

Forflute grinding,use with finger rest using indexringasa forwardstop

Forgrindingfront cutting edges, lock index ring in frontpositionindex usingpawl

Design basedonPhilip Duclos’floating spindle& Harold Hall’send mill grinding fixture, plus some potty engineeringby StewartHart

Camlocking pins

Strong spring

Figure

Figure2

position the plastic base wasunable to rigidly support the motor, resulting in unacceptable levels of vibration, o o

At this point Ihad nothing to lose by stripping the motor down to see whatlay inside the plastic base. Ifound thatitcontained as well as the switch amysterious black box, photo 5,but the good news wasthatthe base was held in placebyfour M4 bolts screwed directly into the motor body thatwould be ideal formounting it to the vertical slide, photo 6.But hereI had come to the limits of my electrical competency, Ifound out thatthe black boxwas some sort of starter forthe motor.I’d come too fartobebeaten by alittle bit of electrickery,soI asked around my model engineering club (South Cheshire) if therewereany electricians who could help with my problem,

Mystery black box?

Motor fxing points.

Motor securely fxed to vertical slide

sure enough therewas morethan one memberwith the necessary levelof competency,willing to help,especially whenitheldthe prospect of getting some milling cuttersreground. So,the motor wasdropped of at afriends’ workshop and within acouple of days I gota phone call to saythatthe jobwas done, my friend had rewired the motor up with aseparateswitchmounted on the base plate thatnow contained the mysterious blackbox (a motor start and run capacitor),allowing the motor to be rigidly fastened directly to the vertical slide via an adaptor plate, photos 7 and 8

Inow had all the elements of a cutter grinder,but Istillneeded some grinding fxtures. s Ihad more blunt end mills than anything else Idecided thatanend millgrinding fxtureshould be the frst priority, when used on smallhome workshop milling machines it’sonly the end face of the cutter thatgetsblunt, the rest of the cutter is usuallypristine Iwanted relatively simpleminimal efort solution to this problem none of the published solutions hadquite

the level of simplicity Iwas looking for, then Ihit on the idea of using the Stevenson ER32 indexing blocksIhad bought some 12 months previously, these gave an immediate wayof holding and indexing the cutter,all

thatwas required wasa back stop and method of clamping the block to the work table. Asimple jig plate with a back stop and atoggle clamp solved this problem, photo 9.

To be continued

Newswitch wired up

Sharpening end mill with Stevenson ER32 indexblock.

3D Printing Workshop Ideasfor Beginners

Robert Walker is arelativenewcomer to 3D printing, in this article he sharesa host of practical ideas forprinting workshop accessories.

Anglegauge forcompound.

Iturned sixty late last year andmy three daughters gave me an Ender 3 v2 printer. er the initialsetup andbreakinginithas become amuchused tool.

Aspart of the learning curve, Idrew simple parts in Freecadfor printing

butalso made surethattheyare something practical too Imadetwo angle gauges foruse in setting the angle of the compound slide on my lathe, photos 1 and 2 he frstis 0degrees forsingle point thread cutting.The second is

Anglegauge forcompound.

14.477degrees thesine of which is .25. The reason forthis is to achieve fner ad ustment of the micrometer dial on thecompound slide. The smallest increment on the micrometer is .025mmsofor each increment I remove .05mmindiameter from the stock. ith the 14.4 degreeofset the increment becomes .00 25 mm with .0125 of stock removalorone quarter of one thousandthsofan inch. The rule of them is to multiply theamountofdiameter reduction re uired in millimeters by 0 to givethe number of increments to be dialed in. orexample, 0.1mm reduction is increments. 0.5mm reduction is 40 increments.

Thelocks forthe micrometer dials on my mill were hexhead bolts which required an Allen keytooperate. The solution wastoprint aknob thatthe bolt can be screwed into andfastened with superglue, photo 3

The clamping screw forthe Diamond ool older sharpening ig also received aknob,this also negated theneed fora washer to hold the tool, photo 4

Io enneed to hold round aluminium and brass stock in the vice, so Iprinted someVblocks thatdonot mark the stock, photo 5

My budgetisnot huge and stretched in manydirections so Idonot yetown aset of angle blocks,sothe solution is to print them as required, this also makes them sacrifcial if needed. hey areasaccurateasmyStarrettNo

C183 and Mooreand Wright No 44 engineers’ protractorscan measure., photo 6

Like manyI getfrustrated when the viceisloosened, and the parallels fall over so Iprintedaspring-loaded holder.These can of course be made anysizetosuit, photo 7

The locking mechanism forthe compound table on the mill wasa

Micrometer lock formill.

Sharpeningjig forDiamond tool.

bloc orso aterials.

Angle blocks. Spring loadedparallel holder

toggle bolt arrangementconsisting of a3/8” rodwith the end slotted and atear drop shaped pieceofsheet metal 25mm long pinnedintothe slot forming ahinged handle. Thesheet metal washardonthe fngersand would bend before thetable waslocked sufciently.Iprinted aknob with a

recess fora bolt head thatwas apress ftthatworks uite well, photo8

Achunky hardtolosedrill and thread cutting tool sharpening gauge wasa simple pro ect, photo 9

When operating aDremel righthanded it can throw afair bit of debris back at the user so made aguardfor it

thatcan be rotated into anyposition, photo 10

Ihavemade severalsmall boxesto protect thread gauges and the like including one formyfeeler gauges, photo 11

nother pro ect is restoration of familyphotos, manyfromnegatives.

Table lock formill.

Drill and thread toolgauge.

Guardfor Dremel.

Boxfor feelergauges.

Negativeframe.

The scanner has aframe to holdsome negatives but notall sizes. Imakethem to suit thesizerequired. To assist with correct location onthe scanner platen I also made aHshaped spacer, photo 12. Twoshort chuck keys with knobs instead of abar assist with diallingin stock in afour awchuck, photo 13

In ovember 2021 M published an article by Adrian Rawson in which

Small chuck keys fordialling in

he described mounting aDremel to makea tool post grinder forrealigning hischuck aws. Ithought Iwould have agoatit. Instead of mounting the remel Imounted the fexible drive hand piecebyclamping it in a3D printed boxarrangement then bolting thattoa pieceofaluminium thatwas machined to ft in the tool holder.I also printed aformer as suggested by

drian forthe awstoclamp down on, an important part of the process. The run out on my 31 year old chuck was 0.5mm and a er grinding it is now0 0 mm, and some bell mouthing is gone too.Thank youverymuch Adrian, photos 14, 15 and 16

Forsome reason Iwas holding a small engineers’ s uareand a inch steel ruler thathad both metric and

Toolpost grinderfront.

Toolpost grinder back.

imperial graduations. Icamethe realize thatthe squarecouldbe used likea simple slide rule to convert metric to imperial and vice versabyreading across the ruler from oneside to the

other.I printed asmall clip to ft on the rulerand slide up and down likethe cursor onaslide rule, photo 17 ikeeveryone Ifnd cleaningswarf outofT slots tedious,soIprinted two

inserts forthe slots on the saddle of the lathe. heyare angled to ft snugly against the tool post, both ends are angled so thattheywill ft in either slot., photos 18 and 19

Toolpost grinder and chuck

Slide ruler attachment.

Teeslotprotector

Teeslotprotector half removed

An Adjustable levelling Platform

Nick Farr makes an accuratebase forjewellery or pockettypedigital scales.

Ihave an 8068-series professional digital jewellery scale, whichneeds to be used on afat andhori ontal surfacefor accurateweighing,this weighs up to 50g/0.001g, however it’snot alwayspossible to fnd such asurface and if youdohaveone it maynot be in the most convenient place, Ithereforedecidedtomakethis adjustableplatform, photo 1. Andit can be used just aboutanywhere. Imade it to be able to ft my uratool 0 40 500g 0.01g digital weighing scale, and it will also accommodate my old PS-200B 200g/0.1gdigital weighing scale. Ihaven’t included any drawings with dimensions, as these can be chosen forindividual user’s needs, butitis1 x11 x24mm, which wasgoverned by thepiece of 2mm thick aluminium sheetthatI had available, and it weighs ust 2g

Platform

The platform is made by foldingthe aluminium sheetascan be seen in photo 2. It accommodates apieceof 20 x20x1.5mm s uarealuminium boxsection at each end. oldingthe aluminiumsheetinthis waymay present problems. Iused my Veeblock and apressing tool in my fy press, but Ifolded thetwo returns frst andthen the top twoasfar as thepressing tool would allow, Ithen clamped apieceof 20mm boxinto the frst folds and then clamped thesheetwith the top face down onto the bench, with apieceof fatsteelbetween the underside and the G-clamps, while using aspanner on the boxsection andgentle tapping with amalletand then fnally pressing each side home with my fy press, with the steelbox section still clamped in place. Aspecial pressing tool could of course be made to enable thesecond bends to be done completely with the Veeblock,but Idon’t haveone

Thelevellingplatform.

and couldn’t be fussed at the time to makeone. Oncethe platform was folded, three holes to ft M stainless steel socket head countersunk bolts wheredrilled in each end, but the countersinking wasn’t done at this stage, andthese were placed 10mm from the edge with the twooutside holes roughly in line with the return fold’sinside edge, the return folds

being 20mm wide from outside to inside, but the twolarge holes thatcan be seen in these return folds, arenot drilled at this stage.

If folding the platform is difcult to do with the return folds, another approach can be to have just two side folds on the platform, and then use twopieces of angle or twofolded pieces forthe return folds with the