Quick Indicating Tool for lathe
I was browsing youtube some weeks ago and came across the video posted below about a simple tool that can be used to indicate parts quickly on the lathe. Still very much learning and trying to find my feet in model engineering, I often remove parts from the chuck only...
3 Phase Motor with Variable Speed Inverter Control.
I`ve stripped off the old single phase motor from the Boxford and all that nasty painted buttons and bell wire. Rather than rewire it, I`m going to replace it with a 3 phase motor and inverter to give me variable speed control and a fresh wiring for the lathe which...
Boxford Re-build – saddle
Just a quick update. Sadly I`ve no detailed photos of the saddle before I stripped it down but hopefully you can appreciate how dirty it was with 50 years and no clean I expect! Parts in a bucket after just being cleaned in paraffin. Rebuilt - just to check I could...
A Multi-tooth Wheel Cutter and Successful Intermediate Wheel
My last three attempts at wheel cutting have been a steep learning curve. Not centring the cutter, not tightening the wheel, cutter not sharp enough..... A friend over on the Madmodder Forums offered to lend me a hand and so I visited his workshop and managed to make...
LTD Stirling Engine
I made an attempt at an LTD Stirling Engine several months ago and failed quite miserably. I know these things are temperamental but after my first attempt I did have quite a few ideas for improvements...nothing new, things that people have already been doing but...
X2 Mill Motor Controller Board Repair
It was catastrophic failure of all proportions the other day, my mill popped, the switch tripped and the fuse was in 1000 pieces in the fuse holder. I replaced the fuse and the same happened again. Why I thought it would change I don`t know - but I continued to put in...
3 Element Yagi for 2m VHF
After passing my Foundation Licence only a few weeks ago, I wanted to work SSB on 2m and my roof mounted vertically polorised colinear X200 clearly wasn`t up to the job. I decided to try a homebrew 3 element Yagi, the dimensions and details were all provided by Neil,...
Part 3: X-axis on the move!
I had it running on the slides but thanks to JasonB and his suggestion over on madmodder, I`ve made a simple design to hold the leadscrew nut. It just so happened that I had a few pieces of chunky brass plate lying around from the frames of my clock build so I quickly...
Wooden CNC Router Build
*This project was never completed* https://youtu.be/YpgQF5c3mVM After seeing my mate Steve's router out of the corner of my eye one visit back during the Christmas period I`ve been frequently going on cnczone to eye these machines up. As is usually the case with the...
Calling ‘CQ’ …The Knole Direct Conversion Receiver
I ordered the Knole DC RX a couple of week back from http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~walfor/simple.htm The kit arrived within a day of ordering and then it sat on my work bench for some time while I plucked up the courage to take the soldering iron to it. So many...
First Homemade PCB – Binary Dice
I had an interesting evening last night. I gave this another go but using my own art work for a simple binary dice that I designed a few months ago when I was just getting to grips with EasyPIC6, Microcontrollers and Mikro C. It is only simple, you press a button and...
PCB UV LED Exposure Unit
I`ve been working on this for weeks now, much longer than hoped but I finally got my first PCB made earlier this evening. UV leds are from ebay - not much more than £8 of which half of that was postage for 200. The unit is running off my ATX PSU conversion that I...
PIC Binary Dice – 12F675
Simple MikroC code for a binary dice on a 12F675. I was looking for a nice idea for a small project group of students rather than just flashing leds. No embellishment, just a straight forward code! While no button is pressed it is counting 1-6 fast, when the button is...
ATX Variable supply circuit.
A continuation of the ATX PSU conversion, I wanted to add a fully variable output and followed these notes to build a suitable circuit on breadboard for testing purposes: http://www.wikihow.com/Add-Variable-Voltage-to-Your-ATX-Based-Bench-Power-Supply The main...
ATX PC Power Supply to Electronics Variable Supply
I was in need of a 5v power supply for my microcontroller circuits as the supply I have was not working with them for some reason and I was not happy keep using batteries. There are many write-ups online so if your interested, do a google and don`t trust this. This is...
Binary Clock – circuit part-1
This is Part 1, the start of the circuit for the clock case. Not sure how it will be enclosed yet, infact there are quite a few unknowns as I am also unclear how I`m going to connect the 25 led anode pins to the PIC and make it look "neat". A work in progres.......
Binary Clock Aluminium Housing
Aluminium housing for the binary clock.... CIRCUIT Chris
Binary Clock 16F887 PIC Project
I`ve been working on this code on and off for the last few weeks. Finally got it running on breadboard a few hours ago thanks to my good friend who helped me point out my errors in the circuit. This may have some machining now as I have a case to build! Part 1 at...
Bi-colour LED Blinker – 12F675
A very simple project but it makes a nice introduction to coding! It is actually just two pins at logic 1 independently and then together so on the development board it is simply two leds flashing but if you put it with a bi-colour led (maplin sell these as tri-colour...
Shumatech DRO on X2 Mill
Several months on and I have just received a Shumatech 350 at a bargain of a price! The Shumatech 550 has just been released so I suspect that there will be a few of these 350`s come up for sale. I`m really impressed with it, I need to mount it properly on a flexable...
EasyPIC6 Development Board
I received my EasyPIC 6 dev board a few days ago and I`m thrilled with it. It really is a super slick bit of kit! Ease of use is just immense and I had it running and programming within about 5 minutes of plugging it in and installing MikroC. Here is my vid of a few...
X-Axis Controller with LCD
A bit of an update. I`ve been doing some updates to my mill at the moment but I`m hoping I should have some time over the next week to get a first simple prototype built. Quite a bit to do yet. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmh65mk7SjA
Clock Frame Assembled
Here is the clock frames assembled with the pillars and washers - camera phone so not the best quality.
A Quick Rocker Engine
There was an explosion on the forums a while ago with people making these little rocker engines. I couldn`t afford to spend much time on this project I just fancied having a go at the engine concept. It doesn`t look great, but runs just fine. It wasn`t running great...
LCD Display – PIC Ball and Cup game
Not amazing, just my first attempt at using an LCD and to be honest, with MikroC library there isn`t much too it. I need an LCD on my next project so I thought I would give it a go on a working code that I had wrote. Please see my other vid for the version without lcd...
Boxford 8″ Shaper
This is the first run of my Boxford 8" Shaper that I have been trying to restore. I have converted the motor from the original 3ph to a single phase supply, re-made the drive pully which had chipped and finally cleaned and oiled as well as getting over some other mini...
PIC – Electronic Cup and Ball
This is totally pointless but again I`ve learnt a lot from it, specifically using functions. It is based on the old Ball and Cup game - you know the one where you have to select which cup the ball is under. Basically, there are three buttons and the first row of leds...
CNC Rotary Table Final Video
Here it is, the build and then finally a video of it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzERyy58ckI UPDATE: Steve Ward has detailed his CNC divider in more detail on his website: www.worldofward.net There you can download the hex code, manual and PCB,...
Aluminium Fountain Pen pt2
Got on with it a but more tonight. I`ve threaded everything and turned it down to size so that all joints are flush. Problem is that it now looks like a aluminium cigar tube or as my wife put it, a metal tapon holder :bang: Exploded picture of the parts so far, blind...
X-Axis PIC Code Microcontroller pt2
Well I got a bit further today. Managed to get hold of a Development board, load the PIC and test the circuit with an osciloscope. Here is the setup: EasyPIC5 dev board Osc, shows us when we are pulsing and is easier to test and calculate from than actually hooking up...
X2 Milling Machine – X-axis Power Feed and PIC controller
Hi Guys After the sucess and enjoyment of converting my Vertex rotary table to CNC, I thought I`d jump back onto the X-axis conversion. I did try this some time ago and it failed so I didn`t post anything but now looking back, the two shafts were not aligned, only a...
PIC Project Electronic Dice
I`ve not had much shop time over the past few days with the run up to Christmas and family stuff but I have had a little time most evening to continue with developing my understanding of coding. I now realise I was nieve to say that I could just build the X axis...
PIC Project – Traffic Lights
This is my first attempt at a simple PIC code. The intention is that it is a set of traffic lights, Road1 and Road2. Road1 is always green Unless: Sensor at road2 is triggered, road1 lights go red, road2 lights go green httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78bQG22n1wo Code...
Taig / Peatol Lathe – the new arrival
I use to own a Unimat 3 mini lathe many years ago and I really enjoyed it for small work. Looking back now, since owning my Asian Lathe and Boxford it was tiny in comparison but there was somthing about its size that has appealed to me. I`ve been looking since summer...
Colin Thorne’s Skeleton Timepiece
I started off using blogger a while back so I`ll keep my clockmaking blog on there as I have a few watchers - http://clockbuilding.blogspot.com I`ll update on my progress.
Intermediate Wheel – Second Attempt
I`m really pleased. Here is what has changed since my last attempt:1. Clockmakers CZ120 engravers brass, I would never bother trying with soft brass again!!2. A new sharp hardened cutter3. My new CNC rotary table which worked a treat!I`m really pleased. I`m going to...
Vertex CNC Rotary Table – finished
Well this is it for now - it is almost finishd, infact I`ve got a bit further than the pictures go because I have now stuck the keypad on the front and made a cheap bezel to hide the screws and frame the display. Still needs a few finishing touches but they are for...
CNC Vertex Rotary table – part 3 – nearly finished.
I picked up the electronics tonight and will post more details about the source shortly. The electronics to make the indexing divice came to short of £30. I already had a Nema23 stepper motor and Routout Driver 2.5A which were also used. The Driver is shown below:This...
Rotary Table CNC – part 2 – Complete Motor Mount
Following on from my last post, I drilled and tapped the larger circular motor bracket disk to accept the M5 bolts that would ultimately hold on the motor. I then bored a hole in the centre:The Oldham couplings arrived - 12mm one side to lock onto the Rotab shaft and...
Rotary Table CNC Conversion
I purchased a Vertex Rotary table (rotab/RT) a few months ago and it has seen some good use but I will hopefully use it even more for dividing in cutting my clock wheels. I have purchased the dividing set as an add-on to the rotary table which comes with three plates...
Clock Parts Wooden Box
A slight aside from the actual clock build, after seeing Jere's watch box for all his parts as he makes them I couldn`t help but want one. Certainly not to Jere's high standards but should serve me well in my dirty workshop! I have made a compartment at the front...
Ideas for a Pillar Jig
Here is my idea for a pillar jig so that each pillar is identical size.
Making the Pillars
I`ve had a break from filing the frame and decided to do the pillars. I enjoyed this little bit of turning!The bottom two need drilling and tapping in the centre section for the feet but I`ll do that later when I have finished the feet. The ends are tapped M3 and now...
Cutting the Frames
We cut the frame on my brother-in-laws bandsaw. He did the job while I inspected, irritatingly, over his shoulder.The frames now need filing together for a good finish. I spent one hour on one long straight last night so I`m guessing this could be a good few hours...
The Frames – part 2
After bolting the plates together yesterday I wanted to fit the locating pins so that the plates can be separated and realigned quickly and accurately. I was worried about doing this as the proceedure involved driving a taper pin through from the front face of the...
The frames – part 1
I`m having a break from wheel cutting for a few days and I`m going to put some time into the frame. I am roughly following the order that Colin says to put it together in, in his book "Clockmaking for the Model Engineer".The frame will need to be cut out of 5mm...
Wheel Cutter – profile and clearance
I have been fielding a few questions regarding wheather the cutter has sufficient clearance on the front leading edge. This diagram should help clarify the profile of the cutter:Chris
0.8 mod Wheel Cutter – 2nd Attempt
OK, well I`ve set off on the next attempt at the cutter. I have decided a few things since my last attempt.1. Use the correct material, a suitable carbon steel and ideally heat treat a piece to test it.2. I need to be more accurate. I did some more calculations and...
Reflection on Wheel Cut
The teeth gaps look pushed out rather than cut out. I think I`ve made a huge error as I aligned the cutter and wheel on the x-axis and then fed the wheel straight into the cutter on the Y-axis. Consequently, is this not simply pusing out the groove rather than using...
Cutting my first wheel
I wouldn`t call it a complete disaster, I did end up with something that loosely resembles a clock wheel but I have a long way to go so before I start!OK - so all the equipment was setup as shown in previous pictures. I also centered the cutter to the wheel centre and...
Wheel Blank Backing Plate
I need something to back the whole thing so that the brass teeth don`t bend under the force of the cutter. I have decided to back it with a piece of sacrificial wood. The cutter will follow through the brass into the wood and so will support the teeth from bending....
Wheel Blank Arbor
This is my first attempt at a wheel blank arbor. I`m sitting it straight into the 3MT of my Boxford headstock using a 2MT to 3MT sleeve. This will allow me to take it out of the lathe, remove the sleeve and transfer to my rotary table on my mill.I first started out by...
Wheel Cutter Arbor
I have been doing some reading on Arbors in general and realise that my attempt was quite crude. I have since produced a better version of an arbor for holding the cutter.With the constant interrupted cut I decided I had room to fit a M3 screw off-centre so I have...
Making a Single Point Wheel Cutter
If I want to build a clock I need to understand wheels or gears! My plans specify the wheel Pitch circle diameter, number of teeth and module cutter to use. Consequently I`ll need to make the specific cutter determined by the "module", so I decided to try and make a...
The Workshop (the old workshop)
Some manditory pictures of the workshop where all the action happens:
The New Workshop
I`ve been busy recently moving my shop down into our cellar. It is an old coal bunker that has been converted to a storage space and then I`ve put up some shelves and work surfaces, decent lighting, high security alarm and made it a nice little work space. It is...
X2 Mill Belt Drive Conversion
The plans I`m following are here: https://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/beltdrive11.pdf Basically, this mod replaces the plastic gears with a belt drive on the X2 milling machine. It is well worth doing! Sorry, didn`t take many pictures of this one in progress,...
Mini-lathe Carriage Stop
I recently purchased another lathe after several years away from model engineering. I have since completed my first project - carriage stop. The original plans are from Ralph Patterson and can be downloaded here: Carriage Stop - mini lathe The original material I used...
Brassy Babe 1st Engine Build
This is a back post of thread I made about a year ago on my first engine build: David Goodfellows - Brassy Babe: I did quite a bit of research and it was a resounding answer that a wobbler is a nice first timer. There were quite a few free plans online, I found Dave...
