Tips .... page 2
| Is that silver solder going everywhere? ...... Use a soft lead pencil to draw a line over which you do not want the solder to flow ....... | Drill shanks are a good tool for measuring inside something or for setting gaps. Assuming of course you have one of the right size!! | |
| Do not throw away that printer paper used on one side only. The reverse side is a handy scrap note pad if stapled together in small packs. Useful for jotting down those slide settings or doing the odd calculation. | Making a past of silver solder flux with water tends to make it boil when heated even if allowed to dry. Try mixing the powder with an evaporating spirit like meths. Make sure its has evaporated off before applying the flame though! | |
| Marker pens are a useful alternative to blue paste or liquid blue. Use a wide tipped pen such as those used for writing on those large presentation pads. | Use wire wool to clean up joints in preference to emery cloth for any type of soldering. | |
| Did you know that there is a masking tape which will bend round corners without the edge crinkling ....... have a look in you local stationary store. | Resetting the tailstock once it has been set over for anything is a bind .....Make two morse taper plugs to suite the spindle and tailstock (usually the same MT). With the same top slide setting with the MT in the spindle turn a parallel portion on both. Now with one MT in the spindle and the other in the tailstock a DTI on the top slide will show how much to reset the tailstock by comparison to the spindle measurement. | |
| Is that drill jamming in the phosphor bronze part?......just keep the part cool with water applied by brush regularly and take small cuts and clear the drill swarf from the flutes very regularly. | Small amounts of cutting fluid for the lathe can be arranged by having a gravity fed pipe fixed to a magnetic base stand which sits on the cross slide. Clip a conveniently sized bottle or can connected to the pipe to somewhere handy about a foot or so above the tool ....the wall in front? ....and use a laboratory clip/clamp on the pipe to regulate the flow...... | |
| Problems with drills wandering ? even when centre punched ? .........Use the four facet drill sharpening technique. Done properly no centre punch is required. |
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