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Toolmaker

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  1. I feel like I’m about to be given a most obvious answer, but as I don’t know, I have to ask. From a ship design point of view, what was the thinking behind the cupola? Why bother?
  2. It’s the angle that the photograph is taken that is misleading you. It’s the same detail in both pictures.
  3. Grainy, if there is such a word. Its no surprise as 3d printing of metal is termed "additive manufacturing". The process is done from grains of metal. It is generally done for very bespoke products and oft times it is more cost effective to machine the parts This video gives a good overview about the process and why it can be expensive. That said, cost are coming down with basic machines now affordable to hobbyists. I'm certainly no expert but have bought sintered metal products in the past.
  4. Certainly 0.4mm/0.020” sizes in straight brass wire are available as I use it myself.
  5. The Sherline vice operates in the way you describe wefalck. This is a link to it for sale in the USA. https://www.sherline.com/product/3551-milling-vise/#description
  6. My guess would be that the op was referring to profiled router cutters.
  7. A few seconds with one of these is great preparation prior to soft soldering brass photo etch. Refillable regarding the fibre glass brissles. Your right though Rob, thinking about it I do now wonder about the safe usage, albeit a bit late having used them for years.
  8. I transitioned from plastic to wooden ship building around 5 years ago. Prior to that I had built 2 plastic ship models, the battleship Arizona and a Flower Class Corvette. Arizona; Arizona detail Arizona finished Flower Class Corvette Flower Class Corvette lifeboat FCC finished FCC finished stern
  9. I can only offer advice based on industry standard machines. Although I use a miniature Sherline milling machine I do not currently own a model makers lathe. That said, in the past, at the spindle end I have used 2 jaw, 3 jaw, 4 jaw and collet chucks. Most of the 4 jaw chucks have had independent jaws but self cantering 4 jaw chucks are also common. I have worked with a 4 jaw chuck in a 3 jaw chuck and with a 3 jaw in a 4 jaw. Regarding soft jaws and their use. Soft jaws are available for many 3 jaw chucks and certain collets systems have soft collets available. Soft jaws/collets are predominantly used for second operation work. That’s when you have worked on one side of a part but still have work to do on the other side and want to hold it in an accurate manner. Most 1st op work would be done in hard jaws. So most soft jaws become stepped. You can step the inside of the jaws or the outside. The jaws have to be locked firm when you machine them. For utmost accuracy If you are stepping the inside of the jaws (to hold on the outside of your part) then you should clamp a piece of round bar in the chuck and bore the jaws to the same diameter you want to hold your part or very slightly larger. Conversely if you want to hold on the outside of the soft jaws you should hold a ring on the outside of the soft jaws. This method is to give better likely concentricity accuracy but in practice hobby machinists will likely clamp the jaws the same way as before, on a piece of round bar. Full soft jaws, sometimes called pie jaws, are useful when holding thin walled parts. These parts might likely distort if you held them in traditional 3 jaws, soft or otherwise. One instance when you might wish to bore soft jaws through is when you want to avoid damage from hard jaws, whilst wanting good concentricity from one end to the other of a shaft. You can also have soft jaws for your milling vice allowing you to hold specific shapes and without needing parallels. To be honest, most of this is referencing model engineering rather than wooden ship building but take it as a snapshot of soft jaw usage. I’m sure lots of usage videos are available on the internet. Most important message is work safely. 50 years ago I was told by a foreman “you can walk on a wooden leg, but you will never see out of a glass eye”.
  10. It’s only slight drift as we are still on milling cutters. You are showing your experience now, using milling cutters as stationary tools, as in your boring bar. When turning small aluminium parts (usually optical instrument housings) we would often plunge with a slot mill and then finish bore with the same tool. No tool change required. Years later they developed specific tools for this. Here is another instance using a stationary milling cutter. I am trimming Syren cannon wheels to remove the char and to true from the centre hole. The parts are just pushed onto a tapered wooden mandrel and fed down past the cutter.
  11. Maybe, but it’s a long time past that I did much serious practical work, and there is not much “mere” about either your advice or your machining output. I always enjoy reading your posts.
  12. Ron, Great explanation there from wefalck. I’m always grateful that he can be bothered to do the hard work of explaining things fully. Mark (No Idea) would also advocate 2 flute cutters for easier chip removal and he would likely suggest this site for cutters; https://cnc-plus.de/en/End-Mills-266/ For you, being in the US, you should just look for a stateside supplier of quality tools. I tend to use good quality metal cutting tools and having a Sherline miniature mill I am able to run the cutters at multiple 000’s of rpm. If the machine is rigid and the cutters are running true, you can’t go too quick with wood. Guhring is the make I use generally but I have also bought generic cutters from Amazon. The beauty of using sharp tools on wood, whether machines or hand chisels, is that you are not creating dust and you can get a better finish against using sanding methods. btw, a standard end mill is suitable for all those examples you have shown.
  13. Terminology has to be learnt and even then can remain confusing when we are writing explanations from different countries. Not all milling cutters can be used to “plunge” cut. In the UK the different types of cutters regarding this issue were known as “end mills” and “slot mills” What is the differences between a Slot Drill and an End Mill? A slot drill is a mixture of a drill and an end mill meaning it can plunge in like a drill then slot across like an end mill. Conversely, an end mill will primarily cut laterally and horizontally. If you want your cutters to be able to “plunge cut” make sure you buy the right sort. Another relevant term is climb/conventional milling. Whether your cutters have right or left hand flutes it will be the direction of travel that dictates whether you are climb milling or conventional milling. This terminology is also known as “up” milling and “down” milling depending where you learn your trade. There is plenty of internet explanation for the different methods. If your milling for a living it’s worth knowing but for hobby milling taking very small cuts on wood it is really not important. Member No Idea has discussed milling cutters on his build log and I think his advice is as good as you will ever need. Good luck with your milling cheers Paul
  14. Brilliant! I’ve spent 40 plus years hanging out around machine tools and I had never seen, heard or considered that. I can clearly see it in my head though. It’s the sort of initial alignment check you could do during a rebuild. One approach to working more accurately than the handwheel graduations is to put a dial test indicator (dti) against the slide and take your movement from those. This method is more easily done on larger machines with metal bedways and less size constraints. The dti is usuall on a magnetic block. A good digital readout is even better, thus removing the pesky backlash error. Oh the wish list is endless.
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