wefalck

While sorting out the replacement motor for the mill, I turned my attention to making the spindle for the y-axis. Most WW-lathes seem to have the odd thread of 4.5 mm x 1 mm pitch. The spindles from the old cross-slide I am using were missing, but must have been thinner, probably 4 mm. As I have both, a die and a tap for the usual left-hand thread, I decided to adapt the cross-slide for this.
 

 

Set-up for cutting the thread on the y-axis spindle
 
 
First the spindle was made. Unlike the original desing on watchmakers’ lathes, it will have two ball-races as thrust bearings, but otherwise the design will be similar. The ball-handle crank is a commercial product. I started out with a 5 mm rod and turned it down to 4.5 mm and then set-up the lathe for cutting the left-hand thread.
 

The first pass
 

Almost finished spindle
 
This means cutting proceeds towards the tailstock. As the torque on the WW-lathe transmission system is too low, the thread was cut by hand-cranking. For this purpose I had made an adapter for a ball-handle crank already a long time ago. The thread was cut with full cuts until it was about 90% complete.
 

Calibrating the thread using a 4.5 mm x 1 mm die in the tailstock
 
The final cut then was made with a die in the tailstock die-holder to calibrate the diameter, which might have been a bit bigger in the middle due to the flexing of the long spindle. In order to eliminate the effect of flexing, the cutting bit was run along the thread several times without adavancing it into the work, until no material was taken off anymore.
 

The finished spindle thread
 
To be continued ...

While sorting out the replacement motor for the mill, I turned my attention to making the spindle for the y-axis. Most WW-lathes seem to have the odd thread of 4.5 mm x 1 mm pitch. The spindles from the old cross-slide I am using were missing, but must have been thinner, probably 4 mm. As I have both, a die and a tap for the usual left-hand thread, I decided to adapt the cross-slide for this.
 

 

Set-up for cutting the thread on the y-axis spindle
 
 
First the spindle was made. Unlike the original desing on watchmakers’ lathes, it will have two ball-races as thrust bearings, but otherwise the design will be similar. The ball-handle crank is a commercial product. I started out with a 5 mm rod and turned it down to 4.5 mm and then set-up the lathe for cutting the left-hand thread.
 

The first pass
 

Almost finished spindle
 
This means cutting proceeds towards the tailstock. As the torque on the WW-lathe transmission system is too low, the thread was cut by hand-cranking. For this purpose I had made an adapter for a ball-handle crank already a long time ago. The thread was cut with full cuts until it was about 90% complete.
 

Calibrating the thread using a 4.5 mm x 1 mm die in the tailstock
 
The final cut then was made with a die in the tailstock die-holder to calibrate the diameter, which might have been a bit bigger in the middle due to the flexing of the long spindle. In order to eliminate the effect of flexing, the cutting bit was run along the thread several times without adavancing it into the work, until no material was taken off anymore.
 

The finished spindle thread
 
To be continued ...

While sorting out the replacement motor for the mill, I turned my attention to making the spindle for the y-axis. Most WW-lathes seem to have the odd thread of 4.5 mm x 1 mm pitch. The spindles from the old cross-slide I am using were missing, but must have been thinner, probably 4 mm. As I have both, a die and a tap for the usual left-hand thread, I decided to adapt the cross-slide for this.
 

 

Set-up for cutting the thread on the y-axis spindle
 
 
First the spindle was made. Unlike the original desing on watchmakers’ lathes, it will have two ball-races as thrust bearings, but otherwise the design will be similar. The ball-handle crank is a commercial product. I started out with a 5 mm rod and turned it down to 4.5 mm and then set-up the lathe for cutting the left-hand thread.
 

The first pass
 

Almost finished spindle
 
This means cutting proceeds towards the tailstock. As the torque on the WW-lathe transmission system is too low, the thread was cut by hand-cranking. For this purpose I had made an adapter for a ball-handle crank already a long time ago. The thread was cut with full cuts until it was about 90% complete.
 

Calibrating the thread using a 4.5 mm x 1 mm die in the tailstock
 
The final cut then was made with a die in the tailstock die-holder to calibrate the diameter, which might have been a bit bigger in the middle due to the flexing of the long spindle. In order to eliminate the effect of flexing, the cutting bit was run along the thread several times without adavancing it into the work, until no material was taken off anymore.
 

The finished spindle thread
 
To be continued ...

While sorting out the replacement motor for the mill, I turned my attention to making the spindle for the y-axis. Most WW-lathes seem to have the odd thread of 4.5 mm x 1 mm pitch. The spindles from the old cross-slide I am using were missing, but must have been thinner, probably 4 mm. As I have both, a die and a tap for the usual left-hand thread, I decided to adapt the cross-slide for this.
 

 

Set-up for cutting the thread on the y-axis spindle
 
 
First the spindle was made. Unlike the original desing on watchmakers’ lathes, it will have two ball-races as thrust bearings, but otherwise the design will be similar. The ball-handle crank is a commercial product. I started out with a 5 mm rod and turned it down to 4.5 mm and then set-up the lathe for cutting the left-hand thread.
 

The first pass
 

Almost finished spindle
 
This means cutting proceeds towards the tailstock. As the torque on the WW-lathe transmission system is too low, the thread was cut by hand-cranking. For this purpose I had made an adapter for a ball-handle crank already a long time ago. The thread was cut with full cuts until it was about 90% complete.
 

Calibrating the thread using a 4.5 mm x 1 mm die in the tailstock
 
The final cut then was made with a die in the tailstock die-holder to calibrate the diameter, which might have been a bit bigger in the middle due to the flexing of the long spindle. In order to eliminate the effect of flexing, the cutting bit was run along the thread several times without adavancing it into the work, until no material was taken off anymore.
 

The finished spindle thread
 
To be continued ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Thanks for the 'likes' !
 
*************************
 
... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises.
 

Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine
 
Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break.
Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system.
The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ...
 

Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor
 
In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor.
 

Motor running-capacitator (bottom)
 
So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Until the adoption of the metric system throughout (continental) Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century, every major city had its own 'foot'. One has to pay attention when using old books and drawings to verify which 'foot' was actually used. The location of publishing or the nationality of the writer does not necessariyl mean that the respective foot was used. I remember preparing a drawing for a model from an 1860s book published in Hamburg and naively assuming that Hamburg Feet were used - when everything was ready, I discovered the small-print saying, that the author used Imperial measures (probably to be make things easier for international readers).

Until the adoption of the metric system throughout (continental) Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century, every major city had its own 'foot'. One has to pay attention when using old books and drawings to verify which 'foot' was actually used. The location of publishing or the nationality of the writer does not necessariyl mean that the respective foot was used. I remember preparing a drawing for a model from an 1860s book published in Hamburg and naively assuming that Hamburg Feet were used - when everything was ready, I discovered the small-print saying, that the author used Imperial measures (probably to be make things easier for international readers).

Until the adoption of the metric system throughout (continental) Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century, every major city had its own 'foot'. One has to pay attention when using old books and drawings to verify which 'foot' was actually used. The location of publishing or the nationality of the writer does not necessariyl mean that the respective foot was used. I remember preparing a drawing for a model from an 1860s book published in Hamburg and naively assuming that Hamburg Feet were used - when everything was ready, I discovered the small-print saying, that the author used Imperial measures (probably to be make things easier for international readers).

Must be a dangerous animal that you are breeding there - as you keep it in a cage
 
I like the concept of a high-adjustable head and well executed ! What kind of machines are you working on - that parts you are working on are pretty massive (at least for the scale I am working on).

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

Must be a dangerous animal that you are breeding there - as you keep it in a cage
 
I like the concept of a high-adjustable head and well executed ! What kind of machines are you working on - that parts you are working on are pretty massive (at least for the scale I am working on).

You may not be able to afford Vallorbe files, but their information is free: http://www.vallorbe.com/
 
Just to sort out the different types of files:
 
Needle files - fine, general purpose files that typically come in a couple of size classes, one is about 15 to 18 cm long and the other about 10 to 12 cm.
 
Riffler files - designed for die- and tool-makers; they are usually about 18 cm long, but have two different heads at each end; they come in a wide variety of shapes (one even looking like a pig's tail) in order to be able to work on the most impossibly shaped object.
 
Riffler rasps - these are designed for wood-work and in consequence have single teeth, rather than rows, as for a file; otherwise, they are similar to riffler files.
 
Echappement files - the name indicates that they are meant to work on 'echappements' or 'escapements' in English, i.e. the part that times a clock-work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escapement); some of them may look like riffler files, but their heads are smaller and in consequence their cut is finer.
 
Then there is a wide variety of specialist files, such as the already mentioned screw-slot files, which are thin strips of steel with a cut at the thin end, machine files, which are straight along the whole length and not tapered, as most hand-files, etc. etc.
 
BTW, the absolute fineness or coarseness of a file depends on its size, meaning that the same 'number' of a cut actually has more teeth per length unit in a smaller file than in a bigger one. Numbers also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

For cutting/milling wood also really sharp tools are essential. I would use carbide, rather than HSS, milling bits, particularly on harder woods.
 
Otherwise, for our purposes one doesn't really need to be to pre-occupied with cutting speeds and feeds. In professional and production context this is different, where you want to remove as much metal as possible in the shortest time, arriving at the desired surface quality. With time one gets a feeling how much feed you can have for a given cutter size on a certain material. In many cases you would not be able to feed fast enough by hand for the RPMs recommended for a certain cutter diameter.
 
One should also keep in mind, that higher spindle speeds will reduce the life of ball-bearings. Not sure how long the Sherline-headstock will last at 10,000 RPM. Most small machine tools in the pre-CNC age only went up to around 4000-5000 RPM.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

You may not be able to afford Vallorbe files, but their information is free: http://www.vallorbe.com/
 
Just to sort out the different types of files:
 
Needle files - fine, general purpose files that typically come in a couple of size classes, one is about 15 to 18 cm long and the other about 10 to 12 cm.
 
Riffler files - designed for die- and tool-makers; they are usually about 18 cm long, but have two different heads at each end; they come in a wide variety of shapes (one even looking like a pig's tail) in order to be able to work on the most impossibly shaped object.
 
Riffler rasps - these are designed for wood-work and in consequence have single teeth, rather than rows, as for a file; otherwise, they are similar to riffler files.
 
Echappement files - the name indicates that they are meant to work on 'echappements' or 'escapements' in English, i.e. the part that times a clock-work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escapement); some of them may look like riffler files, but their heads are smaller and in consequence their cut is finer.
 
Then there is a wide variety of specialist files, such as the already mentioned screw-slot files, which are thin strips of steel with a cut at the thin end, machine files, which are straight along the whole length and not tapered, as most hand-files, etc. etc.
 
BTW, the absolute fineness or coarseness of a file depends on its size, meaning that the same 'number' of a cut actually has more teeth per length unit in a smaller file than in a bigger one. Numbers also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course.
 
What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live).
 
Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.