jimbyr

Richard If you don't have much or any experience on a table saw I would advise you to get a book on table saw operation and safety. Also most of the woodworking stores like Woodcraft offer classes on such. Gloves are a bad idea. While they may protect you while carving they won't with a saw. They are actually more dangerous than not wearing anything because they can get caught on the blade and suck your hand into it just like loose clothing and jewelry. There is a list of do's and don'ts in our manual. Most importantly is to pay attention to what you are doing and not get distracted especially on repetitive cuts. ALWAYS, ALWAYS use a push stick and push the stock completely past the blade till it falls off the back of the saw. Small saws like ours are no less dangerous than large saws, 10" or better. The only difference is if you do cut yourself the doctor is going to tell you that it's a nice clean cut. regards Jim Model Machines

Ulises 2 strands per spool is fine. I thought you were trying to wind it just using 2 spools. They are O rings, not belts. If the main drive belt is cracking and or slipping it won't affect the finished rope. If the belts inside the head are it will Jim

Ulises The motor is a DC motor and does not spin freely like an AC motor does. When you turn the shaft by hand you should feel steps, that's normal. But if you think there is something wrong with it you can send it back and I'll replace it if it's bad. As far as 2 strand rope goes I have never tried to make it on the machine and I don't think it will because of the head configuration. To make 2 strand you would have to have 2 of the whirls directly across from each other. Did you wind the 2 strand on the machine the first time? Jim

Richard Most if not all the metal milling is done at the big shop or what we'll call my day job. These machines all have 15HP motors on them and 10k to 15k spindles and remove aluminum faster than most people cut wood. I can turn a 6 x 6 x 6 aluminum block into chips in about 2 minutes with them. The home shop is dedicated to ship modeling and on occasion something that Donna thinks I should make for the house etc. The play in the Z axis you are referring to is called backlash and is present on every machine. The backlash is the result of the slop as we'll call it between the lead screw and the nut it sits in that is connected to and drives the axis. Obviously there has to be some play in there or the screw and nut would bind. The better machines have what is called split nuts which are adjustable to remove as much of the backlash as possible. To remove the backlash you would either move the nuts further apart or closer together to tighten them on the screw. A 1/4 turn is an awful lot of backlash on a machine that I doubt has adjustable nuts. Sounds like it needs a new nut or screw or both. The nuts are usually made out of bearing bronze and the screws out of hardened steel so the nuts wear a lot more than the screws do and they can be replaced when they get really worn out. I usually keep around .008 backlash on my manual machines. Another way around working with the backlash is to install a digital read out which is going to be expensive but makes life a lot easier. Jim.

Richard This machine is in my home shop. I use it for milling boxwood, pear, maple and a little aluminum or brass but 99% wood. Chuck is right about the speeds and feeds and having the right combination. The higher speeds are also a lot more forgiving than the low on the tiny tools. Jim

I don't have any of the mills you guys are talking about but I have used the Sherline and Taig and can say they are both good machines for the tiny stuff. Rpm is definitely a big consideration and the faster the better when cutting wood or brass especially when using those tiny endmills. Keep in mind the actual machine will only be half the cost in the long run. All the accessories you'll need will easily cost more than the machine itself. Adding vises, indexers, buying all the cutting tools, adding a DRO can double the price easily. Don't skimp on the cutting tools, buy good quality endmills, carbide if possible. I have a small manual Hardinge TM UM milling machine with a Bridgeport M head mounted on it that I rebuilt in my shop at home which was originally 4250 top speed. I quickly changed the motor and bearings in the head and now can run it at 12000 top end, what a difference Jim Byrnes Model Machines

Thanks guys, appreciate it Jim

There are quite a few good scroll and band saws out there that are pretty good. I couldn't make one cheaper, maybe better but not cheaper. Maybe not even better. Would the OSS table have to tilt? Jim

Pete Manual Seizing machine 4" variable speed, 0-2000 rpm, reversible detail disc sander Oscillating spindle sander Jim

I always have a few ideas on the drawing board, some closer to actual metal cutting than others. Is there anything in particular you guys would like to see in the near future? No lathes or mills please. Jim Byrnes Model Machines

Ulysses I don't have one in front of me so I'll have to wing it. I'll check it tomorrow just to make sure. 1, slide the drive belt off the motor pulley. 2, remove the rear large hand wheel with a 5/64 hex key, don't loose the bronze spacer. 3, slide the head assembly out of the pedestal and place it on the bench. 4, remove the old drive belt. 5, remove the 3 Phillips head screws that hold the 2 halves of the head together, the spacers will come out also. 6, holding the back plate tap the end of the center shaft on the bench until it separates from the front plate. If the pulleys and bearings get hung up on the back plate work them off carefully. Its not really as delicate as it looks just be careful not to bend the whirls. Slide the rear plate off the shaft. If the whirl bearings stayed in the back plate remove them and put them back on the whirl shafts. 7, change the 2 head belts. 8, slide the back plate back on with the large bearing in it until it hits the whirl bearings. Pick up the assembly and wiggle the 2 plates until the bearings seat. Once the bearings seat slide the Phillips head screws through the front plate and spacers and snug all 3. 9, Lay the new drive belt over the shaft and slide the head assembly back through the pedestal, don't forget the bronze spacer, tighten the large hand wheel. Tighten the 3 Phillips head screws. 10, Spin the assembly by hand, check for binding. 11, slide the drive belt back on the pulley and rear plate 12, Good to go? Jim

As far as second hand Byrnes tools go I recently sold a saw, thickness sander and disc sander for the widow of a good friend of mine.. Ray lived local and was a scratch ship modeler so he spent quite a bit of time at the shop especially when I was working on something new. He wound up with the 3rd saw off the one man assembly line and both sanders were also in the single digits. Just so happens there was another fellow in the shop when I brought them in and he took all 3 machines before I got them up on the bench. On occasion I am asked to find old machines a new home for one reason or another so I thought I would start a list of potential customers. If one comes available I would email the first person on the list and let them know. I would only be putting you in touch with the seller. It would be up to you to make the deal and arrange the shipping. If anyone is interested email me off list at jdm@cfl.rr.com and I'll put you on the list. Please put Used machines in the header. Thanks Jim Byrnes Model Machines.

You guys are starting to embarrass me. But if you want to give credit where credit is really due you should be talking about my wife Donna who is actually the owner of the company. For those of you that don't know we started Model Machines about 10 years ago on a part time basis. Just the two of us, no other employees to worry about. At that time we were both working another full time job at a design and manufacturing firm in Orlando that I was part owner of. I was head of the machine shop with 3 other partners and Donna was hired as the controller. The company was in bad shape finantially when we hired Donna and in a year or so she brought the company back from the edge and made it a profitable business again. Donna has a 4 year business degree from the University of Indiana and there isn't a lot she doesn't know about the business world. What she doesn't know she makes it her business to find out. When we started Model Machines she did all the research to get the company up and running and also thought up the name of the company. She does all the taxes, pays all the bills, does all the paper work and keeps everything running smoothly. I design all the machines and make all the parts, do the assembly and ship them out. When you call us with a problem or an order more than likely you talked to her and 99% of the time she can take care of your needs whether it's replacement parts, lost screws, diagnosing an electrical problem, delivery times or just how things work. She is on the ball and has you covered. She is the one who emails you when your stuff ships, calls you when your address has changed and generally makes sure you get what you need when you need it. If it was my job to do all that no doubt we would be out of business a long time ago. She is the boss. And to this day it remains, just the two of us. regards Jim Byrnes Model Machines

Floyd I keep the die hole no larger than .005 above the finished rope. It should be an effort to get all 3 lines through the die when stringing it up. It looks like the head speed has a lot to do with it also. Jim

Pat As far as I know you can't make RH out of RH. The thread actually unwinds just before it is formed making some funky looking rope. Jim

Ulysses My smallest drill size .014 Jim

Ulysses Yes the hand wheel comes out to free the spool, just back off the black thumb wheel. You can make very tiny rope with the machine. I got 3 spools of .005 diameter thread from my local sewing supply store, 200 yards each. 200 yards of .005 thread all fits on 1 supply spool so I loaded up all 3 and wound it all into .012 diameter LHR without a problem. It took me over an hour to do it. I stretched it around the shop to harden it overnight and then re strung it on the machine and made .026 diameter RHR out of that. Fiber washers and extra dies will be available soon as I can run extra's on the lathe. Running take up spools right now. Meredith You always hold the large knob to make propper rope. If you don't you're only twisting it and will wind up with a big ball when you remove it from the take up spool. If it looks like the rope is getting too tight or starts to kink on you let the knob slip a bit to relax the lay. This is one of those things that really takes practice to do well. Pat Did you harden the LHR you were using before trying to make RHR out of it.? It may help???. Jim

Floyd, it's on it's way, shipped Friday Jim

Looks like you guys and girls are getting the hang of it. Meredith, good looking rope, you too Ulysses. By now you probably know more about the machine than I do. Anything you think I should add to the manual for the next victims let me know. Pat, lets see some of your rope Jim

Meredith Great, it's all in the set up. I let the rope harden overnight. Move the post closer to the head for larger ropes if you have to. The die size is also very important. Should be only a few thousandths larger than your finished rope Jim

If you're having problems with the machine here are a few things to look at. 1 Make sure all 3 supply spools are wound the same direction and placed on the spindles the right way for the type rope you are making. It makes a difference. 2 Make absolutely sure you have the correct die size for your finished size rope. The hole in the die should be no more than a few thousandths larger than the finished rope. It should be an effort to get all 3 threads through the die when setting up the machine. 3 Make sure you are spinning the head in the correct direction. CCW for left hand rope and CW for right hand. 4 Go slow and keep the rope forming as close to the die as you can. Jim Byrnes Model Machines See the attached drawing for left hand rope set up. Right hand would be opposite. Most if not all store bought thread is wound right handed so you will be making left handed rope to start Rope initial set up.pdf