• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
  • Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Calgary Area Meetup is set for Saturday July 12th at 10am. The signup thread is here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!

Recent content by Birkhoff

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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    Hey, I think I know which set screw. When my drive belts were too tight I investigated the clanking noise as a loose pulley; which it wasn't but I checked the set screw and keyway carefully. If it had been loose, I'm sure it would have made a hell of a racket as there is only one screw (should...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    The AllSpeed manual that Mjautek linked makes a big deal about using ONLY the Shell BL product. What they seem to be saying is there are other aspects than simply viscosity that are at play in the internals. I have no idea either way. I do use vector drives on other machines I own, either...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    This (below) is what I understand is the current equivalent of the recommended variator oil. Conveniently, it is also correct for the headstock on the chipmaster. When I purchased this a few years ago, it was not difficult to source through a local commercial oils outfit. Mjautek provided...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    That's a shame. I find myself taking advantage of the higher speeds available on the chipmaster for carbide; pretty much all negative aspect tooling in my arsenal. After running via seat of the pants for a while, I took the time to work out feeds, speeds and DOC by the book and even my offshore...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    TK, Ouch, that sounds quite bad. It might be an idea to pull the two vee-belts and isolate it. On reassembly, I noticed that quite a loud and unusual ticking noise comes from the (new) belts and it can be modulated by varying the belt tension. This is apparently a known issue. I can remove...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    TK, you are right, I really do need to get off my butt and sort out that phase converter. I thought it might be bearings in the idler, but replacing those made zero difference. Next step is to look for an electrical imbalance. I'm cautiously monitoring my variator for oil leaks. Typically, I...
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    Machine Video of a healthy (?) Kopp variator

    From time to time I hear owners of vintage lathes equipped with the iconic Kopp variator mechanical drive despair at the noise, complexity and cost of the units. I have never seen, however, a video of a working or a defective drive unit to help people with diagnosis. My late series Colchester...
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    Tool Vevor Drill Bit Sharpener

    Buy him some really good pot and set him in front of a grinder with a bucket of bits. Put on some good 'ol banger 'tunes and come back in a couple hours. Job done! I quite enjoy sharpening bits if I'm in the mood for it, but for some reason it's one of those things I have to make time for...
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    Tool Vevor Drill Bit Sharpener

    I've been using a Darex V290 (V390) that I picked up at a yard sale for 50 bucks a few years ago. If you trace back the lineage of all these one-and-done fixture grinders you'll probably stumble on Darex, for one. I'm a semi-decent sharpen by eye -kind of guy, but for small drills, the V290 is...
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    Tool Mitutoyo digital reading low -- is this a known problem?

    One side benefit of this embarrassing fiasco -- I never understood how the `origin' button worked. I've replaced a few batteries in this unit over the years, but never touched the origin button. Every time I used it, I had to reset zero with the zero button in closed position. I just assumed...
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    Tool Mitutoyo digital reading low -- is this a known problem?

    BINGO! Very strong light behind the closed jaws revealed the problem -- the pointy ends of the jaws must have been hit in a drop event -- << looks around for the culprit >> -- a thin parallel line of light through closed jaws. After a very careful stoning of the jaws to remove the burr on...
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    Tool Mitutoyo digital reading low -- is this a known problem?

    This is an older Mitu CD6-CSX that has seen only light use. Have a job here setting shims in mechanical injectors so I wanted a quick and reliable way to measure them from stacks that I have laying around. Quick yes. Reliable, not so much. They weren't measuring to known stock thicknesses with...
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    Atlas tool post grinder

    C Congratulations Dabbler!
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    Wanted: milling vertical spindle motor - Victoria BC

    DC motors by the look of it? Price is right!
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    Wanted: milling vertical spindle motor - Victoria BC

    I should mention I have $500-ish into the mill so far. There are two ways to think about this I guess. Lots of headroom to buy a good motor, or, ending up with a motor that costs more than the mill :-|
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