After buying a DRO unit to replace one that came originally with my lathe some 5 years ago I had some issues getting it to work.

First of all I was buying one from Singapore that advertised it as “Suitable for replacing your faulty scale / using other brand of linear scale/encoder feedback.”

I must admit I was more than a little skeptical but checking their feedback reassured me that they seemed a genuine company. Also the cost, even including shipping from Singapore to the UK for a total of approximately £120 ($200) was £60 cheaper than the original supplier (China) quoted. I decided to go for the cheaper option (twas every thus!).

Whether the aggravation was worth it then I suppose it depends on where you are in the process... When pulling my hair out over the last few days trying to get it to work, then I cursed myself for being a cheapskate (or poor....). Now that it is finally working, I have a bargain!

The positives and negatives of the project from my perspective.

Communications:

Both negative and positive! Peter, the chap I was emailing, always answered emails promptly. However language proved difficult for me even though we kept sending photo’s. If I followed what I thought (not necessarily what Peter meant!) it wouldn’t work. Resulting in several photo’s/diagrams being emailed between us. One major issue revolved around the numbering of pins on the D plug. I was reading the numbers relating to pins to be soldered to the pins to be soldered!!!! No, the pin numbering relates to the front of the plug! Indeed the numbers could be seen when using a Jewelers loupe. I then constructed my own diagram and worked out the colours for each pin from Peters labeling of a photo I sent him showing existing wiring (this was the cause of the breakthrough really). One further fault/frustration was by reading that one pin needed to be soldered and then earthed (or so I think) and when trying the plug the numerals would only change up/down by one digit increase/decrease. In frustration I decided it looked like an earth fault (don’t ask me why!) and I thought &^%$$% it, I’ll cut this earth wire to that pin.

Low and behold, when connecting the plug up it worked!!!!! The second plug was then wired and I had two readings...joy oh what joy. Then I thought that knowing my luck there would be something wrong with the accuracy of each axis. So I set up a dial indicator and checked the readout movement against the dial indicators and all was well, phew! There was a slight difference but I wonder whether in fact this error is in the dial indicator or not...I suspect it is.

So if you do buy one of these DRO’s and you have the same make of scales (see picture) then the methodology highlighted below worked for me.

One major misunderstanding related to the numbering of 9 pin D-sub miniature plugs. The pin numbers relate to the front of the plug whilst you solder to the back! Now I consider that DAFT!

Using a jeweler loupe I saw the numbers on the front side of the plug, then transferred this to a diagram of my own identifying the pins from the rear and allocated the colours to that diagram. I then de-soldered all the wires, so having a clean starting point.

Solution

Remove all wires from D plug and identify the pin numbers (look at the front of the plug). Make your own diagram showing back solder part of pins

• Solder yellow wire to                 pin 9
• Solder Green wire to                  pin 8
• Solder Red  wire to                     pin 7
• Solder Blue wire to                     pin 6
• Solder Black wire to                   pin 2   (you can just leave this one in place if you wish since it doesn’t move)
• Solder back the Earth cable to the body of the plug

This results in a working solution that was not easily seen from Peters diagrams and photo’s but that may be as much to do with me not understanding enough, so I won’t lay all the blame on Peter. If you know more about electronics you may have had no problems!

I have added various photo’s of the steps I took to perhaps help.....If I had the above simple instructions from the start, no doubt it would have gone easily...To be fair to Peter he has asked for this solution so he can add it to his blog for assistance to others.

I have no complaints (now!) with the unit itself. It is far more substantial than the original Bica unit and I would suggest its more the top end of the market, so price seem very reasonable.

Would I do it again? You bet! Would I have done it again yesterday afternoon? No way! So what a difference 24 hours makes.

In summary the unit was certainly not plug ‘n’ play for my make of scales but Peter did help to get it working and that’s fair enough for me. I believe that Peter’s company will supply complete sets with scales and of course that would be a simple fit, and I have promised to fit a set to my refurbished Myford at some time.....but the purse is empty this year so it will have to wait

It may be a vision thing but I have wanted to obtain some red layout fluid from some time after seeing work done in the USA using red. Eventually I found a supplier in the UK but it was expensive (for me!) at nearly £10. However I made the order and it just arrived from maintechmro.com this morning.

Whilst not up to doing any work in the workshop I did decide to go and do a test of the red dye against my blue layout. I cleaned a piece of scrap steel and applied the blue to one side and the red to the other. The difference in quality was immediately apparent. My blue ink is very thin whilst the Dykem red was a lot thicker. It also dried much quicker than the blue so I decided to scribe a line on both and see if there was a difference.

Again it may be my eyes but I can see the line much clearer in the red than the blue so whilst it may be more expensive this is definitely a case of you get what you pay for. Added to this, at my usage rate this bottle will last a long time, even more so than the blue since  it comes with its own brush!

Dykem Red Layout fluid

During the last cut of the last brass bar I was cutting for the first use of the bandsaw the blade broke at the weld! I was fortunate enough to have bought a bi-metal blade on eBay so I could carry on.

Phoning Machine Mart proved to be a less stressful experience that I expected. After being put through to 'some one in technical' I spoke to to their engineer who explained that whilst it was the blade, they needed to see if the machine caused it or whether it was a faulty blade.

My description was quickly accepted and the engineer said they would replace the blade even though it was classed as a 'consumable'. So that was good news. I went onto say I was pleased with the saw but the stand was rubbish! He said that a friend of his had bought the same model and held the same views as myself, he built a new stand for it. That convinced me that I should go the same route so as soon as some good weather comes, I will take my Mk Jaguar out of its comfy home and fabricate a stand in the resultant space.

20 minutes after finishing my call to Machine Mart I had a return call where I was told that the man responsible for retail blades would not open a pack of five for just one blade so they decided to send me a pack instead! Common sense but its nice I didn't have to fight for them. So well done Machine Mart and that's a gold star.........until the next time.......well done

Its early days yet since I have just received the Dremel Speedclic cut off system today. However initial observations are favourable. It is an 'expensive' system on the face of it so I will need to see its overall durability, the efficiency of the cutting disc as well as how long they will last before coming up with a final rating.

I purchased my set with a pack of spare discs from Axminster tools and on inspection the quality of materials is very good, but no less than you should expect for its price. The true cost of Dremels cut off disc system will depend upon both the durability of the click mandrel as well as the life of the cutter so some time will need to pass.

On opening the package the mandrel seems strong enough and of course I tried to fit one disc without reading the brief illustrated instruction sheet that accompanied the package. It soon became obvious that you don't put the disc on and press it down whilst turning in one direction so I am ashamed to say I had a look at the destruction's. You simply pull down on the top mandrel collar and place the disc inside before giving it a twist (making sure the Dremel painted side is facing away from the mandrel and tool), then release the collar and your done.

I always run any new disc up to speed for a short time, no matter what its size. More than likely this is not needed but its something drummed into me at an earlier age. When trying the disc on a 3mm bolt it proved both quick and accurate. I like the large size of the disc but on some small work it may prove to big. My answer will be to run one or two disc down to a small size then replace with new and keeping these smaller diameters for other occasions.

One major advantage obvious even this early on is the changing methodology. No more loosing very small screws!

On the face of it the expense is worth it, but I reserve judgement until I know how long the disc will last.

Dremel Instructions and Speedclic

The reason for buying a replacement bandsaw was to increase the capabilities for metal cutting in my home workshop. My 'old' Warco bandsaw was bought 3 or 4 years ago and to a budget. However, with increasing experience comes greater knowledge. My local source of metal is a scrap yard which means I have all sorts of sizes of cast off's from local industries.

One prime example is a 'lump' of brass that has a part saw cut through the better part of one side. Now I have the new Clarke Bandsaw I can at last cut off sections of the brass lump which I will use to make the two flywheels needed for the Seal 15cc 4 cylinder, petrol engines I am making at the moment.

Once this job has been completed I will put the bandsaw into its vertical position, attach the table and attempt to cut the special steel bar bought for the crankshafts. It is tough steel so I have bought a bi-metal bandsaw blade (has HSS teeth) and see how it performs. A job that the old bandsaw could not tackle (not that this one has yet!). Time will tell.

I decided to upgrade my bandsaw to a larger model and importantly, one with the ability to work upright. The best model for price I could find was the Clarke CBS45MD (4½" X 6") Metal Cutting Bandsaw from Machine Mart UK.

It has a cutting capacity of 105mm (4") round, 100 x 150mm (4" x 6") flat at 90° and a 500W, 230v / 1ph motor with combined ON/OFF & safety No-Volt-Release switch.
The bandsaw has 3 cutting speeds (5/95/165 feet per minute)with spring tension arm control & adjustable vice for cutting angles 90 degrees - 45 degrees and twin wheels for workshop mobility.

I placed the order just before the UK VAT tax went up and the bandsaw delivered a couple of days ago. I must admit to some surprise at the amount of work let to the purchaser. This included attaching wires for the safety cut out on the pulley cover.

My main thoughts so far is that its a lot of metal for the money. However there are a few 'niggles', the most important of which is its stand and the manoeuvrability of the saw, both of which are poor. The metal for the stand is far to thin and does not help with moving the bandsaw around. The weight distribution and low position of the handle make it very difficult to move. My previous smaller bandsaw was stored (still is...)on a home made stand with castor wheels and the working height set to suit my own requirements.

On opening the box the many parts were checked and a 'fittings' bag ticked off. However the number of bolts in it did not match the assembly needs. Not so much of a problem as I am well stocked with fittings of my own, but still not as it should be.

The next trial was in working out a system to place the 60+ kg weight of bandsaw on the flimsy stand. Considering I am disabled this took some sorting out with packing a part lifts. In the end I gave up on that approach and since the saw decided to relocate itself onto the floor sideways on, I managed to bolt the frame on. However there was no way it could be lifted until another pair of hands arrived.

When trying to move the bandsaw on its own system of two rear wheels and a simple handle the bandsaw was difficult for me to move around. Something that is very important since I store the bandsaw away and have to move it each time its needed. So a better solution was needed and I set out to find some castors locally. On return some angle iron was found to make the wheel brackets from and of course it needed cutting.....this is the point where I began to see past the problems and saw the capabilities of the saw for the first time.

After making the brackets and fitting them the wheels proved too small for the anti fatigue rubber flooring in the work shop. So I am now waiting for some 75mm castors to arrive. However, there may well be another problem with stability, even with larger castors, as a trial cut on the small ones showed it could wobble..........

I then decided that I would try the saw out in its vertical position and I was becoming more impressed with its performance, if not the quality of the flimsy stand.

So I have a new and capable saw but need to sort out its storage and manoeuvrability before I can jump for joy as it were. Still if the worse comes to pass I can 'adjust' the previous band saws stand by making it longer, just more work than it should be. The stand is very much its weak link.