31 May
2005
31 May
'05
5:05 p.m.
On Tue, 31 May 2005, Tony Duell wrote:
Actually, a milling machine and dividing head would be useful, but you
can do milling in a small lathe, and, yes, I do have a dividing head.
If it was a particularly rare or significant
machine, I might to that
with any components I had to replace (because they'd failed). I'd keep
the originals with the machine for historical reasons. But I wouldn't
replace anything I didn't have to replace.
What if Bristol Spline screws eventually become obsolete and the
manufacturing of the tools ceases? I know: you'll say "I have a lathe
(and know how to use it) and would manufacture one." Sure, we all have lathes (and know how to use them). But wouldn't
it be easier if someone
Well, you could try asking somebody to make you one, or asking somebody
if they have the right tool that you could borrow, or...
had just replaced the screws with more standard
varieties and kept the
originals with the machine, tied to the inside case in an archival quality
bag?
Alternatively, Jules has already proved you can remove these screws with
pliers if you have to. Or you could drill them out (they even make LH
twist drills for this sort of thing). Or many other ways to get them out
if you had to and couldn't get the right tool. The point is to make as
few mods as possible _now_.
Are you suggesting that every Bristol Spline screw in every machine
(5155s, Datamasters, IBM typewriters, Friden Flexowriters, etc) should be
replaced now, just in case you can't get the right tool in the future.
What about replacing all UNC screws with metric (after re-tapping all the
holes) just in case inch-size spanners and allen keys cease to be
available (they're a lot harder to find than Metric in many UK tool shops
now). If not, why just replace them on machines you need to repair?
-tony