Ron Laden News Today

Not just ships but aircraft also, if you get up close to a USAF Boeing B52 bomber (there is one on display at Duxford) the body skin is wrinkled vertically along the full length of the aircraft. Quite normal apparently, the body skin is thin alloy to keep the weight down on such a large aircraft. The wrinkles come about from the stresses and strains of flight and is said to cause no problems in flight performance or the service longevity, the B52 has been around for donkeys years and they are s...

I watched your video and then went out and checked my SX2 as I was concerned that my mill may be suffering the same as yours and I simply hadnt noticed it. I have a 150N (15Kg) gas spring and wherever I position the head, it will sit there with no pressure on the gib lock, head weight (15Kg) and spring pressure equal each other out, upwards or downwards movement, from any location, require equal degrees of effort. If I engage the fine feed, then there is about half a turn of worm backlash, but ...

Posted by Ron Laden on 26/02/2021 20:24:38: Can I ask how you did the chipped paint work and also the discoloured bare steel its so realistic. 1. Prime the parts - Etch for the aluminium, High5 for flywheels and regular grey for the steel, couple of hours to dry. 2. Satin black spray can over the lot applied in a couple of coats, allow to dry overnight. 3. Apply mustard "resist" to areas where you want the black to show through with a sponge using a dabbing motion. 4. Gloss red spray can applie...

Posted by Ron Laden on 03/02/2021 06:58:37: I dont even buy Loctite by brand name now I buy the cheaper versions at less than half the price.... I know what you mean, and I understand Duncans comment about not all Chinese stuff being bad, but for me, the difference in cost between Loctite and others isnt worth the risk. For the amount I use Id rather avoid the "just buy the right stuff and this wouldnt have happened" type comments! ... Just my opinion! ... I apply a bit of engineering logic to ...

Having just replaced the headstock bearings and the hi - lo gears in there with metal ones, i guess this was bound to happen, The toothed drive gear that the motor drives exploded on me when i accidentily dug in whilst parting. Now i was thinking of changing that gear anyway for a slightly larger one, so i can get a little more torque at the low end. Im thinking if i go for a metal one, the weak link will then be the belt or the motor drive gear, so would i be best going with a plastic gear h...

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 19/12/2020 08:13:57: […] Thanks Michael, Yes, I read your note before re. it being outside it’s intended use. That’s really why I was asking further. I’ve got some JB Weld already, so if I was to buy an alternative it would be something more intended for liquid shimming. . If your difficulty is that... “ Its *compressive* strength doesnt even seem to be listed on the Henkel datasheet.” then, to a first reasonable approximation, you could use the figures...