Instruction manuals

[ps_bond]

One of the complaints I hear fairly often from other people who haven't gone through an apprenticeship is that a lot of the tools around sold don't come with instructions - the assumption presumably being that if you know to buy it, you must know how to use it... There are some exceptions - Durston rolling mills, Foredom pendant motors and similar, but many of the tools don't.

Additionally, some tools really ought to be modified before use - traditional ring clamps are one example; they seem to be varnished all over, which means that the wedge to lock them has little friction; I like to scuff the varnished surface with sandpaper so it stays in place better.

Anyway... I thought it might be fun to try and collate some requests for instructions, and see about working through them. What do people think?

[caroleallen]

Couldn't agree more Peter.

[medusa]

heh, What I would like is a chart showing the abrasives I have and their fineness or even what they are ideally used for. I have a vast collection that fit onto mandrels for my flex shaft and half the time I can't figure out what grade is which and so on because they are all similar colours. Exception being these lovely ceramic/silicone disks. I wish they did them in points!

[Joe]

Top idea!!

Can I nominate oxy/fuel torches?

Pendant attachments would be a whole book!! (actually, it would be a book I'd buy...)

[Dennis]

Pendant attachments would be a whole book!! (actually, it would be a book I'd buy...)

To my knowledge there's only karen Christians 'Making The Most Of Your Flexshaft', but I doubt you would learn anything from it Joe.

I am preparing a piece about round collet blocks, to follow on from last Mondays topic. Any one trying these for the first time is likely to build up their scrap pile.

Dennis.

[ps_bond]

To my knowledge there's only karen Christians 'Making The Most Of Your Flexshaft', but I doubt you would learn anything from it Joe.

I have to agree. I have it somewhere and I found it quite disappointing. In fairness though, there's such a variety of 3/32" bits for flexshafts that collating all of them would be a Sisyphean task, but I had hoped for a little more in the way of useful tips & tricks. I don't recall my favourite safety tip being in it - cut down the shafts of screw mandrels & similar; with less sticking out from the chuck, there's slightly less of a problem if the mandrel gets bent in use.

Oxy/fuel I can't do much with - I've used larger oxy/acetylene torches, but none of the smaller ones. It does appeal, but I'd probably look at a concentrator rather than bottled O2 for convenience. I'd have thought the main things there were the same as the big ones - the dangers of O2; gas on, light, air on/air off, gas off for starting & stopping.

Abrasive colours... Argh. Yes, they're all different; I've got Eveflex, Cratex (who do points, by the way - as do Eveflex), grey pumice wheels and so on; I keep them in storage boxes with a slip of paper with the key written on; for some of them, I've written on the wheel what grade they are. Doesn't work so well with the black Eveflex discs however.

[Mia]

Beginners would be eternally grateful. I bought a hobby drill from Cooksons which came with a multitude of attachments - none of which I have the slightest clue as to function !

[Joe]

Exactly Peter - simple gas sequences that work and are safe. (I'm a little-torch + oxycon convert btw).

I would just love a collation of all the different manufacturers pendant attachments: ID photo; name; order code; equivalent grit size; link to hints and tips (... Hmmm sounds like an SQL task...) wonder if someone could persuade 3M and a couple of others to pay for such...? Would make a brilliant mini-cookbook for Cookies!

I like your organisation Peter... feels too late for me!

[Tabby66]

Exactly Peter - simple gas sequences that work and are safe. (I'm a little-torch + oxycon convert btw).

I would just love a collation of all the different manufacturers pendant attachments: ID photo; name; order code; equivalent grit size; link to hints and tips (... Hmmm sounds like an SQL task...) wonder if someone could persuade 3M and a couple of others to pay for such...? Would make a brilliant mini-cookbook for Cookies!

I like your organisation Peter... feels too late for me!

Hear! Hear!!

Safe storage & use of gases, chemicals, etc.. Don't start me on pendant attachments and I am currently struggling with a ring stretcher :-S
I love a good puzzle, but some of these tools are unfathomable!!

When I bought my little hobbydrill set, a bargain because the carry case was cracked, I couldn't believe there were NO instructions, all those bits just sat there.....

Yes Peter, a fantastic idea!!

[Dennis]

Dear Jill,
I am presuming you bought a ring stretcher which you operate with a lever. If so you can routinely make your rings a size too small and then adjust them until you reach your target.This will also round them without all that bashing on a triblet.
I wrote this post a while ago, about the upright ring stretrcher, but can't get the URL to work, so am putting it here as an attatchment and hope it is of some help. I also wrote two other posts about rings: 'Not Easy As PI' and 'One Size Fits All', which you should find by searching 'threads by Dennis'. Have a good weekend.