Reverse the rotation
Can’t help with the flies
While working on my current project, a couple of very irritating mysteries cropped up in the workshop. Luckily for my sanity I eventually found the answers, but I wonder if anyone here can work out what the hell was going on?
First there was the case of the blunting drill bits. I came into the workshop one morning with the intention of drilling two holes in a block of mild steel, as a follow on from some drilling I had done the day before. I selected the appropriate drill bit from my favourite set and using my trusty old Myford lathe I set about drilling the hole. To my surprise the drill made hardly any impression on the steel. I wondered if I had picked up a piece of hardened tool steel by mistake, so tried again with a scrap of definitely mild steel, only to find the same problem. I presumed then that it must be the drill bit that was the problem and I must have seriously blunted it the day before. So I then took a drill bit of the same same size from a new pack and this also refused to drill. Something seemed to have taken the edge off all my drill bits overnight. I tried few other drill bits and none were any good. Any thoughts?
The second mystery was the case of the kamikaze bluebottles. During one of the recent hot spells every 10 minutes or so a bluebottle would fly into the workshop and drive me nuts with its incessant buzzing and crashing into the lathe and the windows. It go so annoying that I had to keep a can of fly spray at hand and waste a lot of valuable time chasing the beggars around. I couldn't understand why they would come into a sterile workshop, having to fly through a narrow gap in the outer garage door, cross a large floor space and find a narrow gap through the workshop door. I suppose I could have completely closed the two doors but it was too hot to do this for very long. It took me a while to figure the problem out and get it sorted. Any suggestions?
Reverse the rotation
Can’t help with the flies
A man can always use more alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
I suspect Richard has nailed the drill blunting problem. Was there some food around or something attracting the flies? They have an almost uncanny knack of locating eg. a bit of dropped sandwich in my experience...
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I am forever sharpening drill bits, its difficult to find good quality ones today. I was one of the best at sharpening them during my apprenticeship, but I hated the tiny ones. Any suggestions where to buy good quality ? RPM speed is also a big factor in easy drilling, depending on diameter.
Baz
BE AN INDEPENDENT THINKER, DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD
If you were drilling in the lathe & it was spinning in the right direction but all the bits were "blunt" was the tailstock properly locked on the bed?
Spot on Richard! The old Dewhurst switch on the lathe had come loose inside and somehow I had put the lathe into reverse. As I had never used the reverse setting before (why do they have the option when Myford tell you never to use it in case the chuck unwinds?) it was not something that came immediately to mind. So there's a golden nugget of information for you all - drills don't work very well in reverse. You don't get these sort of tips in the text books!
As to the bluebottles, Danny more or less has it. No food of any sort in the workshop, but I did begin to notice a smell of something like cat crap. Searching behind all the cupboards etc, in case a moggy had crept in and left a deposit proved fruitless, as did a close inspection of the soles of my shoes. Eventually the penny dropped and I realised it was a sheet of emery cloth made in China I had recently got out of the drawer and left on the bench. It sure did stink. God knows what they use as the adhesive but I hope they never get round to using it on envelopes. I know recycling is all the rage, but cat crap should stay as cat crap however cheap it might be.
The fly spray was pretty effective but I thought it was a bit cruel, so I used spray varnish instead. They took a bit longer to die but they did have a lovely finish.
Any scale on the block of steel?
That's a pretty dodgy switch then.
Agreed there are some drills for sale that aren't up to much. I've got some old ones which seem to be lasting well with an occasional touch on a wheel to sharpen them. Bought some off Reeves a long while back, not sure of the maker but the model engineering websites might be a good place to look for reviews or recommendations on modern made drills. Quite like stubbies over jobber length ones for some tasks.
Like the bug gun but I'll stick to rubber bands easier to pick up than a pinch of salt, but that's just me.
Last edited by Benelli B76; 17-06-2018 at 11:11 AM.
BE AN INDEPENDENT THINKER, DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD
Sounds a bit extreme, a 9mm blank might be messy enough. Guess you liked decorating! Reminds me of the stories about WW1 where they sometimes took potshots at the rats with.455 revolvers....in the dugouts. As if nerves weren't on edge enough, imagine someone doing that while you were looking the other way?
I resized the fired 9 mil cases and put them upside down in a tin of melted candle wax. When the wax set I pulled out the cases which now had wad cutter wax projectiles. Just put in a primer only with Lee primer, and hey presto had indoor practice rounds. Of course you could only load and shoot one at a time, but they had enough oomph to break yogurt cups I used for targets. Wife did no like greasy marks on the wall so had to pack it in.
Baz
BE AN INDEPENDENT THINKER, DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD
Wax practice loads for trigger control & sight acquisition.(& flies too) brings back memories, but the flies are a new to me.