Then and now
 

On 8/20/2014 1:45 PM, Wymsey wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 16:26:12 +0100, Chronos wrote:

The Dremel doesn't
help - it just makes making a mess faster ;-)

But does look nice on the bench :-)



In one of the Smoke and Solder segments of Ham Nation, George Thomas
made a jig for his Dremel so it works as a cross between a table saw and
a radial saw. Allows him to cut nice straight Mitered cuts in PC board.
Alas have no clue as to which episode it was http://twit.tv/hn

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Then and now
 

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014, Scott Dorsey wrote:

highlandham wrote:
Nibbling tools are still available from Radio Shack (in USA) for US$9.99

Don't do it! Spend a little more and get a good one from MSC or somebody.
--scott

My nibbler is from Radio Shack, about 30 years old, maybe 35. I couldn't
tell any real difference from an Adel nibbler, which I had borrowed and
used before I got my own.

Michael

Then and now
 

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014, John Davis wrote:

On 8/20/2014 1:45 PM, Wymsey wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 16:26:12 +0100, Chronos wrote:

The Dremel doesn't
help - it just makes making a mess faster ;-)

But does look nice on the bench :-)



In one of the Smoke and Solder segments of Ham Nation, George Thomas made a
jig for his Dremel so it works as a cross between a table saw and a radial
saw. Allows him to cut nice straight Mitered cuts in PC board. Alas have no
clue as to which episode it was http://twit.tv/hn

Are you talking about using a cut-off wheel? I think the real problem
with those is that the wheel is too small, so unless you are cutting off
edges, the rest of the Dremel/rotary tool gets in the way.

I think some of the newer models allow for a closer use.

I thought of getting a Dremel tool for about 20 years, they looked so
neat, but I couldn't justify the cost. I had no concrete need for it.

Then suddenly I did buy one (a Sear's one, which I think was a rebadged
Dremel) when it was on sale, and once I had it, I found a use for it.
Those cut-off wheels are great, go through the jar of bolts to find the
right diameter, and if it's too long, just cut off the extra, nice and
quick.

Michael

Then and now
 

On 20/08/2014 16:26, Chronos wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 11:38:57 +0100
"gareth" wrote:

Nowadays, to manufacture an HF RX, with all the concomitant
high density ICs that are around, the biggest design chore
is to cut out the opening for the LCD display on the front
panel.

I have to say that anyone who can make a decent looking front panel has
my admiration. My attempts at chassis bashing have always looked like
something salvaged from a rather nasty car accident. The Dremel doesn't
help - it just makes making a mess faster ;-)

Someone once said to me, that precision engineering was the easiest
thing in the world - far easier than having to 'adjust' holes to fit
things and used a lot less material!
I freely admit that my earlier work was not something to be proud of.

Les.

Then and now
 

"Lordgnome" wrote in message
...
Someone once said to me, that precision engineering was the easiest
thing in the world - far easier than having to 'adjust' holes to fit
things and used a lot less material!
I freely admit that my earlier work was not something to be proud of.

Somewhere on the Net is a poster of silly screws to handle such problems.
along the lines of a screw with a bit shifted sideways!

Anyone got the URL?

Then and now
 

Lordgnome wrote in :

Someone once said to me, that precision engineering was the easiest
thing in the world - far easier than having to 'adjust' holes to fit
things and used a lot less material!


They were right. Measure thrice, cut once... I'm about to spend 300 quid on a
small pillar drill, something I avoided doing for years, but I am tired of
seeing the good results of hand work and most of my tools beignj ruined by
the use of one really bad one. I know what peopole say about bad workmen and
tools, but there are bad tools too. :) Pistol-grip drills are the worst...
Never rely on a pilot hole for centring with those, far too many ways chaotic
oscillations can get in to screw things up royally.. I mean, a 2mm hole in
acetal was fine for a subsequent widening to 3.7 for tapping with a fluteless
tap, but try the same methods, no matter how carefully the speed ajuster is
used, and a 5mm bit rips into it with a pattern that resembles a tornado!

Can't beat precision and secure methods. The expense increase is always lower
than the avoided loss.

Then and now
 

Michael Black wrote in
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1408202237200.14425@darkstar. example.org:

I thought of getting a Dremel tool for about 20 years, they looked so
neat, but I couldn't justify the cost. I had no concrete need for it.


The small high speed ones? They're cheap enough, but you're right not to. I
had two, they vibrate hugely, and at those frequencies this is dangerous to
eveything, our biology, the tool, the work, nothing escapes it safely. I
later got a Proxxon IBS/E drill which even at top speed runs clean and smooth
like Rolls Royce aircraft engines in comparison with the Dremel which was
like a screaming two-stroke in comparison!! Add the small KT-70 two-axis
milling table to their cheapest drill stand, and it makes a tool that can
reliably use the same 0.7mm cabide PCB bit to drill FR4 fibreglass board full
of as many holes as you have the patience to drill. A Dremel could never do
that, it would likely break on first contact between drill and work.

One nice thing about the setup I described is it will accurately place fine
holes around the perimiter for small connector holes with any shape wanted,
with minimal filing needed to clean up. The precision is so good that
knocking the waste metal out of the hole before filing was very easy too.
Print out a panel design on paper with a cheap Laserjet printer, then stick
it on the panel, line it up on the table, and for a one-off design it can get
results you could sell in a high end retail shop.

Then and now
 

On 21/08/14 09:20, gareth wrote:
"Lordgnome" wrote in message
...
Someone once said to me, that precision engineering was the easiest
thing in the world - far easier than having to 'adjust' holes to fit
things and used a lot less material!
I freely admit that my earlier work was not something to be proud of.

Somewhere on the Net is a poster of silly screws to handle such problems.
along the lines of a screw with a bit shifted sideways!

Anyone got the URL?


========================
These screw type punchers were/are available from Radio Spares (RS).
I have a few sizes up to 30 mm diameter.

Frank , GM0CSZ / KN6WH

Then and now
 

highlandham wrote in news:lt5mcm$7ud$1@dont-
email.me:

Somewhere on the Net is a poster of silly screws to handle such problems.
along the lines of a screw with a bit shifted sideways!

Anyone got the URL?


========================
These screw type punchers were/are available from Radio Spares (RS).
I have a few sizes up to 30 mm diameter.


I think he had something far sillier in mind. :) Pythonesque, even. But I
know the puches you mean, I have a couple for 20mm and 16mm, I considered one
for 25 pin D-sub but in the end I never wanted to repeat enough to justify
anything other than finely dotted drill-lines followed by knocking out the
middle bit and light filing to clean up. Those hole puches don't always work
well, especially on thicker panels, or panels that already have a tough
enamel type coating. They're also not cheap, I just kept some for hole sizes
I did need to use a lot.

Then and now
 

"Brian Reay" wrote in message
...
They tend to be fine for thin steal (eg car panels if you are fitting an
antenna) or the softer aluminium alloys but can jam on the harder alloys,
a
little paraffin usually helps (assuming proper cutting fluid for aluminium
isn't to hand).

Paraffin _IS_ the recommended cutting fluid for aluminium