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21st Feb 2020, 08:52 PM #16Most Valued Member
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some times mate. how do you feel when you like the last reply in a thread?
maybe it means no more needs saying.
aaron
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21st Feb 2020, 10:51 PM #17Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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I like the previous post if I could find the like button on this tapatalk thing.
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5th Mar 2020, 12:20 AM #18
1post1der
At the moment, I could be considered a bit of a potential 1post1der in here.
After researching the forum pretty hard for some definitive information, and not finding it, I did some further research elsewhere and posted a summary of what I considered to be some valuable factual information which could prove useful to future searchers, and asked the forum a single, very clear question.
The response was a garbled mess of opinion motherhood statements ('any oil is better than no oil' - oh, really?) which was only in the most trivial way related to my question. In fact, I was shocked at how useless it was.
The river of nonesense didn't stop, even when I tried, with what I hoped was good humour, to point out that the answers were not really hitting the mark. ( With the exception of Bobl's later contributions).
Now, maybe I'm setting my expectations a bit high, but if this is how it's going to be, you blokes will be able to complain in the future about 1post1ders, and Fast Freddie will have been one of them.
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6th Mar 2020, 10:41 AM #19Try not to be late, but never be early.
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Hi Freddie,
Careful that you don't cut off your nose etc, I hadn't read the thread with your lubricant query and had to look it up so that I could see what you were talking about. As far as I'm concerned if I'd asked the question I'd have been satisfied with the responses.
We have varying fields of interest on this forum, I would consider mine to be fairly narrow, and if a comment or observation on my chosen subject creates a conversation all the better. If I am contradicted or my point of view is proven incorrect I welcome that because that's the reason I'm here, to learn or share my (dubious) knowledge.
It doesn't matter to me one jot whether you stick around or leave so you'll only be hurting yourself in the long term by taking your bat and ball and going home.
Cheers,
Geoff.
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6th Mar 2020, 01:05 PM #20
Boring, Geoff
I guess I was trying to offer some insight into the OP's dilemma as to why some posters ask a question, then never respond to the answers, and how we might feel about that.
Thanks for your opinion though Geoff, it's interesting to see how quickly a thread can start to develop a personal bent, if we don't maintain our vigilance.
Freddie.
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6th Mar 2020, 03:26 PM #21Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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I try to remind myself to not get too worried about what/how folks respond to any questions I ask. Few folks will have the same level of attention to detail or interest on specific topics as other members so responses can vary widely based on things like experience and application. Oils are a notorious topic for this.
Many folks responses may appear trite but have a detailed back story they don’t have the time or inclination to post.
I’m probably one of the few people to know a reasonably detailed history of their old (mine is 55 years old) Hercus as I walked past the workshop at work where it was housed many times a day for about 40 of those years. I also used it about once a month over that time because there were usually better/bigger lathes available. I’d summarize its life as a very little used and occasionally abused student lathe. I’m pretty sure it got very little oil during it’s lifetime and what it got would have been anything in a can that was nearby. Often this would have been some sort of plain motor oil. I would have been one of the few users to oil it at all, also with whatever was on hand. Hence my “any oil , applied often“ position , especially as very few of us are working in a prodUction like environment.
Despite this abuse the little Hercus is still in fair shape. I’ve had it at home for the last 9 years and it’s probably seen more use and oil in those 9 years than it has seen than the rest of its life. I use a home brew ISO 68 based lube for everything on the lathe and cannot detect any noticeable wear from when I first got it. I’m not sure I would do anything different even if I used 40 hours a week. There’s even more in the back story but that’s probably enough to show where I was coming from. I doubt anyone really cares about this back story anyway?
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7th Mar 2020, 07:53 PM #22Most Valued Member
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7th Mar 2020, 09:03 PM #23
You are new in this Forum and not yet used to our robust Forum culture.
You posted a few inquiries prior to the oil related one and from what I saw, you had no problems in how any of those questions were answered.
Receiving a variety of replies ,some of which are not of any help is par for the course, on any forum. Live with it!
Dealing with the oil question, you need to realise Forums folks were genuinely trying to assist you on the basis of the information that you provided.
Amateur or expert,they weren't to know which one you are, so "any oil is better than none" is a fair comment.
Given the brand, grade and volume of the oil you were seeking they took you at your word with none available bar 20 litres and so, tried to help.
By suggesting viable alternates available in economical volumes they assisted.
The manual recommended oil is one thing but what actually was compatible and available in reasonable volume package sizes was quite another.
People reply on the basis of their experience-ie; what works for them and that includes lathes and oils.
Going forward,I wonder too, how many members will be eager to assist you with your next inquiry, given the attitude you have shown to them.
In the years I have been involved in this Forum I have found there's a huge amount of expertise here which resides sometimes in the most unexpected places.
I believe you may have denied the value of that expertise and won't be seeing a lot of it if you do not change your mindset.
I believe you will find much of the same variety of answers on just about any other venue you choose to seek answers about oil.
Grahame
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7th Mar 2020, 09:05 PM #24Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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Here's a more complete history.
My little Hercus was purchased in 1966 and started out it's life in an Experimental Methods undergraduate estudent lab/workshop in a Uni Science Department. In those days many first year Science students studied a subject called 'Experimental Methods" which was a useful hands on subject covering the sorts of skills anyone working in a basic laboratory environment might need to use in the mid 1960s. Each week there was a 1 hour lecture and a 3 hour lab session that included things like basic sheet metal work, glass blowing, working with plastics, circuit board soldering, and even basic turning. I first used that Hercus when I did that subject in 1972. I loved the hands on work and was a bit peeved that could only use the lathe for about 4 one hour time slots during the whole semester.
Then I found out that when I got to the 3rd year of my course if the Experimental Methods lab was not being used for classes and I could demonstrate basic proficiency I would be allowed to get the keys and use the lab.
When I finally got to third year not only did I get to use the Hercus in the Experimental Methods workshop but I got involved with a research project that involved making hydrophones from scratch so could use the main department workshop provided i was supervised. The main workshop had HD welding and cutting gear, a couple of bigger lathes, a small surface grinder and Bridgeport which I got to spend some time on. The Supervising tech was a fantastically skilled Dutch toolmaker who taught me many things, unfortunately most of which I've forgotten or did not get enough time to practice. I remember spending a bit of time machining solid blocks of Polyethylene into hydrophone housings and many hours slowly winding Cu speaker coils using the Hercus. Then endless hours collecting data and fixing leaks with the hydrophones suspending in a small swimming pool. Frustrating but I really enjoyed that project.
I then spent a couple of years away from Uni as a high school teacher and came back as a part time postgrad student in 1979 and then a full time PhD student in 1982. While I had been away the Experimental Methods subject was scrapped and the Hercus along with a bunch of other gear from the old Experimental Methods lab was moved into a small Postgrad student workshop. As a post grad student i had free run of the Postgrad, as well as the Main workshops provided someone was there to nominally supervise me, so I would often pop down and make something I needed for my research or for home. In my research I used a lot of small (50mL) teflon beakers in the research and those days they were outrageously expensive so I turned up dozens from Telfon rod. We also made all manner of gizmos and apparatus include a miniature plating rig and a device to hold rhenium metal filaments. Lots of small knurled SS knobs.
When I finished my PhD in 1985 I worked for a couple of years in the same Dept as a researcher and was able to delegate anything I needed to be made to tech staff, but I enjoyed working in the workshop so much I would often just go and make my own gear. The techos liked this because that saved them making it.
Then I moved to the US for a couple of years as a researcher and came back to the Uni in 1990 as an academic so lecturing () and research . By now the Postgrad student workshop had closed down and the Hercus had been moved into the main workshop and sat unused sometimes for many weeks at time in a corner. This workshop ran along a main corridor in our building that I would walk up and down many times a day so could see how much the Hercus was not being (ab)used. As a full staff member I had access to the workshop and would often use the lathes and mill, usually after ours, and was often the only one that used the Hercus for months.
This went on for about 15 years and then the Hercus suddenly disappeared. When I asked about it the story was no one was using it so it (along with a heap of other old machines and gear) was put into storage. However, that did not last long because the Uni Admin was desperate for Departments to declutter and get rid of excess stuff so they started charging Departments something like $100/m^2//year for storage. So just sitting there in storage, the hercus was costing the Department $100/year, so the Department decided to sell off all the surplus gear and we got several quotes for removal and sale. The “best" quote was "minus $1000” that’s right, the Dept had pay the machinery removal company $1000 to remove the gear and got nothing for the sale. By now (2010) these old machines had all been written off the financial books so to avoid the storage charge the easiest way to get rid of them was for the department to loan the machines out to various staff members on what was technically called an "extended loan". I put my name up for a bunch of gear and managed to end up with the Hercus. I also ended up with a heap of other gear most of which I donated to Mens sheds.
When I went to pick it up it was in pieces like this which turned out to be a good thing because I was able to move it down the side of our house by myself.
IMG_0025.jpg
I retired in 2013 and today the main workshop has completely changed, Its all white gleaming white benches and floors Only one of the old chinese lathes is still there and the rest of the space is taken up by new gear like a CNC mill.Theres still a small welding room and an electronics shop but in my last visit I get the impression that there's not that much going on.
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7th Mar 2020, 09:33 PM #25Most Valued Member
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That's quite a story. Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to type it up and post it.
peter
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