Wax chucks…

[tmac1956]

All:

When using a brass wax chuck I see some folks using wax to mount a wheel of a jewel, while some use super glue to hold the object. What seems to work for you – wax or brass?

Just wondering…

Thanks!
Tom

[david pierce]

Tom,
Neither, shellac is the original hot glue and can be cleaned off with alcohol.
david

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Tom,
Although some people use super glue I can’t add anything about it since I’ve never tried it myself. I normally use wax and/or
shellac depending on what I’m working on and find it very easy to center and set parts during the cooling period.

Bob

[Bob Tascione]

Hey David,
Looks like we were posting at the same time…you beat me to it!
Bob

[daryn]

I’m a shellac man myself, if I can’t otherwise get it on the faceplate dog clamps or in the four jaw chuck that is . . . . . .

[chris mabbott]

Guys, what do you use to remove the wax? I have a helluva job cleaning it off 👿

I’ve also been using engravers acrylic type wax to renew the script on movement plates, that is also a %!$# to remove the excess, any ideas how to remove that but not what is in the engraved areas?

I used regular wax at first but I wasn’t happy with the result, the engravers wax leaves a beautiful shiny finish and flows well, just in case someone suggested to use regular wax

[tmac1956]

All:

Thanks for the responses. I’m asking because I’m trying to set up a rig to do snailing on gears. However, I haven’t firgured out how to offset the polishing side. I know that I need to contra rotate the polishing end and that I can do that by using a figure eight on the drive belt. I also know that I need a steel shaft with a pully system and a polishing element on the end. I have an unused vise mounted watch mainspring winder and I was thingking I might be able to modify it so that I can mount it into my cross slide which would allow me to offset the polishing element from the headstock center line. However, I think that I’ll need some bearings that I would run the shaft through and that would also fit into the frame of the mainspring winder.

Perhaps I’m way off base here. Has anyone ever done this? I’m basing this on Steffen Pahlow’s video of this process.

Thanks!
Tom

[daryn]

I’ve done this , but I have a milling spindle, I also have a separate motor for the overhead drive ,
Next time Pauls around I’ll set it up and he can take photos and upload, I’m a bit challenged with the computer side of things !

[Bob Tascione]

I think that might work well for you Tom. As long as the spindle is a tight fit and you don’t get any vibration you should be fine. Running off of the same motor is always good if you can do it as it keeps everything in perfect sync. but snailing doesn’t require much pressure so won’t bog the lathe down much. Running a separate motor like Daryn does will work fine. My first snailing work was done using an old WW lathe with a Dremel tool mounted in a make shift adjustable over hanging bracket. The tool in the Dremel was a cupped copper hone that I made from a penny! It was all I could afford when I first started out. Even the penny was a sacrifice! It did a good job.

Hope this helps,
Bob

ps…best to use shellac for something like this and not wax. Shellac offers a much stronger hold. I use wax when I’m doing a repetitive job that doesn’t require any force. The part can be removed and another one quickly replaced by reheating the wax where re-heating shellac doesn’t always work well once it’s taken to too high a temp.

[daryn]

I think I agree with you about the motor thing bob , the reason I have two is that the one that drives the lathe has a variable speed foot pedal , the one for the overhead is a fixed speed which suits the applications better.
Daryn

[tmac1956]

@Bob Tascione wrote:

I think that might work well for you Tom. As long as the spindle is a tight fit and you don’t get any vibration you should be fine. Running off of the same motor is always good if you can do it as it keeps everything in perfect sync. but snailing doesn’t require much pressure so won’t bog the lathe down much. Running a separate motor like Daryn does will work fine. My first snailing work was done using an old WW lathe with a Dremel tool mounted in a make shift adjustable over hanging bracket. The tool in the Dremel was a cupped copper hone that I made from a penny! It was all I could afford when I first started out. Even the penny was a sacrifice! It did a good job.

Hope this helps,
Bob

ps…best to use shellac for something like this and not wax. Shellac offers a much stronger hold. I use wax when I’m doing a repetitive job that doesn’t require any force. The part can be removed and another one quickly replaced by reheating the wax where re-heating shellac doesn’t always work well once it’s taken to too high a temp.

Well need to be carefull today as the pennies are zinc with a copper cladding.

Later,
Tom

[david pierce]

Tom,
I am sure I remember Steffen Pahlow having a video showing how he does the snailing in a lathe. in any case I think I am due for a shot of moonshine. I don’t have to work tomorrow.
david

[tmac1956]

David:

I wathed his video on snailing, but he doesn’t show much beyond the business end of things. Pretty good though.

Thanks!
Tom

[david pierce]

Tom,
Home improvement stores used to sell copper grounding rods but I don’t know if they still do. You may have to purchase copper rod from a metal supply or industrial supply house. A small diameter copper cup should be fairly easy to make.
david

[arutha]

Here is some on the US ebay site – http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-pieces-25-1-4-x-12-Copper-Rod-Alloy-110-Round-Bar-/171039311430?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d2bcc646
It is listed in lots of different sizes and although you wont need much for your snailing job it will come in useful for other things later.
Paul.

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