Rough guide to motor requirements. 1HP will remove 1 cu. In. of metal in  1 minute.

Machining Bakelite.
Although Bakelite is not used as often as it used to be, it is still available and may be ideal for some jobs. For turning, it is best to use a wide-nosed tool, with a large clearance but no rake, and to take a large cut, if possible turning to size in a single cut, and using a speed about 25% greater than for cast iron. A light finishing cut will often leave a torn surface and  is difficult to maintain diameter. The tool will need  frequent sharpening, and
carbide tipped tools can be advantageous. No lubricant should be  used.
For milling, a high speed and coarse feed should be used, and if possible, remove all the material in a single cut.

FILES. Once a file has been used on steel it will never cut brass, bronze of copper properly.
It is best to mark new files and keep them exclusively for brass etc., until they show signs of wear, when they can be replaced and relegated to use on ferrous metals.
Rubbing chalk on the file before use will help prevent bits of metal sticking in the teeth.

DRILLS. Number drills used to be made in half sizes between No 60 and 70, so that drills were available at 1 thou intervals.

DRILL SIZES. On the DOWNLOADS page you can download a chart showing drill sizes and their uses.

ANNEALING ALUMINIUM.
Leave a bar of soap in a soap dish that is half-full of water and two things will happen.
The first is that the outside layer of soap will soften into a paste
Wipe this over the aluminium and heat until it goes black and bubbles, then leave to cool. This is the
correct temperature for annealing.

.(The second thing is that the female of the species will either tidy up or rain abuse on you. Probably best to do this is the workshop.)

BEARINGS.
The revolving race is a PRESS FIT, the stationary race is a PUSH FIT.

The inner and outer races from scrap bearings are flat and square and make excellent packing pieces or parallels.

CHATTER.
A piece of emery paper placed between the lathe tool and the rest will sometimes prevent chatter.

When turning a thin-walled tube, stuff some screwed-up kitchen foil inside to prevent chatter. It should not be forced in tight, just a loose bundle to alter the  natural resonance of the tube.

GLASS TUBE.
To cut the glass tube for a sight glass, the usual method is to file a small nick in the glass and then break across this mark. Sometimes you will get a clean break but often not.
Another method is to mark all round the glass with a glass cutter.
Then wipe some saliva in the groove and the glass will then snap cleanly.

Machine tool lubrication.
The bearings of lathes and similar machine tools that have plain bearings (as opposed to ball or roller
bearings), should be lubricated with a thin "straight" oil. Car multigrade and similar oils which contain
detergents are not suitable, and can even increase the wear.

Almost all machinery manufacturers will recommend an oil that is suitable for their machines, and many can also supply it.
Most of the oil companies, and many of the model engineering suppliers also stock suitable oils.

LUBRICATION  has become a science, and there are oils for almost every conceivable purpose.
Many (most?) of us probably tend to use whatever happens to remain in the can from oiling something else.
Considering the time spent in building our models, and the cost of the models (or parts thereof) and of our machines, it is false economy to use anything other than the correct oil, which may enhance the life of the model / machine.
As one example, I am told that the oil for chainsaws is of very low grade because it is designed to be used on a "total waste" basis. Whilst it is ideal for its intended purpose, it is not suitable for lathes or models.

Modern coolant and lubrication.

 


http://www.hallettoil.co.uk/modeloiluk/

Mick Jarvis reckons that a 50:50 mixture of diesel  fuel and hydraulic transmission fluid is superb for
lubricating machinery, and for spraying over the loco at the end of a running day.

MickJarvis also recommends this.
"I swear by this stuff and now use it on all my machines, lath, mill etc, or any bright or machined surface that I want to keep that way. With the lath - mill etc I would recommend wiping your machine down and oiling prior to using rather than leaving this stuff on. This brew will not darken, is easily removed, even should the surface require painting at a later time, all the ingredients are easy to get hold of, cheap and easy to apply.
10 litres of Turps;  1/2 litre of new engine oil; 1/2 of amber petroleum jelly.
Warm the engine oil in a clean old saucepan or similar (about 80deg C)
Add the amber petroleum jelly and stir till all melted and homogenous.

Gently pour while stirring into the bulk turps.
Shake well and use with clean rag to wipe on or a spray bottle.
This stuff really is the magic elixir and since coming across it would never consider using a commercial product again. I don't use nearly so much of the diesel/Automatic transmission oil mix as before but that mix still has its use for certain things.
Do not confuse the Amber petroleum jelly with normal Vaseline.

I copied the following from one of the newsgroups.
Unfortunately I omitted the name of the person who posted it, so if it was you, please let me know.
I have not tried it, but if you have the ingredients it might be worth experimenting with.

" I remarked to one of the old guys that I worked with how good it was. He replied after smelling it that it was just Trichlorethylene and a small amount of thin oil to hold it from evaporating off. He reckons they used to mix this up as a lad. Funny how things get 'lost' by improvement. Anyway I decided to try this. Got some "trike" from the spray shop and mixed it with a bit of that red automatic transmission fluid.
It worked a treat. Now I know that "trike"  has been banned but there are some very close
alternatives. The one we use is called Tricocleanse and is virtually indistinguishable from the genuine stuff.
It's also still available in an aerosol form from welding suppliers as an anti splatter spray. Not the bloody wimpy ozone friendly water based washing up liquid stuff. Problem with that one is though it's pure and
quickly evaporates. You need the 75 / 25% mix to work right. I have proved this quite a few time to
disbeliveers. I've got them to drill two holes and tap the first one dry, then tap the second using a cutting
compound, Whilst they are part way through I've squirted a bit of this "trike" onto the tap and everyone has remarked how easy it went from there on in.
Scrounge a drop and try it, you wont go back to pastes after this."