Alexander Master Toolmaker (FP1 Clone) Rebuild.

[Colin H]

Hello All,

I’m from sunny Wiltshire and found this forum by coming across Pete’s excellent rebuild thread. Thought I should share my rebuild in return for the hard work Pete has put into his.

I bought this from a chap who has 2 of them and was fully functioning when I got it. So I did the only reasonable thing and made sure it didn’t work for a while by pulling bits off it

I bought it with all the attachments except high speed head as don’t think I need those speeds. Although full speed with those spur gears is changing my mind.

Here it is when arrived at mine a couple of months back after splashing some paint around on a few but that were already painted (so I can match paint all over.


here she is in current state with a different table rigged up until I finish scraping in the multi axis table



I have also been doing a few YouTube videos so I remember how I took it apart!

 

[Colin H]

Here is the first of a few dodgy videos (not that kind) of some strip down and look at what’s going on.

Second video getting a rough idea of how far out the table mating surfaces are (and my techniques)

Next 2 are painting and polishing type videos

 

[Colin H]

And last week I started to scrape the table parts in. I only attempted these as they were far from flat and I only aimed to make them a bit better. They aren’t sliding surfaces so scrape depth, finish and all the other bits are not as important.



Here is mating part which is flat enough for its purpose. I now need to scrape it parallel on back side to this surface so when I pivot table, it only changes the axis I move

 

[Agroshield]

A possible option for a high speed head is one of the Chinese ER spindles sold for CNC wood routers. Couple it with a 400Hz VFD.

 

[Colin H]

A possible option for a high speed head is one of the Chinese ER spindles sold for CNC wood routers. Couple it with a 400Hz VFD.

I like the idea of high speed head mainly because of running separate motor rather than high speeds. Would be quieter.

 

[Colin H]

Here are a few more pictures of the polishing etc

This wheel was really browned up so have it a polish, mainly because it will resist corrosion for longer


Here is handwheel cleaned up and painted.

 

[Colin H]

Thursday night fun while the boss watches love island (one good thing about it).

Starting to scrape back side. Once flat need to then get one side parallel to the other!

 

[paradipiro]

Thursday night fun while the boss watches love island (one good thing about it).

Starting to scrape back side. Once flat need to then get one side parallel to the other!View attachment 387425

What pigment do you use for highlighting the high spots?

 

[Barking Mat]

@Colin H , really liked your videos, but please turn the radio off in the background.

What pigment do you use for highlighting the high spots?

think it was mMicrometer Blue, first or second video.

 

[Colin H]

What pigment do you use for highlighting the high spots?

I use Stuart’s micrometer blue. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing as getting some training end of month. I’m just making this up based on you tube stuff

I think they are all good but need using differently. The oil based is easy to lay on too thick and not get accurate reads. I’m only roughing here so doesn’t matter yet

 

[Colin H]

@Colin H , really liked your videos, but please turn the radio off in the background.


think it was mMicrometer Blue, first or second video.

I often forget then it’s too late! Will try to remember in next ones. Thanks for watching, I appreciate the feedback

 

[Barking Mat]

You've got another subscriber.

Is that your CNC mill ?

Nice.

 

[Scalarocco]

I use Stuart’s micrometer blue. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing

It's the right thing.

 

[Colin H]

You've got another subscriber.

Is that your CNC mill ?

Nice.

Thanks for that. I worked my way up from this to a Hurco VM20i with 4th axis for my workshop business but got rid of all recently. Easier ti make money selling ice to eskimos than CNC machining

I’m now back to doing the machine rebuilds and making things for hobby and managing projects for day job (Yea that’s as boring as it sounds).

 

[Barking Mat]

Welcome to the forum Colin, and keep us updated with your work.

 

[Colin H]

Welcome to the forum Colin, and keep us updated with your work.

Thank you for the welcome. Love island is just starting so I’m off out for some scraping right now

 

[Scalarocco]

Starting to scrape back side. Once flat need to then get one side parallel to the other!

Check the parallelism while you are scraping the back face. You can scrape selectively to get it close while you are getting the back face flat. The other face will then only need a tickle up to get it right.

 

[Martin-Sy]

Any idea why it was out in the first place.
As you said earlier they're not really wearing surfaces.

 

[Colin H]

Check the parallelism while you are scraping the back face. You can scrape selectively to get it close while you are getting the back face flat. The other face will then only need a tickle up to get it right.

Good point, I am keeping an eye on things as they progress. The back side is flat so easier to change this one.

 

[Colin H]

Any idea why it was out in the first place.
As you said earlier they're not really wearing surfaces.

It makes sense as all
The high points have been around the bolt mount points and where the T nuts run. Many years of clamping and also last owner found all surfaces packed with brass so will have been clamped over debris and caused the bow I think.

Like you said there are no signs of wear marks, just distortion