Member postings for ken king, King Design

Thanks for all inputs so far. If I understand Neil correctly there are different requirements for a commercially produced boiler i.e. one made for money, as opposed to one built by an enthusiast for his own use. Can anyone enlarge on that? I think I'm close to turning this request down, not for concerns about the manufacturing of it, but because the certification/insurance process is beginning to look like a major complication too far. For my own information I'd still like to learn more of the inspection and insurance requirements. For that probably my next step should be to contact my nearest live steam club, talk to some members, and collect info from the chaps who've actually done it all. Any other suggestions ?

Isn't it peculiar how a seemingly straightforward enquiry can produce diametrically opposed views from people who are doing the same things ? Fascinating and all good stuff, keep it coming chaps.

Yes Paul, I believe I acknowledged the 'bomb' potential and the need for certification in my first entry, but you raise a valid point about liability, and hence the possible need for insurance cover. Do other modellers, making boilers only for themselves, take out such insurance (after all, bystanders cold be hurt wherever steaming) ? Or is there compulsory club/association coverage as with R.C. model aircraft via the BBMA/LMA ?

I'll study the Australian code, but why has it apparently been dismissed in some quarters ?

Hello Jason,

Thanks for the Cu spec. At present this is just an enquiry as to whether I could make a boiler for someone. If I did it would be as a paid job, but I'm looking into it to decide whether it is something I would wish to undertake. At the moment I know nothing about the certification process, but obviously need to learn how it works, in the same way I'm sure there are 'best practices' to take on board. I'm approaching the subject warily, and may yet decided 'Thanks, but no thanks'.

I appreciate your input,

Regards,

Ken

I have been asked to make a boiler for a friend. Whilst being a reasonably competent 'basher' I have not made one before. I'm trawling the web for construction notes and would also like to have readers' opinions/preferences on the best grades of copper to use, which silver solder etc., in other words a note of pitfalls to avoid, and hints leading to easier working and best results. I'm waiting for a view of the drawings so this is a very general initial enquiry. More specific requests for advice may arise later.

Be assured I do realise that a boiler is potentially a bomb and so this is not something I will undertake lightly. Naturally the result will be subject to all the essential official testing required, but I'd much prefer to 'pass first time'.

All help gratefully received, thanks,

Ken.

I didn't do this ALL today, in fact it took a long time, spread over an even longer time. It's a replacement in aluminium of the broken plastic wheelnut seen alongside, from a large-scale Ford GT40 model. A client's son spent all his saved-up pocket money, then found the broken lug upon delivery. An unsympathetic seller, and no supplier of spares, persuaded me to offer to make one. It may not be perfect, well, in fact it's not, but I reckon it should be good enough to pass at first glance, and it will hold that all-important fourth wheel on.

Surely the most important principle mentioned so far is to get the machine feet/stands lowered onto beds of slightly compliant material of a type which after a time sets hard. During this stage the machine should not be jacked or interefered with in any way. This allows the whole assembly to adopt its natural stress-free stance, in which it is then rigidly supported. Ideally the feet should then be firmly bolted down through their beds, in effect making the floor slab a structural member, and imparting enormous additional rigidity. Any remaining vibration can then only be due to flexing within the upper structure of the machine or tooling, a completely different problem stemming from the basic design, or setup and maintenance issues.

Ken

Thanks chaps, Accugroup are now in my Bookmarks list, and I've ordered my screws from them. What a useful supplier, thanks again,

Ken

Hi folks, I'll be grateful if anyone can point me toward a U.K. supplier of small UNF screws, specifically No. 3-56 in steel or brass, 1/2" to 1" long, head style unimportant. (A supplier in the U.S. has very nice stainless steel capscrews, £5 for 25, but the postage is over £20, so no deal.)

Here's another company to try - MORRIS SPRINGS. They have a very useful catalogue you can bring up on line, listing springs in well-laid-out incremental tables displaying all the vital information for each spring. I've used them on several occasions for single springs or very small quantities. Not cheap, but the springs accurately mirror the tables' information, which is wanted I needed. Hope you find them equally useful.

Hello folks, like lots of other chaps I occasionally need to run a die along rod held in the lathe chuck. At the moment I use an ordinary hand-held die-holder, and put a flat ended centre in the tailstock to bear against the back of the die to get the thread started nice and square. I then have to juggle tailstock feed, die-holder handle, and chuck in order to progress, but only until the rod emerges from the back of the die whereupon the tailstock has to be withdrawn.

Now I'm thinking of acquiring a tailstock die-holder but am swithering between the sort with a guide pin which prevents rotation of the die, and allows just straight sliding feed, or the type where torque is applied via a side arm, and the die can be rotated back and forth to some extent.

I'd like to know if you have a strong preference for one type over the other, and how you deal with the need to back off the die periodically to break up the chips when using the pin-guided type. Is it all down to chuck rotation in that case? Sorry if these sound like daft questions, but humour me, please.

Thank you all for your inputs. I'm going with the R.S. tool, .020" tip width.

Not very technical, this, but where can I find a small blade screwdriver with means of holding 8BA or 10BA brass c'sunk screws to allow me to enter them into hard-to-reach holes ? In the past I've seen split-blades which jam into the screw slot, and other drivers with tiny spring claws, but haven't managed to locate any of them. Alternatively, a means of magnetising brass would be great !

If you can fit a nut on the thread and tighten it against say, a spacer tube under the bolt head, then you have a simple means of indexing the assembly by gripping the nut in the milling vice. Quickest, easiest and accurate !

Last week I made these parts for the handbrake of a 1947 Humber Hawk, and my search for an economical quenching oil became the subject of a Forum query ( ... which oil?). As a result I used Sunflower Oil, with complete success. Result !

Yesterday I was tasked with making a replacement part for one of the boot lid hinges on the same car. The originals are cast in Mazak, an alloy of Zinc, I think, commonly given a highly derogatory name by those who have to deal with blistered plating, efflorescent corrosion products, and stripped out threads, as here. Fixing studs should be locked in, but seized nuts inevitably result in the Mazak 'letting go', and that's when the'fun' starts.

The replacement part was made in brass, by a mix of milling, linishing and hand filing, followed by a little buffing. It's seen here alongside its handed partner, and all will be packed off to a plating company in due course.

Thanks to all respondees and the wealth of your collective experiences. I can now report that the parts have been successfully hardened using Sunflower Oil ! Very cheap and available anywhere, it was chosen after various suggestions and some reading of articles on the 'net. Heated to dullish red for a few minutes, parts were then dunked with vertical agitation. They are certainly hard, and black deposits were easy to clean off, mostly by wipe, then a brief rub of emery. The oil is now back in the bottle but appropriately labelled and permanently removed from the kitchen at my wife's insistence, though in truth I would happily use it for a fry-up (but then I couldn't use it for subsequent hardenings, could I ?). Annealing was carried out at 200C for one hour, in line with the supplier's suggestion, so was simple to do in the domestic oven. Reassembly of the handbrake is scheduled for tomorrow.

I too was pleasantly suprised at how well the router cutter performed. After all, there is a world of difference between a tough wood and gaugeplate, but I thought to myself 'carbide tipped, so worth a try', and glad I did so. The cutter was barely worn at all afterward, even on the outermost sharp corner, which I had expected might quickly be destroyed, but no. It's given me confidence to consider other uses for router cutters, with their fancy profiles, and I hope you too find they help solve a problem.

Regards to All,

Ken.

Some useful tips there chaps, thanks. Commercial H.T. companies are out; too expensive, so it's a DIY job alright. I like the idea of using cooking oil; I'll look for web references, as Rod mentions, before jumping in. And yes, edgewise immersion too. All good thoughts,

Thanks again,

Ken.

Hello Vic, you might like to try Sheffield Gauge Plate at www.ground-flat-stock.co.uk They're gauge plate specialists and I've found them most helpful. Every size and reasonably priced too.

Ken.

I've just finished making handbrake parts for a 1947 Humber Hawk Series 1, the toothed quadrant and the mating pawl, from 1/4"gaugeplate. After much careful measurement (not easy, given the badly worn state of the originals) I knocked up milling jig No. 1 and set to work producing the quadrant shape.

Jig No.2 then produced the teeth ....

using a carbide tipped routerdovetail cutter, which worked suprisingly well.

Then jig No1 was re-used to check the pawl shape, using a piece of bar drilled at the correct centeres to represent the handbrake lever ...

Now I have the machined components and it's time for hardening and tempering. Data on the gaugeplate wrapper suggests 780 - 820 degrees for hardening (held at temperature for 15 - 20 minutes, Tubal Cain), then quenching in oil. Tubal says engine oil gives variable results, so which oil is best ? I don't do much hardening so don't need gallons of the stuff, and I'd like it to be very reasonably priced. Any suggestions ? Your help will be much appreciated,

Thanks,

Ken.

At last, I got around to making these for a friend who is restoring a 1949 Jaguar Mk V. He wanted copper gaskets to fit between the block and the six individual exhaust manifold branches, so we purchased some conveniently sized pieces of 2mm copper sheet on eBay. He inked the branch faces and 'printed' the shapes onto thick paper. That was at least a year ago, and prints and copper have been staring at me reproachfully from a corner of the bench ever since.

Finally I could stand it no longer, so today I overlaid the prints on the copper and in time-honoured fashion marked through the outline and other features with an automatic centre-punch.

Much sawing, drilling and filing later all six gaskets were finished and a bucket load of guilt fell from my shoulders. For the eagle-eyed, the tiny edge notches identify the cylinder number.

A correction

I expect you all spotted my small oops when quoting Martin Evans' tolerance on a nominal .156 hole. The figures should have been - larger side .1559, smaller side .155 Sorry about that.