Member postings for Bob Stevenson

........Ooh er!....I think I must be the only bloke still marking out 'properly'.....

What does get me started is members of my clock club who use the vernier on work in the lathe and don't see a need to turn the lathe off first!

I did once see a vernia sticking out of someones thigh, although not from this to be fair......

Whereabouts are you situated?

Unfortunately not just youngsters! At my clock club (EFHC) more than a few Grandfathers were seen to be 'challenged' by the Happypuzzle clock. They used to regularly turn up at our auctions placed by disillusioned grandfathers who failed to interest their younger grandchildren in the workings of clocks as the said grandkids did'nt see the point.....clcoks don't DO anything, much......and anyway most kids these days can't tell the time from a clock face and don't need to........

A few years back we used this clock on our stand at the Ally-Pally engineering show to interest young vistors but most just looked glum. However, we had a little girl show up with her Dad and she was an absolute wizz and also solved our other wheel meshing puzzle too. We tried hard to persuade Dad how unusual her aptitude actually was so hopefully he later encouraged her talents.

They no longer allow conventional clock faces in school exam rooms because the 'strange' & 'weird' face adds considerable stress to the kids......

The farming community actually have a saying for this;........"Feed the best and kill the rest"

Interesting topic!......

I do have some citric acid.......the remains of a small pack that came from Cup-Alloys and a larger bag from a brewing supplies outlet. It's not expensive, is safe for humans and is easy enough to use.....

However, I have stopped using it now as I did'nt really like how it treated my clock parts. Citric quickly turns brass parts a distinct pink colour, presumably by removeing the surface zinc so that copper is uncovered and also b y giving the surface finish a 'satin' or semi-matt effect. All these symptoms show up quite quickly.

I now just wash and lightly scrub brass parts in ordinary household detergent in hot water and use a soft nylon nail brush. So far I have not seen any problems with flux etc being retained around joints and will go on using it instead of citric....although there may well be a chance of using the unique look of citric on a future clock.

Thank you to all the responders! Some very interesting stuff here and it has shown me that I should be grateful for what I still have a not complain when it 'stings a bit'!

Thanks again! Bob S

This has been sparked by Micheal G's topic about Gitzo tripods;.....

One of the things I like about making clocks is the handwork involved. Whereas many people here are looking to CNC to eliminate the need for filing, cutting and sawing etc., I actually enjoy it and have for many years......cutting out a new set of clock plates I find to be a very pleasureable interlude from the harshness of the world. Get some Mahler or Rachmaninov on,...good quality blades for the piercing saw,......sun thru the window,...dog asleep in her basket....joy in the world!.....deep satisfaction!

Likewise with the other hand tasks such as filing and working thru the abrasives to reach the right finish. Unfortunately, the fingers are not really keeping up with production any more. Not really arthritis, as yet (thankfully!) but time and wear and tear taking their toll. Longer rest periods now the allow my hands to recover and painful moments when it feels like my knuckles have been plugged into the mains! Also, aching finger joints the day after a heavy session is getting tiresome.

I doubt I am alone in this so lets have any answers that you have found please.

For my part, I always wear thin work gloves for hand work and have now for a few years...they are fabric with a plasticised palm and fingers and I have come to like their feel as they offer a light, but useful, cushion between fingers and gripped tools...

Copper bracelets may work but I can't really notice a meaningful difference.....magnets possibly are more effective but I have not experimented long enough as yet to make a definitive statement.

One remedy that does seem to be effective are the 'tissue salts' invented by Dr.Schuessler sold in the UK as 'New Era tissue salts'. This is definately 'alternative' therapy and my wife is a believer, unlike me,... but amazingly it does seem to help!

They are "locking so hard" simply because they are very well designed and made for purpose and this is reflected in both their status and their price.

Gitzo were always good but they are now well out of my price range as you basically need a thousand quid to buy a current one made of carbon fibre.

However, i have moved away from the collet type tripod fixtures for both this, and a couple of other reasons....I now much prefer the 'lever/camm' design, which although not as visually neat, is, for my old fingers, more functional now. I also still like the thumb screws on my ancient Benbo tripod which I have had for more than 50 years and which was one of the first ones made in a garage in Sherborne.....I don't really need it any more as my cameras now are a fraction of the size and weight but find it difficult to chuck an old friend.......

Edited By Bob Stevenson on 24/08/2021 07:57:05

I can't (usually) ignore a true optimist......or are you simply way out of your depth? This is not really a "faulty" lathe by the sound of it so much as a seriously smashed up one!......

Firstly, I suggest trying to see if you actually have a viable lathe that can be put back into useable condition.......all the 'faults' that you have described might just indicate an 'ex-lathe' that is no more in real practical terms....So, first I sugges getting the lathe completely apart so that you can examine and 'prove' each component...if you can't see the basic structure of a lathe potentially working well thn you, frankly, have nothing that will be of use to you in the future,...you might simply have to sell off the bits and start looking for another lathe.

Get the thing down to it's basics,...aquire centres for both spindle throat and tailstock and check that they line up exactly,.....examine the spindle bearings and their function to make sure that the headstock is not bashed out of alingment,........remove the leadscrew and any toothed wheels while you check these basic functions,....see if you can straighten out the leadscrew by CAREFULLY reworking it using a hammer with leadscrew between two hardwood blocks,...look down the length of the leadscrew and keep tapping away until you can't see any deviation along the length........do same with the saddle screw and slide screws,....make sure everything is nice and free and well lubed, then start to look at the electronics,...first test the motor for function without the electronics if poss.

You might want to remove the chuck cover in it's entirety as it is only there for effect and the lathe wil be much better in use without it anyway! Works steadily thu the lathe examing and proving each part...ask here for advice on each part you are unsure about....Good Luck! you are going to need it!

Some of the best videos don't have words OR music!....take a look at 'myfordboy' to see how it should be done,...just the birds singing and the traffic passing with well edited clips of actual making....job done!,...many times!

A good strategy might well be to sort out some vids that work well for you and do a bit of basic analysis.

Above all, don't let your thwarted character traits surface in the vids!.....Colin Furze is a skillful and ingenious worker but has to try to persuade the viewers that he is a lunatic headbanger!......quickly gets boring and irritating especially when it's obvious that there is a very thoughtful man inside.

....And while we are on thwarted traits, your vid is not your chance to FORCE your feel for heavy metal music on to a captive audience while showing your way to sharpen a chisel!

The lathe in the photo does indeed appear to be made using the components from wm180, and adding rising blocks under tailstock and top slide...also (presumably) under the headstock, to bring centre height up to 100mm (105mm?)

A metric wm180 has a leadscrew of 2mm pitch and the cog on spindle is 40 tooth.

If your lathe has these two similar components then you can use the scheme for the 180 lathe.

Race meetings...pfft!.....Here in Essex stretched Hummers often carry groups of naked women frolicking in the jaccuzzi.

more seriously, the 'jerryrig' project is a fair attempt to scratch build a multi terrain electric truck using avaiable technology....it's worth a look!

For those who have not seen this, the 'jerryrigeverything' youtube channel is currently featuring an interesting project to convert a 1995 US Army 'hummer' into an electric truck.

The man behind both channel and project is the formidable and urbane Zack Nelson who used the videos to explain and argue his design decisions and methods. Zack is not really a techy by nature but is very enthusiastic about his project which he is talented about explaining so that everyone watching can follow and undrstand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp1uI4D7NRQ

Linked here is the third video in which he shows the new motor and ancillaries which he is going to build into the hummer...the conversion will offer several times the power and many times the torque of the diesel original. The earlier vids where he was stripping the hummer are easily found but the project is now at a stage where many people here will find it very interesting. This is about one mans quest to educate himself by researching online and then working essentially single-handed to build something interesting and very practical despite apparently having little previous 'motor-mantling' experience.

There are expanding foam products specifically for water and moisture environments...presumably they either exclude the water or convert it..... Do some research and you will find these foams. Buy the right one, but they are not cheap to buy.

An amusing story about these foams,..at least it's amusing 'now'! About 20 years back I replaced a bedroom window and bought some foam which I found being sold in a local boot-sale. All went well until I applied the foam after carefully reading the instructions. I applied the foam from the outside but it kept 'growing' outwards around the window and I started to cut it off and drop the pieces into the front garden below. This expansion continued for quite a long time and when I looked down I was shocked to see that I now had a half-garden of foam lumps! Then a thought finally occured to me,...what might be happening on the inside? I slid down the ladder and raced up the stairs,..... a sense of panic and horror filled my chest when I surveyed the enormous toadstools that were well on th way to filling the bedroom! That foam certainly worked!...when things were back under control I had no less than 9 stuffed black sacks, all from just one can of foam!!

I binnded the other three cans and resolved to always do the research be3fore using any unknown products in future!

Not a German speaker either but does 'Waffen' not mean 'war production'?.............Army translates as 'Heer'.

EDIT;  'Waffen'....'armed' or arms......so, 'German Arms and Munitions Manufacture'

Edited By Bob Stevenson on 31/07/2021 10:17:33

I have to agree that making the pulleys from large diameter alloy is going to be 'pricey' and maybe difficlut to find easily....however, you could do worse than look around for a Chinese pillar drill which have decent pulley blocks and are cheap if you look around on ebay or your local re-cycling centre etc. In my clock club they usually go for about £25 in good condition so this would be cost effective repair for an otherwise excellent machine like the progress.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/progress-drills/page5.html

....This page shows the pulleys including a 'cut-away' where you could work out the dimensions......

Vibration...or, more accurately, the various stages of resonance of the system.

....It is easily repaired,....just bung it in the scrap and make a new wheel!...........(note cracked spokes!)

Could it be significant that both Bradbury and Leinnum are ancient makes of sewing machine?