Member postings for Neil Wyatt

Using solder paste, I wouldn't have pre-melted it. It should work fine (if not better, as fresh flux) just by smearing it on and heating the assembly. Billions of little (and large) electronic components are fixed this way every day.

Another thought, for soft soldering, you can use a jig made of wood, just a groove hacked out with a saw or rasp would do what that vice is doing.

For silver soldering, make some toolmaker's clamps. Don't make a showroom job of them If they are thrown together, you won't have any worries about heating them until they blister!

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 02/05/2014 10:04:33

They should take a long hard look at their own 'Potter's Wheel' interlude

Neil

> I thought the lubricator had to be in the steam pipe ? How does it pick up oil and get to the cylinder/piston ?

As long as steam can reach the lubricator, some will condense in it (as it should be colder than the main part of the engine. This will slowly force oil up and along the pipe (as long as it doesn't slope upwards!)

In the steam pip is fine, but as I found, the initial dose of oil when it's cold can be quite generous...

Neil

> S Why are there no dates for Harrogate on the Events tab list?

There are now

Hope to see many of you there - which day remains to be decided!

Neil

The standard for my Zither chuck is 0.080mm at 50mm using the master pinion (marked 0) or at 12mm using any pinion.

In practice it's rather better than that but you have to make sure the scroll and jaws are clean to get the good results.

Neil

I would suggest our creatively named colleagues at **LINK** but unfortunately they seem to be exclusively electric.

How R/C flying has changed since I was a lad!

Neil

I suppose it depends how large a diameter of stock you want to part off.

I get on very well with a 1/16" thick blade from Arc. I have ground about 1/8" of the 'spare' end to around 1mm thick, not so much for frugal parting as for very fine grooving.

Neil

Not HAL 9000?

Seriously, from the picture I'd say that colour has a wavelength of approximately 539 nm

**LINK**

Visit that link and boggle that 'slightly bluish-green' can be so complex!

Neil

I'm impressed that Clive could hit anything with a Gat, let alone a matchbox!

Neil

When I was in the scouts we had a single little Webley target pistol, the type with the lift-up barrel over the top, probably .177? Of course all us teenagers had a 'Panther' (?) .177 pistol with a longer conventional barrel on the end - considerably less accurate IIRC. I remember I could shoot mine and watch the pellet droop as it flew once it was five or six years old!

Neil

...ah! You beat me to it Roger!

Neil

If you have a suitably sized machine and deep enough pockets, bigger is probably easier. All my steam engines have been small and yes it's very fiddly carving a crosshead out of cast iron when it's only 1/2" or so long.

Neil

Interesting observations on damping. My badsaw slows to a sudden and complete halt on cast iron if the cut is more than 2" long. 8" of 2" square MS balanced on the end got things moving again. It has no such problem with steel and blade is sharp. In contrast, cutting a 3/4" steel tube the other day as soon as it was past the top 'whoosh' to half way through and threw the blade. Would have been quicker to use the hacksaw :-/

So my thought at the moment is some combination of a damper and a weight.

Neil

I was given this one ina box of random tools. Alas! i left it behind at Derby SMEE and it has not been seen since

Easy come, easy go.

The bit on top unscrews to allow oil to be dispensed by clicking the base. I am sure that in the past I have seen one or more with a thin extension pipe fitted.

<edit> I am now wondering if the 'valve' referred to is the missing cap, open a turn or so to allow the flow and close it to stop leaks? - that is exactly how it works.</edit>

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 28/04/2014 21:30:04

The only sash weight I have is made from solid kryptonite. I have given up trying to convert it into smaller pieces, and decided to use it as a weight. One day I will get round to making a couple of pulleys and attaching it to the headstock of my mill.

Neil

Turn the crosshead trough 180 degrees. If the clunk is now at BDC then both crankpin may be slightly out of line. At one centre this could stiffen things up, and at the other it would make it looser.

Unlikely but possible.

Neil

Easy way is to turn a disc of the required width on the end of a silver steel bar. File out a 90-degree notch to slightly below centreline, harden and temper to straw.

Mount in a boring tool holder and rotate so cutting edge is on the centreline.

Neil

Keyway and through hole suggest it is a driven component on a shaft, so perhaps the vari-speed is the most likely.

Unless it's the foot off one of these.

Neil

> they are intended for sealing bore holes and Geotechnical equipment

The powder is very useful for repairing leaky clay lined ponds.

Neil

Hi John,

Ouch! Wouldn't do that on an X2!

I'd agree that the tool has to be right, a knife tool with a small tip radius will work if you're just taking off a light skim, but you won't get the surface finish.

My workshop is in the middle of a major reorganisation, but I'll see if I can get a shot to the results I get. These days I usually use a 11.5mm slot drill with the corners ground off for facing. It leaves a 'swirled finish' but the result is smooth to the touch. I'm not sure I've used a flycutter since doing all the rigidity improvements to my mill.

Neil