Member postings for Brian John

That is quite stunning ! How long did it take you to make the turbine wheel ?

Watching this makes me want to build one just for the sound alone !

Forgive me if this video has already been posted but I thought that it might be of some interest to model engineers on this site.

(887) See Thru Jet Engine - YouTube

It is not really a question but I did not know where to put it !

Here in Queensland, Australia the fine is now $1,000 ; that is serious money ! The law has only been active for a week and already they have caught over a thousand of people using secret cameras that were installed for this purpose.

Who will be the first person to buy a ''driverless car'' ? The whole concept makes me laugh.

My vaccination certificate wont even upload to my check in app !

Thanks for the photos. It looks great. I can just imagine it on the coffee table in the living room ; it's a real centre piece !

I always paint metal in gloss as I have found it much easier to clean. Others may have a different opinion.

I would also like to see more photos of this model please.

Edited By Brian John on 15/11/2021 12:42:07

I very much doubt that model engineers make up a large percentage of any country's population so refusing to buy anything from India or China would make very little difference except to give some people a warm, inner glow.

I am always amused that when we have floods/droughts/bushfires/extreme hot weather/extreme cold weather in this country (Australia), so many people shout ''see.....climate change''.

Most of my gripes have been covered here :

1. Loud and irrelevant music on youtube videos.

2. Annoying background music on TV shows and movies.

2. Inaudible dialogue due to mumbling and/or background noise.

I have also found that most TV's and car radios are factory set for ''music'' : the bass is turned way up and the treble is very low. Speech is best heard with treble set high and the bass almost off. This is easy to change on a modern TV in ''settings'' but I have found it almost impossible to work out how to do it with my car radio. One large knob seems to control everything by pushing for the menu and turning for selection...great in theory but useless in practice.

At least you have nuclear power stations in the UK. In Australia, we have neither the political will nor the expertise to build them.

1. How many nuclear power stations in the UK ?

2. What percentage of power can they supply to the grid ?

3. Are all the power stations of the one design or do they vary ?

4. When was the first and last nuclear power station built in the UK ?

5. How much nuclear waste do they generate and what is done with it ? Don't say they dump it in France !

I am using a small hobby table saw to cut 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm brass sheet. It should cut stainless steel with the correct cutting blade.

Mini Table Saw Woodwork Household Saw DIY Lathe Machine Cutting Tool Lifting 96W | eBay

Edited By Brian John on 02/11/2021 04:26:50

First the bad news : I tried heating a small piece of bent/buckled brass but it only made it worse and then when I tried to flatten it in the vice, it seemed even more springy. I am not sure what I did wrong there.

Now the good news : the small hobby table saw fitted with a fine tooth blade cut through the brass sheet like it was cardboard. I had my doubts when I bought it but it will prove to be extremely useful.

gQAAOSw1u9glNeg">Mini Multifunctional Table Saw Desktop Woodwork Household Saw DIY Cutting Tool 6973691950593 | eBay

Once I had cut the brass sheets then I straightened them out as best I could by hand. They should be okay to use now but I will look for a Chinese supplier who can cut them and keep them flat.

Edited By Brian John on 21/10/2021 12:53:40

Thanks for that info : yes, I have found that leaving it in the vice for a few days is pointless. I will try heating them to dull red hot tomorrow, then cooling and placing back in the vice.

NOTE : Some of the ebay companies are better than others at cutting brass and keeping it flat.

How hot should the brass plate be heated before flattening ?

The 0.5 mm brass plates arrived from China last week and the mini table saw arrived today. I have not had a chance to set up the saw and use it yet but I have another problem. The brass plates arrived in the post quite bent/buckled. Is there any way to flatten them out ? I have tried clamping the plates in a vice for 24 hours while sandwiched between two pieces of timber but this has had limited effect. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Might it be better in future to order 1.0 mm thick plates ? These might hold their shape better and be less ''springy".

Edited By Brian John on 19/10/2021 13:24:46

1. Thank you for posting that. It has given me a few ideas already. I will have a go at building something similar.

2. The chimneys on my boilers are just dummies now. They are not actually connected to the combustion chamber because I was losing too much heat via the chimney. I see you are venting the exhaust steam through the chimney but where does the water go when you do this ?

Edited By Brian John on 07/10/2021 14:31:44

What...no milling attachment ?

Is there any reason you built a vertical rather than a horizontal boiler ? It does look nice.

Could you post a photo of the burner please ? I am always looking to improve my own design of burner.

1. Are you using a metho burner ? Can we have a closer look at it and how it was constructed ?

2. Are you venting the exhaust steam through the chimney ?