Member postings for Bob Unitt 1

Thanks. I tried both positions, and neither gave a particularly good finish. I'll try a different insert and see if that's any better.

I bought these boring tools on Ebay. When I fit them to my usual Dickson tool holder the flats on the boring-bar body set the replaceable tip at a considerable downward angle (see photo). Is this the way they're supposed to be when cutting, or do I need to make an angled adapter to hold them horizontal in the Dickson ?

Sorry to state the obvious, but have you checked the fuse in the mains plug ?

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 15/02/2020 13:31:20

Today I was making a part for the later version of the Worden tool & cutter grinder (mine is over 15 years old). The part called for an accurate 1/4" x 40 TPI thread 1" long, so i screwcut it to a smidgen oversize and finished it off with a die. This gave me a thread which was truly concentric with the part, had an accurate thread--form, and was a slightly tight shake-free fit in a tap-threaded hole - which was exactly what I was trying to achieve.

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 12/02/2020 19:22:23

What's next on the agenda, reverting to Pounds, shillings and pence ?

Why go for half measures, bring back the Ell, Hogshead and Groat !!!

I just had a look at my crane. There's a tube up into the steam-space inside the boiler, which comes out at the bottom of the boiler inside the burner chamber, takes a loop around the burner and then it exits at that level. Nothing going up the chimney. I burned meths, so you may well be right about the hotter flame giving more superheat. I also noticed that the outlet from my 'condensation jar' goes up into the top of the chimney, like the original design exhaust. I really must give this crane its first run in over a decade, just to see if it still works...

The other thing I'd forgotten about this crane was that the boiler is slightly mishaped, as a result of my mistakenly applying a 300psi test with cold water instead of 30psi, due to me misreading the pressure gauge.

Bob

I tried that but it put the burner out

Thanks folks. I've ordered the rest of the Worden attachments from Hemingway, along with the drawings for some I bought years ago but had lost the blueprints for - by the time I've done that lot I should be well back in the swing of things .

While I'm here, let me compliment Hemingway on their excellent service. They sent me a whole load of drawings I'd lost, plus a completely updated worden drawings set, construction manual and user manual, all free of charge, to help me back into the hobby. Much appreciated.

Obligatory disclaimer: I have no relationship with Hemingway other than being a very satisfied customer.

These aren't exactly masterpieces, but they're the first things I've done since returning to this hobby after 15-odd years.

First I de--rusted, cleaned-up and repainted my Worden Mk 3, made 17 years ago and sitting under the bench for the last decade or so.

And then i made a couple of accessories for it - a 90° tool-holder and a holder for regrinding plane and chisel blades.

Given how long it was since I machined anything in metal, I was surprised and gratified at how quickly it all came floodins back

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 28/01/2020 18:58:14

I made one of these more years ago than I care to remember. I can't recall if the original boiler drawing specified it, but I piped my steam outlet down to the burner area and formed a loop of pipe to pass through the flame, gave me a bit of superheat. I also directed the exhaust into a glass screw-top jar fastened underneath the main platform,with an outlet through the screw-top - that kept most of the condensate in the jar, which i could unscrew and empty at the end of a run.

I was surprised at just how heavy a weight the crane could lift, given that the boiler red-lined at 30 psi, very impressive.

I use these all the time, never owned a lever-type. One is a Mercer in a fitted case with all the trimmings, and I have a couple of others from car-boot sales, permanently fitted to various bits of equipment.

Thanks folks. I've already reamed the holes, and the pins are from 1/4" stock. The parts aren't heavily stressed anyway, they're just the locating pins on the Worden's Woodworker's Grinding Attachment. I'll see if I can find the Loctite locally (I'm a bit out in the sticks here, so I expect it will be mail-order in the end). I probably have some old Loctite knocking around here, but it would have been bought in the 20th century...

I have to stick a 1/4 silver steel pin into a 1/4 reamed hole in mild steel, what's the best glue for that these days ?

Hi John, for a simple tool grinder you might want to consider building a Worden Mk 3 I built one a few years ago. An excellent machine, and a good way of learning small-scalle engineering.

Hi. I'm not new to this forum (joined in 2014) but I haven't done any model engineering for a long time - got sidetracked into woodworking & woodturning, amongst other things. I want to get back into it, so I'm currently refurbishing the Worden Mk3 I made years ago, and making attachments for it to 'get my eye back in'.

Bob Unitt

It's always worth googling such numbers, saved me more than once...

Now that is a thing of beauty... In the 60's I had a Viper as my first 'proper' bike after passing my test. It had an absolutely superb clutch - Friends and I went on a day out from Redditch to Weston-super-Mare on our bikes. On the way back a selector fork in the gearbox broke. By the side of the road near Gloucester, by the light of a hurricane lamp 'borrowed' from some nearby roadworks, we rebuilt the gearbox to jam it in top gear. After a push start I rode all the way home in top, slipping the clutch to make up for the missing gears (and stopping for traffic lights, too). When I replaced the selector forks the clutch still behaved perfectly, it had hardly worn at all.

When I built my Worden in 2006, the kit included an 11-page document "Some User Instructions". Might be worth contacting Hemingway to see if they'll give/sell you a copy.

You can just use an ordinary browser for this - I have a last-century* laptop in the workshop on which I listen to both live internet radio and catch-up, running firefox under Mint 17.

* last millenium, come to think of it

I made this one a few years ago, primarily to turn the tapered columns on a 'Lady Stephanie', but it's done a few other things (e.g. morse #1 for my wood lathe tools) as well over the years. The arbor was a commercial blank, force-fitted into the rest of the tool (which is mainly bar-stock). The moving slide carrying the centre is dovetailed into the fixed part. The rotation problem Clive refers to is prevented by the piece sticking out of the back besides the taper, which slots into the anti-rotation slot on the outside of the tailstock barrel.