Member postings for Gas_mantle.

The question asked was 'what direction should the forum be taking ?'

In my opinion at the moment the forum is attempting to appeal to everyone all of the time - it's becoming unwieldy and losing its direction by becoming too diverse.

I said in an other post I think the forum needs to decide what its target audience is and focus on that, as a few others have said other engineering forums are full of posts about builds / techniques / hints etc but here that core material gets lost in the reams of other chat.

At the moment there is really only 1 regular 'build' thread (although there are a few others updated less frequently) yet with all these members and other sites cramming in the build threads doesn't that in itself say something. ?

Others have said that the site shouldn't just appeal to the engine builders amongst us and I agree but I do also think it needs to be far more focussed on building (whether that be an engine or not) / tooling / techniques / ideas / technical discussions etc.

My worry is that before long the site will become a general discussion forum about anything by people who are otherwise interested in engineering.

Somebody earlier in the thread said you wouldn't last long in the 'Come dancing forum' talking about engines and that is a perfectly valid point.

Decide what the site is for, who your target market is then stick to it - if that means a far more focussed less diverse forum then you may get less postings but you will get far more 'quality' ones.

Edited By Peter Nichols on 13/11/2015 19:45:31

Well said ASF - that's my point exactly.

It's all very well to keep saying astronomical equipment involves a lot of engineering - no one doubts that. If I made a tripod mount or adapter for my telescope I think I'd be justified in calling that engineering and perhaps showing my work here.

On the other hand a photo of the Andromeda galaxy isn't engineering no matter how you get round it.

Would you expect to sell your magazine if I continually had photos of galaxies and eclipses ?

This little single acting steamer with a sort of spool valve was my first build, it's got quite a few amateurish parts (the flywheel isn't very well balanced) but I made it only a few weeks after first getting my lathe and it runs well.

After first completing it, it would only run in the vertical position which kinda defeats the object of a horizontal engine ! after a lot of tinkering and hair pulling I noticed that in the horizontal position the piston rod would tend to slide toward the open end of the crank pin - 2 minutes work to make a small retaining ring and a dab of glue and I was well pleased how it ran

And a little video of it running :-

**LINK**

Edited By Peter Nichols on 13/11/2015 14:39:07

Brian,

I cant offer any advice on the size of bar you need but I can say I have an 8mm version of the same bar for use on my slightly larger lathe, I find it works well for the money.

As for the price in the link you gave, although I'm not sure of the Australian exchange rate $62 seems a lot - from memory I think I paid about £12 (maybe £15 max). I'd be inclined to shop around a bit for a better price.

Edited By Peter Nichols on 13/11/2015 11:28:11

A great idea for a thread

John, how well does that coffee machine work as a steam supply ? I'm needing something similar for my small efforts till I can get my head around making a simple boiler.

Mick,

I hadn't thought of a spirit burner, thanks for the suggestion. I had intended making the boiler and base including the pedestal for the tea light, in view of what you say it might be better to get it working on the boiler first before I start constructing the heat source.

Thanks Jason,

I've been doing a lot of thinking, I still think the site is in decline by becoming to diverse and build work now seems to less a part of the site.

However it now clear that little will get done to change the situation so rather than walk away I'm going to resume the 'Potty mill' thread in the hope others will follow suit.

Hi Mal, I've got the cylinder, piston / rod and the crosshead slides done, at the moment I've put it on hold a while as to be honest I'm struggling a bit, I'm not engineering trained and sometimes get confused interpreting the drawings.

I'd like to restart it and even continue the thread but I'm tad worried I'm making a mess of it.

Thanks Jason, it spins freely so I'm more inclined to thinkyour second suggestion sounds more likely.

Initially the piston didn't have a ring but I've now cut a very small groove that I've packed with a bit of rolled up PTFE tape - once its had a drop of oil it has a pretty good seal and runs faster that it did without the ring. I'd hoped that may get it running sooner but made little difference.

I've seen similar engines run of a candle but I guess I'm not going to know till it's finished.

Ah but Michael can you fix the bloody thing

Hi,

I recently made this simple little engine that I intend to mount on top of a small candle powered boiler.

I wondered if anyone can offer a bit of advice - at the moment it runs great on live steam and once started will run till the kettle boils dry (about 70 - 80 mins).

The slight problem with it though is it can take 10 minutes to start - it just won't run till it's thoroughly hot for some reason - ordinarily that might not be a problem but with a very small candle boiler it may only hold enough water for perhaps 20 mins of use and I'm concerned it will never fully get hot enough to operate well

Any one got any idea how to improve things ?

The video isn't the best quality I took it on impulse but you get the idea.

**LINK**

Peter.

Edited By JasonB on 12/11/2015 20:32:28

As someone with no milling experience but who is looking to buy one soon I'd love to see anything that involves setting up in a mill, showing the cutters used, methods of operation etc.

It's fine reading about these things but far more informative to see photos of how others do it.

Please do David, the more builds the better as far as I'm concerned.

Anyone else prepared to stick their neck out and try to show a bit of build work even if it's not a full ongoing thread ?

Just to add my previous post maybe it's better we don't hijack Garrys build thread and let him continue with the build without our interference

Michael I think you make a valid point that the site isn't just about engines, although I'm interested in steam engines like you I'm more interested to see what people are doing and how they do it rather than what the actual build is.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that the less experienced modellers in particular can learn a tremendous amount just by seeing how somebody more experienced carries out even fairly routine tasks. The photo builds are great for teaching and giving people ideas.

The engine Garry is building is way beyond my capability but it's still very informative to see how it's done and read the advice he gets from others.

Garry,

I want to see thread continue and so do many others.

I'll do a deal with you - you stay and update it and I'll start another one of my efforts.

Forget the negative vibes you are getting - between us we'll turn the forum round, if people don't want to see your engine or my little beginner wobblers they can visit an astronomy forum and leave the rest of us to discuss the subject of the forum.

Deal ?

Norman,

Another member has put in the time and effort to show his build and you say it 'doesn't excite you' ? yet you are happy to read about beekeeping ?

What on earth are you doing on a model engineering forum ? it's an attitude like that which leads people in to not posting their efforts.

Can you blame the member if he pulls the plug and no longer shares his build progress ? - for goodness sake give the guy some credit for his efforts. If he does abandon his thread then it's a great loss to the site.

If you want to discuss bees that's fine - join a bee keeping forum.

Garry,

I want you to continue your thread.

I get despondent about the sites general decline but it's threads like this I'm trying to encourage. People like me are interested and it would be a great loss if you pulled out.

I read a lot on this site (and others) and you can be assured I've learnt more from seeing your photos and reading your text than dozens of other posts.

People like me starting in this hobby want to see photographs - I can learn a lot from seeing images of how to hold something in a faceplate or whatever it is you happen to be doing.

Chin up Garry, lets see the engine assembled so far

My point exactly, that's what's happening - nobody has any interest in posting build threads here so they go to another site.

It's the sites loss.

I agree Julian, the site needs to decide what its market is.

The hobby is a 'broad church' but it seems to be ever widening with the inclusion now of astronomy / bee keeping / carbon emissions etc that the forum has lost its way and in now unclear about who it's trying to attract.

Let's face it the threads we all have a common interest in are engineering based but they are slowly taking a back seat to ever more diversity - would you buy an engineering magazine where the content had more discussion of astronomy and carbon emissions in power stations than it did of somebody showing photos of his engine building ?

Doesn't that fact that the posts of carbon emissions etc far way out number the of posts about building projects suggest something is wrong ?

Edited By Peter Nichols on 12/11/2015 13:03:29

Edited By Peter Nichols on 12/11/2015 13:04:08