Member postings for Gas_mantle.

Thanks Jason,

The little wobbler runs well but I've not made a very good job of the big one. I think I can get it to work but I need a bit of a rethink.

The idea of the big one was to make an engine that has a bit of oomph but makes a lot of noise and mess I've made it up as I'm going along so it's not very well proportioned (the big end bearing is too big and the stroke is too short for the bore making it a bit stubby).

It's a double acting and the flywheel will be overhead although the photo isn't very good, to be honest though so long as it works and makes a lot of noise I'll be happy

Thanks George, its a great little engine and the wheel suits its style nicely.

I look forward to hopefully seeing it running

I'm not sure I get this point of build threads being 'sterile' - my guess is when the builder creates a thread of his or her work it's to prompt discussion / share ideas etc.

I can't speak for everyone but the few build postings I've made, I have made it clear I'm a beginner and welcome any tips / ideas / criticisms etc.

I'd be more than happy to do a few more 'beginner builds' if I thought people would get active in discussing and sharing ideas. The bigger of the 2 wobbler engines I'm building has reached a bit of a glitch but I'd have no problem sharing photos of the work so far including the mistakes in order that I can get some advice and at the same time promote a healthy discussion in order that others can learn or get a few ideas.

Great work Garry, things are moving along nicely.

I look forward to seeing the next stage, once done is there any chance of a couple of photos of the part finished engine assembled ?

Thanks.

A great engine and something to be proud of.

I like the flywheel, is it from a casting ? I'm interested mainly in steam engines but would love to be able to make wheels like that, at the moment with limited experience and tooling I struggle to make an attractive looking wheel.

Jason, you've hit the nail on the head.

There's now so many subjects that the site is no longer an engineering forum, it's now little more than a site to discuss anything by people who are interested in engineering.

Let's be honest here, 1 guy is good enough to post ongoing build updates of his engine but people seem more interested in discussing the Andromeda galaxy or carbon emissions in electricity generation - what on earth have they got to do with model engineering ?

It could be a great site, there's are loads of experienced engineers here and I'd bet nearly all would love to help less experienced people by seeing their build threads.

Come on mods get your heads together, give Jason a bit of support and let's try to get things back on track.

Peter.

Many thanks for the feedback guys, 5 replies and 5 supporting the point I'm making.

It's useful to read the info about morse tapers and 12mm reamers etc but the threads that get new traffic to the site and promote general interest are those that show pictures of builds or talk about build progress etc.

A lot of new visitors to this site (and potentially new magazine subscribers) are interested in seeing what people have built, how they did it etc, they are looking for ideas. A considerable number of these people are beginners, they want to see how someone built a simple wobbler or maybe a Stirling engine.

I'm a complete beginner to this game having only been at it for 6mths but have so far built 2 working engines and 2 others part finished, I'd happily show photo build threads including mistakes to generate discussion / share ideas etc but at the moment it feels like build threads get in the way.

Here's a couple of pics of 2 engines I'm currently on with, neither of them are award winners but satisfying to achieve as a beginner.

The first is intended to work off a tea light candle once I've built the boiler next week, the second is a bigger wobbler which I think will work but is going to need a bigger boiler than the camping kettle I now use !!

Peter.

Edited By Peter Nichols on 11/11/2015 23:34:29

Hi,

Is there any chance the site could help promote more 'build' threads and in particular those of beginners ? It seems at the moment the site is slowly drifting away from its main focus with chat on all manner of subjects whilst the 'build' threads get less and less.

At the moment out of all the postings on the site there is only 1 (possibly 2) active build threads yet the site should be full of them. These are the threads that generate interest and engineering discussion, why not promote them more ?

At the moment with the site in disarray if someone wants to show some work they've done it ends up lost in the multitude of vague topic headings to the point nobody bothers anymore.

I won't name names but another regularly used engineering forum is full of build logs / photos / ideas / advice, yet here no-one seems bothered.

Come on mods lets have a shake up, get things back on track, lets promote build threads and encourage beginners to show their simple projects etc.

Peter.

Good to see things coming along nicely Garry

I must admit when I read your first paragraph that it was the first time you have 'parted off under power' I honestly thought you meant that until now you have managed by rotating the chuck by hand !!

I'm all for having an off topic 'Tea room' to try and keep the main forum area on topic but I do think if you create too many topic sections it starts getting a bit confusing and can be off putting.

Why close down a few of the topic sections that never get used in order to simply things a bit ?

Lets face it the 'Trams' section has had 1 thread in over 3 years, the 'Scale model railway wagons' has had 3 threads in the 2 years. It seems to me nobody reads them so why not just get rid and simply the whole thing ?

Peter.

Thanks Mark,

I'm still on with the engine, I like to do a few projects at once so I'm also building a very small brass wobbler (nearly finished and runs well) and I'm well on the way with biggish double acting wobbler (24mm bore 27mm stroke) that I hope is going to make a lot of noise and mess when I run it

Peter.

Neil,

Any chance of an 'off topic' forum for people to talk about other non engineering stuff, every other web chat site has an 'off topic' section as it keeps the main forum pages for on topic material.

It's good to know you are trying to reorganise things, to be honest I gave up posting as the forum seemed to lose its way and finding interesting engineering posts amongst all the other chat became a chore.

I got the impression no-one seemed interested in 'build threads' so I gave up on mine

Peter.

Are remarks like this really necessary ?

Why not just do the obvious thing and create an off topic discussion section ?

If astronomy gets its own section why not 'off topic' ?

Ah ok thanks, I didn't realise that.

Stainless steel it is then

Hi Roy,

I'm glad of the advice to be honest.

I just happened to have a piece of silver steel laid around that is of the right size so I had thought it would be ok but I'm open to suggestions, I can get a piece of stainless if that will do a better job.

I had intended to make a brass gland and pack it with PTFE so I'd like something that will operate smoothly through the packing and give a good seal.

Peter.

Although my main build at the moment is the 'Potty mill' engine I have been building a simple double acting wobbler as a bit of fun and hopefully fairly easier for a beginner to build.

I'm intending to build a simple boiler shortly so wanted a slightly bigger than average wobbler to test it out - this will be no monster but it will be double acting and be 24mm bore - approx. 30mm stroke.

I've ringed the piston with PTFE tape and it has a good reassuring feel to it - the aluminium disc with holes will be the piston rod end cover and I'll pack that out with PTFE also.

The piston rod at the moment is a temporary one - I have a silver steel rod to make a proper one once I have the cylinder end cover made and reamed.

Ultimately it's intended the cylinder will operate vertically with the flywheel above and I'm building it in such a way that I'll be able to make it a twin cylinder if it turns out ok.

The point I'm making that few people seem to understand is, there is very little in the 'work in progress section' that is ongoing - that should be the most popular section of the site yet it is one of the least posted in.

There is at the minute only 3 build threads ongoing - (one of which is mine) so I come to this page to see if there are any 1 off posting of builds etc where the poster doesn't wish to create a thread of their own. Yet when I visit I have to troll through pages of fuel emissions chat etc to the point I can no longer be bothered and miss peoples work.

The backbone of this site is looking at what people have built ( and how they did it) and sharing advice ideas etc. Clearly there is plenty of advice but we need more relevant postings showing builds etc (or at least comments about build) whilst the 'off topic' chat is in its own section.

I agree with everything you say.

Why can't that chat be in an off topic forum ?

What on earth have diesel emissions got to do with a thread that clearly states at the beginning it is for work in progress and to share photos of your work so far ?

This has to be the only forum I've been on that has no off topic section so any talk of fuel emissions / dogs dinner etc has to be shoe horned into discussions relevant to the website.

It's in the 'Work in progress completed items / photos' section, I agree a lot of posts here are of interest but some people (myself included) are starting to think its a waste of time adding any on topic material here as it will get swamped with messages about fuel emissions or taking the dog for a walk.

A few days ago people used this page to post engineering related photos of work done, then the fuel emissions chat started and the people who want to show their work stop doing so.

If astronomy can have it's own forum why the hell can't 'off topic' ? You think I was trying to censor chat - all I'm suggesting is if you want the forum to generate more 'work in progress' items then you need to make sure it doesn't get lost in all the off topic meanderings.

Edited By Peter Nichols on 03/10/2015 13:51:20

Edited By Peter Nichols on 03/10/2015 13:54:29