Member postings for Nick Wheeler

Michael, your 'clear' image is about 5" across on this device, and is therefore utterly useless as a defence of a scale that doesn't work in real life.

And Imperial measurements have enough stupid divisions without some idiot enthusing about 1/127s !

Being ruthless can also mean scrapping existing parts or work because a redesign can make them better/easier/quicker/cheaper. That's one of the reasons why rough and ready prototyping as soon as possible is the modern design approach

My intention for a similar but smaller(my exhaust valves are 23mm) is for the end of the tool where the pilot is inserted to be about 5mm from the valve guide. That way, I'll be able to use a simple stop(probably a nylon collar) between them to keep the finished heights the same.

I'll be using 20mm bar for mine, and the whole tool, less the pilot, will be about 50mm long. I'll turn the chuck end first, insert it into a collet and then do the working end and pilot bore. I have a toolpost spindle, so will bore the tool hole before removing the part from the lathe. The only dimension that actually matters is the diameter of the pilot bore, and that it is concentric to the chucking diameter.

Vizard suggests roughing out the tool radius and then finish grinding(lapping is more like it) it on a suitably sized rod covered in grinding paste. That seems simple enough to do, although it won't be particularly quick. I have a couple of pieces of 4mm round carbide, so that will probably be what I use.

I might add another cross hole for  tommy bar.

Edited By Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 26/09/2021 21:36:42

I hope you have a powerful compressor with a big tank if you expect to port a head with an air die grinder.

And earplugs. And some nice thermal gloves.

Measured pumps are reliant on the rest of the system being up to scratch. As soon as the cellar/barrel/delivery line temperature changes, or the pipe cleaning is a day late, or the button isn't cleaned with the correct chemical, or the clouds across the moon are too thick, the measured quantity changes. So you end up with a row of glasses with varying quantities that you hope the customer will accept being poured into their glass. Wastage goes up through the roof, profit drops through the floor and the scrap pile gains another heap of expensive junk.

Here in the south, I won't accept a southern beer that's been forced through a sparkler to create a head that isn't appropriate. A northern beer also shouldn't need the sparkler to create a head; it should be a natural part of pouring the pint.

When I dealt with Whitbread thirty years ago, the suggestion was that brewers have more CO2 than they know what to do with. We certainly got our cylinders for the dispensers for nothing.

That type of bearing is used on cars like Focus and Astras, where new ones are <£30

Just like John, I usually cut straight in.

When cutting this M20 thread

I had to offset the top slide to avoid the tailstock centre(the 7/8" square bar didn't quite fit into the headstock). Doing it this way requires more concentration to turn each wheel the correct amount/direction. A flip-up holder would have made the 100mm long thread a much quicker job.

I've got a couple without swivel feet.

Once I grow several more hands, they might work well enough to be useful.

Being able to make new feet for them means you can rescue ones that have been thrown away. I always do this with any that I find, but some people do manage to bend or twist the bodies which does make them scrap.

It's only for a clamp; by the time you've setup a ball turner you could have roughed out and filed a perfectly adequate ball.

I've made new feet for several acquired G-clamps, as above.

But I see no need to bore the hole, or do anything fancy for the bottom. I just use a normal drill bit to make the hole a sloppy fit over the ball at the end of the screw and peen the new part in place.

Let's not fall into the 'blah blah unit' makes sense trap. Once you have a strong definition and a way of measuring it repeatably, the actual number is unimportant. What makes metric a workable system is that the real world units of length, volume and weight are directly related. That means that all the units derived from them are also related, and thus calculations are straightforward. Then all the multiples have the same quantity and prefix so Colin's list is unnecessary. Finally, they're base 10 and decimal to be consistent with our number system.

Anyone who has ever had to explain imperial measurements to someone who has only used metric will know that once you get to the 12 inches to a foot/3 feet to a yard/20 fl oz in a pint/8 pints to a gallon/16 oz to a pound/ 14 pounds to a stone list they'll tell you you're mental. And if you're deluded enough to consider it a system, let alone one that's somehow better, then they'd be right.

The postman here(Medway) does a good job, although has been arriving a bit later than he did pre-Covid.

Parcelfarce deliveries have achieved the impossible: they've gone from HOW much did they charge me for this appalling lack of service to what a bunch of useless *%$£ing %^_)?s

Don't forget that you need to turn the pattern over for adjacent cylinders. Which to me means holes in the pattern to match the valve guides.

How big is the reel? One of the small ones from Halfords probably isn't worth the hassle.

If it's a big one unwind the first few coils and see if the rest is rusty.

Dave,

those 2d draftsmen are the ones who also insist on placing features using coordinates instead of 'offset it 7microns from this bit'. Making things difficult for themselves in the process. That's before the part changes as part of the design.

One thing that puzzles me is that anyone who is used to 2d drawing using plans ought to be able to pick out profiles for 3d base features really easily, but actually seem to struggle.

Sounds like work.

Well worth buying lunch while somebody else does it

Give your helper the 9" grinder and a box of discs and suggest that he 'just cut those off while I get lunch'?

Last time we were in France, my uncle noticed the 'required' spare bulbs, hi-viz vests, safety triangle and first aid kit in the car. As 70 year-old Frenchman, that was the first time he'd ever seen them. His reaction would have been good for a TV laughter track. Then there was the debacle about the alcohol testers....

I insist on the triangle and at least one hi-viz, for the same reasons that I ensure the spare wheel, jack, locking wheel nut key, wheel brace and fire extinguisher are up to the job - personal experience. Dad supplies the first aid kit, having been a qualified first aider since getting his first full-time job at an oil-refinery. A bulb kit is a few quid, and keeps most of the required bulbs and a few fuses in a small padded container. As you say, carrying a replacement HID bulb isn't practical, but replacing the other bulbs is.