Member postings for Dave Halford

Hopefully I can get some great suggestions here. I am struggling to get back the enthusiasm I had for model engineering a few years ago. I was really enjoying it and made a number of things, including a couple of simple steam engines, some tooling and a Wyvern IC engine. I have a well equipped workshop with 5.5 inch lathe and CNC milling machine. After I made the Wyvern I couldn't get it to run and got a bit frustrated and since then have struggled to get back into it and keep getting sidetracked onto other projects.

This seems like a real shame since I have such a nice workshop which is now not being used. What I am hoping for are some suggestions for a project that is going to rekindle the enthusiasm. Something worthwhile but not so complex and time consuming.

Can anyone help ?

Andy

Andy I am in a similar position, Really enthusiastic until Covid hit and due to me and wife both being classed as vulnerable we kept hidden away only going out when absolutely necessary, now I find that I have no enthusiasm for the workshop and as loco needs hydraulic and steam test I cannot run the loco, cannot even be bothered to raise steam at home to check it over, also used to be fairly keen caravanner but since Covid van has not left the drive, we have booked a pitch in West Country for a week but I have lost all confidence for towing, never used to bother me but now I dread it. Don’t know what’s causing it but I know a lot of people are experiencing similar problems.

Not sure what would imply that the ones I made at school were bright mild steel and still going strong.

I have bought some bright steel to make tool makers clamps.

Same issue arises with some industrial lathes. As above be creative with the tool positioning:

Andrew

the one that is on is 160µF could that be an issue ?

When the motor starts I hear a click as it picks up speed, and also hear it at similar RPM as it is slowing down after switching off - I guess this is the centrifugal switch ?

Yes, but it may not be working all the time and clicking doesn't mean it's conducting power as SOD says. With that coil dead the motor should sit there and just hum to it's self. No idea why it tries to run unless the start winding is shorting neutral somewhere.

Had the For/Rev switch off today, sorted the wires so that it now runs in the correct direction, switch works well, can't find any eath leakages!

But it still trips the fuse in the clockwise rotation, and slow to get to speed in reverse.

Will try and get some readings from the windings the morrow and report back.

The 'real' Myford in Beeston always sold their lathes in the most basic and un-equipped format but this was the way British companies sold their products and probably one of the main reasons foreign competition wiped them out. I bought an ML7R in 1978 for £550 and when it arrived it was totally useless. They sold it to me as a screw-cutting lathe but it didn't even come with a thread dial indicator let alone a motor and switchgear. It cost me almost as much again to get the lathe operational. Warco et.al., on the other hand, began selling lathes that came with almost everything you needed to 'plug and play' so no wonder they succeeded.

I shouldn't have been so surprised because about 1971 I was going to buy the cheapest version of a new Mini which in those days was supposed to be £525 on the road. As I was discussing the specification with the BMC dealer, colour, trim etc., I can recall being absolutely astounded when he asked if I would like it to come with a heater! At extra cost, of course, and this was at a time when the Japanese were hitting the market with Datsun cars that came with heaters and radios as standard. It had never entered my head that, especially in the British climate, new cars did not come with a heater, you had to specify one. Strangely enough, there are no British mass car producers or lathe manufacturers around these days.

Edited By Chris Crew on 28/04/2023 07:08:29

Chris, nothing strange at all about that !

I remember when the first Honda bikes appeared in England and were regarded as trash.

One of the motorcycle mags did a report on them in one issue. The tester said that while the bikes were "a bit rough around the edges", he had a feeling that they were here to stay and that English makers needed to wake up and take notice. They never did, and the rest is history.

Cars, machine tools ect, went the same way. I dont recall the last time I saw an English bike, motor or otherwise on the road and any time I see machines on building sites, none of them are Made in England.

Seems like someone got their sums wrong !

How many Hobby users could afford that kind of money ?