Member postings for MW

Just another question, my steam pipe is quite small, i have 2mm bore, T.C recommended 1/8th is this too small for this boiler?

Michael W

Thanks for the 3D image, i couldn't picture it in my head but now it's clear. The drawing i'm looking at seems to show the bottom almost double walled but now i understand it isn't

So does the chimney pass straight through the boiler, isolating the water contained from the inner wall of the chimney? I notice you have a center hole on that bottom plate? Ah the second image has appeared, i see that it does isolate the tank entirely. Thank you very much. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 14/07/2016 12:59:12

Edited By Michael Walters on 14/07/2016 13:00:08

Jason,

It's probably the standard grade, i keep thinking of C101 but thats copper i think? the other end of the copper tube has warped slightly due to the tight fit i'm certainly happy with the soldering it's flowed well, despite being only 40% silver.

I decided against riveting it due to the tight fit it already had, was more of a backup plan if it was too loose.

What i'm really puzzled with is the end plate for the base, T.C says i need to tap 4 holes in the bottom of the cylinder, is this kosher considering it will be a breach? Ps. The chimney on the drawing goes all the way to the bottom, is this to isolate the water slightly from the steam that condenses on the chinmey or just a formality? 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 14/07/2016 11:56:32

Hi Ian,

I think it's really a matter of taste whether you want to join it in or out, presumably it takes a little more skill to solder it flush to the ends and clean it up.

The boilers all look quite nice regardless of the condition. Do you have to pay to get these night classes? i'd imagine the material cost isn't free. Certainly got alot more going on in Oz then they do in my town, local college probably has a nail art one i could do

Michael W

I made the mistake of thinking i had a 63mm face mill, i was wrong it's 72mm! perhaps i'm pushing my luck.

Michael W

The reason i chose brass was because copper isn't typically supplied bigger than 2" in bar form, i could've gone with bronze, i'll admit to that but even bronzes have been known to corrode. The flange is fairly thick and i've already made a nice fillet all around the join and it feels very strong. Certainly more rigid than any sheet metal end, which this is made with.

Tubal Cain must've been totally oblivious to dezincification because he says if you don't have enough copper you can make the entire boiler from brass and the chimney is brass per the standard "polly" specifications. However, i still hold him in high regard when it comes to this and was certainly a great teacher, lived on in his books. I've even seen a 10" gauge steam engine with a brass boiler, whether i'd want to do that is another question.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 14/07/2016 10:58:04

Hi speedy,

Lots of good hints on here but i've lost faith in those "easy outs" bit of a misnomer!

Michael W

"I'd guess there are other people on here that made the infamous square within a square "

When i was an apprentice those sadists gave me a piece of plate and asked me to get it square in all planes, it was a travesty to sort out and had the chief engineers scrutinizing every aspect of it, despite the fact they wouldn't imagine having to do these things themselves. As far as i could see i was the only one fiddling with metal to accurate sizes by hand whilst they're pushing buttons on their fancy machining centres.

If they really made all their workers do this in the 19th century as a test i'm surprised nobody stuck two fingers up at them, i bet it happened, you're essentially asking someone to make an extremely awkward thing for it's own sake and then blaming them when it goes wrong, they can't seem to understand why someone would get angry? It might be a useful exercise but borderline construed antagonizing. 

I only wish i could see the look on their faces if i asked one of them to get a plate all nice and square for me, oh and by the way, it's going to have the full works of inspection, i'd analyse it to hell, not because it's important just because i want them to. Would show them the picture beyond their mirror maybe? Sounds ridiculous. 

I'd suspect that maybe during those days, there wasn't a separation between "basic" skills(i'd call good filing an art form) and proffesional demands. I think the top engineers then would be expected to do filing but these days you're not so they no longer practice what they preach. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 13/07/2016 16:15:43

Hi,

I'm sorry it's been a while since i lasted updated this thread, progress had been slow getting the materials and some production work took precident for the past few days, more money to spend on my foolery that way!

I got a piece of 54mm plumbing pipe and cut and filed it to size, as machining a piece of tube to an accurate length seems nearly impossible without tearing or crushing the wall. I got on the lathe and machined the flange to size from 60mm, you may notice that i drafted away from the face so that theres less metal for the boiler to heat, I got a nice push fit on the flange, but i dont dare push it the whole way yet or i may never get it off again! I plan to silver solder the end caps after riveting them into place with small copper rivets. It was nice for the fixed steady to get some use.

So there you have it, thankyou for the encouragement to try again, i'm much more pleased with the result so far.

Michael W

I think thats mainly what they mean by not applying force to a backward stroke, presumably given enough time it will start to wear the teeth down and make each successive stroke that much harder. I've not actually seen this demonstrated however.

Like you said, theatrically moving the file off the workpiece to show you're doing it is going to make it much longer to finish the job, i was once told about 50 strokes per minute was a reasonable average, and that a decent fitter could use the same file every day for 3 months and still be in good nick with care. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 13/07/2016 12:14:24

Hi David,

I've used a 63mm 5 point face mill on the WM16 for a long time, it's perfectly alright with it so long as you keep the rpm high on large areas.(I've used it to face 2.5" square T6) I wouldn't go back to fly cutting, face mill greatly reduces the load on the cutter. I think mine also comes from RDG, i must've got the biggest one i could!  Definitely was a good buy i wont regret. I'd even consider one of the smaller ones for good measure. 

The manual sounds correct as i'd say 95% of the time it works perfectly fine, but i'd definitely rule out some of the industrial sized ones. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 13/07/2016 10:17:58

I think the effort is to be applauded on the development of the technology as such and disregard how practical it looks for now, i mean you can't beat the cost of a trowel and a watering can, and will always be easier. It was only going to be so long before someone applied cnc to farming. The sprayers and combines can already be programmed to follow a guidance system but only where the land is flat enough to permit it, it cant be done in UK where plots are small and spaced out.

I would've thought the scale up would be where the reward is but also where the challenge is, can you imagine trying to scale up that gantry head, inevitably as things get bigger, things that were rather small problems become much more important what it hasn't accounted for are cross winds, changes in weather, all of the things an experienced farmer would keep an eye on to make sure hes getting the most out of his crop.

Day or night working isn't where the issues are perse, the farmers i know will do what they have to do to get the work done, when it can be done,(even if it means staying up late to get that field done) nature can't always be hurried.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 13/07/2016 09:59:10

Hi,

I just had a bit of a problem today with my insert MEGHR parting tool, The tip was positively blunt and needed replacing, the tension that keeps it in it's seat is held by a hex head screw, the hex had rounded off and it was far too tight to undo. The screw is countersunk into the body so you can't grip it. 

There isn't really alot of options to removing stuck screws but luckily i've found the most decent solution is to heat the offending area til it glows a little bit, transfer it to a bench vice and find a point on the hex screw, with your hex key where it still bites, and gently release it.

I would've been totally stuck if i hadn't managed to get it out! anyone else know of any other solutions to stuck bolts (in metal)?

After the fiasco i obviously chucked out the old screw and replaced it with a much better conditioned one. 

(My father had suggested using a scrappy allen key the same size and supergluing it into place, but i doubted it if it could stand up to such tension) 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 12/07/2016 16:11:34

Edited By Michael Walters on 12/07/2016 16:12:48

Hi Vic,

It's known as a profiling tool i think, for making radius recesses into columns, as you saw there, for bowls and vessels too. Leaves a very nice finish on brass too. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 11/07/2016 11:50:08

What is this marvelous program that produces these intricate pictures, Jason?

Michael W

An interesting story, i would add that simply using the correct geometry, whether you do that yourself on the grinder or it's pre-made on a tip, makes a world of difference to how hard it is to part off, regardless of the machine size.

I would say i've found the thin parting blades to be very bendy and should only be used at the appropriate length. They all come with their own set of limitations though as the insert tip tools need to be inserted properly or they can snap. The most rigid of all will be the solid HSS hand ground tools you often see but you must be careful on the geometry and needs practice to get spot on. When using HSS the speed factor means you can overspeed the steel or it will fray and char.

This is probably the thing that catches out most small machines because the proper torque reduction needs to be applied so that you get the full power of the motor at lets say 500rpm rather than 2000rpm.

This isn't to say that a small motor is bad or wont work it just needs the proper reduction, this is where electronic speed controllers often fail(some more complicated ones have a "compensating factor" )but most machines should have change pulleys for slower speeds.

Perhaps a little courage wouldn't go amiss on parting off either! I've rarely had failures now i've taken these things into account. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 10/07/2016 19:57:25

I think it's aged preservative, some do change to a yellowish brown/ burn't colour as they age. As the last thing anyone wants is a rusty reamer! 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 10/07/2016 18:24:06

Either that or they would need to fit a blanking plate, which would only add to the mystery i suppose.

Michael W

happy days...

Edited By Michael Walters on 10/07/2016 12:42:26

I think what Neil has benefited from is not the rigidity of the tool but the pressure that a clamp allows for. I've always followed the wisdom that one needs to traverse along the knurl then back it up to cut properly?

Michael W