Member postings for MW

Hi again, I've tried to clean it up a bit so i can take a picture, (i dont do WIP shots because its too hard) it's only from my phone.

Theres a couple more on Misc. of my album but i wont put it here because i dont want to photo spam.

I cleaned up the body with a wheel on my lathe and tried to make it a little rounder, i will need to redo some of the joins when some more solder comes and pickle the debris out of the inside. It probably shows i've never done this before.

Michael W

I thought on single phasers you just needed to swap the position of the metal tracks, i take it this box is here to simulate that action automatically. All i know is you need to reverse the polarity of the motor.

Michael W

Hey, we aren't doing this because we're dainty are we? Nahhh, rough work is ok by me. It's nothing compared to the state of some of my things, you should see my bench vice.

Michael W

I had a quick search on the web and nothing comes up.

I thought maybe the SS means something to do with the steel, rather than the maker maybe?

Michael W

Have you checked out the feed nut and lead screw? sometimes you might have a hefty chunk of debris stuck on there. It does go through alot of grease.

The scraping looks good though, keep up the good work, practice is the best remedy for hand skills.

Also like you said, check the gib itself because this would have a major effect on it's movement. The tightness of the grub scews can make a big difference.

Michael W

Sorry for DP, but i also have a proxxon mini power tool/dremel type, i may try using it tomorrow to grind out some of the worse fillets from the brass brazing and clean it up a little bit whilst waiting for some more soldering supplies.

See if i can also iron out some of the kinks and dimples in a gentle manner, if it wont go i wont force it though.

If theres some time left i can return to the lathe to make some of the valves.

By the way if you're wondering what surface i'm using i made a miniature hearth out of a couple of 9" x 12" "vermiculite" bricks and wood screws, the off cut i have left over i use as a spacer to lean work pieces on at different angles.

For anyone thinking of trying this, i keep a bucket of water nearby for quenching and fire safety in case anything goes awry. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 26/06/2016 21:49:26

Just goes to show you can still find a bargain in unlikely places.

Michael W

Thanks for the tip, but i think i'll wait and see.

Michael W

Yeah, i've seen some crystals on "the bay", it sounds far safer that sulfuric acid, which the less i have to do with the better. Pretty inexpensive too.

I would warn anyone thinking of trying this to be careful of whats considered "silver solder" jeweler's use a soft solder which, i don't think is suitable for brazing. What you need is the stuff that melts at around 600C as a "hard solder", it's not cheap but the 40% silver content is more economical than the 55%.

Michael W

Thanks JasonB,

Yeah i tried to roll my own around a hardwood former and i followed Tubal Cains method of making hinges, but they kept popping out either side of the seam so it got beaten up a little bit. In future i'd go with riveting the two sides together and then soldering as a neater way, i guess it's a good practice, wouldn't have known that otherwise. The hinges are too prone to popping open when you hammer it together. I could just buy some tube tbh.

Yeah i thought the brass wasn't melting too well, yet the silver solder does. Where could i get some pickling fluid?

It is pretty strong but just looks awful at the moment, i may just try to carry on and see where it gets me, so long as i get a working steam engine i'm not too fussed for a first attempt. I'll post the pictures on here when i've got to a decent stage, the cost of the materials makes retries expensive.

Michael W

And hard being the operative word.

I made a boiler shell to one of tubal cain's designs however, i'm fairly new to fiddling around with sheet metal, joins and fillets and although it's sound and rigid it looks pretty beaten up and crinkly for what should be a nice round cylinder and i'm not really sure what to do about it.

I'm so ashamed of it i'm kinda nervous of the idea of even posting a picture of it because of all the stick i'd get from the steam fans and solderers.

Anyway i did anneal it before i worked on it and that was fine (bar the scaling) and tried using brass brazing rod but it doesn't melt very well under the heat of the butane/propane torch and the silver solder worked much better but now i've run out.

Should i just scrap it and try again?

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 26/06/2016 17:23:31

Alot of it is that but i wouldn't call it a customer dictatorship, it's a collaborative process between all areas of activity whether that's legal, enviromental or even agreements made between suppliers.

The last time i checked we are still using both the kite mark and CE.

As i wrote earlier, the B.S.I were among the first to actually set and inspect places of manufacture to adhered standards and definitely under appreciated in terms of the scientific merit it brought to the business of making. It still exists today, though mainly to provide updates to the older standards.

Michael W  

Edited By Michael Walters on 25/06/2016 01:48:44

I just was confused thats all, i have a reel of 60/40 pure tin/lead and it doesn't flow readily and presumably the better stuff i was referring to was just the roisin cored equivilent.

Michael W

I'm a little confused by what you mean by better. Perhaps leaded soft solder provides a superior bond but i haven't found it flows better, if anything the cored solder i've found to be the easiest to use, i think theres mainly tin in that.

MIchael W

I think it will stay or have atleast a british replacement, we wont see that for many years but maybe someday. The mark is good for trade so many will keep it even if they aren't obliged to use it.

The B.S.I is and was an excellent institution that pretty much provided the the entire basis on standards we should be proud of. It wasn't in the pockets of cronyism like alot of other countries standards were, simply bent to their own purposes and obeyed/ignored at will. 

Our system stands alot more to reason and fact to protect the quality of the actual product and therefore it's users also. Alot of the I.S.Os seem like a carbon copy of the old BSI standards. But, all the more reason to be proud of just how good a system it was.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 24/06/2016 10:40:22

Yep, it's probably because they would rather many people didn't learn how to make use of our own circuits so that we buy theirs instead, it's a monopoly on information to protect their stake.

I had a rather forthright electronics (college) teacher, who i didn't always agree with but i had alot of respect for him. And he believed that the establishment would rather keep us in the dark with technology and make sure that the subject stays as dull and boring as possible to the younger generation so we stay hooked on big businesses tech and mobile phones.

I remember when i was in secondary school i asked my teacher what a resistor is made of and how they make them only to be told i was just asking a nuisance question and that it was irrelevant. I failed to see how that attitude was supposed to encourage me to learn.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 24/06/2016 10:20:14

Interesting, commercial promotion via the backdoor, surely this would be a tad inappropriate for a model "engineer" forum? i mean, i don't know of any lathe/mill owners rushing out to stock up on barbie merchandise? It would've been far, far more stealthy for it to have been a tooling company/machine tool or whatever. They may have actually got away with it if they actually observed the context of the forum they're attempting to hijack.

It's a shame a few people will always try to ruin something. Glad they got caught.

Michael W

Yeah sorry, studding is a long threaded rod thats normally sold in D.I.Y places, like John pointed out. I didn't know that there was no thru-hole so you'd probably be better off going along with JasonB's solution.

If you ever get in a bind again with odd sized work pieces you can turn a mandrel (stepped shoulder or supporting cylinder) and use thread lock to set it in place and lightly turn the work piece down. To take it off again use a little heat from a blow lamp/propane torch and the whole assembly should come apart with a few calculated taps with a soft faced hammer (and rod if you need it), it's magic. You can clean off the residue with a light abrasive or a pipe cleaner.

Very useful technique for getting two diameters to be completely concentric to one another. I'm sure it's well known but i think i'll just rehearse it here so that i spread the word

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 23/06/2016 11:13:50

I reckon if you've got a long piece of studding and some wide flat washers you could tighten the whole thing up and that would allow you to put it in your drill chuck. You could use some really long coach bolts and the washers you can pick up from anywhere. 

Just get it to run fairly true and use a file and emery, doesn't matter if it's not 100%

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 23/06/2016 07:14:43

wow, I'd say