Member postings for Chris V

Thanks Steve, well yes & no. My lathe is pretty much unmolested and original which is what I wanted. My aim will be to keep it that way and therefore I'd much prefer an original arm, failing that a cast copy and failing that..... what had you in mind?

Chris.

Just looking at another thread that mentioned Owl Castings, so if not a bench top countershaft handle to keep

maybe I could borrow one to get a casting from....just a thought!

Good Morning Hopper, and thank you for that.

Actually and I understand unusually mine has flat belt drive, but I'm used to that and so quite happy.

Yes I've joined those groups but thanks as I hadn't thought to ask on the Facebook one.

Have a great day & stay safe!

Chris.

Good Evening,
Ive just been looking over my new to me 1944 M type.
Seems to be mostly complete and original but I'm now after a few as supplied original bits as follows:

Hand turning rest.
Fixed steady.
Tensioning lever for the Drummond benchtop countershaft unit.

If anyone can help with any of these I'd be very pleased to hear from them.
Cheers
Chris.

Good Evening,
Ive just been looking over my new to me 1944 M type.
Seems to be mostly complete and original but I'm now after a few as supplied original bits as follows:

Hand turning rest.
Fixed steady.
Tensioning lever for the Drummond benchtop countershaft unit.

If anyone can help with any of these I'd be very pleased to hear from them.
Cheers
Chris.

Hi John,

Strange but it appears its for holding normal ie round drill bits. Westcotts Little Giant Improved Chuck was available in varies sizes and is shown in the Drummond literiture I had from Tony at Lathes.co uk under drill chucks.

Aparently there was a Pratt Improved design as well that was very similar. 1MT would fit my lathe! (-:

Cheers

Chris.

Ah ok thanks Jason, another good tip! (-:

Cheers

Chris.

Thank you Hopper & Silly Old D, that's most helpful. Must be good to have those memories of Burma!

Ok no video! Thanks for explaining it though!

Washers, I may have some fibre ones.That said the proposed knobs to replace the current screws will still be brass so even with a washer the heat will come through the bolt part, but at least it will prevent the casing being marked.

Ah White paraffin, thank you that sounds like a great tip, I will try that when I can get some. I can remember going down the hardware store with a container to be refilled with that, though I think Pink or Blue, and yes that stank.

And yes I will try tweaking the timing once I have the correct fuel, thank you for explaining this in detail.

Funny thing about these fans, wife & I were at a steam rally last spring and we came across one, on a stand in a field. Wife loved it and said (no doubt thinking it would never happen) we should get one of those. It appealed to her as it wasn't a hit & miss making all that racket (music to us). Little did she know I had on saved in eBay searches....(-:

Cheers

Chris.

Thank you Hopper, I took a look to check this morning at the hex part and although it appears to be screwed in place it doesn't want to move by finger pressure alone so I will leave it as is at least for now. It may well be a plug as suggested but seems to me odd that its so large, and the shape does not suggest to me its a knob as such for adjusting.It continues to the other centre cylinder as far as I can see, but as I say appears to be a separate part ie screwed to the rest of it.
I will look at my album of Sterling's in a bit to see if its there on an original.

Yes this is a reproduction 'Josts' patent fan, (German) cheaply made in India though not so cheap to buy off eBay.Its a fair approximation of the originals which were made exactly for the purpose you mention. When electricity came it killed the idea off right away.
Look for Kerosene fan on eBay and you will find some, though I have to caution the buying experience was not a pleasant one!

John yes I took a look at your link, those are modern versions made for wood stoves and as Jason points out they don't have their own heat source. I'm sure they work well and are ideal for wood stoves.

This mornings questions:

Is there an alternative easily available in the UK to Meths to power it, ie one that dosent give off so much fumes?

Is there a rubber (or alternative) that I can get or make washers from for the sliding side screws to adjust the internal funnel that will withstand heat?

How do I add a link to here with a video?

Thanks

Chris.

Hi Howard,

Well not that odd! And don't forget the fumes from the burner too! Before the final run of the day I had opened the workshop door to let the mass for fumes out, then couldnt get the engine to run. Then thought I'd try shutting the door...and it started right away!

Yes hoping it will run itself in, before the fumes do me in that is!

Cheers

Chris.

Thanks Not done it yet & Dave,......My understanding is sintered bronze(?)/ oilite is oil impregnated bronze, so no need to drill through, but still add oil which will seep through the bearings to lubricate the shaft?

Yes its quite the statement at 26" tall. I'm in no rush to remove the 'plug', though the bright metal parts appear to my eyes to be nickle plated and I'd prefer them un-plated, so have considered taking it apart to do this....but as you say now its running albeit temperamentally....

Cheers

Chris.

Ok Progress! (-: Thanks again to all so far, especially Hopper for going into detail, as a novice engineer spelling it out to me is what I needed!

This morning I set it at TDC & 3 o'clock and off it went...backwards. Re-set at 9 o'clock it ran forwards for maybe 5 mins...happy as a happy person can be (me, not the fan). I tinkered with the positioning and got a second run of similar time. Then I could not get it going again. Even though there seemed to be a decent flame still I tried putting more meths in and then I got a good run of maybe 15 mins, then it stopped. After lunch I will try with the remaining fuel, if it doesn't start I will refill the burner in case its fuel hungry.

Ok its now after lunch and restarted it ran for 15mins, so it wasn't low on fuel. Inside the vented body there is a funnel which you can adjust up and down, as it was at its lowest I raised it but could not get it to run. So lowered it again and topped up the Meths and it ran for about 45mins.

Seems quite temperamental!

More photos as requested, I took a video but don’t see how I can upload it??

Two more questions, the hexagonal bar horizontal to the power cylinder, any ideas what that is?

As mentioned one of the bronze bearings was out of alignment, when I removed the clamping plate that secures it (does that part have a name?) I noticed that whilst it has an oiling hole cast into it there is no corresponding hole through the bronze bearing.

To my mind there should be, otherwise the oil will mostly only travel down to the outside of the bronze bearing bush, not to the crank. If I should drill the bronze bearings what sort of size hole please?

Chris.

Thank you Mark, Hopper, Jason & NDIYet, thats most helpful, I will try again today and get back to you.

Hava great day

Chris.

Good evening,

This afternoon I have been trying to sort out an Indian made Stirling engine fan. When it arrived it was clear there were issues and so far I have sorted the main (?) one which was a bronze bearing was out of place causing binding. Its now pretty free running, I am aware Stirling engines in general can be quite sensitive in this regard. However the engine is not yet running. The flywheel is attached to the crankshaft by a socket grub-screw through its rim but there is no indication as to where on the crankshafts circumference it should be secured. I have photographs showing the crank is in the uppermost position and the flywheel, which I have tried at various points, so I could really do with some advise as to how to align the engine parts in question as this affects the piston position.

I should add that at one point it felt like it wanted to run but did not quite, but backwards. Any help would be much appreciated.

Chris.

Good morning, Just an update after all the helpful tips earlier about lathe speed/finish on my brass turnings with the Turnado. Speed has remained the same (waiting on a new belt) but larger radius tools sorted my issue out.

I finished the batch of cone finial turnings and just made the pair of handles shown below for my tapping tool.

I was very surprised though that the finish on leaded steel was much better off the tool than on brass.

I think an Acorn nut is next, baby steps!

Thanks once again and stay safe.

Chris.

Thanks very much one and all, its great to have several options to try.

Don't worry not done it yet, I was only thinking of raising the speed to what seems to be the max recommended 800 RPM...I do respect my lathes vintage!

ega, I'm just thankful that the chips from the Turnado are just that, turning brass on my faster wood lathe produces splinters that are a real pain in every sense!

Cheers

Chris.

Hi James, there,s one for sale on eBay right now with a decent photo that might help.

Cheers

Chris.

Thank you George & Dave, Dave do you mean I need to increase the motor pulley size rather than reduce it?

Cheers

Chris.

Thank you for your prompt responses guys, that confirms my suspicions as a novice.

Currently my top spindle speed is 675 RPM, my lathe being a 1930's ML1.

Clearly I'm not going to be able to run my lathe with adjustments to anything like that, so I should expect slow cutting progress and rough finish? (that's what I got)

Simplest way to increase speed I think will be to reduce the motor pulley size, something else for my to do list!

Cheers

Chris.

Good afternoon,

Could I ask please what others would recommend as the most suitable speed for turning the brass as in the photo below. Its 1" long x 3/4" dia stock turned down to 1/4" as the small end. (The sample in the photo had to be finished with file & abrasive to get it to look that nice)

Tool bit is 1/4" HSS.

Many thanks in advance

Chris.