Member postings for Peter Howell 1

The latest version of FreeCAD - 0.19, (Not yet a stable release so may have bugs) has Assemblies. But even with the stable 0.18 it is easy enough to move and align parts.

I think I'll stick to separate drawings for components but import into an assembly to check for fit.

FreeCAD easily produces an orthographic (either 1st or 3rd angle) drawing on what ever paper size you want. It will also produce G-Code, though I've not tried this yet. I used to use TurboCad and Vectric Cut2D.

Thanks - It's always interesting to get others ideas. A lot of knowledgeable people out there !!

Yes. In 2D draughting I've always give each part its own drawing. But now in 3D I'm wondering if it's better to have everything assembled as it goes, then separate them out later to produce a production drawing. It would mean that the total drawing, consisting of all the component part, will get very big (computer big, not physically big)

My first foray into 3D modeling, using FreeCAD.

My question is with an assembly consisting of many parts, such as a steam loco, is it best to draw each part separately and import them into a separate assembly drawing or draw everything on the one drawing toggling the visibility of each part as it is drawn and placing it in its correct position as you go ?

Thanks for the advice.

Thinking about the problem I will cut a piece of plywood to be a fairly good fit on the boot floor so that it can't move sideways or fore and aft. Then screw some angle iron to make rails for the loco to sit on and some sort of bars like Clive mentions over the buffer beams clamped down to the ply.

I'll give this a try first and see how it feels then modify as necessary.

I agree with 'not done it yet' it does need to be restrained. I may drive carefully but there are some idiots about.

My Polly loco is almost complete.

I've now got to give some though about transporting it to the club site. I've made a scissor lift to get the height right for loading into the back of my car, then I'd thought of a board with angle iron rails to actually get it in. But what about securing the loco. A strap over the top might cause more damage than it would prevent. I'd wondered about a couple of bars through the wheels bolted down to the board.

With the present situation there is no activity at the club track so I can't see what other members do.

So what do other people do

My most useless Christmas present from last Christmas:

A 2020 wall planner

I've used Libre Office since retiring (10 years ago).

I'm just playing with FreeCAD, a 3D modelling program - open source so free. It will generate G-code so I'm hoping to use it with my CNC mill. It looks very promising but 3D modelling is totally different to 2D drawing. I didn't think much to Libre CAD - not compared to my paid for Windows TurboCAD

When I had my own small business I used a very good open source finance program called GnuCash.

Oh yes - I'm virtually gone over exclusively to using Linux Mint. I've kept the ability to boot into Windows should I need it - like to use TurboCAD.

I agree with PaulM's comments. I must be a similar age to him and have no difficulty with either 1st or 3rd angle (providing you are told what the drawing is in) or metric / imperial. I sometimes use either. If I've measured something and it looks better (more rounded) in inches whereas it would be odd amount in metric I'll use inches. This particularly applies to DIY building jobs where accuracy in not so important so long as it fits.

I also avoid cm, never seen the point of them - they only add to the confusion.

My mantra for 3rd angle was "What you see - Where you see it".

Posting from Triumph Sport Six Car club.

q) What do you call a country where everyone drives a red car?

a) A red carnation

The postman has just brought ME 4653 - on time to the day.

Thanks John, unfortunately I've just looked and the Crompton appears to be completely sealed. There are no contacts visible. I would have to dismantle the assembly to get to them. The same applies to the overload unit.

My Myford Super 7 has a Compton Series 2000 starter.

Occasionally it doesn't switch on. The contactor jumps but doesn't lock on. If I manually press in the contactor block in (with an insulated screwdriver) it works. Then the starter will work normally for several stop/starts.

Is there something I can do or will I have to replace the whole unit?

I had that a while back when mine went astray. You would have thought the subscription department would have access to any extras. What about all the ones that will be returned from newsagents. Sales must be very low at the moment.

And wasn't the editor having to appeal for recent back issues the other day and offering to buy them.

Thanks guys. I'll file it for now and order a new tip.

Those old school gas heated irons were well used (and abused !) I remember they used to look like a miniuture axe. I guess modern kids wouldn't have any idea what they were. To think what we were allowed to do in the workshop I'm taking early '60s

My electrical soldering iron tip has become quite worn and I had thought to file it flat, but 'Googling' the subject there are dire warning against doing this. The main one being that it will remove the tip's coating, but surely the tips of the old fashioned irons I used when I was at school that were heated in a gas oven were only chunks of copper, I'm sure they were filed as necessary.

So is it OK to file the tip and re-tin it ? It is copper - not plated (well its not magnetic).

Peter

Hi. I'm fairly new to the forum so I missed the original posts. I have a Centec 2 that I aquired several years ago with the aim of restoring.

The knee adustment on mine is by a pinon operating on a rack inside the knee, This is attached to a shaft that passes right through the head stock and terminates in a taper onto which a handle fits. This all looks original.

It would be quite easy to fit a graduated hand wheel in place of the handle. But I do have the much sort after quill feed vertical head.

Mine has just come.

Model Engineer - last one I've got was 4651 (6 - 19 Nov). John says his came today, hopefully mine will tomorrow.

Peter

The new issue should have been out last Friday (20th). Is it running late? I've not recieved my copy yet.