Member postings for Mike Hurley

Co-incidence or what. The non myford lathe that I've got is an ageing BV20! So I have exactly the same issue. Never come across anyone with one of these before - is yours the version with the gearbox for speed changing or the belts version? If the gearbox one I assume you also own a pair of substantial ear defenders?

Mike

I've got exactly the same model ( RDG? ) and it doesn't align with the corresponding detent hole in my compound. To be fair, I think it is sold as ' for Myford and similar size machines ' maybe it does align on Myfords specifically? ( Mine's not a Myford ) I have always thought it might be an alignment hole for a pin when manufacturing?

My recent new security cameras from a major supplier came with Lithium batteries fitted and ready to go. There were big labels on the box stating that there were such batteries inside. Think they came via an Amazon courier?

Welcome to the forum - enjoy!

I think there are two main classes of people in this field ( obviously there are loads in between! ) - those who plan and document precisely or the back of an envelope sketch and try-it type. I suppose the first type might be considered a 'proper' engineer but I can't think of a term for the second even though their skills might be equal to or even surpass those of the first type?

I fall into the sketch it and make it group which 9 times out of 10 means I end up modifying what I have made or chucking it in the scrap and re-making it properly from what I learned first time around. It matters little using this approach with most type of stuff I do, but in the end I generally enjoy the process, which is what a ' Hobby ' is all about..

Personally I tend to find using CAD rather tedious as I always seem to spend more time working out why this dimension doesn't click to that line, or where the hell a whole layer of drawing has disappeared to after 2 hours of work on it! etc rather than doing the bit I really enjoy which is cutting metal. However, I do fully appreciate the need for high accuracy drawings / CAD / CAM with complex or critical assemblies and quite essential in industrial scenarios. As I said earlier - its supposed to be a hobby, so just enjoy doing what floats your boat.

Take care. Mike

Appreciate that Steve.

All the best, Mike

Began assembling all the parts, and generally no major problems. The only game changer was when aligning the cylinders to the pistons / cross heads and finally the cranks and main shaft,it became apparent there was an issue with cylinder 2 and the stroke of the piston which was 'bottoming'. From day one,it was known there was a slight difference between the two cylinder castings and I believed that I had allowed for the subtle differences, but obviously I had failed to account for something!
In the end, I couldn't adjust the problem out and it was necessary to reposition the conn rod bearings slightly. This required a bit of drastic surgery, but worked out better than expected. After re-fitting and making a few other slight adjustment everything appears to move correctly.
The eccentrics and valve gear all fitted without any major problems which was a pleasant surprise. Am now in a position to dry run things to bed in all the bearings. Assuming all is well, I shall be looking to get my hands on a suitable compressed air source and make some suitable fittings for the engine's input ports.
I raised a question some time back on the site asking for suggestions on air pressure and volumes required for a basic, limited test of the engine and received lots of useful comments. Will post further following on from this.

I believe warning triangles are mandatory in many countries, you can be fined for not carrying one. My new VW has a special cutout in the rear door (hatchback) to hold one.

Personally I always thought they were a bit pointless as they seem so small and flimsy most drivers would probably run over them and not notice unless they were only doing 5 mph.

What's the reasoning behind this? Am I missing something obvious?

Yes, I'm not joking!

Just read on t' internet that the RAF are not currently planning to replace the Hawk jet trainers as so much can be done virtually!

As the article says, it is now conceivable for jet pilots to become trained without ever setting foot in a real cockpit.

I think I'm getting to old to understand the world anymore .

Mike

Same with my Diesel Ford Kuga. You have to dismantle 1/2 of the engine bay to get at the battery.

Wish I'd taken it to Halfords* for one of the 'free' fittings and see how they got on! Took me about 3 hrs including some wierd tool combos to access some bits!

regards. Mike

* other auto parts suppliers are available

Edited By Mike Hurley on 07/09/2021 09:45:51

Aparently from what I've heard, just use super unleaded and you won't have a problem.

Hope thats useful. Regards, Mike

Yes Dave, I tend to agree now after reading all the other postings and have thought some more about it. There isn't a need for a permanent fixing just as log as it stays in position in use and I suppose can be removed if it wears. The slots in the cheese headed screws were pretty chewed which may have indicated lots of usage over many years - or possibly just one ham-fisted user?

Regards Mike

I recall recently watching a programme on TV (can't remember which channel ) which looked into fires in EV's and showed early vehicles easily catching light and burning furiously - very nasty, + the toxic mass of residue left afterwards. However, the prog went on to say, and demonstrate, how this wouldn't happen in the newer generation of vehicles as " the battery packs now have extensive internal fusing thus preventing problems .... " to be fair, they did demo this by deliberatley shorting on out with a large metal plate - no fire.

I suppose at the end of the day, nothing in the world could be 100% safe no matter how well designed if manufactured faulty.

regards Mike

Thanks for the follow-ups. & I get your thinking now Jason.

regards Mike

Nick, get hold of a copy of Tubal Cain's ' workholding in the lathe ', part of the Workshop Practice series. Quite cheap for the amount of info it contains, and will give you all mannner of sensible, practical and safe methods. Highly recommended.

regards Mike

Thanks for all the ideas chaps - much appreciated, but I'm still not getting my head around this concept!

IAN Perfectly valid suggestion!

JASONB There isn't any radial adjustment as the key and the keyway are close tolerence and the flat on the shaft of course is static, so even with the screw loose you cannot adjust the position radially.

PAUL The key themselves are a flat wedge ( like a cheese slice ) close fitting in similarfly tapered ways in the eccentric they have a slope of about 1 in 12 to my reckoning.

HOWARD They are very close fitting, but when in situ, even just pushed in finger tight, there is no gap at the top at all, so would not appear to be able to lift as you suggest.

ROGER so why do they use a wedged key? Surley a flat one that the screw then locked in position would be adequate? In some ways better as once the ' wedge ' becomes even the tiniest bit loose they key displaces and becomes ineffective.

CLIVE Following all the thoughts here, I'm starting to wonder, as per your comments, if these keys should NOT be ' hammered ' in tight, but just ' firmly inserted ' instead and then the screw tightened. Whilst not giving any radial freedom to adjust, you would find it easier to position on the shaft to accurately line it up with the rods activating the slide valves on the cylinders?

When I first received the engine it was in a dire state and everything was rusty, siezed solid or corroded so evary part had to be hammered off, so I have no idea what the original fit might have been like.

Any further thoughts or observations will be much appreciated. Rather cool, grey Bank Holiday weather here in the Midlands today, so don't think I will be venturing far or wide , so probably a workshop day anyway!

All the best. Mike

Part of my Victorian Steam engine restoration is fitting the eccentrics on the main shaft for the slide valves, obviously these need to be positioned correctly along the shaft.

The eccentrics are held in place by a flat, wedged metal key that fits in a tapered recess in the eccentric and against a flat machined on the main shaft. This key is hammered into place when the eccentric is correctly positioned. Fine so far.

There is also a screw in the eccentrics that locates onto the key. What pupose does this serve? It can't be for intial or subsequent later adjustment as once the wedge of the key is hammered into place nothing is going to shift! Totally baffled - or am I misunderstanding something obvious? Any thoughts appreciated

Photo - best I can do in limited space - shows the eccentric with its screw, the flat on the shaft ( To the left of the eccentric at the moment - which will be roughly where the eccentric finally ends up ) and the key just loosley placed on the shaft to give scale / relationship. Ignore the adjacent vee pulley.

Always known them as set screws, but the term machine screw is just as ' correct ' to my knowledge. Either way, distinctly different to a bolt.

regards Mike

I've had one of the second link types (black body) for years, cant remember who it was supplied by now. It's always been fine, although I did chip the ends of most of the boring bars - don't know if this was just a dodgy batch of carbide tips - I use carbide tooling fairly often so don't think it was my use of them causing the issue.

If you've never used one of these before, as with most things, there are a few little wrinkles to be aware of to get good reliable results.

1. When the boring bar are in the vertical mounting holes, make sure the tip is in line with the direction of travel of the slide in the body - otherwise the adjustment ' scale ' will not result in accurate results.

2. if like mine it has 3 grub screws in the sliding gib, I find the best results are to use the outer 2 to set the degree of tightness of the gib slide and only use the centre one to lock the head after setting. Others may disagree, but I find this works reliably for me.

otherwise much the normal rules about feed and speed with different materials apply.

Regards, Mike

Edited By Mike Hurley on 26/08/2021 10:14:32 Dodgy spelling

Edited By Mike Hurley on 26/08/2021 10:19:25

to me these look like adjustable tools to set things over a certain amount. I would think that a range of different jaws would have been available to suit the job in hand, the screw thread is fine adjustment for amount of ' throw ' and the lever actually closes the jaw and provides the set.

I'm thinking here typically of the tooth set on either hand saws or circular saw blades. I have a similar ( but more compact type ) for just this purpose - called a saw set and made by Eclipse. The types in the photos would possibly just be more versatile versions of this?

regards Mike