Member postings for ChrisH

Is it just me?

Have tried today to visit the model engine maker forum, only to get a message saying " NOT FOUND " and "The requested URL /index.php was not found on this server."

Anyone have any ideas what's up with the site? They not paid their bills, or what's going on? Or is it just my access to the internet at fault?

Chris

Norman, not been to the Tool Box at Colyton - I guess because I would find too many things I desperately needed but didn't know I did..........., but Senior Management can always get a trip into Axminster by suggesting I need something from Axminster Tools, I fall for it every time....... Still drooling about that so, so chocolate-ly ice cream. Good job they didn't have clotted cream on top as an option..........

Chris

Went to Exeter today to get a towbar fitted to my car via the A30. Shortly before Honiton, at the bottom of the hill before the couple of villages before Honiton, we passed a layby selling Otter Valley Ice Cream. My Dragon said if I was a good boy she would buy me one on the way back.

Well, it was touch and go if we would make it in time but we got to the layby (near Monkton?) shortly before closing time and Dragon kept her promise. I had the best chocolate ice cream I can recall having, worth having to put up with gridlocked Exeter and stuck in traffic in a non A/C cooled bus with no air flow just for that ice cream The vanilla was also excellent. Later learned both had won gold in the Taste of the West wotsit.

Now trying to think of more excuses to go past the seller again.

Anyone passing, you'd be nuts not to try some. Needless to say, no connection with Otter Valley Ice Cream etc etc!

Chris

John - It's the first time I have visited the show, usually away, but it's (reasonably) local so made the effort. There were two beautiful sleeve valve engine models on the I.C. Engine Builders Group stand, amongst others on display on that stand. If my efforts were up to half that standard I'd be a happy bunny.

Jason - I believe Eric was the chap I was told to ask for. Don't know anything about the group, what they do, if they share information, if they meet, or what, so any info would be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Chris

Went to the Bristol Show on Friday. Good show, glad I went. Amongst all the excellent model loco's there was a stand by the I.C. Engine Builders Group, with some beautiful model IC engines on display.

Unfortunately, the chap I needed to talk to regarding more information about the group was not around. I thought, no worries, I'll google them when I get home but can't find any link to them or their website on the internet, perhaps they don't have one.

Can anyone give me any pointers on where to find them or how to contact them?

Many thanks if you can,

Chris

To answer "not done yet" - the overall length of the lathe is approx 1.5m with about 1.1m from headstock to the far tailstock end. It is sat on the manufacturers fabricated steel stand.

Thanks to all that have contributed such detailed replys, I do appreciated the time and effort taken to compose them. It has given me a lot to ponder on to formulate where I go from here. The point about a worn bed is valid in my case as I know it is a bit worn near the headstock but as the vast majority of my work is in that area I have been able to live with it so far. To have the bed reground would probably be worth it as the lathe is a quality lathe, but the work involved to get it done is rather daunting to say the least but will be considered as I ponder where to go next. On the other hand, Warco are currently offering their WM250V for £1475 inc VAT and delivery which is temping, if only I had £1475 lying around spare!!

For today, in the end I decided that as I had a job set up for turning between centres with more than enough material at over 1 inch diameter to play with I would see if I could get it to turn true and leave checking the bed and a test piece held just in the chuck for another day. After nearly 2 hours of taking very fine cuts, checking and adjusting I got it to turn to 0.0002" over a tad over 3 1/2 inches length which was good enough for me at this time. I can now crack on with making the part to the plan dimensions.

Chris

Hi,

Kevin - the chuck is a new 4 jaw with the centre clocked to run true in it,

Sam - correct, that is what I was using,

Neil and John - it is not a mini mill it is a Weiler, a German built lathe from the late 60's or so, with about 250mm swing by 600mm, or so, a reasonable size lathe, with 4 holding down bolts at the headstock and another 4 at the tailstock end. The headstock bearings are taper roller bearings back to back and I know they are good and correctly adjusted. The headstock nose was check clocked true when I made up a backplate for the new 4 jaw which was machined on the nose, and the chuck check clocked true as well. The manual says to do a turning test with 3-4 inches hanging out the chuck of 3/4 inch diameter bar and what holding down bolts to adjust to true it up, but I guess I will need to make some more shims up for under the feet. I have some 1 inch diameter bar in stock but no 1 1/2 inch bar and agree that would be better but will use what I have. The tailstock has the horizontal adjustment built in so correcting for horizontal error is easy, but vertically it was 15 thou out so I have shimmed that true so the centres match exactly. That is why I have come to the conclusion that there must be a wee bit of twist on the bed so, in the absence of any other idea I will turn a test bar as per the manual first, get as much twist that the test shows up out as far as I can by shimming where required, then check the centres still match and if not re-adjust, then turn a test between centres and see how I go. The problem I see with a 6 inch test bar is that you need the lathe true to turn the bar true - or am I missing something? Neil, not sure why you did your test bar with 0.0003" difference in diameters, or is that just how it turned out? Do you 2 guys think my proposed method of check and correction is the right one?

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 06/08/2016 22:01:24

I have found my lathe was not turning parallel when turning between centres. Checking why, I found that the tailstock centre was not true with the headstock centre both vertically and horizontally by a very small margin but it produced a taper to the tune of 0.004"/inch. This I have corrected, checking using the old 'feeler held between the centres' trick, feeler now held at 90 degree to longitudinal axis both vertically and horizontally. However, it still turn out of parallel by 0.001"/inch.

I have not tried turning a, say, 4" length of 1" dia bar held just in the headstock chuck at the moment but the last time I did if I remember correctly it was pretty true, less than 0.001" over the 4 inches. Am I right in now assuming that the lathe is turning out of parallel between centres because the bed needs truing up again? I am going to check this hopefully tomorrow but it would be nice to know if I'm on the right track before I start or if there is anything else to check out first!

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 06/08/2016 19:47:46

This is a thread I never miss!

What a brilliant idea, I have no surface grinder as yet but just maybe I will have, my mill goes up to 2100rpm-ish, well worth a go.

As a cadet I was 'down below' - in the engine room, when a deck cadet came down asking if I knew where the tank holding the green oil for the starboard light was. I told him that it was right up there with the tank for the red oil for the port light and the white oil for the stern light - "ah, he said, you didn't fall for that one". I had seen through that one even though I was a first-tripper!

I later did 6 months in a London ship repairers company. The apprentice in the fitting shop asked me if I had any metal glue. Why I asked? He had a motor scooter (it was mid 1960's) and had drilled holes in the exhaust to make it sound "more roarty", but one hole was blowing onto his leg and he wanted to glue it up. No I said, don't have any, but ask the shop foreman, he might. So he did. The foreman sent him down to the stores with a chitty for some 'metal glue for fixing exhaust pipe holes' and for a 6ft struggling bar as well.

My original chainsaw is a JCB and is here in England (the other is a Stihl and superb but in France) but the JCB was not working - just would not start. Checking found no spark at plug. Found a shop open (on a Sunday) which sold not absolutely the right spark plug but near enough and away the wee beastie went, so well pleased, as I had a tree stump leaning across a boundary I wanted out.

Pleased to say stump out no worries, and the wee beastie went better than it ever had before. Always had trouble starting it when hot before, now no probs, so a double result!

Chris

Dod - "future ex-wife" - are you planning a divorce or one of you expecting to peg it some time soon? Odd phrase, I couldn't get away with that - not in one piece anyway, my present wife would kill me!

Chris

A few days ago we heard somebody knocking on our patio doors, but no-one was there.

Then it was repeated a few minutes later, again, no-ne there.

And again, a few minutes later still, someone knocking on the patio doors. This time we spied a very large black bird (feathered variety! - a crow or a rook) flying off. Apparently, at this time of year they, whatever bird it was, gets jealous of potential rivals and attacks them and this bird thought the reflection of itself it was seeing on the glass was a rival. They - it - had made the window filthy, with their spit I presume. He's not been back thank goodness, they can do quite some damage to the window frame and seal apparently.

Chris

Gordon - I would suggest a worse job is clearing a macerator toilet after it has been jammed up by someone putting down it what they should not have! Don't ask.......!

Chris

Hi Michael, before investing in air con, insulate the roof really well, and the walls also if you can, makes it better in wintertime too as less heating is required to maintain a comfortable temp. Are the windows opening type or sealed shut? If sealed shut then add an inner DIY layer of film or perspex to create a double glazed effect - you might be able to do that on opening windows too. Years ago I used like a film taped all round some large bay windows and then shrunk tight with a hair dryer, cut the heat loos and cold areas adjacent to the windows dramatically. You could also use blinds and that greenhouse shading you 'paint' on the outside of greenhouse glass in summer on the windows outside, although eventually rain washes it off, if you didn't want the view. A roof mounted slow moving long bladed fan would not cost much to run and would stir the air (think motorised punkah fans from India!), or get a more normal room fan.

All this is to try and keeping your running costs down as well as having a more even temperature in your shed winter and summer. Air con can be expensive, noisy and intrusive in space to install and run, you need to cure the causes not the symptoms!

Chris

John F - please excuse my ignorance, but what is a type B MCB and a type C MCB and how do they differ?

Are type C MCB's readily available?

Chris

PS I ask as that may be the solution to my requiring a long extension lead to my welder to stop the MCB tripping.

Edited By ChrisH on 09/04/2016 21:09:42

If you think about it, I feel you want the 'hollow' side of the seal to be against whatever you are protecting the other side of the seal from, be it dirt, water, oil leakage out, whatever, so the pressure on the 'hollow' side is pressing the seal tighter to the shaft to resist ingress rather than the other way round, if that makes sense.

Chris

I've not had an RCD tripping but I have had the welder tripping the MCB. The mains cable from MCB to power socket was quite short (DB was in workshop). The tripping stopped when I put a long extension cable on the welder supply. I don't know why - I've forgotten all the 'tricky electrics" I ever knew.

I also have a digital readout on the mill DRO switching off when I start the mill motor. The mill motor is single phase a with a capacitor. I have a gut feeling the capacitor start motor is causing a spike in the circuit - just a gut feeling, no theory to back it up - so I have just bought a surge protector to see if that will stop the DRO readout switching off.

Sorry if that has diverted the thread a bit, but it was sort of related. It's electrical and a trip!

I have a rule. NEVER trust anything with wires coming out of it. Tricky animals, electrical stuff.

Chris

Thanks to all above for bringing this programme to our attention, have downloaded the programme but have only until tomorrow at 8pm to watch it, so anybody interested download and/or watch quick!

Chris

Great news Dave, long may it last, hope 2016 is especially good for you.

Chris