Member postings for steamdave

Maybe keyless chucks are the way forward.
(Except that they take up too much headroom).

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Have a look at the Warco DH-1 vice. I've had one for a number of years and have been very pleased with its versatility to hold larger items than conventional vices. It's a bit more expensive now, of course!

https://www.warco.co.uk/machine-vices-vice-jaws/109-dh-1-precision-vice.html

Dave
The Emerald Isle

My workshop was a single garage with a concrete floor. When I moved here, I first laid a DPM, reaching up the sides to just above the final floor level. Then 2 x 2" battens in a 4 x 2 ft matrix. The 'holes' were filled with 2" polystyrene foam slabs and the whole lot was covered with flooring grade T & G chipboard. To cap it off, the floor was covered with industrial grade vinyl flooring.

I have had some heavy machinery standing on it with no problems. It is warm and comfortable to stand on and also it is easy to keep clean. 15 or so years on, I don't regret getting a hard-wearing, comfortable floor, even though it may not have been the cheapest solution at the time.

If you use a wooden floor, you need to seal it in some way to prevent oil ingress. The vinyl (non foam backed) is an easy solution. Choose a light colour so that when you drop a small screw or the like, it can be (relatively) easily seen.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

When I left school, I joined the Merchant Navy and thought that if I wanted to remain afloat, there would be a job for life for me (and others who joined up at the time). What a shock it was to the system to find that the British Merchant Navy was almost defunct by the time of the Falkands war - that the country was struggling to find not only the vessels, but the (British) manpower for them.

Today, the only vessels visiting UK ports on a regular basis are a few ferries and some specialist vessels. All others are foreign registered and crewed.

Fortunately, I got out of the MN at my time of choosing before being made redundant.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Tracy Tools can be your friend here:

https://www.tracytools.com/?keyword=7%2F32%22+x+40+tpi&route=product%2Fsearch

For the princely sum of £2.00 + postage.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

I was considering Naming and Shaming the guilty may be the way to go, but there would be so many culprits that the effect would be lost in no time at all.

As an added offence, using mobile phones while driving irritates me beyond belief.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Aren't the knobs on those arms some form of detent? If so, could possibly be part of a gear cutting arrangement.
And is that part of a dividing head to the left of the lathe?

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Isn't this similar to the cheap endmill holders readily available, particularly 'Over There'. The only possible difference is that with them, the grub screw is not in the taper but on a collar below the taper (I think). If there is a daylight issue, the collar could be trimmed back somewhat.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

I made a simple tilting plate that can be held in the vice or located in the tee slots of the mill table. I don't use a tilting table very often and this seems to fit my requirements.

The Myford vice gives an idea of size

I use a machinist's jack and an electronic angle gauge to set the angle. Close enough for the girls we go out with.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

A week or so ago I had a few phone calls from an unknown number. Picked up the phone...no one speaking.
Put the phone down, but did not call back (sky high premium rates, etc.) and checked the number. The international code was 0028, which is an unassigned code (I believe). If this is the case how do these fraudsters manage to use such numbers?

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Although the expected life expectancy is rising at the moment, I wonder if it will continue to do so.

Think of the poor diet for most people (processed foods, places like YukDonalds) and lack of exercise amongst the majority in the Western world, and the headlong rush of people in Asia to copy us. That leaves the major parts of Africa which seem to be a lost cause anyway.

Maybe nature will take care of the aged population and with it the Pension crisis. That's if we don''t all get blown up in a nuclear war.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Posted by Trevorh on 19/04/2018 12:22:31:

and remember that to recycle paper has a massive carbon foot print almost as bad as Plastic recycling power wise

Years ago, all our old newspapers were given to the Cats & Dogs Home because they could sell it, but then one day they stopped accepting it. Could it have been because of the above statement, I wonder?

Dave
The Emerald Isle

I wrote a short review on my new West German milling machine comparing it to a faithful Emco FB2 which it replaced and submitted it to MEW. 5 years on I still haven't changed my opinion.

It wasn't really complimentary to the new machine, which had been bought unseen but based on advertising and supposed West German super quality engineering.

Needless to say the article/letter was rejected and I thought at the time that it was a case of biting the hand that fed the dog, as the supplier was still an advertiser in MEW.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

In my15 years in Saudi Eastern Province, I never saw any form of solar or wind energy generation. There were two desalination plants, the newer one built by Hyundai and the by-product from both of them was electricity. With fresh water being scarce, the desalination plants were working full time so very little need for alternative forms of power generation.
The alternative - bore water - tasted vile because of all the minerals - almost brackish at times - and I don't think anyone used it for drinking, or even washing.

I've been retired 6 years now, so things may have changed in the meantime.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Following on from JB's suggestion, I turned up a new displacer piston from 316 stainless steel. I was aiming for 10 thou wall thickness, but it turned out to be more like 8 thou when finished and the top even less.

The original displacer weighed 93 gms and the new one was down to 34 gms - quite a saving, and hopefully the heat transfer will be a lot slower, enabling the Robinson to run for a while without external cooling.

In the end, I decided against a regenerative displacer, as this one seems to be a great improvement on the original brass one.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Edited By steamdave on 01/04/2018 10:28:23

Over on HMEM there was a discussion about cut knurling tools a while back which you may care to read.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=27010&highlight=knurling+tool

Dave
The Emerald Isle

...Changing the drawbar. My mill has one of those drawbars that use differential threads. What a pain in the a... I'm screwing the darn thing for ages to release the tool and if the new tool has a slightly different MT length, I have to be very careful that there is enough thread in the new tool because next time the drawbar unscrews from it, the tool might not be ejected but the drawbar is separated from the tool.
A simple top hat captive drawbar is far superior.
Apologies if this has drifted off topic, but might be a consideration in choice of machine. Maybe R8 is a good choice of tool-holding, depending on size of machine contemplated.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Thanks for the replies, gents.

The engine in question is the Polly version of the Robinson hot air engine; they supply a brass spinning for the displacer piston. I have bored this out to give about 10 thou wall thickness but as you say JB, brass conducts too much heat, hence the search for a better solution. I may give the stainless a go using your suggestion. If I can't get success that way, I'll revert to the mild steel.

Being a member of HMEM, I don't visit MEM except in leap years. (Can't see many pics of projects there and there's no point in joining just to repeat the few posts I put on the other site.)

Dave
The Emerald Isle

I want to make a regenerative displacer for a hot air engine, size approx 1-1/2" dia x 1-1/2" high. Heat source will hopefully be a tea light, but probably end up being a mini gas ring to make the engine work.

Materials available are:
1. Mild steel pipe which can be machined to size. Top and bottom caps - easy to silver solder in place.
2. 316 Stainless steel bar easy to silver solder top and bottom caps, but apart from the waste, can I machine a solid lump to leave about 10 thou wall thickness, I ask myself.
3. Brass shimstock which would have to be rolled and silver soldered, hoping I would not burn away the joint area when soldering it all together.
4. Aluminium which would have to have the top and bottom pieces JB Welded. Would the heat source, assuming the gas ring be too much for the JB Weld?
There could be a combination of materials for side and top/bottom pieces if advantageous.

So, the question is: which of the materials available to me would the knowledgeable use?

Dave
The Emerald Isle

There are many Yahoo groups for particular machine tools and there may well be a download of the required manual in the files section. There certainly are for the Myford and Harrison lathes.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/myfordlathes/info
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/harrisonlathe/info

Groups will require joining to access the files.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Edited By steamdave on 05/03/2018 11:53:24