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Member postings for Ian Abbott

Here is a list of all the postings Ian Abbott has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

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Thread: welding
13/10/2009 18:58:48
Summat's wrong wit' web site t'night......  Keeps logging me out, "Can't find the server", etc, etc....   If I get this message over I'll consider myself lucky.
 
Anyway,  years ago I bought a BernzOmatic Oxy-Propane  torch as an alternative to lugging the big bottles around for a bit of thin brazing and such.  I can't remember what the price was, but it was quite cheap.
 
I looked on the Bernz web site and their page is:  http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS/KITS/TORCHKITS/tabid/215/ctl/Detail/mid/1147/xmid/6954/xmfid/3/Default.aspx
 
So, it's still available and would be  handy for hobby stuff.I can't get the photo albums to work, but I'll keep trying and put a picture of the torch up.
 
Ian 
 
 
Thread: drill doctor sharpener worht the money?
02/10/2009 18:30:46
I bought one in Canada about five years ago while I was there, 'bout $120 CDN at the time.  It works well.  
 
I used to do them freehand, but now I can't see the ends of the drills, but the  Drill Doctor does a good job, I have no complaints.
 
Conversions would be about $100 US or  £63 GB.  But there are different models at different prices.
 
Don't forget it'll be 120v, so you'll need a converter, so maybe get a small inverter whilst you're at it, they're pretty cheap over there. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Artillery
24/09/2009 20:03:20
Thanks, the rifling sounds straight forward then, but I doubt that I'd be making a working weapon.  However, it it does need to look right when one looks down the barrel.
 
Ian 
23/09/2009 19:57:16
Does anyone have information on rifling?  It's something that I've never approached, stuff that I made decades ago either had smooth bores or the one muzzle loading long gun was too big to consider, so it had a bought barrel.

Something that I might have a go at are drawings of a miniature starting pistol about four inches long, in the shape of a muzzle loader which I have.  I've often thought of making a copy and sharing the plans. The original is probably from around WWI, and probably involves pretty much all hand work, not much scope for machining past a few drilled holes.
 
Ian 
Thread: Techniques for engraving and etching brass
22/09/2009 20:54:02
If you can draw accurately enough, you can do what us printmakers do with asphaltum and an etching needle to produce an etching plate.
Asphaltum is cheap from Lawrences Art Supplies on line and an etching needle is anything that will scrape the stuff off when it's dry.  The process is to coat the entire thing with the asphaltum, which is basically tar, and draw the design through, onto the brass.  Where the brass is exposed, the acid will etch.
 
Another method which we use, is to stick MacTac on the brass and cut away the bits you want to etch. 
 
There is one other method which relies on a photo polymer used for things like glass etching and making photo etching plates.  A positive image on velum or acetate is put over the sheet of medium and exposed to the sun, (if you don't have a UV exposure unit) then the unexposed part is washed away with a hot spray of water.
They can be in the form of a polymer on a carrier which is stuck on the metal after it's been exposed and washed, or a substance which is brushed on an then exposed.  Both kinds are quite user friendly and should be relatively easy to find. 
 
Ian 
Thread: welding
22/09/2009 20:34:42
I did a quick search, not having heard of the Cobra.
 
So, I've not handled this torch, but any product where AMAZING! and like full caps. superlatives crop up on every line of advertising must be suspect.Looking at the torch, I'd say that it would be impossible to use in any tight corners such as a firebox and my hand would be way too close to the hot bits.  As for 4 lbs pressure, other than for cutting, that's not much different that normal acetylene pressure for a small tip.  A comment on one of the promos says that the lower pressure prevents "blowout" of the puddle, but that's not really a problem for most people.  It's been a while since I bought a torch, so I don't know how the price compares. I would be interested in what users say about it though. 
 
Ian 
 
 
 
 
Thread: Artillery
17/09/2009 20:57:01
Seriously, yes.
 
I did build a ball and cap rifle thirty years ago.  Bringing it from Canada into the UK was frowned upon, so I left the barrel and stock and just brought the lock.   I did cheat and buy the barrel for that, as machining 30" of rifled octagonal steel was beyond the old Randa's capabilities.
 
My interest would veer in the direction of  canon and small pieces from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.
 
And of course a barrel and woodwork for a ball and cap pistol.  I have some illustrations for that, but not the experience of rifling a bore.
 
Ian 
17/09/2009 20:47:03
Only if I could use them to pick off seagulls.
 
Sorry
 
Ian 
Thread: Subscribers only
17/09/2009 20:43:30
Thanks Peter,
 
I think that this is in reality, mostly an academic problem as most of us would only download articles out of curiosity rather than for any real modeling purposes.  It's way easier than thumbing through the pile of old issues, which I for one would have difficulty finding the time to do.  There's about a thousand boxed up from the last move.
 
I did spend a month several years ago, scanning several construction articles so that I could print them out into single readable volumes.
 
Never did get around to reading them.  And recently, I put them out handy....... just in case I get a minute.
 
Ian 
17/09/2009 18:15:40
Peter G. Shaw says
 "...quite frankly has to be a no-no for non-subscribers. After all, I've paid for mine."
 
So Peter, what exactly makes your money better, or worth more than the stuff paid to the newsagent?   In fact you pay less than them and arguably get better service.
 
Now a suggestion or two.  What about a scratch pad on the back cover of the magazine with a code valid for two or three weeks.   The argument that it could be used by others is the same as the fact that a subscriber could allow others to use their subscriber number, also, if nicked is good for a long time.
 
Frankly though, this problem as it is, is a none winner.   Some subscribers will always whine about not having preferential treatment and newsagent purchasers will feel miffed that they aren't appreciated.
 
Solution.  Downloading from the web site should be by a separate subscription, no free downloads for either subscribers or ad hoc buyers.  If I want to build a Metro, paying a fee for website access to aquire the articles is reasonable.  Though moderately experienced modelers could build the loco from the plans given with the magazine alone.

Ian 
 
Thread: Emgineering Glues
08/09/2009 17:53:38
Perhaps the nature of the surface is more important, but epoxies shouldn't be squeezed tight and the surface roughened as a key.  Super Glue needs perfectly mating surfaces.
Also, Super Glue is anaerobic curing, hence the exclusion of air, epoxy  is a catalytic action, so curing time is governed by the ambient temperature.  Slower curing epoxy is usually stronger.
 
Ian 
Thread: Subscribers only
04/09/2009 20:36:08
 Coal Burner states:  
"As a subscriber, we have undertaken a commitment to the magazine whereas others are what I consider 'ad-hoc' purchasers."
 
I take it then that the 40 odd years of "ad hoc" newsagent purchased support of Model Engineer stacked in the corner, (worth, I reckon at current values to be about £2,500)  isn't regarded as a "commitment".
 
When CoalBurner has subscribed for 40 years, then I'll regard him as having made a commitment.
 
Ian 
03/09/2009 20:21:56
I am very easy going on most things in life, but occasionally, a comment gets my goat.
 
Such as:   "... would be agrieved if archive content were to be released to non-subscribers."
 
Does this writer assume that none subscribers get their issues _free_ from the newsagent?
 
Ian 
Thread: OpenSource CAD
30/08/2009 09:56:38
We moved a long way east, all the way to Devon.  Now I've got Dartmouth (the original Dartmouth, not N.S.Dartmouth) mildew on my monitor.
 
Friends say that the Gulf Islands have been in a drought situation since Christmas.   Bet they've still got mildew though.
 
 I've been meaning to load Linux onto an old Windoze laptop that's kicking around here, so I'll download the CAD stuff to try.
 
Sorry about the smoke, you can have some of the downpours that we have here. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Malcolm Stride has passed on.
29/08/2009 17:58:59
This is really tragic news.
 
The Telegraph on line has a story if anyone wants to read more about it, but it is disturbing.
 
I'm sure that I speak for all of us in expressing our sympathy for their families.
 
Ian 
Thread: OpenSource CAD
28/08/2009 20:41:25
How come there are so many Linux users over there on the West Coast?  
 
BTW, I'm still trying to get Salt Spring mildew off my keyboard...
 
Ian 
Thread: true Space
26/08/2009 17:55:57
Odd, I found that it was the opposite.  Having had experience over 30 years with the old draughting machine made the change to CAD pretty easy.  Mind you this was right at the beginning when CAD programs were quite basic.  Thinking about the complexity of the Vectorworks that I'm using now, It would be an incredibly steep learning curve.
 
Personally,  CAD makes drawing possible for me now, as due to nerve damage, I don't have good fine motor skills and my pencil drawings are messy to say the least.
 
On zeroing, Vectorworks will set the origin at any point  on the board; select origin> mouse click, and it can be moved at any time.  I usually set the origin to the corner of the first view, then move to either the base line or object centre, which ever is most convenient for measuring off.  Can't remember what AutoCad does, it's been a long time since I've used it.
 
To me, the most wonderful thing about CAD is no redrawing.  The times that I've spent hours tracing a design through to a new sheet, just because of one tiny little change..........
 
Ian 
Thread: Subscribers Only Downloads
20/08/2009 20:08:30
The Subscriber's Only designation on the Springbok and Boxhill PDF's really is an insult to all the readers who buy every issue of Model Engineer and the specials, and in a lot of cases have been doing for decades.
 
Personally, I will probably never build either loco, but that's not the point.
 
For Shame!
 
Ian 
Thread: Really useful?
20/08/2009 19:33:42
1) Half pound cross pein hammer.
2) Odd legs I made at school when I was 13.
 
Others would be: 
Digital Caliper.
Oxy-acetylene welding torch.
 
Ian 
Thread: Metal filler?
20/08/2009 19:22:06
JB Weld is the best that I've used.  We've built up aluminium castings such as carb flanges and they've held.  Also useful to level a warped surface on a cast part.  It'll machine and take a thread.
 
One really handy technique for a stripped out thread, is to use a release agent on a bolt thread then build up in the hole around  it, or fill the hole and push the coated bolt in, then when it's cured, the screw backs out, leaving a nice thread.  A quick file to level the surface and it's as good as new.  I'm not sure about the maximum temperature it will take, but certainly anything on an i/c engine other than the exhaust.
 
Ian 
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