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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: Metal filler?
20/08/2009 19:21:46
JB Weld is the best that I've used.  We've build 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 
Thread: Metric vs Imperial - Practical or Traditional?
19/08/2009 19:31:42
Hey Ian SC,
 
The States don't use the metre, they have something called the meter, which I believe is similar and used by the US auto industry.
 
And, I've just seen the best yet, rail standard gauge (gage in the US) is now 1,440mm. 
 
Ian
18/08/2009 10:47:09
I believe that my 90 year old Randa lathe was built to the old Stephenson "that's about right" standard, as in standard gauge railways.
 
Ian 
17/08/2009 21:15:33
Sorry, the other Ian got in while this Ian was composing the last post.....
 
Our steel supplier over at Paignton says that it's a toss up when an order of material comes in whether they are getting imperial dimensions or metric, could be 1/8" steel or 3mm steel. 
 
And, what's the betting that the concrete slab people have someone 'round the back with a grinder, taking 9.6mm of concrete off the 2' slabs. Some EU regulation no doubt.
 
This subject could go on forever, I think I'll restrain myself from posting any more, no matter how much my fingers twitch.
 
Ian 
17/08/2009 20:59:13
Ah, yes, but you can no longer buy a 4" brick or a 2' slab.  They only sell 101.6mm bricks and 609.6mm slabs.
 
Ian 
17/08/2009 20:26:14
This isn't intended to comment either way, but more about not being smart.
 
In the early nineties, the University of Alberta in Canada had a new theatre built.  Being Canadian, it was built to metric standards.  The measurements in some cases were in millimetres, with values such as 18,288mm.  Which only takes a decimal point or two to make sense of, but why?
 
The real problem here, even before the building was finished, was that the entire theatre and building industries in Canada work in Imperial measurements.  This was before we had embraced CAD completely, so I was "offered" the task of spending a week at the drawing board with the architect's plans, redrawing the entire building plans and sections from 50:1 to 1/4" scale, so that the templates for lighting and set design could be used.
 
Then, the really stupid thing was that all the metric measurements turned out to be direct conversions from 8' x 4' sheets of plywood and 4" x 2" dimensional timber, so a 40' wide stage using five 8' sheets of ply, became a 12,192mm stage using five 2,438.4mm sheets of ply.
 
Nothing wrong with metric/Imperial, as long as the people who use them aren't idiots.
 
Ian 
 
17/08/2009 10:29:02
At school in the fifties, we were taught all measurement systems, Imperial, metric, avoirdupois, paper, rod, pole, perch, nautical, bushels, pounds, shillings and pence, Roman numerals.................
 
I feel more comfortable with Imperial, but whatever is on the paper is what I work with.  It 'aint difficult.  If you are using a decent CAD program, a click of the mouse changes everything to whichever.  Digital calipers do the same. I have a cheap calculator which does the conversion math for me nowadays on account of the brain atrophy.  I have rulers and verniers in both Imperial and metric, which I can't read without a watchmaker's loupe.
 
I worked for years in Canada, which is metric ('cos of the minority in Quebec, but don't get me started) but most of the materials and equipment came from the States, we coped.  If I'm shopping, 25mm is about an inch, 13mm, half an inch,  100m, a bit more than 100yd, 1k, 5/8 of a mile........     My bike speedo came from India, it's in kilometers:  50k= 30mph,  80k=50mph.  The bus I ride on when it's raining has a tachograph, marked in kilometers, but the bus driver doesn't care, 'cos the bus won't go fast enough on Devon country roads to be speeding.
 
In the end, it's all just numbers. 
 
Ian 
 
Thread: Clock making materials
15/08/2009 09:49:23
Rebar tying wire might have a bigger diameter, I'm trying to remember from when we built the house on Salt Spring Island.  Mechanic's wire, the stuff we used to lock bolts with should be finer, maybe fifteen thou.  Auto parts suppliers in both Canada and here in the UK should still keep it.
 
Ian 
Thread: Hss or Carbide Tooling?
09/08/2009 21:01:43
I used to sharpen all my drills freehand and they were dead on.   Now I can't see the end of the drill, so I bought a sharpener a couple of years ago, makes as good a job as i ever did.  I think I paid about $120 when I was in Canada, 'bout sixty five quid.
 
On finishing cuts.  If I even thought about not shaving a thou off on the final cut, a big hand from my apprenticeship would appear and slap me round the ear.  It's one of those things that decades can't erase.  I still can't pick up a hacksaw or file without hearing the voices... "... and don't rock the saw!"  "... keep that file flat!"  The neuroses that I'm packing around from then are scary.
 
Ian 
Thread: Shed insulation
08/08/2009 10:10:05
I lived on the Canadian Prairies for a number of years and one learns a lot about keeping warm.  Before glass fibre and foam were available, wood shavings were used.  The elfins didn't like it because it's  not fireproof, but you're in a wooden building with a wooden floor and lots of oil.......   When I was a kid, we used to get shavings from the wood yard down the road, they liked us to take it away for our rabbit's bedding and such.  Not sure if one can still do that.  Some kind of vapour barrier is essential to stop dust migrating into everything.  The cheapest is a roll of bin bags.
 
Gas heaters produce lots of moisture, but as we're all engineers here, fitting up a heat exchanger 'aint too much of a problem, safer too if you're using solvents.  Working on heavy equipment at 40° below freezing, we'd throw a parachute over the machine and lay a 25 foot length of stove pipe from end to end with a 300,000 btu propane torch in one end, toasty and no fumes.
 
Now, I tend to do things like putting up geodesic domes to work in.  As we like to live in the less than populated areas, like a few miles off Dartmoor, we call them tents and the planning people don't bother us.  For a given area, a dome is the cheapest to put up and easiest to heat, especially if a layer of greenhouse polly is put on both sides of the frame.  Bonus here is that she who must be obeyed can keep her tomatoes in your greenhouse.  In fact, as far as the council is concerned, it is a greenhouse.  'Course, the bright lights and screeching of tool against cast may need a little explaining to the neighbours.
 
 Now back to my assigned task.
 
Ian 
Thread: Hss or Carbide Tooling?
05/08/2009 10:16:28
HSS generally can be given a much better edge than carbide tips.  Unfortunately, the edge dulls way faster, so sharpening frequently is essential.  For wood working, carbide is only good for fast work and lengthy periods between tool maintenance.
For metal, I only use carbide tips for castings and a useful supply if one knows someone is a workshop where auto brake drum and disc turning is done.
I picked up a blue diamond, bell shaped  tool from a workshop getting on for thirty years ago and I'm still using it.  It was past its best for production work, but works well for me.  Come to think about it, most of my stuff is cast offs.
The one thing for a beginner sharpening HSS to watch out for is to avoid overheating the tip when sharpening, so as not to lose the temper.  Ultra cool, much coolant.   I use a nice open white wheel for HSS run dry.  Another cast off.  The hole is way to big for any arbour, so I carefully mount it on the three jaw chuck in the Randa at about 500 rpm.  There isn't much dust, but a piece of rag draped over the bed keeps any stray grit away.  One advantage here is that a tool can be mounted on the top slide for consistent, accurate passes.
 
Ian 
Thread: Magazine supplies from Smiths reduced in 15% of stores
29/07/2009 11:58:09
Our newsagent doesn't appear to have been experiencing difficulties, but I'll ask him when I go in on Friday.
 
Subscriptions don't work when one's address changes fairly frequently either. 
 
Regards
Ian 
Thread: Hunslet 5" Loco
29/07/2009 11:50:25
Is this a solid half round, or a shaped piece of metal like half a tube?
 
If it's the latter, how about starting with a 2" tube and having it bent at an auto exhaust  shop, then splitting it along the centre line.
 
A casting would work, but rather expensive.
 
Regards
Ian 
Thread: Metro Article
22/07/2009 19:25:43
Thanks Richmond.
 
Regards
Ian 
22/07/2009 17:04:29
Hi there,
 
Is there a part 7?
 
Regards
Ian 
14/07/2009 20:01:39
Hi there,

What issues were the Metro series in?   I have copies back to the sixties, though with some gaps when I was unable to get them.

I need to dig in the pile of boxes for some other reference books, so I'll try for the ME's too.

Ian 
Thread: lathe tool cutting oils
11/07/2009 17:01:36
WD 40 has always worked well for turning, drilling and tapping. 
I use a squirt bottle on the lathe and drill to keep well away from the sharp and whirring bits, standing carefully to one side of or below the work.  Always have a line of oil up the wall, across the ceiling and back via the floor from the lathe and a horizontal one from the drill.   Three-in-One of course works well too, doesn't fly as far though.
As well, I used to have a can of "cutting oil", which looked like WD 40 and smelled like cough syrup.  I can't remember the name, as the painted label rusted off due to the proximity to the Pacific Ocean.  The salt air there would rust metal through a thick layer of oil.  I left it there, thinking that in time, the can would rot away from the contents and waterproof the bench.
I used way more cutting oil than necessary when turning, so that the lathe would be coated in oil.  When I turned wood, I left the shavings on the bed to absorb the oil to help form a barrier to the damp.

Ian 
Thread: Electric motors
11/07/2009 16:37:30
I ran my bandsaw and Randa lathe on 110v 1435 rpm washing machine motors for thirty years in Canada.  Should have brought a few back with me.  Didn't cost me a penny, as they all came from discarded machines.

I did bring most of my power tools (but not the bench grinder) along with a generator and a few inverters.

There is however, a washing machine in the barn with the lathe's name on it...... 

Ian 
10/07/2009 18:19:31
I had a bench grinder on which the capacitor failed.  Being cheap, I didn't buy a new one, but spun the wheel up with a (gloved) hand before starting it.  Worked well like this for years.  Perhaps disconnecting your capacitor and doing a hand start, may help until you find a permanent solution.
Could be like starting an old Seagull outboard.

Ian 
Thread: Long term rust prevention
10/07/2009 18:10:47
Take a look at Workshop Heaven, they have the new generation rust treatment and prevention products from Shield Technology.  They are very good and not expensive.

Usual disclaimers.....

http://www.workshopheaven.com/estore/

Ian 
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