Member postings for Ramon Wilson

Yep, there's another one here too

Comes fully fitted out with Power feed, digi readout, R8 taper, 8" R/T, 5" vise, tilting vise, variable angle plate, angle plate, collet chuck with met/imp collets Er 24 collets, Stevenson hex block collet holder, carbide tooling, hss cutters etc etc.

It too is eight years old, bought for my seventieth birthday but if its had a total of three months work in the time since it's been overworked! virtually all of the tooling and RT are unused

Reason for sale is age related and space requirement.

It has to go soon

If you can increase that space available Chris I have a very good Amadeal R8 taper RV30 mill and lots of kit for around your budget. See the for sales section for details and take a look in my album for images

I have done little to sell this so far save mention and advertise it on here but have now re arranged my workshop and mill is the next to go.

PM me if you are interested and we can talk things over

Best - Tug

Mark - they are still sold as 'enamels' as distinct from their 'acrylic' range. Humbrol sell paints under both descriptions. According to 'e models' they are oil based but whether they are I'm not certain. They are definitely not acrylic as most of us would be aware of as acrylic.

As alluded to previously I've been a long time user and do still have quite a number of old tins (14ml it seems not 13ml ) to call on on the odd occasion.

My view that they are not as good as they used to be is based on the recent painting of two control line models where the paint was 'thin' by comparison and took far too long to dry between coats - remaining vaguely 'sticky' for some days. All done in a good warm environment too.

This is not to knock Humbrol - they've served the modelling community well enough for far to long but the latest 'enamel' is not what it used to be both from a coverage nor drying perspective.

I have never used their acrylic range so can't comment but my preference is for Tamiya and latterly the new AK Real Colour - which I have found to be a very good paint - for what it is designed for

You will have no issue applying Humbrol or most enamel paint over 'cellulose' based' surfaces but as others have said not the other way around. Let the cellulose surface 'gas off' for a day or so though before applying though to prevent any reaction.

Humbrol paint, I'm afraid to say though, is not the paint it used to be. Probably down to legislation but it's make up is not the same and it does not perform like it used to. Not much of an alternative out there in small volumes except Hannants Extra Colour Enamel

The (modelling) acrylic paints of which there are a vast amount to choose from will often crack if put over cellulose surfaces - bit like a Chinese vase - but the AK Real Colour acrylics (in the glass jars) are lacquer based so may prove ideal. Tamiya also do a lacquer based range now as well.

As a basic guide where the model acrylic paint is concerned there are fundamentally two types - polyurethane based, usually presented in small polythene bottles and the lacquer based which normally come in glass jars or bottles.

Incidentally when I bought my first tinlet of red enamel paint from the 'Humber Oil Company' (pre Humbrol) it was 9d - nine old pence. I think the cost for the same size 13ml tinlet is now around £2.50

Hope that helps some - Tug

Well, there you have it Lee, (see the OP) official confirmation from an inside source All you have to do now is find a retail outlet for one.

FWIW I had a decent bowl of the Bird's instant stuff last night poured over some blackberries - lovely

Best - Tug

To answer File Handles question on the best method to drill very small holes through small pins or bolts I have found it is best to make a simple drilling jig from a small piece of MS. Even brass will do if the number of holes is to be small.

I use the cheap drills 61-80 and have found those supplied by Proops to be among the better.

Split Pins are easily made from wire scraped to half round section before cutting to length and bending into a pin - one leg slightly longer than the other of course

Here are some pics of those done for the governor pins on the Waller Engine

The drill jig and pin. Pin hole is about 20 thou

The wire is clamped tight to a piece of steel

and scraped to a half section using a piece of HSS tool blank

The pin is approx 2mm diameter, the split pin is 1/64 silver steel (yes that is right)

16 BA is the smallest I have threaded (the nut is 10 BA)

The parts all together. All six pins on the linkage have turned washers and fitted with split pins

All realtively easy to achieve so hope that's of interest to the OP and others

Best - Tug

Oh yes, a split pin is a split pin, a cotter, as said, is a totally different beast but that's our American cousins for you

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 14/08/2023 22:21:48

I grow two varieties of Rhubarb and have a prolific cultivated Blackberry that produces huge fruits so am in constant need of custard.

Bird's 'ready to mix' in packets - just add hot water and stir - is our preferred choice. Quick, easy, just the right amount of sweetness and goes with the above a treat - bugger trying to grow your own

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 13/08/2023 15:55:39

I'll let you have the last say on this Jason, I'm just getting to old to lock horns over something that as you say is moving on.

I will say this though when I began model engineering 1972-ish that's what I wanted to do - 'engineer' something - not have someone do it for me or a machine to work it all out. Of course you had to move the dial by hand but you have to do it with skill and knowledge and that took a lot of time to acquire - CNC is not the same in that situation and that's after spending the last three years of my working life programming and operating a Haas machining centre writing all the g-code for one offs by hand - no CAM at all.

As I said the world is changing - I don't really wish to move with it now, far too old but if these three engines, all carved by hand by conventional machining were sat next to three identical ones done entirely by CNC I think it would be very unfair to judge one against the other

My italics but that's an assumption.

Jason,

Purchasing plans from which to read then turn into a creation - at your own hands - is totally different from purchasing a digital file from someone else, creating it by whatever computer generated means at your disposal and then claiming it as 'handiwork. However, the cardigan knitted for me from a pattern by my other half - took her a couple of years to actually make it mind you - but every stitch was hers. Had she have taken that design and allowed a computer to create it it could hardly be called 'handiwork' or 'craftwork' as it has been traditionally accepted.

A casting is a basic building block - buying a brick does not make one a housebuilder

We are living in a technological rapidly changing world. I have not noticed anyone specifically mentioning 3D printing of which I have no knowledge save that as a user of (some) products. For years I have gained enjoyment from plastic modelling and the enjoyment gained from enhancing models with after market products - that can be painted and even further still be improved upon.

Now though we have self adhesive three dimensional 'decals' pre painted ready to fit cockpit dash boards and panels for a vast number of projects the need to actually model eliminated at a stroke. Extremely detailed and realistic the only work required is to peel the backing paper off and stick it in place. No doubt fine for some but taking the hobby down the wrong road to my mind. It will not be long before the entire cockpit is available I shouldn't wonder and even perhaps the whole model - just buy it and display it. Wheres the handicraft in that I wonder.

Buying a design is one thing - we have all been doing that for years and indeed many before us but 'making something from it by hand' is another - the clue I guess is in the term 'handiwork'

Always you pays your money etc

Best - R

I guess it serves to show how 'things have changed' by so many replies that have picked up on the CAD/CAM versus 'physically' created by hand rather than the OP Tony's remark that the item is, quote 'commercially available on line' unquote.

How it's created should have no reference to the question as if one creates something either by knife and fork, pen and paper or indeed computer based methods its none the less a 'creation' by an individual.

To go to the local emporium or on line and purchase something, whether built by an individual or a commercial item, to enter or pass off as one's own work cannot in any way be considered as 'handicraft'

Simples

Tug

Fully agree too Tony - doesn't matter whether it was done by normal means or CNC because if, as you state, it was 'commercially available on line' then it is not a 'handicraft' - anyone can have one if they are prepared to part with the cash.

I well remember a conversation with an entrant at an Old Warden Scale day who had flown this beautifully built twin engined Bristol Beaufighter R/C model which subsequently had won the best model award. I asked him how long he had taken to build it - Oh I didn't build it, he said, I bought it from the person who did. Hollow victory in my book so do send your letter but check the spelling of techneques (sic)

Best - Tug

Dalboy, - unfortunately no, the vise will not prevent the stresses releasing though it will do so until the vise is undone.

Dell's deep cut of the tee slot is what was the main cause and is something I would have expected to happen if done without allowing the stress to ease by lighter machining and releasing from the vise for those stresses to ease gradually.

As Nigel says brass is particularly bad for this but can sometimes be reshaped it the part will allow it.

A similar situation to this was experienced at work. Thin, slightly distorted heat treated parts could not be held down to the magnetic chuck by magnetism to be ground initially - the magnetism would actually straighten the part which would then resume its distortion once released. Parts, sometimes many of them, would be stuck down to the chuck using double sided sticky tape and the initial cut gingerly taken to take the bow out. The sticky job of removing the tape had to be done before holding them in the correct fashion to bring them flat. A one off might similarly be held in a vise to create a flat surface before using the mag chuck.

Not quite the same as distortion caused by stress release on CRS but similar in the way the material is dealt with to create a flat surface

Please note - I am not advocating holding parts down by the sticky tape for milling !!

Tug

Hi Jason

Cutting a notch in one side is not 'machining it all over' which is the point I'm making - why bother if it's to be removed.

I very quickly learnt so many years ago that using bright mild steel surfaces as rolled as a finished surface is not ideal - indeed my first frames did exactly as you describe.( Later frames were 'black mild steel' with the oxidation removed before machining).

Machining any small component either in part or all over from stock CRS is always fraught with the likely potential of distortion so its either annealing or careful and slow removal of metal working from face to face to eliminate the stresses relieved and that is not always successful in that aim.

The surfaces of cold rolled steel vary with size and they are not always as flat one would assume so initial machining all over is often necessary.

I've been luck over later years in having a small amount of offcuts of a steel termed UHB11 to use. It is completely stress free and large cuts can be taken from one side of a component without any fear of distortion - but most are not so lucky

Hope you are well - R

Why would you need to protect material from oxidising if you are annealing it in the first place to stress relieve it for machining all over?

Just heat treat it then machine it. A good home method of annealing steel is to plunge it at red heat deep into preserved fire ash and allow to cool slowly. The ash needs to be deep enough to allow a good insulation all round.

Incidentally this method can be used to soften hardened steel balls for drilling etc for use as governor balls.

Wrapping to prevent oxidising is only necessary if the surface actually requires preserving after machining eg hardening

Tug

Bo'sun is correct.

Cold rolled steel (CRS) or 'Bright Mild Steel' flat bar has a lot of stress within the material that is released upon cutting any surface. Depending on the stock section and the amount of material removed the bending can be quite excessive.

Hot rolled steel, usually black in colour has far less stress locked in and usually machines quite well. The material is not always square however so a different approach in intitial sizing is required.

There are ways of eliminating the stress when machining CRS - annealing it beforehand is one, the other is to machine it down to block size (the size of the part) by taking successive cuts from each face to eliminate or reduce the bending to a minimum

Hope that helps - Tug

Hi Geoff,

I've only ever used En24t for the cranks in my attempts but they are much larger of course. I would think En8M would be fine.

With a cast iron piston the best material for an unhardened liner is plain old leaded mild steel (FC En1a). Easier to machine to a fine finish, laps well and is a great running combination with CI.

I made eighteen scaled up 5cc diesel engines in total, the first had a cast liner and though still good compression after running it soon lost that 'firmness' of the initial set up. The second had a liner made from a tough steel (CR8) which proved very testing machining the ports with home made tooling.

I then read an article about using 'cast in steel' as a set up for diesel or glow engines using leaded mild steel and made all the others in that fashion. None were hardened (by case hardening) and all proved to give excellent and lasting compression. (You should try hand flicking one of the Hunters)

Again nothing wrong with using EN8 - just wouldn't use it myself.

Hope you've got plenty of fuel - it's getting harder to source these days and quite expensive for what it is.

Best - Tug

Hello Margaret,

When I bought my first 'real' lathe - a Myford ML 10 - it was only fitted with a clamp and nut for holding any tool. Shimming various tooling became a nightmare of not only working out the total thickness of shims for any specific tool but a real struggle keeping together lots of pieces of shims with each tool

I bought a short length of mild steel bar 1/2 x 1 1/2 (12 x 38) and cut it into short pieces about 2" long. I milled a groove in these using the lathe, holding each piece by the tool clamp using a shim to get the position the right height.

With the parts slotted they were then cross drilled for 2 BA grub screws and each fitted with a 1/4 x 1/4 HSS tool blank. The tools were ground by hand and shimmed in the holders to give a poor mans quick change independent tooling which did me proud until I updated to an ML7 (and then later still a Super 7) when I bought a Myford Dickson QCTP. I have never regretted that purchase and apart from a boring bar holder and knurling tool something I still use to this day for all turning including parting off.

Hope that's of further thought

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 24/07/2023 18:33:22

Well how about that Keith - on a side port engine too!.

The only time I saw - more like heard - a shaft run was at a Nats when a speed model clipped the deck shearing both prop blades - the instantaneous increase in revs was something to be witnessed but no, never heard of one occurring when being started.

There is a well know pic of someone starting a control line aerobatic model at a major competition the camera capturing the exact moment the prop is spinning off the engine shaft about 2 inches in front of the model and the revolutions caught in three distinct turns in front of the person starting it

Geoff - if you are able to incorporate it the tapered collet system is the best of all allowing tight grip but easy removal. The angle wants to be 15 - 20 degrees (30 to 40 inclusive) too fine and it can lock. Don't make the collet from ali as it will in all probability gall and bind solid

Keep on enjoying yourself

Tug

Geoff - here are six pics from my ETA build described on MEM (I think)

Boring the prop driver blank with the topslide set at the required angle

Reverse turning a taper mandrel with the topslide unmoved

Holding the blanks on the mandrel to knurl the front face

Revers turning the brass collet

Parting the collet off leaving a small step

Finished items. The collet must bear against a shoulder on the crank shaft to resist the tightening forces. The step cut in the rear face of the collet is to enable a small lever to prise it off. No step - very difficult!

Hope that helps

Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 23/07/2023 12:27:32

Hello Geoff,

A 'thrown prop' is when the prop becomes loose - usually when flicking to start it. The engine comes up on compression and the force loosens the prop nut. For the most part it's just a matter of retightening it but if it occurs a lot it's best to redesign the prop driver to something more practical. Some commercial engine shafts have straight knurling with the prop diver forced on, others a slotted drive but the easiest to make and sound in design is the tapered brass collet in a taper bored prop driver - the taper needs to be an exact match though for optimum drive.

It is said that throwing a prop can lead to the engine having a shaft run - ie the prop coming off and the engine continuing to run totally unloaded but having hand started engines for so many years and throwing props on many occasions I've yet to experience that happening. Indeed in 65 years of playing with diesels I've yet to meet anyone who has!

I have some pics of the taper collet system so I will upload them for you

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 23/07/2023 12:17:22