Member postings for Fowlers Fury

"Pedantic from me - we're talking about chloroethane not chloromethane..."

Mike., mea culpa and apology.

In mitigation, I was schooled in the old chemical nomenclature of methyl/methylene, ethyl/ethylene, propyl/propylene etc followed by the attached halogen radical. Before my retirement IUPAC decided to change it all by putting the radical first & calling them halogenoalkanes. So ethyl chloride became chloroethane and so on. Aged brains like mine had to cope with usage of both names, often leading to carelessness as in reading the b.p. of chloromethane instead of chloroethane. (Unless watched, spell checkers will “correct” one’s “errors” as typing this has proven).
It has become worse I fear, since once familiar names are now described as obsolete !
For example acetylene is now ethyne (not to be confused with ethene, previously known as ethylene) and acetone is now propanone.

John Paton wrote: "that is interesting and a little worrying. I use ether both for 'pepping up' stale fuel for model diesel engines and also in the form of easy start for petrol engines. How much do you need to breathe in to cause a heart problem?"
John,
Ether (Diethyl ether) is not a chlorinated compound so the cardiac sensitising effect of methyl chloride (chloromethane) & other chlorinated solvents isn't an issue for you. (Explosion risk is another matter !)

Pedantic P.S. for Neil, boiling point of chloromethane is: -24.2°C

"As it boils at about 12.5C, perhaps it was partially filled with liquid which was allowed to evaporate and provide a mixture for general anaesthesia."
It was in common use as a GA at the beginning of the 20thC but even then only administered as a spray onto a gauze mask. It is a potent anaesthetic but the induction is rapid and dose/response very steep so easy to administer a lethal dose. Like all volatile chlorinated liquids it was found to cause cardiac sensitivity. As a young apprentice pharmacist I remember local jewellers coming to replace their empty glass vials for LA ear-piercing.

Am I alone in suffering a different problem after machining CI ?
SWMBO complains about the rust "stains" left in the (utility room) sink next morning after having washed my hands (myself that is) the previous night despite my flushing with copious amounts of water (the sink that is).
I've now been given a dedicated plastic bowl to use for hand washing and instructions to empty contents into outside drain.
Forced to concede there's justifcation for her complaint; it happened with stainless steel sink in last house and with acrylic sink now. The minute particles of iron lodge in the minute surface scratches and presumably swell when rusted overnight to jam themselves into the tiny gaps. Other than divorce, disposable gloves or washing my hands with Jenolite, none of which is desirable - I dutifully comply with the enforced regime.

Ethyl chloride was and still is, used as a local anaesthetic e.g for piercing ear lobes and other bodily parts I prefer not to think about.
Quite possibly that's not the original top/valve (brass different colour?).
You can see a few 'antique' cylinders in Google Images>
**LINK**

If the stripped threads are external on the tank can you not turn up a nylon or polyethylene 'bung'?
Conversely, if the threads are internal, then turn up a push-on cap?

Steve., apologies unnecessary.
"How I missed it is beyond me but miss it I did"
That's the story of my life. Tonight I've just milled a radial slot 90deg out.
Totally obvious from the drawing "....but miss it I did"

"I'm getting worried about how much cast iron dust gets into the slide mechanism of my ML7, "

Buy some rare-earth magnets, put it in small plastic bag and attach bag safely near or on cutting tool - even on exit end of a CI cylinder if using a between-centres boring bar.
You'll collect a good %age of the CI dust which can then be dumped by taking magnets out of the plastic bag.

I bought a pack of these and super-glued 2 rows of 5 into drilled holes in a piece of brass = flat outer surface..
**LINK**

"It doesn't have the triangular shaped stop."
Not querying that and sorry for any confusion. It was just that your picture at first sight appeared to show the same type of end-stop as mine but closer examination then revealed the differences - hence the edit.
Would it be worth drilling your end-stop for a silver steel rod, secured by a screw somehow? I''ve considered doing that on mine when sharpening the ends of short centre drills, thus avoiding an imprecise loose "spacer" in the jig.

Re: your 2 queries about the Reliance.
(1) You shouldn't need any spacer for shorter drills. Take off the end stop and replace it so the triangular part now points forward, to lay along the groove as below:-

(2) Looking at the images of your 2 drills, it doesn't appear there's enough back-off from the cutting edges. As there's no adjustment on the jig for the angle ~ are following the Reliance instructions for overhang vs. diameter? Also you must pull the drill carrier back against the stop i.e. towards you with the lip aligned vertically as described. Then advance the whole jig up to the wheel so it's just touching. Release the little knurled screw and push back the drill carrier to traverse the wheel. Then of course advance the "cut" with the bottom screw after slackening the others before retightening.

In the above image, there's a new Dormer 10mm drill against the wheel. You might just about be able to see the angle is correct.

Edit: I ought to have paid more attention to your post and images. I now see you have a smaller Reliance jig and therefore the comments above may not be applicable. IF you ever spot a larger size Reliance for sale,
snap it up !!

Edited By Fowlers Fury on 07/08/2018 22:51:48

Duncan....
Herewith url for the article on PTFE-FILLED rings.
My apologies, I thought it concerned PEEK but I adapted his methodology for PEEK CA30.
Offer to provide additional information stands.

**LINK**

I think, from my research, you're raising one of the most controversial topics in m.e. !
Likewise having GM cylinder castings (1.5" D) I began looking for suitable metal rings - far too expensive to buy ready-made (e.g. in stainless or PB).
Ordinary O rings were regularly reported to be intrinsically unsuitable for piston rings - according to many experts online & in mags.
So then I purchased the expensive Fluorosint (PTFE+mica) and made rings with scarf joints. More dire warnings surfaced about its considerable expansion at steam temps and consequential need to reduce their diameter at room temp to allow for this.
But of course it was then impossible to run the engine on air.......bugger.
Next, I saw an article on David Carpenter's website about the use of PEEK for rings. "Much preferable to PTFE blah, blah...." The article contained compicated equations for allowing an overlapping joint to close up at steam temps whilst still allowing running on air. Eventually I contacted the author who explained the maths and acknowledged some errors. But ~ the job required several jigs to be made. I decided to buy PEEK-CA30*.
I made the jigs, rings and fitted them. (Finding old articles on http://modelengineeringwebsite.com is difficult so if you're interested, I can provide a copy as well as some of the many pitfalls not covered by the author).
Satisfied after all this effort, I put steam at 40 psi into the GM cylinders only to find they were extremely porous castings and were fit only for scrap..........bugger again, even more so.
Now in the process of maching cast iron cylinders & will joyfully use CI rings.

I appreciate there are innumerable reports of successful use of O rings over many years and PTFE rings similarly. But searching the properties of PTFE and various additives (graphite, mica, glass fibre etc) makes the cautious-minded hesitate if the prospect of running on air is a literal & metaphorical non-starter.

*
PEEK CA30 has a linear thermal expansion coefficient of half that of Fluorosint Mica and a melt point of 340⁰C. In addition the manufacturers state:-

“PEEK CA30 offers higher stiffness and strength than both PEEK and PEEK HPV. In addition it has superior long term creep properties at elevated temperatures of up to 250°C. These features make PEEK CA30 ideal for applications involving high static loads.
• Wide operating range (-20°C to +250°C)
• Excellent hydrolysis resistance
• Excellent mechanical strength / stiffness
• Outstanding dimensional stability
• Exceptional wear resistance”

Re: Clive Foster's posting, whilst not professing much (if any) knowledge of the finer points of drill geometry, I fully endorse all his comments about "perfectly flat and perfectly aligned at 90° to the......etc".
For me, recognising such came from early failures to grind drills accurately with the Reliance jig.
As recommended to "fishy-steve", a means to keep alignment of the Reliance at 90° to the wheel is essential.
In the image below, I raised the diamond wheel so that drill points were close as possible to its centre line. This was done with a ms block which also provides the guide for in & out movement of the jig. Drill sharpening now seems accurate and although noting the "don't use a diamond wheel with HSS", I'm not aware of any decrement in HSS drill performance. I have though found it important to follow the Reliance instructions with respect to drill 'overhang' vs. its diameter.
(I gave up trying to get 4-facet drill points on the Quorn - far too much time spent & seldom achieving a central point of intersection).

A 'real' Reliance kit works very well for someone like me who can't grind tist drills by hand with any accuracy.
Does though take a while to get familiar with it and it's essential to have a copy of, and to follow, the original instructions - which "Peak4" is copying 4U.
However the full instructions have been posted here (scroll down to the bottom):-

**LINK**

I'd recommend that you install it on a flat surface and screw a length of ms alongside so you can slide the unit accurately towards and away from the wheel. At risk of inviting major criticism, I use the side of the wheel since only a few thou need to be removed to sharpen the drill.
(The cheap alloy sharpener, purchased before the Relaince, was dispatched to the bin)

Matt H. wrote "If you plump for an ML10, try and get one with the integrated motor mount. It makes it much easier to mount the lathe on a benchtop should you go that route".

......and it brought back the wretched memories of trying to line up the separate motor mount, with drive belt in place, reaching over the ML10, trying to hold it all in position whilst marking out the bench for the fixing holes ~ a right PITA. I fully endorse his recommendation !
<><><>
Looking in the xls index of Model Engineer articles 1959-98 there are many refs to the ML10 and accessories.
For example:- No. 3771, 156, "Some Modifications to the Myford ML10 Lathe".

Edited By Fowlers Fury on 29/07/2018 12:15:45 (Tried to insert table from xls, didn't work)

Edited By Fowlers Fury on 29/07/2018 12:18:15

For what it's worth (probably not much).......
I began m.e. with a 2nd hand ML10 and with it built Robin Dyer's Clayton Undertype wagon - a big model.
The build called for boring out the "rear axle & differential" unit to within a thou, over (from memory) 4".
The old ML10 did it exactly under self-act to my surprise. In fact the ML10 performed admirably throughout.
Yes, the absence of a gap-bed can be a constraint as can the absence of clutch on older models but if you're attracted to an ML10 go for it.

As Andrew T has written above "Nowt wrong with a good ML10. etc...."

Edited By Fowlers Fury on 28/07/2018 12:29:22

Like you - I'm somewhat 'electrically challenged' ! But when the hand-operated swtich packed up on my 1ph Startrite drill, I purchased a suitable foot switch and cable. Easy enough to wire it in place of failed switch.
IMHO a foot operated on/off swtich for a drill is always much safer for the operator.
There's loads of 240v 15A "foot swtiches" on Fleabay for about £8.

"At most of the Model Engineering Exh’s I have been to there has been a stand with somebody demonstrating his drill bits by drilling through files.Perhaps someone can remember the stand name (I cannot)."

I remember the stand & demos well enough and I thought he was selling German Frei drills but advancing age has affected memory [as well as other functions].
I'll occasionally look at the American website "Instructables" - often good for laugh. There are several illustrated postings on making knives from old files:-
**LINK**

(I also remember the short, bearded guy at ME exhibitions who sold American-made diamond files with his animated demonstrations. I succumbed to buying a pack (handle and 3 grades of diamond file). Certainly one of the best buys ever and in constant use.So much so I never used a whetstone thereafter. They finally became worn after a few years but he stopped appearing at exhibitions. Fortunately I located a UK supplier but they're now on Amazon. The files are EdgeCrafter.

(Edit to remove unwanted emoji)

Edited By Fowlers Fury on 18/07/2018 16:45:18

"Security screws must be a near pointless exercise as security bit sets are so widely available that every tinkerer must have a set."

So true ! I think I paid about GBP10 in Aldi a few years back for a boxed set of bits. Must be over 50 in there including some weird & wonderful ones for fasteners I've never seen.
One annoyance though is when the designers place the "tamper-proof" fastener deep down inside a narrow hole as on most of my 2 stroke garden machines. The extension pieces for the bits/sockets are always just wider than the deep hole : - (

Likewise, my genuine Abrafiles gave up the ghost years ago. But I've since used these Vitrex saw blades with reasonable success in my (powerful) scroll saw:-

**LINK**