Member postings for Another JohnS

Modula? My second compiler I wrote was for Modula; got the specs out of "Software Practice and Experience" as written by N. Wirth; it's first use was to write an OS for a custom integrated circuit tester (both the ICs and the testers were custom).

Thanks for the flash-back from the past! JohnS.

Duncan - apologies, I was comparing Canada's population to the USA; cripes; the state of California has more people than in Canada (last time I checked anyway) - when I moved back from other countries to Canada, bringing my metric tools back with me, it was a bit of a shock when trying to purchase materials. To go down to the local stockist like Jason and get metric bar stock would be a dream come true!

John.

Edited By Another JohnS on 04/03/2023 12:47:34

Jason! Oh to be living in such an enlightened country!

Over here (Canada) our main stocks of material come from the USA, so getting 25mm 230m07 or an equivalent steel, would have to shipped from Europe. Almost all materials are inch based. USA is 10x the population, and probably 50x the productivity, so...

Edward;

Just FYI, there is a gentleman over on modelenginemaker who did a fantastic writeup on making his "new Kozo" shay, using small machine tools.

Chris Rueby is his name; he's a prolific builder and always interesting and mentally positive to read his postings.

I'll try and put a link in here:

Chris Rueby Shay Build

You might need to register to see the photos, so if no photos present, it's worth it in my opinion to see how he works, and how to build on small non-industrial-sized machines.

You'll note that he made 9 wheels at once, 9 in case one did not turn out, and, well, one did not turn out!

From my reading, I think Ashley Best did a great service describing how he made his 1:16 trams.

Thanks for the above information and stories, and, Jon - good luck! Post pictures, often people don't get feedback, but lack of feedback doesn't mean lack of interest.

And, of course, one of our members does interesting things - likely these have been posted before:

Boring non-square holes:

https://forum.linuxcnc.org/10-advanced-configuration/38549-non-circular-boring-linuxcnc-fun?start=0

and, not sure if this person is here, turning non-square shapes:

Somewhere, I saw someone knurling with a single-bit tool and LinuxCNC.

----

LinuxCNC is great! The best controller for home and business by far. Inexpensive, flexible.

Not for everybody, though. Some have great skills in areas, other great skills in other areas. Some fantastic designers/machinists can't get their heads around the flexibility of LinuxCNC. We all have our strengths, that comment is not meant to demean anyone.

The exchange used to be in charge of "telephone numbers" for call display. Then, with the advent of portable exchanges, anyone who controls such an exchange can assign the numbers for call display. That's a problem relating to the dissolution of the large conglomerates, such as "BT" or "Bell Canada".

There's a new RFC out called STIR - Secure Telephone Identity Revisited dated 2021; last time I checked (probably back spring timeframe) it was being implemented, but is not there yet. Maybe it will help??

(I used to go to IETF meetings, and my name is on an RFC, if you go back far enough!)

Anyway, 99% of the phone calls and text messages we get, we just don't answer. More and more, we are going back to email, unless we've put the actual contact info for phone# into our phones.

Sigh.

From my notes,

Body end thread - 3/4x12 TPI, or 19mmx2mm pitch

Spindle 9/32 x 40 TPI

but check it! My notes may be wrong, or for a different Dremel than you have.

Thanks all - will go back at it now that I know it's just slow because of the hardness, but not impossible - looking forward to having these ground and in use.

JohnS.

I decided to grind up some HSS tool bits, 1/4" size. I dug through my box of HSS tooling, and found some 1/4" sq blanks, unground.

I have not done much hand grinding in years, so maybe I'm just out of practice. (Carbide insert tooling, and not a lot of time in the workshop makes for lack of familiarity)

I had trouble grinding them - I'm wondering if anyone can decode what these are?

6 off HSS Co5

4 off VASCO SUPREME

1 Dormer Sweden K520 1/4x21/2TB 12

I might have picked these up as a gift from a retired tool and die maker a few years ago.

Anybody willing to give suggestions? Maybe I just need a pat on the back and a few words like "get on with it"

Stephen;

Lots of good info here.

You'll find in the USA that, 5" gauge is pretty non existent, it's 4-3/4" gauge. (there are some 5" in Canada, but not much)

Same with 7-1/4 and 7-1/2, East is 7-1/4, West 7-1/2.

And, the spell checker got me, Chris Rueby is " c r u e b y" without the spaces on modelenginemaker website!

John.

Stephen, my thoughts as a builder of a (great!) Tich.

- People will tell you "YES!" or "NO!" but it is totally your choice. Build what you want to build, and you are young so you'll learn skills that will take you through life. Would I build another Tich - yes. (it might be higher on the list than readers here think)

- I started my Tich when I was 14 and living in Southern Ontario, and did not finish it for a while. Teen years, university etc got in the way, but finally finished it when I was living in Europe.

- It has run in The Netherlands (has Dutch boiler certificate), Vancouver Island, tracks in Ontario and Quebec, Winnipeg, and down in the North East of USA. One track was the Waushakum Live Steamers, if you google this, it is quite the track, but after one lap I'd have to stop and empty the grate and smokebox.

- Yes, I fly on airlines with it. So long as it goes through the x-ray machine, no problem. I took the box to the local airport at a quiet time and the security people there were great at helping me, it meant no problems for me or them during a busy time.

- I have some Welsh steam coal. No problem with 2 adults (one quite large) on the flat Winnipeg track. Or two (me and a teenage lady) on the Vancouver Island Model Engineers track.

- saying that, it is a difficult locomotive to fire. If you like challenges (I do!) you might find it a fun challenge.

- I liked that I could run for a bit, then stop. I like talking to people, and model engineers, and those hangers-on are sometimes the most interesting people you can meet.

- I have a large 3-1/2" gauge 2-8-2 that I find quite boring to drive. It needs a big load behind it, but club rules say "no passengers on the elevated track". The Tich wins in terms of "fun".

- Don't use BA threads. Very expensive for us in North America. I now use metric, but UNC/UNF may be more appropriate for you? I started down the metric path when living in Europe, and have stuck with it.

- Oil burner conversion. If you can get your hands on these articles, you may find it interesting, as good coal is hard to get in North America (and, increasingly, everywhere else)

1994, Vol.172, Issue 3966, page 435. Original descriptive article with drawings.

1994, Vol.172, Issue 3970. page 670. Editorial: Clarification as to fuel to be used.

1997, Vol.179, Issue 4047, page 144. Update: blast nozzle increased to 2.9mm diam., pseudo brick arch added (with drawing of arch), importance of lubrication.

- Others have given you ideas on tools. If you are in the USA, (or Canada) you may find Sherline tools to be a good choice. I have a new Sherline lathe and mill.

- My favourite lathe is my old EMCO Compact-8. I do have a large British 11x24 lathe, but it's too big, and rarely gets used (every 5 years or so). The Sherline is new to me, so still getting used to it; it is more capable than I had expected.

- I have mentioned this before, but there is a fellow on modelenginemaker.com called Chris Rueby (username "cruelly", who builds masterpieces with his Sherline equipment. Going through his builds will give you tons of ideas.

- The IBLS web page has recently put up CAD renderings of Tich, including some adjustments found during the CADing. Peek at that if you have a moment.

I've attached a picture of me and a fellow finishing a lap of the Winnipeg track. It was a fun lap - with heavy riding car (with propane tank, car was borrowed) and two medium to heavy lads, I was glad that the track was flat - long but flat - but Tich made it no problems. I think that I was the only run firing with coal that weekend, and I had the smallest locomotive by far. Propane was the fuel of choice there/then. And, yes, there is a Tich at the head end there!

John.

Hi John;

I'm also using FreeCAD now - the Youtube videos by "FreeCAD Academy" - link: FreeCAD Academy are also very good in my opinion.

I'm running it on my M1 Mac, no problems so far! I'm using CamBam for CAD; running the Linux ARM version of CamBam in a "UTM" Virtual Machine on my Mac. Other than currently using a file exchange directory between the VM and my desktop, it's seamless.

I've also got the Mac M1 version of QCAD Pro, which, like SOD, is my go-to for simple CAD work.

I did have a Win10 desktop computer with Atom3D, but it was actually a pain in the backside to have *another* computer collecting dust used only for 3D CAD. I was thinking of trying Atom3D in a VM on my Mac, but the license nabbed me when I tried; David Jupp sorted that out (unlocked my license - thank you David) but by then, I had downloaded FreeCAD, so have not yet bothered trying Atom3D in a VM. Maybe in the Autumn I'll have another go.

Just my experiences, for that they are worth. JohnS.

Maybe the biggest joke about the article is that cars have lived past their usefulness?

This struck me when viewing a Youtube video of Vancouver, taken (about) 100 years ago on the back of a streetcar, and spliced in was views of now. 100 years ago; open streets, people walking/cycling, the odd horse and wagon.

Now? Gridlock.

100 years from now???? (the current trend can't continue unless roads are like 10 stories high)

I love my car, but I'm getting to think that the "15 minute city" has its future. (Not to mention that cars are something like the biggest killers of humans in the world)

I don't think that anyone knows what the future will be, certainly the 1950s "helicopter in every garage" and a "robot in every kitchen" has not really come to fruition!

Just my abysmal input to match the abysmal weather we have today.

Wizards on the mill. (or, non-MACH3 speak, "Conversational Programming"

I got into CNC about a decade ago when I was convinced by the machinists at work. They produced prototypes of parts for defence, telecoms, satellites (although that lab also had one machinist).

One of the guys and I got into a discussion when he was producing something for my work, and he was using conversational programming to do it. We discussed my workshop, yada, yada, yada and said my mill was manual, not CNC, as I did only one or two or maybe up to a dozen parts to a design.

He said to me "how many manual mills do you see here? We only do the prototype; production is subcontracted out". The machine room was the size of a school auditorium.

There were NO manual mills.

On LinuxCNC, one either uses Tormach's Path Pilot, or, for those not with a Tormach machine, "Features" I think it is called. Andy Pugh did some good lathe macros for CNC lathes.

Mach3 has "Wizards", I'm sure any CNC controller worth its price has an equivalent.

Twiddling is fun, but, the last long lathe job I had, I would have died and gone to heaven to have a CNC "conversational programming" lathe; hours spent standing there slowly twiddling handles, was quite frankly mind-numbing!

I also am worried about large propane or acetylene burners inside. I keep them outdoors in a vented shed away from the house.

I wait for a quiet day, put the blocks and so forth up in our backyard, and go for it! In the winter, if you drop a warm/hot part, you'll not find it until spring. This was taken a few years ago, but snow is here about 1/3 of the year.  (Today the yard still has snow, a bit anyway)

Edited By John Alexander Stewart on 06/04/2022 01:42:18

Bob;

if you google "exchange pound to usd" it should come up with some on-line calculators. I just did the same for Canadian dollar last week when I renewed.

Now, on your credit card bill, the actual daily exchange (and possible fees) will make it slightly different from the on-line calculators, so just treat the on-line calculator as a close but rough guide.

For instance, 108 pounds comes out to about 142 US Dollars, as of the time of writing this reply. Hope this helps and adds to Jason's answer above.

John.

Jan-Willem;

I was amazed by following the build of a 3-1/2" (1:16) Shay geared locomotive. On Sherline equipment.

Have a look at:

Chris Rueby's Shay Build

(https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,3778.0.html)

He's a prolific builder, so look at any of Chris Rueby's photos on his more recent builds to see what he does with this limited (hah!) sized equipment.

I've now got some Sherline equipment. The metric version has a 6.3mm x 1 pitch feed screws (6.3 is 1/4 inch). My only complaint was the UNC (UNF??) screws, but a metric thread is almost equivalent; seemingly some metric screws will fit, and if too tight, a simple "run the metric tap through" will help. That was from Sherline's web page. (I purchased a bunch of cap screws that I keep separate from my metric standard - wish I had figured this out earlier) I won't put the equivalent metric thread here in case I get it wrong. (not near my workshop at the moment)

The lathe can have a vertical mill column attached in which case (like the Unimat) the headstock mounts vertically. Years ago I had a Unimat SL, and liked it, but the Sherline is 100 times the machine than my little SL was.

I'm impressed, and I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and have purchased a lathe and mill from them.

Edited By John Alexander Stewart on 07/03/2022 21:12:30

Just got 4681 - 4682 came a week earlier. 4683, 4684 and 4685 expecting maybe in the next month or two.

Just FYI. JohnS.

Hmmm - good point on the prototype - my lack of education in the finer things south of Hadrians' wall is coming to light.

It is 5" gauge, and I'm certain it's a Martin Evans' design, one driving axle. Thanks for the hints - learning about a new side to the prototypes is always a good thing.

Br: The Q1 is fantastic. I've finished a Shay, working on Martin Evans' Ivatt, and wondering what the next will be. I have plans for (and a cab-side number plate) from the SSN 23023 (DB class 23 2-6-2) and the writeup (in Dutch, of course) of the construction notes. Then there's a Heisler by Kozo Hiraoka, or a gauge 1 project, or a "Jack" Hunslet in 1:32 or... finish the 7-1/4 Stourbridge Lion, sister to Agenoria in the NRM...