Member postings for Paul Lousick

Which Mill of which Lathe is one of the most asked questions for beginners.

Selecting a mill or lathe appropriate for your needs is a difficult task for those starting out in machining and is an expensive exercise. Especially if the wrong equipment is chosen.

There is a wealth of information on MEW but difficult to find for new members to the forum. Therefore, I would recommend that a special section for this be added to the site and a link to it be displayed on the home page so new members are advised of it. After reading this first, they could then ask for other information, without someone repeating what has already been posted.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 22/08/2023 08:06:13

A hammer on a surface plate could damage the plate. Leaving a chuck key in the chuck could harm you.

Run the lathe light from 240V and use a 12V LED transformer for house down lights. Available from your local hardware

A factor in selecting a motor is its duty cycle. How long it has to operate at full power.

Photos are displayed in their native orientation (like in a film or standard digital camera in landscape mode held normally) In modern smart cameras and mobile phones, information of the orientation of the camera is also stored in the image file and smart viewing software will display the image the way it was taken.

If your photo was taken vertically or upside down, it has to be rotated first to the native orientation before uploading.

I normally insert each photo separately to get them in the correct order. Or use editing software to combine several photos into one for uploading.

I have an electric steam generator in my kitchen that will produce steam at 8 - 15 bar (115-215 psi). My coffee machine with a thermoblock heater which channels water through a narrow pipe within a metal block that is heated and in turn heats the water.

Blueing can also be done with heat and oil

Edited By Paul Lousick on 13/08/2023 11:13:26

I have not seen a smoke box glowing red but on a 4NHP Fowler (weighs 10 tons), the lagging timbers under the covers were charred slightly at their ends near the smoke box. That was after a 220 mile road run over 4 days and only stopping every 2 hours for 15 minutes each day to re-fuel and change drivers. My model engine never works that hard.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 13/08/2023 08:36:31

As suggested. Leave gal finish to weather naturally and the bright shine will disappear and will allow for a better bond with paint if you still want to go that way. Any painted surface will chip. How do you powder coat an already installed handrail without pulling it apart ?

My 6" traction engine would be similar to Howard's measurements. 120-200 deg C. (Measured with a laser temperature meter).  There is no lagging/insulation around the boiler barrel, only a 10mm air gap and the steel covers only get to about 50C. Cold enough to hold your hand on them.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 12/08/2023 23:15:44

Welcome Eric,

There are lots of helpful people on this site with a vast amount of knowledge. I live in Sydney, Australia and used to be a mechanical engineer and CAD jockey using Solidworks. I look forward to seeing some of your projects.

Paul

Hello Martin. Do you mean a manometer or a pressure gauge ?

A manometer is a U shaped tube, used for measuring small pressure. Steam boilers usually have a pressure gauge. Small pressure gauges are available from model supply stores. Do a google search for pressure gauge construction if you want to build your own. (not an easy project if you only have basic tooling)

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 10/08/2023 11:16:08

On my Ruston Proctor engine, the quadrant link is up when going in the forward direction. If is was assembled in the down position it would just be a matter of swapping the connection of the links to the eccentrics to go forward.

A difference with the Ruston, compared to some other engines is the control lever points up where others point down.

Lots of articles on the internet like this Youtube video showing how to make one.

**LINK**

Instead of having to turning the hex sides on the ER holder get one that is already round.

Most 3 jaw chucks have some run-out unless it is adjustable and why a 4 jaw is used for accurate alignment. Another option is to use soft jaws which are machined in place to suit the diameter of the work which you are holding. (good method if multiple parts of the same diameter are being turned).

I use an ER collet with a morse taper and can move it (with work) from the lathe to rotary table (same morse taper) and back again, without losing concentricity.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 08/08/2023 00:23:07

I have a Brother MFC 2700 mono laser printer which has worked perfectly for 5+ years. Does double sided scanning and printings.

Our model clubs are insured under the Australian Miniature Boiler Safety Committee and inspectors can only certify boilers with a 100 psi working pressure even if they are commercially manufactured. Boilers have to be welded by or under the supervision of a qualified welder. I did all of the machining for mine but employed a qualified welder to do it.

Certifying higher pressure rated boilers has to be done by a commercial inspector and commercial insurance taken out which is expensive. You are also outside of the network of model clubs and more difficult to attend club rallies.

Probably unlikely that a commercial business would give away a copy of their detail drawings. But if they build to the UK standard, should be able to give you that guarantee.

Also worth asking if they can manufacture to comply with our standards.

Talked to my boiler inspector today in Sydney who said that if it could be shown that it was made to the UK standard and it passed inspection and testing here that it could be passed. He also said that on one boiler that did have a manufacturing problem that did not completely comply, was only certified for an 80 psi ticket. So best to get an Aussie inspector to advise before placing an order.

A Youtube video of Casting and Machining a hand wheel with only a lathe, oxy torch, home made indexer and ball turner.

Good examples of what can be achieved with a little inginuity.

**LINK**