Member postings for Paul Lousick

Lots of businesses shut down for Christmas in Australia. Some back at work this week and some starting next week. I ordered a copy of the code for copper boilers last year and it was only available in printed form not electronic.

PS. If the tennis player had gotten vacinated and had a legitimate visa he would not have had any problems with immigration. Because he is a star player he should not expect to get any better treatment or exemptions than you or me and is being kept in the same type of accommodation as everyone else. It may not be up to the 6 star standard that he is used to but will have to grin and bare it. Or stop his complaining and go back where he came from.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 07/01/2022 03:03:56

The warning signs for speed cameras were recently removed in NSW, Aust. but re-installed after some drivers complained and said it was a revenue raising reason.

I had no problem with the removal of signs because I have a fool proof method of not getting fined. Simple, don't speed.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 06/01/2022 10:43:28

There are lots of Youtube videos, Google posts, etc about making a steam engine on only a lathe. OK for a small, simple engine but not realy suitable for anything more complex.

I have build a steam traction engine and found that the majority of the work was was milling operations and much easier on a milling machine.

Calcium buildup. Like you get in kettles, steam irons, etc. ???

Various pieces of flat bar. "Bandit" steel strapping used for securing materials is handy.

Hardware warehouses, etc throw it in the bin when unloading goods.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 30/12/2021 07:20:51

We do not have Lidl in Australia but have Aldi instead. Both German and probably buy from the same supplier. Have had no problems with their drill sets for ereryday projects. And they have a 12 month warranty if there is a problem.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 28/12/2021 02:45:48

This an interesting article for the clock makers about the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2000 year old clockwork computer.

**LINK**

Excellent David. Thank you.

Why can't something like this be an official part of the MEW website ?

Paul.

A better name should be a "steam raising sucker" because the fan is normally fitted to the top of the chimney and draws the air from the fire and up the chimney. A Lidl type pump made of plastic and will melt from the hot gasses.

An injector will not work when it gets hot but a mechanical pump should be OK. The full size Marshall portable engines at our club and this Roby all have water pumps attached to the side of the boiler.

Thanks Jon.

I have no problem with full size traction engines and my 6" Ruston Proctor. I can fire it with kindling only but normally use an electric blower and have steam in about 40 minutes.

I have been told that it is a good idea to fill the boiler with hot water but I think that an electric blower is a must have.

Cheers, Paul;

A member of our club (full size steam engines) has purchased a 1" Minnie traction engine and had trouble raising steam . (The previous owner had only run it on air). We tried a number of different types of wood, pine, old hardwood, BBQ fire lighter tabs, soaked wood in kerosene (parafin) but the fire kept going out.

Tried elevating the front wheels and extended the chimney to get a better draft. He did not have a blower to create a forced draft, which could solve his problem.

Does anyone have any experience with fireing a minniature traction engine ?

The spindle on the mill I have now and my previous one both had a slot on the side for inserting a tapered wedge for removing Morse taper tools. (same as those on a drill press) The quill has to be in the full down position to access the slot. Have you checked if there is one on your mill.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 06/12/2021 05:24:50

A friend has a 1" Minnie which had an accident {now called 'Dropsy"} which has a bent front wheel and damaged chimney. The wheel spokes are bent and some of the rivets have come out and should be an easy repair.

The rivets for the chimney base have pulled out and the piping to the blast nozzle is broken.

Does anyone have a drawing of the blast nozzle arrangement ?

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 23/11/2021 12:11:55

Avoiding heat and fumes is very difficult on a fire/steam engine if you want to drive it.

Paul.

Just one of the never ending jobs when you have a steam engine Bob. You spend as much time cleaning and polishing the engine than you do driving it. After polishing, I give the brass a coating of lanolin which seems to protect it for a while.. Then a vigorous application of elbow grease prior to driving it again.

Paul.

To check the accuracy of a cycle speedo, download an app to your mobile phone or use a car GPS to compare the speeds.

Down here in Australia I have not heard the word Vac or Vax used in relation to cleaning the floor. (Even the word Hoover is not used, although it was a popular brand).

If using a vacuum cleaner, we say vacuumed the floor.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 03/11/2021 04:36:38

I have a mill/drill (no knee) and I have an Easson 3-Axis DRO with the z attached to the quill. (4-axis DRO's are also available that combine the movements in the quill and column).

Raising and lowering the head on the column is not as accurate as using the quill which has a geared reduction knob for movement. The travel in the spindle is adequate for most milling operations.

The Easson DRO has a function for milling a curve in the horizontal and vertical direction and needs its own z-axis scale to calculate the required movements.

If you already have a readout on the quill, an option is to get a 3-axis readout and x and y scales only. Add a 3rd if required later.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 01/11/2021 02:59:34

I recently viewed this Youtube video about converting PDFs which are vector based (originally created from a CAD package and not scanned) and converted into a 3D model with Solidworks.

Note that the imported image is only used as a guide and that all lines in the sketch are enterred manually to get an exact representation of the part.

Also some good examples of the extra features that are available in Solidworks.

Paul.

**LINK**

Deleted

Edited By Paul Lousick on 24/10/2021 22:54:20