Member postings for Paul Lousick

Flywheels were also fitted with 2 taper keys, spaced at 90 degrees to each other on on some early steam engines to give a more secure mounting.

Paul.

Packing case smetal strip (aka Bandit strapping) as already mentioned. Comes in different widths and thickness from about 0.5 - 1mm and is thrown in the bin at warehouses when they unpack goods. It is a type of spring steel and useful for 100 and 1 applications. For thicker packing use flat bar or any other scrap material.

Is you have a number of different thickness tools and its always a hassle to measure and find the correct thickness packing, make a shim for each tool and loctite it to the tool and never search again.

Paul.

It is a difficult shape to produce with only a mill and RT but I would proceed with your first option as Brian and Ramon have also said.

How important is the radius that is left in the corner when you finish with a 2mm cutter ? Can you make a small undercut as shown below ?

If this can't be done the radius could be cut out by hand with a sharp chisel. Easy as the material is delrin.

Paul

Why can't we say and reference ebay. It is a legitimate site with both good and bad progucts.

Many of my tools, cutters, etc are from ebay and I have had few problems. Ebay and Paypal both have a money return policy if the goods are not what was advertised.

Paul.

Thanks Keith for setting me straight about incorect information that I had been given. Never too late to learn something new. Loctite and soft solder does not work for steam and boiler fittings that I make but will do more research on the grades of silver solder for different materials and applications.

Paul

Similar problem disposing of gas bottles in Australia at the council wastel centres (aka., tip, rubbish dump). The problem is that if the metal waste is sent to for re-cycling and melted down thjere is a danger that they could explode. Even those that containing only air can explode when they are heated and the air inside expands. There are special disposal places for dangerous goods (gas bottles, poisons, paint, etc). Gas bottles can be displosed of here if they are cut in half (safely using correct procedure). as scrap metal.

Pau

The size of the burner and gas will depend on the size of the job. A butane torch burns at about 1315 deg C and Propane about 1980 deg C.

The grade of silver solder will depend on the strength of the joint that you want to achieve. The higer the percentage of silver in the alloy, the higher the strength, melting point and price. (you are buying silver)

The lower grades of silver solder that plumbers use can be purchased at your local hardware store but for the higher grades you may have to go to a welding supplier.

Paul

There are several families of stainless steels with different physical properties. The magnetic properties of stainless steel are very dependent on the elements added into the alloy. A basic stainless steel has a ‘ferritic’ structure and is magnetic, formed from the addition of chromium – it can be hardened through the addition of carbon, making it ‘martensitic’. However, the most common stainless steels are ‘austenitic’ – these have a higher chromium content and nickel is also added. It is the nickel which modifies the physical structure of the steel and makes it theoretically non-magnetic.

304 stainless steel contains chromium (min. 18%), and nickel (min. 8%). It is an austenite steel and is only slightly responsive to magnetic fields. It also contains 18 – 20% chromium and 8-10.50% nickel, and lesser quantities of some other elements. It is relatively easy to machine and less expensive than 316.

316 stainless steel is a molybdenum-alloyed steel. The fact that it is also negligibly responsive to magnetic fields means that it can be used in applications where a non-magnetic metal is required. It also contains a number of other elements in varying concentrations. 316 can work harden and make machining difficult. It has a much better corosion resistance and is used for marine fittings.

I recently inspected the spindles on some model globe valves which I made about 18 months ago out of 304 S/S because they were not sealing properly and found that the seats were pitted and coroded. Now have to make them again, this time out of 316 grade.

Paul

No more than that used in a chime whistle Duncan

The frequency of a whistle is controlled by its length and the shorter it is, the higher the pitch. Which is why little whistles annoy dogs and hurt the ears of small children. The diameter of the tube effects the loudness/volume of whistle.

I am in the process of designing/making a whistle for my engine and to get a deeper sound, contemplating a whistle with a dividing plate in the tube, making the sound cavity longer in a short tube. A bit like a chime whistle but with only one music note. ( I will post an update after it is made and tested)

Paul

We are extremely fortunate in Australia and have not sufferer as much as you have in UK. Although we are on the other side of the world, we did shut down our borders in the early days of the ourbreak.

The wearing of masks, sanitising hands, limiting people at venues and social distancing has helped to control the spread of the virus. We are encouraged to not leave home unless absolutely necessary and have a Covid test if we have the slightest symptom of a cold or sore throat. Testing is free to everyone.

To track and control the spreading of the virus, stores are required to register all customers. We use the camera on our mobile phone to scan a QR code as we enter and if an infected person has visited the store, all other customers can be contacted and tested.

State and International borders have been re-opened and limited international flights have comenced but to prevent the spread of COVID-19 all travellers arriving in Australia have to go into government approved mandatory quarantine and be free of the virus for a minimum of 14 days.

Out of our population of 25 million we have had 28,600 infections and only 900 deaths. There are about 275 active cases at the moment with the majority from overseas travellers which are in quarantine. No new community acquired infections have been reported today.

Stay safe,

Paul

I use a head mounted magnifyer with LED light and 5 interchangeable lenses

**LINK**

Mike,

You will still be able to view the issues of MEW that you subscribed for and some of the archive issues as they are not in Flash format.

Pocketmags is a better way of viewing the digital magazines and all issues of Model Engineer and Model Engineers Workshop are readable from January 2016 as they do not use Flash.   But Pocketmags does not have all of the earlier issues that are on the ME site

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/01/2021 10:10:53

I have not used one (too small for my engine) but lots of tiny steam whistles with valve are for sale on ebay at a reasonable price.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/01/2021 09:32:37

Edited By JasonB on 14/01/2021 10:04:57

Your model is a fire engine and they had lots of polished brass, so unless they are under heavy load, brass nuts and bolts .

Paul.

The serial number should be stamped on the boiler and is done when it was first tested. May be under a cover but has to be seen by the inspector who does subsequent certification checks.

Paul

There are many alternative applications for viewing flash files.

Can anyone recomend one for Windows 7 ?

Adobe has has always suggested to update to their latest version for security reasons. Is there a security risk when viewing Flash files ?

Paul

Edited By JasonB on 14/01/2021 07:02:02

Internal combustion engines in cars also use steam engine principles. Is it a steam engine ? No. Steam is defined as the gasseous form of water when it is heated. Cold steam is water or ice.

Tony,

It is be possible to harness the energy in the suspension movements and convert to electricity bu using a permanent magnet inside a coil. OK on a bumpy road but not much use cruising on a highway.

My portable 12v Engel refrigerator works on a similar principle and has a compressor that has only one moving part unlike many rotary type compressors. Instead a piston is connected to an electro dynamic device which is powered by the use of magnetic fields. Also more economical to run than one with a rotary type compressor.

Paul

Hi Jim,

You have said that you are using a tailstock die holder and used (and quality) dies. But how sharp is the die and is it located co-axially with the work in the holder ?

Screw cutting is an option to start and align the thread but 5BA is small and material can easily flex. An option is to make the threaded end of the shaft longer but with a reduced diameter. The die will start to cut and align itself easier than starting on a full diameter. Then cut off the end to length.

I also used this method on brass when the die did not cut a thread but just reduced the diameter of the shaft.

Paul.

Hi Nick,

An electric go cart sounds like a good project but answers to your question often go off on a tangent on this site with members not completely understanding your problem. Some photos of the existing rolling chassis, available tools, etc would clarify this.

Cheers, Paul.