Member postings for Paul Lousick

Welcome Myles. I am just across the ditch in Sydney.

This is a link to Harold Halls web site with a lot of machining tips and projects to build: **LINK**:

Cheers, Paul.

Our club is located next to a train line where they are doing a major upgrade and we sell fire pits, made from the old parts that are scrapped (rail base plates, clamps, etc).

The Lamas, 3-way toolpost is in the 01/01/1995 edition of MEW

Hi Dave, ( My book doesn't mention that, but it's strong on mechanicals and barely mentions operating. Loads of information on boilers and nothing about how to raise steam).

Which book?

I have a commercial boiler operator's ticket and this is one of the procedures that was taught to us which probably applies to large factory installations with lots of pipe work at higher pressure than used on model engines.

I also drive a full size traction engine, operating at 180 psi and we do purge the boiler of air at start up (only because we were taught that way) and always start the engine, out of gear with the drains open to warm everything before driving. Any air left in the boiler would be purged at this time.

If the reverser is used to slow the engine when going down a big hill, the engine acts like a compressor and pumps air into the boiler, often exceeding the working pressure and blowing-off thru the relief valve with no problem taking-off again when the throttle is opened. (Note: some traction engines do not have brakes and the only way to stop them is to go into reverse)

Edited By Paul Lousick on 17/06/2023 05:25:31

Part of the process when raising steam in a boiler is to vent gases/air as the pressure starts to rise.

Either by opening a valve at the top of the boiler, opening the drain cocks, open the blower valve or whistle.

A pin in the hole and held upright in a vice is what I normally do (if small enough to fit in the vice) and a touch up on a belt grinder to smooth. Otherwise clamped to a simple plate that is bolted to a rotary table. He did show a couple of good machining techniques like a trepanning tool and using masking tape and super glue to hold the work.

A video on Youtube showing the manufacture of a fixture for milling a radius. And as the operator in the video says, a bit over the top but he shows a lot of interesting machining techniques.

During the war petrol was rationed and they where also fitted to cars. Shown here on a 1930 Ford Model A.

The coke burner on the back made gas to run the car. Note bags of coke on running board.

I'm assuming that the part is too big to turn on a lathe as suggested, which would be an easy job to face and cut grooves. An option on your mill is to get a boring head which you could use to face the end of the fitting. Then cut the grooves with a specially ground (pointy end) boring bar. (Jason beat me to answer)

Edited By Paul Lousick on 01/06/2023 11:40:33

I can't help with a Boxford and I have a 9inch Southbend which is interchangeable with Hercus parts that were made in Australia.

I don't use Solidedge but in my lifetime of using CAD (and other software), I got into the habit of saving the document every 15-30 minutes and always before closing down. It saves a lot of extra work if something goes wrong or you want to undo a change.

Machine the bore of the bush to finished size and use Loctite to fix the bush into its housing. (Crankshafts on model engines use Loctite for fixing the cranks to the shaft)

Nigel's original post:- Not sure why this did not work.

Attempted: A long MT 2-3 adaptor-sleeve held by its parallel portion in an ER collet. A DTI in a QCTP block, plunger as near centre-height as I could manage, run along the sleeve's taper for each iteration of altering the slide-angle.

Only.... No matter what I did to the angle, the DTI deflection range barely changed.

Youtube video of Joe Pie setting the top slide angle.

**LINK**

OK.

But the shank on my Diamond toolholder is about 12mm square but the head that holds the cutter is 23mm deep.

" I am aiming for a sharp 45 degree bend"

Instead of trying to bend a piece of 12mm square, why not cut it out of 12mm plate or flat bar like many other designs on the internet ?

There are lots of tables on the internet for groove dimensions for O rings on the internet, such as this one from Parker Hydraulics **LINK**

Standard O rings for water taps are available from most hardware stores and are inexpensive.  Buy kit that has O rings, lubricant and a sealing washer if you are repairing a tap

Edited By Paul Lousick on 25/05/2023 07:37:49

Another option is a Rose Indexer (see Youtube video below) Commercial units are available but can be easily made by machining, 3D printing, etc. (also see previous posts on MEW)

**LINK**

I have been using ceramic balls in the check valves in the water pump (bronze housing, shaft driven) of my traction engine for the past 5 years with no problem. (The boiler clacks use winged, taper type).

I also use ViewScan to run my scanner which did not work after installing Win 11 (grrrr ##$%%@@ !!!). Not free but way cheaper than buying a new, quality machine.