Member postings for Paul Lousick

Attention The ME Administrators.

The injector test rig comes from an article by Bill Carter in ME Volume 141 would be of interest to a lot of readers who have an interest in model steam engines but the ME archives do not go back that far.

Is it possible to re publish this article.

Paul.

"Could you use an injector to feed a flash boiler? i.e. connect a coil of pipe between the inlet and out let of the injector, fill with water and heat the coil? "

Hi Adrian,

From my little experience with flash steam boilers I think that an injector would not work for a number of reasons.

Injectors will not work if they get too hot and require a supply of cold water. Also very difficult to regulate the volume of water thru the injector as it changes with the supplied steam pressure.

Have a look on Youtube. Lots of explanations of how they work.

Paul.

Use a hammer drill when drilling concrete. Heaps easier to drill a hole. Drill a pilot hole first for large holes and as stated above, use expanding metal bolts not the plastic plugs if holding anything heavy.

Paul.

I have roof racks for my car but also an extra one attached to the tow bar and can carry a 6m length. For thin, flexible materials, I tie them to a long piece of pipe to support the floppy overhung ends.

Paul

A vacuum cleaner is good for clearing swarf from inside of the spindle and chuck.

Paul

142kgf to is a small load. Some of us weigh that much. Hydraulics would crush the bottle ?

Whats wrong with the inexpensive hand press for capping bottles ? Quick, easy and available on ebay for about $30.

Or make an adaptor to fit the bottle cap and use a drill press.

The crankshaft bearings on my Ruston are split horizontally. And are adjusted horizontally by the 2 screws on the side and vertically by shims under the retainer plate at the top.

Paul.

The files that I regularly use are stored in a wooden scabbard attached to the side of the stand that supports my lathe. Out of the way, protected from knocks and in easy reach.

It is made from 2 sheets of plywood, sandwiched together. A bit like the wooden knife block that you have in the kitchen. One of the plywood sheets has grooves milled in it to suit the size of the files and is angled slightly down fron the horizontal to prevent the files falling out. The one I made can hold about 8 different files with the groove cut to suit the diferent file shapes and has just the handles protruding from the front.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 12/06/2020 11:38:38

I would say that there is not a commonly sized tooling. It depends on the type of projects which you work on. Everyone is different.

For me the most used cutter is a 16mm and 25mm end mill with replacable inserts. Then a 4, 6 10mm carbide end mill. I also use other sizes, down to 2mm but I buy them and the matching collet as I need them.

Paul.

Hi John, welcome to the forum.

Before retiring from work, I used toi be a CAD jockey and model everything that I intend to make prior to machining. Much easier and cheaper to fix mistakes on a computer than in the workshop. Whether you are making your own set of drawings from scratch or modifying a set of purchased drawings, my advise is to do it in CAD first.

Most of the drawings that I have seen for model engines seem to have been drawn by amateurs and contain errors but they are in-expensive. (the cost of professionally drafted drawings would cost thousands of $, not a hundred). They may also use older, imperial size materials which are hard to find..

Good luck building your project and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Paul

I have an RF-45 (clone) milling machine which has a MT3 taper and use an ER32 collet holder for most of the milling operations. I do not have any problem ejecting the collet holder.

The drawbar only needs a moderate tightening to secure tools in the spindle and releases with a slight tap. If a cutter does not release easily, there is a slot in the side of the spindle for using a wedge. (The same as used on a bench drill). Just extend the spindle and insert a wedge to remove the tool. (photo shown with drawbar still attached)

Paul.

You could keep your Picador sharpener and replace the stone grinding wheel with a diamond impregnated wheel (which can also sharpen carbide tools) or use it with a vertically mounted belt grinder.

Paul

Welcome Jeremy,

I am even further away and live in Sydney. Also a Solidworks user and a background in mechanical engineering.

Paul

There are many useful posts on Youtube about using a mill.Paul.

Milling - A complete Course by Harold Hall is a good start.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 10/06/2020 02:51:50

Drain probably 10° from the bottom because it is easier and cheaper to do it this way.

Paul

Welcome Andy,

I live in Sydney and originally had a Seig SX3 mill and was very pleased with it. I pushed it to its limits, building a 6" scale traction engine but after a 5 years, it started having problems with the electronic motor controllers. The supplier that I purchased it from no longer supplied Seig products and I replaced it with a slightly bigger mill with a standard AC motor and gearbox drive. As long as you have backup support from your supplier it should be OK.

Good luck and I hope to see what you have made with it.

Paul.

I have one of the tangential holders made by Eccentric Engineering which cuts well and easy to sharpen and yes, the tool bit can get pushed down into the holder. But only under heavy shock loads and is more of a safety feature than a problem. Instead of re-sharpening a broken cutter, just move it back to the correct position.

Paul.

A machine shop with a clean floor ! I don't think they exist. Especially when cutting brass.   The only option to keep the floor clean is a totally enclosed cabinet for your mill or lathe like they have on a CNC machining centre.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 07/06/2020 09:16:45

what is a starting valve ?

Paul