What Did You Do Today 2019

Just returned from Granddaughters birthday weekend.

Cannot wait to see them again but always so grateful to get home afterwards!

IanT

Yesterday actually, have re-sited 5m strip of LED lighting to add more illumination to the bottom end of the garage / workshop; quite effective … as one of the bulk head side fittings has blown... will have to call in Screwfix / B & Q for replacement... ho hum . usual disclaimer.

George.

Here's the finished press tooling for the rear wheel strakes installed on the flypress:

As expected trying to cold form just resulted in the strake springing straight back. So I had a go with the strake red hot (800°C). That worked well but the set wasn't quite right. So I tweaked the curves in the CAD model and then on the CNC mill. Second time around the strake was nicely formed:

And the strake is not a bad fit on the rear rim:

Especially given that the rear rim is not perfect due to weld distortion.

Andrew

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 28/03/2019 19:51:57

Looks good, do you have anything to hold the strake at the correct angle on the former or are you just doing it by eye?

J

PS don't get carried away and bend them all to the same hand!

Finished the special V-nuts needed, and fitted the long-axis magnetic strip for the DRO to the Myford VM-C milling-machine table with them.

This means the table no longer has travel-stops because the only way to fit the profile was by the V-nuts in their slot, and of course the stop-block had to come off too.

These strips have to be fitted to quite close parallelism but I think I managed it eventually. The drawback with that design of encoder strip is that you cannot remove it from the machine without destroying the magnetic strip itself, because it is stuck on across the mounting-screws.

While at it I tried adjusting the gib. That proved problematical, with very little available travel on the adjusters, and the two locking-screws doing nothing at all. I took the screws out... Someone had sawn them short!. I made up little steel slugs to take up the space, so I can now lock the table's long travel at least.

The Myford mill is not designed to take DRO encoders, though a 2-axis system is listed in the service-manual as an accessory. My thinking with the Y and Z travels is to put the strips on backing bars screwed to the machine outside the profile's width, since there are no machines surfaces available for them and I will probably need to make special spacers. The Z-axix encoder strip will be the worst thanks to the shape of the machine body.

There is another advantage to that approach. I can assemble the profile and its backing bars(s) in comfort and good light on the table, rather than in the very awkward, cramped, gloomy and grubby conditions around the machine.

Made a new bench for the lathe. The table it's currently on is too low, causing backache if nothing worse, however I was reluctant to spend the time, money, or effort until I was happy the lathe would work ok, it seems to.

Finished the buffer heads earlier this week and mounted them on the shanks. Also finished the housings and gave all a squirt with spray can of primer. Got some suitable springs this arvo from Bunnings and assembled the units, went to mount the first one on the headstocks and found I only had 7 x 5BA nuts so could only fit one buffer. Ordered some more so now have to wait until they arrive before I can finish that part of the job. Still, plenty of other things to work on.......

Gave back garden it's first cut of the year. Can any one tell me why strimmer nylon cords snap, even when wound on in the correct direction, & you always end up with a one sided cutter... … ?

George.

Blimey a strimmer, I'm still using shears, you don't get any one sided cutters with those just aching arms.

Phil

Mowing the lawn...

I think that will Sunday's task! In the coming months I have to be careful doing that not to kill any of the frogs that have adopted my garden. They hide in long grass.

Bit more accomplished with fitting the "Machine-DRO" set to the Myford mill, still so far on the X-travel. Allendale obligingly supply some die-cast allow brackets and plates with assorted slot to help the task, but I still had to mill rebates on one so it would fit the front face of the cross-feed saddle.

Also rang Allendale because the digital micrometer I had bought, would not switch off. Well, it would but as soon as I so much as looked at, it would come back on. After a couple of phone calls between their very helpful sales staff and me, they established that movement of the barrel over-rides the ON switch, and it takes the barest movement, too. Lock the barrel and it stays off.

(I do have manual mics too, but these days their little divisions are smaller and fainter, rather like the "thirty-tooths" on steel rules.)

Please think of your neighbours and refrain from all noisy activity apart rom ringing church bells for a few minutes. Some of us who still work want one day a week of quiet contemplation.

George,

Strimmer cords break so you have to wind more on, and on, and on, then eventually when you have tired of that go buy another reel. All down to manufacturers profit requirements!

Chris

Strimmers, instruments of the devil!😈

Mark P.

We ring for nearly an hour on Sunday morning. Then St Margaret's 1/2 mile up the road start.

And once a month we have a quarter peal on Sunday afternoon, so that's another 55minutes plus ringing down. Slow bells at Rochester Cathedral.....

Don't worry - a push mower doesn't make much noise, and my lawn's quite small!

Unfortunately I can't hear my local church bells from home - just a bit too far away and shielded by houses.

Nothing better than the sound of the church bells on Sundays and practice Tuesday nights, we also have an hour stricking clock in the tower.

Martin P

Strimmer strings/cords break cos the water has dried out of them over winter. I always boil old cord reels before use when they've been left in dry conditions. You could always revert to the wisdom of the late Sir John and replace the Nylon with a couple of short bits of push bike gear change cable fixed to a modified centre spool.

Regards Ian.

Would not like to accidentally hit my leg with a strimmer having bicycle gear change cable instead of nylon cord!! Could result in a very nasty wound. Also the end tends to become frayed and 'unwound' so they do not cut as cleanly as a solid nylon cord.

Strimmers may be instruments of the devil Mark P but they do have very useful little engines and lots of lovely metal bits that can be re-purposed!

In a word, no. It was done by eye. I had plans to provide fences all round, but I now think they'll just get in the way. I'll probably put a fence at the back, and possibly one side, so that I've got one reference point without the fences making access difficult. I'll probably clamp the lower tool down as well.

Andrew

I tried motor cycle clutch bowden cable on my strimmer,it just comes apart and shreads,though I must admit my strimmers on wheels with a 6 hp engine,