What Did you do Today 2022

Nigel,

Drawings are not always all they are cracked up to be either! I am building a half size Little Samson to Edward George’s drawings and to his credit as model drawings go they are pretty good but I finally got to assemble up the motion Saturday to find one issue definitely of my making but another I can’t fathom out! The eccentrics turned out to be about an 1/8” out of line with the expansion link, drawings have been followed on all the relevant bits so I can’t see how it ended up like that. Luckily I have a fairly simple fix but it made for a fairly “clanky” first run on air having to leave the eccentric rod palm bolts slack to accommodate! Was determined to get it turning though after 6 years work, remedial works in course of being applied!

**LINK**

Determined to get it in steam for next year!

Paul.

Paul -

Might be two or three dimension errors along the crankshaft, all adding up - but at least you have drawings, which is a help!

.

My own club hit the stop-blocks with Ken Swan's 7-1/4" g. design for the Kerr-Stuart 'Wren' - a third full-size. Several of us worked on different aspects of this club project, but left the motion gear to a particularly skilled trio of consummate craftsmen with considerable model-locomotives experience.

They could not make the valve-events correct at all, and sadly, let themselves be trapped by their unfamiliarity with Hackworth Valve-gear - their expertise was with Stephensons' and Walschaerts.

Eventually a fresh pair of eyes with no specific valve-gear bias, threw away the blizzard of roughly-sketched valve-event diagrams, systematically measured everything, and spotted the cause almost by chance. The slide valves were made precisely to their own drawing, but the assembly-drawing showed a shorter length (much smaller laps).

A transparent, acrylic dummy valve to these second dimensions proved the point. With the valves duly modified, the locomotive could be completed and has performed well ever since.

Other 'Wren' owners tell me they had not encountered this problem. Ours were among the first castings and drawings set sold, and Ken Swan must have corrected the drawing error very soon afterwards.

'

The experience revealed an interesting psychological point I have noticed in other areas, and I have been caught by it too.

This is that the greater your expertise while the simpler the problem, the greater your chance of missing the cause in a fog of bafflement.

Often our apprentice solves issues the rest of us haven't because he doesn't go in with our engineering prejudices. Very sharp lad. I hope he doesn't blunt as his experience grows!

We went for a brief trip around Anson Engine Museum, near Poynton Cheshire; well worth a fiver, with over 400 engines on display, plus loads of other exhibits too.



Bill

How do you manage a brief trip, very good museum and needs half a day. The big Gardner 2 stroke with 6?8? paraffin blowlamps pre heating the cylinder heads to get it going, then the visible crankcase induction valves is worth the trip in itself

Having had to navigate around my mill, which has sat on its pallet in the middle in my workshop for many months, I finally found a round tuit and hoicked it onto its new bench this morning. How I would cope without the engine crane, I don’t know.

But now it is in place, It is so near the front of the bench that the whole lot can easily topple forwards, which is very dangerous. This afternoon I raided Wickes for some heavy-duty angle fittings to hold the bench to the wall to prevent it falling over. In the mean time, the crane is still in place to stop accidents happening. One day soon, I will be able to start making small bits of metal from somewhat larger bits.

Made two tiny cleaning-plugs for my steam-wagon's water-gauge. I'd somehow lost one. It must have been loose and had shaken out as I moved the vehicle about.

One needed, the other a spare!

Then tried again to start to learn Solid Edge. Silly me...

This morning I felt like going for a walk. I decided to go to Tesco, about three miles away. I stopped at the village shop on the way to buy a bar of chocolate and got to Tesco about an hour later. I bought two packs of sandpaper type nail files for sanding my 3D prints. I left Tesco and walked to Morrisons, it was on the route home, to do some shopping. As I left Morrisons I had an idea of a way to improve a small engine I am designing. I had no way of making a sketch so it would have to wait untill I got home. I think walking is good for thinking.

I got indoors at about midday. Most of the walk had been dry with a small amount of Cornish "mizzle" to cool me down. The alteration to my engine looks a lot better than the previous design which I had alread sliced ready to 3D print.

At least you spotted the risk before the mill fell on you!

I shudder to think what would happen if a machine toppled in my workshop - there's not enough room to run away! And 250kg falling 750mm could easily crush a foot splat or worse.

Even though mills and lathes are very top-heavy accidents seem rare. Once in a blue-moon someone describes a near miss, so lets all keep our fingers crossed.

Dave

Yes - it does remind us we are operating as a hobby in a situation no work-place would allow: alone. In fact this rule also applies at least some model-engineering club facilities.

I have seen a horizontal milling machine topples over sideways when a ramp being used to put it on a trailer failed. Luckily it fell into a bramble bush, well away from anyone, and sustained only minor damage to itself; but it did make us think...

A toppling machine-tool might crush your foot but you'd probably survive - with a very long recovery. If though it pinned you by the chest against a wall or something, you'd probably die from suffocation if not worse, before anyone wondered where you were.

'

When I installed a 3ph conversion set on my Harrison lathe, I placed the electrical controls on the wall above the tailstock. Although the clutch lever is still in its horrible position over the headstock, and should be used rather than the buttons, if necessary I can switch the motor off in a move that takes me away from the danger area. I'd still need remember to disengage the clutch! I've in mind extending the clutch control back to the tail end.

Having recently acquiring a new to me lathe it was missing a chuck key for the 3 jaw and a 10mm square drive spanner for the tool post. So today I made a chuck key and made a start on the handle

Turned a piece of 25mm down to 24mm, added a 10° taper and sunk a 10mm square drill into the end for the spanner. Just got to poke an M10 thread in the side to attach the 2 pieces and it's ready for service

Today I finally made the effort to make a pegboard for 20 gear wheels belonging to my Victorian era Pittler C3 lathe.

Like many vintage lathes it came with a spire of gears on a rod, this looks very pretty but annoying when you want a gear from it, Now I have to fit it on the wall at the rear of the lathe

Edited By vic newey on 06/09/2022 14:52:51

Well, not today but a week ago today, during a week stopping in the Yorkshire Dales...

Visited the Tolson Museum, in Huddersfield; inspired by Roger Backhouse's review in ME.

I used the train from my base in Horton-in Ribblesdale (on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line) and the bus service he quoted, but had to ask another passenger for the right stop.

The Vulcan car Roger featured and told us was on loan, is no longer there. Its owners have reclaimed it to use as a wedding limousine.

It's a fascinating and thought-provoking place, with a lot more than transport and textile machinery, telling us much about the local history.

Today I finally powered up the 3 phase conversion on my Clarke CL300 lathe. The lathe was originally supported on two lengths of 80mm square tube, which brought it up to comfortable working height for me and also enabled me to fit a coolant tank underneath the chip tray. As the new motor was considerably larger than the original one, it had to be mounted behind the lathe. A new longer length of 8omm square tube was fitted to carry the motor and the old motor housing was fitted with a new shaft to carry two pulleys and thus act as a countershaft.

The inverter was mounted on the wall behind the lathe, with a combined NVR switch and emergency stop fitted in the modified control box fitted to the lathe. The switch is fitted in the mains supply going to the inverter. Normally the motor is controlled by the inverters pendant buttons.

The box was also fitted with the RPM display and a switched supply for the coolant pump.

The CL300 specifies spindle speeds of 100 to 2500 RPM. On test, my new arrangement gave me a maximum of 480rpm in low gear and 1060 high gear, with the inverter running at 58Hz. I had read the specification for the new motor, so this was not unexpected. I will try a larger pulley on the motor (40 teeth instead of the present 20). This should not be a problem for the half HP motor as the one it is replacing was only rated at 250 watts.

Edited By Anthony Knights on 07/09/2022 13:33:27

Some actual visible progress today. I had a trial assembly of the motion section of the die filer that I;m constructing. The one I said that I wasn't going to make when I suggested a shaper-like drive, in response to a thread asking for ideas for the production of vertical motion for a die filer. Iain Down's thread

The upshot looks remarkably similar to the CAD drawing I produced. Unfortunate choice of colour for the Perspex top and base plates (black) means it's difficult to make out some detail.

A few spacers to make now that I can physically measure the gaps and then to press on with the ram slide arrangement.

John

On test, my new arrangement gave me a maximum of 480rpm in low gear and 1060 high gear, with the inverter running at 58Hz. I had read the specification for the new motor, so this was not unexpected. I will try a larger pulley on the motor

Your inverter will operate at an output frequency of up to 400 Hz - why not just increase the maximum output frequency ?

The Mitsubishi manual states that device is IP20 i.e. it should be mounted in an enclosure for protection.

Nigel B

Hi mgnbuk. The motor and inverter came as a package, which according to the literature which came with it, just needed connecting up as it was all pre-programmed. I will have to check the manual (on a CD) which came with the product, regarding programming. Thanks for the advice.

As for enclosure, I have been searching different component suppliers, trying to find one which is deep enough, but not too big width or height wise. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anthony

Anthony, I used an enclosure I found on ebay, cost about £25 if I remember, had to cut a few holes in it but I have the peace of mind that the inverter is safe from flying debris and moisture. I used a louvre plate top and bottom from Tool Station to aid ventilation as well as standing the whole thing away from the wall by about 25mm.

Although I prefer to buy this sort of thing so I can get on with machining, in this case I'd probably make one. Commercial boxes are pricey and Sod's Law often makes it impossible to find one just the right size!

Perhaps an expert will comment, but I don't think the outer enclosure has to be anything special. It's purpose is to keep people safely away from the electric terminals and to protect the electronics from accidental bumps and dirt, especially swarf and splashes. A simple wooden or sheet metal box would do unless it must be in a vulnerable location. Assuming the box is reasonably out-of-the-way the main problem is keeping the inside cool, which is usually done by providing a moderately roomy enclosure with vents or grills and perhaps a computer-type fan.

Aluminium sheet is easily bent to shape with angle bars, or flat plates can be riveted, screwed, or bolted onto aluminium angle. I think Aluminium sheet is by far the best material for this job. Steel sheet is cheaper but has to be rust protected and is a few notches harder to work with. Wood and home-made plastic aren't ideal for various reasons, for example, there's a need to allow more ventilation because they're good heat insulators.

If a metal box is used make sure the sides and lid are electrically bonded so that the whole thing can be earthed. Also fit cable holes with grommets and provide some form of strain relief inside. Nylon Zip Ties are often 'good enough'.

Dave