What Did You Do Today 2021

I have moved the mill over to the left already as I realized that I could not get to the lathe end for that exact reason something to the extra few pounds over the lockdown

Also the shelf above the lathe needs relocating as that has all my sharpening stones and the like on it. It will be put where my bench grinding is at. still moving things around and also wiring which needs some enclosure over them.

Jolly good, you will soon be able to enjoy. Worth spending that extra time to get everything 'just so' before you start as you will never get 'a round tuit' later. Once happy I would bolt the stands down to the floor. Makes for that extra little rigidity.

John

I need some Loctite 572 thread sealant (As used by Kingscale on their models to seal steam fittings. Has anybody bought some recently and what shelf life can I expect. This is an expensive grade and sold at very varying prices. That currently on offer on EBay states there is no expiry date or it is Nov 2021 or Dec 2022

With the extra space in the corner you could make a wheeled storage unit similar to this:-

but I wouldn't particularly recommend the vertical bar storage, the short bits sink to the bottom and the long bits try to poke you in the eye whilst searching for the short bits!

John

The mill is on the short wall at the end of the workshop I did try to work it with them both against that wall but with everything that I need to fit into there this was the best solution I did consider putting the mill diagonally across the corner but that would have blocked the power consumer box as can be seen in the top of the corner shown

Not today, but over the last 4 days, worked on the bits below, plus sweat, blood and expletives deleted !!

which left me with this ...

and more elbow grease and the silicone variety ... ended up with this

An unusual design and manufacturer. the shaped work holders rotate individually and accurately match for height - 4 total approx 1/4" thick. Very substantial (heavy) and good for mill or drill.

Anyone else come across this type ?

rgds

Bill;

Frances -

Long lengths of bar protruding from the spindle...

Definitely provide support as otherwise they will whip about or whirl; dangerous to man and machine, and at the very least likely to bend the bar.

''''

I like that vice! I have not seen one but I believe there was a discussion on another thread about similar ones, not long ago?

Yesterday I finished patching the roof - after pop riveting a join between two panels that had gone 'wayward', I sealed it with flashing tape, also used tape to put belt and braces cover along two sides, just in case. Much to the delight of next door's kids who bombarded me with questions from 'what are you doing?' to 'can I have my spider ball back?'

Just as well as last night it got as extreme a test as it's likely to get, which it passed. Perhaps down the line a complete re-roofing will be needed, but it's enough for now.

I'm getting towards the home straight with the walls too. Putting in two horizontal battens all along, one at the right height to support the rear of benches, one to hang cupboards off.

Next to think about is floor. As it is now very dry, I'm inclined to a layer of waterproof insulation - one with enough give to take up imperfections in the concrete. Then board over it. Hardest decision - what type of board?

Neil

This is absurd... the cheapest flooring solution for my workshop appears to be laminate flooring.

Neil, from my experience I would recommend 50mm of Extratherm or Celotex type of insulation followed by waterproof tongue and groove chipboard flooring (the blue type I think it is).

You will still get a bit of bounce from the insulation but the chipboard will spread the load and not deform locally due to its thickness. When we built our house the chipboard floors were left exposed in the elements for about a month being constantly soaked before we could get the roof on and did not suffer from this at all.

Steve

Oh, and put a waterproof barrier sheet down between the concrete and the insulation

Edited By Steve Skelton 1 on 27/09/2021 12:23:01

Neil, having checked the chipboard is moisture-resistant not waterproof

https://www.jewson.co.uk/p/caberfloor-p5-moisture-resistant-chipboard-flooring-tg4-22mm-FH22C4TA

Neil, the low cost is due to extreme mass production of laminate flooring. It's popular and is made in huge quantities by automated factories. Same reason drywall gypsum board is so cheap relative to other wallboard options.

Laminate in the workshop could work fine but look for one with minimal gaps between boards. The large swarf will be easy to clean up but the really fine stuff may stick in the gaps (however small) and turn black or may rust.

I'd recommend epoxy floor coating over smooth concrete as the best quality overall shop floor finish, with 3/8" or 1/2" rubber sheet duckboard / anti fatigue mats at the machines. But this is the most expensive option......

Was working on my eccentric engineering acute sharpener, this takes quite a while, but is rather therapeutic. Some of the parts I made 3 times...

It also takes some time as I purchased only the plan... (to tight for the kit....)

Yes, I have a pair of vices of a very similar design, mine are branded SEVO 2, bloody heavy but very useful at times, especially as an identical pair. This is one of them,

Whoo Hoo! I've got back into my workshop after a long break. Daughter bought a new build flat but her move was repeatedly delayed due to Covid, shortages of building materials, and lost paperwork etc etc etc. My workshop was filled with boxes expecting her to move in a few weeks, actually it took nearly 5 months.

Unlike the tools, which are fine, I've gone rusty. Previously I could align a machine vice on my mill in a few minutes: took me quarter of an hour last night, and it's still not right. Similarly, I had to think about shimming lathe tools to height, where before I did it on auto pilot. And because the workshop was tidied to make room for boxes, now I can't find anything! Gawd knows what will happen when I attempt to make something complicated: I feel like a beginner again!

Dave

Not directly related to model engineering but last night we had some ferocious winds, we are only a couple of miles from the coast so the winds just rattle in. I had made sure everything outside was secure but had forgotten about my two beehives in the garden, I decided that they would be safer if I fitted straps to them so there I was in the howling winds fitting the straps, had to grovel on the floor to pass the straps under neath the hives, in the process of doing this I put my hand on a dead bee, which I hadn’t seen. The stinger of the bee made contact with the top joint of my index finger and I had to extract the stinger not before sufficient venom had penetrated my finger. The bee may well have been dead but her venom was still pretty potent. Woke up this morning with a finger so swollen that I couldn’t bend it which makes it very awkward doing intricate work in the workshop. I seem to have problems now with bee stings, each time I have the misfortune to get stung the effects are increasingly more problematic, wife, she who knows best, has decided that things are moving towards real problems with bee stings, possibly escalating to anaphylaxis, she has a problem with iodine used in x-ray enhancing dyes and has experienced a severe anaphylactic episode so I understand her concerns. I have therefore ordered an epi pen to keep available when I am working with the bees, not cheap though at about £50, could be a lifesaver though. Dave W

Finished turning backplate fir Myford for a 5C collet Chuck I had bought via Facebook marketplace. The backplate was a new one I had had in stock for a few years. God it was hard material. Eventually broke through the hard stuff and got the register a lovely fit. Over to mill and used Division Controller to drill and tap the three M8 mounting holes.

Mounted Chuck to backplate and mounted on lathe. Now the moment of truth. 1/2 thou verdict gauge did not move at all in the collect taper. This was a good sign. Put 1/2” collet in with drill blank and set the verdict up again. No movement of the needle at all. Put lathe in drive and still no movement.

Really pleased. Along with the collet Chuck I had also had 50 collets. All for less than the cost of a new Chuck from any of the usual suppliers.

Colin

I finished fitting a screw-cutting gearbox to my Mydord ML7.

It's an early-pattern box with the fixed-centre drive-train (with the wheels reversible to give two feed ranges), and the cut leadscrew terminating within the box.

I had to buy the 25/12T tumbler-output pinion. For anything below I think 32tpi, it can be used with the 24T wheel already there, by remembering to set the controls for twice the tpi.

Rather than cut the existing leadscrew I bought a length of ACME rod from HPC (not cheap though!) and made the special new screw. I'd not bargained for a dedendum on the thread, giving a barber's-pole effect, shallow groove on the section within the gear-box, but I don't think it will hurt.

This pattern has its leadscrew pinion behind a small cover on the working end of the gearbox. I made the seating, keyway and key for the pinion longer, allowing disengaging it to use the leadscrew with the calibrated handwheel without dragging the works round with it.

One task remains. The last modification makes the pinion and leadscrew end vulnerable to eating swarf so I need make a local cover, perhaps fitting the bed gap. I may use the 3mm PVC sheet I found excellent for fabricating the lathe's complete splash-back / motor cover.

The original lead-screw, banjo etc will be carefully stored against any possible reversion... though enquiries on that might need be to my Executors!

Acknowledgements -

I thank others here for some helpful advice, though not covering the older type gearbox. However I was able to obtain a photocopy of the Myford manual for the gearbox from lathes.co, and this covers both patterns.

Wot I did was drill holes, put up shelves, fix curtains, swap a broken mirror (seven years bad luck), and see my first UKCA mark in the wild!

Is this a first? Is there a prize?

Only fly in the ointment : the mark is on a Smart Meter controller.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 09/10/2021 15:49:46