What Did you do Today 2022

Machining continues on the Wyvern. Used the new (arc) 5x7 tilting table to set the 30 deg angle for the main bearings. Digital protractor proved the markings on the table were remarkably accurate although in reality +- half a degree would make no difference.

Another clock converted to use a GPO slave movement for the railway. This was a Smith's Astral 123 with a very nice movement, I'd guess made 1950s - 70s, maybe in Coventry. The posts supporting the original movement had to come out - they were effectively riveted or bonded to the back of the face, so I needed to fill the resulting holes and try to match the face colour to cover the repair.

I gave them back the extracted movement. They might be able to sell it on via auction site - they seem to fetch a few quid.

Edited By Mick B1 on 14/01/2022 20:55:45

Stayed indoors most of the day, growling at the utter disorganisation surrounding my purchasing on-line from DELL, a refurbished DELL confuser with this 'ere WIN-10 I'm told I'd better have. (I am not expert enough to go all Linux-y).

Promised 21 days delivery despite ex-stock, of PC plus a mouse it lacked. (It has a keyboard.) Well, all right, distribution delays. Strange times as the new normal and all that.

Ought be easy for a big computer company to pack a rebuilt all-in-one PC, keyboard and mouse in one box and send it to me? Oh Lor' no. This is the IT world - the more obstructive, inept and inefficient the better.

What a bureaucratic, frustrating shambles!

Delivery would be Tuesday, then yesterday, then today, said shippers Syncreon whose poorly-designed web-site worked only once, to tell me my goods were lost in Holland. Actual delivery by DHL; anywhen 'twixt cock-crow and owl-hoot. So basically trapping me indoors, but I managed some afternoon workshop time - and of course , no delivery. To make it more fun Dingly Dell had split the single order into two: PC, and mouse; so two separate lots of paperwork, two separate invoices, two delivery dates to mess up.

Afrer another "no-reply" missive late yesterday evening I was so furious I could not relax in bed. I got up, steamed up the computer and fired an angry e-post to Dell's Customer "Services", telling them why I am on the verge of cancelling the order, and in capitals: "Stop confusing, inconveniencing and frustrating me! " . Ticked just 1 (lowest) on the " satisfaction" scale. Not had a reply yet......

Then another "no-reply" from Syncratic: this time the other box, delivery some day next week; again any time between cornflakes and cocoa. I've a "celebration of his life" to attend on one day so knowing my luck....

HA! Just had a message from DHL - delivery Monday. I won't hold my breath. Computer or mouse, I wonder?

'

Well, I have managed some model-engineering.... I measured parts of the steam-wagon to continue to design its grate and ashpan as a unit than will tip for disposal. After puzzling how also to fit a damper, I twigged I can use its control also to control that tipping. (With a draw-bolt to hold the assembly in place for steaming.)

Not easy. The firebox is a vertical cylinder with the foundation-ring in a lot of fairly empty space a long way below the chassis-rails, and far narrower than the gap between them. I've also to consider how to mount the boiler lagging, hand-brake gear and engine supports, in the same region, without filling the space with inordinately complicated, unsightly, un-prototypical metalwork that will need heavily modifying or replacing at least twice.

As Bees pop up from time to time on here I thought you may be interested in this thermal image of one of the hives at the Lab. (Kept purely for enjoyment at honey)

Made something and learned something.

Made a little knurled and threaded knob to secure the changewheel cover on my Boxford, and knurled for the first time ever, so inordinately pleased with myself.

Learned not to apply cutting oil to knurls with a brush...

Rob

I am moving my workshop from shed to garage. This will save me from heating the shed (just to 10 degrees to avoid condensation). In the garage I have a large radiator connected to the central heating, also the insulation is much better then in the shed (Had it drylined some years ago). So at the moment it is putting kitchen furniture together. (some of my old cabinets fall apart, so I had an excuse to get new ones...)

Spent the last couple of days finishing getting the chassis frames to overall size and then cut out some of the pieces still need to do all the drilling as well as file the curves for the bits I have cut out. I have managed to take out most of the metal using the mill so reducing the filing I will need to do.

I did have a small mishap where the part moved but was able to realign everything and set the DRO to the datum point I was working from no damage to the part luckily. It was not he machine but me that caused it lesson learnt for later

The new workshop is progressing, the left side is almost done, one high larder cupboard will be added.

The gap between cupboards will be used as a raw material storage. And I think also my vice will go there. We will see.

Happy new year to all readers. I'd bought a pack of 10mm, round carbide insert tips to compliment my 6mm one. Had to make a holder to fit from 12mm sq.BDMS from my scrapbinium box...

I dont have a flame torch system that would heat & hold temp for 'oil toughening' but I reckon BDMS is pretty tough to take the cutting forces, not that I would use this tool a lot anyway, just another 'nice to have'.

George.

Maged to catch up on my Scotch yoke engine latterly having been on the back burner since before Xmas...

Flywheel ..

Valve chest trial assembly..

Trial assembly..

Still lots to do, set timing, fix flywheel to crankshaft ( deviation from Dwg req'd ), trial run, strip, clean, check dim's, tweak as needed, paint, ( any advice on painting aluminium welcomed ) , I generally use etch primer to start with after de-greasing.

George.

I'm almost embarrassed to Post this given the rather nice workshop image above, but one of my Xmas projects was to create some storage under my Bench.

10 years ago, I thought my shed was brim full and there was no way I could fit anything else in, but each time I buy something new, somehow (with quite some pain sometimes), I find room for it. This time the culprit was a scrollsaw.

Under my bench was a pile of stuff. Not very efficient and hard to get to. This was my response

Frankly, they are not as nice as they look.

I made (at least) two mistakes. Firstly, I should have let the timber merchant cut the pieces to size (and straight) rather than just to fit my car. I appear to be incapable of right angles with a circular saw. Secondly I should have built the drawers into a carcass rather trying to fit into the bench.

The drawers on the floor weren't too bad, but getting the drawer immediately under the bench aligned so it even vaguely worked was a bit of a nightmare. In the end it is hard to close and so has had stuff I rarely use relegated to it, rather that stuff I need all the time.

Still, its storage.

Iain

Over the past few days I've bitten the bullet and I'm in the process of moving my CNC lathe and mill to operate from a new (to me) PC with motion controllers rather than the PC parallel port. I've got a pair of CNCDrive UC100 motion controllers, which look like 25 pin parallel port connectors but have a USB socket on the back. They generate the pulses required to drive the steppers rather than the PC's CPU. This means I can carry on using Mach 3 but on a WIN10 PC. Getting the motion controllers working using the old XP computer proved to be absolutely painless, I've got Mach3 installed on the new mini-PC (which is the size of a modest stack of CD boxes) and talking to the UC100, jut going through the configuration, looks like I may be able to cut metal with the new system tomorrow.

If anyone wants a Dell PC with WinXP and Mach 3 installed, there's one that's free to a good home!

I think Neil may be looking for one now that he is getting his workshop up and running and dusting off the KX1

Hi, although my Swiss Boy 116 lab jack was working OK, it wouldn't lift anymore than about three quarters of its design height, this was because in its past life before I had it, it must have been used with too much weight on it because the left hand thread on the adjusting screw was distorted over the length that it would only lift too, as can be seen in the photo below.

So after buying a new left hand die and a couple of left hand taps, plus a new length of brass rod, I set about to make a new adjusting screw yesterday afternoon. I cut the left hand thread first, by holding the new rod in my collet chuck on my mini lathe, facing it off, putting a centre in the end and then threading the 20mm that was sticking out. I then moved the rod out of the chuck to get the length of thread required, while supporting the end with the centre.

The rod was reversed in the chuck and the same procedure was used the cut the right hand thread, you should notice that the two new threads are a little shorter than that of the old one, but as the extra would never get used at full height, I didn't see the need to put it on.

The left hand thread was also distorted in the ally bar, but using my new left hand taps, sorted that out OK. The new thread that I cut are about 0.3mm larger diameter than the original, which is about 0.35mm under size and both new threads fitted into their respective threaded hole nice and snugly without binding anywhere along the lengths of the new thread, so the lab jack was reassembled with the new adjusting screw and it lifts up nice and smooth.

It now goes to its full height.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 18/01/2022 00:28:07

Finished my own design mill engine

Different? I like it!

You could say the arrangement linking the eccentric to slide is unconventional , but nevertheless very interesting and well made.

Don't know your name but well done

Geoff

Just removed HDD from me Humax HDR1100S freesat box. Strange beeping sounds on HDD, Lost all my "Car Share" recordings BUT no doubt they'll come round again. New drive due tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Regards Ian.

Just finished the third coat of wifi blocking paint on my living room walls.

This has reduced my neighbours Sky router signal from 3.0 V/m to between 0.10 and 0.05 V/m.

Spent yet more time in the workshop on the chassis frames managed to get all the holes drill, there are 5 that I have only stared that will need drilling right through just one of the frames.

Also the cylinder cut out done except for the corners which will need squaring up with a file once they are off the mill. I am trying to do as much as I can without disturbing the set up.

Circlip - I had to replace my HDD on a HUMAX. It would loose all recordings every now and again. Re-format didn't work, power on / off didn't work.

replaced it with :-

Seagate 2TB Pipeline HD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000VM003)

I couldn't find a 1TB drive, but a 2TB seems to work fine.

Make sure it is a "Pipeline HDD.

Bob