What did you do Today 2018

It was quite a modern design when you started making that one

Great looking engine Neil.

Today I was going to etch a small name plate for my Stuart 10V, I had good success previously with etching. Then decided give it a go on my home converted cnc mill, Very happy with the result though some improvements can be made for next time, done with a 0.2mm pcb carbide engraving cutter at 20k rpm.

Nigel

That's excellent - the 1 can only be little more than 0.1mm wide and nice and crisp. You need a blob of black paint on the 8 though

Neil

Thanks Neil, A blob of paint on the '8' will be too much, probably a tiny spec of paint will fix it, LOL.

BTW, that brick work on your model also looks fantastic.

Nigel

Thanks, it's thin 'brick slips' stuck to 3/4" ply, they are made of real brick and pointed with readymix patching mortar.

I used miniature bricks for the base of one engine, just two brick high which looked fine, but when I tried building a full high wall it looked awful.

Today I've sorted the piston and its rod, properly aligned the frame and sorted the positions of a few parts. Oh and made an exhaust pipe from brake tube.

Next job is the crosshead which is best described as 'challenging' - it has a roller at each end.

Neil

Today I made the inner eccentric for the simple mill engine, found that hard on the eyes. Worked out fine but off putting watching it until the part being machined became round. Not much or too exciting but a first for me

Jim

Hooked up a couple of lengths of Black Friday 2 1/2" or 63mm hose to the dust extractor. Much better than the vacuum cleaner for cleaning swarf off the floor and tools. Doesn't suck hard enough to swallow nuts and bolts etc. but cleans five times the area at a sweep.

Spent 2 1/2 days this week making a mast and brackets to carry some SWA cable overhead to the garage. The 33 year old non-armoured-underground-in-a-steel-conduit-with-6"-of-concrete-over-it cable had failed and SWMBO's pottery kiln was out of action. Spent two days pulling the SWA and getting the pottery production line working again. I'm scheduled to spend the weekend after next dragging the consumer unit up from the 15th edition of the Wiring Regs to the 17th edition by replacing it and all of its breakers and adding an extra RCB.

Edited By Mark Rand on 25/11/2018 21:22:05

Danny M2Z you have a PM about the Bandiana Sale

Thanks Charles, you have a reply. What amuses me is the 'Black Friday', 'Christmas in July', 'Father's Day' etc sales.

All were invented and promoted by business interests trying to push/promote sales during slack periods.

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 26/11/2018 05:01:27

This morning was a bit of pre Christmas shopping.

Some round steel bar to make the 40mm flycutter from and a 3/4" thick 6082 blank for the rotary table plate. Some T nuts, 12mm and 16mm collets, a T slot cutter and a 8mm flycutter tool bit. Also a gas strut to replace the mills torque lever arm.

Well one has to have a few treats now and then..

Started taking the motor off the Super7 to replace noisy bearing. Disconnected wiring, slackened screws and then found motor pulley was loose.

Nice and quiet now!

I get worse as I get older!

Daveb

Today I landed on Mars -:

* Danny M *

Congratulations! I just watched that on the News, hope the Solar Panels unfurl properly and the drilling goes well.

Edited By V8Eng on 27/11/2018 09:25:33

Actually yesterday, I received the laser cut return connecting rods in stainless steel for my Overcrank Engine. These rods are in effect the crosshead but they work around the crankshaft thus shortening the engine. They were produced for me by Model Engineers Laser from a paper drawing.

I could have made them myself but producing 4 seemed like a chore so I took the easy route.

I understand that Malcolm at Model Engineers Laser runs it as a retirement project and he tells me that unfortunately his service will no longer be available after the end of 2020. That is a great pity as his service is excellent in all respects and he is willing to work from a paper drawing.

Jim

Finally reached the stage with my little Unimat where I could run the new spindle.

I've had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at making an ER16 collet chuck for it, also tried a collet adapter from one of our suppliers which proved a dog. So eventually decided that since I mainly want the lathe for turning small round parts I'd change the spindle and fit one made from an ER16 extension collet chuck. Has a 12mm shank so had to make some adapter bushes to fit the bearings; and made new 3-step pulleys. I found a nice Parvalux SD18 190W 3-phase 2 pole motor which runs from an IMO VFD. Whole lot mounted on 2 inch varnished ply baseplate. Runs smooth at 300 rpm with no vibration, spindle has very small native runout, a bit disappointed at the runout with a collet which seems mainly to be a problem with the closer nuts. Somehow I've managed to accumulate 5, one of them seems pretty good, the others not so good. Can get about 0.03 mm TIR on a 10mm ground steel bar. Now need to do a lot of tidying up and sort out some decent tools

Well not today but I spent most of yesterday evening reading as much as I could find on Cherry Hill. Not until yesterday and seeing her name mentioned on a thread did I know anything about her, I had no idea who she was.

What can one say about her..? well I,m not even going to try other than what a "truly amazing lady" the models are almost beyond belief. I dont know about model engineering which of course it is but her work seems to be on another level, just perfection.

Ron

Sorry double post

Edited By Ron Laden on 28/11/2018 14:12:10

Today ... I found this listed on ebay: **LINK**

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clock-or-model-makers-Mini-Lathe-12vDC-powered/223226406213

Perhaps I shall dream tonight, of what I could buy for £250

MichaelG.

I am not sure that is “self made” - or if it was the chap made 2!

My mammoth workshop re-organisation turned up what looks to be an almost identical item, although at the headstock end it has a pulley and drive pin arrangement that I assumed was intended for use with a bow?

It was given to me by a watchmaker who was ex bomber command and trained as a watch maker at the end of the war. It does have a hand made look to it, perhaps it was made by course participants as a part of their training?

I put it on the shelf as it is a nice thing, would someone get some use out of it?

Ian

Well hopefully a proper lathe not a set of hand turns some idiot has put a motor on. I do hate seeing such overpriced bodges on ebay with the risk that some pensioner will sink their savings into it.