What Did You Do Today 2021

The previous posts can be found here

EDMES were off to a quick start for the year with a club meeting (virtual) at 10am. Sally showed her candle powered merry-go-round and John confessed to having to take two tries at a new tailstock screw for his treadle wood lathe so it goes in the epectedx direction when you turn the handle to tighten it.

I'm busy in the workshop machining the crosshead blanks for 4472...just finished.. now on to doing the all-important holes and then profiling. Should have them finished in a week or two...

Pete

For possibly the first time ever, I manged some workshop time on New Year's Day, finished machining the backplate for the new 3-jaw my wife gave me for Christmas.

A gentle start to the New Year (and no, not because I was hung-over 'cos I wasn't). I was not feeling very creative, having ended 2010 ruining two T&C grinder components I'd spend ages not managing to machine to the tolerances I'd wanted for them.

Looked at the latest club round-robin, but it was an attachment I can't use. That often happens - they are videos in assorted formats, or name.docx things, nothing I can view.

I gave the machine-tools a cleaning-down, retrieved an Allen key the floor-gremlins had grabbed last year (two or three days ago), and started repairing the Hilka off-hand grinder. Its rubber feet were breaking up. I've to modify it slightly to fit replacements, as the original type are probably now unobtainable or cost silly money.

Then set to trying to work out how to use a Vertex dividing-head I'd bought second-hand but apparently unused, via a bereavement sale within the club. It came without instructions and those I found on line are useless! (This is the subject of a separate enquiry I've posted.)

Nigel, if you install free Libreoffice or Open Office you should be able to open docs files. Google them.

Start the year as I mean to go on, mucked out the shed, made a mandrel to hold a set of mod1 gear cutters, made a couple of trial gears.

If you just want to view word documents without editing, Microsoft Document Viewer is free and probably nicer to use:

www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/doc-viewer

Neil

Lazy day, apart from a short walk and emptying the old tomato-copse grow-bags. I hope the frog I retrieved from one bag will be all right. I put it by the pond, but it seemed very low on steam when I last saw it just in the water. Hopefully it will find the pond floor gunge, nice and cosy.

Saturday. I know that 'cos the jazz programme's on the radio at the moment. " Normally " I would have been in Somerset, helping on a caving project, but like everything else that's obviously on hold. I think the model-engineering club site is out of reach too - access depends on our own Covid-precautions booking-system plus the grounds being open anyway, controlled by a public sports-centre that I assume is presently closed.

'

. Thank you for the IT tips!

At one time Adobe offered a translator that was triggered automatically when sensing a pdf, docx. or xlsx. file. It displayed a big screen button labelled "Convert now!". It merely opened a demand for nearly £40 a month before you could use it! I don't mind a fair price up-front for an honest sale, but refuse attempts at unending " never-never " non-agreements for something I need fairly infrequently .

I have tried Open Office. Once. A disaster. It took me hours to delete its 120+ files individually by DOS command-lines. I could not risk leaving any, not knowing the harmful ones. (MS still offered DOS on whatever system I was using at the time, allowing such editing.) So I won't risk it now.

Much as I dislike MS' methods and am refusing as long as possible what I found to be another disaster - WIN-10 - I leave changing to other companies' systems to the experts.

Frances -

My PC uses WIN 7 Pro. It's not the computer that's the problem but what seemed an MS / Adobe cartel trick. I found it possible to transmit files intact in older versions, but the corresponding move does not unlock affected files.

A Raspberry? Buy a completely new computer and operating-system and learn them from scratch? Will they also run things like TurboCAD and the library I've built up on that, or allow me to use other files I made ages ago?

I have not read any convincing reason for MS having invented this file-locking system.

'

Neil -

I may try that, but sometimes I do receive files I want to edit. I have a feeling I did try to obtain that document reader a while ago, but MS' extremely tightly-designed web-site would not let me for some reason.. It's no good trying to ask MS for help - they are inaccessible except for sales!

Derusted some changewheels with a wire brush spindle outside. The extra draught from the rotating brush plus no gloves was really freezing my fingers. I wonder if a coating of vaseline as used by channel swimmers would help. Finished in time for the SADMES zoom call which included a visit from Mike Rehmus editor of Model Engine Builder magazine.

For fifty years I've wanted to make a penknife. When I got around to it, it only took two weeks. Probably needed to learn something first.

Making a pendulum bracket for my next clock, fabricated from half-inch ali plate. Backplate and two triangular "cheeks". Made the latter from a 70mm square that was machined all over on the Novamill, then sawn across the diagonal on the Femi bandsaw table, using a vee block against the fence to get the angle right. Then to machine the sawn diagonal faces flat I set this up on the big mill.

Angle plate clamped to the table, using the bracket back plate as a parallel on which the vee block sits with the sawn halves resting in the vee so the long edge is horizontal, then clamped with a G cramp, not forgetting a slip of ali under the pad to stop it marking my nice machined surface.

Finished off my pair of Kant clamps; now need to find a project where I can use them..

George.

Bet you Kant find a use for them

Sorry, - I'll go

Seriously though, before I leave, very nice work!

Nick

I don't know what they are for, but very nicely made George.

Edit - I know better now I've watched this video

Start about 2 mins in.

Edited By Anthony Kendall on 10/01/2021 10:18:30

look great George

Had another run of the Robinson Hot Air engine I finished yesterday. First run yesterday was only for 20 odd seconds. This time I had it running for 40 minutes before I stopped it.

Need to sort out a wooden base and a suitable burner now.

Colin

Eventually kicked myself into action and made the steam outlet and chimney base for my vertical boiler. Needs a safety valve, gas burner and lagging and it's finished. Passed hydraulic some time ago, has been languishing on a shelf. Lockdown means I can't nip out to my local wood merchant who has a decent circular saw to make 1/4" planks from some old hardwood window frame, so it will go back on the shelf.

It's based on Robin Dyers Clayton Waggon boiler