What did you do Today 2024

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

(👍)

..This evening, painting my naval gun carriage – loosely modelled as British, of the closing decades of the C18th.

So far it’s got a coat of Red Oxide (as a substitute for ‘Red Lead’ which seems to have been a common choice for protective paint since the Roman period), but I’m not convinced it’s bright enough – tho’ RL does weather of course.. ..any suggestions based on knowledge welcome..

I also have a doubt as to whether the trucks (wheels) would have been painted or left ‘natural’ on a stoned deck – these are plain, not reinforced or ‘tyred’..

..any thoughts?

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

I have copies of Nepean Longridge’s ‘The Anatomy of Nelson’s Navy’, and Chris Henry’s “Napoleonic Naval Armaments”.

First call though was on internet images of the guns on HMS Victory, which show examples of carriages in plain wood, a few painted red, many in yellow ochre,  and – maybe – one in black.

I don’t believe the Royal Navy had a standard paint scheme during the age of sail, and captains were free to colour their ships as they pleased.   I’d bet money gun metalwork was all painted black for corrosion protection, apart from that the colour scheme was open.  Many would use government paint issued to keep the ship in good order, but a rich captain might go for more bling – gold leaf on the figurehead etc.

‘The Anatomy of Nelson’s Navy’ is actually about building a first class model of HMS Victory.   The book is mildly depressing on the subject of guns, pointing out it’s easy enough to turn one on a lathe, but much harder to make 28 identical models.   As this is a serious model, the guns needed to carry the royal cypher.    Most early cannon included decorations in the castings, and as these are rarely reproduced by modellers, Inspector Meticulous has plenty of ammunition.    Not so with colour, though.  As far as I can tell ‘The Anatomy of Nelson’s Navy’, which is otherwise packed with details, has no advice on painting guns.

“Napoleonic Naval Armaments” is a little more forthcoming.  HMS Inconstant, a frigate, was allowed:  44 gallons of Down’s Black; 44 gallons White, 44 gallons Red,  and no Yellow.    So whilst some carriages on HMS Victory today are painted yellow, and might have been at Trafalgar, it’s unlikely any of the guns on HMS Inconstant were painted yellow.

Gun-decks being gloomy places make painting everything white advantageous.   But white has poor coverage; yellow spreads better, then Black, and Red Lead is best of all.   What was available and expedient may have decided what was done, for example I can imagine ships starting by painting gun carriages with proper white paint, and thereafter tarting up them with ordinary whitewash until the next refit.  Or someone deciding to use red paint to hide the blood during battle!  (A real problem: lots of tough guys swoon at the sight of blood.)

Confident that no historic rules were being ignored, I’d go for what looks best to me, red lead, or yellow ochre,

Dave

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Well done Dave, and thanks for your interest and time – it sounds like we have reached much the same conclusions..

It certainly isn’t going to be yellow, mainly because the barrel is brass and the complete ensemble would then look hideous..

Also it puts it ‘later’ than I’d intended – it’s easier to make a passably correct-looking ‘earlier’ model, whilst post-Trafalgar things seemed to develop and become more regulated apace..

So red with black ironwork it will be.

Many thanks, D.

[Chris MateParticipant @chrismate31303]

Busy with Metal Bandsaw mounted on the silenced compressor. So the bandsaw swing up, as well as the compressor case top/lid with stainless tray to catch swarf, it sort of heavy.

So the temporarly selution was a 50mm pipe to keep it from falling over, and a tie rope to the roof for safety, now I can access the compressor fully from the top. At least I can get to it if I need to, which is rarely(Easy access from front as well).

It will take some more thinking to come up with a sturdy plan to function on its own tied to compressor enclosure frame..

[RobinParticipant @robin]

I went to my garage, balanced the remains of an 1810 sea service carriage wheel under an iron loop and took a picture to show the layers of paint 😀

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

..it’s amazing what some people have tucked away under the bench; thanks Robin!

Do you know their history?

..very Farrow & Ball –  quite on trend..

Any info would be warmly received, thanks very much D.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

An unpleasant surprise, then a very unexpected find, when cleaning my Harrison L5 lathe.

I had engaged the leadscrew at low speed to brush the chips out of it.

A few inches of travel then Thunk! All Stop, with the motor belts slipping, fortunately.

Fears of summat broken in the all-geared headstock…..

Power off, re-engage the clutch, rotate the machine by hand. Leadscrew dog-clutch open: everything free. Engage the clutch, whole lot jammed.

I found the pair of ring-nuts on the outer end of the screw had jammed solidly against the face of the journal, and to each other, so hard they brought the whole lathe to a halt and even pushed the change-wheel banjo round a fraction. It took some brutality with big pipe-pliers and much of my weight to slacken them one at a time.

Luckily no harm done to the rest of the machine but I had chewed the nuts enough to consider making new ones.

The 3/4″ thread is fairly fine but not Brass (26TPI), not BSF (12TPI).

Rooting through my motley collection of taps to identify the thread revealed 3/4″ X 16. The only standard thread to match is UNF! The tap runs through it very smoothly without undue shake.

Could the Yorkshire -based manufacturers have used a UNF thread there, or to have chosen 16TPI as a “special” so probably of Whitworth form?

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Knocked a long standing job off the “to do” list and made some stops for my Wohlhaupter boring & facing head,  they were missing when I acquired it xxyears ago;  fortunately I had used similar units many years ago so knew a pattern, a bit measuring etc and produced a sketch to work from.  Hear’s couple of pics one test assembly and the other hardened & tempered plus I made the also missing tool for operating the facing buttons

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Nigel, might be worth checking there’s not something fouling the saddle – end loading on the leadscrew is often a result of it trying to feed itself through a stationary carriage..?

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

..it’s amazing what some people have tucked away under the bench; thanks Robin!

Do you know their history?

..very Farrow & Ball –  quite on trend..

Any info would be warmly received, thanks very much D.

Carron opened his Carronade factory in Falkirk and educated the locals in the ways of cannon making. Around 1810 the Falkirk Foundry sprang up and started casting ordinary cannons. Two 6 pounders marked, “FALKIRK 6 Pdr” were sold to the Reed Shipping Line plying the South China Seas out of Cardiff. That went on until WW1 made it extremely dangerous, the cannon were put on a tourist attraction schooner parked at Torquay and I presume that was when they were spiked and someone dropped a ball down one that rusted in place. When the schooner was set ablaze by vandals the cannon were returned to a Reed descendant who put them outside his house. I bought them from his grandson who was emigrating.

Such fun 🙂

Robin

[RobinParticipant @robin]

Every time I see one of those Wohlhaupter boring & facing heads I get a terrible urge to shop, the same urge that has filled my house with junk.

I tell myself I have CNC so I don’t need one, but deep inside I know that isn’t true 🙁

Robin

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Robin, that’s an interesting tale (and a pretty good provenance).

Thanks for the post.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Diogenes –

Thank you for that tip.

I did work along the lathe to find the problem.

The machine would run with the lead-screw clutch disengaged.

I could wind the saddle along, lathe running or static, so that was not in gear with either shaft, nor obstructed internally.

That left only the two tail-end nuts. With then removed I could turn the screw by hand, correctly.

.

Well, today I succeeded in skimming the worst of the pipe-wrench marks off the nuts with no significant diametral loss, so cleaned up their battered peg-spanner holes and knocked up a pair of peg-spanners. Those did not work as well as I’d hoped, but at least I have only those to replace, not any lathe component, and carefully running the lathe with no load proved the point.

I should remove the journal and inspect the ball thrust-bearing in-board of it. It does not fit properly on diameter, and the very unfair shock it had could have indented or even cracked the race.

[Frank GorseParticipant @frankgorse]

I thought that the Carron Company took its name from its geographical location,rather than from its founder (pun intended,of course)

[Frank Gorse]

On Frank Gorse Said:

I thought that the Carron Company took its name from its geographical location,rather than from its founder (pun intended,of course)

I am sure you are right, my brane is getting old and tired. In retrospect, I think my cannon went to Newquay rather than Torquay, but close enough, life’s too short 🙂

Robin

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

dug out the 59 lamby today and flushed the fuel system thru and lo and behold it fired up after the second kick, not bad as it had been slumbering for 28 years. quick ride up the road and its a goodun.

[Chris MateParticipant @chrismate31303]

Metal Bandsaw restore Rongfu 115….

-Received a 18(Normal) & 14 tooth(Irregular pattern) blades. Used the 18 tooth blade to set up saw adjustments & test. Manage to cut 1.3mm ring off 35mm pipe, ok enough for now.

-I fitted a reset power box(8-Amp Contactor) below in compressor cabinet for the saw on top.,
1-so if power goes off  it trips and need to be reset.
2-f the saw complete the cut, it trips the box, needs to be reset.
3-Added a limit switch & red warning light to detect if the blade is at least well tentioned, if not the box is tripped and cannot start. Making an adjustable box to house the switch and light.With this its quick to turn off tention on blade when not in use, and be warned on next start to tention the blade, quick crank till light ges off(Pre Adjusted).

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I went to Wigan MES open day. Really friendly bunch of chaps, and great pies (well it is Wigan). They’re on again Sunday, so if you’re in the north west pop along and see them. Only problem is finding it, you ned the post code and a sat nav.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Our local MP for Hemel Hempstead visited the St Albans MES track running session (we don’t do public running) and we let him have a go driving real coal fired locos, Simplex and Princess Marina. He enjoyed it and may even join up having an interest already with N and 00 at home. As most of the club are pensioners and many of us single he was quite brave to come along.

[RobinParticipant @robin]

My HV mill has a nod, actually a chin up, of about 0.2mm over 220mm <angst>

All square at the ram so I broke the connection, cleaned it all up and it seems to be flat and square on the surface plate.

Can’t put it back together because I damaged some wire insulation and can’t find the shrink wrap. More on order…

Hoping it was an ingress of crut or I will be setting it up on the mighty Rong Fu 🙂

All jolly good fun

Robin

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

“.. ..Hoping it was an ingress of crut or I will be setting it up on the mighty Rong Fu.. ..”

..sticking a strip of foil into the top edge joint would be better than taking metal off, surely..?

Edit; it occurs to me now that the ring might be 200 across – it’s early..

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

“.. ..Hoping it was an ingress of crut or I will be setting it up on the mighty Rong Fu.. ..”

..sticking a strip of foil into the top edge joint would be better than taking metal off, surely..?

Edit; it occurs to me now that the ring might be 200 across – it’s early..

199mm, you got it within one millimeter, not bad for “early” 🙂

Robin

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Have you checked the table to make sure that is not sloping down towards you which could give the impression the head is nodding up.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Have you checked the table to make sure that is not sloping down towards you which could give the impression the head is nodding up.

I rotated the ram so it stuck out the front and then measured from below with a DTI pointing up from the table. Measured from the front and back of the table up to the ram it was identical, but there was 10um of roughness in between 🙁

Do I really want to go there? Removing the “26 Hold bracket” was easy with the quill bolted to the table. Removing the ram “21 Overarm” would be a completely different kettle of fish, probably require scaffolding 🙁

Never hurts to ask though, don’t want to cut in the wrong place. Still hoping a good cleanout will suffice 🙂

best

Robin

[Sonic EscapeParticipant @sonicescape38234]

Not today, but 2 days ago. I cut a 40mm steel bar with an Evolution chop saw. I have it for 2 years but so far I cut only thin parts or pipes. This saw is great! In the past I cut the same bar with an abrasive disc chop saw. I took more than 15 minutes I think and the piece was too hot to touch. And the cut was not clean.

 

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