What did you do today? (2013)

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Ah Neil

That brings back a few memories!

Thanks to my aunt I had a succession of Austin Allegros which she sold to me at advantageous prices.

Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3. They all suffered from water pump problems and, due to growing family and general shortage of funds, DIY car maintenance was a necessity. I found, with practice, that I could change a pump in less than 20min during my lunch break. I should add that I HATE working on cars and am very glad that those days are past. I do sympathise with your situation- cars are even harder ( or maybe impossible?) to work on now!

Regards

Norman

Edited By NJH on 02/03/2013 19:18:20

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

Today I mostly cleared up the workshop,cleaned and lubed the lathe,cleaned and lubed the mill and drank tea.

Mark P.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Thanks to my aunt I had a succession of Austin Allegros which she sold to me at advantageous prices.

Had you done something to upset her, Norman?

My first car was a Marina – it cost me £30 and had no synchromesh on two of the gears. My landlord offered to buy it back off me because he felty guilty because it was such a wreck.

Neil

[Sandy MortonParticipant @sandymorton10620]

We took the grandchildren for a walk along the sands/gravel today. Not bad for the West of Scotland in March!

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

It has been a lovely day – I have worn just a t-shirt despite being outside almost the whole time.

About 9 degrees- apparently people in Calcutta have been wearing balaclavas and wrapping their children in multiple layers because it went down to an unprecedented 7 degrees!

Neil

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Painted my boiler, removed all paint and repainted it, put a big scrape down the side of it so left it and came in for some much needed solvent free air. Just squoze the puss out of my front k9 abscess and now feel well pleased with myself! (its gross but its a nice feeling!). Dog at feet, beer in hand, happy days.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Posted by Stub Mandrel on 02/03/2013 20:57:22:

I have worn just a t-shirt despite being outside almost the whole time

AAAARGH, today I have read this post just before going to bed …. now I'm going to have nightmares !

[merlinParticipant @merlin98989]

With regard to car maintenance, which used to dominate my week-ends, with a bit of practice and having freed off all the nuts and bolts involved, it was easy to decoke a Morris 1000 or change the clutch on a Maxi in a short time. Whether you enjoyed it was irrelevant – it had to be done and you couldn't afford to pay anyone else to do it.

Today I floated about the house and workshop re-reading and re-aquainting myself with clock-making practices and my half-finished clock in particular. I find that I have made motion wheels and many other bits and can only half remember them from a year or two ago.

It is amazing how much I forget if I have been away from it for only a month or three.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Spent most of today ripping my CVA lathe into pieces for spares.

Sad sign of the times to find that a high precision toolroom lathe such as the CVA is worth more for the sum of it's parts.

You will be lucky to get £900 for a decent model but a clunker of a Colchester will fetch £2000

Yet the fixed steady and metric screwcutting gears will both fetch £400 each on Ebay in the States as they fit the monarch 10EE which over there is revered.

£500 for the taper turning attachment, £300 for a tailstock, £150 scrap for the headstock, bed and base.

Anyone know of any cheap CVA's for sale in the UK ?

[jim’Participant @jim11037]

i shall be spending this morning helicoiling a mates engine and then round two with a vincent hub bearing conversion……..

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Took delivery of my B1 copper boiler TIG welded and a lovely job delivered personally by Kim of Hot-Coals, look at there web site. Now lets make all the bits for it

Bob.

[john kennedy 1Participant @johnkennedy1]

Springbok, Those kits look really nice and a good price.Hope they're still around in a few years when i finally retire cos I'm having one

[Derek DroverParticipant @derekdrover32802]

Yesterday got my Netta through its steam test, today curld up infront of the telly (watching Scrapheap Challenge), and full of a flippin cold (man flue!!!)

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

went to model show in manchester, realised I will have to repaint my new 5" as it looks awful! Looking forward to draining the abcess in a little while!

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

John I only purchased the boiler from them as they had one in stock, and at the Bristol exhibition looked superb, and when delivered was Tig copper welded with all bronze bushes silver soldered and properly tapped and first class. , a maker in the west country quoted 8 months and after that when I asked said well maybe another 8. As the man said "Nuff Said" It only took the snow at the time for delivery to be quicker. Fizzy That sounds very painful hope all goes well.

Bob

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Bob,

How about a picture of that boiler now you have it?

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

Today nice and quiet finished making some table cover "boards" for one of my mills and the rest of the day sharpening Slot Drills

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Well went today to make a start on all the bits for the boiler as I have said in the thread help on brass oooops as I looked at what I have left mostly bars of odd sizes, My workshop is in the cellar, (the cottage was a 1700s old cider house) thus my workshop is size of house I sometimes think it is to big and I keep all the bar stock at the back and in one corner, Whilst building the B1 like all my other loco's steel is used. If I had spotted it I would went to phos show but Manchester is to far for me to travel these days for supplies, (have seen most of the exhibits anyway more times than I can remember)
So will be useing my old trusty computer to order said items.

Bob

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

I mended my folding sack truck by tying a granny knot in the piece of string that stops the handle coming off, I kid you not, that's how it manufactured. To finish off I drilled out the wheels spindle hole and made two new bushes because the sleeve had turned in the plastic wheel.

Cheers Michael.

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

got up…went to work…came home

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Started to get my old POS Bridgeport stripped and out to make way for a new mill.

Told the stupid customers I wasn't working today or tomorrow but the phone never stopped ringing, so by the time I got a shed load of perspex I bought off Ebay put away and the rarely used big doorway cleared it was nearly 11;00.

Excuse the blurred pic, having trouble either with my phone or the caffine intake.

Hour and fifty odd minutes later, head off, ram off, riser off, slotting head off, bed off and screws off, just about to make the turn out the doorway on the right.

Priceless………………..

[colin hawesParticipant @colinhawes85982]

Opened the workshop. Got a call to urgently take my daughter 10 miles for an appointment and wait an hour to bring her back . Got back to workshop.received a call to take my son 10 miles to an appointment and wait.Got back to the workshop. Was asked to take wife to sainsburys and wait. Had lunch. Sun (and heat source) going down.Locked workshop. Well, it's club night and there is a warm workshop!

[Kris LehaneParticipant @krislehane86422]

Hi All.

New member of the family, ML7. All is good. Re-light of the workshop, more cleaning of said ML7. Gibs and Dial test indicators. Removing 25 years of swarf, Almost complete. Ashpan pin, and boilertube-firehole turned. Still cleaning out old muck. Split betwixt lathe and product, but getting there….

K.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Not much today, but yesterday finally got the lpg Zafira sorted – the solenoid valve was almost seized unless warmed up. Interestingly brake/clutch cleaner had no effect, but 10 minutes in meths freed it up and a quick dab with a cotton bud had it working like new!

Slightly miniaturised the control valves and vapourisers for automotive LPG could be very good fbasis or model designs, especially as this would allow propane, with its much lower (and therefore safer) pressures to be used.

Neil

[Nigel BennettParticipant @nigelbennett69913]

Cracked on making some more bits and pieces for Graham Meek's Screwcutting Clutch for my Super 7. Just a skim to take off from the main body to finish that. I cheated and bought the gears from HPC (Usual disclaimer) They do them in Delrin; I'm using two screwed together for the wide gears (which curiously are not actually detailed in the original article – or the book as far as I could see when I skimmed through one at Manchester). Makes a change from building locos.

[Author]

Posts