What did you do today? (2014)

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Posted by Oompa Lumpa on 18/03/2014 20:26:38:

SNIP

Under my bench there is a box containing half a dozen hammers of various type, none of which I use. They just don't feel "right".

My opinion only and it may not work for you.

graham.

Not just hammers, it's the same with screwdrivers and spanners and …..

Years ago, I had a matrimonial crisis because my then spouse had, in my absence, given a bean-counter neighbour access to my tool-box!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Swarf, Mostly! on 18/03/2014 21:23:59:

Posted by Oompa Lumpa on 18/03/2014 20:26:38:

SNIP

Under my bench there is a box containing half a dozen hammers of various type, none of which I use. They just don't feel "right".

My opinion only and it may not work for you.

graham.

Not just hammers, it's the same with screwdrivers and spanners and …..

Years ago, I had a matrimonial crisis because my then spouse had, in my absence, given a bean-counter neighbour access to my tool-box!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Holy Smokes!

That would have triggered a diplomatic crisis in my house too.

I give spanners, screwdrivers and other small tools away, saves clutter. And broken screws, bolts and other fittings. Incidentally, if you really must use Gorilla type tools, I find the Facom brand Vise Grips to be terrific.

graham.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Actually cut some metal today!

15 minutes to the nearest minute to cut 2 3/4" round EN1A on my bandsaw, may be a useful yardstick for others.

Turns to a lovely finish with my tangential tool, it will be a wheel for my driving trolley..

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Got no 2 3/4" so tried 75mm – one minute 50 seconds.

Now got to work out what to do with that slice ?

[WorkshopPeteParticipant @workshoppete]

Hi All

I went down to my local band saw tool sharpening company the other day picked up a couple of band saw blades and got into conversation with the question what are you like at screw cutting and tapper turning (dangerous when you get asked questions like this). Anyhow it turns out he is restoring a Matchless motor cycle and needs a nut making for the end of the crankshaft and the sprocket on the other end taper boring and a keyway cut. The taper was easy 21 tooth sprocket held in the 3 jaw perfectly true clocked the bore from the old sprocket made a plug gauge from 1" bar and checked the fit by bluing and marked the point were the tapper fitted the old sprocket. Mounted the new pilot bored sprocket and bored out until the tapper gauge fitted. Finally planed in the 3/16" keyway by racking the tool slide back and forward with a specially ground boring bar. The nut was a tricky item 28 tpi L/H with an OD of 0.453" I made up first a stud of the same thread then compared it to the thread on the crankshaft satisfied all was correct I turned away the first few threads to get the root diameter so I knew what sized hole to drill in the embryo nut. Fortunately I had a 60 deg. internal threading tool that was small enough after that it was simply a matter of taking of double 5 thou cuts until the sample stud fitted. An interesting project now back to Pansy and Simplex boiler making.

Peter

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Your bandsaw is a bit beefier than mine, John! :-P.

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Bit more work done on me new lathe.

 

Last shot, on page 11, was of it in a sorry state, only done to upset the flat earth society

 

 

Which progressed to this.

 

 

Doesn't look a lot but now on the deck and level up, took some doing to get 0.00000000001mm concave on the cross slide. Hope that's Ok or I'll have to lift it again and take the fag paper out under the middle foot.

Shelves fitted, trimmed and fitted with rubber sheeting. Compound slide removed and replaced by some temporary high tensile beech fire wood. Tailstock still unfinished.

 

 

Doors on, painted to match. big steel block to replace the compound in the search for rigidity and concaveivity.

tailstock still unfinished.

 

 

 

Tailstock now done. got 110mm on the lever feed and 75mm on the screw feed and it self ejects tanged tools on the zero mark. I gaugeing scale fitted for easy to read and zero settable depth.

 

 

And the mod done to the barrel that Bogsey spike about.

 

 

Shot from underneath of an M8 grubscrew loctited into position to stop the tang from spinning. there is another screw diametrical opposite. They have been fitted in these positions so they are not in obvious visual sight.

 

That more or less sets this machine up ready to work.

 

Edited By John Stevenson on 22/03/2014 21:22:18

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Posted by John Stevenson on 22/03/2014 21:20:20:

Doesn't look a lot but now on the deck and level up, took some doing to get 0.00000000001mm concave on the cross slide. Hope that's Ok or I'll have to lift it again and take the fag paper out under the middle foot.

G'day John, it depends on your brand of fag papers (Get the batch number btw )and the relative humidity of the workshop. If you stop breathing for a while it makes a big difference. Where you stand next to the lathe can distort the accuracy. I have an 'X' on the floor just like they do for the Oscars. Micro-Angströms are what people want from a cheap Chinese lathe. Tracking the movement of Uranus is a good start but watch out for Klingons.

* Danny *

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Sir John,

". . . took some doing to get 0.00000000001mm concave on the cross slide."

Bragging git!

How did you measure that, and where the heck do you find the time?

Nicely done as we expect from you.

Geoff – Drawer organising went well yesterday, and in shock today.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

John S..saw 0.00000000001mm…
Though how much…then got the joke…
The facing ” debate”…
Is old now

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Danny M2Z on 23/03/2014 05:12:50:

Posted by John Stevenson on 22/03/2014 21:20:20:

Doesn't look a lot but now on the deck and level up, took some doing to get 0.00000000001mm concave on the cross slide. Hope that's Ok or I'll have to lift it again and take the fag paper out under the middle foot.

G'day John, it depends on your brand of fag papers (Get the batch number btw )and the relative humidity of the workshop. If you stop breathing for a while it makes a big difference. Where you stand next to the lathe can distort the accuracy. I have an 'X' on the floor just like they do for the Oscars. Micro-Angströms are what people want from a cheap Chinese lathe. Tracking the movement of Uranus is a good start but watch out for Klingons.

* Danny *

.

Good point Danny.

Never thought about the 'X' so in best colour coordinateded Wilco's rattle can blue, we present.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Your foot brake won't work now with that can stuck inder the bar

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I know, spotted that as well, it's not the blue can though so not sure what.

I'll check in a bit and put it away, If I get a minute [ or two ] later after waxing and polishing the Donald I'll have a play with the miller next.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Did a couple of bits more on the Monitor

Turned this bit of angle iron

Into the governor latch lever and made the catch plate as well which is case hardened to match the hook part of the lever which is also case hardened.

Also made a drive pully from an inch length of ERW tube and some 1/8" steel offcuts

Trued it up on the flywheel and machined 3 facets to be blended into a crown. After the photo I also bored the inside at a slight angle to represent the draft angle of the original casting.

Finished job, I'm not to worried about the internal finish as it wants to be a bit rough to look like a casting

J

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Decided to make the18-tooth 20DP pinion for my shunter that I've been putting off. Poking around my cutters I found a 17-tooth one I made for a tractor gearbox and rejected. i wondered why I had rejected it – careful inspection showed it was the sector flange was wrong, nothing wrong with the gear itself. It as just shy of 1/2", just waiting to be reamed. So I reamed it 1/2" and turned a 3/4" stub with a 1/2" register and bored out to 8mm. Fitted gear high-strength retainer then parted off the collar and turned the gear a bit thinner. 2BA hole for a grub screw, then an hour of fettling to allow the motor to drop down and engage the gear. Had to be done without dismantling so I used a mix of grinding stones and a carbide burr. Still had to file a bit off the motor mounting lugs.

Should give me a 50% increase in drawbar pull (adhesion permitting) for a 30% decrease in top speed Speed is now theoretically 2.4mph instead of 3.6, but a scale speed is only 1mph anyway. Actually, I think that the new ratio will let the motor rev more freely, so perhaps still hit 3 mph.

Neil

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Just finished one project and found my next at an auction yesterday. Its a KENNEDY, the 6" version which I will have to spend some time on over the coming weeks. It cost me the price of a bottle of cheap chardonnay at our local (how do they justify charging £16 for plonk?) – no wonder all the pubs are shutting!

And this lot from today's boot for pence……………….

………………it's phenolic but is it Tufnol? – I'm not sure. Just never seen it this big before, four bits of which:

1 x 170mm dia. x 50mm thick.

1 x 160mm dia. x 50mm thick

2 x 115mm dia. x 45mm thick

I cannot see me ever using it but how can you walk past a pile like this when its so cheap?

Rik

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi Rik,

Are you sure it isn't farmhouse cheddar?

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Look more like exotic wood turning blanks with the wax coating to stop the grain drying out. Lacewood or She-oak maybe

Edited By JasonB on 23/03/2014 20:50:51

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Rik,

I feel sure that Jason is correct

Have a browse aound here

MichaelG.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

For you doubters I have chucked one of the smaller pieces and skimmed the face. It stinks like phenolic and turns like phenolic. I have machined a good deal of this foul smelling stuff in the past and can assure you both that this is most definitely phenolic – wood it is NOT! Neither Neil, is it cheddar, stilton, stinking bishop, brie or any other cheesy comestible.

Rik

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Wax coated exotic wood would have been my guess..certainly the apparent skin is a point of caution. .it might not be the same” grain” all the way through..

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Rik ..your comment crossed mine above..

Well if it’s phenolic resin fine..does that apparent skin clean up?…

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Riveting work – putting together my Martin Evans' "Ivatt" cab – previously CNC cut, including CNC cut window frames.

Fun stuff – more info as usual on my blog – http://cnc-for-model-engineers.blogspot.com – **LINK**

Here's a pic of the rear cab extension on for a test fit:

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

#

I have worked over the weekend on construction of a lever feed tail stock as has been described in this thread by John Stevenson. The photo above shows progress so far. It is almost finished but I need the shorten the auxiliary barrel by about 25 mm. I also want to install bronze bushes at both ends of the auxiliary barrel. However, even in its unfinished state it works very well.

Thanks John for the concept.

Mike

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

At 10:00pm last night , walking the dog, Mars was a very bright orange spot low in the southeast. It was going to be a good night for astrophotography. I got up at 4:30 this morning thanks to a cat getting in the bedroom, and for once didn't mind. I got 12 shots of Saturn, then dead south & low, of which most were reasonable. I will jpeg stack them later, below is one straight off the camera, the only processing is to crop it. Stacked images clearly show the shadow of the planet on the rings to the top right.

Neil

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