What did you do today? (2014)

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I thought I would have much more time to myself once retired but I hadn't understood that my wife would also be retired too and that her 'hobby' would be getting 'out and about' (Gardens, National Trust, English Heritage – the list grows as her mastery of Google improves!). So, I haven't full-time retired after all and my new part-time job is as a Chauffeur & Tour Guide

However, my life would be very grey without her – so I was sorry to hear of your loss John.

IanT

[Anonymous]

I'll reply to the post about EASA licencing in the 'Aircraft Discussion' thread rather than clutter up this thread!

Andrew

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi Bog Standard

It is a matter of neccessity. I have to be able to earn a living.

I was in industry for many years so am used to working to deadlines.

It does not matter if I am a manufacturer or a model engineer.

As long as I am making something in the workshop I will be happy.

I enjoy the challenge of making something and figuring out how to machine it so it is as accurate as I can get it.

Anyway, a lot of the time I will probably be making patterns for resin casting, my son can do the actual casting under supervision. About time he did some work instead of playing computer games.

regards David

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Back from a 'four seasons' week in Skye. Some fantastic night skies and my modest interest in astrophotography is in danger of becoming serious. I've made a resolution to make a stepper-motor controlled equatorial mount with the hope of improving on the pictures (all heavily cropped or downsampled to reduce size) in my 'astronomy' album.

There's a couple below as a taster

Neil

Jupiter & moons 1:1 cropped

Jupiter (just) showing an equatorial band. Resampled to double resolution and cropped but far lower exposure. I need to do better than this as image stacking doesn't make a noticeable improvement – hence the need for a tracking mount.

Finally, a bit of the new moon. this is where tracking and stacking should make a massive improvement. See the albums for a long exposure picture showing the dark part of the moon lit by earthlight and showing the seas surprisingly well.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Rik / all

Size of soft jaws A/F.. 30mm, It's actually ms not ally, didn't have any ally to suit, but is on my shopping list..

George.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Thanks George

Rik

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Having been a bit too quick to cut some brass angle into 20mm lengths the other day, I needed to reduce the width of it from 10mm to 8mm. As I mentioned on another thread, it would have been better to keep them on the parent metal for longer, as work holding small bits can be a pain. Several ways I could have done it but since I have some other milling work I need to do – I set up my 'Taig' milling head on the EW (where the tailstock normally sits) and used a small toolmakers clamp to hold the work in the vice. Once I'd set everything to depth the whole lot (16 sides) took less than 30 minutes.

It's not exactly a precision device but since I made the attachment last year (with an ex power-shower motor and some scrap aluminium block) and the whole lot only cost me about £100 (mostly for the Taig ER16 head itself) I'm very happy with it. It seems accurate enough for this kind of work and I'm starting too use it more and more. My EW is developing into a very useful small machining centre and best of all – I can use it in the warm.

I'm using a 5.5mm carbide end mill and I think it will be running at about 3500 rpm (motor runs at 2,880). This is a good deal faster than the EW headstock can manage and it's cutting the required 2mm off in one pass. Nothing remarkable but it was quick and convenient. To turn the work over (or to set the next piece) I just eased the TM clamp, so everything stayed set.

They are for some small fabrications (8 off) so there is still some work to do on them yet.

IanT.

Edited By IanT on 05/02/2014 16:55:50

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

We should have a competition – most uses for a toolmaker's clamp.

Neil

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

Posted by Stub Mandrel on 05/02/2014 17:28:55:

We should have a competition – most uses for a toolmaker's clamp.

Neil

Not everyone likes them, see:

http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=98050

I could not manage without them.

Mike

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

What about who has the most rusty pair, these are teh ones I made a school and are just used for soldering, my brothers ones also get teh same treatment.

[IanTParticipant @iant]

The one in the photo is a 2" Eclipse [No 410]. I have several and they get used a lot. I've made most of my larger ones myself and they are also very useful (when other means of holding things just won't work). I think Harold Hall did an article about how useful/versatile they are not too long ago?

I read the posts (in the link you provided Michael) and I suspect that at least one of the posters doesn't know how to 'set' the clamp properly. If you set the spacing too wide, the clamps only grip on their very ends/tips and they will not hold properly. The clamp has to be initially set to the same width as the work before clamping up.

Of course, it is also important to realise their limitations too. You cannot take just any cut with impunity and they will not replace a proper machine vice for heavier work. In this case it was fine and for smaller parts (and smaller cuts) they are very useful.

IanT

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Finally fitted a tumbler reverse to my Chester DB10G lathe.

Note the main drive pulley has been removed.

Before

After

I think this lathe is based on the Sieg C6 so it may interest C6 owners.

Les.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Following a breakdown on a machine where we needed to take some voltage readings from inside a guarded area while the equipment was in automatic mode we retired for a coffee. Refreshed by the coffee I had a great idea that if the display of a multimeter could be removed and a bluetooth connection made to transfer the readings to the display this would be much safer than other methods, with a bit more discussion we thought a phone app could be used to display and even log the data. When I got back to my office a google search found that Fluke had taken my idea and made just such a meter and you could even buy them from RS ! That is quick work.

Mike

[John HewesParticipant @johnhewes50816]

I cut my first internal keyway in the bore of a multi size pully, the drive for my wood turning bowl lathe, after getting help on a thread posted only a day ago!

It is now on the new (old) motor, a single phase one, so should be knocking out wooden bowls soon.

Thanks to the guys who helped on this.

regards

John

[Clive FarrarParticipant @clivefarrar90441]

Following on from my mould picture I did indeed make a second mould for 1 oz lead heads.

Followed on by casting some. Here is a picture of the results from my first run.

They look pretty good and now just need a lick of paint or some powder coating.

Regards Clive

[Anonymous]

A lot of handle twiddling today. I've been cutting the final drive gears for my traction engines. I finished one last night and did the other three today. With 72 teeth that's 216 up and downs for the knee and table of the mill today, as the gears are too big to fit under the arbor for conventional gear cutting. Here's a picture of one of the LH final drive gears, with winding drum, being cut:

And here are the four gears finished, OD is 14.8":

And finally a pair of the gears in place:

Apart from the bevel gears on the governors I think that's all the gears for the traction engines finished. Although I do have two more final drive gears to cut, as I'm doing a pair for a friend who is building the same engine as me.

Regards,

Andrew

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

i spent most of saturday dismantling then painting then re-assembling my 5"g LBSCR wagon to go behind my 5"g terrier STEPNEY. 130 x 10BA fixings and nuts. very fiddly! (not a kit and all scratch built and the 10BA fixings threaded from brass flat head rivets). im always very impressed with anything JasonB and Andrew J do! makes my humble efforts seem very insignificant by comparison!

cheers,

julian

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Finally time in my workshop again; more work on the Hemingway Rolls kit.

Trying to CNC as much as I can; right now my KX1 mill is doing another of the sliding bearings, but here's a pic of one of them.

(more info on my blog – **LINK** for those curious)

[RICHARD GREEN 2Participant @richardgreen2]

I finally fitted the tender to my half size Burrell traction engine.

Richard.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

After finally getting my mill running again (big thanks to Mr Stevenson for sourcing a replacement motor for me), I finished off the end plates and put together a set of 18" bending rolls to the GHT design.

They are not fancy or finely finished but they work. I'm not one for making tooling to put in a show, more to put to work, so finishing is less important to me than functionality. That said, they will get a little more 'dressing up' when time permits.

[hushParticipant @hush]

Finally fitted a plastic leadscrew nut to the cross slide of my Boxford. The job has been on the bench for months, the LH thread was cut with a tap from RDG.(no connection). The cross slide is for the taper turning attachment and the nut isnot the usual shape, the new nut was a copy of the original wornout bronze one. It was a very tight fit on the screw, and I had to use the electric hand drill to run the leadscrew, to and fro, through the nut. It was much too close a fit to turn by hand on the lathe. I thought , the Centec relies on a half nut for the table lead screw, So I cut off half of the lower part of the bottomof the nut. the result was a nut that is one half full thread and one half only half a thread. this reduced the grip of the nut on the screw. Reassembled on the lathe it turns OK a bit stiff, but no sign of any backlash. So I locked up and came in with a smile on my face.

Regards Hush

[michael coleParticipant @michaelcole91146]

I started work again on my Little Sampson Traction engine. Using the shaper to produce some of the levers.

Very intrested in the rolls, I have been toying with the ideal of making a set myself. My first attempt at the chinney could be better.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Finally finished the new steam generator inner and outer cases there made of 0.004" 316 stainless with lock joints and got my spot welder sorted to weld the 0.004" shim.

Then fitted the insulation when I weighed the assembly it was more than 5oz lighter than last years cases which pleased me as weight is very critical for competition.

Then made a die to press a back plate for a new burner assembly as I have not got a proper hydraulic press a Sykes Pickavant hydraulic extractor unit was used with suitable adaption.

A bit slow but it did the job out of 0.018" stainless now working on the 3 venture.

Next job a new redesigned cylinder head after that finish the hull and hope to test it all at the end of March.

Paul

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Couldn't get into making parts for the Ruston Proctor TE today so after a bit of theraputic tidying up, made a bit more progress on the modified Quorn TC grinder.

More photos in my album here

This build is incorporating several design modifications inspired by Martin Gregory, his excellent award winning Quorn can be seen on the cover of MEW Issue 96 and a few more photos inside

Edited By CoalBurner on 15/02/2014 18:00:05

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

More shed time today – that makes twice in three days, a vast improvement. Am hoping for another day tomorrow but might be pushing my luck, I'll try and see.

Still at the beginners stage with my mill, following what Wolfie did a year, or was it two, ago. Completed making six sets of parallels, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40 & 50mm high, or thereabouts, and about 4 inches long, milled on all four edges, today, so very pleased.

Next job is to clean up the mill, it's in dire need of one, and then make a new motor bracket for it, a far more robust one to hopefully reduce vibration coming from the motor.

Chris

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