What did you do today (2015)

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Not model engineering, just another hobby, went to a garage sale today and got a Kenwood R 1000 Communication receiver, I thought I'd be a bit cheeky, so I offered $NZ20 for it, and now it is mine, The cost in 1981 was about $US500. Seems to go ok, another for the collection.

Ian S C

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Hi there, Ian,

Well done, the R1000 is a good receiver. I have one that, unfortunately, has developed a fault while in storage. I seem to remember that I found some servicing information on-line, I'll have a look later this afternoon.

I don't use mine nowadays (antenna-phobic planning authorites and land-lords!), besides, I expect there's so much digital IT equipment within range of here (e.g. those ethernet over the mains abominations!!) that the noise floor probably exceeds S9+20!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Found a scrap elecronics board had a nice little heatsink exact size for a 48Led array. Machined off the ridges on the back then realised the foam backing of the array would have stuck to anything – still I have the satisfaction. Annoyed that we scrapped a couple of hundred of these units last month without me thinking of this. I'm not sure if they need a heatsink, but on test over the bench for an hour to see how warm it gets.

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Due to me being a total cock womble I have spent a good bit of today 'T cutting' my motorbike.

This is due to me being over enthusiastic upon delivery of an airbrush and filled with gusto and enthusiasm to try it out did so without covering or removing said motorbike from the same room. This did not end well.!!!!

Sorted now and all gleaming again. Though :-

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 28/02/2015 17:40:47

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Things have been a tad slow in the engineering department lately, the last couple of days have been the first time I've been able to get in the workshop (garage) due to low temperatures, but have just completed my first ever session of gear cutting. Glad to say it went quite well. Only made one error, fortunately on a gear blank that I had spare metal for to make a new one.

The results can be seen below:

And getting ready to knit the whole lot together for a trial assembly.:

I've been putting off the gear cutting, not just because of the cold, but also because I was afraid of making a dog's breakfast of it. Shouldn't have worried, as it happens, it all went quite smoothly for a change. Even the gears mesh OK. It remains to be seen, however, how they stand up to the rigours of power transmission! I seemed to spend as long making arbors to hold the gears as I did doing the actual gear cutting.

For those interested, the gears are 20, 30 and 40 tooth, Module 1. Cutters were from CTC, mounted on a home-brewed arbor held in an ER32 collet chuck in the mill. Used a six-inch rotary table with tailstock centre for support and indexing plates in place of the handwheel.

Regards,

John

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Being a born recycler I bought a BT30 ER32 collet chuck for a very few quid I only wanted the ball raced closing nut for my R8 ER32 milling chuck.

Being a Yorkshire man I don't like throwing things away and having acquired a Myford S7 thought can I modify the BT 30 to fit the Myford nose.

After machining the hardened steel BT30 I locktited and put a cross pin as a safeguard onto a Myford nose piece I made.

Result with various collets and ground test pieces inserted there was a faint wobble on my 0.0001" DTI so was pleased with result.

Having to make batches of small parts for the steamer using the new collet chuck and the S7 has no carriage stop so one was made today I got so carried away forgot to get a meal till late this evening.

Tomorrow will be seeing running results of young Rogers TR6 sports car engine rebuild.

Since retiring seem to be more busy than ever just not enough time in the day.

Paul

Edited By Windy on 01/03/2015 00:54:54

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Hi Swarf, the R1000 seems to compare well with my Icom R71E, although much simpler, without all the extra filters, memories etc. Plenty coming in on just a wire slung across the room, 10M from north America, and Korea during the afternoon. Probably not as much RFI around here.

Ian S C

[Anonymous]

Square taps are now fluted and the driving squares machined. I had to make a special tailstock extension for the dividing head so that the milling cutter could go deep enough without chewing up said tailstock:

Next stage is to carefully deburr everything and then harden and temper.

Andrew

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Andrew,

Put rings round the taps at the top 1,2 and 3 to define the order, looks like you have them stamped but a ring is easy to see from an angle.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Well not really today and don't know how this fits into engineering model or otherwise other than I plan to fit these into a brass grid.

What was today was finding them.

Three lumps of ivory 6" x 2" x 1" date stamped May 1926 so perfectly legal in that it's not being sold on.

A few years ago when I was in Oman looking for Job's tomb [ didn't find it ] I bought two sets of chess pieces, one in gold, one in silver [ well plated ] very nice ornate classic pieces.

When I was working at the piano company we held about £250,000 worth of ivory, bought legally over the years but we couldn't use it. This was kept in bonded stores at an inland customs unit. The fact the trade had moved on to plastic at this time and would never have gone back to ivory was a bye the bye.

I always wanted a proper chess board and hey ho, we had ebony by the tree trunk and ivory locked away.

Now there are exemptions to using ivory, legally. One is the repair of church organs and by a bit of judicial wangling and bad measurement i finished up with these 3 pieces.

However just after I got them I lost them in a house move and whilst sorting a load of boxes out today in the attic they reappeared. The ebony has long gone, used as saw guides for woodworking bandsaws but this is readily available.

So I think a nice interlocking 1/8" brass frame with squares of ebony and ivory will set these chess pieces off well and after all these years I can learn to play chess.

[Raymond Sanderson 2Participant @raymondsanderson2]

Posted by John Stevenson on 01/03/2015 22:20:16:

Well not really today and don't know how this fits into engineering model or otherwise other than I plan to fit these into a brass grid.

What was today was finding them.

Three lumps of ivory 6" x 2" x 1" date stamped May 1926 so perfectly legal in that it's not being sold on.

A few years ago when I was in Oman looking for Job's tomb [ didn't find it ] I bought two sets of chess pieces, one in gold, one in silver [ well plated ] very nice ornate classic pieces.

When I was working at the piano company we held about £250,000 worth of ivory, bought legally over the years but we couldn't use it. This was kept in bonded stores at an inland customs unit. The fact the trade had moved on to plastic at this time and would never have gone back to ivory was a bye the bye.

I always wanted a proper chess board and hey ho, we had ebony by the tree trunk and ivory locked away.

Now there are exemptions to using ivory, legally. One is the repair of church organs and by a bit of judicial wangling and bad measurement i finished up with these 3 pieces.

However just after I got them I lost them in a house move and whilst sorting a load of boxes out today in the attic they reappeared. The ebony has long gone, used as saw guides for woodworking bandsaws but this is readily available.

So I think a nice interlocking 1/8" brass frame with squares of ebony and ivory will set these chess pieces off well and after all these years I can learn to play chess.

Interesting to read and see. Its a shame what is being done for those who still demand Ivory but I feel what is being done to Ivory which is stock piled by authorities after the hauls are taken from poachers is even just as bad. What a waste.
Ivory is not just Elephant Tusk those of us who still have our own teeth have Ivory as do many animals etc.
Whale bone and teeth.
Ebony is no problem to get.

Chess set looks cool little hard to make it out angle of pic not good.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I could knock up another one of these for you if the price was right

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

…the trouble is that ivory is still being traded.

**LINK**

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Yesterday my friend came round and finally I have my new roof sheets up on the old roof. Not fitted yet, but at least they are at the right hight, so when the weather allows I can get on . Another week or two and will see my lathe again!

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Well Yesterday actually. Completed fitting 3 axis DRO to Cowells Mill. Used the Android TouchDRO App from Yuriy's Toys website and built controller from his plans using Texas Instruments Launchpad MSP430 Processor board. Used 5 micron magnetic readheads from Machine-DRO (no connection just a satisfied customer).

Processor board shown before closed up and mill.

X asnd Y axis read heads mounting bracket

Z Axis Readhead

View from front, tablet can be seen with readout displays and controller box at the right rear of the picture.

Very please with the result.

Colin

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

I have a vague memory of anthrax spores being able to survive in ivory so be careful cutting it.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Colin Heseltine on 02/03/2015 22:38:01:

Well Yesterday actually. Completed fitting 3 axis DRO to Cowells Mill. …

Very please with the result.

.

Nicely done, Sir !!

It's good to see an example of a DRO installation on a small machine.

MichaelG.

.

P.S. … There seems to be rather a lot of armoured cable coiled-up behind the machine … What's the story?

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/03/2015 07:36:47

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/03/2015 07:36:02:.

P.S. … There seems to be rather a lot of armoured cable coiled-up behind the machine … What's the story?

.

Ignore the dumb question

I see that the heads come pre-wired with long cables.

MichaelG.

[Brian Rice 1Participant @brianrice1]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/03/2015 08:14:33:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/03/2015 07:36:02:.

P.S. … There seems to be rather a lot of armoured cable coiled-up behind the machine … What's the story?

.its portable

Ignore the dumb question

I see that the heads come pre-wired with long cables.

MichaelG.

[Brian Rice 1Participant @brianrice1]

Made mea tool hight gadget from scrap

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Michael,

Yes your right they do come with long cables. As the controller box communicates via Bluetooth I could move it off the bench and the long cables would come in handy. As its a house mill I am instructed to try and keep the area tidy, even though it is in my office. I was quite pleased with how small I could make the installation. The magnetic strips are only 7mm thick. They are two part and if I had been able to use just the top cover then this would have reduced thickness to 2mm.

Colin

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks forthe extra info, Colin

MichaelG.

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Workshop is a mess as it is filled with stuff from other parts of the house, whilst we have workers in redoing floors.

So, a small job, on the little KX1 CNC mill (controlled by LinuxCNC, not Mach3, not that it matters much)

Gordon Smith designed safeties, drilling the 8 vent holes without a rotary table. Did about 10 of these; should have been 11, but one moved in my jig. More details in my blog **LINK** as usual.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Here's a funny one. As part of my 'other' existence I produced this relief map of a landscape. This is a pic from an STL viewer. It would be very nice to make a 3D print of it to help me visualise it better.

By the bye, it's incredible how much OS mapping and other data is available for UK citizens to use FOC, even for commercial purposes – search they 'open Government Licence'.

This was made using OS data using a free plug-in for the QGIS open-source GIS system.

Neil

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2015.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Was playing with the Myford tonight and caught the long on off switch I thought this is dangerous the overhang round the waist gets in the way and sometimes catches it.

Saw on another post about the lever being altered to a knob to stop catching the lever switch so made an alteration so it wont be caught again.

When in a cramped workshop it's so easy to knock things.

Paul

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