What did you do today (2015)

[Steven GreenhoughParticipant @stevengreenhough56335]

Gave the silver soldering another go. These are the results after some cool-down time, 20 minutes in citric acid pickle, and a wash with hot water and a brillo pad.

Much happier with the process and outcome. Extra heat made a world of difference and now I know what it 'feels' like when it happens I think I'll be able to do the next one without adding the weight of the boiler again in solder!

Not yet tested, no way of doing that as of yet.

[Anonymous]

Knocked out the final 100 odd blank 1/4" BSF nuts for the traction engines. Next op is run a spiral flute tap through each nut; should be a few seconds each. Reset the Britan tooling and did the first op on 60 1/4" BSF locknuts.

Andrew

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Set to and built my revolving tailstock chuck this afternoon as the bearings had arrived:

Spins lovely:

Then I made a start on the spindle nose from a piece of 3" bar. I am going to thread it 1.5mm pitch so it will be 60 x 1.5mm I thought about it and anything finer there is a good chance of me cross threading it

This project has made some progress the last couple of days, I just needed to make a few decisions.

graham.

Edited By Oompa Lumpa on 15/04/2015 20:48:11

[Anonymous]

Well last night actually; chamfered and machine tapped ~250 1/4" BSF nuts, running at 560rpm. Took a bit under 2 hours including setting up the tooling and stops.

Andrew

[Eric CoxParticipant @ericcox50497]

Had to remove the Apron on my mini lathe as it had filled up with swarf and jammed the gears.Must get it covered over.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Eric,

I put a perspex cover on mine, two layers the bottom one cut to allow space for the gears. I used some very nice mushroom headed screws that were part of an EKP 'variety pack'. The upper ones also hold a small aluminium swarf guard in place over the leadscrew.

Neil

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Prepped some brass as I need ammo for the weekend, started early this morning though as I used the oven to dry the cases off after the Ultrasonic. Thought I best get this done early before the Financial Controller arrives back and finally understands why I wanted the large oven cooker

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 16/04/2015 08:46:30:

…..chamfered and machine tapped ~250 1/4" BSF nuts, running at 560rpm.

Andrew

What material are you using? Free cutting steels seem to rust more readily.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Oompa Loompa – are you reusing those cases? I know nothing of these things but just wondering how you fit the detonators etc safely. I assume you buy them ready to press into the case, then afterwards fill the case and fit the tip?

Is there any significant danger in running around carrying bandoliers of rounds and/or "pouring" loose rounds, given the vague possibility of setting off a detonator?

Murray

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

 

Today I'm rebuilding all my damaged steam generators that because of overheating and bursts made them too short for efficient steam production.

Now having a Tig Welder decided to try to reclaim them as the stainless 321 tube is getting expensive.

The proof of the pudding will be when they are under competition conditions with heat and pressure.

Sorry some of the pictures not that clear.

 

Edited By Windy on 16/04/2015 21:40:24

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Muzzer on 16/04/2015 21:22:29:

Oompa Loompa – are you reusing those cases? I know nothing of these things but just wondering how you fit the detonators etc safely. I assume you buy them ready to press into the case, then afterwards fill the case and fit the tip?

Is there any significant danger in running around carrying bandoliers of rounds and/or "pouring" loose rounds, given the vague possibility of setting off a detonator?

Murray

Ohh Yes! Always reuse the brass. Dear stuff and this is quality stuff. If you are a little conservative you can relouad the brass well into 14-16-18 times. By reloading I reduce dramatically the cost of my shooting, thing is, reloading is a whole subject all on it's own but terrific for tinkerers such as us. The length of the brass is important, the projectile seating depth is critical and there needs to be a careful note kept as to how much and what type of powder. There are a number of proprietory tools to enable you to seat the primers safely and then you add the powder and finally – using a press you seat the bullet. During the preparation stage you resize the full length of the case or just the shoulder – all depends on a number of factors.

I use a decapping die first off before anything to remove the primers then I clean the cases. I am building a tumbler at the mo which will use very fine stainless pins to clean the cases. My friend has one and it is excellent.
Then I lightly lubricate the cases and resize them prior to inserting the primers.

Having one pointy tipped bulet directly behind another could turn nasty, I keep all completed ammunition in special plastic cases that hold the rounds securely. In those firearms that have a tubular magazine under the barrel, round nose ammunition is used and in all the years I have never heard of a mishap. Putting a slack handful of ammunition in your pocket isn't smart either, for a start it will pierce the lining nd you will be learning to sew real fast. Shotgun shells are different again – you just stick them in a coat pocket. The only caveat is NEVER BUT NEVER have a 12gauge and a 20 gauge out at the same time. A twenty gauge shell slips down the barrel of a 12 gauge and when the gun doesn't go off and you open it you think it is empty, stick some 12 gauge shells in there and BOOM! Big bang!

graham.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Muzzer on 16/04/2015 21:13:36:

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 16/04/2015 08:46:30:

…..chamfered and machine tapped ~250 1/4" BSF nuts, running at 560rpm.

Andrew

What material are you using? Free cutting steels seem to rust more readily.

EN1A leaded, because that is what the steel stockholder has for imperial and metric hexagon. I agree that the freecutting EN1A seems to rust as soon as you look at it. However, so far so good with the nuts, even if they are stored in the kitchen. Of course they also have a film of cutting fluid on them at the moment.

And anyway in detail pictures I have recently seen of a steamroller () most of the nuts are painted over.

ANdrew

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Posted by Windy on 16/04/2015 21:38:49:

Today I'm rebuilding all my damaged steam generators that because of overheating and bursts made them too short for efficient steam production.

Windy, you could make a decent still with all that stainless tubing.

Are you trying to re-claim the title of the World's Best Whisky?

Read it and weep – the best whisky in the world comes from Tasmania.

**LINK**

* Danny M *

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I've held back on the astro-pics for a while, but here are two to show where I've got to. Apparently applying huge amounts of image processing is considered 'cricket' and is part of the challenge. it's certainly the time consuming bit.

Neil

Jupiter with great red spot. The dark spot is Io's shadow, Io itself is the central one of three dark patches up and to the left of the GRS.

This is saturn, showing the Cassini division:

These are not impressive – you need to see what other folks achieve!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

The Ignition for the Gade turned up during the week so this evening I wired it up and gave teh starting andle a twirl.

Took about 15mins from first flick to get it running like this. Tightened up the spark plug ( its a pain to get a spanner onto) added a bit more tension to the governor springs and once I realised the fuel supply I had bodged up was supplying more air than fuel it ran quite nicely. Now need to strip it down and start prep and paint.

J

PS Neil, what lense did you use to snap that spaceman you have printed on the cover of the latest MEW

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Jason,

I reckon it's a Lego lens

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

How do you make 'em so fast Jason? I th8nk you have an army of secret helpers

> PS Neil, what lense did you use to snap that spaceman you have printed on the cover of the latest MEW

A 38mm f/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens on the Hasselblad, of course

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 17/04/2015 22:08:06:

A 38mm f/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens on the Hasselblad, of course

.

Oh, no … another typo

**LINK**

[ANDY CAWLEYParticipant @andycawley24921]

My first attempt at using a boring head to turn an outside diameter. The spigot on the timing case cover acts as a front engine mount and after 90 years showed 40mm of eccentric wear which, on installation in the chassis, was by observation evidently too much😒!

After a visit to our local welding genius the weld build up had to be machined. The obvious method of sticking it on the face plate of the lathe was thwarted by not having enough swing so on to the mill it went. Not having the requisite left hand boring bar I had to run the mill in reverse taking the precaution of winding the boring head onto the stub arbour with a big adjustable spanner. I got away with it unscrewing by taking light cuts.

Now it is machined the blow holes in the added aluminium show what a tricky job it is building up 90 year old aluminium castings with weld.

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

Sound advice on reloading rifle cartridges from Oompa Lumpa. One thing he doesn't mention is that by reloading he can tailor his ammunition exactly to the requirements of his rifle, and he can also make cartridges that are much more accurate than the shop-bought stuff.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 17/04/2015 22:34:28:

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 17/04/2015 22:08:06:

A 38mm f/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens on the Hasselblad, of course

.

Oh, no … another typo

**LINK**

Don't blame me, I cut and pasted from the 1969 NASA press kit!

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 18/04/2015 12:41:11:

Don't blame me, I cut and pasted from the 1969 NASA press kit!

.

I shall be suitably embarassed if I'm wrong … but I didn't think they used the SuperWide on that mission.

MichaelG.

.

"rivet-counters" might enjoy this page.

EDIT: … Apologies, here it is, mentioned on page 79

 

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 18/04/2015 13:32:05

[capnahabParticipant @capnahab]

Serviced the boiling water tap that was in our kitchen 10 years ago. Sposed to have had a service and cartridge change at 3 years… The boiler under the sink was relatively easy and they sent a nice kit gratis. Holds about 3 litres and delivers it at 98°c. It was claimed to be energy efficient in that it only boils what you need and not a kettle full , half of which you let go cold again (for example). The tap though is more difficult , – one of the seals in it needs replacing as it leaks a bit of hot water and this causes expansion and the tap is then difficult to turn off. I can't get the tap apart. There is a single grub screw to allow a bit of rotation on the counter top but no other removables. – See pictures and a few more in the album. I have tried simply pulling the cap off and can't. Anybody have any ideas ?.

[Eric CoxParticipant @ericcox50497]

Made a drive dog to turn between centres in a three jaw chuck.

take a short piece of bar 8mm turn a 60 deg.point on the end and file or mill a flat along its length to locate a securing screw. Another piece of bar drill and ream 8mm , mill a 3/8" wide slot in the end and drill and tap a hole somewhere along its length to take a securing screw. slide centre into 8mm hole tighten securing screw et voila.

Edited By Eric Cox on 18/04/2015 14:40:18

Edited By Eric Cox on 18/04/2015 14:41:09

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> EDIT: … Apologies, here it is, mentioned on page 79

Don't apologise, I suspect NASA got it wrong – I very much doubt Hasselblad did!

Neil

 

Edit: P.S. isn't that a superb document?

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 18/04/2015 15:42:00

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