What Did You Do Today (2016)

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

JS, hope ypu left the valve open, then they would get a contaminated cylinder.

Ian S C

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 28/02/2016 17:28:38:

Just finished putting a Thruxton Velocette cylinder head to my Velocette. Fired it up and it sounds nice.

Now that is a thing of beauty… In the 60's I had a Viper as my first 'proper' bike after passing my test. It had an absolutely superb clutch – Friends and I went on a day out from Redditch to Weston-super-Mare on our bikes. On the way back a selector fork in the gearbox broke. By the side of the road near Gloucester, by the light of a hurricane lamp 'borrowed' from some nearby roadworks, we rebuilt the gearbox to jam it in top gear. After a push start I rode all the way home in top, slipping the clutch to make up for the missing gears (and stopping for traffic lights, too). When I replaced the selector forks the clutch still behaved perfectly, it had hardly worn at all.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

In case anyone is worried that John will start a new round of global warming, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that atmosphere has about 25 times as much argon in it as CO2.

Neil

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

I managed to drop my 15" Laptop about 3 metres onto a hard floor, it was in a bag but the screen cracked badly.

The PC still worked when I tried it on an ancient monitor, but the power supply had already died, so I reckon it's the end for this machine, shame because it was quite well specified really.

Still the name plate says made in 2011.

This is what the screen looks like now!

Edited By V8Eng on 03/03/2016 22:35:43

Edited By V8Eng on 03/03/2016 22:40:34

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I've fixed a laptop for about £30-£40 with a replacement screen off the web.

PSUs are about a tenner on the bay.

Neil

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Me too. One of my sons discovered that laptop screens are not BB-proof. It was dead easy to change and cost peanuts like yours. IIRC it came from Hong Kong. You will find there are loads of Youtube videos showing how to do it for almost any specific model.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 04/03/2016 08:26:58:

I've fixed a laptop for about £30-£40 with a replacement screen off the web.

PSUs are about a tenner on the bay.

Neil

Thanks Neil.

I will look into that, but I might worry whether other hidden damage has occurred which can come and bite back later.

It was a substantial drop with a loud bang, I was rather surprised the thing worked at all afterwards!

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Since the addition of the taper turning attachment my lathe has got even more awkward to clean (once a year whether it needs it or not). I remember my boss telling me that he stole "Dolly's dustpan" from one of his many daughters for workshop tidying. Such sexual stereotyping is, quite rightly, frowned upon these days. However, Amazon turned up trumps today:

Link £2.99 delivered, although I suppose you could always 3D print one

Rod

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 04/03/2016 12:26:05:

… although I suppose you could always 3D print one

.

… which could be scaled to suit the size of available nooks & crannies

MichaelG.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 04/03/2016 12:32:58:

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 04/03/2016 12:26:05:

… although I suppose you could always 3D print one

.

… which could be scaled to suit the size of available nooks & crannies

MichaelG.

I fell into that one . Printing the brush hairs will be interesting though.

Rod

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 04/03/2016 12:26:05:

Link £2.99 delivered, although I suppose you could always 3D print one

Plutocrat!

You need to discover Poundland Rod

Neil

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 04/03/2016 14:05:05:

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 04/03/2016 12:26:05:

Link £2.99 delivered, although I suppose you could always 3D print one

Plutocrat!

You need to discover Poundland Rod

I had to brace myself to go looking in Wilko and Tiger – I do have some dignity.

Rod

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Razor sharp 1/16" wide HSS parting tool into 1" meehanite. Howling like a banshee. Solution – speed up the lathe and feed the tool in faster!

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 04/03/2016 21:43:05:

… Solution – speed up the lathe and feed the tool in faster!

.

= Supersonic Chatter

MichaelG.

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

I found a piece of 1" thick black granite for the Lady Stephanie base in the salvage yard at sandwich, perfect for my needs.
Asked the proprietor how much (wincing in anticipation)………………. £2

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Ah, model engineering – the hobby that saves you money

Neil

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

I love to make useful stuff from other folks "chuckouts". If anyone asks me what my hobby is I tell them I am a "Constructive Recycler" ————- hold my ankles please while I get that bit at the bottom !

Rik – huge fan of Wilko, Poundland , scrap yards, car boot sales and charity outlets.

Edited By Rik Shaw on 05/03/2016 09:49:11

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The local second hand shop is closing at the end of the month, every thing is half price, bought an Ultra sonic cleaning bath, with a capacity of 500 ml. Don't know what I'll use it for, but it's mine now, cost $NZ 6.

Ian S C

[will hawkesParticipant @willhawkes78155]

a local engineering firm where i used to get odd bits from just moved,leaving a skip full of offcuts , a word with the boss over a pint or two in the local and his words were HELP YOURSELF luckily i have a mercedes vito van which is now nearly full and probably overweight ,the bits range from all sizes of tube bar box and solid plate about 1 ton in weight plus 24v paralex motors ,gearboxes , gears , plus lots of other odd bits ,i now have enough material to last me ,so if you see a skip like this it costs nothing to ask as i find most firms like this would rather the stuff be used than scrapped ,, will

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

By coincidence I jus tgot back from checking local Wilko after it moved and it has dropped the loose nut & bolt selection. Got a couple of LED bulbs from Poundland instead. The 3W is bigger than the 5W. Are they too cheap to be any good? One will go in the bench anglepoise.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Bazyle on 05/03/2016 12:02:31:

By coincidence I jus tgot back from checking local Wilko after it moved and it has dropped the loose nut & bolt selection. Got a couple of LED bulbs from Poundland instead. The 3W is bigger than the 5W. Are they too cheap to be any good? One will go in the bench anglepoise.

Avoid ones with about 50 LEDs in.

Neil

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Just completed my first test fire of the Invicta 7 1/4 using anthracite. Normal coal just wasnt hot enough. For a 6" dia steel boiler I am very happy, just need to fix all the steam leaks from fittings now!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Discovered that if you wipe freshly lapped cast iron it can get rust on it in two hours, even in a dry warm workshop!

Also, may have found out why I break more 8BA taps than any other size.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Finished lapping piston to bore. With polished piton a stiff fit in the ends of the bore I lapped out the cylinder to fit as that way I could address the tight spots tight spots in the middle.

To finish I jammed the piston on a turned in place wooden plug and lapped it to the cylinder. Silver/brass polish wouldn't quite finish the job so I resorted to Autochrome (like Autosol) which is horrible to clean off before you can test the fit.

VERY chuffed though because the cold piston will drop through the cylinder, but warm it in my hand and it sticks.

If cold piston is sealed with blu-tack it won't drop when I cover the end of the cylinder, but drops when i move my thumb, which is the fit the designer says aim for, so fingers crossed.

Now can anyone guess what it is?

[Graham TitmanParticipant @grahamtitman81812]

Parts for a Stirling engine to drive the Super Adept lathe

[Author]

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