What Did You Do Today 2021

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Neil, the low cost is due to extreme mass production of laminate flooring. It's popular and is made in huge quantities by automated factories. Same reason drywall gypsum board is so cheap relative to other wallboard options.

Laminate in the workshop could work fine but look for one with minimal gaps between boards. The large swarf will be easy to clean up but the really fine stuff may stick in the gaps (however small) and turn black or may rust.

I'd recommend epoxy floor coating over smooth concrete as the best quality overall shop floor finish, with 3/8" or 1/2" rubber sheet duckboard / anti fatigue mats at the machines. But this is the most expensive option……

[Gerhard NovakParticipant @gerhardnovak66893]

Was working on my eccentric engineering acute sharpener, this takes quite a while, but is rather therapeutic. Some of the parts I made 3 times…

It also takes some time as I purchased only the plan… (to tight for the kit….)

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Posted by Cornish Jack on 25/09/2021 17:18:08:

Not today, but over the last 4 days, worked on the bits below, plus sweat, blood and expletives deleted !!

which left me with this …

and more elbow grease and the silicone variety … ended up with this

An unusual design and manufacturer. the shaped work holders rotate individually and accurately match for height – 4 total approx 1/4" thick. Very substantial (heavy) and good for mill or drill.

Anyone else come across this type ?

rgds

Bill;

Yes, I have a pair of vices of a very similar design, mine are branded SEVO 2, bloody heavy but very useful at times, especially as an identical pair. This is one of them,

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Whoo Hoo! I've got back into my workshop after a long break. Daughter bought a new build flat but her move was repeatedly delayed due to Covid, shortages of building materials, and lost paperwork etc etc etc. My workshop was filled with boxes expecting her to move in a few weeks, actually it took nearly 5 months.

Unlike the tools, which are fine, I've gone rusty. Previously I could align a machine vice on my mill in a few minutes: took me quarter of an hour last night, and it's still not right. Similarly, I had to think about shimming lathe tools to height, where before I did it on auto pilot. And because the workshop was tidied to make room for boxes, now I can't find anything! Gawd knows what will happen when I attempt to make something complicated: I feel like a beginner again!

Dave

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Not directly related to model engineering but last night we had some ferocious winds, we are only a couple of miles from the coast so the winds just rattle in. I had made sure everything outside was secure but had forgotten about my two beehives in the garden, I decided that they would be safer if I fitted straps to them so there I was in the howling winds fitting the straps, had to grovel on the floor to pass the straps under neath the hives, in the process of doing this I put my hand on a dead bee, which I hadn’t seen. The stinger of the bee made contact with the top joint of my index finger and I had to extract the stinger not before sufficient venom had penetrated my finger. The bee may well have been dead but her venom was still pretty potent. Woke up this morning with a finger so swollen that I couldn’t bend it which makes it very awkward doing intricate work in the workshop. I seem to have problems now with bee stings, each time I have the misfortune to get stung the effects are increasingly more problematic, wife, she who knows best, has decided that things are moving towards real problems with bee stings, possibly escalating to anaphylaxis, she has a problem with iodine used in x-ray enhancing dyes and has experienced a severe anaphylactic episode so I understand her concerns. I have therefore ordered an epi pen to keep available when I am working with the bees, not cheap though at about £50, could be a lifesaver though. Dave W

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Finished turning backplate fir Myford for a 5C collet Chuck I had bought via Facebook marketplace. The backplate was a new one I had had in stock for a few years. God it was hard material. Eventually broke through the hard stuff and got the register a lovely fit. Over to mill and used Division Controller to drill and tap the three M8 mounting holes.

Mounted Chuck to backplate and mounted on lathe. Now the moment of truth. 1/2 thou verdict gauge did not move at all in the collect taper. This was a good sign. Put 1/2” collet in with drill blank and set the verdict up again. No movement of the needle at all. Put lathe in drive and still no movement.

Really pleased. Along with the collet Chuck I had also had 50 collets. All for less than the cost of a new Chuck from any of the usual suppliers.

Colin

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I finished fitting a screw-cutting gearbox to my Mydord ML7.

It's an early-pattern box with the fixed-centre drive-train (with the wheels reversible to give two feed ranges), and the cut leadscrew terminating within the box.

I had to buy the 25/12T tumbler-output pinion. For anything below I think 32tpi, it can be used with the 24T wheel already there, by remembering to set the controls for twice the tpi.

Rather than cut the existing leadscrew I bought a length of ACME rod from HPC (not cheap though!) and made the special new screw. I'd not bargained for a dedendum on the thread, giving a barber's-pole effect, shallow groove on the section within the gear-box, but I don't think it will hurt.

This pattern has its leadscrew pinion behind a small cover on the working end of the gearbox. I made the seating, keyway and key for the pinion longer, allowing disengaging it to use the leadscrew with the calibrated handwheel without dragging the works round with it.

One task remains. The last modification makes the pinion and leadscrew end vulnerable to eating swarf so I need make a local cover, perhaps fitting the bed gap. I may use the 3mm PVC sheet I found excellent for fabricating the lathe's complete splash-back / motor cover.

The original lead-screw, banjo etc will be carefully stored against any possible reversion… though enquiries on that might need be to my Executors!

Acknowledgements –

I thank others here for some helpful advice, though not covering the older type gearbox. However I was able to obtain a photocopy of the Myford manual for the gearbox from lathes.co, and this covers both patterns.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Wot I did was drill holes, put up shelves, fix curtains, swap a broken mirror (seven years bad luck), and see my first UKCA mark in the wild!

Is this a first? Is there a prize?

Only fly in the ointment : the mark is on a Smart Meter controller.

Dave

 

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 09/10/2021 15:49:46

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Not just today, but most of the weekend, I have been drawing up a design for a copy/taper-turning attachment for my lathe. Access to the rear of the lathe is restricted, so I wanted to be able to clamp it to the bed. See below:

The topslide is replaced by the replacement slide, which carries a stylus at the business end and is held in contact with the pattern by a couple of springs (not shown in the mock-up). The supports are clamped to the lathe bed , the left hand one being fixed near the headstock and the right hand one is free to slide on a steady bar until the pattern is in place, when it's also clamped to the bed. The pattern is made from flat material and is held in place by two thumbscrews. A couple of pointed hex socket grub screws prevent rotation of the pattern. The stylus rides on the pattern along its centreline.

I intend making a mock-up from MDF (because I've got quite a bit), before committing it to metal and I want to play a bit more with my cnc router.

Right angle corners will present a problem, I realise, should I encounter them, but careful use of the clasp nuts may help there.

The replacement slide takes the existing QCTP and is sized to ensure the the cutting tool will be on the lathe centreline.

If nothing else, it's kept my occupied for a while and will continue so to do, I expect.

John

 

Edited By John Hinkley on 10/10/2021 17:29:37

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I have something very similar on one of my Peatol and use it with live tooling, it works very well and of course repeatable which is what you are after.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

That's very reassuring, Bernard. Thanks.

John

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Sorting through some hoarded junk, today … I re-discovered a modest white ‘brick’ with 13A mains plug pins

It turned out to be one of these: **LINK**

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/surge-suppressor-units/0238924/

There is no schematic diagram, so :

Do any of our Electrical experts know how this qualifies as:

“Designed to provide low cost protection …” ?

MichaelG.

[RobinParticipant @robin]

For the first part of this millenium I was haemorrhaging tap wrenches. I like the Eclipse ones but they are usually a bit pricey.

Suddenly the price on Amazon has collapsed. I popped a 240, a 241 and a 242 in my basket then had to add another 241 to push it over £20 and qualify for free shipping.

They are now arriving and look like the real McCoy.

I expect everyone else gets them free with cornflakes, I am usually the last to know, but thought I should mention it just in case

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

I'm slowly getting used to the Sherline lathe. Have to say so far entirely happy with this machine it has yet to disappoint me.

Today some taper turning on the con rod for the beam engine.

No offset facility on the tailstock so I made the attachment shown in the photograph. Got the idea from Mike's workshop. Mike's design has more detail but mine incorporates a small thrust bearing.

Whoever set this machine up at the factory did a great job

Geoff

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

That looks a handy piece of kit Geoff, I’ve made one for the Myford so looks like I’ll have to make one for the Peatol.

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

Hi Bernard,

Thanks for your reply

Yes definitely a handy piece of kit, made for the job in hand but I've no doubt I'll use it again.

Geoff

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

In between decorating now the new windows are installed I have managed to complete insulating the new workshop next job will be installing a greenhouse heater in there which is thermostatically controlled I had this in the old workshop and it did a great job of keeping the temperature above freezing and preventing condensation.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

In a quest to (perhaps) work out how to get nice finishes on the junk I machine, I bought a cheap linsher. I think it cost me around 70 quid new from eBay.

I wasn't terribly happy with it and decided it needed some attention. The first thing I found was I couldn't get the sanding belt off very easily. A bit of fiddling got it off and I ordered a set of various grits. I immediately found that the reason for for the belt as supplied not coming of is that it is just a little shorter than the machine is designed for (100×915). Now I can swap belts with the greatest of ease. Though where to store them in my overcrowded shed is another issue.

I'm operating the machine in the vertical mode and the shelf thing which should support the work is just rubbish, so I replaced it.

The bits which are not painted are mine. The nasty red thing sitting on it is the original which would bounce up and down with great excitement with the least load.

Here's a close up.

And I decided to make it a bit more versatile and tilty as the tilting platform supplied with the disc sander is of equal quality to the rest…

I've still not quite got the hang of nice finishes, though, but I'm getting there.

Iain

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Last night actually –

Fly-cut the base of an otherwise good milling-vice, below the floor of a lot of milling-scars. I'm guilty of the odd accidental over-cut, but this was far worse, making setting-up difficult. Why do people so abuse vices so badly? I'd bought the vice from one fo the second-hand tool-dealers at one of the Midlands exhibitions.

'

Today –

Found the real value of the " Come-in-Handy" box.

To move a heavy, 10" dia rotary-table with only a very narrow, plain base flange, needs a lifting-plate screwed to the four T-nuts I'd modified for it. (One thing leads to another…) I estimated that as its weight is around my safe manual lifting limit, it should not be hurt by evenly loading reasonably well-fitting nuts at the same radius about half-way along all four, thick-roofed T-slots.

Rooting around produced a thick steel disc some 8" dia – and thanks-be, with 8 not 6 peripheral holes. All it needs is a central hole for an appropriate eye-bolt, for manipulating with the overhead travelling-hoist I built last year. (Year before? Losing count!)

The disc was from a bereavement sale within the club some years ago now. I knew it could be useful for something one day!

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, yesterday I finished making 24 angle brackets.

These were made from six scrapped stainless steel hire plates that the company I worked for years ago never used and I acquired about 100 of these 4" x 6" by 3 / 64" thick plates, all nicely wrapped in brown paper in stacks of 20, they were packed with two plates with the plain side toward each other and the brown paper was folded over each pair on the engraved side, each plate had consecutive numbers stamped on them from 0001 and were probably made in the late 60's / early 70's, no idea why they were never used but were scrapped during the stores reassessment of what was needed to be held.

First of all, the two holes at one side were cut off and then they were cut to length and then they were stacked and clamped into my milling vice, with enough protruding for cutting off with a slitting saw, into 24mm wide strips, then lifted for the next six strips and repeated until all six plates were cut into 24 strips.

Each strip was then deburred and the corners were rounded off with a file, one strip was marked and drilled, which was used the spot through onto the rest of the strips.

When they were all drilled, two holes were countersunk on one side and the other two holes were countersunk on the other side.

These were then pressed in pairs to form 90 degree angle brackets, using my Flypress and my sheet metal "V" block and blade Sheet Metal Bending Block

These will be used for holding shelves in this CD storage unit which was given to me, however, I found it awkward to use as is and I don't really like the flimsy plastic slots that only hold a small portion of the cases, so I'm converting it to shelves which will increase its capacity from 160 to 192.

Regards Nick.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Just curious, Nick …

What is the full text on your salvaged plates ?

Tell us now, and it will save future Archaeologists a lot of time

MichaelG.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi MichaelG, it was hard to photograph it well, due to its reflectiveness, but with a bit of help with Microsoft Office Picture Manager, I think you should be able to read it OK.

Contract Plate

Regards Nick.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Excellent, thanks Nick

No need for a new 21st century Rosetta Stone

MichaelG.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

They are building a deviation at my ME club, which means modifying the signalling system. I'm the S&T engineer. Each signal has 3 cables going to it. The civil engineering department has managed to hit all three, cutting 2 of them completely. One of them in 3 places within 2 foot run. You can see where the cables go underground, and see where they surface about 4 feet away. Do we just have uniquely stupid members? I'm not prepared to contemplate underground joints, so I now have to replace long lengths.

Edited By duncan webster on 20/10/2021 15:05:30

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Duncan, I don't envy your job, where I used to work years ago, the electricians used these or similar Resin filled cable joint in all weathers. Replacing two or three miles of cable was not an option for them.

Link is from uk.rs-online.com

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 20/10/2021 15:40:16

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