What Did you do Today 2022

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Made something and learned something.

Made a little knurled and threaded knob to secure the changewheel cover on my Boxford, and knurled for the first time ever, so inordinately pleased with myself.

Learned not to apply cutting oil to knurls with a brush…

Rob

[Gerhard NovakParticipant @gerhardnovak66893]

I am moving my workshop from shed to garage. This will save me from heating the shed (just to 10 degrees to avoid condensation). In the garage I have a large radiator connected to the central heating, also the insulation is much better then in the shed (Had it drylined some years ago). So at the moment it is putting kitchen furniture together. (some of my old cabinets fall apart, so I had an excuse to get new ones…)

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Spent the last couple of days finishing getting the chassis frames to overall size and then cut out some of the pieces still need to do all the drilling as well as file the curves for the bits I have cut out. I have managed to take out most of the metal using the mill so reducing the filing I will need to do.

I did have a small mishap where the part moved but was able to realign everything and set the DRO to the datum point I was working from no damage to the part luckily. It was not he machine but me that caused it lesson learnt for later

[Gerhard NovakParticipant @gerhardnovak66893]

The new workshop is progressing, the left side is almost done, one high larder cupboard will be added.

The gap between cupboards will be used as a raw material storage. And I think also my vice will go there. We will see.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Happy new year to all readers. I'd bought a pack of 10mm, round carbide insert tips to compliment my 6mm one. Had to make a holder to fit from 12mm sq.BDMS from my scrapbinium box…

I dont have a flame torch system that would heat & hold temp for 'oil toughening' but I reckon BDMS is pretty tough to take the cutting forces, not that I would use this tool a lot anyway, just another 'nice to have'.

George.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Maged to catch up on my Scotch yoke engine latterly having been on the back burner since before Xmas…

Flywheel ..

Valve chest trial assembly..

Trial assembly..

Still lots to do, set timing, fix flywheel to crankshaft ( deviation from Dwg req'd ), trial run, strip, clean, check dim's, tweak as needed, paint, ( any advice on painting aluminium welcomed ) , I generally use etch primer to start with after de-greasing.

George.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

I'm almost embarrassed to Post this given the rather nice workshop image above, but one of my Xmas projects was to create some storage under my Bench.

10 years ago, I thought my shed was brim full and there was no way I could fit anything else in, but each time I buy something new, somehow (with quite some pain sometimes), I find room for it. This time the culprit was a scrollsaw.

Under my bench was a pile of stuff. Not very efficient and hard to get to. This was my response

Frankly, they are not as nice as they look.

I made (at least) two mistakes. Firstly, I should have let the timber merchant cut the pieces to size (and straight) rather than just to fit my car. I appear to be incapable of right angles with a circular saw. Secondly I should have built the drawers into a carcass rather trying to fit into the bench.

The drawers on the floor weren't too bad, but getting the drawer immediately under the bench aligned so it even vaguely worked was a bit of a nightmare. In the end it is hard to close and so has had stuff I rarely use relegated to it, rather that stuff I need all the time.

Still, its storage.

Iain

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Over the past few days I've bitten the bullet and I'm in the process of moving my CNC lathe and mill to operate from a new (to me) PC with motion controllers rather than the PC parallel port. I've got a pair of CNCDrive UC100 motion controllers, which look like 25 pin parallel port connectors but have a USB socket on the back. They generate the pulses required to drive the steppers rather than the PC's CPU. This means I can carry on using Mach 3 but on a WIN10 PC. Getting the motion controllers working using the old XP computer proved to be absolutely painless, I've got Mach3 installed on the new mini-PC (which is the size of a modest stack of CD boxes) and talking to the UC100, jut going through the configuration, looks like I may be able to cut metal with the new system tomorrow.

If anyone wants a Dell PC with WinXP and Mach 3 installed, there's one that's free to a good home!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I think Neil may be looking for one now that he is getting his workshop up and running and dusting off the KX1

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, although my Swiss Boy 116 lab jack was working OK, it wouldn't lift anymore than about three quarters of its design height, this was because in its past life before I had it, it must have been used with too much weight on it because the left hand thread on the adjusting screw was distorted over the length that it would only lift too, as can be seen in the photo below.

So after buying a new left hand die and a couple of left hand taps, plus a new length of brass rod, I set about to make a new adjusting screw yesterday afternoon. I cut the left hand thread first, by holding the new rod in my collet chuck on my mini lathe, facing it off, putting a centre in the end and then threading the 20mm that was sticking out. I then moved the rod out of the chuck to get the length of thread required, while supporting the end with the centre.

The rod was reversed in the chuck and the same procedure was used the cut the right hand thread, you should notice that the two new threads are a little shorter than that of the old one, but as the extra would never get used at full height, I didn't see the need to put it on.

The left hand thread was also distorted in the ally bar, but using my new left hand taps, sorted that out OK. The new thread that I cut are about 0.3mm larger diameter than the original, which is about 0.35mm under size and both new threads fitted into their respective threaded hole nice and snugly without binding anywhere along the lengths of the new thread, so the lab jack was reassembled with the new adjusting screw and it lifts up nice and smooth.

It now goes to its full height.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 18/01/2022 00:28:07

[AStroudParticipant @astroud]

Finished my own design mill engine

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

Different? I like it!

You could say the arrangement linking the eccentric to slide is unconventional , but nevertheless very interesting and well made.

Don't know your name but well done

Geoff

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Just removed HDD from me Humax HDR1100S freesat box. Strange beeping sounds on HDD, Lost all my "Car Share" recordings BUT no doubt they'll come round again. New drive due tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Regards Ian.

[Clock polisherParticipant @clockpolisher]

Just finished the third coat of wifi blocking paint on my living room walls.

This has reduced my neighbours Sky router signal from 3.0 V/m to between 0.10 and 0.05 V/m.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Spent yet more time in the workshop on the chassis frames managed to get all the holes drill, there are 5 that I have only stared that will need drilling right through just one of the frames.

Also the cylinder cut out done except for the corners which will need squaring up with a file once they are off the mill. I am trying to do as much as I can without disturbing the set up.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Circlip – I had to replace my HDD on a HUMAX. It would loose all recordings every now and again. Re-format didn't work, power on / off didn't work.

replaced it with :-

Seagate 2TB Pipeline HD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000VM003)

I couldn't find a 1TB drive, but a 2TB seems to work fine.

Make sure it is a "Pipeline HDD.

Bob

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Spent the day completing all the major work on the frames just nee to do some hand work to all the curved surfaces some of which can just be seen on the marking out blue, ( I do need to re-blue one and mark it as I wiped that off by mistake). I also still need to countersink some holes.

When I did the first cut outs I kept forgetting which way to turn the wheels and nearly spoiled all the work that I had done. So a couple of stickers as a reminder printed off with a labeling machine I use in the garden.

I am pretty pleased with the outcome so far considering this is my first time using a milling machine.

Bolted back together ready for hand work.

The quick and simple labels made things a lot easier

[NR67Participant @nr67]

Started the Wyvern cylinder liner. Drilled to 3/4” and now for boring.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Bored a redwing casting for someone who only has small machinery.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Looks like a backlit Quorn spindle+motor mount.

Do I get a prize?

My achievement today was the first welding I've done for a couple of years. It was TIG welding at arms length and some odd angles. Dipped the tungsten twice, but I think the bits are properly glued together again.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looks a bit like the cylinder bore of a water cooled redwing to me and a nicely finished one at that.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

So, 26hrs after ordering, new drive arrived and yes Bob despite not requesting specifically, it is a pipeline version. Refitted and case closed within 5mins., reconnected and after it reformatted itself within a futher 10, up and running. I could get my old recordings back with a bit of faffing but, as stated on another thread, the regularity of repeats is just a waiting game.

Regards Ian.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

More or less completed setting up my new WIN-10 loaded PC, by buying a CD drive so I could install my (licensed) copy of MS Office for XP – well, its applications useful to me – and TurboCAD 19 Deluxe.

Only… although it all went into its new home, I could not "activate" TC because the code was long expired. My aim was to load it then buy an up-grade.

All sorted eventually with much help from Paul (The CAD) Tracy from whom I had bought the previous and now bought the new versions, and after some searching I managed to find the tool that changes the TC's modern, default Gloomy Shades of Grey to what it calls "Classic", with dark font on near-white backgrounds so easier to read.

All I needed then was to save copies of my TC drawings to the new PC.

I will keep the old computer for any odd off-line work and direct file copying.

.

I had planned to spend a while in the workshop but that didn't happen.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Posted by JasonB on 19/01/2022 19:34:30:

Looks a bit like the cylinder bore of a water cooled redwing to me and a nicely finished one at that.

Darn, I didn't spot the text between the two photos.

No prize for me then.

[Gerhard NovakParticipant @gerhardnovak66893]

Hope I don't embarrass anyone – one side of my new workshop is operational. For the other side (with the lathe) I have to wait for help of strong men (I cannot move the beast on my own…)

 

Edited By Gerhard Novak on 21/01/2022 13:23:48

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