What Did you do Today 2022

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

I dropped in on our local auction house yesterday. Out-bid on what I went for, but I came home with a lovely little oscillator steam engine instead. It would have cost more to buy the brass to make one, so quite chuffed (no pun intended) with it.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Apologies for the delay – spent a few days at the coast with the wife – clearly picked the best week for it!

Thanks for all the comments. I have a more developed model for building the thing – that was just something for the idea. Yes I will have thimbles to mount the files in with araldite.

Also, I see how I can make the stroke infinitely variable, but I don't think it's worth the extra complexity.

Many thanks

Iain

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Not so much again as what I did today but more like what I have been doing over a week.

Managed to groove and size the axle boxes as well as drill and ream the axle holes and also drill the spring pockets.

Had to making some metal down to thickness for the hornstays as everywhere I looked seemed to be out of stock of that size then onto drilling them and also the horns to accept them. And finally a quick dry fit ready to drill holes in the buffer beams to join them to the main frames.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

Good progress there Derek. Its starting to look like it may be a loco.

Jim

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Today I finished refurbishing and repainting my Reeves Trojan. This was my very first build, back in the 90's, built entirely by muscle-power on a treadle lathe and a hand-powered drill – a good way of learning the value of sharp tools. These tools were a hand-me-down from my wife's grandfather, and were my introduction to model engineering.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Actually something I DID do today, although it refers to my earlier posts above, regarding the die filer ……

I happened to have a new battery powered hedge trimmer which has "ceased to be". It also happens that I still have the old one (of different make) lying in the greenhouse. I decided to strip out the motor from the old one on the grounds that they are all pretty much of muchness when it comes to drivetrain – just in case the new one can't be replaced under warranty. I was delighted to discover that the oscillating mechanism would lend itself to driving a die filer and at the same time take up very little room with far less complication than my ram design.

The drive is via sort of Wankel engine cams and the whole is driven through a series of reduction gears:

And

Sorry about the picture quality. The lighting is less than optimal.

John

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Please don't ask me to make that on my kit (or rather with my skills), John!!!!

Iain

[P J O FureyParticipant @pjofurey85133]

Saw a deckle FP 1 on e bay , looking for one to this spec for over ten years, lo and behold THE PRICE!
it was sold from a small site I frequent, asking price was £2750.

it included a vast array of accessories and was the late 1980z model in very nice condition.

dealer up north selling it for £12000 plus VAT without the accessories.

possibly why I STILL don’t have one 😂

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

OH bugger it, it had to happen sometime first major c**k up. Managed to mess up one of the wheels every thing turn on it except the tread went to drill the axle hole and walking to the drill bit shelf thinking to myself must get it to 7/16" yes you guessed it instead of picking the drill smaller so I could put a 7/16" reamer through I grabbed the 7/16" bit and drilled the hole ans as you all will know a drill bit will always drill oversize.
The air was blue for me doing a stupid thing so have just now ordered a new casting.
Yes I could have bored slightly over size and turn the axle to match but I am the sort of person that want it just right(maybe not perfect but the best I can do).
Well at least I could go into the garden and mow the lawn as well as pot on some plants on top of that plant some other bits and pieces we both brought yesterday at the garden centre. I am sure the garden centre cost more than bit for my loco.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Wing foiling has got pretty popular around here:

The problem is that the water can be quite shallow, especially in Christchurch Harbour. The readily available masts ( the bit that holds the foil below the board) are too long for comfort. The masts are aluminium extrusions. After bandsawing to approximate length, the cut end was tidied up and squared off in the milling machine

The extrusion has M6 tapping size holes in the strengthening ribs so easily tapped with a M6 spiral flute tap held in a cordless drill

Job done

I've done a few of these now for friends

Rod

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

I've been looking for a 10" x 7" adjustable angle plate, something cheap and cheerful as it's not something I'll use every day. but I do have a job for it coming up. Various searches didn't bring anything sensible and I just missed one on ebay for £70 that was collection only from the Doncaster area – a bit of a jaunt from Worcester, especially with the cost of diesel.

I was about to order one when one of those annoying pop-ups appeared advising me the "same" thing was available for £39.99 cheaper! Clearly it was going to be from the Far East but at £75 delivered I thought it worth a punt. I'm quite happy reworking this type of thing if it appears to be good value for money so I pressed the Buy button, that was Wednesday pm.

Friday lunch time a white van arrives and a very heavy box was handed over and taken into the workshop for further investigation later in the day when I had time to look at it. The unit was double boxed and in a plastic bag, at first glance it looked ok, as expected it felt gritty so the expected strip down was in order. There was quite a lot of casting sand revealed when I split the two main parts, rather than a light clean I decided to do a thorough clean and then do some checks.

My first check was the flatness of the base which was a little disappointing so a couple of hours with a hand scraper, it wasn't bad enough to need a skim, had that better than .0015" feeler proof and a good deburr had that part sorted. I then turned my attention to the top half which is the more robust part and found that it only needed a quick deburr. The minor parts, adjusting screw bearing blocks and the screw and its handle were also deburred and the whole thing put back together after a second clean down.

I then checked the top surface for parallel bearing in mind I'd tickled the base face up for flatness, and was surprised to find the it was better than .002" when set at 0 degrees, I couldn't really check what it was like when set at an angle so I'll have to see how I get on when I've made some T nuts for it and I can get the job I bought it for set up. My guess is that when the base was machined it was over clamped which introduced the distortion.

All things considered I'm pleased with my purchase, I found the castings to be to a high standard and the machining, other than the base was fine.

[Chris MateParticipant @chrismate31303]

Aligned my mill head a bit better: Vertical for X-axis movement to bed
So busy with facemill experiments, I decided to revisit my mill head tramming(Swivel part to zero mark) to seeif I can get it horizontally more precise so cutters cut front and rear as it moves.
-I did this by using a marked bit(No 1) on the facemill. I facemill a length long enough on aliminium.
-After the cut I measure the difference with feeler guages……Forward direction=.002"…..After cut same tip turned by hand=.009". I got it to that by using by big square from bed and indicator moving quil up/down, the problem was fine movements of the head with a hammer was not something I liked..

-So today I got another idea:
-I used a shash clamp clamped to top of gearbox/head horizontally, now I have long leverage. It ends up very easy and light force to move head very controlable.
-I used a dial test indicator just to see movement, so the head must move clockwise a bit.

It was rather quik I end up with an easy adjust using the long end of clamp, after slacking the 3x retaing nuts of the head to column. This got me to within .001" according to feeler guages(Go no go). To get it more precise I think I would need one of those cylindrical indicators. I ordered a Walter 40mm shoulder mill/MT4 with 4x insert-type for aliminium & steel/cast iron. Receiving that I will relook at this and see how that design plays out, and how the finish may look.

Edited By Chris Mate on 17/04/2022 21:45:02

Edited By Chris Mate on 17/04/2022 21:46:52

Edited By Chris Mate on 17/04/2022 21:48:06

[Craig BrownParticipant @craigbrown60096]

Finished off a couple of jobs today. Made these knobs for locking the x and y axis and belt tension on my mill drill.

Also made new hubs for my sack truck to replace the rubbish pressed steel items, with integrated bearings, one of which had collapsed.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Those knobs are nicer to use and look so much better than knurled ones

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

On Thursday, Rod finished the wiring for the Atlas 12 x 24 lathe. When it was switched on, there was vibration and the motor tended to jump up and down. We think that the pulley driven by the motor pulley is the cause of the rough running. It can be seen running as if it has been bent. What it is is the fit on the 3/4" shaft is not very good and when the grub screw which clamps onto the key is tightened the pulley cants slightly. When the pulley pair was removed, there was no sign of it being bent, but the hole was in need of bushing. At 9" diameter, it would just fit the Smart & Brown faceplate, and Rod lined it up with a lever indicator running at the bottom of the belt groove to about 0.002" tir. I bored the pulley from 3/4" to 1.210" to suit a piece of 31mm gunmetal that had a 14mm hole in it and turned the gunmetal to just thinking of going in fit. The gunmetal was parted off at 1.3" long to match the boss, and degreased before using the press and Loctite 620 to fit. It needed the press to fit which was done still on the faceplate which will be screwed back on the lathe for final boring to fit the 3/4" shaft. I may drill and tap the rear of the boss for a couple of 6mm screws to ensure the bush never moves in the pulley.

On Saturday, I will be thinking of a key slot together with a new locking grub screw hole in the pulley.

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

What didn’t I do today? Turn anything! I pressed the “go” button on the remote for the lathe and nowt happened. Fortunately the supplier led me by the hand, via email, to reset the inverter. Some more troubleshooting pointed to the remote. Fortunately I have a spare, so swapped them over and all is well again.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Bother resulted from having a few tools and a 'can-do' attitude, I was called out to fix a leaking toilet. Not the clean cistern end, either. No, the nasty outlet was incontinent.

Went OK until I had to get up off the floor afterwards; discovered I'm not as fit as I thought I was! I like to oblige family and friends with domestic fixes, but must remember next time I'm not a boy of 60…

Dave

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Hardly something I've done today, but an ongoing project, recently completed.

A Hemingway floating reamer holder!

And if you're interested, the parts explode as below…

Iain

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

And on a more light-hearted note, I've been sidetracked (somehow) into watch repair and have made this rotating screwdriver holder for my (cheap and not very good) watchmakers screwdrivers. When I grow up I will buy some Bergeon tools. If I win the lottery.

Iain

[brickyParticipant @bricky]

I drilled and tapped a 1/2" steel plate with a 5/8" acme thread.The tap was from Tracy tools and I was just able to use it on the SX3 with the use of two angle plates bolted at right angles with the horizontal angle plate having a 3/4" hole in it so that the tap could go through the plate and piece I was tapping.My friend who was going to add pressure to the tap with a centre in the quill while I turned the tap,but he was out and I had to do it myself.This was a brutal exercise and I was knackered when finished.Until I had finished I didn't know if I was tapping or reaming the hole .What a great relief when I had got through to find that I had a thred and even better when I tried the lead screw that I had cut previously fitted .The next one has to go through 1" cast iron and I definately will need help,but I am happy with todays work.The cast Came from M-Machine tools orderd at 1am and delivered next day at 12am and the same with Tracy tools .I am not associated with these companies ,but what service.

Frank

[AndrewDParticipant @andrewd]

Assembled the last of three racks for a zinc electroplating setup I'm working on. Just need to insulate the fiddly bits.

Edited By AndrewD on 03/05/2022 12:16:30

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

More on Watch tools. the watch holder I had in my cheap 'toolkit' was unworkable (got in the way of the tweezers) so I made my own. Double sided and will cope with between around 12mm diameter mechanisms and 40 or so (asserted, not tested, yet!).

Iain

[Craig BrownParticipant @craigbrown60096]

Made a spindle nose gauge for my Boxford. The thread is about a thou under measured over wires and the original faceplate and catch plate go on lovely. The register is a couple of tenths under 1.5". The actual thread on the nose of the lathe is a bit looser and the register is about half a thou under 1.5" so anything gauged with this should fit on the lathe nicely

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

That's a nice bit of toolmaking Craig

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

I gotta make some gauge frame bits for the railway's S160s. There's a bunch of parts, but I decided to start on the one that I think'll be the most difficult.

It's just a nut 7/8" thick, threaded 7/8" x 14 BSP, but here's the thing: there's a central recess to thread O/D, and on one side of the recess it's RH thread and on t'other it's LH. Think I'll scewcut it with manual rotation – can't see how I'd dare do it under power.

But I'm not there yet. 1.67" hexagon LG2 is – as far as I know – effectively unobtainable, so I've had to turn 2 1/4" round bar down to the across-corners size of ~1.928", then mill the hex flats.

That's when I found out the divvy head tailstock on the Bridgy clone (a) didn't belong originally to that divvy head, (b) can have its barrel nodded up and down, and (c) was 17 thou off the right CH at the end of my bar, set by persons unknown for reasons unknown.

So I had to faff about for about an hour and a half to fiddle it right and parallel within about 5 thou end-to-end.

So I've now cut the hexagon and sliced it for the nuts.

Next week face to length and chamfer, drill, bore to root diameter, recess to thread OD and screwcut.

I'm just glad I'm not doing this for pay.

Oh, the vice ain't doin' nuffin' – I just didn't wanna shift it.

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