What Did you do Today 2022

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Used my newly completed slotting attachment for the Boxford shaper on its first job.
I found a replacement larger motor for my ratty old linisher, so needed to fit a new pulley to it.

Slotting the spacer.

Setup for slotting the pulley itself

Completed spacer, which will be sawn to length and used fix the offset for the pulley.

Bill

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Finally finished installing the signals up at the ME club, only to be told that a tree has to come down before it falls down, which involves taking several sections of track out, which means dismantling some of the cabling. CURSES

[RobinParticipant @robin]

Adding Belleville springs to my anti-backlash nuts, but were the numbers right?

I rigged my press to apply 235kgf with a 2.5kg dumbbell weight on the handle and got 0.23mm compression on the DTI.

Spring data sheet says 2217N (226kg) for 0.24mm.

I was amazed. l don't usually expect these things to work

[Richard S2Participant @richards2]

Acquired an old oil gun last week. Bit of a state both iside and out-

Required desoldering to reduce it to constituent parts to clean and repair. Found it to be another Lucas Oiler like the other one I have, but this is a Nbr 36 syringe type-

Had to replace the pitted/worn steel ball for a new bronze one. Also needed to hard solder some internal joints to ensure all remained joined and sealed when 'closing up' the last 5 joints. Cut new leather seals/washers.

Finished it this am with making new nozzle and cap. The nozzle fits into the grease type nipple holes on my machines. All now functoning perfectly without leaking at any angle. Not bad for a nearly 98 year old oil can-

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Not the whole project today, just the latest episode.

I've been having a belated spring clean in the workshop. I figured that a good way to tidy up would be to complete some projects that have been hanging about in pieces.

One project that's been hanging around for ages is a lever-operated tailstock for the ML7. Unlike Hopper, I took the easy way out (so I thought! ) and bought the lever & linkages mechanism. I didn't want to do away with the standard tailstock so I bought a spare via Ebay.

When it arrived, it was non-standard! I seem to remember that Myford made a batch of ML7s with raising blocks under headstock, tailstock and tool-post. These, I believe, were for a national motor car brake company to use for skimming brake drums. I think my purchase was from one of those machines.

Here's the standard exploded diagram:

On my purchase, the eye bolt, #11, is too long and won't permit the clamp-plate, #16, to enter the end of the bed. In preparation for swapping the eye bolt for a standard one I bought from Myfords, I attempted to separate it and the eccentric lever, #1, from the tailstock body.

Now, I am well aware that with some jobs of this type, you do 'have to hold your mouth right'! However, despite an hour or three ( it seemed like ) those parts are still captive in the body!!! Those parts retain each other, there's no third component to lock them in.

Not only that, I have been completely unable to find the standard eye bolt that I'm certain I bought from Myfords!!!!

The tailstock barrel lock thumb lever, #18, on my purchase is shedding its chrome plating. Myfords show that part on the diagram but omit it from the accompanying parts list.

Maybe I'd have more success if I tried mowing the grass – oh, no, it's just started raining.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Have you removed the retaining grubscrew marked 10?

[Robert ButlerParticipant @robertbutler92161]

Posted by Swarf, Mostly! on 03/06/2022 16:03:51:

One project that's been hanging around for ages is a lever-operated tailstock for the ML7. Unlike Hopper, I took the easy way out (so I thought! ) and bought the lever & linkages mechanism. I didn't want to do away with the standard tailstock so I bought a spare via Ebay.

If you have purchased the Genuine Myford lever feed for the ML7 there is not much effort involved swapping from screw feed to lever feed. Remove hand wheel, the thrust plate securing screw and the thrust plate. Simply attach lever feed – 10 minutes at most, unlike the Super 7 which is more involved and requires the tailstock barrel swapping.

Robert Butler

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Posted by Baz on 03/06/2022 17:06:58:

Have you removed the retaining grubscrew marked 10?

Well, that's embarrassing! Thank you, Baz for lightening my darkness.

When I had separated the base from the main tailstock body, there was the grub screw, #10, plain as a pikestaff.

So I have now removed the eyebolt that's too long but the proper one is still hiding.

Robert Butler: My lever operated tailstock gubbins does look like the real Myford deal, if a bit dusty. Now I've got it AND a spare tailstock body, I think I prefer to enjoy both options, screw handwheel and/or lever operated.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 04/06/2022 12:05:06

[Robert ButlerParticipant @robertbutler92161]

Posted by Swarf, Mostly! on 04/06/2022 12:03:37:

Robert Butler: My lever operated tailstock gubbins does look like the real Myford deal, if a bit dusty. Now I've got it AND a spare tailstock body, I think I prefer to enjoy both options, screw handwheel and/or lever operated.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 04/06/2022 12:05:06

I doubt once fitted you will ever use the Handwheel option again.

I fitted out my ML7 with LFT and never looked back, when i acquired my S7B i did the same.

Robert Butler

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

It's Lever Fever 'round here. If you leave them alone in the dark they start breeding little ones. Levers upon levers. A most enjoyable project from a 1929 ME article and drawings.

[Craig BrownParticipant @craigbrown60096]

Posted by bernard towers on 20/05/2022 19:46:23:

That's a nice bit of toolmaking Craig

Thanks for the kind words. One of my favorite things to do is make tools. To that end I have just finished a direct mount ER32 chuck for my Boxford, using the previously made gauge.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, after cleaning and making some attachments to hold all the parts for my camera bracket for holding two cameras for taking stereo photo pairs and then masking the areas that I didn't want painting yesterday, today I spray painted then with etch primer from a rattle can and was quite pleased how nicely it was to use.

Hopefully if the weather is good tomorrow afternoon, I can give them a top coat.

Regards Nick.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Nuts for the S160 gauge frames. The railway want to keep a set of spares, and this is the first component. I picked it cos it's a bit of a challenge on the Warco 250V. Could only get big enough LG2 in round bar, so had the hex it down on the Bridgie clone, as posted on 20.05.22.

They're 1.67" A/F, threaded 7/8" – 14 BSP, and have a recess halfway. One side of the recess the thread's RH, the other side LH. Single point threading tool was a bit of 1/8" square HSS in a plain 3/8" boring bar, hand ground on cheap bench grinder and checked with a vernier protractor and eyeglass.

I thought it'd be too hairy to do it under power and that I'd have to crank the lathe manually, but it wasn't actually too difficult as long as I started each pass in the recess and cut away from the chuck. Did the LH end first and checked first and last-off on an existing valve body – I had a tap to finish and check the RH thread so that was a bit simpler. Still took a bit of concentration to do all the reversing and sharp stops to get the tool in the right place for each pass – can't disengage the halfnut during each process cos pitching back in would be pretty difficult.

Marked them up so the fitters'll know which end they're trying to screw on.

I think theyr'e all OK.

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Nice looking parts Mick, lot of work there.

Emgee

[Andy StopfordParticipant @andystopford50521]

I welded a piece of 3/16 steel plate to an Evolution mitre saw stand to make a portable bench with vice for off-site work, and Painting the Forth Bridge (otherwise known as repairing rust holes in my car).

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well…

Planning to strip the wallpaper behind the bathroom radiator I unhooked it from the wall and moved it out an inch, just to check it would move. As I hooked it back up, a joint in the pipe came adrift. I was able to isolate the system before we lost more than a bowlful of water.

It was a small bore end-feed fitting as the installer must have cut the pipe too short. Fortunately I had the right gear including a big bit of skamolex as a back board and was able to flux it and resolder. The first solder I found was old plumbers solder… for a wiped joint that just wouldn't flow, luckily I found some 60/40 that made it behave (it's old enough to be leaded solder plus it's heating not drinking water). Miracle of miracles, I repressurised the system and two hours on it's still holding pressure!

The wall I've stripped already revealed a life-size and very rough cartoon I must have drawn as a teenager – including a fart joke…

Neil

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Carried on with the steam-wagon I should have finished a decade and more ago.

I have had several weeks off, on other things, after I hit a wall trying to design and make the ash-pan. (That's ash-pan V2.2.)

You'd think that would be easy, but it's not. Not when you want it with a damper and to tip to drop the fire; and the cylindrical firebox has no ash-pan mountings and occupies a huge void in the middle of the chassis. On the full-size lorry the pan was probably an extended part of the outer firebox shell.

I seem to be making progress now though, and finished this evening by making the hinge-pin for it.

I aim to finish the steam-making parts to running order before resuming work on the engine and transmission parts (which will probably involve a completely new cylinder to overcome problems I built unwittingly into it years ago).

I have no idea if this vehicle will even work…. assuming that's not so far hence that I have to supervise its completion via a Medium!

(Were mediums the original call-centres? "Knock one for 'no', two for 'yes'…" )

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

More a case of what I did the weekend. A military show that myself and the wife attended with her knitting and my woodturning this is my other hobby and by doing things like this help give me a little extra to buy tools and the like for both the woodturning and some of my metal work.

I did however manage to pick up some gun bluing gel which I will try and a couple of gun brushes which I can use

The only problem is I do like to get into the workshop and work on the Rob Roy but can't have it both ways

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Posted by Hopper on 05/06/2022 08:17:54:

It's Lever Fever 'round here. If you leave them alone in the dark they start breeding little ones. Levers upon levers. A most enjoyable project from a 1929 ME article and drawings.

Hopper,

May I suggest a slight modification to your splendid lever-operated tailstock:

Since the operating lever is simple to remove, I suggest that you might fit a brass contact 'button' (of the same diameter as the bar ) at the end opposite the knob. The operating lever could then do double duty as a 'bumper bar' to eject tools from the tailstock barrel.

I may do the same to my Myford LOTS although I already have a 'bumper bar' – it stows in a pair of Terry tool clips on the wall behind the lathe. I made it, well actually I adapted it from something else, long before I acquired my LOTS.

Do you remove the operating lever from the attachment when the ML7 is not in use – on my own attachment, the lever prevents the plastic lathe cover from properly fitting over the tailstock.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Brought a collet chuck for the lathe so set to today after straining the brain doing some trigonometry and also with some help here by making a back plate for it well everything turned out right despite getting the DRO set up wrong to start with

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Derek Lane on 15/06/2022 08:21:59:

More a case of what I did the weekend. A military show that myself and the wife attended with her knitting and my woodturning this is my other hobby and by doing things like this help give me a little extra to buy tools and the like for both the woodturning and some of my metal work.

….

Looks like top-class work – very nice pieces.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Posted by Mick B1 on 15/06/2022 22:04:26:

Looks like top-class work – very nice pieces.

Thank you Mick, I can now buy some more tools for either of the hobbies, nothing like making money from something I enjoy doing

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Swarf, Mostly! on 15/06/2022 10:29:40:

Posted by Hopper on 05/06/2022 08:17:54:

It's Lever Fever 'round here. If you leave them alone in the dark they start breeding little ones. Levers upon levers. A most enjoyable project from a 1929 ME article and drawings.

Hopper,

May I suggest a slight modification to your splendid lever-operated tailstock:

Since the operating lever is simple to remove, I suggest that you might fit a brass contact 'button' (of the same diameter as the bar ) at the end opposite the knob. The operating lever could then do double duty as a 'bumper bar' to eject tools from the tailstock barrel.

I may do the same to my Myford LOTS although I already have a 'bumper bar' – it stows in a pair of Terry tool clips on the wall behind the lathe. I made it, well actually I adapted it from something else, long before I acquired my LOTS.

Do you remove the operating lever from the attachment when the ML7 is not in use – on my own attachment, the lever prevents the plastic lathe cover from properly fitting over the tailstock.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Swarf , if I had not put that piece of white melamine in the background to make the pic clearer, you would be able to see the "donger" I have hanging right behind the tailstock on the wall, used to knock things out of the tailstock taper with a weight on the handle end and brass button on t'other. I leave the tailstock lever handle in place at all times as when slid to about the halfway mark it does not stick out particularly. If slid right in it's way inboard, but not necessary. I'll see if I can dig out another pic showing the "donger" and handle retracted.

You can just see the "donger" in the background to the right of that yellow handled screw driver and brass bar end. It is quicker to grab than than finagle the tailstock lever back into the split brass cotter clamp in its bracket.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Swarf: Tucked in for speed. This is how I keep the lever when not in active use. Knob is inboard of the chip tray so well out of the way for my purposes. (I don't much use a cover and if I do it is an old bed sheet.)

I am very glad I went the extra yards and fitted the sliding handle and the little ball lever to lock it rather than a cap screw requiring a tool to operate it. This makes it quick and easy to move the lever in and out as required.

(Note: Those ball pein hammer marks on the front way are a legacy from the previous owner, not me!)

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, after priming my twin camera bracket a few days ago, I then put a top coat on and then assembled it all.

It was intended to put cork pads on the unpainted areas, but the self adhesive cork sheets that I ordered online for collection in store the next day, somehow got lost into the courier's dungeon, so after a telephone call on Tuesday last, a very helpful customer service person said he would get another one sent straight to my address and they promptly came yesterday and I was finally able to finish my bracket ready for use.

Regards Nick.

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