What did you do today? (2014)

[HobbyNutParticipant @hobbynut]

Posted by Four stroke Fred on 09/09/2014 09:43:29:

Good Day HobbyNut,

The Lister con rod looks good as does the rest of the engine. Keep up the good work.

George.

Thanks George. This is for the cast version that I am machining up.

[Clive BarkerParticipant @clivebarker72854]

Today continued the restoration of Super 7. Fitted new felt wipers to my Super 7 and ML7. Reluctantly shelled out to purchase from supplier having failed to source 6mm felt to make my own. Also tackling the tailstock deciding what can be cleaned up and what needs more radical attention. Good to know that the major work bed, saddle, new homemade leadscrew etc have all been successfully completed.

[John ShepherdParticipant @johnshepherd38883]

Used the Alum trick for the first time today to dissolve a broken 1.6mm drill from a bronze casting. The use of a saturated solution of Alum for removal of broken taps and drills in non ferrous metal is well documented but still amazed me when it worked so well.

I put the Alum solution and casting in a glass bowl and placed it in a water bath in the wife's ceramic 'Crock Pot' and cooked it for a couple of hours. According to what I have read I could have left it in a cold solution overnight but having won the argument to use the Crock Pot, it had to be used.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Today I aquired a Sigma 600mm reflex lens to match my Canon AE1, been busy checking out how it works and have now put a film in the camera and tomorrow will do a test around the place to see how it performs. It obviously needs a tripod or a bean bag to steady it. It is the longest focal length lens I have now, previously it was a 280mm Leica lens for my R6. I do have doublers for both cameras. It will be a bit of a change going back to film and I hope I can get it developed.

Clive

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Richard,

Tyre tracks are there

The ground looks rock hard though, explaining lack of.

Geoff – Just surfaced from a kip in the armchair.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Too late for Clive but thick felt is available from Piano parts suppliers.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I have a 500mm Centon mirror lens. I never used it that much in my transparency days, I'm not really sure why. Made much more use of my budget Prinz Galaxy 400mm.

Back in the 80s I went to the National Museum of Wales for a wildlife talk, but the speaker didn't turn up and the day was 'rescued' by someone who showed two carousels of their American holiday snaps. Endless pictures of small and occasionally colourful birds all against a leafy background pierced by dozens of doughnut shaped highlights! Obviously a mirror lens user.

Neil

[Steve FParticipant @stevef]

Take a lump of cast iron and turn it into a flywheel. Then make another . I am a beginner having previously made a marine engine. My second project is a flame gulper. I wanted a pair of flywheels with curved spokes. I followed instructions in the book "The Shop Wisdom of Philip Duclos". I'm really happy with the result

A bit more than a days work !

regards

Steve

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Got fed up with my old netbook taking for ever to load Win7. Spent 30 minutes loading an unofficial version of Chromium OS and now I can post stupid remarks in under a minute from power on! Only bug to fix is the scaling on the mouse pointer…

Steve

[Martin CottrellParticipant @martincottrell21329]

Posted by Richard Marks on 10/09/2014 09:30:31:

The tractor picture is a fake! where are the tyre tracks?

Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing! Also, on closer inspection one would expect to see some soil on & between the tyre treads but they look rather too clean to me. This has all the makings of a NASA moon landing type conspiracy theory; did Lathejack really till that field with his MF 135 or has he photoshopped it into some random field and forgotten to add some vital pieces to the jigsaw of deception?!

Martin.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Bazyle on 10/09/2014 17:42:40:

Too late for Clive but thick felt is available from Piano parts suppliers.

That is very helpful. I am restoring a Hydrovane compressor and need some thick felt. Now to find a piano parts supplier

graham.

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

John,

What is the Alum trick, and what will get rid of a broken tap in ferrous material? Don't ask why I want to know!

Chris

[john kennedy 1Participant @johnkennedy1]

Bought my felt for making wipers here http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/search?query=felt

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by ChrisH on 10/09/2014 23:35:30:

John,

What is the Alum trick, and what will get rid of a broken tap in ferrous material? Don't ask why I want to know!

Chris

No, the Alum disolves the ferrous tap so will also disolve what you have broken it off in

[Anonymous]

I fixed the CNC mill so that the spindle didn't stop part way through a cut. RIP a brand new 6mm carbide cutter. Turned out to be an iffy connector masquerading as an industrial connector, which is why the new one is a different colour in this photo:

I also took the opportunity to change a crimp that was fractured. I finished the milling I needed to do for an RF test jig, so the client is now a happy bunny.

Regards,

Andrew

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 11/09/2014 13:19:50

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

I started using alum crystal as a deodorant six years ago after I developed a nasty allergy to normal deodorant spray so I was a bit concerned about it being able to dissolve taps – – – – – or me.

I have just taken a mirror and peered prudently (pitwise) …………………..perfect !!!!

Rik – – – axillary relieved.

Edited By Rik Shaw on 11/09/2014 15:52:46

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Spent the day making a new letter box, the old one is just about at its use by date, this one has a wider letter slot so that my Model Engineer can go in without being folded. Ian S C

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Spent the day at work as usual and was pulling my hair out as usual cos as usual at work, people do not do what you ask them to do as usual!,,

Enough said, back to my con rod.

B

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Been checking the flash steam engine dimensions after last weekends 2 day regatta at Rowden it seems to be in good condition.

After a very hairy first run at over 120 mph it took off flying vertical and then landed level only for the prop on touching the water causing the nose to go under the water and aborted the timed run.

A fellow competitor video it with a 100 fps camera and I saw the whole run in slow motion.

Managed a further 3 timed runs around the 110 mph but pumps not working right will have to make some filters as foreign matter gets in the fuel and water tanks if the hydro becomes a submarine.

The freebie digital angle gage I got with my mag subscription some years ago has been a Godsend as I tried altering various angles on canards and rear wings at the meeting to try to stop it taking off on checking the angles at home on the bench it was all correct.

Bob Kirtley's steamer did 115 mph after replacing a broken poppet valve a well deserved win.

Not long to go before our last meeting of 2014 at Kingsbury Water Park and hoping to sort the bugs on the new 2014 hydro.

Paul

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Photo courtesy of Mick Biddle.

Look at the torque reaction on the rear fins the prop is 4 inches in diameter

Posted by Windy on 11/09/2014 22:41:37:

Been checking the flash steam engine dimensions after last weekends 2 day regatta at Rowden it seems to be in good condition.

After a very hairy first run at over 120 mph it took off flying vertical and then landed level only for the prop on touching the water causing the nose to go under the water and aborted the timed run.

A fellow competitor video it with a 100 fps camera and I saw the whole run in slow motion.

Managed a further 3 timed runs around the 110 mph but pumps not working right will have to make some filters as foreign matter gets in the fuel and water tanks if the hydro becomes a submarine.

The freebie digital angle gage I got with my mag subscription some years ago has been a Godsend as I tried altering various angles on canards and rear wings at the meeting to try to stop it taking off on checking the angles at home on the bench it was all correct.

Bob Kirtley's steamer did 115 mph after replacing a broken poppet valve a well deserved win.

Not long to go before our last meeting of 2014 at Kingsbury Water Park and hoping to sort the bugs on the new 2014 hydro.

Paul

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Windy on 12/09/2014 09:09:45:

Photo courtesy of Mick Biddle.

.

Amazing picture !!

Astonishing machine !!

MichaelG

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Reply to Bill Hancox re the rubber roof.

Wouldn't think that the rubber came from recycled tyres.

EPDM is a material often used for coolant hoses on engines, so would expect it to have a completely different composition. No need to have different Shore hardness, or coefficients of friction, just resistance to oils, glycol, high temperatures etc.

The roof on the garage and utility room has survived well for about twenty years, (in U.K.) so the workshop roof will definitely outlast me!

And it was surprisingly easy to put into place, although a second person to help with the unwieldy bits (Helping to hold the Trims, even on this small size roof) of the job is very useful.

Re comments about smell of plasticiser; NO problems like that with the previous EPDM roof.

Neighbours had glassfibre to replace felt, that did smell for a while, and someone got the levels wrong; so some big puddles!

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 12/09/2014 12:06:24

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

I took the Wife to Hospital for a routine check up, then we went into a nearby town and spotted this:

Later on while doing a bit of Supermarket shopping we noticed some Christmas selection boxes on sale.

Got home to a sunny garden and some butterflies on flowers, been a strange sort of day!

Edited By V8Eng on 12/09/2014 19:34:06

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Wondering what EDPM rubber is all about, I looked it up on Wikipedia. That did the trick and I was lost almost in the first sentence. Must have been written by a chemist! However, it seems to be used in cars for door seals, hoses etc as Howard mentioned. Seems the service temp range is around -50C … +150C and it "does not pollute the run-off rainwater" when used for roofing.

**LINK**

Murray

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Muzzer on 12/09/2014 21:03:51:

Wondering what EDPM rubber is all about …

.

Murray,

For info.

We had our shed roof done about five years ago, and it has been superb.

Survived -16°C winter conditions O.K.

MichaelG.

[Author]

Posts