What Did You Do Today (2017)

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Took a break from drilling the 814 holes in the indexing plates for the fabricated Versatile Dividing Head and made myself a little reverse counter boring tool to spot-face the spots where the hold down nuts sit on the VDH base. Because the VDH body is in the way, you cant just counterbore it in the drill press as per normal. You have to mount it in the lathe, pass a spindle through the hole in the base and then attache the counterbore to the spindle to spot the top of the base. So the cutter has to work in the reverse direction to normal too. I did not want to disturb the set up on the VDH for drilling the plates, so instead of milling the teeth on the cutter, I simply made two cuts in the end with a hacksaw, 90 degrees apart to form the leading edges of four teeth, then ground the clearance away on the six inch bench grinder, spun it in the lathe to make sure the tops of the resultant teeth were even, then put the clearance on the cutting edges with a file. Simples. Will harden and temper it before use.(Silver steel) Bit rough but it will do the job for four spot facings.

While avoiding drilling further holes, I made an equally quick and dirty jig for stamping the numbers on the one plate I have finished.

Result came up passable I reckon. Although I am never happy with my number stampings. I could never make a living rebirthing cars! Went a bit heavy with big 'ammer on the last number and pressed the whole round shape of the end of teh punch in to the job!

So it's back to drilling the second plate now. Moved the VDH to the back of the cross slide so I am drilling on the front side of the disc, closest to the near-blind operator. Getting better at this. I have it down to 30 seconds to index and drill one hole. Closer to GHT's 20 seconds but no ceegar as yet. Still heeding his advice to hasten slowly.

[NigeParticipant @nige81730]

Today has been about getting machines in the work shop broken down into more easily movable 'lumps' ready for the move to Peterborough. Floor mounted pillar drill and the big Record band saw plus the Record wood turning lathe and the ML4. Taken the Axminster Jet dust extractor off the ceiling. The process of getting everything else collected together and into containers is still ongoing

As the workshop is in the garage which is leasehold I am having to put it back to its original state so the extra mains sockets I put in have had to come out: shame really as the new people would probably have welcomed the additional sockets but Ho hum.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Today, I regained some of my faith in human nature !!

I bought a Mitutoyo 389-352 micrometer with a non-functioning digital display

… "It was working fine", says the seller, "it just needs a new battery"

Fearing the worst; I popped-in a new 357/303 Silver Oxide, and it works beautifully

Now … a question: [apart from the obvious 'mathematical' answer] what is the difference between a 389-352 and the current model 389-352-30

I think it's probably that the new one has a data socket, but I can't find an explicit answer.

MichaelG.

.

For info. here is the new model: **LINK**

https://shop.mitutoyo.co.uk/web/mitutoyo/en_GB/mitutoyo/01.02.01.066/Digital%20Sheet%20Metal%20Micrometer%20IP65/$catalogue/mitutoyoData/PR/389-352-30/index.xhtml

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

Hi Michael,

It would appear to be IP65 according to the following links. ??

389-352

389-352-30

Ed.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Today I milled a 12"x18"x3" piece of plaster of Paris (White gypsum mud for colonials) flat. The domestic CEO has undertaken a new hobby of pottery and it appears that slabs of plaster can be used both to dry produce on and to dry sloppy clay 'swarf' in order to recover it for re use (Wonder if it works with steel…). Anyhow, the first such salb she cast, a couple of months ago was apparently a bit watery and the top layer was too dusty. Some smart alek suggested that a few passes with a shell mill would fix that.

Today it happened! The mill table was carefully cleaned to remove all traces of oil, then a sheet of paper towel was layed on it just in case. The top of lump wasn't all that flat and had to be shimmed up to get it to rest stably on the mill's table. The bottom was then skimmed with a 3" shell mill to give a flat surface. After that, the piece was turned over and the same treatment was given to the top surface. a quarter of an inch had to be removed to get a decent cut over the whole area.

I'd expected to have to take a very gentle cut, but in the end, as-fast-as-I-can_turn-the_handles seemed to be ok.

Herself now has a lump of white plaster 12"x18"x2.5" that is flat and parallel to less than1 thou all over. I'm sure that this will improve the production of recycled clay.

Took me an hour to clean the mill up after the half hour job…

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Ed Duffner on 27/08/2017 23:03:54:

Hi Michael,

It would appear to be IP65 …

.

Thanks, Ed

… I will have to keep it dry !!

MichaelG.

.

https://www.mpl.ch/info/IPratings.html

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 27/08/2017 23:28:44

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Off to run our portable track in the park at St Albans. Hopefully raise some money and even a new member or two plus publicity for our show in 3 weeks time on the 23/24th. Going to be hot, might not need a fore in the grate.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Drilling drilling drilling. My hour in the shed today was an interesting one. I found an error in GH Thomas's charts for drilling the holes in the Versatile Dividing Head index plates. I couldn't believe it, but did the math myself and confirmed the chart showing how many turns of the handle, spaces and increments on the micro adjuster contains a major error. Where he specifiesfor the 66 hole circle, 9 turns of the handle, plus 54 holes, plus 54 divisions on the micro adjust it should read 0 turns of the handle, then move 54 holes and 54 divisions. A simple typo but it nearly had me fooled into blindly following it, thinking it must be some special advanced technique requiring multiple rotattions of teh job to achieve the 66 holes via a number of stages. But doing the math revealed that the seventh hole done this way would partially overlap the first hole , and just get worse from there. So double checking the math, 0 turns rather than 9 turned out to be right.

Nonetheless, it was with some relief that the drill dropped straight into the first hole after completion of the circle and returning the indexing arm and micro dial to the 00 setting. Whew!

Had a self-inclicted snafu along the way. Started cranking the index handle without withdrawing the drill bit from the job. SNAP! One drill bit gone. Lucky I have a small box of these 3/32" stub drills, shipped especialy from UK to here in Oz. BUT, the next bit snapped in half while drilling the first hole after fitting it up. Under power feed, so it managed to friction weld a small piece of HSS into the bottom of the half-drilled hole. Which also destroyed the next drill I tried, very optimistically, to finish the hole with. So when all else is finished, I shall have to turn the disc around, index off the adjacent hole and drill through from the other side until I hit the embedded HSS and then punch it out if I have too.

Never a dull moment while drilling these 814 holes! Just over 300 to go now. I can hardly wait.

Edited By Hopper on 28/08/2017 10:41:42

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Hopper, when you dill through from the other side, either use a slot drill, or grind up an ordinary drill with a flat end (as in slot drill), this will get you nearer to where you are going, in fact if you can make it concaved you might just drill right through. Start with a normal drill.

Ian S C

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Accidentally attempted an 8mm deep cut under power with lathe at 2000rpm…

Last time I did this the sheer pin sheered. It didn't this time and the lathe is still working. The work has a nasty ding in it, and the insert snapped with shrapnel.

Must write out 500 times: 'Left and Down for Facing Off, not Right Up you daft S.O.D!'

Dave

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Did a bit more on flash steamer piston and finished a batch of Dykes rings. The middle piston was good for over 123mph then shortened and made as slipper piston did 6mph faster. Reduced it a bit more and speed increased but aerodynamics caused take off.
Hopefully might have timed runs at Kingsbury in a few weeks if OK.

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 23/08/2017 14:37:53:

Took my daughter to Ikea yesterday to stock up on university essentials. Mom has met another lady who told how her son didn't even bother unpacking his toastie machine when he saw his flatmates had six lined up already… but I'm still despairing how we will fit everything into the car. I seem to remember I had two large bags plus my homemade hifi…

Anyway, I had to do the 'model engineer' thing and walked out grasping a Jansjo work light plus a tidgy one that fits in a USB socket (only £2). I also saw that the little tables often use din pairs as 3D printer stands and boxes were only £5 so I bought one despite not needing it…

I hate walking a round Ikea though, their hard flat floor gives me backache in 20 minutes, although I can wander around on a 'real' surface for hours on end with no issues.I cheered myself up by thinking of new names for various products. Perhaps they could call their loo-brushes Türdstjïk…

Neil

Spent Sunday afternoon walking round Ikea – couldn't agree more about the hard floor. However, it has always struck me that Ikea at a weekend is a perfect public demonstration of Brownian motion – fascinating!

[Jon CameronParticipant @joncameron26580]

Neil the loostick name is genius!!

I've spent the last couple of days looking for a new job. Not the best way to spend a bank holiday, but at least productive in its end result

[Jon CameronParticipant @joncameron26580]

Double post sorry

Edited By Jon Cameron on 29/08/2017 11:24:56

[Joseph Noci 1Participant @josephnoci1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 15/08/2017 10:05:07:

Posted by JasonB on 15/08/2017 07:28:08:

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 14/08/2017 20:33:30:

Posted by Swarf, Mostly! on 14/08/2017 19:28:54:

The 'Tubal Cain' whose book I cited was the late T.D.Walshaw, a Brit. The 'Tubal Cain' who makes YouTube videos, aka 'Mr. Pete', is an American.

It seems necessary to point this out every so often.

I've got nothing against his videos but I wish he'd done a bit more research before choosing his pseudonym.

Brief research into the origin of the name makes it such an obvious choice I've come to the conclusion isn't fair to criticise anyone for using it.

Neil "Stub Mandrel" © ® ^TM Wyatt

Knowing the way Americans name themselves maybe he would have been better calling himself "Tubal Cain III" and then there would be no mixing him up with the previous two

Actually, it seems the Brits have the monopoly on Cains – and I suppose it should be Tubal Cain IV…See ME magazine, Vol 181 No 4077 (Sept/Oct 1998) page 388..

Joe

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

Received my very first subscription copy of Model Engineer today! , (4568)

Thank you.

Ed.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Saw this. I can safely say I will never attempt anything like this. All manual operations – hours of painstaking work. Thousands more hours of patience and skill than I could muster but the results are pretty special. It's obviously not a scale model or a real engine, so presumably the guy designed it all himself.

Turn the sound down after a couple of minutes….

Murray

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

There is quite a bit of the V10 build covered in this 20 page long thread over on MEM

[TSHParticipant @tsh73987]

Not quite 'today' but as soon as I could manage after the jet-lag:

Oh, and as this is supposed to be a thread for engineering activities, what is this machine (seen in the San Francisco cable-car winding-house)?:

Trevor

[NJHParticipant @njh]

It's a drilling machine – but not as you or I know them ! ( Unless you have a VERY big workshop)

Norman

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Probably best known as a radial arm drilling machine.

Mike

[Anonymous]

Posted by Mike Poole on 02/09/2017 15:00:56:

Probably best known as a radial arm drilling machine

It's on my wish list. But I'll need a second workshop before I have the space. May be I should convert the hall; it's already got three machine tools and a welder in it.

Andrew

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Nice one Trevor! The diamond Ring.

Neil

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

The only radial arm drilling machine I have ever used was at a Norwegian State Railways workshop. It was a HUGE Russian machine. My mate was making a full size loco boiler. We used it to drill the stay holes in the firebox. It must have had a reach of at least 35 feet! The boiler was turned over to do both sides and the crown stays. Hardly model engineering!

Andrew.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Andrew Tinsley on 02/09/2017 16:53:27:

The only radial arm drilling machine I have ever used was at a Norwegian State Railways workshop. It was a HUGE Russian machine. My mate was making a full size loco boiler. We used it to drill the stay holes in the firebox. It must have had a reach of at least 35 feet! The boiler was turned over to do both sides and the crown stays. Hardly model engineering!

Andrew.

I hope he measured twice…

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