What Did You Do Today 2019

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looking good Andrew, shanks are thicker than I would have though and quite a bit more than what my Fowler would scale up to at 1/4" dia for a 4" engine.

Will you use the CNC for the slots as that would save a lot of handle winding?

[Anonymous]

Posted by JasonB on 28/06/2019 12:08:06:

…………shanks are thicker than I would have though…………

The shank diameter was scaled from a Burrell drawing in the book by Gilbert, showing an anchor bolt with a shank diameter of 1-1/8".

The current plan is to drill and mill the slots on the CNC mill and then square up the ends with a keyway broach. The 1/8" keyway broach in my set from Shars has a body that is a few thou wider than 1/8". I don't really want to modify it as it will then be a loose fit on the guides. The 1/8" broach from RDG looks like it is plain parallel, so I intend to buy one, fingers crossed. If the body does turn out to be wider I'll "adjust" it on the surface grinder.

Andrew

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Modified the compound slide lock on my WM250V-F …

Started collecting material for my next project … Single cylinder balance beam engine from a design by Gerry Dykstra,Holland.

George.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

I like the slide lock George. I'll be making one of them soon.

Jim

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Well, not today, exactly.

On Tuesday, I ordered a FEMI SN 105XL. regular readers will recall I blew up my Lidl chop grinder thing and all of you said, 'Buy a Femi'. So I did.

I wasn't sure about timing, but the joy of me being employed again (and apparently only working 2/3rds the hours for the same pay) softened the good lady to the point where she agreed that it was a good 'new job' present!

Not only that, she's also given the nod to a small shed for the recycling. You would not BELIEVE how much plastic and card waste (I blame Amazon for the second part) we amass in a couple of weeks and, of course, it needs to live in MY shed! I'm forced to take it to the tip when I can no longer stand in front of my machines .

But now!!! Well, soon. I've also finally cleared out my book store (they're all scanned now!) and have moved some of the shed storage into there. So at the moment, there is NOTHING under my main bench. Thinking of putting some shelving in for the new saw and the next unnecessary, expensive and bulky purchase.

But that won't be for a while. You need to manage your favours wisely…

The saw was interesting. The first thing I notices was that the instruction book is largely cartoons. Personally, I read rather than watch so I didn't find this helpful. Moreover, I'd foolishly watched you tube videos on Femi Saws and thought the belt tensions had a 'clack' when the tension was right. Apparently not with this one.

So my first attempt at a cut was a mess. I'd tightened it up as far as my feeble muscles would allow with no clack and set off on my first cut. it produced black swarf. Odd for mild steel.

A bit of investigation showed that the blade had moved forward and cut into the inside of the back cover (black paint and a bit of mild steel).

Stakesys were very helpful and kindly didn't point out I was an idiot. Apparently, you have to adjust the tension by 'feel' – something the cartoon drawers clearly had a challenge on finding the right emojis for.

But my first real cut was a 50mm mild steel bar. It was quiet compared to the chop grinder. No sparks. No ridiculous amounts of grit in my lungs and eyes. The first cut was a bit slow – apparently you need to run the thing (blade?) in.

next cuts were 25mm aluminium and knife and butter spring to mind. Then a cut 1mm further in – a nice thin slice of metal.

The finish is a good deal better than I get from my mill and I suspect it squarer as well (in defence, the CMD10 is not the most precise machine in the world and nor is it's handle turner).

So I'm looking forward to my first real uses of the saw and of dreaming which once-a-year machinery I can now buy and store in the void which is now under my bench!

Iain

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I think I over-did things a bit yesterday, with some garden trimming as well half-sitting, half-standing at the lathe, so took things a bit gentler today.

So, after a slow morning, a very satisfactory hour screw-cutting the 3/8" BSB thread on the end of the cam-shaft on the Worden tool-grinder. It took a lot of patient tickling of both threads, both 1/1/4 " long, to make them work together satisfactorily, but that's another step forwards. And I didn't use a die! The tool was an insert type, bought from JB.

It took me a while to find the thread depth. The Brass Thread series isn't in my model-engineering references, but luckily I found the very close Cycle Thread series in a set of very old professional engineers' data-sheets I'd inherited from Dad. (BSB: 55º; BSC 60º, and fine enough at 26tpi for negligible depth difference.)

(Hemingway do like a variety of metric and Imperial measurements and threads on their kit plans, spiced with mixing vulgar and decimal fractions. One drawing instructs you to reduce two M5 X 25mm grub-screws to something-thirtytooths-inch long each, and turn a spigot on one of them, 4mm dia X some-bits-of-inches. It would have been more to the point to quote all of the inch-dimensions in decimals, since almost all of the work is turning and milling.)

'

Rewarded myself with dinner in my local pub. Massive serving – fish, chips (fried spud wedges rather than chip-shaped chips) plus peas and salad. I'm afraid the chips defeated me but I ate all the greens so decided I could still have ice-cream for pudding. Browsed the latest copy of ME while waiting for that lot to settle, helped by a pint of RNLI Ale, brewed specially to celebrate Weymouth Lifeboat Station's centenary.. by Marstons, in Burton-on-Trent, about as far from the sea as you can be in England!

'

That was me wrecked for the afternoon apart from another session of gentle physiotherapy exercises, but I managed another hour or so in the evening starting on another two grinder components. I don't know what that "pre-loved" steel presently in the lathe actually is, but EN1A leaded, it certainly isn't!

Setting up the steady on it was problematical. This too was pre-loved, so loved it has lost two of its original screws and one of its original nuts. Which all adds to the frustrating confection of other nut sizes on this Myford 7's accessories; like the bought-new rear tool-post's ISO-M main stud and Whitworth T-bolt nuts. Then I had to reverse the fingers to fit over that billet, meaning some judicious filing of the back end and slot on one of them so it would retract sufficiently. The non-original fittings on the other two allowed straight reversal!

'

Also found help to solve a strange TurboCAD problem that had had me on the verge of giving up CAD for ever. I'd unknowingly switched off one of the many obscure and unintuitive controls that infest the programme.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Almost finished the overhaul of the Royal 10" shaper. Ways re-aligned and re-scraped, yoke pivot pin re-made, cleaned up. Just waiting for some BSF screws and nuts to replace missing ones and to replace the T&E mains cable that it came with.

It doesn't rattle when the ram changes direction any more!

The plan was to put it on Adam Stevenson's site because I desperately need the space and have a mill and slotting head, but I'm almost tempted to keep it now.

I bear no responsibility for the paint job though…

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

The long table for my mini mill/drill arrived today. Now fitted and adjusted. I used new hex headed gib screws instead of the existing slotted ones. I find them easier to adjust.

I'm not sure what to do with the old table. I did think about using it as a new cross slide on the lathe, but that could be problematical. I've temporarily fitted it to my home brew tool grinder to see if it's usable there.

edited for spelling (i have a dyslexic keyboard)

Edited By Anthony Knights on 02/07/2019 22:15:16

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Posted by Mark Rand on 02/07/2019 21:02:33:

Almost finished the overhaul of the Royal 10" shaper. Ways re-aligned and re-scraped, yoke pivot pin re-made, cleaned up. Just waiting for some BSF screws and nuts to replace missing ones and to replace the T&E mains cable that it came with.

It doesn't rattle when the ram changes direction any more!

The plan was to put it on Adam Stevenson's site because I desperately need the space and have a mill and slotting head, but I'm almost tempted to keep it now.

I bear no responsibility for the paint job though…

Mark, noooooooooo.

If you don't need the money, you'll find the space.

That is one of the later Royal (Alba/Elliot) shapers with the box table front support.

Think of cheap gear cutting, splines and marvelous finishes.

Sell the slotting head…….

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Hi All,

Today (& yesterday!) I got stuck into the old rusty telescope mount that i got last week:

Managed to get it apart with no damage and now it looks like this:

Ther is one sheared off screw and it looks to me like it is missing a couple of hand wheels for adjusting the worm gears. Anyone got an idea of how big a diameter these should be as there is quite a bit of friction in the gears?

Quite a fun little project to do while sitting under a brolly in the sun!

As you may tell from the colour it is for a MYFORD telescope!

Cheers, Martin

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Looks good!

I am not an expert on telescope mounting but worm-drives like that, too low-angled to reverse under load, should operate silkily-smoothly without much effort and very little actual friction in them, the bearings and when released, in those spindle locks.

Assuming the bearings and locks are all up to scratch, and everything clean and lightly oiled; heavy friction suggests to me the worms are very slightly too deeply meshed. You might find a thou' or two relaxation in the way the bearings are fitted to the frame though. They appear not to have very positive locations, e.g. sliding in rebates on the frame; but rely simply on 4 chees-head screws. The two lugs holding the elevation worm particularly, look a bit out-of-place with the rest of the mount, as if replacements made by a previous owner, and not too accurately.

Short of someone giving more definite information, perhaps by comparing with another mount of similar size, I'd suggest completing the overhaul of what's there, fitting the telescope or an equivalent dummy load, then experimenting with a temporary handle to ascertain a suitable radius before make ones that do the rest justice.

I'd think hand-wheels or cranked handles, possibly no more than about 2" radius.

The limit looks anyway as if set by clearances between the handles and other parts of the frame.

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Nigel, The worm gears turn smoothly when operated with a small mole grip on the spindle to use as a handle and feel good with no binding or rough spots so the engineering is not too far out. There are no bearing in the supports which I found a bit odd.

I should add that I have no interest in using this item, I have just cleaned it up to move it on.I may make a coiuple of hand wheels though?

Cheers, Martin

[Richard –Participant @richard-3]

Cut an S20x2 internal buttress thread for a new drawbar for the George Alexander (Deckel) feeling pleased with myself!!!

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Recovering from Kidney stent removal on Tuesday; managed to mow front & back grass ( Lawn … ) with help of SWMBO, grand lass she is. Received package containing assorted size 2 / 2.5 / 3mm cheese hd / socket hd set screws to 99 % finalise material collection ( & stock up ) for next project, still need to find / make 8 spoked flywheel, looked on 't'internet' but only seem to find 4 spoked ones … any one know of a supplier that has 8 spoked fly wheels? 3" od x 1/2" width, or 75 x 12mm ?

George.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by mechman48 on 03/07/2019 18:53:58:

any one know of a supplier that has 8 spoked fly wheels? 3" od x 1/2" width, or 75 x 12mm ?

George.

 

 

If you are able to compromise on 6 spoke I think that is a standard Stuart Models size. RDG also do a 6 spoke one pretty close to your requirements.

pleased to hear that your health is improving.

V8.

Edited By V8Eng on 03/07/2019 20:19:49

Edited By V8Eng on 03/07/2019 20:23:09

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Martin. I like your telescope mount. I could do with borrowing that for a couple of hours to measure it up 😉😉

Brian

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Martin King 2 on 03/07/2019 11:07:34:

Hi All,

Today (& yesterday!) I got stuck into the old rusty telescope mount that i got last week:

Managed to get it apart with no damage and now it looks like this:

Ther is one sheared off screw and it looks to me like it is missing a couple of hand wheels for adjusting the worm gears. Anyone got an idea of how big a diameter these should be as there is quite a bit of friction in the gears?

Quite a fun little project to do while sitting under a brolly in the sun!

As you may tell from the colour it is for a MYFORD telescope!

Cheers, Martin

Hi Martin – have the gears turned out to be brass? If so, that's a big plus.

The knobs would normally be turned by flexible drives (spring in a plastic tube) about 8-10" long with knobs about 1 1/2" diameter on the end. This is to stop your hands shaking the mount.

Brian, if you make one, consider using bearings, ideally taper roller for the main axes, but also ordinary races for the worms.

Neil

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Boiler Bri, sorry, now listed.

Martin

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

V8 thanks for the heads up re flywheel, may well go down that route.

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 03/07/2019 22:52:24

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Posted by thaiguzzi on 03/07/2019 05:30:00:

Posted by Mark Rand on 02/07/2019 21:02:33:h…

Mark, noooooooooo.

If you don't need the money, you'll find the space.

That is one of the later Royal (Alba/Elliot) shapers with the box table front support.

Think of cheap gear cutting, splines and marvelous finishes.

Sell the slotting head…….

 

Unfortunately I really do need the space! That's why I've overhauled it to the point that I wouldn't be ashamed to pass it on to someone else (Unlike the nice chap that sold me the low use ex-college machine, with busted teeth on the feed gears and much slop in everything that moved…).The shaper has done me proud in the 15 or more years I've had it. It stood in for a power hacksaw before I got a bandsaw:-

 

I also cut the 14 tooth 20°PA 22DP stub-form pinion for my Hardinge HLV on it because The gear cutters that I used to replace all the apron gears were 14.5° PA!

 

 

Edited By Mark Rand on 03/07/2019 23:01:08

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Yesterday a great disappointment arrived in my inbox. It was a VAT free code for Clarke Tools.

I imagine you re-reading that sentence, thinking me mad. In fact I'd been looking forward to this, having decided my birthday present would be a Clarke MIG welder, but a want and not an immediate need. So I'd decided to wait until a VAT free offer came along and so save 20% (which for one of the bigger domestic Clarke's, is quite a lot).

Still puzzled? Well, it happens that last week, I talk SWMBO into letting me buy a Femi bandsaw instead.

Having just spent £300 quid on one of these beasties (which seems very nice, thank-you), I would not dare to even hint at the potential savings the VAT free voucher would give.

So if any of you would like to buy a welder (or anything else Clarke) at 20% off, drop me an IM and the first past the post can have the voucher code.

And I will hope that the next VAT free voucher comes at a suitable time – long enough for Madam to have grown complacent and not too far in the future that I get too frustrated.

Iain

[Anonymous]

Cut the lawns front and back this morning. Finished just gone 11am and by 1pm it was raining. Fortunately the light rain has now stopped so the pizzas and drinkies do at the neighbours this evening is on, and outside.

This afternoon I tweaked the CAD model, and created a CAM file, to cut the 1/8" by 3/8" slots in the anchor bolts for the traction engines. Having cut one I updated the CAD and CAM as I didn't think the slot was in quite the right place. The machining used two stages. First stage used a carbide 3mm drill to create 3 holes to remove most of the material, time about 6 seconds:

And then a carbide 3-flute slot drill to pocket out and profile, time about 2 minutes:

I've machined four slots this afternoon on spare bolts. Now I'm happy I can machine the 18 proper bolts and then tweak the program for the 36 frost spikes; same size slot but in a different position.

The slot is reasonably accurate, a 0.125" slip gauge will go in top and bottom but a 0.126" slip gauge will just fit in the top but not the bottom.

Once all the bolts and spikes are done I need to slightly thin my 1/8" keyway broach and make some shims to create square ends to the slots.

Andrew

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Been to Duncombe Park steam rally today; nice hot day. bought some drills that i thought I needed, found out that I already have these sizes, ho hum now have some more . Got some small PB bushings to add to my stock & a magnetic tray for £4, not a bad price, was looking for 6mm dia inserts & spare DCMT tips 060402 but the guy /I could only find 070402, heaps of broken/worn tips so had to be careful sifting through. A couple of pics of cars & bikes

My first motor bike…

Beautiful converted Moggie…

Stuart #1 iirc…

Twin paddle steamer engine…

Triple expansion engine…

George.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

What the hell is wrong with this site's logging procedure? It keep throwing me back to previous posts, other sections, ,all sorts?

I reached here only after brutally closing the browser itself (BTcom) and starting again.

'

Anyway,. today…

A little light garden trimming – I'm nor fit enough yet to risk pushing the mower around the, umm, lawn. Moved a few pebbles on the "beach" forming one end of the pond so some tadpoles behind them would not become stranded as the water slowly drops.

More work on the Worden Tool-grinder this afternoon. I'm trying to plan operations to minimise repeated machine-setting, so at the moment am concentrating on the turning to leave all the milling on the second-operation parts until I am ready to mill all the rectangle-based bits.

Remembered I had bought an ER32 collet set for the Myford, partly to use with that lathe's chucks on the rotary-table.

Now, wouldn't you think factory making a collet-chuck and its spindle-nose adaptor, and heat-sealing them in respective halves of a thick-walled polythene bag, would ensure the registers match?

No doubt when made in Beeston they would match to within very tiddly bits of thous. These didn't. Oh my word no!

Unfortunately I'd bought these quite a while ago, I can't remember if at the trade-stand or mail-order, nor from whom. Possibly not the present incarnation of Myford, though possibly from the same People's Glorious Capstan-lathe. So returning them was not possible.

Luckily the male register was the oversize one – by TWO WHOLE MILLIMETRES – and on the spindle fitting. Had it been the other way round I'd have had no choice but to ring Myford to order the appropriate replacement, and stress the diameter needed.

Fortunately too, once it was on the lathe I could detect no appreciable run-out, and though the bush had a ground finish (albeit only to look pretty), nor was it hardened. With utmost care and using the finest self-acting feed and several spring-cuts with a sharp HSS tool, on a lathe whose parallelism, rigidity and feed-smoothness depend as much on the Auguries rising in Orion as they do on my Leo's chosen constellation, I succeeded in what should never have been necessary.

I half expected the holes for the three cap-head screws holding the two parts together, to be on different PCDs, but no, they weren't.

++

This isn't the first fun I have had with modern-day Myford-labelled accessories.

I was able to replace a new lead-screw hand-wheel that just would not fit – the driving slot was visibly so far off-centre it was obvious the factory had made no attempt to machine it properly. The register on the nose-piece I have for rotary-table work is rather too tight, too, but that's better than loose. Nor does it have even a plain hole down its axis.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 06/07/2019 21:44:18:

…..

Anyway,. today…

A little light garden trimming – I'm nor fit enough yet to risk pushing the mower around the, umm, lawn. Moved a few pebbles on the "beach" forming one end of the pond so some tadpoles behind them would not become stranded as the water slowly drops.

More work on the Worden Tool-grinder this afternoon. I'm trying to plan operations to minimise repeated machine-setting, so at the moment am concentrating on the turning to leave all the milling on the second-operation parts until I am ready to

Remembered I had bought an ER32 collet set for the Myford, partly to use with that lathe's chucks on the rotary-table.

Now, wouldn't you think factory making a collet-chuck and its spindle-nose adaptor, and heat-sealing them in respective halves of a thick-walled polythene bag, would ensure the registers match?

No doubt when made in Beeston they would match to within very tiddly bits of thous. These didn't. Oh my word no!

Unfortunately I'd bought these quite a while ago, I can't remember if at the trade-stand or mail-order, nor from whom. Possibly not the present incarnation of Myford, though possibly from the same People's Glorious Capstan-lathe. So returning them was not possible.

Luckily the male register was the oversize one – by TWO WHOLE MILLIMETRES – and on the spindle fitting. Had it been the other way round I'd have had no choice but to ring Myford to order the appropriate replacement, and stress the diameter needed.

Fortunately too, once it was on the lathe I could detect no appreciable run-out, and though the bush had a ground finish (albeit only to look pretty), nor was it hardened. With utmost care and using the finest self-acting feed and several spring-cuts with a sharp HSS tool, on a lathe whose parallelism, rigidity and feed-smoothness depend as much on the Auguries rising in Orion as they do on my Leo's chosen constellation, I succeeded in what should never have been necessary.

I half expected the holes for the three cap-head screws holding the two parts together, to be on different PCDs, but no, they weren't.

++

This isn't the first fun I have had with modern-day Myford-labelled accessories.

I was able to replace a new lead-screw hand-wheel that just would not fit – the driving slot was visibly so far off-centre it was obvious the factory had made no attempt to machine it properly. The register on the nose-piece I have for rotary-table work is rather too tight, too, but that's better than loose. Nor does it have even a plain hole down its axis.

Nigel, that's exactly how they are intended. They are supplied oversize so you can turn the register for concentricity on your lathe. The same with the er40 one I bought from the old Myford with instructions.

[Author]

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