What Did You Do Today 2019

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Oh, I never thought of that, John!

I beg their pardon!

The two parts came heat-sealed together, with no suggestion of machining to finish, and a 2mm diameter discrepancy is larger than I'd have expected. I know that's normal practice for a chuck back-plate but they are normally sold individually.

Mind you, my opinion was a bit couloured by the experience with that hand-wheel.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Today, the plan was to build a shed for my shed.

As you all know, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a shed is defined as, 'An enclosure in which your wife insists you keep the things she will not have in the house'.

That's all very well, but what happens when you don't want them either? In my case gardening equipment (we don't have a garden), paint and bits of wood, but most particularly recycling. No the council doesn't collect it. And I'm torn between pride that we recycle so much and shame that we have some much packaged stuff. I blame Amazon, personally.

Well, the obvious solution is to give your shed a shed so that the rubbish flows downhill.

This is my shed

It's quite full. Even after several attempts at re-organisation.

And this is the shed's shed.

This was going swimmingly until I came to spray the back, before pushing it back into place. I discovered two things about cheap fence sprayers. Firstly, they are not very accurate and the spray gets everywhere.

Secondly, if the delivery tube isn't as securely fastened as you thought and it comes off under pressure, it makes ONE HELL of a mess.

ALL over our wall. ALL over our neighbours wall! They were quite understanding as I scrubbed the mess off, but I'm relieved that their Mercedes sports car was not in its usual place when the accident occurred. There's only so much you can forgive!

Still got to finish off painting, but I feel there might be a brush with my name on it.

Iain

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Ouch!

Did nothing except sit in the garden, it was too hot to go into the workshop.

bri

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

 

Took a break this afternoon from a sweaty workshop and the fiddle of milling 1/8” steam ports. Logged on to a website that offers five free ebooks a month and selected “engineering” as my category and was offered this book authored by one Gints Jekabsons :

"Adaptive Basis Function Construction:An Approach for Adaptive Building of Sparse Polynomial Regression Models"

…………and wondered if they had steam ports as well. Then it dawned on me —- hot air engines don’t have steam ports…doh!

Edited By Rik Shaw on 08/07/2019 17:15:47

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Today I finished my latest project, woodwork not engineering, it is a top bar style beehive. Have wanted to keep bees for years and thought not getting any younger so I took the plunge and built a hive. The objective is not to produce maximum honey but to sustainably keep bees and take only minimal amounts of honey that the hive can afford to lose. Haven’t any bees yet but am hoping to attract a free flying swarm, have sprayed the hive with attractant so will just have to wait and see, probably a bit late in the season for a random swarm. Need to clear up the workshop now it’s amazing how much timber offcuts accumulate and fill whatever space is available, got into trouble because the kitchen sink wouldn’t drain very well after I had been melting beeswax in the kitchen, you can never win can you.

Dave W

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

have you seen any other hives within a few hundred yards? – also some strains are more vicious than others and it may well be worthwhile asking a local bee keeper if they can find you a fairly easy going strain.

Edited By Frances IoM on 08/07/2019 19:28:08

Edited By Frances IoM on 08/07/2019 19:28:46

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Had thought about seeking some bees from an established beekeeper, I am looking to join a local beekeeping club, should get me on the right track then. Point taken about bees of unknown origin could be vicious, not the way to start out on a new hobby by being stung to death.

Dave W

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

Dave – A local society might have a society honey extractor otherwise can be expensive (I used a friend’s for my single hive which could be extremely productive as the local park was in easy flight distance) – also are you fully equipped with necessary clothing + also the required anti mite treatment etc
I briefly kept bees but found they needed almost constant presence when the signs of swarming were seen – otherwise a swarm will not amuse neighbours especially if they are worried about children – you may well need help to handle a swarm that has decided to settle in an awkward to reach place. My hive was in a centre of town garden but high fences and a shed/aviary formed my neighbours boundaries hence the bee-lines were well above 6 ft until one neighbour removed the aviary and the bee-line lowered after which complaints!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Iain Downs on 07/07/2019 19:39:27:

T

Secondly, if the delivery tube isn't as securely fastened as you thought and it comes off under pressure, it makes ONE HELL of a mess.

Thank you for cheering me up Iain!

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Samsaranda on 08/07/2019 20:24:00:

Had thought about seeking some bees from an established beekeeper, I am looking to join a local beekeeping club, should get me on the right track then. Point taken about bees of unknown origin could be vicious, not the way to start out on a new hobby by being stung to death.

Dave W

I've come across two mellow swarms recently. One a few weeks ago in my brother's garden I was able to photograph close up, one on saturday, we went to a cafe, came back and had to walk through air literally thick with bees to get in the car!

By coincidence, on sunday we met a pair of beekepers!

Neil

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Neil I fear Staffordshire is a bit too far for me to go searching out swarms, I live in East Sussex and at the moment there appears to be a lack of swarms, always the way isn’t it.

Dave W

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

My wife who is disabled loves to garden, the bits that she can manage anyway and has her own shed which is attached to the end of my workshop; she had been complaining that it was very cluttered and needed sorting out so I decided to tackle it this morning. Has made a considerable difference, you can now walk in and virtually hold a dance in there, she is well pleased, I visited the local dump this afternoon and disposed of a fair amount of the contents from her shed, so all going well, unfortunately she found some items in her shed which she deemed belonged in my workshop so they have now been transferred and my workshop which was already overflowing is now even more crowded, the resolution will have to be a radical sort out in the workshop, if the truth be known I am a bit of a hoarder so it is probably well overdue, I can’t put it off much longer I will have to take the bull by the horns.

Dave W

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

Sneak it back into her shed when she is not looking

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

The danger is that you will dispose of items and then a week later realise that you shouldn't have got rid of it. Don't ask how I know!

Brian

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Modeng 2000, I tried that once before, took a while for the scars to heal. Seriously I really need to sort my workshop and find proper storage for my tools, it’s getting in dire need of “sorting”.

Brian, it happens every time I have a clear out, you have to see my workshop to realise how much I accumulate (hoard), clear outs generate volumes of stuff that I take to the recycling facility.

Dave W

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Too much stuff, too little room…. I know the feeling!

Toady? Oh, cracked on with making the turned parts for the Worden Tool-Grinder.

"Fine knurl" it says on some, but my clamp-type knurling-tool is too small. Never mind, on these larger diameters I prefer scalloped to knurled surfaces, though more work to produce.

One part has an inch of 4otpi thread on it. Wanting this to be good fit (well, less wobbly) on the mating part I screw-cut it. Oh what a palaver!

You'd think cutting a 40tpi Model-Engineering Standard thread on a Myford 7, would be easy to set up. In standard trim, it would be! The change-wheel chart fitted inside the cover lathe assumes a 30T driver, and my lathe has a 20T.

It took me a good hour to find a wheel combination that would both give the ratio, AND fit the frame, which must be one of the flddliest bits of model-engineering equipment I've encountered. You need three hands with fingers like a Daddy-Long-Legs' limbs to manipulate that lot in full compound mode.

I must remember to write down the eventual combination for future reference…

Anyway, all done, then for rest (after a brew!) I examined the fixed steady that came with my Harrison L5 lathe, to see if I can adapt it to fit. There is no maker's name on it, and it's very scruffy, so it's not really saleable, even if I could find a proper Harrison steady to replace it.

'

Next task… have a look at the Myford web-site to see if it lists a 25+30T cluster gear. It looks as if the pinion on my example can be changed, but it's so tight I am not convinced and I am not going to risk breaking it.

Incidentally, needing to know the thread depth, I had to look beyond my various model-engineering books, which seem to omit such details. I found the answer in my copy of the Newnes Complete Engineer – Data Sheets, given to me by a capstan-lathe turner at work over 30 years ago.

These sheets, in a book-type double folder, were published for professional engineering designers, machinists and fitters in 19-summat but long enough ago, to include overhead line-shaft proportions and that most up-to-date of production machines, the Ward 2A Capstan-lathe.

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

hi All,

Today I completed my first attempt at cladding (or is it cleading) a cylinder casting.

I set the casting up on an arbor and milled a small 1mm step on the inside of both flanges. The hardwood rings which are jb welded to the waist of the cylinder were leveled to the same height in the rotary table arrangement in photo 1.

The oak strips were cut with my new slitting saw and arbor from ARC

All strips super glued in place with the 6mm brass straps secured with 8 ba screws.

Just need to apply a sealing finish to the oak. I thought perhaps briwax applied with wire wool.

Geoff

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Making arbors for slitting saws seems to be topic of the month, looking at other forum posts. I need one for making some clevices for my tender, so this is what I have made. The hole through the end of the shank serves no purpose: it was pre-existing on the bar in my scrap box. I also made a 1 mm thick washer to avoid the corner radius on the cap, allowing the cutter to seat correctly.

It runs true in my ER chuck, but this is not important. The manufacturer of my slitting saw did not bother to put the hole in the centre and it runs like a single-point cutter…

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

Nice bit of woodwork George.

Cladding cylinders in wood where appropriate adds a lot to a model for me.

Jim

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

" Just need to apply a sealing finish to the oak. I thought perhaps briwax applied with wire wool. "

I'm no expert, but I know oak stains iron, so is there a danger of bits of your wire wool discolouring that very nicely done cladding? Hopefully someone with more experience of it can confirm or refute my fears.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

George I would use a grey Scotchbrite pad to put on the wax as you can leave bits of wire wool in the grain which will rust or stain the oak black especially if you are going to use steam as Rb pointe dout.

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

Hi

Thanks for the tips gents, wire wool probably a bad idea, glad I asked..

Scotchbrite sounds good, I'll go down that route.

By the way, who's George?

Geoff

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Made a titanium key ring today. Two cylinders that slide together, strong magnets in each so they pull apart, one clipped to belt and one to keys. Not for use in the workshop lol. Mick

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

George?? Just between youand me, it's you Geoff.

Jim

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Had a rest from the Worden tool-grinder parts; finished mowing the lawn ( a bit at a time over a few days while my knee is still a bit weak); started examining how to modify the fixed steady that came with the Harrison lathe, actually fit the lathe!

No maker's name on it I've no idea of its origins, but careful measuring showed it has the right centre-height and is about the right base width, if I can alter the shallow V-notch in it to fit the Vee on the lathe.

Now how to align a highly-irregular casting on the milling-machine. The only machined mounting face is that which contacts the lathe bed, so I need to align it with the V-notch and base surface so once modified the fitting will stlll be perpendicular to the lathe axis….

First job then, make some mild-steel cylindrical squares that clamp directly to the milling-machine table; one to align the V-notch, the other or an angle-plate for the flat area of the base. Then I can machine the fettled-casting surface of the normally-vertical face for bolting to an angle-box for milling the new notch.

Parted off the first of one pair of cylindrical squares, 1.35" dia as closely parallel as I could manage (about 0.001" over 1.6&quot. It was a struggle!

I no longer have any faith in carbide parting-tool inserts – at about £5 each and not lasting 5 minutes let alone the 20 typically claimed in their manufacturers' catalogues for ploughing half an acre of anything from lead to the most exotic of un-machineable alloys. Then could just not get it right with an HSS parting-blade. Sometimes they work fine, but at other times…. There must be a secret to them I've not yet found, though their disproportionately large side overhang from the rear tool-post hardly helps.

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