What Did You Do Today 2019

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Well, yesterday but I was too tired by the time I arrived home!

Not so much What Did You Do Today?, as How Stupid And Selfish Can People Be?

Retuning by Cross-Country Trains from Leeds to Bristol, our steady 90 – 100mph trip was interrupted in South Gloucestershire by a rapid slowing.

"For Bristol Parkway", I thought.

Then drawing to a stop, with the engines idling. "Signal", I assumed – until the last few tens of yards were accompanied by awful grinding noises from somewhere below. (I was near the front of the train.) I wondered if a brake lining had broken up.

We sat still for a while, with a fair amount of to-ing and fro-ing by the crew, and doors slamming somewhere fo'rrad.

The Guard apologised for the delay and explained we'd hit an armchair someone had placed right in the Four-Foot! He and the driver managed to remove it from under the train; but the delay was lengthened to nearly half an hour in all by our losing our planned Bristol PW and TM access to what should have been services following ours.

Just as well the driver had seen the obstruction far enough ahead to slow us to perhaps 10mph or so before hitting it.

I hope they catch the wilfully-useless scum responsible: they might live in the new-looking housing estate we'd stopped alongside, some miles N of Parkway Station.

'

Ironically, earlier in the trip a young man told me he'd been on one service that derailed, throwing him against an electrical panel that gave him a shock right across his chest (by induction I assume rather than contact) – pace-maker and all – whose circular scar he showed me. The cause was similar vandalism, a mattress placed on the line.

After our incident, a fellow passenger agreed with my hope that because such vandals are so stupid, that they'd boast about it on Facebook or similar… not realising they can be traced.

(BTW, I know its original thread was closed by straying well off-topic, but does anyone know if the wilfully-rubbish who destroyed that model-railway exhibition have been caught and at least charged, if not yet tried?)

'

On Tuesday afternoon, all services – DMU as well as EMU – around Leeds, Bradford and Skipton were disrupted for over an hour by balloons entangled in the overheads near Silsden. My own trip, Skipton to Horton-in-R, on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle route, was delayed by an hour though luckily that did not matter to me. (It would have been personally serious on the Up service that morning, when I was on my way to a funeral.)

That was probably due to some child losing helium-filled party balloons quite accidentally, but such and other problems with them does add weight to calls for the gas to be used only for serious purposes. It is a possibly-finite resource, and "used" or lost helium diffuses and floats irrecoverably to the Upper Atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Nigel: Thanks for that, no doubt you're correct. In the only picture I have of fullsize frost spikes they're so rusty it's impossible to tell how they were manufactured. You're also correct about quantities, I've made 36 and that's only for one engine.

It's not clear how the frost spikes and anchor bolts were held in place. A straight tapered key wouldn't fit properly if perpendicular to the axle due to the curvature of the wheel rim, and if parallel to the axle there wouldn't be room to fit it. In the picture referred to there is a partially hidden tapered key; so that's what I've gone for. It's designed, a 1:1 card model made to check the fit, and the next step is to make one from metal strip. which arrived yesterday..

Andrew

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Nigel Graham 2, I believe the little darlings have been caught but to date have not heard about them being up before the beak.

[Matthew EllisParticipant @matthewellis85598]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 18/07/2019 11:48:46:

That was probably due to some child losing helium-filled party balloons quite accidentally, but such and other problems with them does add weight to calls for the gas to be used only for serious purposes. It is a possibly-finite resource, and "used" or lost helium diffuses and floats irrecoverably to the Upper Atmosphere.

It's not just children – found a small fleet of said balloons lurking under trees in my garden this week. Wording on them: 'Happy 25th Anniversary'…

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Finished fitting a bolt I'd made for a pair of sliding doors I put in last month:-

The bolt's there so that the back livng room – generally Carol's art room – can be used as a bedroom without losing access to other parts of the house when a bunch of friends or relatives come visiting.

I 'spect I could've done it more easily, but this way just occurred to me.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Finished modifying the steady that came with my Harrison L5 lathe, so it actually fits the lathe! had to make a new clamp-plate and screw, entailing slotting the hole in the casting slightly so the screw-head would pass the upper parts of the steady.

This was my first use of the lathe itself in its new home, and with its new 3ph motor conversion (Newton-Tesla) and lots of thick oil in the gearbox. It runs far more quietly than it did with the hulking great, cabinet-mounted, 1ph motor and nearly-dry gearbox it used to have. Will have to watch the oil though as it does like to escape.

Cutting the clamp-screw's 1/2" X 16 BSF thread by single-point insert tool was even very satisfying – the machine is no spring chicken but heavy enough to give consistent results, in back-gear, over short, fairly shallow (0.040&quot threads. Still needed several spring-cuts to finish to depth but it nicely matches the tapped hole in the clamp, so I'm happy about that.

The gearing's low enough too , for the motor to run as it likes, at about 1000 – 1200 rpm.

One advantage of those insert tools is that the tip is aligned accurately w.r.t. the holder, and both are precision-made. This makes setting less fiddly than with a thread-gauge's V-notch, by using a square or the chuck face; over a larger reference area.

'

Just had a thought…. For some reason, being too accustomed to the Myford ML7 a few feet away perhaps, I took without verifying the L5 has an 1/8"-lead screw, so automatically counted the primary pinion (20T, not marked) so duly set up an idler and 40T wheels. And it worked. Yet a second look now makes me think 1/4" lead. Memories stir, about that gearbox on the feed-shaft and lead-screw. I will have to Read The Flippin' Manual, won't I? (Now there's a thing)….

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Editing an article…

Word takes exception to 'table top' underlining it in blue and offering the alternative 'tabletop'.

Fair enough.

Word takes exception to 'tabletop' underlining it in red and offering the alternative 'table top'.

B****r.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 20/07/2019 17:47:53

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Does it prefer bench top as I expect it knows only a few of us put the mill/lathe on the kitchen table

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Neil,

The Blue squiggly line is for a formatting error

Red = Spelling

Green = Grammar

https://word.tips.net/T003449_Getting_Rid_of_Blue_Squiggly_Underlines.html

MichaelG.

.

P.S. depending on the context, table-top might be appropriate.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/07/2019 17:34:40

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 20/07/2019 17:31:03:

Neil,

The Blue squiggly line is for a formatting error

Red = Spelling

Green = Grammar

**LINK**

MichaelG.

.

P.S. depending on the context, table-top might be appropriate.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/07/2019 17:34:40

Not here, blue is grammar, red is spelling.

<edit> Just spotted this at the top of the page you linked: " Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2002 and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Getting Rid of Blue Squiggly Underlines." That's sixteen years behind my version!

<another edit> His 'updated tip (2016)  is wrong as well, as pointed out in the comments below it.

 

Joining words, then offering a hyphenated alternative is fairly common in Word.

The recursive ones (I've edited my post to be correct) are much rarer and may depend on context.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 20/07/2019 17:56:26

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 20/07/2019 18:00:17

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

P.S. in this context 'table top' is probably correct as its about fitting a 'top' to a table. To me, the 'tabletop' is more appropriate for the place on top of the table.

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 20/07/2019 17:51:54:

Not here, blue is grammar, red is spelling.

[ … ] That's sixteen years behind my version!

.

So, presumably, Micro$soft doesn't do 'backward compatibility'

I'll leave you to it then

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

NEWSFLASH

I have just returned from the Hope Car Boot Sale [near Castleton]

Sorry, I didn't have my 'phone with me, so no photo …

A chap there has an original steam engine governor for sale [asking £75]

… stated to be from an industrial engine; late 1800s – early 1900s

It's mounted as a demonstration piece, and was owned by Kevin Allsop [recently deceased]

You may have seen it at an exhibition [?]

… I was tempted, but it's not really my thing.

MichaelG.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Spent today tidying my workshop, the wife gave me a hand, she is fanatical about tidyness, we are about half way through the workshop at present, it is taking on the aura of super tidy, problem is I doubt whether I shall be able to find anything now, not sure letting the wife into the workshop was a good idea. The garden has a growing pile of items destined for the dump, I am a hoarder so there is plenty more to join the pile, I never knew that I had so many half empty paint tins left over from previous decorating projects, be glad to see those go because I hate decorating with a passion, I decorate only under extreme pressure nowadays. Hopefully will finish the tidy up by tomorrow evening and can then get on with some modelling.

Dave W

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Samsaranda on 22/07/2019 17:30:29:

Spent today tidying my workshop, the wife gave me a hand, she is fanatical about tidyness, we are about half way through the workshop at present, it is taking on the aura of super tidy, problem is I doubt whether I shall be able to find anything now, not sure letting the wife into the workshop was a good idea. The garden has a growing pile of items destined for the dump, I am a hoarder so there is plenty more to join the pile, I never knew that I had so many half empty paint tins left over from previous decorating projects, be glad to see those go because I hate decorating with a passion, I decorate only under extreme pressure nowadays. Hopefully will finish the tidy up by tomorrow evening and can then get on with some modelling.

Dave W

Blimey. I think the only times my wife comes in my workshop are to:

• Ask me to fix something…
• Tell me to read the text a family me.ber has sent me…
• Remind me to clean out the cat's litter tray…

Neil

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Fitted a stop to one of the milling machine vices. it's a bit of 3/8" silver steel threaded into a tapped and counterbored hole (for a firm fit) in the key that locates the fixed jaw. That way, If I decide I've got it wrong, I just need to replace the key, not the vice! It's secured with a brass split cotter and seems to be nicely free from slop. It has allowed me to put consistend chamfers on the ends of a few lengths of oblong tube prior to TIGing endplates onto them:-

Also, got a cheap 24"x36" picture frame from The Range, to stop the drill speed chart decaying any mode from airborne crud in the shed. Used a tack-rag to clean a frightening amount of dust and muck from the poster before mounting it in the frame. Does anyone know of a current supplier of such charts?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Weather being as it was; we had a picnic meal by the water at the Pavillion Gardens in Buxton

Surprised to see most of this lot parked outside the Pavillion: **LINK**

https://online.handh.co.uk/m/view-auctions/catalog/id/117/?page=1

[ the DeLorean and a few others were safely locked inside the building ]

MichaelG.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Just added some photo's of the Scroll Clock. More in my Album.

regards Martin

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

MichaelG, interesting line up there, but I think there is a typo with the Ford Popular, I think it's more likely to be 1953/54, rather than 56, as after that the body changed to a more modern design with a boot, sort of a mini Zephyr.     Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 23/07/2019 15:18:49

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Neil, the three instances you quoted apply to me as well but unfortunately our second freezer lives in my workshop so the wife visits frequently and I am constantly nagged about my obsession with hoarding, she keeps tabs on me. Have suggested alternative locations for the freezer but it didn’t work although wife suggested another storage shed next to my workshop so if I make sure that there is power laid on perhaps the freezer could migrate.

Dave W

[DanielParticipant @daniel]

Posted by Samsaranda on 23/07/2019 20:00:19:

Neil, the three instances you quoted apply to me as well but unfortunately our second freezer lives in my workshop so the wife visits frequently and I am constantly nagged about my obsession with hoarding, she keeps tabs on me. Have suggested alternative locations for the freezer but it didn’t work although wife suggested another storage shed next to my workshop so if I make sure that there is power laid on perhaps the freezer could migrate.

Dave W

I've got the same problem

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

For some reason I am reminded of the old joke about how while I may be in my sixties I have the body of a 21 year old – but it takes up all the room in the freezer.

Sorry!

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

 

 

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 23/07/2019 22:15:17

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Your second post's just blank Nick. You did nowt on Tuesday beyond inspecting the freezer, or such a heavy machining task everything had vanished in a dense fog of suds vapour?

'

Me: steady but slow progress on making my steam-wagon's compound engine's crankshaft.

It started as a bit of scrap axle from a rebuilt narrow-gauge quarry-wagon, so of well-weathered Ferromysterium; definitely not of "Incisic Liberare " grade when milling the rusty round into shiny L-section. It ate most of my small slot-drills and end mills, and ensured that the sharpest of my few slitting-saws were soon not.

I don't think the milling-machine was too impressed, either, but cutting conditions should become easier.

I have no drawings for this thing, so the whole project has been dogged by design-and-cut, redesign-and-recut…. I bought TurboCAD knowing I still have to design the machine, but CAD would facilitate drawing it; and TurboCAD usefully allows direct orthographic without needing that prior 3D rigmarole I find impossible anyway! However, though the crankshaft's CAD drawing gives all the dimensions, I had not established its "way-up".

So first task this morning, searching my library to see which leads, by 90º: HP or LP crank.

The books revealed no definite answer; so I worked it out by covering the blank back of a caving-club document (paperwork has its uses), with hieroglyphs alleging piston-travel, steam flow and crank-pin positions for forward running.

The answer? LP leads. I hope. I am not sure if it actually matters, but I was thinking of one side pushing while the other pulls, as it were.

I don't need re-draw, just hand-annotate the print. Then mark-out and cut the blank being very aware that the shaft is not symmetrical, and which side of each cut is the waste. I may finish the blank to size, then prior to marking-out, de-grease and paint the ends green or red – starboard or port – designating HP (offside & flywheel) or LP (nearside & transmission).

Incidentally, I have found spray-can primer and pencil good for basic marking-out on hot-rolled (and for me, often very rustily " pre-loved &quot steel.

[Author]

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