What Did You Do Today 2026

[paul1956Participant @paul1956]

It’s so much easier to read.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

One Thing After Another, sort of day.

Trying to service that loco (photos a bit further back) I decided since I was struggling to put it in a hydraulically-serviceable state I’d take it to the club (rare for me on a Saturday) for advice.

The upshot was the loco in even more bits: superheater back out, regulator out now as I was concerned about its mounting – rightly as it showed.

Also valves that had more or less behaved were discharging water. I’d removed the injector to reveal which of two possible ones were not closing. Perhaps they had taken in debris from all the attention to the boiler.

Beautiful Summer day this Autumn: put the loco back in the car and went to help another member replacing decayed wooden sleepers on our ground-level track with “recycled” plastic ones; a long-term project indeed.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Long ramble, feel free to ignore, but I’m happy because I’m doing things!

 

I’ve been getting back into the shed after a long hiatus. Taking a few days to finish off a radius turning attachment that I’d been procrastinating about. It wasn’t perfect, I’d made a couple of mistakes, I was put off by starting again from scratch…

I’ve taken the Sir John (RIP) approach:- It’s good enough, just get on with it!

That lead to engraving the dial on its feedscrew. Made a jig to hold the screw in the rotab on the engraver.

Realised that I’d only got one or two T nuts or bolts for the engraver and I needed at least Eight.

Made six T bolts and then the carriage drive motor controller on the lathe died.

Did the last two T bolts turning the wheel by hand, wearing a woolly jumper and gloves to protect me from Blue-hot EN8 chips in the roughing from 3/4″ sq to 3/8″ round passes.

Ordered a (better, I hope) DC motor controller from Inverter Drive Supermarket on Monday, for delivery on Tuesday. Courier said they hadn’t received the parcel on Wednesday morning, so I queried it. Apparently it went to a customer in Lancashire, not me in Warwickshire. ETA now on Friday. 🙂

I still need the lathe for one more bit and was waiting to get the carriage drive working again. So, to fill my time, I dug out the end mill grinding jig that I’d struggled with and given up on and had another go. Took several hours yesterday afternoon to do a less than perfect job on a wrecked 16mm slot drill. Spent a couple of hours this afternoon getting a far better result on a 16mm 4 flute cutter. Now I know what to do on the first one.

Need to dress a wheel for gashing the cutters and speed up the overall process (stop poncing around with tiny cuts, just make the wheel work!). Then I might get all of my collection of second-hand cutters done before Christmas. 😀

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Came across an almost finished Stuart horizontal 10 in pieces. From around 40 years ago. I also found the jaws for a toolmakers clamp that I made 60 years ago. So yesterday I made the remaining bits for the clamp and got out the knurling tool and the job is now finished at long last. I am now finishing the last few jobs on the Stuart, but that is only 40 years since I last touched it.

Better late than never!

Andrew.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I wonder how many more of us have unfinished projects lurking???

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I certainly have, Bernard!

Finishing a ‘Stent’ Tool & Cutter Grinder,

Re-commissioning a Denbigh H4 horizontal milling machine,

Finishing A Hemingway Kits slotting attachment,

Doing Something Useful to/with a Taylor, Taylor Hobson engraving machine,

Striving to complete my magnum opus, a 4″-scale steam-wagon from no drawings,

 

Oh, and after tea…

 

Today: continuing overhauling the regulator on my 7¼” g. version of LBSC’s Juliet design.

This was originally the club’s portable-track work-horse, a joint effort by members in the 1970s; freely adapted from Curly’s original freelance, and freely modified / repaired / done things to over the decades since.

The basic design of the regulator is fine but having been made for the original steel boiler, it was hardly adapted to suit the replacement, the last one made by Reg Chambers. It was fitted and untouched since.  So I’m giving it an overhaul and making a couple of changes to improve its mounting and ease its removal and fitting.

Unexpectedly it seems to have a pilot-valve setting, but you’d not notice it when driving. The regulator is the common sort: a disc with two drilled ports rotating over two in the valve face. On this though one hole in the rotor has a very small hole alongside it, meeting the stator port first. I’m not sure why that was done.

[Dave SParticipant @daves59043]

Unfinished projects are I feel the norm for most of us. They get put down when you need a thing, then go off to make the thing – get distracted by a new way to do something related, but tangential.

Then 4 4 or 5 side quests later you start a new thing completely, have to move the original project a bit and realise that it needs to progress…

I saw a slogan somewhere: I was put on this earth to do a certain number of projects, Im currently so far behind Ill never die…

 

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Sat in a windy garden watching my Christmas tree cones explode and send their seed far and wide, the tree is 45 years old and nearly the same height of the house.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I was nowhere near my workshop all day but was able to collect some Beech seeds to see if I can persuade them to become baby trees.

I tried Horse-chestnuts from the Midland Showground a few years ago but without success. I potted some acorns last year. They vanished but I don’t know if they had died and decomposed, or if a mouse had found them.

 

Oh – and I omitted one from my unfinished list: restoring the EW lathe that had been my 18th birthday present. It’s complete with all the standard accessories too, save only for the change-wheel guard; and still in black crinkle-finish paint.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Following DaveS comment, I’ve noticed that when anyone dies everyone says what a nice person they were, so I’m trying to become a complete *******, as you never of them dying.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

…..hear of them dying

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

I put an earh grounding spike in for my outside workshop/man sheds – it seems you are supposed to do that these days. Maybe I should do it for the Woman shed and the lawnmower garage but I’m not in those much. Bit of a bother in flint/chalk/clay but wasn’t too bad.

[Nigel Graham 2]

On Nigel Graham 2 Said:

I was nowhere near my workshop all day but was able to collect some Beech seeds to see if I can persuade them to become baby trees.

I tried Horse-chestnuts from the Midland Showground a few years ago but without success. I potted some acorns last year. They vanished but I don’t know if they had died and decomposed, or if a mouse had found them.

 

Hi Nigel, try putting some of your seeds in the fridge for a few weeks before planting. Apparently they need a spell of cold weather to help the germination.

Andy.

 

[File HandleParticipant @filehandle]

You need to cover the pot that you put your seeds in with some netting orthey are likely to disappear. I grew some last year, simply sow in a pot outside, but cover it or the seeds become food.

[jaCK Hobson]

On jaCK Hobson Said:

I put an earh grounding spike in for my outside workshop/man sheds – it seems you are supposed to do that these days. Maybe I should do it for the Woman shed and the lawnmower garage but I’m not in those much. Bit of a bother in flint/chalk/clay but wasn’t too bad.

Not related to Tiffany Aching perhaps? Carefull where you stick that spike – might bother the Nac Mac Feegle’s

[Joseph Noci 1]

On Joseph Noci 1 Said:

😀

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thank you Andrew & Filehandle, for the arboricultural tips!

I’ve also been told putting them in or under a thin layer of fairly fine gravel will help them by giving the first shoots a bit of support.

[Andrew CrowParticipant @andrewcrow91475]

I went to the MMEE today, some really good models on display, especially the one which won the Chris Deith memorial trophy from one of our contribors, Paravoz with his 7 1/4G USSR 2-6-2 locomotive. Also for change something in my interest area quite a few Sterling cycle engines, especially one being driven by wind turbine to make a heat pump.

Also met one of our other members Bernard Towers and a couple of members of the MEM forum, an interesting and enjoyable day all round.

Andy

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

The carriage drive motor controller for the lathe, that should have arrived a week ago, was given up on by the supplier and a replacement dispatched. That eventually arrived yesterday afternoon and I fitted it this afternoon. It seems to work very well after the appropriate adjustments.

Now the on-off switch in the control box is getting a bit intermittent. Not entirely unreasonable, it’s 74 years old and we all tend to get a bit intermittent as time goes on!

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

We use a ride on mower for towing trailer fulls of logs from winter storage to closer to the house.  All going well until wife says it won’t start.

The machne is quite old and when you hear the start solenoid buzzing, you know the battery is flat.  So left the battery on charge, no difference !

It must be the solenoid start relay thing.  No probs, as I have a used spare one.  Eventually strip the ride on and replace the solenoid. Not a quick job as need to remove the fuel tank, heat baffle, flywheel housing and a few more bits. Still no start – just solenoid clicking. !!  Battery OK, and if I run a jump lead from battery + to the starter, the starter turns quite smartly.

The plot thickens, all cables were tight and if I ran the jump lead between battery + and the ignition wire to soenoid the engine turns over OK.  So it MUST be the ignition circuit which is a birds nest of wires at the ignition switch.

Now I don’t use headlights – they went a long time ago after a collision with a wheel barrow, but the switch is still on the dashboard, but there is a wire from ignition to this un-used switch. I was fiddling about and switched the light switch on and Hey presto, the engine fires up.  Yes, My machine needs you sitting on the seat and brake pedal fully depressed to start – most of the other interlocks have already been shorted out as the mower attachment was chucked away many years ago, but the tractor bit is used mainly for towing the log trailer.

Life is too short to investigate why the lights need to be off to start the engine – but there it is.  About 4 hours wasted and another lesson learnt.

Bob

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Want to MMEE on Friday, train was late both ways, so instead of costing me £40  I’ve finished up paying £18.50.

Loads of excellent locos, but other stuff a bit thin on the ground, only 3 clocks that I could find.  The GTBA stand never ceases to amaze me, far too clever for the likes of me

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Having got as far as reading the 3D Metal Printing article in the latest ME&W I’d like to thank Julie for the detailed scientific assessment of the properties of printed metal that are otherwise completely unknown and not otherwise readily available.

While I’m writing, out of curiosity, is the arch at the Sheppey track seen in photo 9 of the IMLEC article a section of Anderson shelter or perhaps the shuttering for the tunnel mouth in photo 10?

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Wife treated me to a metal draw unit so spent time organising them as the previous unit was a small plastic one which was overflowing. I know that the draws look a bit big, but I keep buying odd cutters and the like as I need them. I keep the cutters in the little plastic sleeves that they are supplied in so they do not bang together.

The plant labelling machine does come in handy for this type of job

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Do I have to point it out?

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

Do I have to point it out?

Yes it spoils the look of the job.

[Author]

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