# What Are You Up To Today?



## Bogstandard

Rick started a post with exactly the same heading as this last year, but it has fell by the wayside thru time.

Now I think is the time to resurrect it.

SHOW US WHAT YOU ARE UP TO AT THIS POINT IN TIME. 

What are your planned projects for this year?

Grab the cam and take a piccy.

Drag yourself away from the box, come out of hibernation, spring is here, find that old project and get moving on it again. 

Got anything under the bench you just couldn't get running, drag it out and see if all the stuff you have learned over the winter can get a bit of life into it.

There were dozens on the go before winter started, where have they all gone?

Lets get making little engines again.

John


----------



## DICKEYBIRD

Hi John, good post. I've noticed a drop-off in activity over the past week or so. I'm thinking the activity is a little low in the shops over here in the colonies due to several factors.

Big college basketball tournaments going on now....spring is rearing it's ugly chore-laden head in the lower half of the country....fish are biting in many areas....Formula 1 starting up....Sebring 12 hr....NASCAR, blah, blah, blah. Lotsa stuff to pull us out of the workshop.

Me? I got my new Enco angle table in a few days ago and needed some clamps to mount my little screwless machinist's vice and some tee-nuts to go along with the clamps. The factory made nuts I ordered were too big. The only stock I had was too big and had to gnaw it down to size this morning. Took 2 pots of coffee and seemed to take way too long! Maybe I need a shaper.







Notice how I cleverly silver-soldered on some .032" brass to keep from marring the cast iron table? Yeah, right. I miscalculated the offset and had to add a piece to make it work. Nice save eh?






It worked out OK and I didn't feel so bad about committing monkey-grass murder and leaf raking this afternoon. It's so much easier to do the things I need to do if I finish something I want to do first. A man has to have his priorities straight. ;D

Be well,
Milton


----------



## zeusrekning

Today, Finally got the tranny out of my truck. For the year, help in the HMEM team build, get two of my bike motors running, shingle the house, paint around the house, plant a vegtable garden, build tools for the shop, go camping with the family, and scouting with the son.
Tim


----------



## shred

Time to tune up this old beast... After I get it behaving the plan is to try a little aero engine.


----------



## Bogstandard

DB, good save and a lovely job, and a great excuse for the modification.

Zeus, drop the chores and get onto something you enjoy. But in all honesty you will eventually find time to get into the shop.

Shred, lovely old bit of kit there, cherish and coddle it along and it will give you years of faithful service. A few days spent getting it up to scratch will be rewarded many times over.
Mine is showing its old age now(over 70 years), the tailstock is starting to 'droop', but with a little bit of time and attention it will be brought back to like new, to go on for another 70.

These are just the sort of things that are needed on this post, not full builds, but a little insight into what we are getting up to.

John


----------



## old-biker-uk

No workshop fun today - got to replace the thermostat on my VW T4 
Mark


----------



## Bogstandard

Mark, 

Some of you have all the fun. 

I am just about to stroll out to the shop, and force myself to do a bit more on my turbine (sigh).

No rest for the wicked. Looking at it that way, I must be downright evil.

John


----------



## gilessim

Sorry about the bad picture but this is my attempt at Jan Ridders flame licker, it nearly runs but I need to make a little burner to get the flame in the right position I think!.The cast iron for the cylinder was given to me by a friend in the UK (I was nearly arrested at the airport with it!)and he told me that one side of it was very hard where they left it to cool down and this explains my slight variation with the fins! at the first cut my parting tool broke off and managed to chew a chunk out so rather than bin it ,I did it like this, I'm sure it won't affect the cooling.




I'll post some more pics when it's done.

P.S. I saw somewhere here one of Boggies posts where he talks about the flame position but I couldn't find it again, anyone know where it is?.

Giles


----------



## Bogstandard

Boggie to the rescue,
Must put my knickers on the outside and get myself a cape.

Try down the page a bit. 

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=350.0

A few tips.
Warm it up a bit on the outside first with a gas torch, about 20-30 seconds
Don't let oil get anywhere near the cylinder bore or either piston. Just a pin end drop onto the rod as it runs thru the cylinder fins, the little end wrist pin and where the operating pin goes thru the contra piston.
2mm out of position on the burner is a lot, and it might stop it running, but it just might fire for a few beats when you start to get close.
I found on both cylinders that the adjustable piston kick pin needed only about 0.1mm clearance when the main piston was at BDC.
The main tip is time, I spent ages getting it running, but once the burner position was found, the engine can be started with ease at any time.

Nice build by the way, and hope you have success.

John


----------



## Cedge

First full week back in the shop, after some seriously heavy spring cleaning, has been spent upgrading and tweaking the machines. Revamped the scales on the mini lathe, eliminating the faithful but increasingly finicky caliper scale and moved the reader head to a less chip rich environment. Basically cleaning up the original install for a better fit. Photos coming soon after I test the connections and route the cables. 

Added the DRO scales to the new SX3 mill, fitted the expensive power feed and promptly shorted out the DC output side of power feed circuit board. Luckily, Uncle Rabid, up in Missouri says he can fix it cheaply. He'll be my new best friend if he can salvage it. Don't ask... just watch where you drop small clamps while smoke testing new mods and yeah... my stomach finally stopped churning over the weekend.

The mill should have its new collets sometime this week, courtesy of Ebay's 800Watt. Definitely not a machine that likes milling with a drill chuck. Already got the first engine project in my head and most of the materials on hand. Spring is almost here and I'm finanlly coming out of my winter hibernation once again.

Steve


----------



## tattoomike68

I am wanting to tear down my garage and set up a nice steel building. 14' X 20' or 16' X 24'

So I am shopping around to see what I can find.

My old shack has no power,leaning walls, comming apart in places, needs a new roof, the doors are all messed up. By the time I fix all that I could just build new.


----------



## DickDastardly40

Milling the I beams which will become the standards for my triple:










Didn't like the setup after I took the pics so redid it with some parallels behind.

Best Always


----------



## rake60

Not much being done in my the shop lately.
Too many irons in the fire at once.

When I do get a chance to get back at it, the first job will be making repair parts
for one of the mower blade spindles of my tractor.
_*(A cast iron access cover in high grass does NOT cut as nicely with a mower blade as
it may on a lathe...)*_





THEN I'll be back to the model building!

Rick


----------



## Brass_Machine

tattoomike68  said:
			
		

> I am wanting to tear down my garage and set up a nice steel building. 14' X 20' or 16' X 24'
> 
> So I am shopping around to see what I can find.
> 
> My old shack has no power,leaning walls, comming apart in places, needs a new roof, the doors are all messed up. By the time I fix all that I could just build new.



Me too. My garage is little more than a leaning and leaking shack on a concrete block with no power as well. 

Anyway, today I am doing some work on a marble engine:






Eric


----------



## Bogstandard

Dick D,

It is great you showing the use of a vertical slide, it is such a shame this method is going into decline. I remember when it was all I could afford to make my little engines, and really allowed me to do some nice stuff just using a lathe.

Everyone else. 

I am really glad that I resurrected Ricks' post. It has got everyone out of bed and talking again. Please keep it up. No need for just one post, use it like a quickie diary so everyone can see how you are getting on.

Maybe it should be done every few months when it gets forgotten about.

But rather than choking up the work in progress, could one of the team please move it to the Break Room.

Thanks

John


----------



## tattoomike68

Brass_Machine  said:
			
		

> Me too. My garage is little more than a leaning and leaking shack on a concrete block with no power as well.



I got a quote of $8,334.19 for a 25" X 25" X 12' with a 10' X 10 ' hole *no door * and a walk through door.

I think I can find a better deal.

He is pictures of what I have now...  :big:

Im sick of looking at it.


----------



## Bogstandard

Mike,
When I built mine, I actually bought a concrete sectional garage, and swapped the garage door with the manufacturers for two metal walk in doors, and assembled it as I wanted it. Because the doors are 4ft wide, and the concrete slats are the same, they could be fitted anywhere in the walls of the building. Uk cost, just over £1,000 ($2,000).
Best of luck, before yours actually falls down.
Or maybe move into Snoop's pad.

John


----------



## Philjoe5

I didn't do a lot of shop work today. Rather I started looking at my plans for a mill steam engine that I completed. I think I want to scale it up by a factor of 1.5 and I'm sort of calculating whether my existing machines will be up to the task. I'm thinking this scaleup will be as challenging as making a new engine. I'm open to suggestions about scaling up an engine. ???

Cheers,
Phil


----------



## Bogstandard

Phil,

You are right when it comes to scaling up an engine, it isn't just a matter of multiplying by the correct amount. Every small item has to be looked at, and guesstimations made.

With regards to your machinery not being up to it. I think it was Rick that said it was not the machinery, but the block we get in our heads about the limitations. Not those exact words, but along those lines. He said it when I posted a picture of a project I had done, and it was of a chopper frame mounted onto my mill/drill, pushing it to its extreme limits.

John


----------



## dparker

Hello All: Last Fall I bought a 3" 4jaw chuck from LMS at the NW GEARS show here in Portland. Finally got around to making a mounting plate to fit on my Atlas 12" lathe. This will give me more room when I do small things and move over to the mill/drill with the part still in the chuck.




Disclaimer: I do not do much threading on the lathe because it usually takes a couple of tries to get it correct.
I had a slug of stressproof steel that was short enough to use without much waste. The part was bored out for the threads to mount on the lathe and then I ground a new threading bit short enough to fit in the boring bar and proceeded to start threading. Everything was looking good, nice smooth clean threads, and then it dawned on me I was cutting left hand threads because of the way I had set up for the threading tool with the rake going in the direction for outside threads and thus was cutting away from the headstock. DOH!! Luckily I was only a little way into it and was able to correct and make the right hand threads and only have a little roughness at 2 places on the bore where the threads crossed. The Big Man upstairs was looking out for me, because I tried to quickly correct it and did not watch the threading dial the second cut in the right direction but got it in the right track anyway, Sorry Marv, I did remember your warning to walk away and come back later, but I didn't do it, I will next time I promise.
The chuck is on the lathe now and looks fine (small, but fine) and it even has no runout on the body, all in all I am happy with the outcome and hope I have learned something I will not forget.
Laugh at me and point your fingers, I deserve it!
  don


----------



## Bernd

Well Bogs. After reading how you made the ends for the turbine it will help me for making a fixture that will be used to put a 4.5" bolt circle on a brake rotor. It will take a 4 hole bolt pattern to a 5 hole bolt pattern on a 4.5" bolt circle. I'll be sure to post pics when I get round to it.

Bernd


----------



## Tom T

The gas engine shows are getting started around here (Ok.)so I have been busy dragging all the engines out and mounted them to the trailer. Took them to a little show in south western Ark. When I left another project engine jumped on the trailer and road home with me ( stover Ka 1922) I would rather build my engines but I Have rustitus and It does not help when your wife says I like that engine you should by it ;D Here is a video I took at the show.The A.C.E. was a big hit. Tom


----------



## Bogstandard

Lovely display Tom,

I see you have got your Atkinson running as well. I bet it got some fascinating looks.

I'm sure Rick will love these.

John


----------



## cfellows

dparker  said:
			
		

> The chuck is on the lathe now and looks fine (small, but fine) and it even has no runout on the body, all in all I am happy with the outcome and hope I have learned something I will not forget.
> Laugh at me and point your fingers, I deserve it!
> don



No laughing or finger pointing here. This is a good idea. I have a 3" chuck that I can't remember why I bought it and has gone pretty much unused. I'm thinking I'll do something similar.

Chuck


----------



## Loose nut

What did I do today, Worked OT, just like yesterday (Easter) and the 3 days before that and last week and the week before that. I'm so far behind in the shop wanna' do's work that I may never get ahead of it, It's nice to see that some people get to work in there shops. Working for a living sucks, I should have been born rich.


----------



## Philjoe5

Let' see, I spent 3 hours in the shop making a crosshead for the steam engine I'm working on. I didn't like the finish I was getting, but it polished up OK. I tapped some 10-32 threads in it and screwed in the piston rod, then measured TIR of 0.011" :'(. Now my heart wasn't in it to finish it, but I pressed on (check the "scrap or not scrap" thread guys). So I milled two sides of it with a 1/2" end mill. About this time I realized I had forgotten to cross drill it for the con rod connecting pin. Then, and only then, did I check the plans and discovered I should have used a 5/8" end mill to cut the sides :'( . So today I made a fairly elegant piece of scrap  :'( :'( :'(

Cheers,
Phil


----------



## cfellows

I finally got back to my Open Column Twin today. I lapped the valves into the valve seats with valve grinding compound. Unfortunately, I still have some compression leaks, so I guess it needs some more lapping. Anybody made a 45 degree valve seat cutting tool?

Chuck


----------



## Brass_Machine

Philjoe5  said:
			
		

> ... So today I made a fairly elegant piece of scrap  :'( :'( :'(
> 
> Cheers,
> Phil



As much as it pains any of us to create scrap when we are trying for something else, say to yourself this... it is not scrap, it is machinist ART.

Eric


----------



## Stan

Chuck: Have you tried a 90* countersink with a pilot? It might work even without a pilot if you are doing the guide and seat in one setup.


----------



## cfellows

Stan  said:
			
		

> Chuck: Have you tried a 90* countersink with a pilot? It might work even without a pilot if you are doing the guide and seat in one setup.



I think I probably need a cutter or stone that uses the valve guide for a pilot. I can't be sure that the valve guides pressed in at exactly 90 degrees although they are real darn close.

Chuck


----------



## DickDastardly40

I'd heard strange tales of a surface in the hinterland of chez moi, (I remember it being on the details from the estate agent) so I went prospecting, armed only with a broom and rubbish bag and most importantly resolve not to return to the safety of the kitchen without finding it. After a perilous adventure requiring much soul searching over what should be sonsigned to the rubbish bag and what should be returned to its natural habitat, I finally came to the conclusion of my quest.

I've struck floor and I'm rich, rich, rich I tell ya!







This story continues at the following post:

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=1627.0


----------



## 13AL

Yesterday I sleeved the aluminum cylinders with brass on a very "bashed" version of the "siamese twin", today the valve pushrods will be made and then I will start on the flyweels, last week I made a proto-type/test flywheel, it was my first flywheel and it worked 8)
13AL


----------



## 13AL

Well i added a new item to the work bench last night, a "it's scrap now" box, yep, screwed up a simple cam.
Lesson learned! but I am sure I will need a bigger box 
Tonight I need to drill the ports in the cylinders.

13AL


----------



## Bogstandard

13AL,

Please not 'scrap box', but recycling area.
As you get further along, you will find that will be one of you most useful assets.
Having a rummage thru will get you out of a lot of little jams.
They aren't failures that are in there, just ones that are not quite right.
We all learn from our mistakes, and I am learning all the time.

John


----------



## cfellows

You're absolutely right, John. Can't tell you how many botched pieces wind up as a good start for another project!

Chuck


----------



## tattoomike68

Today I have to go give my brother some computer lessons. Its the least I can do for a guy who gave me 2 turkeys , 6 chickens and a whole beef in the last year or so.


----------



## joe d

Been searching the threads (successfully) for the instructions on dissolving a broken tap out of non ferrous metals.... as I have successfully broken a 2-56 in a piece of cast brass.  Tomorrow I'll see how it works out. 

Joe


----------



## gilessim

DD that looks suspiciously like a bottle of Gordons in the background there?


----------



## rake60

Today I got to sit in my basement shop and _"Talk Shop"_ with Brass_Machine (Eric)
for a couple hours. I even got a chance to show off a few of my toys.
My 1934 Maytag hit-n-miss engine started on the first kick. *THAT* impressed* ME!* 
It was great to be able to put a face and true personality to a screen name.

Tonight he may be building a Voodoo doll of me to exact proper revenge for the
boxes containing a disassembled 1969 Vespa moped that he was willing to 
haul away. It was another of my antique restoration projects that I just
didn't have time to continue. 

Best of luck with that project Eric.
Your welcome back here anytime!

Rick


----------



## Brass_Machine

rake60  said:
			
		

> Today I got to sit in my basement shop and _"Talk Shop"_ with Brass_Machine (Eric)
> for a couple hours. I even got a chance to show off a few of my toys.
> My 1934 Maytag hit-n-miss engine started on the first kick. *THAT* impressed* ME!*
> It was great to be able to put a face and true personality to a screen name.
> 
> Tonight he may be building a Voodoo doll of me to exact proper revenge for the
> boxes containing a disassembled 1969 Vespa moped that he was willing to
> haul away. It was another of my antique restoration projects that I just
> didn't have time to continue. javascript:void(0);
> Grin
> 
> Best of luck with that project Eric.
> Your welcome back here anytime!
> 
> Rick



That was very fun, I had a great time. I only wish I had more time to hang out today than what I did. BTW, that Maytag rocked! Thank you Rick for letting me come out today... and be warned... I will be back! :big:

Eric


----------



## tattoomike68

The kid is on spring break so we spent the day at the BMX track and the skate park.

I took a video of my friend doing a jump.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSWsr-IKN90[/ame]


----------



## DICKEYBIRD

Today? Had to work yesterday so today I've been up since 5 AM surfin' the world of metal on the web and finally drifted out into the shop now that the little heater has knocked the chill off.

Cleaned the shop up a little and finally got a chance to properly ooh & ahh over the stuff I got in from CDCO a few days ago. I post this not as a gloat but as a report on the bargains that are available to us right now. What you see here cost a grand total of $229.00 including $22.00 shipping and arrived 6 days after I put the money order in the mailbox. That seems incredible to me.

I just chucked up the R8 1/32"-1/2" keyless chuck in the mill and checked it with a D.T.I. and the runout on a 3/8" ground pin is less than the .0005" mark on the clock. Approx .0003". It fits the spindle much better than the POS chuck/arbor that came with my X3 and the finely ground finish is amazing...$32.00!

The 6, 4 flute endmills (3/4" - 1.5" by 1/8's) came with a nice wooden stand and are sharp and nicely finished. Time will tell if they're made from crap steel but I don't think so....$74.00!

The 5C endmill sharpening jig is finished nicely all over, the collet fits great, locks down easily with the included spanner and the indexing works smoothly....$32.00!

The 4, AXA clone boring, turning & facing QC tool holders fit my Phase II toolpost perfectly, the ground finish and black finish is excellent and the supplied hardware is much better than the last batch and should hold up quite a while....$10.00 each!

The depth base attachment for the caliper is nicely made works great and has a nicely ground & square bottom suface....$9.00! (Already had the caliper)

The protractor is made from stainless, has a very nice ground all-over finish and the graduations are sharp & clear; even came with a nice naugahyde pouch....$9.00!

The D.T.I. holder fits great, works smooth and even has a dovetail clamp that fits my D.T.I. perfectly....$9.00!

The only thing that is disappointing is the little threading tool gage, it's a cheap stamping with a cheap looking plating job but it'll probably do the job and was only $3.00.







On the one hand I'm extremely happy with the quality of the items and even happier about the prices, BUT... it's very scary thinking about what has happened to our industrial infrastructure. Anybody have a guess as to what this would cost if made-in-the USA (or U.K. or Canada or wherever) items were substituted...if you could find them in stock? $1000...$1500...more? Sad.


----------



## Seanol

I am admiring Dickeybirds swag and mourning my loss of my DTI. I bought an inexpensive unit as I am on a budget like most. Well after 2 years of service the needle came out. I think it just unscrewed but I don't know how to open it! As soon as I can pry the SWMBO's fingers off of the purse strings I am ordering a B&S DTI. How hard are the .0001 units to use?

Thanks,
Sean


----------



## 13AL

Today I printed the plans for the open column the team is building, needed an image of what they are up to, good choice I think, i'll add that to my list of "want to builds".

The flywheels for my project are almost done, now I need to decide on a finish for the cylinders, maybe flat black with fake rivets.


----------



## Cedge

Started a new engine project today. The early 1800's engine is a Water Pressure Engine based on an design used by a Danish water system, powered by "waste water from the purification plant". Yeah... I suspect the same true definition of "waste water", but hey... it's a neat little design, all the same. I was recently offered the chance to buy the engine shown below, but figured out really quick that my idea of its value and that of the owner were nowhere near the same. That's when it hit me that building it might be a good way to go.

I'm working sans drawing dimensions, since the only guide available are the photos and the very old and badly done engraving shown below. I've modeled it out in 3D to see how everything is related, but the actual machining will be full of on the fly type head scratching, as I have to make various extrapolations during the build. 

I'm going with a 1 inch stroke and a 3/4 bore to keep the engine small enough to live on a book shelf. I also suspect I'll be at this one for a while...LOL.

Steve


----------



## Bogstandard

Some people are really into self flagelation.

Good luck on your adventure, and the cad pics are great.

John


----------



## zeusrekning

Good luck Steve. It is a good looking engine.


----------



## Tom T

I Thought I better tune up the old tractor.The last show I took it to it would not run . all it took was charging the battery : Tom


----------



## DICKEYBIRD

Now _THAT_ is awesome! Maximum kudos to you sir.


----------



## zeusrekning

I had a really cool day today. I spent a few hours over at Cedges shop then come home and finished dismantling an old copier machine from work. It was loaded with motor, shafting, and other goodies. I'll post some pics tomorrow of all the stuff you can get out of one.


----------



## Cedge

Tim
You're welcome back anytime. I only hope you enjoyed the day half as much as I did. Thanks for the gifts.... I'll be trying them out tomorrow, that is unless I need to come over and start up your new lathe for you...(grin). I hope he comes through for ya...

Steve


----------



## shred

Finally got the lathe over on page 1 painted and put back together. Still needs a little tweaking, but worked well enough to make a tap holder.


----------



## BobWarfield

I'm up to absolutely nothing of value, shop-wise. It's Mother's Day after all!

Unfortunately, I didn't have that excuse yesterday and still got little done. Tomorrow, however, is another day.

Cheers,

BW


----------



## Tin Falcon

Need to get cracking on the TB stuff. Am recovering from a very busy somewhat stressful week. Hit a yard sale this am, cooked breakfast for the family (my weekend duty) and am supervising my son building a shelf for the shed out of tread mill leftovers the motor will be powering one of the machines around here. This is a steel frame w/ wooden shelf/work bench
My son (18) has landed himself a part time summer job in a friends steel fab shop . Gee suddenly he is showing an interest in learning to weld and do fab work.I am expecting him to start engineering classes at the county college in the fall. 
  The shelf is done I did the welding on it he did all the cutting and most of the grinding. Still need to be installed. 
Now he is out melting some mig/flux core wire on some scrap pieces. 
So I guess you can say dad duties. but fun ones.
Tin


----------



## rake60

I learned about the Air Spring Conversion for the X2 from Dave's
Thread: X2 First Mods

Mine arrived Friday and I found time today to install it.






Great Mod! 

Now, what else is out there that I need and never heard of? 

Rick


----------



## Bogstandard

Tin,

Nice to hear someone else is starting to get involved in the 'metal bashing' trade. In the UK they have now realised that there is a great shortage of skilled metalworkers after the money grabbing policies of the 80's, with apprenticeships being got rid of. Now they are trying to get the kids back into manual engineering trades. Definitely a step in the right direction, and I am sure your young one won't regret it in the long run.

Rick,

We are never happy until we get the machines we have to the latest specifications. Each little mod is a step in the right direction. Can you get power feed for the X2?
Maybe that would be the next step.


For me, been a very busy time. 

Two UK members visited me over the last two days, Ralph and John S 1st. Hopefully they went away with a few new ideas to play about with, plus I got to play with all my engines, something I haven't been able to do for the last few months. John S is still trying to get his head around how an elbow engine works.

John


----------



## Cedge

Spent yesterday over at Tim's shop getting a few good lessons on threading. He is getting his hands on some very nice toys these days and he's proving willing to share the fun....

I began the Finger Engine challenge this morning, after learning the grandson's ball game was rescheduled for the afternoon. I've actually managed to get quite a bit done. Although I'm never going to beat 17 minutes, the 2 hours and 10 minutes invested, so far, have me at approximately a bit over 80% completion. I'm figuring another hour, this evening, should see it finished and tweaked. I hope so... travel will prevent any significant progress tomorrow.

Got to admit... it all goes much faster when you eliminate the polishing phase. It would go even faster if I'd stop hiding that last tool that I just used.

Steve


----------



## CallMeAL

As much as I would like to be starting on the finger engine challenge, I instead decided to start on the cheap sand muller I threatened to build some time ago. I want to make it easier to temper my casting sand after and there for start doing some more elaborate engine castings.

This may not work like I hope it will, but you know, nothing ventured.. etc. I am only into the cost of the little Harbor freight mixer and few odds and ends, most of the bearings and shafting are scrap parts from work. It's another one of those "learning experiences" 

I still have ways to go and few things to figure out before I'm done.

Here a little slide show of what got done so far:

Muller


----------



## DickDastardly40

Not so much up to today but almost every lunchtime for ages (standfast when I did the blast finger engine). Multi-posted eslewhere apologiies if you've read it already






These are 5 Sergeant Majors canes made specially as gifts for ushers at a wedding next week so the deadline snuck up on me. They are styled after the cane carried by the RSM of the Royal Marines. Different regiments have different styles, ie the Guards RSM carries a pacestick similar to a big pair of dividers. The RM version has traditionally a silver ball with the Corps badge and is black.


















Mine are made from Jatoba with brass fittings; the wood was finish sanded with 2000 grit garnet, sanding sealered and waxed with clear hard wax. The proportion was dictated by the glass test tube which was the only screwed ones of about the correct size I could find, I thought this would give them a bit more perceived value . There is a small mild steel sacrificial on the tip. 














The whole batch was entirely made on a Harrison M350. The taper is about 1.5 deg included angle all done with the compound and blended by eye. I wasn't sure about blinging them and considered leaving them satin, however after polishing the first there was no contest. The ferrules are atached to the shaft with a Left hand 2 start thread with the second start machined out of the ferrule and not cut on the shaft due to the splintering of the wood when thread cutting then epoxied. 






I enjoyed it, I hope you found it interesting.

Al


----------



## Bogstandard

Wonderful work one those Al. Typical military precision.

I don't know whether I dare tell this little story here about a pace stick.

But anyway here goes.
During my two years of RAF training (very young in those days), we were always having full best blue inspection on the parade ground.
We all used to get bruises on the small of our backs, where the Station Warrant Officer (same as an RSM in the army) used to walk down the back of the ranks, poking us in the back with his pace stick, and shouting out 'stomach in, chest out, shoulders back, you're not in the american army here laddie'. In those days he looked 7ft tall, ramrod back, with a big handlebar moustache, and shouted with a broad highland accent. A real antique from WW2.

I still walk about in that ungainly pose, but my stomach is so big it does what it wants now.

John


----------



## rickharris

No pictures but at School we are building our 2nd Electric racing car. A you tube can be seen here [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjb5zmvsZf0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjb5zmvsZf0[/ame] Ours is the Boston Bullet - Aluminium body and Chassis. The first car was based on a kit from the contest organisers as we were sponsored by a local firm.

The second car has been developed totally from scratch so I have been turning up rings and flanges to connect bicycle gears to 250 watt electric motors for the last couple of days. All turned out OK just need to get all the parts to talk to each other.

How we built the first car can be seen here http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-an-electric-racing-car/

The cars are (mainly) built and run by a team of around 12 students aged 11 to 16 - the aim is to go as far as you can in 4 hours on 4 car batteries.


----------



## chuck foster

rick i'm not into electric cars at all but i would like to say thanks for a great video :bow: ............it just sends chills down my spine when i see young minds getting creative and fired up and excited to build something challenging.

if you can could you please let the kids know that i for one would like to congratulate them on a job well done.........first place or last place they are all winners in my book!!!

i wish them all the best with their next car.

chuck


----------



## rake60

That's great stuff Rick!

Thanks for sharing it here.

Rick


----------



## jgarrett

Last Sunday PM I was trying to get my old Sears tiller going and it backfired and sheared the flywheel key. I said to myself..myself where in the world am I going to find one on Sunday. As I walked back into the garage I almost ran over my mill..I had a replacement made in less than 5 min.. First real "Part" other than engines I made..
Amazing how something so simple can give you a feeling of accomplishment!!!
Julian G.


----------



## Divided He ad

WOW  Rick, They're awesome!!!

I was expecting something from scrapyard challenge (junkyard wars I think is your version) when I read your introduction....
Those cars are fantastic!!! ;D

Very respectable position too.

It makes me think back to a competition day we had in school ( a while ago now!!!) 
We had to make a structure from 30cm (12") spaghetti sticks and a roll of masking tape, to extend as far from the edge of a table without breaking and use as little materials as possible...We made over 1.5 metres (bout 5 feet). My team of 4 didn't win, but they made a new category for us due to our structure looking like half a suspension bridge and not just a load of bundled spaghetti and tape....So we all won a mars bar and a pack of opal fruits (starbursts) We were so proud..... ;D :big:

I can only imagine how your kids must feel after making such stunning machinery... Well done to all ! 


Ralph.


----------



## CrewCab

rake60  said:
			
		

> Now, what else is out there that I need and never heard of?



"John Smith's" Smooth Bitter 8) ;D :big: ;D








 ;D ;D ;D

Dave


----------



## rake60

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> "John Smith's" Smooth Bitter 8) ;D :big: ;D
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ;D ;D ;D
> 
> Dave



Huh
I wonder if that would make it past the customs inspectors? 
Probably not! :'( :big:

Rick


----------



## rickharris

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> WOW  Rick, They're awesome!!!
> 
> I was expecting something from scrapyard challenge (junkyard wars I think is your version) when I read your introduction....
> Those cars are fantastic!!! ;D
> 
> V
> I can only imagine how your kids must feel after making such stunning machinery... Well done to all !
> 
> 
> Ralph.



Thanks folks for the pat's on the back. The kids appreciate it. We are an english school though Boston in Lincolnshire.

The final in the video was held at Goodwood - Surrey.


----------



## John S

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> "John Smith's" Smooth Bitter 8) ;D :big: ;D
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ;D ;D ;D
> 
> Dave



God no...........

That stuff is f'kn awful. We have a whole country full of decent beers, Old Peculiar, Old Speckled Hen, Spitfire etc and then we have this dross.

If I were Prime minister I'd either shut them down, convert it to diesel or make it export only.

.


----------



## CrewCab

Hey John ............. I happen to like it 8)


Then again, I must agree Old Peculiar is in a class above ........ however ...... we need to introduce our overseas cousins to propper beer one step at a time  ............ imho having all forms of Lager placed on the "banned substances" register would be a good start ;D :big: ;D

CC


----------



## Divided He ad

> We are an English school though Boston in Lincolnshire


 :big: Now that's pretty funny, Boston! you know where I went wrong obviously!!? ;D

In that case I'm even more impressed.... how did you get that one past the school inspectors?

I wish I was still in school...better still yours!  I'd have loved to do stuff like that when I was a kid.... What am I saying? I'd still like to do stuff like that now!! ;D


When do they start to build engines?  


Ralph.


----------



## mklotz

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> we need to introduce our overseas cousins to propper beer one step at a time  ............ imho having all forms of Lager placed on the "banned substances" register would be a good start ;D :big: ;D



Good idea. Put them on the list right after Bovril, Marmite and Vegemite.


----------



## ksouers

rickharris  said:
			
		

> Thanks folks for the pat's on the back. The kids appreciate it. We are an english school though Boston in Lincolnshire.
> 
> The final in the video was held at Goodwood - Surrey.



Cool!! The kids got to run at Goodwood! Bet that was a real treat! I love watching the festival on cable over here.


----------



## rickharris

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> :big: Now that's pretty funny, Boston! you know where I went wrong obviously!!? ;D



An easy mistake to make - Funny though I always thought I typed in an English accent!



> In that case I'm even more impressed.... how did you get that one past the school inspectors?



They were delighted with it - at present until the race season starts the car has pride of place in the school foyer. Risk analysis was a bit of a bug bear but each parent has to sign a blood chitty to say they understand the issues and it isn't a risk free undertaking.





> I wish I was still in school...better still yours!  I'd have loved to do stuff like that when I was a kid.... What am I saying? I'd still like to do stuff like that now!! ;D
> 
> When do they start to build engines?
> 
> Ralph.



Believe me you don't really wish you were back at school!  Your having a lot more fun and learning more now!!

We have made wobbler's in the past, quite well, and on occasion make wooden models of steam mechanisms as CAD exercises - Actually it is hard to fit them into the restricted curriculum the government forces on us. We looked at teaching engineering but the government has set up a syllabus that is little more than a paper exercise so we didn't do it.

As for kids loving it? Well out of around 600 kids we struggle to get a team of 12 to commit to the racing (no thumb wiggling involved!). In 2 years only 3 parents have turned up and on several occasions team member are withdrawn at the last moment because there parents want to go shopping on that day.


----------



## rickharris

ksouers  said:
			
		

> Cool!! The kids got to run at Goodwood! Bet that was a real treat! I love watching the festival on cable over here.



Goodwood is a great site - Pity it's so far away - about 120 miles - We had to camp overnight just up the road from the track. great atmosphere though.





Lots of parents there - about 800 for the final






Lots of high level engineering as well. this is a past winner now retired.


----------



## Divided He ad

Rick, 

 I loved school .... well all the science, CDT, and electronics anyway ;D I was I believe what you could call a 'problem child' !
You see I knew what I wanted to do and they kept telling me it wasn't part of the curriculum!!!!! As you said 





> Actually it is hard to fit them into the restricted curriculum the government forces on us. We looked at teaching engineering but the government has set up a syllabus that is little more than a paper exercise so we didn't do it.



That annoys me.... If a kid could be encouraged in various forms of engineering this country would be a far better place. The fact that we import everything instead of make it does not mean that we don't need to encourage engineers anymore!
We as a country are going to come unstuck! As for the parents... You don't want to get me started on that....

Anyway enough ranting.... I'd be more than happy to see some pics of the things you and the kids build, You don't need to fill out a huge post with step by steps... just a few pics now and again to let us see how they do  


Ralph.


Oh and a heads up a few weeks before your next event would be nice... I could make the trip, I think it would be fun ;D


----------



## rickharris

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> Rick,
> ...
> Oh and a heads up a few weeks before your next event would be nice... I could make the trip, I think it would be fun ;D



Our first race of the season will be Rockingham Corby on the 2nd July.

We actually have a test day earlier at RAF Scampton but the public won't be able to go to that.

We will also race at the http://www.tvkc-pfi.co.uk/gallery.php September 11th

The big gap is because of the summer holidays.

There are other races as can be seen in the race diary at http://www.greenpower.co.uk/racing/race_diary.php

The public are welcome at all these events and entry is free!


----------



## Bogstandard

Just bid and won this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDA-GOLDWIN...58107180QQihZ001QQcategoryZ9806QQcmdZViewItem

Bogs now has 2.75 wings, and loadsa bling.


----------



## itowbig

trying to build a rotary table from a scap band saw. cleaning up my man cave. oiling the machines. towing in between all this. and lets not forget the hunny do list as well.


----------



## John S

itowbig  said:
			
		

> trying to build a rotary table from a scap band saw. cleaning up my man cave. oiling the machines. towing in between all this. and lets not forget the hunny do list as well.



Don't talk to me about rotary tables, just converted 10 small 4" ones to stepper drive for CNC and still got six 6" ones to do.
I get bored easily.

.


----------



## CrewCab

Bogstandard  said:
			
		

> Just bid and won this



 ;D 8)

Nice one John .................... very nice one 

We had a Pan European up to a couple of years ago and both enjoyed it very much, unfortunately Mrs CC can't ride any more so ......... we now have a caravan 

Good friend of mine has a "C" reg Aspincade he's had from new, both him and his wife usually do a European trip on it or two every year ..... it' just as good as new ............. your new purchase reminds me very much of that one 8)

btw ..... Your polishing duty's have just increased exponentially :  ;D

Look forward to seeing it in the flesh sometime.

CC   ..................   aka   Dave


----------



## CrewCab

As for what I've been up to today ......... carrying on with the workshop refurb ......... it seems never ending 







Hopefully I'll get there one day  ??? 

CC


----------



## Bogstandard

Thanks Dave,
The custom paint job on it cost more than half of what I paid for it, and the trailer and camping gear takes care of the rest. Anything that has been released for the 1500/Flat 6 has been bolted to it, and some.
Got to get rid of a couple of hundred cruising and posing lights, then it is the grandsons job to keep it clean. As it is, even when standing still, the chap keeps it permanently on trickle charge, just so he can turn on all the lights on every now and again. It lights up like Blackpool illuminations.
It was my wife who pushed me to get it, she really misses the freedom only a bike can give. I wanted a Goldwing trike, so she could drive it as well. But I suppose this one will do for a couple of years.

Anyway, had young Ralph come down again today, helped me to get the last bench out of the shop, and move a bit of heavy stuff around for me. Again he went away with a lot more than he came with, I pity his cars suspension.
Things are now looking a lot better for the planning stage.

BTW Dave, your workshop is never finished, you will always be tweaking and modifying.


John


----------



## HS93

[BTW Dave, your workshop is never finished, you will always be tweaking and modifying.


John
[/quote]

I agree I built mine 14 years ago , the problem these days is the price of equipment (for hobby use) when I first got interested there was only one lath for modelmakers myford..and they where expensive now you can get a full shop full for less than than price of some of the myford tooling, 
so every so often you buy a bit more and have to try and fit it in the shop , so everything gets moved around, I just got hold of a micro mill , where do I put it ? yes it may not be the best quality but for my work its OK.

Nice on the bike John , so your not going to turn it in to a chopper then :big:


----------



## Bogstandard

Peter,

The latest top of the range Myford is now nearly £9.5k ($19k)

http://www.myford.com/pricelist/Super 7 Connoisseur.pdf

If you want a special paint job, that will be another £650 ($1300) on top.

Rather overpriced for what it is.

John


----------



## John S

The flagship one they take to the shows with the milling attachment, long bed and Newton Tesla drive is £14,300. Nearly $29,000.

.


----------



## Bogstandard

John,
My first lathe was one of the first they ever made, a 1930's ML1.
I paid £50 for it, and did the same to it as my Atlas, give it a good dose of looking at, and sort out the manufacturers faults.
It is still in regular use by a friend of mine. It is as accurate as my Atlas.

Myfords era were the 60's to 80's. They tried to upgrade to a totally new model, but failed miserably. Nice machines, but way too pricey for what they are, and what they can do (unless you can throw loadsa money at 'em).
How they can charge almost double the price for a TOS chuck (the same as I use), than from an independant supplier, I don't know.

John


----------



## CallMeAL

Nice score John.

2.75 Wings? That will keep you busy with polishing rag! I know from experience for I have but 1.0 old Gold Wings. They sure have change since 1977, here's mine:








What I did this weekend was to about finish the sand muller I am building to make tempering my casting sand easier. Now that I have it, I have one less excuse/project to prevent me starting castings for my next engine. Here what I came up with:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7zJJ_DCTo[/ame]


----------



## Bogstandard

Al,



> 2.75 Wings?



One good left arm, not quite such a good right, 1.75 wings, plus the one I have just bought.

You must be real happy with the way your muller has turned out.

As you say, no excuses now.

John


----------



## Bernd

Well, I'm up to keepin' cool in the basement. It's hot and muggy outside here in up state New York. 

Checking out the forum and maybe getting back to working on the two wobblers I started. Ever since it got warm out I've been out laying bricks around the house (building a brick faced house) and trying to keep up with the yard work. 

I'm also planning the next steam project,........... : ya like I don't have enough to do. 

Bernd


----------



## Cedge

Spent today harassing Tim (Zeusrekning) while he worked at making his Ball turner. I figure I managed to slow him down just enough that he'll need tomorrow to finish it up...(grin) He shared a number of tricks of the trade, with me, that I can put to good use. Between seeing his two dead easy techniques for getting centered on round stock to getting to see how he power tapped on the mill, I almost feel guilty for slowing his progress.... notice I said "almost"...(grin) Thanks for a fun day Tim.

His shop is a pleasure to visit. Lots of room... nice big machines and Floyd. Floyd, Tim's son is fast becoming my buddy and easily teams up with me to rank on his dad. I think if we keep at it, we just might capture his curiosity and get him interested in metals as well.

Steve 

Hot Dogs or Talapia?... inquiring minds want to know....LOL


----------



## tattoomike68

today I wanted a hair cut, the first one in 17 years.

I went all the way, no more hippy tattoomike..

I just love it, should have done it years ago..


----------



## chuck foster

well today i got a new 6" rotary table for my mill, only wanted one for the last 3 years!!!

i then went to a locale machine shop to see a friend of mine, while i was there the foreman was throwing out small off cuts of steel round bar and plate steel.................well a bunch of that landed in my truck ;D

the foreman said he was just cleaning out the shop and all off cuts were to be chucked...............so with that i said (jokingly) that i would do the clean up if i could have the off cuts. he said that was a great deal to him so to work i went!
he showed me the area he wanted clean out, i took one look and asked if the brass was going as well? yes it is scrap he said so i got about 500 pounds of steel (mostly round) and just a bit over 100 pounds of brass (round and flat bar) and for good measure 50 pounds of aluminum round bar.
now all i have to do is make room for it in my shop (like thats going to be hard to do) 

as i was getting ready to leave the foreman told me that there was going to be a 4 day plant shut down and if i wanted i could clean out another area for him............ looked at that area and there has to be 3 tons worth ot brass and steel.
one quick look and i spotted two 4" round bars of brass that have to be 10' long each and a whole bunch of plate brass.

i don't know why he is scrapping it all but as long as he is giving it away it might as well come home with me ;D

its been a busy day but well worth it.

        chuck


----------



## Propforward

Wowser!

I'll tell you what I was up to today - ordering barstock for my first engine project! That was fun enough, and now I read Chucks post!

I am jealous - but in a good way. Good for you! I would much rather hear of unwanted material going to model engineers anyway, rather than back into the melting pot.

Well done that man.

I love this forum - it just seems to be a well matched bunch of enthusiasts.


----------



## itowbig

i got some beer and i drank it. then i got some more and drank that. now im going to read.


----------



## lugnut

I helped the neighbor by taking my pressure washer over to his house and washed the loose paint off from his picket fence so he could paint it. 
Then I cut my first gear!! I building the Odds and Ends Hit and Miss and it calls for two small gears, one 20 tooth and one 40 tooth. The plans go into great detail how to make the stub arbors and fly cutter for cutting the gears and I must of followed the instruction pretty well because the gear I cut turned out great. I cut a practice one out of 6061 aluminum first just to see if I could do it, Now tomorrow I will cut both of the needed gears from brass. 
Mel


----------



## zeusrekning

Cedge  said:
			
		

> Spent today harassing Tim (Zeusrekning) while he worked at making his Ball turner. I figure I managed to slow him down just enough that he'll need tomorrow to finish it up...(grin) He shared a number of tricks of the trade, with me, that I can put to good use. Between seeing his two dead easy techniques for getting centered on round stock to getting to see how he power tapped on the mill, I almost feel guilty for slowing his progress.... notice I said "almost"...(grin) Thanks for a fun day Tim.
> 
> His shop is a pleasure to visit. Lots of room... nice big machines and Floyd. Floyd, Tim's son is fast becoming my buddy and easily teams up with me to rank on his dad. I think if we keep at it, we just might capture his curiosity and get him interested in metals as well.
> 
> Steve
> 
> Hot Dogs or Talapia?... inquiring minds want to know....LOL



  
Got the insertable tool holder made other than tapping the hole for hold down after Steve left. Only broke one 1/8" carbide endmill , Guess I forgot to lock the quill :-\ Everyone does that once.. right? :big: Have to actually work today. Mabey I can get the ball turner done this weekend. 
BTW. F&%#ing Hotdogs  

Tim


----------



## Tin Falcon

went to Rough and tumble black smith days and blew my tool allowance bought a couple of jenny calipers a couple of tap wrenches a 20LB bundle of 52100 tool steel several hammers a couple of end mills a couple lathe bits etc when I got home and looked at it and said to myself I does not look like much for $75 but I Know new it would be a whole lot more 52100 goes for about $ 4 a pound plus shipping and the greenfield tap handle are $50 each new so guess I did OK. 
Tin


----------



## chuck foster

nice bunch of tools tin!!!

i cannot go to any sort of sale or flea market and not buy at least something for the shop :
i just got back from a locale flea market this morning and there i found a pair of 4" flywheel castings. i asked the lady how much and she replied .50 cents each   .............so now i have the start of another engine 8)

chuck


----------



## Tin Falcon

Mike :
that is what I would call a hair don't LOL My younger brother went that style a couple years ago. Easy to maintain . Glad to see you posting. 
BTW I will try to get some R & T engine photos posted. 


other things did tody went through a tool box so the son can take it to work. attempted to extract a stuck broken fitting from an O2 regulator looks like will have to drill. 
Tin


----------



## Cedge

Chuck
Gotta hand it to you. when you go scrounging... you really go SCROUNGING...LOL. A find like that is like putting money in the bank. I tip my hat to ya. I got a lead, last night, on some possible machine tooling that I'll need to check out this week. Not sure what I'm onto, but it could be a decent find if it's as it's being described. More, when I know more. 

Tim... somehow I figured it would be hot dogs...LOL. She looked pretty determined as she drove away. Put a screw in the darned thing and show em some balls...(grin)

Steve 
Who figures any comments about the hair cut would just be so very wrong...LOL


----------



## Speedy

had to weld up a rebar rammer. dropped it off at a family members fabrication shop saturday, to pick up today (I did the tacks at home, but my machine is not capable of the needed penetration) 
wasn't welded when I got there, good thing because I got to watch a master at work :bow:
ended up walking out with a tan :big: I know not to walk into a shop with short shirt and pants I just wasn't expecting to stay. 

next time I go to get a one on one lesson its going to be full out and proper. 
that means no little slag ball in the shoe! 

I read it over, its not as bad as I say it is :big:

exams are done tommorow!! next step University!


----------



## rake60

Speedy I could tell you a story about a quick quick little tack weld repair to the 
tailgate hinge of my brother in laws work truck.

Me in shorts, running shoes and a tee shirt, but it was only going to take a second.
The metal was worse than it looked and the weld burned through.
20 minutes later we had it repaired properly.

I couldn't wear socks or long sleeves for 3 days! 
At least I saved the time of putting on jeans and taking my welding jacket 
off the hook just inside the garage door. :

Good Luck with the exams!

Rick


----------



## chuck foster

just got back from a service call in Kitchener and this is what i found at a flea market there. ;D
they wanted $1.00 for each piece.












96 solid carbide 4 flute end mills and 8 - 1/4" solid carbide reamers 

the best part is (if you can believe it could get better) the lady couldn't be bothered counting all the pieces so she said just give me $20.00 of the whole lot!!!!!  

so i should be all set of a long time ;D 8)

used all my luck this month.

chuck


----------



## Mcgyver

Nice, is that the one with the old Russian irrc tank out in front? or was that Guelph??? more a surplus store now that i think about it - where's flea market in Kic.

Mike - you should have done a before and after shot - 17 years, wow.


----------



## rake60

Nice Deal Chuck! 

Congrats!!!

Rick


----------



## Bogstandard

Had my Goldwing delivered on Sunday. Went out on it the first time on Monday, hadn't ridden a bike for 20 years, so I scared everyone I came across, as I learned how to get back to the left hand side of the road.
Yesterday it all clicked, and I spent hours just cruising around the Cheshire countryside, reliving my youth. 
Stopped for a smoke at the side of the road, and felt free again, after all the years cooped up in a car.

John


----------



## ksouers

John,
If they don't appreciate the way that you ride, tell them to stay off the sidewalk!

Congrats on the re-found freedom!


----------



## ksouers

Chuck,
That was quite some find! Wish I could fall into stuff like that.


----------



## Cedge

John
Is your avatar a shot of the new tattoo?....(grin)

Steve


----------



## Bogstandard

Yes, one on each cheek.


----------



## Brass_Machine

Bogstandard  said:
			
		

> ...
> Stopped for a smoke at the side of the road, and felt free again, after all the years cooped up in a car.
> 
> John



I know that feeling John... One of the many reasons I ride motorcycles.


Eric


----------



## CallMeAL

John, good thing it rains there occasionally or you will never get off the bike and set up your shop!


----------



## Cedge

Today was began with a road trip. I'd been threatening George Seal with a visit for quite sometime and today was the day it happened. After getting a wee bit lost in the Georgia countryside, George took pity on me and met me and lead me into his personal slice of heaven. The rolling hills of the rural areas outside of Atlanta are quite beautiful and George's home is a friendly and invitingly shaded nirvana. I can see why he also obviously loves the place.

The thing I like about southerners is their openness and unreserved friendliness and George fits this description in a most comfortable fashion. He met me with a humorous smile, that shared his humor at my unplanned detour and then we were off to his place. His is a shop that inspires a wee bit of envy. It's well equipped for both metal and wood working and it's chock full of ingenious storage ideas, from blade storage to several flip top roll around cabinets housing multiple tools. the only problem was the lack of swarf and clutter...LOL Yup... he in need a bit of badgering for holding out on us....LOL

Conversation was a wee bit difficult... George being so shy and all... (NOT!!!) but we managed to fill about 4 hours with interesting discussions ranging over a wide variety of subjects. Then he tried to empty his shop by loading my truck with a most generous collection of tools, catalogs and other usable stuff. 

I mentioned that he needed a bit of badgering. He's got some pretty darned nice projects underway that he needs to share with us. But like I said... he's so darned shy...LOL

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day and one I hope to repeat in the future. It was one of those rare things where I met someone who felt like an old and comfortable friend, from the first handshake. Meeting and putting faces to others from the board has proven to be quite a rewarding experience. I highly recommend it .

Thanks again George....
Steve


----------



## Bogstandard

What an absolutely rotten day, not for me, but for a HMEM's member who was coming to pick up the lathe and mill from me.

He must have started out real early this morning, then get to within about six or seven miles of my house, and broke down on the exit road from the motorway. Fuel pump packed up.

He has just sent me a pm saying he has just got home. The AA thru different relays had got him home. He must have been out at least 12 hours if not more, and didn't manage to achieve his goal.

I went out on a rescue mission but couldn't find him because of the position he had broken down in. But there would have been nothing I could do anyway, except to talk him to death.

So just as a little gesture to our fellow member, glad you made it home, and come back whenever possible.

John


----------



## CrewCab

That's rotten luck, if the fuel pump had lasted another 1/2 hour the AA would have also taken the machinery as well  .......... though I doubt they'd have helped to unload it all 

Better luck next time my friend. I'm pleased John's equipment is going to a good home ........ look on the bright side, once you get it all home and set up you can make a far better quality fuel pump for your motor 8)

As for me (and my smallest son) ........ we've been working away for the last few days, which is something I don't really enjoy, : and fortunately we don't have to do much ....... but it's been for some friends and they have made us very welcome and looked after us well, but after 4 x 12 hour days flagging a patio, building fencing and fixing garden walls etc I think we've earned a day off ............ so back to workshop refurbishment and making a ball turning tool tomorrow ...... hopefully ???

CC


----------



## rake60

John and CC, machines ALWAYS break down at the worst possible times.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve, It's great to hear about your visit with George.
But, you got lost?

About a month ago I turned a 4-1/2 hour return trip from Washington D.C.
into a 6-1/2 hour drive by missing a turn and being too dumb to notice it until
I saw a sign that a city 60 miles west of home was 2 miles away. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




The next day I bought a GPS navigator for the trips.




With today's fuel prices the $265 I paid for the TomTom One XL S
will cover it's self by saving me from just two of those detours! :big:

Rick


----------



## Cedge

Rick
George gave me something like that..... when I left... it was made of paper. :

Steve


----------



## rake60

Last night my wife asked if I could stop by her office on my way home
to take a look at their office printer. The automatic paper feed was jamming
every time.

I did install and set up that printer when they bought it, but what I actually 
know about it's workings could be boldly engraved in script on my thumbnail.
But, it's just a machine, how tough can it be?

I stopped in and had the paper feed disassembled in a matter of seconds but
couldn't find anything wrong. Putting it back together was a totally different
story! :-\ That took a little more time...

Anyway, once it was back together it worked perfectly. ???

Her office is happy but I'll never know what I did to fix it! 

Rick


----------



## Bernd

Steve,

I got to talk to George on the phone. He sent me those gears for my Grizzly mini-mill. Wish I could meet him sometime, but it's a bit of a drive from New York at todays gas prices.  His place sounds like a nice place to visit. It be great if a bunch of us could get together at the next Cabin Fever at Pa. next year. 

Bernd


----------



## DICKEYBIRD

I did my good deed for the week last night & this morning.

My almost blind neighbor's self-propelled mower cable end snapped about half-way through the mowing job his young son was doing. I didn't think he'd find a replacement cable any time soon so I volunteered to put the mighty powers of my garage R&D facility into immediate action.

The cable end was a swedged in place fitting that slipped over a peg spot-welded to the control lever. I clipped off most of the broken fitting and squared it up with a Dremel mounted stone. Next was an aluminum fitting with a milled-in slot to capture the modified end. The first try didn't give enough cable movement so I milled the slot longer and made a steel spacer to fill the gap. I made a cover plate to hold the whole mess together and held it on with 3 2-56 screws. I drilled a 1/4" hole in it to fit the peg and drilled/tapped the end of the peg for a 4-40 screw & washer to hold it on. The original one-time use retainer cap of course exploded into several pieces and there wasn't room for a simple cotter pin & drilled hole.

Works a treat and would only be about 437 times more expensive to make than a new cable would cost!


----------



## Stan

There is no joy in repetitive production work. There is a sense of accomplishment when you face a challenge and win. Your solution is great and like the Mastercard commercial, the feeling is priceless.


----------



## tel

Nice work-around, and bound to be unique! ;D


----------



## Bernd

Nice engineering job there Dickybird. :bow: I love projects like that. 

Bernd


----------



## DickDastardly40

Having the almost in-laws round for dinner tonite, I reckon I've got the Lazy Susan to .001" TIR ;D


----------



## Bogstandard

Al,

Tell me what they taste like, I ate mine years ago, but due to their age they were a bit tough.

Bogs


----------



## Cedge

Thought it might be time to re-resurrect this thread once again....

Hands nice and dirty today.... The mill badly needed tramming, the rotary table beneath the vise had to be removed for lack of clearance and my handy dandy indexing table desperately needed a crucial bit of repair. The tramming was no problem and was quickly accomplished, but repositioning the cloned Kurt vise for zero TIR took what seemed like forever. Nice to see zero movement on the DTI as it moves down the inside of the stationary jaw.

The center pivot pin on the indexer top plate was loose and required the center to be drilled larger and then plugged with fresh metal. It too now has less than .0003 run out if my DTI isn't lying to me. The needle barely fluctuates at all when applied to the pin.

While I was at it, one of the ER40 collets (3/8) that I recently bought from Ebay's 800Watt was not running concentrically, so I dropped in at Travers Tools and picked up a replacement, along with 3 new R-8 collets which were on sale for 40% off. This evening will be dedicated to putting tools away and getting things clean enough to begin the next project fresh. 

Feels good to have the needed maintenance done and looking forward messing it up all again....LOL.  Even old reprobates like me enjoy the sleep of the righteous once in a while.

Busy Steve


----------



## Bogstandard

Steve,

Isn't it a nice feeling when you tweak your bits and they are spot on again.

I've been cutting in anger tonight, getting used to the new mill. I just don't know how I got such good results before without the power feeds.

Put a cut on, start the cut and adjust the speed of the cutter and feed until it sounds nice and smooth. Half round grooves have come out really smooth, that can just be cleaned up with a quick wipeover with emery, instead of finger aching rubbing down to get the machining marks off. All done, sitting down, no effort at all, except for throwing a lever every now and again. Fly cutting comes straight off the machine, ready for polishing.

I am going to enjoy this new part of my machining life.

John


----------



## wareagle

Well, I'll bite and jump in here as well... I have been doing the typical post project clean up. Including making sure tooling is in it's proper place, lubing equipment, vacuuming swarf, wiping down hoses, sweeping/mopping the floor and hauling trash out. Not real exciting. But......

I finally have an opportunity to get back on the Crusader project that I started seemingly years ago. Things have slacked up for me a bit, so I am digging this one out and plan to widdle some metal tonight. Who knows, maybe I'll actually get to finish it up before I retire!


----------



## kvom

Today the plumber finished up in the new garage/shop. He had to find the house water supply to connect to the garage circuits, and luckily I had an album of photos I took 15 years ago when the house was under construction. By studying a couple of these carefully, he deduced that the best place to hook into a 3/4" supply line was directly over the kitchen refrigerator. The wife was a bit apprehensive when he cut into the ceiling, but lo and behold the pipe was right there.

Apart from supervising the plumbing, I also managed to finish the last part for our fireplace mantel. Basically I had to cut an ogee on three edges of a pine board, and then sand it down. Once it's tacked in place the wife can paint it to match the rest.

Tomorrow a friend and I start wiring the garage/shop. Luckily for me he's an electrician.


----------



## Bogstandard

WE,



> I finally have an opportunity to get back on the Crusader project that I started seemingly years ago.



I don't recall you mentioning that, what is it about?

John


----------



## Cedge

Kvom...
When are we going to officially christen the new Man Cave? Inquiring minds want to know.

Bogster
I always enjoy having my bits tweaked but 'er indoors says they need less of it these days...(innocent grin)

Wareagle
The housekeeping thing is on the schedule for tomorrow, now. With me bits all freshly tweaked, I get lazy...LOL


Steve


----------



## Brian Rupnow

Spent the day doing damn little --Discussed a possible new job with a gentleman out of the USA---Did my bit to deplete the ozone layer. (I have garbage pickup for household trash, 2 bag limit. The actual dump is about 25 frickin kilometers away, so I save up all big junk that will burn. I'm not actually "in" the city here. I am within shouting distance of the city, but down over a hill and surrounded by pine forest. I wait untill a heavily overcast, light rain day, when smoke can't be seen and the forest won't catch fire---then drag out wooden shipping crates, cardboard boxes, styrofoam packing, oily rags, various half emty cans of flamable substances---and have a great big, very hot, very quick bonfire. Then I'm good for another 3 or 4 months!)----Take that, you treehuggers!!! ;D ;D


----------



## steamer

Started and engine block for a tugboat engine.

Here is an older picture

It's a "Seadog" by Scratchdog motors


----------



## kvom

> Kvom...
> When are we going to officially christen the new Man Cave? Inquiring minds want to know.


If we get wiring done this weekend or the next, then the only obstacle to the next inspection is installing the AC. In the meantime I expect the exterior doors, the windows, and the siding will me installed as the materials have been delivered.

Once past the inspection, them we have insulation install, then drywall. Then another inspection.

Then we install lighting, toilet & basin, and garage doors. If all that goes well then we get the certificate of occupancy and can have the chirstening (once I locate a suitable beer fridge).

Thereafter I will need to finish upstairs flooring and baseboards, plus painting the walls. And of course moving gear into the garage, installing automotive lift, building workbenches, installing some cabinets ....

One good reason for me to keep going with my twice-weekly machining class is to ensure some chip-making time as opposed to the other must-dos.


----------



## itowbig

ive been fixing my brand new (to me) bicycle that sister inlaw did not want any more. now i can ride to work no more gas. trying to figger out how to make a crank thats not got a bend in it. cleaning out the garage work shop a bit. still need to oil up the machines. counting how many projects i still got to finish. (to many im afraid) well that acounts for my day so far. got two days off from work and in between hunny do's i get out to my man cave.


----------



## steamer

Speaking of lathes and whats up
I have one of these.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/waltham/index.html

I am going to restore it.  I am looking to find another in this world somewhere

If you have one, or know of one, please send me a post.  He's Lonely!

Dave


----------



## wareagle

Bogstandard  said:
			
		

> WE,
> 
> I don't recall you mentioning that, what is it about?
> 
> John



The Crusader .60 is a two stroke glow plug engine from bar stock. Like a model airplane engine. Home Shop Machinist did the build article a while back. I started the project at the beginning of the year, and have made very little headway on it. The funny thing about the machining hobby is nothing happens when you don't have time to be out in the shop!! 





I did get a little done on it tonight! I have basically gathered all of my bar stock needed for the project and have it roughed to size. :


----------



## Divided He ad

What am I up to today.... Well I was relaxing and perusing the site. Now I am about to embark on a plumbing adventure.... My dad put a chisel through the main central heating feed : 

The last 10 min's spent ripping a hole in the wall and crushing the pipes to stop the 40 gallon tank from pouring it's contents all over his lounge carpet!
His fingers were getting sore from plugging the hole!! 

So now it has to be repaired ASAP or no hot water!!! PITA !!!


Signing off to go shopping for pipes!



Ralph.


----------



## steamer

oh man! 

make sure dad buys lunch ;D


----------



## wareagle

Well, I have a crankcase for the Crusader all but finished. I lack tapping eight 6-32 threads for the cylinder and backplate, and decided to hold off until I can get my hands on some new taps. It's a start!!


----------



## Divided He ad

Crisis over, pipes repaired and steak eaten ;D 


Now I'm off to a car show today in Blackpool..... Hope he doesn't hit any more!!! 



Wareagle, Have you any photo's of your work un the crusader? 




Ralph.


----------



## Bogstandard

W.E.,

Isn't it a PITA when you have to stop a job when you find you haven't got the bits to finish a part off. But I am sure the wait will be worth it.

Ralph,

A few years ago, I refurbished my 25 year old heating system, plus all my water lines around the house, and fitted cheap inline shut off valves in every line. Now, if say I want to take a radiator off to replace a leaky valve, turn a couple of valves off with a screwdriver, and minimal loss of water. Same would go for a burst pipe, isolate it from the system. A day spent putting them in can save a lot of grief.

John


----------



## kvom

Electrician friend and I got about 75% of the garage wired yesterday. ;D That 6/3 wire is damn heavy, esp. when trying to fasten it overhead.

Should finish the garage today and start on the upper level.


----------



## wareagle

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> Wareagle, Have you any photo's of your work un the crusader?



Funny you mention that... As I was machining the crank case, it occured to me that I should be taking build pictures. In the excitement of being able to finally work on my project for fun, I just turned handles and made chips. I'll get out there and take some pictures... Probably will start a thread in the _A work in progress_ forum before long.


----------



## kvom

I spent the entire day again puling wire. Holding 10 gauge wire over head trying to get staples into joists to hold it up is tiring. I still have 3 circuits to run downstairs: 30a lift, 50a welder socket, and outdoor spots.

My friend got all of the boxes attached, wired the stairway and garage ceiling, and started getting the wire into the main panel. he also ran the wire to the upstairs bath.

My friend is back Wed. night to start the upstairs outlets and the kitchen.


----------



## Kludge

steamer  said:
			
		

> http://www.lathes.co.uk/waltham/index.html



*drool* ... *serious envy* ... and maybe a pout or two for good measure.

That's a beautiful machine! You have, indeed, a very fine project, Dave. That's far better than any Levin I've ever seen! :bow: :bow:

BEst regards,

Kludge ... who's now totally dissatisfied with his Derby, Peerless & Lorch lathes


----------



## Kludge

Current project ... 

Remember all those gears (aka: "wheels" in the watch repair/making world) in the pictures? I'm finally sorting them in order of size for the spoked ones, and size & type for the solid ones. I'm not bothering with pitch in a number of cases since I can deal with that later as needed, however where it's obvious I will be using that as a criteria as well. There is some commonality due to the finite number of ways the fixed relationships between hours, minutes & seconds can be achieved in a restricted space as well as to tie the mainspring to the wheel driving the second hand (which is also part of the power transmission and regulation) so it all works out nicely. 

I have no clue when it'll be done. *sigh*

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## John S

Well the tail bearing went in the Dremel today, caused the armature to drop and it broke one of the posts off the brush ring.

Problem? how to repair the broken post? weld the broken bit back on or make a new post support and screw it to the brush ring ?

Sorted out thru the scrap box, found some square bar and flat strip and a quick furckle with the welder, bridgy and stand drill and we had a new post.

Only took me about two and a bit hours so not bad.

Pic of the finished brush ring below, it's a bit small so you might have to zoom in.















Gottcha

It's actually off a 275 K w DC motor that drives a spinning frame. Seen those big reels of cable about 6 foot diameter on the back of trucks ? well this machines takes up to 9 of these in a big ferris wheel arrangement and spins the whole lot whilst also rotating the reels to wind large undersea cables for the wind farms.

Each post holds 10 brushes about 1.5" x 1" and 2" long.

Here's the frame.






.


----------



## Brian Rupnow

Today I am back in the saddle, doing my real job--(the one that makes money_. Had a P.O. come through to design a large industrial centrifuge.


----------



## CrewCab

Brian Rupnow  said:
			
		

> Today I am back in the saddle



Good to hear Brian 8) ........ glad the order books are filling up again.

CC


----------



## baldrocker

I often return from the scrap yard with strange items
that are a sure source of all sorts of goodies, while stripping
(the items) all the nuts, bolts, screws, rollers etc go into a plastic container
then about once a month I spend a couple or three hours sorting
I find this strangely thereap therap well making. I'll do that 
today while trying to work out where my Myford is going to live.
BR


----------



## steamer

I got in the door last Friday to a sad little boy and girl (twins age 6). It seems my son took apart my daughters binoculars, and broke them in the process......( Walmart binoculars, not Zeiss.....)

My wife did the right thing and gave my son's binoculars to my daughter.

My son, now heart broken, looked at me and said

" Papa!....I just wanted to know how they worked! :'(

"Mama says you can fix them!? :'("

 ???   says I to SHMBO ...without words of course.......

Well......Papa's rep is now on the line, and I haven't even seen the patient yet!

He brought the zip loc bag of parts( some missing) with puppy dog eyes...

Now I can't punish him for wanting to know why......I'll look at it tomorrow, I said ...I will try.........( against my better judgement....but the die was already cast)

The next morning I put the pieces together and came up with a plan. After much .....tooo much effort ( Walmart binoculars now not Zeiss) and a faceplate and a stint at the mill, I made the two repair parts, screwed them together with 1-72 and 5-40 screws and brought them for a test drive.  Reputation in tact....and most importantly, my little inquisitive one was happy.... There even better than before Papa!......ah well...I guess it was worth it hey..
NO you won't find brass on Walmart binoculars.......Their Custom! 8)
Dave


----------



## rake60

Dave those are the stories that make it all worth while!

Many years ago I was living out of my home state and my parents came to 
visit for Christmas. A kick scooter they had brought as a gift for one of my then
young boys was missing a nylon bushing. I had 3 broken hearts in the living room.

I slipped out to the garage for a smoke, hacked a bit of nylon off an old screwdriver 
handle and made a bushing in less than 5 minutes.

That's when the skills pay off in ways that can not be replaced!

Congrats on your own save! 

Rick


----------



## wareagle

Dave, great tale! And a great save for you and the binoculars. Your little one will remember that for the rest of his life, and may in fact keep those binoculars! After all, dad did fix them!!

I certainly can relate to your plight! My boy can destroy a canon ball with a rubber mallet. He isn't destructive by nature, but he doesn't think things through... Such as playing with a plastic toy and then tossing it up in the air and trying to catch it, but coming up short as it slams into the ground in pieces. No telling how many things that were trash wound up on my bench for repairs!! 

Funny thing about this is those puppy dog eyes when they want something fixed and how far they'll made one go to meet expectations. In my son's mind, I can fix anything and his heart is broken if I can pull it off. It sure tugs at you when the kids look up to you in that way and you can't deliver! 

On some occasions, I sometimes sneak off and buy a replacement toy and let him think that I fixed it. _Cheating... Maybe_!!


----------



## steamer

On some occasions, I sometimes sneak off and buy a replacement toy and let him think that I fixed it. Cheating... Maybe!! "


Trust me.......HE knows the differance...besides he usually wants to watch me fix it! : ;D


----------



## steamer

gauge board for the boat under way...with customized gauge dials


----------



## wareagle

Building a rotary phase converter for a friend. He just aquired a lathe and mill in some auction. He had pictures, and to me they looked pretty rough, but he's happy with what he found. The converter is all but wrapped up, and then it is back to the Crusader!

I'm already starting to think ahead to the next engine project, and I am thinking of building a 3 cylinder radial...


----------



## steamer

wareagle  said:
			
		

> .....I'm already starting to think ahead to the next engine project, and I am thinking of building a 3 cylinder radial...




Ahhh.  The Little loco's one?

http://www.littlelocos.com/home/littlelocos_003.htm

Dave


----------



## wareagle

steamer  said:
			
		

> Ahhh. The Little loco's one?
> 
> http://www.littlelocos.com/home/littlelocos_003.htm
> 
> Dave



None other. I have an ambitious plan brewing, and it involves working myself up to building what currently is my dream project. 

My plan of attack is to finish up the Crusader and get it running. Once that is done, I likely will then tackle the Little Loco's Little Pip 3 cylinder radial. When that one is finished and running, I am very seriously considering building the Ageless Engines 9 cylinder radial, which is my dream (read: very ambitious) build at this point.

I am not sure why, but I am drawn to those radial engines for some reason. I love the sound and looks of them, and it isn't a commonly seen power plant (unless your an aviation buff).


My buddy picked up his phase converter, and is thrilled with how it turned out. Personally, I give it a B+, but then I am my own worst critic. I imagine he'll get it installed this week and then give it a trial run this weekend. We have scheduled me to do a formal start up that following weekend to make sure everything is running properly and make any adjustments if needed.

Got to get a few things wrapped up tonight business wise, then it is hopefully in the shop several evenings this week to make some more parts for the Crusader.


----------



## steamer

WE,

Cool! I am building a "Seadog" for a tugboat this winter.  I have a transmission done up for it, but I need to draw up a clutch. ;D

The next engine build I think is going to be a "Wallaby" though probably not with castings...too pricey

BAR STOCK. That should give my mill a work out.  

I just like the looks of her.....Very Agricultural........ ;D

If I survive that, An Ageless Nine is in the cards.  Been looking at building some clocks too

Been working on the boat.  I am about to install and injector for her.  I got the Superscale Locomotive works "Economy" injector and I am planning the plumbing for it now.
Trying to get her steaming before the snow flies....much to do! 

Have a good night!

Dave


----------



## wareagle

steamer, you sound like me! Too many irons in the fire and not enough of me to go around! LOL

I have thought about designing and building a hit-n-miss engine, but haven't taken the time to do it. We have a trade festival in a town east of here and one of the vendors has a hit-n-miss engine that just captivates my attention everytime I am out there. The exact brand/model of engine it is escapes me, but I could stand and watch that thing chug along for hours. It'd be cool to have one to fire up and just loose time watching it.

But here recently, I just keep circling around (no pun intended) to those radials. I was talking to SWMBO this evening and contemplating on order the plans for the Pip and getting set up to make an attempt. I think my better judgement has dictated that I finish the Crusader first before I start cutting the on the Pip. If I started a radial, I am afraid the Crusader would be shelved for a while! : I'll probably spring for the Pip plans in the next week or so. 

Rather than buying the Ageless 9 plans and casting, I put those on my wish list for Christmas. Everyone want to get me stuff, but I am the type that if I want it I just go get it. 8)


In the spirit of staying with the topic, I managed to go out and do some machinery maintence this evening. Oiled the machines, wiped up the chip pans, vacuumed the swarf, trammed the mill and got them ready for battle. Sometimes that is as rewarding as making parts for some reason, and it certainly was this evening!


----------



## steamer

Hey WE,

Like this one?

http://www.oldengine.org/members/cmsgma/2008show/simplicity.html

That was my Dad's engine.  It's mine now. I plan on having it for a while.

Yes I can get lost watching it run...My kids do too.

Sorry to stray off thread

Dave


----------



## Maryak

Today was a WOW, (Win of the Week), factor day.

I was given this - A piece of copper pipe about 30" long 6" dia. Was going to be a muffler on a vintage car. When I get the ends cut off I hope it will make a boiler. Must measure the wall thickness but it's seamless and is heavy enough. :big:







Next this little gem fell into my lap. Don't know how accurate it is but as somebody here said it's good enough for measuring scrap, (other peoples treasures). 






Not bad for nuffink huh.


----------



## Kludge

wareagle  said:
			
		

> We have a trade festival in a town east of here and one of the vendors has a hit-n-miss engine that just captivates my attention everytime I am out there.



Where I grew up north of Pittsburgh, PA, there were a lot of baby oil wells that didn't really produce a lot but were enough that the folks who owned them and the land kept them chugging along. (The income from them was split between the well owners and the land owners.) Most of them used hit 'n miss engines that ran off the crude they pumped and I can still remember listening to them at night. A few - the ones closest to me - I could identify by sound, mostly the bark when it was time to hit again. Aside from the few steam engines still in use, there were also some one-lung engines that ran at a phenomenally low speed and were geared down further to operate a walking beam like the steam engines did. Nights were fascinating because of all of this, just listening to them.

By the time I got back from the Navy, a lot of them had been capped and the rest had electric motors which just wasn't the same. (There's a story about one of the ones that got capped - but I'll save it for another day.)

I think somewhere down the line, there's a hit 'n miss in my future.

BEst regards,

Kludge ... wandering down memory lane again.


----------



## carbide_burner

> (There's a story about one of the ones that got capped - but I'll save it for another day.)



Tomorrow maybe?  

 :big: {me bouncing up and down in anticipation}


----------



## John S

Repairing electric motors...A gain [ best Forrest Gump voice ]

 :'(

.


----------



## BAH101

I am sitting in a tent, 10 km from the arctic ocean in a mining camp. Spent the last hour cleaning 1/2 in of inch from the tails of 2 helicopters so they could take the crews out to work. It is only -2C with a nice southern wind and light freezing mist. Oh, and there is a low pressure system coming in with some bad weather . 
So, between putting the covers on the helicopter blades so they don't get all frozen, I will dabble with my CAD program to fill the day. Gonna finish the Snow double cylinder engine drawing I posted in the Learning to use CAD thread. 

Only 2 weeks left until I get home


----------



## Cedge

BAH...
I take it you are not working on your tan or surfing much right now...LOL. I can do heat with little problem, but I could never abide the maddening cold at the levels you mention. You have my respect for your durability. Hurry on home. I'll have a neat brandy in your honor, when the sun sinks over the yardarm.

The past two days have been been an endurance race of sorts here. I pretty much took my shop down and went through it with an eye towards consolidating things a bit. Having more tool boxes than any sane man should, I decided to centralize all my tooling and gain a bit of room by eliminating the boxed tools from their various locations around the shop. While I was at it, I added non-slip drawer liners to the tool boxes to keep things from bumping into each other.

I sorted everything into "logical" categories and then went about trying to make it all fit into the 32 available drawers. After everything was in the drawers, I went back through it all and fine tuned things so that the effort resulted in a usable arrangement. When done, I was a bit amazed at just what I'd accumulated along the way. What I discovered is that I'm probably tooled out better than many small professional machine shops. 

It's pretty cool to see it all in one place with everything in a place where I can find it with ease. End mills in one drawer... specialty mills in another, measuring devices, clamping and setup, files...etc... all in their own place and arranged for quick access. I'm chuffed....LOL

That project opened up a bit of space, so I kept going and rearranged much the stuff on pegboards, shelves and work tables so that they more easily met the work flow I seem to have accidentally established. All the while I cleaned up stray swarf, wiped down counters and in general tidied the place up.

I finished the second frenzy and sat down to take a break. As I looked around, something seemed amiss. It took a few minutes to figure out what was niggling my single lonely brain cell. Everything looked nice and neat, but my machines were looking a bit neglected. Grease, dust, dirt, grime, swarf, surface rust.... you know the stuff that sneaks in, was on every machine in the place, to one extent or another....(sigh)

Out came the cleaning products, steel wool, WD40, fine sand paper and polish as I began an effort that will probably last well into this evening. I'll not have any problems getting to sleep tonight...except maybe from the 3rd degree "dishpan hands" I'm sporting right now....(grin)

In between all the bursts of energy, I managed to tram several machines, correct a problem with the new QCTP holders (now they all lock down in the same place with the quick release) and polish up all the work tables on the various smaller grinders and the drill press. It's just time to get all those tiny little annoying "round tuit" items killed off.

Steve


----------



## CrewCab

Steve .............. your "aving a larrfffff"  ............... I doubt I could get that much done in a week 

The medicinal Brandy sounds good mind ............. and as the sun is well over the yardarm 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 CC


----------



## wareagle

Steve, when you are done could I give you my address... :big: :big:

I need to do the same thing in my shop in the worst way. The thing is it won't take more than a day to do, but just biting the bullet and getting it done seems to be the tough part. One day.... <sigh>


What am I doing today??? Well, work mostly. Trying to get paperwork tidied up so I can get some money in the door. All of the work stuff sure gets in the way of my play time!! 

If all goes to plan, I will take about an hour or so and make a few chips on the Crusader and try out the new camera. ;D The old one had me speaking in tongues tha other night when I uploaded the images from the card and saw just how terrible they came out.


----------



## BAH101

Cedge  said:
			
		

> BAH...
> I take it you are not working on your tan or surfing much right now...LOL. I can do heat with little problem, but I could never abide the maddening cold at the levels you mention. You have my respect for your durability. Hurry on home. I'll have a neat brandy in your honor, when the sun sinks over the yardarm.



Tan haha I wish, I have been here since Saturday and no sign of a sun...I think it left for the south with the birds. -2C is not bad, the wind does your fingers in, but winter is not here yet. In November -30 to -50 is common . Then it is maddeningly cold. Thanks for the support, 2 weeks left then home


----------



## Cedge

W.E....
That's about what it came to.... I finally couldn't stand it anymore. With the additional tools I bought from Clarke, I had to do something and do it now. I had to find a place for more than 50 reamers, several new precision measuring devices and a whole boat load of other sundry loose tools. It was definitely bullet biting time or I had to enlarge the man cave.

BAH
Hang in there guy... the sun still shines over the rest of the world. Sounds like maybe you're living a part of the Ice Road Truckers saga.

Steve


----------



## ChooChooMike

Recovering :

Spent 8-days in Colorado. 3 playing at Pikes Peak, Leadville (and backroads around there), Georgetown & Idaho Springs. Yeah I know I'm weird, but am quite interested in the old mining areas and of course steam trains  Then had to work in the Denver area for 5 days. Flew home last Friday nite, then had to get ready for working our 2 cruises this past weekend on the S.S. Lane Victory (a tribute to the Merchant Marines of WWII+)

www.lanevictory.org

This is a fully operational WWII Victory-class cargo ship that is berthed in San Pedro, CA (Los Angeles harbor). We had our Sept cruises this past Sat/Sunday. I volunteer as an engine room tour guide and general deck help where needed. I 1st went on a cruise last year and the engine room tour guides had to mop up my drool as I toured the ships machinery. I even convinced them to let me spend more time down there later that day. They then got smart, shanghied me, threw me in the bilge and refused to let me go until I had agreed to join the engine tour guides and the rest is history !! :  I started working the very next cruise ! Hell, even doubled my pay :big:

If you want to see some real steamy action, then the engine room is the place to be. 2 large boilers, cross-compound turbine pair, driving a large reduction gear box to an 18' diameter propeller. Not quite the same as a steam locomotive (I work on one of those too ), but quite fascinating. Lots of heat, (~110 degrees in various places), all kinds of machinery clanking, rotating, clunking, gurgling, etc. Some of the firemen & engineers we have ran these ships in WWII. Talk about some amazing history !!

There's only 2 or 3 other Victory ships open to the public. The Lane Victory is the only one fully ocean certified. 

There's an operational Liberty ship - the Jeremiah O'Brien 

www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/

in San Francisco that has even more steam action - it's powered by a triple-expansion piston engine and most of the deck equipment (capstans & winches) is also steam powered. You can probably see more steam powered equipment there in a few hours than anywhere else. That's on my list for a visit too 

Mike


----------



## wareagle

CCM, that looks like a fun gig! No wonder you are beat!! Drooling take it out of a person!!


----------



## ksouers

ChooChooMike  said:
			
		

> Flew home last Friday nite, then had to get ready for working our 2 cruises this past weekend on the S.S. Lane Victory (a tribute to the Merchant Marines of WWII+)
> 
> www.lanevictory.org
> 
> This is a fully operational WWII Victory-class cargo ship that is berthed in San Pedro, CA (Los Angeles harbor). We had our Sept cruises this past Sat/Sunday. I volunteer as an engine room tour guide and general deck help where needed. I 1st went on a cruise last year and the engine room tour guides had to mop up my drool as I toured the ships machinery. I even convinced them to let me spend more time down there later that day. They then got smart, shanghied me, threw me in the bilge and refused to let me go until I had agreed to join the engine tour guides and the rest is history !! :  I started working the very next cruise ! Hell, even doubled my pay :big:
> 
> If you want to see some real steamy action, then the engine room is the place to be. 2 large boilers, cross-compound turbine pair, driving a large reduction gear box to an 18' diameter propeller. Not quite the same as a steam locomotive (I work on one of those too ), but quite fascinating. Lots of heat, (~110 degrees in various places), all kinds of machinery clanking, rotating, clunking, gurgling, etc. Some of the firemen & engineers we have ran these ships in WWII. Talk about some amazing history !!



Man, wish I could have been there! I spent two years on a T-2 class oil tanker back in late 1980 to 1982. The ship was commissioned in 1944. I was "black gang", of course. There is no other place to sail but the engine room! The main power was turbo-electric, a main turbine dedicated to a motor driving the ship. Also two auxiliary turbines for ships main electric and a whole mess of piston steam engines for various operations and backup.

Almost 30 years later I can still hear the sounds of that engine room.


----------



## compound driver 2

Im working on a 3 1/2 inch gauge 0-4-0 tank loco thats being built for my step son
when he gets his steam ticket for the local club. 
he already drives my 4-4-2 but its a bit on the leggy side for him.


----------



## kvom

Steve,

If you need to get rid of some of the extra toolboxes, let me know and I'll take them off of your hands ;D

On my shop build:

My AC units came yesterday, and today I'm reading the installation manual. It seems relatively straightforward, except for the fact that the power calls for 20a breakers but on a 14ga wire. A friend is helping me run the linesets on Saturday. Other than that, I installed locks/doorknobs on the doors and hauled 300+ pounds of scrap wood to the landfill.

Still waiting for my electrician friend to bring over the #2 grounding wire, and for the framers to finish a few minor items prior to calling in for inspections.


----------



## wareagle

Well, I am fighting of some sort of bug. Feeling a little under the weather. Have been for the past few days.... :-[ I think I am turning the corner, but we'll see. Just tired of coughing all of the time!!

Basically I am taking it easy today. Have been napping and just laying around. I can't remember the last time I had an opportunity to be a couch veggie!!!! Just wish it wasn't due to illness. :


----------



## steamer

Hope your feeling better!


----------



## wareagle

steamer  said:
			
		

> Hope your feeling better!



Thanks! It's been awhile since I've been sick, so I guess I'm due.  : Oh well, I have certainly been much worse off than I am this time, so there is always a silver lining to the cloud. Just need this to run its course and go away so I can get back at it!!!


----------



## CrewCab

W/E ........... bear with it, no fun I'm sure, more paracetamol's and warm drinks methinks .............&#160;&#160;  ............ hope it passes quickly&#160; 8)

As for what have I been doing today ............. helping the lad's lay blockwork in the rain, helping Mrs CC with her Dad .........&#160; don't ask, it's an incontinence thing&#160; ??? .............. supermarket run tonight, walked the dogs in the pouring rain ........ they don't mind the rain, but It's not my idea of fun&#160; : ........ fine tuned settings for the vfd on the lathe and "shaped" a little aluminium ........... that felt good ............. nothing constructive really, more therapeutic but it was fun  .......... got to say this hunk of old British iron is an absolute pleasure to use&#160; 8)

CC


----------



## wareagle

CC, I'm hangin'! 

Walkin' and workin' in the rain... Doesn't sound like any fun at all. Stay dry!! And warm!!

Glad your British iron is turning! You're going to really enjoy it for sure! Can wait to see the first project come off of it.


----------



## CrewCab

wareagle  said:
			
		

> Can't wait to see the first project come off of it.



errr RU sure ................. cos ere' it is 







OK, don't mock guys ................ I just felt the need to make some swarf 

CC


----------



## chuck foster

well i had to make one of these










cause the three cylinder fair banks has about 300 to 400 holes in it to be tapped 

i just used what ever bits and pieces i could find in the scrap box to make the frame works and to hold the tap i just used a small tap wrench. it works great and will get a good workout with all the holes i have to tap.

i made the fancy edge on the bottom plate with a router bit, it seamed to work ok.

the pics are sideways and i don't know how to turn them..........anyone know how???


chuck


----------



## wareagle

Chuck, I believe you have to orient the pictures prior to uploading. Which editing/veiwing software are you using?


----------



## ksouers

Hey CC. That's a really nice looking...ummm....errr....thing ;D

Actually that's a very nice finish on it. Did you clean it up any?


----------



## wareagle

ksouers  said:
			
		

> Hey CC. That's a really nice looking...ummm....errr....thing ;D



Kevin, that's a knewter valve for a steam fired ignition system that will soon be mounted onto a fifteen cylinder cryrogentically cooled seven cycle nuclear powered ultra high speed turbine engine that will ultimately power a 1/4 scale '69 Volkswagon Micro Bus.  ;D

Dave, sorry. I couldn't help myself!! :big: :big: Here's one for the first "turn" off of your new baby!!


----------



## CrewCab

ksouers  said:
			
		

> Actually that's a very nice finish on it. Did you clean it up any?



It's just as it came off the lathe Kevin



................. Wareagle ................. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  CC


----------



## Stan

CC: I am sure you will get a lot of pleasure working with your Boxford. As you already know, there is a difference in the old British iron and the new Chinese iron. I still regret selling mine but it was on the company books.


----------



## Maryak

Armed with SandyC's very helpful advise about silver soldering, off I went to glue on the transfer cover.

It was not to be 

I gotta tel ya, I hate 4 bolt flanges on the triple enclosures of ISO Tanks.   

Spent most of the day getting one to seal for the 5 year hydro on a tank. (BV and the client will be thrilled when they get the bill  :)

It's a real bugger when work gets in the way of a good hobby; and I'm supposed to be retired 

Now I feel better that I vented my spleen 

Ah well there's always tomorrow but then again its poets day, so maybe next week


----------



## kvom

My vo-tech machining course starts up again tonight ;D I'll be building Rupnow's scaled up beam engine hopefully.


----------



## oldboatguy

By oldboatguy at 2
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




By [URL=http://profile.imageshack[I

I am finishing a design for a new beam engine. The flywheel is 3" dia. and the side frames are meant to be lasered out of 3/16" aluminum. I think I have a source for the laser work. I am working on extracting Dwg files and pdf files now. Anyone interested, send me an e-mail. Also my son & I are working on putting my shop back together. The Atlas lathe is up and running and re-tooled. Now we are working on the Rockford mill. It is dismantled down to the bare castings right now. We are stripping the castings down to bare metal & will repaint, rebuild the spindle, & have the ways reground then re-assemble. Note to self- never keep machine tools in a damp garage. The restoration job is a killer.


----------



## Kludge

oldboatguy  said:
			
		

> Note to self- never keep machine tools in a damp garage. The restoration job is a killer.



I live 50 yards from the ocean. Salt air pervades but keeping covers over them and putting silica gel packets (or, in your case since you've got bigger toys, DampRid I think it's called) with them helps considerably. I figured that out a bit late so I know what you mean about restoration/recovery.

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## wareagle

Recovering. From being under the weather, and also pushing myself a little too hard. Not much energy left here! Think I am going to call it an early night and get some winks!


----------



## Kludge

wareagle  said:
			
		

> Think I am going to call it an early night and get some winks!


Who ya gonna wink at? :big: :big: :big:

BEcome well soonest!

BEst regards,

Kludge


----------



## zeusrekning

Just got back from a concert this eve. Had a lot of fun. 
http://www.wsslfm.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=141930

Check out pic #3 me, my wife, and my mom.


----------



## wareagle

Kludge  said:
			
		

> Who ya gonna wink at? :big: :big: :big:



Well, it depends on if you ask me or my better half! ;D LOL 

All kidding aside, I could not have landed myself a more suitable bride! She, as all of us do, has her faults, but she more than makes up for that in so many other ways! I really am enjoying the time I share with her and hope that we have decades to become old and wrinkled together! 

W/E 
_Who really should let Mrs. W/E read this post for the brownie point factor!_  :big:


----------



## baldrocker

WE
Do you really think she is not wise to that? ;D
BR


----------



## wareagle

She is. But one can never hit a grand slam unless they step up to the plate and swing the bat. And I need to swing all I can! :big: ;D


----------



## Maryak

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the uplift to Senior member 

A couple of simple questions:

What is meant by LOL ??? at first I thought Lots of Luck, but doesn't seem to fit with some of the places its been used.

What is Karma ???

When your up off the floor from laughing, please tell me.

Regards
Bob


----------



## CrewCab

Bob 
LOL ........... is internet slang and the most widely accepted meaning (I believe) is "laughing out loud", though you could also use it in the context of "lots of love" or "lots of luck"

Karma ............. again just my opinion .......... is a bit of fun really, if someone does something you like or impresses you then hitting the "applaud" button gives them another vote or increases their Karma 

hth 

CC 










(hth = hope this helps  )


----------



## Maryak

Thanks CC,

All is revealed :bow:

Regards
Bob


----------



## Maryak

Rake60,

Loved your story about the 2 guys and the piano :big:

Reminded of an Agent we had from up Woomera way in the North.

He came down to the depot with his daughter and they had some 44gal drums of Diesel to load.

Now this lass was not what you would call an oil painting and she was probably wider than she was tall, (she was under 5ft). I'd say her COG was similar to that of a frustrum of a cone.

Anyway, one full drum fell off the tray of the truck, it didn't break! "Don't worry Dad," she cried. Bent down picked it up and placed it back on the tray of the truck   

About 450 lbs

Gotta tell ya my mental note was very similar to yours re urine and exits ;D

Regards
Bob


----------



## Kludge

rickharris  said:
			
		

> The cars are (mainly) built and run by a team of around 12 students aged 11 to 16 - the aim is to go as far as you can in 4 hours on 4 car batteries.



To take on a project like this is commendable for any group - it's addressing problems we don't have _yet_ but are rapidly approaching - but for people that young, it is phenomenal. They are very special in my (read as: an old almost engineer ) eyes and I look forward to the progress with their next car.

BEst regards,

Kludge ... who is finally catching up with the thread


----------



## Tin Falcon

this am went to Market of Fleas bought a couple small tidbits of tooling. This afternoon had a fun and relaxing time met some new folks. The family had an engagement party for my niece. She had e-mailed a while back about making a monogram "V" out of metal as a topper for her wedding cake. 
so I took some strips of aluminum and my scroll work setup to the party. And in about an hours time maybe more as I was not clock watching we designed and fabricated what they wanted. Now I just need to make a base so it will stand up but know what they want. 
Love it when a plan falls together. 
Tin


----------



## wareagle

Spending the evening watching the lathe make chips... Working on the crankshaft for the Crusader. In my opinion, this part is the most complex of the project. Just taking it easy and am proceeding slowly. For the actual update, see this *thread*. I'll spend a couple more hours out there this evening and see where I wind up.


----------



## BobWarfield

Brother had the day off, so we got the engine hoist and carefully rigged the column up onto my 2nd mill. That and a nice collection of odds and ends moves me ahead substantially in my CNC conversion. I now have ballscrews mounted for all 3 axes, and one shot oiling on 2 axes. Need to oil that 3rd axis and mount my motors. I will likely have to make up a couple of timing belt pulleys, which ought to be good fun on the rotab one afternoon.

Cheers,

BW


----------



## Kludge

chuck foster  said:
			
		

> i don't know why he is scrapping it all but as long as he is giving it away it might as well come home with me ;D


Okay, now I know who to bug for metal. :big: :big: :big:

Seriously, that's a neat haul. Um, is it all put away yet?

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## Kludge

wareagle  said:
			
		

> All kidding aside, I could not have landed myself a more suitable bride!



You know that One Great Mistake we all make? Mine was to let that equivelent in my life get away. I've done a lot in my highly checkered past, including breaking all ten Commandments, but I am now at peace with all of that. I am not nor will I ever be at peace with that One Great Mistake. It cost me dearly in so many ways I can't even begin to count them and goes a long way toward explaining why there isn't a Ms Kludge now.

You are fortunate beyond imagination, W/E. 

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## wareagle

Kludge, thank you for your kind words. I realize I am very fortunate to have what I do, and it makes it effortless to push any temptation away that would jeopardize a great thing! And besides all of that, I don't think there's another out there that would put up with me. 

Called it a night out in the Dawg House. Concentration level isn't there, so I shut it down and came on in.


----------

