My Week this Week, My workshop videos

[hermetic]

A good week is when I set out to do something and actually do it! A blow by blow account of building a bender stand, with the final fitting of the tractor tyres thrown in for good measure, the whole thing seasoned with a couple of my "top tips" (LOL) Like, subscribe, enjoy, share, and thanks to all my new subs! Welcome aboard people!
Phil, Autumnal East Yorkshire

 

[maybach_man]

Another enjoyable episode. Years ago we used to partially inflate inner tubes after putting inside the tyre to try to stop pinching... Any chance you can break the official 'Whitley secrets act' and divulge the recipe for your apple rust remover?

Best

 

[hermetic]

Yes, you are quite right, and I didn't mention it! what I do is fit one half of the tyre, fit the tube, inflate it without the valve in till it pushes the outer bead away from the wheel, and you can see the tube all round, and check it is not twisted, then let it down again and fit the second bead over the rim with soap and a rubber mallet, and if neccasary, minimal use of levers. It was noticable on the wheelhorse that the new tyre was much easier to fit than the old one, I hardly had to use the levers, and all went well! I was thinking that the Fordson mignt be a bit more difficult, but tbh it was a lot easier! Leaving the wheels on the tractor worked well, and was suggested by quite a few followers!
The rust remover is the result of my attempts to make cider, I juiced the windfalls and left the juice to ferment, no added yeast, and the result was .........drinkable but strips rust back to bare bright metal very effectively. This year I am using crushed apples 50/50 with rainwater and let the natural yeasts do their worst, basically very strong cider vinegar! I have a precision grinder which has a coolant reservoir in the base of the column, which was very rusty, hadnt been used for years before I got it. left it to soak over the weekend, all bright steel on Monday! The great advantage seems to be that it doesnt attack the steel, just the rust. Try it! Thanks for watching and for the comments!
Phil

 

[hermetic]

I am easily sidetracked, especially if things are proving frustrating, it is sometimes a good idea to put the job down and do something else untill you get the inspiration back. Sometimes however, you find that you need to use something that you have, and have rebuilt.........but didnt quite finish, and the dilemma is, do I stop, and finish it, then use it, or can I achieve the same result by another route? I will now write out 100 times "I must finish everything I start until it is COMPLETELY DONE"! Phil, revelling in a warm workshop!

 

[hermetic]

Some interesting bits and peices as I grasshopper around the workshop on my usual plate spinning act, very pleased with the way the drawbar turned out, and the vertical head fit up is all but completed. Although the brazing hearth could not produce quite enough heat to braze it, having it running is another leap forward in the great scheme of things, and I am very pleased with the way it works. Please give me a like or a comment, thanks for stopping by and watching, and please subscribe!
Phil
Enjoying pleasant October weather in East Yorkshire!

 

[hermetic]

Another week of progress on the milling machine, you come to a point where it is more effective to crack on with making a machine universally usable rather than push forward with the job in hand and accept the limitations of tooling you can't use because of vital component shortages, Which is another way of saying I got sidetracked into making all the drawbars I need to use the Int 30 tooling I have! But at the end I get the job set up and then boring commences! I left the **** ups in on purpose, as they are quite amusing!
It is raining, and has done pretty much all week in East Yorkshire!
Phil

 

[Richard Hed]

Another week of progress on the milling machine, you come to a point where it is more effective to crack on with making a machine universally usable rather than push forward with the job in hand and accept the limitations of tooling you can't use because of vital component shortages, Which is another way of saying I got sidetracked into making all the drawbars I need to use the Int 30 tooling I have! But at the end I get the job set up and then boring commences! I left the **** ups in on purpose, as they are quite amusing!
It is raining, and has done pretty much all week in East Yorkshire!
Phil

They do indeed make that stuff with larger shanks--all the sizes ;you may need. I have three different sizes I got from China.

 

[hermetic]

They do indeed make that stuff with larger shanks--all the sizes ;you may need. I have three different sizes I got from China.

Yes, I was having a look last night! We also have several UK stockists of Indian and Chinese tooling in the UK if you can't wait the 2 to 3 weeks it takes to get here, though that was improving till Covid kicked in!, My recently purchased MT2 lathe test bar is made in India, and is well within its claimed accuracy! I do buy UK mase stuff, but it is hard to stomache some of the prices.. Thanks for watching.
Phil

 

[maybach_man]

If you need Taps and Dies...try Tracy Tools in the south west

 

[hermetic]

Yes, thanks for that I have heard good things about Tracy tools!
Phil

 

[hermetic]

this week I get the Heater flue insulated in an effort to reduce my (not very) smoky woodburner flue, do some repairs to a couple of wooden cases for punches and tooling, and finish the milling on the bender former, which means that the first job on the Harrison with vertical head is a sucess! It does however need a new top bearing, but I sort of new that anyway. No getting round it, will order it up next week!
Warm and sunny in November? Can't be East Yorkshire!!
Phil

 

[Richard Hed]

this week I get the Heater flue insulated in an effort to reduce my (not very) smoky woodburner flue, do some repairs to a couple of wooden cases for punches and tooling, and finish the milling on the bender former, which means that the first job on the Harrison with vertical head is a sucess! It does however need a new top bearing, but I sort of new that anyway. No getting round it, will order it up next week!
Warm and sunny in November? Can't be East Yorkshire!!
Phil

Look into "rocket stoves" at least one of which is so efficient that there is no or little smoke and heats your area super well.

 

[hermetic]

Hi Richard, it is a rocket stove, inside a warm air space heater! What actually comes out of the flue outside is mainly water vapour, but it looks like smoke as it is condensing as it hits the cool air. The more of the flue that is insulated, the better it draws, and the hotter the gases stay as they leave. I always intended to do this, but neve actually got a round tuit! Thanks for the comment.
Phil.

 

[Richard Hed]

Hi Richard, it is a rocket stove, inside a warm air space heater! What actually comes out of the flue outside is mainly water vapour, but it looks like smoke as it is condensing as it hits the cool air. The more of the flue that is insulated, the better it draws, and the hotter the gases stay as they leave. I always intended to do this, but neve actually got a round tuit! Thanks for the comment.
Phil.

Ah. Since I have found out about "rocket stoves", I have viewed MANY different builds, some that can hardly be called "rocket" but who knows. My favorite one, which is the first one I saw and interested me in the subject was one that drew the heat up then down to a flue that is encased in some thick material like clay or ceramic. This stuff was made to sit upon, or even sleep on and it meandered around the building (house or shop) heating it for very low cost. I intend to build one but have no room to do it. I see your shop has lots of nice room

 

[hermetic]

A weird assortment of oddments and curios! Insulation on the flue outside, fitting the flue injector (finally!) Collet chucks, oddball screws to identify, and then.....HA HAR! Plunder me hearties! My mate from across the road brought me a final pile of clearout from his sheds, as he has a new job, and he and his wife are moving away. I will be very sorry to see him go! really nice people, and you never know what new neighbours are going to be like, especially in villages! Send me a like or a comment, please subscribe, and enjoy watching me trying to stay sane, as all the world goes MAD!
Phil,
In very sunny East Yorkshire

 

[Steamchick]

Took me a moment to figure out what you used the 2 curved templates for... one like a pair of parabola making an arrow head, the other like a french curve or railway curve.... But maybe they form a Amazon packaging logo?
Thought the calculator looked useful... til I realised it is your 'phone...
Stupid me....

K2

 

[Steamchick]

On Tracy tools... I recommend them.. having bought stuff from them for 30 years. Even met a guy bringing a van from Sweden... on his way to Tracy to fill his van with tools for re-sale in Sweden! Exchange rates made it his cheapest import route to Sweden, mostly against orders he already had!
More power to youTracy!
K2

 

[Steamchick]

Some interesting bits and peices as I grasshopper around the workshop on my usual plate spinning act, very pleased with the way the drawbar turned out, and the vertical head fit up is all but completed. Although the brazing hearth could not produce quite enough heat to braze it, having it running is another leap forward in the great scheme of things, and I am very pleased with the way it works. Please give me a like or a comment, thanks for stopping by and watching, and please subscribe!
Phil
Enjoying pleasant October weather in East Yorkshire!

I have 4 working paraffin blowlamps, a petrol blowlamp and a propane torch, and by insulating boilers in buckets of sand and firebrick surrounds have never had a problem getting enough heat into the job to successfully silver solder it. Maybe you need to re-configure your insulation on parts where you do not need access during the brazing process, and add some extra heat sources.... Old fireback ceramic, or old storage heater bricks make useful extra lumps of insulation to bury the job. And usually you can make easy tunnels for a few extra blowlamp flames....
Enjoy!

K2

 

[hermetic]

Right Steamchick, I will answer last first! I do not have the right regulator for propane on the brazing hearth, and was using an adjustable one, with the result that I was pushing far too much gas into the torch, and getting loads of CO instead of heat, hence the CO alarm going off! I do have the correct regulator for butane, and need to check if I have a butane bottle with some in it so I can test it out. The rejetting of the torch is suitable for either gas, but at different delivery pressures, so I expect much better results and more heat when I get the right regulators.
Yes, my phone is a bit retro, but it needs to be rugged, funny that you say this, I was looking around on my desk at home for the calculator I keep there, and picked up the phone and stared blankly at it for a few moments before I realised it was the wrong gadget!
I used to have a very good mate from Sunderland in the seventies and eighties, but I lost track of him! Known to all as "LUM" but actually called Paul Williamson, He worked with me in this very workshop, if you bump into him tell him to get in touch!
Thanks for commenting, and watching, and glad you liked what I do.
Phil, East Yorkshire

 

[hermetic]

This week I complete the insukation on the outside flue, with good results, do repairs on a couple of compressors and a Nifisk vac, and finaly, on Friday, get back to the pipe bender. My new years resolution is going to be, "I must start earlier and get more done. Thanks for watching, send me a like, please subscribe, and comments are always welcome! Phil, in chilly East Yorkshire