Precision Gauge Blocks

[Mike Henry]

I have a used Mitutuyo gauge block set of unknown quality and an import set and use them just often enough to make them worth their cost. I tend to use gauge pins a lot more often to check sizes of holes that are too small for the usual hole measuring instruments. For larger holes where accurate sizing is needed I've gradually acquired used name-brand tri-mikes. Those aren't cheap, even used, but are satisfying to use. The ring gauges to calibrate them are pretty expensive, especially as I bought those new to be more certain of their accuracy. For holes between 0.2 and 1.2 inches where extreme accuracy isn't needed, I use a Starrett 700A internal micrometer.

 

[methuselah1]

I have several sets; Johanssen, Pitter and Matrix. if you've got them, you use them- more especially if you don't have DROs on everything. Some of my sets are out of industrial limits, not that it bothers me at home, the Pitters were retired simply because they are imperial. I have never paid over £40 for a set, and although setting a sine bar can be done just as easily with an adjustable parallel, the cost of a set of those is more expensive than my blocks.

They also come into their own when packing between crankshaft webs during multi-throw crank manufacture, and obviously for calibrating intruments. Sadly, for three point bore micrometers, there isn't much of a substitute for a ring gauge.

 

[Rotormac]

Rotor,
In your icon, you have a gyrocopter. Do you have a vid of it flying? How many people does it carry? What is the horse power? How far can you fly on a tank of gas?

It's a Bensen, really a flying chair.

flew for the first time just before everything shut down last year so the only vid I have is 400Mb and not suitable for uploading here. Single seat, engine VW bug 1.8L 70Hp (for 5 mins) then 40HP for cruise. Carries 18L unleaded, cruises at 45MPH, good for a an hour with 5L in reserve.
Philip.

 

[ajoeiam]

Hmmmmmmmmmm - - - interesting - - - - how heavy a 'body' is your 'flying chair' (grin) rated for please?

 

[ignator]

Brian, I purchase my new set off eBay about 6 years ago. I use them with sine bars and my sine plate. On my lathe I have a sine bar I made a quick bracket to clamp to the side of the compound for precision setting of the angle.
You can get an 81 piece set, new for $92USD off eBay. They are grade B, but they all come with a sheet showing the error of nominal, and they are higher tolerance then even a tenths micrometer can read. You can buy used, but finding a complete set is luck
I found a photo of the sine bar clamp mount, but I'm using pin gauges.
I have a test indicator mounted to a long test bar from my tail stock, but I could have it on the ways of the lathe as well. This method sets the compound angle by sliding the carriage back and forth to zero the indicator movement. I went to gauge pins as wringing them was an issue (not degreased enough). I thought the 6 different boxes of gauge pins was crazy at the time, but they are handy when testing for bore size, or in this case of setting a sine bar on the side of the compound.

 

[ignator]

400Mb and not suitable for uploading here.

Download a free program, HandBrake, I use this to compress large mp4 videos to 2-8MB size depending on the compression.

 

[Richard Hed]

It's a Bensen, really a flying chair. View attachment 124731 flew for the first time just before everything shut down last year so the only vid I have is 400Mb and not suitable for uploading here. Single seat, engine VW bug 1.8L 70Hp (for 5 mins) then 40HP for cruise. Carries 18L unleaded, cruises at 45MPH, good for a an hour with 5L in reserve.
Philip.

I often live in the philippines where Moalboal is about 3 hours from Cebu City. That is, it is three hours by philippine mehtods--in US or Europe it would be about 45 minutes. So I often thimpfk about a flying chair to go to the city, avoid all the pollution and agonizing ride. The difference in max 2 hour round trip and 6 hour round trip--you can easily understand this. The odd thing is that this trip by bus could be shortened SO EASILY if the roads were straightened and a few bridges put in. They don't seem to understand that dynamite is very cheap, a caterpillar works wonders and "cut and fill" is a basic technique of road building. Every two years (or less) they rip up the road and put new concrete in because the last job didn't use any rebar to keep the concrete from breaking. It's really about feeding the construction companies (which ar generally owned in some way, often by hidden corporations, by the local politicians) public monies. In Europe and US, the corruption is hidden quite well, but in 3rd world, the corruption is basically on top.

How long did it take you to build your flying chair? Do you feel safe? What is the material of the rotor/wing?

 

[Rotormac]

How long did it take you to build your flying chair? Do you feel safe? What is the material of the rotor/wing?

I built it first as a towed kite. Towed behind a small car 30MPH great fun. I rebuilt it last year with the Veedub on board. The blades are extruded 6061. It's good for a 250Lb lump on board. It performs better with a lighter driver, I'm 165Lbs and it climbs at approx 1100FPM. (even with a set of gauge blocks on board ;-)
Roads in Ireland have improved drastically since we joined the EU.

 

[Richard Hed]

How long did it take you to build your flying chair? Do you feel safe? What is the material of the rotor/wing?

I built it first as a towed kite. Towed behind a small car 30MPH great fun. I rebuilt it last year with the Veedub on board. The blades are extruded 6061. It's good for a 250Lb lump on board. It performs better with a lighter driver, I'm 165Lbs and it climbs at approx 1100FPM. (even with a set of gauge blocks on board ;-)
Roads in Ireland have improved drastically since we joined the EU.

That's about my weight: I am a 250 lb lump. But if you had a kite, was it one big wing or two? What if you crashed? Do you have photos?

The roads in the philippines are being widened in and near the cities but they ignore other more easily made projects such as the cut and fills and a few small bridges. Very basic stuff.

 

[Rotormac]

A while ago, when I had coloured hair. Approx 2000AD. Notice no registartion. The blades in the pic (which flew very well) were hombuilt, mostly from 1/8" ply and mahogany, from the Bensen plans. the tow hook was on the pointy bit at the front. Build took about a month with another month for the blades. Sand, fill, sand, paint, sand..........

 

[awake]

Impressive! What sorts of inspection or procedures are needed to ensure that the blades are holding up as intended? I have to confess that I would be a wee bit nervous about trusting blades that I myself had made! But that is based on my own limits and abilities. I'm very impressed that you were able to craft this.

 

[Richard Hed]

View attachment 124743

A while ago, when I had coloured hair. Approx 2000AD. Notice no registartion. The blades in the pic (which flew very well) were hombuilt, mostly from 1/8" ply and mahogany, from the Bensen plans. the tow hook was on the pointy bit at the front. Build took about a month with another month for the blades. Sand, fill, sand, paint, sand..........

It's difficult to believe those rotors would be able to provide enough lift. Don't they have to be rotating? Being towed doesn't seem like it would work.

 

[Rotormac]

At the kite stage - as it's not legally an aircraft - there's no legal requirement for inspection, just your own desire to remain whole. Strictly speaking (and although it can be done) it's not legal to release the tow and land untethered. Once the tow is released you transition from kite to aircraft and all that that implies. As a powered aircraft, all the regulations for hombuilt aircraft apply. I've never flown under power with the homebuilt blades although I have several associates who have. They're not as efficient as the alloy blades but do provide more than adequate lift for the single place Gyro.

 

[Rotormac]

In the Kite, the rotors (20ft diam) have to be hand-started up to about 60RPM, the wind then accelerates them up to flying speed, about 350RPM. Then you're off.

 

[Richard Hed]

In the Kite, the rotors (20ft diam) have to be hand-started up to about 60RPM, the wind then accelerates them up to flying speed, about 350RPM. Then you're off.

That is quite amazing. I never would have guessed. So how do you hand start the rotors? Are you sitting in the flying chair when you start them? Is there a crank or something?

 

[Rotormac]

If you're tall enough, you can reach up and push the rotor around. Otherwise a friend can do it while you're strapped in. If there's a bit of wind, it's fairly easy to get up to 100 - 150RPM, then the first hundred yards of the tow usually gets you there. One of my friends set up a system using a bicycle crank for the pre-spin but eventually went back to simple hand pushing.
Towed, you get 15 - 20 seconds in the air before it's time to get back down, that's on a 700 yard grass strip.
I do recall my first take-off as quite a rush ;-)

 

[ajoeiam]

How long did it take you to build your flying chair? Do you feel safe? What is the material of the rotor/wing?

I built it first as a towed kite. Towed behind a small car 30MPH great fun. I rebuilt it last year with the Veedub on board. The blades are extruded 6061. It's good for a 250Lb lump on board. It performs better with a lighter driver, I'm 165Lbs and it climbs at approx 1100FPM. (even with a set of gauge blocks on board ;-)
Roads in Ireland have improved drastically since we joined the EU.

Hmmmmmm - - - - Roads in Ireland - - - - - when I was there I was taught the phrase "1/2 mile up and down for every mile" (LOL) although the country roads are FAR better than here in rural Canuckistan!

Rates for 250# lump - - - - oh well - - - - I need its big brother.

You must be the guy the airplane and car manufacturers decided to model their test dummies after - - - - grin!

Guys like me hate airplane and car seats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a good buddy who is that weight too - - - you guys are pretty rare though.
(I'm about 2 ft across the shoulders and the last time I checked I can still squeeze body weight in either hand so its not just mid section - - - - grin!)

 

[Rotormac]

Our roads are not so polarised. I remember driving out of SF one time taking 30 mins to cross the 6 lane parking lot to get to the car pool lane. It was advising a fine of $197 for illegal usage!! Where did that number come from?
Both of my kids live in the US so I do have a small experience of the roads there. Great major roads and wicked minors ;-)
Drove up one autumn from Vermont into C'land once and enjoyed it.
I must have been sitting beside you on my last flight over and you should share some sympathy for opressed minorities like me ;-)
When I started flying I was 220# and couldn't climb out for nuts so I worked hard to get down to where I am now. As for squeezing my own weight, never gonna happen. Grin grin grin.
Stay safe. P.

 

[ajoeiam]

Our roads are not so polarised. I remember driving out of SF one time taking 30 mins to cross the 6 lane parking lot to get to the car pool lane. It was advising a fine of $197 for illegal usage!! Where did that number come from?
Both of my kids live in the US so I do have a small experience of the roads there. Great major roads and wicked minors ;-)
Drove up one autumn from Vermont into C'land once and enjoyed it.
I must have been sitting beside you on my last flight over and you should share some sympathy for opressed minorities like me ;-)
When I started flying I was 220# and couldn't climb out for nuts so I worked hard to get down to where I am now. As for squeezing my own weight, never gonna happen. Grin grin grin.
Stay safe. P.

Fine number - - - - came from some idiot bureaucrat turkey's brain fart - - - imo!
Where you got to north of Vermont is some 3000 km east of where I'm at - - - grin!
Of I will share sympathy with you re: oppressed minorities but not re: seat sizing - - - - grin!
I have tried to contact seat manufacturers wanting to ask their engineers if they have ever looked a people in a large meeting area (aircraft terminal or mall or theater) The number of people that actually resemble that standard engineering dummy size is way under 2% - - - - if its even that big - - - - so why are they designing for that size.
I can feel your pain at being an oppressed minority - - - - but I hate flying and am wishing I could have the seat from my old 1980 VW Rabbit (Golf) again - - - - it fit and was oh so comfortable (drove as much as 2800 miles in two days and had no motility issues when I got out of the car!!).

Have yourself a wunderbar day!!!!!

Careful with dat flying stuff - - - - its a rush - - - but it can be a bit too much rush sometimes!!!

 

[kstrauss]

Sadly, for three point bore micrometers, there isn't much of a substitute for a ring gauge.

A bearing race makes a substitute that is probably more than sufficiently accurate for home use.