What have you been doing today?

[Toymaker]

Working on steam turbine electric generators I got a piece of UHMWPE.

You using one of those little Chinese turbines which look to be a little smaller then a soup can ?

 

[Apprentice707]

Spent the day in my workshop, the first 3 hours spent looking for something I had a couple of days ago (Not an uncommon task these days!!), finally found what I was looking for and unearthed a couple of bronze eccentric strap castings I had forgotten I had. All in all a result I now have better straps for my off-the-wall twin-cylinder Vee steam engine. What can I misplace today I wonder?

Toodle Pip from England

B

 

[Bentwings]

. Yes these are on Amazon pretty cheap . Actually about the same diameter but only half the length . I hate to admit to chinesium I YHINK thes actually are made in India . They are pretty simple but can really scream . Quite a while ago I read that someone tried a full 220 psi steam load . It only lasted a few seconds . I think model boat guys use them with some kind of gear box . If you shop around enough you can find them with gear box on eBay. Just looking at them this way the gear box looks pretty delicate . There is no continuous lubrication so I’d expect gear box life to be pretty low . I did find a model gear box mad from brass but it doesn’t look too well done and quite expensive
You using one of those little Chinese turbines which look to be a little smaller then a soup can ?

Spent the day in my workshop, the first 3 hours spent looking for something I had a couple of days ago (Not an uncommon task these days!!), finally found what I was looking for and unearthed a couple of bronze eccentric strap castings I had forgotten I had. All in all a result I now have better straps for my off-the-wall twin-cylinder Vee steam engine. What can I misplace today I wonder?

Toodle Pip from England

B

 

[Bentwings]

Today was groceries day so my sister and I did that I tried to get a hair cut but it was a 2 hour wait and that was not acceptable so it stays the same I don’t have enough for it even get shaggy so no big deal

I’m trying to sort out metric threads . I wish there was a chart that I could simply measure the I’d of major diameter . I have 3 different m 3 taps none are the same and resulting hole does not get a M 3 screw I have on my little steamer Apparently thread pitches can be one of several I have a thread gage but my eye sight is so bad that I can’t tell the difference other than it’s not one or the other and it doesn’t match screws . I’m really tired of metrics I’ve fought then all my life in engineering . I can’t tell you how many holes have been incorrect . I use SAE small taps and screws on my RC I models and I can tell the thread just by feel the difference between a 4-40 and 2-56 just by feeling the screw or tap not blowing my horn but this metric stuff has me by the short hairs

 

[Apprentice707]

I hope these help

Regards

B

 

[Bentwings]

Thanks so much I believe this will really help . I have a 1/4” thick aluminum plate that I YHINK I will make a tapped hole guide using each of my taps . From this es charts I can then identify each hole and drill size used then mark the tap threads created. I’ll try and start laying this out tomorrow . I have a box of various metric screws so maybe I can screw the shorter ones in as I complete the holes I can simply cut off screws as necessary too I’ll see if I print these charts out

Thanks again

 

[Toymaker]

My wife & I visited two Buddhist temples about an hours drive from our home.

A few thousand years ago disciples of the Buddha would often take refuge in caves. Locals would bring Buddhist statues into the cave, and the larger caves would become meditation centers or temples.

Most mountainous areas in Thailand have wild monkeys, like this little guy.

This particular cave opened up into a large area open to sky.

 

[Bentwings]

For a change I don’t have anything about weather . However I nearly fainted when I saw the news about the school shooting in Nashville . My grand daughter and grand son both go to school there . I didn’t know where or how close they were so I called my son but he was off working . I just talked with him and the kids go to schools right near their home . The fact remains that my kids grew up in Nashville and did gob-to private schools as well as public schools I nearly fainted when I didn’t have information I’m not familiar with the school where the shooting occurred. But all is well now the shooter was initially reported as teen aged but later noted as 28 yr old woman Later news said something like 2-3% of shootings are by women over the last 20 years or so . Once again “ assault weapons were blamed . However all people Fox interviewed noted “ assault like guns”. Obvious they know the distinction . I surely don’t have an answer to how guns are obtained . I do know that if you want a gun bad enough it’s no big deal to get them on the street most are probably stolen no need to go through background checks at gun stores . It’s much hard to buy a gun here in Minn but background checks are done and there are pretty struck laws about carrying guns in public as well as transporting them . You can carry a medieval spear or pole ax or sword even a big knife as long as it’s not concealed and you are not intimidating the public . Although you might be pretty intimidating if you walked into grocery store with a shiel and poleax LOL CONCEALED IS MUCH HARDER TO GET PERMIT . A stout cane is a pretty good weapon if you have some training you might have trouble doing some mass damage I think I don’t worry too much having played contact sports a good share of my life even at my age I YHINK I could take care of myself . I much prefer to stop here I don’t want to get into Huns and personal conflict . Let’s redirect to home machining

I’m laying out my new metric tap and drill selector plate I plan on having tapped holes along with drill sizes in some kind of order Al marked on the test plate. I have both aluminum and UHMWPE. Plates the plastic will be much easier to make some metric tap sized are pretty small so I don’t want to break a small tap off in the sticky aluminum

 

[Toymaker]

I have both aluminum and UHMWPE. Plates the plastic will be much easier to make some metric tap sized are pretty small so I don’t want to break a small tap off in the sticky aluminum

I like "Tap Magic" for aluminum. I've used it for #2-56 taped hole in 6063. Since moving to Thailand, where I cannot find Tap Magic, I've found WD-40 works fairly well for the M3-0.5 threaded holes I've made.

 

[WisJim]

The 4 jaw chuck on my 9" Southbend was on real tight so I decided to try one of the printed spindle lock wedges on eBay. It arrived and it worked well. It fit the gear very snuggly and I took a crescent wrench to the chuck jaws and it easily unscrewed. It wasn't as tight as it might have been but I didn't want to take any chances on breaking teeth or damaging anything, so I consider the spindle lock wedge to be a good investment.
I spent a few hours out in the shop getting things more organized so I might be able to get something done with my tools and machines someday.

 

[ChazzC]

I spent about a half hour looking for my 1/2" wide Vinyl safety tape. After looking in the box where I should have put it for the third time, I turned over a plastic bag (that was on top of the other stuff in the box) and found it. To my credit, the side of the re-purposed bag that was upwards had a manufacturer's label that concealed the contents.

Why did I need the tape, you ask? Well, you may have seen some of my photos that show the use of this tape and plain yellow tape in an attempt to keep me from banging into stuff:

I keep saying that I have a small shop!


This is what I needed the tape for:

Week before last I commented on a post on another Forum, noting that while I had added a Priest Tools Spindle Brake to my Mini-Mill years ago, I hadn't spent the extra money for the one with an interlock. After thinking about it a bit, I decided to make an investment in my mill's (and my own) safety and got the Deluxe Spindle Brake Kit (also available in different variations for the LMS Bench Mill and PM mills). The installation is straight forward (you can see the instructions here), and I now have an electrically-interlocked Spindle Brake.

I did make a couple of modifications to the installation:

• I made a slightly larger hole in the bottom of the Control Box so I could use a grommet to protect the cable from the edges of the box:
  
  
  
  
  This photo also shows where the Nylon set screw goes to secure the cable.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I did not remove the Bearing Dust Cover when I installed the plain Spindle Brake; I just removed the stock SHCS's and installed the plate with the longer SHCS's that were included, so after removing the old plate I left the Duct Cover in place and installed the new plate. I also added a dab of Vibra-TITE to the screws to keep them from working loose. Also, instead of using the jacking screws to adjust the height of the original plate, I used a 0.030" plastic sheet between the plate and the head:
  
  
  
  
  No shim was needed for the Deluxe plate.
  

Oh, what about the tape? It's here, visible when the brake is engaged:

And when the brake is dis-engaged:

Green Means Go! I punched 3/8" circles out of a green adhesive label and stuck them over the ends of the magnets (what's the sense of having large-hole punches if you aren't going to use them?).


PM me if you're interested in the non-interlocked spindle brake kit parts; but take a look at the Priest Tools (#Not Sponsored) website and contact Greg Priest with any questions (he mentioned to me that if there was interest he could modify his Power Draw Bar kit to make it suitable for the LMS Hi-Torque Mini-Mills [and probably other SEIG Mini-Mills, I'm guessing]).

 

[Eccentric]

I needed some hose barbs:

 

[Sprocket]

Last day working for the season. Beautiful day, snow corned up mid morning. Starting to cloud over now.
Doug

 

[Bentwings]

Finally coming out of twisted back injury. At least I can move about without a lot of pain. Weather is ok for today but rain forecast for week end in to next week more snow and ice will go away .
I’m continuing on my metric tap and drill guide. Tapping the aluminum is fussy with small taps I may just scrap the aluminum as a bad idea a transfer to the UHMWPE. Instead I can put bushings in the guide holes if necessary

 

[Toymaker]

Tapping aluminum is fussy with small taps, I may just scrap the aluminum as a bad idea a transfer to the UHMWPE. Instead I can put bushings in the guide holes if necessary

The harder aluminum alloys, like 7075, 2024, 6082, and even 6061 all tap fairly easily without the stickiness you get with the softer alloys such as 6063, and 3003. If you haven't worked with 7075 or 6082, buy a small piece and give it a try

 

[Bentwings]

I have used the higher alloys of aluminum and they indeed are easier to machine and drill and tap . Cast tooling plate is probably the worst of all for very small taps and drills

 

[Bentwings]

Well back to winter weather. Local weather says we got 13” of wet snow . I’m trying to not go out as i twisted my back earlier . But we are supposed to get more to night then it’s going to warm up again. Winter’s last gasp I YHINK I hope it isn’t mine too .

 

[ZebDog]

Removed

 

[Bentwings]

Well back to winter weather. Local weather says we got 13” of wet snow . I’m trying to not go out as i twisted my back earlier . But we are supposed to get more to night then it’s going to warm up again. Winter’s last gasp I YHINK I hope it isn’t mine too . It’s even worse than I thought . It rained then turned to heavy sleet then got cold so this mess is a massive ice chunk . It took almost an hour just to get out the door as snow and ice had blocked the the door opening . In reality this is dangerous as getting out in emergency would take some real bull dosing and door busting . I’m not sure just what to do as the door opens out and is only about 2 1/2” above the deck floor there is no room for sliding door . It looks like I may have to convert to inward opening and deal with snow and wet floors . Any ideas? Once out side I couldn’t even get a place to stand as snow was up to my knees . Then something broke on my shovel , that keeps the blade parallel to the handle I’ve got it drying now I’ll drill and put a screw in of all things I don’t have my pop rivited home so we will see what I can come up with later today . There is no way I’ll be able to shovel even out to the street as it is just a frozen mess . It’s supposed to warm up quite a bit by next week end so I might just leave what I can’t get open untill then . I’d say this is one of the worst late snows we have had in recent years . It’s just above freezing now so some surface thawing going on . Even the plow truck had issues . The parking lot across the street is completely snowed in . He plowed a path to the emergency shelter but that’s it . I feel like an old man complaining about every thing . At least I was able to call my son in Tenn and wish him happy birthday .

 

[WisJim]

Bentwings said:
Well back to winter weather. Local weather says we got 13” of wet snow .

At least we didn't get the tornadoes that hit the south. We must be on the southern edge of the snow that Bentwings got as we had 4 to 6 inches, and friends north of us got 1 to 2 feet, depending on just where they were, mostly 15 miles or so north of me. Our snow was wet and heavy but no ice, and the sunshine Saturday cleared a lot of it.
My sympathies to those experiencing bad weather.