What have you been doing today?

[Bentwings]

Just starting on a boat build for the 30cc Seal major. Finally got all the CAD done apart from a rear hatch for the radio box. Busy cutting out bulkheads and building jig.

Back in the 60’s a friend GSD a Chris craft wood boat with gray marine engine beautiful boat it was just fast enough to pull me barefoot . Guzzled gas unbelievable he had a triple axel trailer for it it must have been incredibly heavy even in the day gas was only about 30 cents a gallon . I YHINK the boat would go about 40 mph with out skier . Had a nice rumble.

 

[Bentwings]

Kind of a dreary rainy day today. We are just urging a new electric drive power system in our Rc warbird air force . Got the battery charger yesterday and series wire harness to day so except for adding bullet plugs to motor wires we are almost ready for first test . Maybe tomorrow after noon .
Nothing to do with green stuff this is pure fun thing. I can’t see or move around very freely so I just watch and take pictures . I’ll post a few in a couple days . The electric motor system is supposed to produce up to 25 hp. It’s supposed to be able to pull our 40 pound P 51d vertical. Probably 110 mph level flight scale speeds are more “ if it looks scale “ it is scale the P 51 has already won one static display event it has a bit of hanger rash but it looks like scale weathering

It was painted with real super fine ordered aluminum dust when I got done painting I looked like the tin man . All panel lines at correct on the full size sheet aluminum either butted or overlapped . There were ew rivets the cowl was attached with dzus fasteners so I carefully used small flat head screws the slots lined up as they did on the real plane fasteners before I we fly it we will replace the canopy and update the sliding function we’l install the Rc radio in the scale radio position so it will “ look scale” I YHINK I still have the pilot figure and there is a 3D printed scale dash board and side cockpit panels . First flight is a bit nervous . I used check lists just like the full size on all my Rc stuff for years

 

[Aerostar55]

yeah, agree, "weird day" - came out in the morning, someone had broken the door lock on my old Suburban with a hammer, then pried and hammered at the ignition for a while before giving up, called police, they came by and took report, fixed door tumbler, collected the pieces of plastic to reglue, verified ignition switch and lock are OK, then worked on some legal documents (I hate that stuff), and then disassembled and cleaned this (the green one), tomorrow to decide on a final color and repaint -- raise your hands, do I have the only one of these? (raise both hands and cheer if you have one too, one hand, no cheer if you know what it is) - tiny hint , you can read the company name and location on the first image, and yes, it is useful for model making. For tomorrow, work on daughter's 944, paint and reassemble thing in picture

looks like a spring winding machine??

 

[Bentwings]

looks like a spring winding machine??

Sounds like a trip to the wrecking yard for replacement door . Rock auto may have new ignition parts . The whole steering column is not too hard to replace so that may be an alternative. The lock mech can be tedious be sure you get new keys and keep the old ones for other locks on the truck

 

[michael-au]

Having fun in the work shop or wasting time

 

[Bentwings]

Having fun in the work shop or wasting time



View attachment 151258

Same here. Working on hot rod Rc airplane with new super Lopo batter electric motor . Produces half again as much hp as gas motor P 51d getting repowered. Kinda like taking Alison out adding Merlin engine. Got rid of some aerodynamic drag cleaned up up air flow rough cowel

 

[Steamchick]

So today was "look at the model traction engine that the club has inherited."
Plan - To develop a plan for work required for the club to get some use (What sort of use?) from it besides a dust collector on the floor beneath the shelves of other engines and stuff that collect dust...
The engine:

Runs at <10psi of air.
Boiler does not leak. But the whole is 70 years old (finished 1954) and has sat for over 30 years at the back of the builder's garage.
It is an heirloom, and the club owns it "to display", or whatever, not sell.....
But it will need a boiler test to run the engine in public....
That is a full strip-out for examination as there is no continuity of certification. To certify it as a "new" or reconditioned boiler needs full drawings, calculations, inspection and testing...
So it may become just a static model...
Ho hum... Is that retirement? - Or what?
K2

 

[Richard Hed]

So today was "look at the model traction engine that the club has inherited."
Plan - To develop a plan for work required for the club to get some use (What sort of use?) from it besides a dust collector on the floor beneath the shelves of other engines and stuff that collect dust...
The engine:
View attachment 151420
Runs at <10psi of air.
Boiler does not leak. But the whole is 70 years old (finished 1954) and has sat for over 30 years at the back of the builder's garage.
It is an heirloom, and the club owns it "to display", or whatever, not sell.....
But it will need a boiler test to run the engine in public....
That is a full strip-out for examination as there is no continuity of certification. To certify it as a "new" or reconditioned boiler needs full drawings, calculations, inspection and testing...
So it may become just a static model...
Ho hum... Is that retirement? - Or what?
K2

So can you put a hand or a ruler or something to show us how large that is? Or can you tell us the cylinder details? What is this engine? Was there drawings? Cna you get us some more photos from sides front back? I doesn't know if I have ever seen an engine like that before.

 

[GreenTwin]

The thing on top of the steam chest looks like a bicycle tire pump end-of-hose device.
So that gives a bit of scale.

.

 

[Steamchick]

9 in dia large wheels - so reckon 1 1/2in to 1ft scale. 3 in dia boiler. - FREELANCE design we think? Built 1954~: Inherited by the makers, son, and grandchildren in succession, then passed on to the club "to preserve"... as no-one left to inherit. Too good to remain static, but boiler testing rules and insurance practically prohibit certifying the boiler... The blur is not the engine running, just my hands shaking.... (Honest guv!). You can see the pressure gauge "at zero" to prove it!
K2

 

[Wheat47]

So today was "look at the model traction engine that the club has inherited."
Plan - To develop a plan for work required for the club to get some use (What sort of use?) from it besides a dust collector on the floor beneath the shelves of other engines and stuff that collect dust...
The engine:
View attachment 151420
Runs at <10psi of air.
Boiler does not leak. But the whole is 70 years old (finished 1954) and has sat for over 30 years at the back of the builder's garage.
It is an heirloom, and the club owns it "to display", or whatever, not sell.....
But it will need a boiler test to run the engine in public....
That is a full strip-out for examination as there is no continuity of certification. To certify it as a "new" or reconditioned boiler needs full drawings, calculations, inspection and testing...
So it may become just a static model...
Ho hum... Is that retirement? - Or what?
K2

I would suggest just keep running it on compressed air. Simple, easy, safe.
I have two steam tractors I'll never fire. You have to stay with them all the time using steam.
I built a "stationary road" that I can put one tractor at a time on, basically two rollers that the drivers sit on.
Just add air, put it in gear and watch the wheels go around. And you don't have to
chase it across the floor.
My thing about models is they need to do/run something.
I'm working on a couple model water pumps for my mini engines to drive.
Jon

 

[Steamchick]

I agree. But it isn't up to me. About 5 years ago the Federation rules changed for steam. Not greatly, but the boiler inspector now insists we "get it right" as it is his name and reputation on the certificate. We recently changed our air supply compressor arrangement for a Legal one. as we were over the limits for the insurance. So "Committee" are very sensitive to "getting it right".
I understand that the boiler will need a full examination, drawings, calculations, tests, etc. for Steam certification whether full steam or just "small boiler" (reduced pressure) steaming or below 2 bar-litres of steam.
If on air, then it must equally be examined, tested, etc...
Or we strip it and make a blanking plate between the engine block and boiler so the boiler never sees the air supplied.... then we can run it on a rolling road, as per Wheat 47's arrangement.
But the options need putting to Committee, and they will decide...
We may have 2 other locos in the same condition in the club...?
So I am mentioning it here as many have "Old boilers" and may want to run at club events. But Clubs and Public Displays are not like our "own back yards" when it comes to Insurance and legislation.
Mu cautionary note is "check before you do the decorative restoration". So you can determine what the "Old Boilers" will be certified to do within the constraints of the CLUB's insurance, etc.
No point wasting time preparing an old loco model cosmetically, if it needs fully stripping for a boiler assessment/replacement!
Which is why there are Many models just as "display ornaments" now...
K2

 

[minh-thanh]

What did I just do?
I was repairing a power supply, I determined the DC power filter capacitor was leaking, I replaced it with a new DC power filter capacitor. Turn on the power and measure the output voltage to check, I noticed a drop in the output voltage
Turn off the power and check again, I noticed that the capacitor was soldered in reverse polarity and the capacitor started to get hot. Before, I have never been wrong about this issue. There's always a first time !!

 

[Steamchick]

Watch out Minh Thanh! Doing exactly the same on a 500microF electrolytic capacitor, (during a Physics/electronics practical) a guy did this and after a few minutes it exploded like a grenade! Shrapnel in all 4 corners of the experimental lab! Apparently, the electrolytic chemicals create gas, so the can explodes, but including H2 in the gas mix, so that exploded with contact with air and the spark, as a high pressure H2 explosion! IF yours is an electrolytic capacitor, I would immediately bin it having been wired the wrong way. You do not know what internal chemistry has been created, or damage done, that will blow-up (possibly literally?) later? If a polymer/foil capacitor it may still be good although it should not have been warm.... - but how long will it last anyway?
K2

 

[minh-thanh]

I completely agree with you.
It will explode like a grenade !!
I replaced the new capacitor as soon as I realized I made a mistake
I also checked the capacitor, it leaked a little...after just a few seconds of turning the power on and off .

 

[Richard Hed]

I completely agree with you.
It will explode like a grenade !!
I replaced the new capacitor as soon as I realized I made a mistake
I also checked the capacitor, it leaked a little...after just a few seconds of turning the power on and off .

I don't know about your place, but the Philippines has caps that are very much 3rd rate made in China. I'm replacing caps about once every 18 months on simple motors that should NEVER need replacements. In the USA, maybe I have replaced a cap ONCE in my lifetime on a washing machine. The caps in the Philippines were on a table saw and a grinder that was rarely used. And with the difficulty of finding the right product/tool, whatever, it becomes an extreme irritation.

Odd thing is, now it is possible to buy from a service like alibaba and your product is cheaper, better than what one can buy in shops AND it is delivered to your DOOR! Still, it's all made in China

 

[minh-thanh]

About 25km from my house, there is a very large market where I can buy everything I need in terms of electronic components, circuit boards... (probably the largest market in my country specializing in electronic components ,....)
In general, in my country I can buy almost everything, electrical, mechanical...Of course, sometimes it is necessary to go through distributors and agents for them to import if necessary
And of course, if it is made in Korea, Japan... it usually has a higher price and of course there is more trust in....

 

[Richard Hed]

About 25km from my house, there is a very large market where I can buy everything I need in terms of electronic components, circuit boards... (probably the largest market in my country specializing in electronic components ,....)
In general, in my country I can buy almost everything, electrical, mechanical...Of course, sometimes it is necessary to go through distributors and agents for them to import if necessary
And of course, if it is made in Korea, Japan... it usually has a higher price and of course there is more trust in....

I very much like Korean products. They pay strict attention to quality and are cheaper than Japanese. In the Phils, the country is so strange compared to other countries in that there are 7100 islands (and I discovered another one that is about 3 feet square, I'm thimpfking of claiming it and creating my own island country) and so moving any product from one space to another can be very difficult. For instance, a mere 20 KM away from where I live, is a sugar production place with lots of sugar and molasses. Oddly, the Philippinos have no idea what to do with molasses. when I ask for molasses, of course I pronounce it mole *****--they don't get the joke of course. Anyway the reason it is so difficult to get the sugar or moleasses is because that 20 KM is across the Tanon Strait. The shipping infrastructure is not developed well. The country itself is really not very big in actual land surface, it just spread out over a couple thousand kilometers. It is about 345,000 square KM, Viet Nam is about 300,000 SK m, Washington State is about 185,000 SKm. But the Phils is spread out over a million SKm !

In the years since 1987 when I first visited Phils, things have changed for the good IMMENSELY! A third world country coming into the modern world with a bang. Unfortunately, there is little manufacturiong, most tourism which is VERY big where I live. On an earth map you can locate my White House at 9deg 56' 43" N, 123deg 23' 28" E. Zoom out a bit and to the west is the Tanon Straight between Cebu Island and Negros. Zoom out further and you can see the Spratley Islands to the west of Phils-- the area China is claiming just because it is in the China Sea and the Phils disputes that but doesn't have the muscle to eject them. The Spratleys are about 2000 km from China and about 400 km from Phils.

 

[ajoeiam]

I don't know about your place, but the Philippines has caps that are very much 3rd rate made in China. I'm replacing caps about once every 18 months on simple motors that should NEVER need replacements. In the USA, maybe I have replaced a cap ONCE in my lifetime on a washing machine. The caps in the Philippines were on a table saw and a grinder that was rarely used. And with the difficulty of finding the right product/tool, whatever, it becomes an extreme irritation.

Odd thing is, now it is possible to buy from a service like alibaba and your product is cheaper, better than what one can buy in shops AND it is delivered to your DOOR! Still, it's all made in China

I think that if you were using the made in USA models from the, at least somewhat, recent past and now that you would find that your experience would be dramatically different.
Moved and bought a new line of appliances - - - not luxury stuff but at least mid upper level stuff - - - most definitely NOT the cheap stuff.
Fridge dead in 8 years, range (in white) has been showing major rust on seams for about 3 years, first ceramic top lasted some 4 years and the second has a bunch of pitting and some cracks - - - between sub 1 cm to 4 cm (sorta like 0.5" to 1.5").
I remember when we left mom's place - - - that stove was some 30 odd years old and there were only 2 burners still working (she killed it putting 10 and 15 gal pots on it) yet the finish was still quite nice. There is no real quality anymore - - - friends who had luxury level appliances replaced them in under 10 years.
Appliances are made to make the fabricating co a bucket load of $$$$$ and the user gets a bucket load of male bovine excrement - - - at best - - - or at worst the real thing!

 

[Richard Hed]

I think that if you were using the made in USA models from the, at least somewhat, recent past and now that you would find that your experience would be dramatically different.
Moved and bought a new line of appliances - - - not luxury stuff but at least mid upper level stuff - - - most definitely NOT the cheap stuff.
Fridge dead in 8 years, range (in white) has been showing major rust on seams for about 3 years, first ceramic top lasted some 4 years and the second has a bunch of pitting and some cracks - - - between sub 1 cm to 4 cm (sorta like 0.5" to 1.5").
I remember when we left mom's place - - - that stove was some 30 odd years old and there were only 2 burners still working (she killed it putting 10 and 15 gal pots on it) yet the finish was still quite nice. There is no real quality anymore - - - friends who had luxury level appliances replaced them in under 10 years.
Appliances are made to make the fabricating co a bucket load of $$$$$ and the user gets a bucket load of male bovine excrement - - - at best - - - or at worst the real thing!

Yeah, it's called Planned Obsolesence!

When I was in college, I bought an old refrigerator from a juink shop. It was made in the mid 20's. Itg had a removable top which was a big ball and very heavy. I stuck it in my dorm room. All the guys put their beer in it--I made the 15$ back in the first quarter.