JonL
Elder Statesman
WWSME (Wiltshire)
Posts: 2,909
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Post by JonL on Mar 29, 2020 17:21:23 GMT
I'm utterly delighted to say I got the final workbench installed in the new workshop today, and bolted the milling machine in place. A bit of a worry when the DRO wouldn't come to life but oil on the battery contacts turned out to be the culprit there. I purchased a starter set of clamps and collets with the Mill and I'm properly delighted with what has been delivered. Once I've got the place tidied and the lathe installed I can restart my locomotives in earnest.
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Post by coniston on Mar 29, 2020 20:23:07 GMT
Bit more on the A3 ashpan, got most of the bits made so stated on assembly, just tack welded together to start with. I bought a small, IIRC WP9, torch for my TIG welder, smallest I could get, along with 1mm tungsten electrodes. First time I used it today so I played around on some scrap bits until I got it about right. Much easier with this small torch for thinner gauge metal. Plenty of air holes so hope the fire will burn bright. Next step will be to attach the flange which sits against the foundation ring, just loosely placed here. Keep safe Chris D
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Post by delaplume on Mar 29, 2020 21:44:40 GMT
Referring back to the wheels etc}------
Alternatively you can use a vert. miller and a DRO to ensure the Axle centre / Crankpin centre Pitch is identical....
Remember you'll need to reproduce the wheel centre to wheel centre pitch setting on the coupling rods as well...This method works for both...
Eccentric bushes can be a god-send in some cases too....
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Post by delaplume on Mar 30, 2020 4:34:11 GMT
Would you believe it ??...On Wed. last the central heating boiler packed up--- not bad I suppose for a 30-year old model.........British Gas class me as}--- 70 year old pensioner, Home alone, priority....but can't see me for another 2 weeks, if at all......Meanwhile I'm managing with 18/8 pots for gas heating water downstairs and an electric kettle in the bathroom upstairs for general ablooting ( Whoever he is !! )... One of the joys of being an Ex-RN Engineroom Tiff is you spent virtually all your working life either within the messdecks or in the Machinery spaces....so I'm actually not too bothered about this virus lock down.........The thought of H.M. Gov. telling me to spend a LOT of time out in the workshop rather appeals to me somewhat !! OK-- recently I have been modifying the ashpan / grate assy. on a Silvercrest GWR 1366 loco to QD status ( Quick Drop ) and modifying a small blower unit to fit into the chimney of said loco....
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Post by Roger on Mar 30, 2020 8:10:54 GMT
Referring back to the wheels etc}------ Alternatively you can use a vert. miller and a DRO to ensure the Axle centre / Crankpin centre Pitch is identical.... Remember you'll need to reproduce the wheel centre to wheel centre pitch setting on the coupling rods as well...This method works for both... Eccentric bushes can be a god-send in some cases too.... That's what I thought, but it's not as accurate as doing it on the lathe as suggested. The problem is that if you change the z-axis height in any way, you can introduce an error. My error was caused by me not having enough clearance to get the required reamer in the chuck, so I had to move the knee down about 30mm to get it in. That first one ended up with the hole centre slightly out of position compared to the other ones because of that. Yes, you can get away with it, but it's certainly not as accurate as using a jig on a faceplate.
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kipford
Statesman
Building a Don Young 5" Gauge Aspinall Class 27
Posts: 566
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Post by kipford on Mar 30, 2020 9:37:48 GMT
I bought a small, IIRC WP9, torch for my TIG welder, smallest I could get, along with 1mm tungsten electrodes. Chris What TIG set are you using the welds looks very neat by the way. Plus you must set up a separate thread for your A3. Dave
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Post by simplyloco on Mar 30, 2020 13:55:34 GMT
I'm making the most of my Rosetta Stone French course. After one week I'm on Level 1 of 5, Lesson 3, and I can now say, quite fluently, that 'Le lait sent mauvais!', which measn the milk smells bad... News flash! Jan just came running into the conservatory to declare that we have an unexpected delivery slot for tomorrow! Trouble is, it's iceland, not Waitrose. Still, needs must.. John
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Post by coniston on Mar 30, 2020 20:00:28 GMT
I bought a small, IIRC WP9, torch for my TIG welder, smallest I could get, along with 1mm tungsten electrodes. Chris What TIG set are you using the welds looks very neat by the way. Plus you must set up a separate thread for your A3. Dave Hi Dave, it is a real cheap one from ebay, I think the brand is 'Giant' but sold under other brands. I'll try and remember to get photo tomorrow. It is 200A capacity but on 13A plug really limited to 160A. I think the machine cost about £250 and that included a spool feeding MIG gun and second electronics box for welding aluminium. The TIG welder is only DC so cannot TIG weld aluminium. Yes, I'll start a new thread for the A3, hope I can move the posts from here to it. Chris D
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dscott
Elder Statesman
Posts: 2,438
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Post by dscott on Mar 30, 2020 22:56:46 GMT
We got a delivery slot today as well... A SKIP so that my Daily exercise can involve the digging out of steps down to the workshop. Plus of course the extension. Head office is just around the corner but I still Telephoned. And they are still working. Lots of walking tomorrow.
Radius rods almost finished.
David and Lily.
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Post by coniston on Mar 31, 2020 20:18:27 GMT
A bit of retail therapy arrived today from Chronos, they are still satisfying on line orders thankfully. Just right for clamping on my adjustable angle plate and lathe cross slide. I thought for less than £40 posted it wasn't too expensive. Yes I know I could have made the bits but this means more time on the actual models. Chris D
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dscott
Elder Statesman
Posts: 2,438
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Post by dscott on Apr 1, 2020 0:00:27 GMT
I home made one for the Dore Westbury 30 years ago. Well used. Then with the new WM 18 I got a 12 mm one from Warco. I am using them everyday. Well today was a finishing off day with lots of fine polishing.
Plus filling the skip!!! This is such a Catch 22 as to get some space in the garage I decided to extend the workshop. To extend the Workshop we need space through the garage to take out the extra earth. The number of times I bang into the Raglan 36281!!! To make it even worse the only place to store the materials is of course the GARAGE!!! Boris and his Daly walk takes on a whole, or hole new meaning!!! Yes we are down to buckets... We love buckets.
Yes I got the materials order in just before the world SHUT DOWN!
Love David and Lily.
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Post by simplyloco on Apr 1, 2020 9:34:11 GMT
My four years old HP I7 laptop went haywire, and I did a Reset PC, selecting the Keep Files option. I couldn't do a backup as the keyboard wouldn't work. I just found out to my cost that there is a bug in the latest W10 update which deletes ALL your files... Grrrrr
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stevep
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,070
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Post by stevep on Apr 1, 2020 10:37:23 GMT
Having spent 30 years in computing prior to retirement, I have witnessed first hand the benefits of back-ups.
At home now, I have a an external USB disc permanently plugged in to my computer, and every day I back up the files that have changed on to it. So if my hard disc crashes, all the current files are on the external disc.
I have a second USB disc (they only cost about £40) that I keep in the workshop. On the first of every month, I bring it in to the house, plug it in, and run a full backup to copy all my files on to it. (It's running now). So if the house burnt down, all my files - which include all my photographs (both digital ones, and ones I have scanned from negatives and prints) - are saved on it. Obviously, after the backup is finished, I return the disc to the workshop.
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JonL
Elder Statesman
WWSME (Wiltshire)
Posts: 2,909
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Post by JonL on Apr 1, 2020 11:43:25 GMT
I had a go on the mill last night, just putting a nice finish on a piece of cast iron (actually a scrap cylinder cap).
It was only once I had the tool installed and everything bolted down that I realised I had no idea about depths of cut, feed rates, tool speeds.... so I had a couple of tentative small cuts and decided to spend today on youtube watching tutorials...
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Post by 3405jimmy on Apr 1, 2020 11:46:36 GMT
Test Fitting the tender tank to the tender bed
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Post by Roger on Apr 1, 2020 13:13:15 GMT
My four years old HP I7 laptop went haywire, and I did a Reset PC, selecting the Keep Files option. I couldn't do a backup as the keyboard wouldn't work. I just found out to my cost that there is a bug in the latest W10 update which deletes ALL your files... Grrrrr Hi John, That's annoying, I think we've all had similar experiences at some point or other. I know some people don't like Cloud storage, but this it exactly why I use it. I use DropBox, but there are many others to choose from. Even if you change a file, you can go and find the last half a dozen or so versions of that kept on the Cloud too. I have DropBox on all my computers, so that when they're turned on, they sync all of the files via the Cloud so that I have multiple copies too. I also occasionally back it all up on two big memory sticks in sequence, so there are two external copies too. So other than a global disaster, the information won't get lost whatever happens, whether it's fire, theft or a simple disc crash.
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Post by steamlaser on Apr 1, 2020 18:30:09 GMT
A number of years ago when I had access to a copy Photocopier and I down loaded some plans for a simple 4 stroke Petrol engine. It was an American design with proper professional drawings and had the added bonus that it could be made from scrap materials. Being stuck at home,I decided to build it over the enforced period of Quarantine. I managed to find enough bits of Aluminium plate without holes in the wrong place, but the only bit of Cast Iron for the 1.5 in cylinder sleeve had to come out of a 3 inch dia offcut. The Fly Wheel is 3.75 ins dia and I only have a bit of 6 inch dia steel offcut. I am sure at the Club House we have a suitable bit of cast iron and a smaller billet of steel, but there is currently no access to the site! Under normal conditions I would have taken the 6 in lump of steel and would put it on the Band Saw to cut it down to a manageable thickness. So far,I have marked out and machined to the aluminium bits and today made a bit leap forward with the cylinder mount. It is a pleasure working with proper drawings eventhough I have to convert inches into Millimetres. If the Dragon leaves alone, I may get this engine finished before the restrictions are lifted.
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Post by keith1500 on Apr 1, 2020 20:55:04 GMT
You are allowed out for exercise... you could be collecting materials for your project to...exercise the brain...?
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Post by steamlaser on Apr 1, 2020 21:36:17 GMT
You are allowed out for exercise... you could be collecting materials for your project to...exercise the brain...? Sadly they have changed the security padlock on the Club House to exclude casual visitors. ( and quite rightly so). I will have to make lots of cast iron swarf and to use a hacksaw to cut a 6 inch dia chuck of mild Steel. (I can only part off to a short depth)
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Post by Roger on Apr 1, 2020 22:33:02 GMT
You are allowed out for exercise... you could be collecting materials for your project to...exercise the brain...? Sadly they have changed the security padlock on the Club House to exclude casual visitors. ( and quite rightly so). I will have to make lots of cast iron swarf and to use a hacksaw to cut a 6 inch dia chuck of mild Steel. (I can only part off to a short depth) You could probably part that off if you have one of those parting tools with a long blade in a holder? The blade on mine is 2.4mm wide and it would easily protrude 1.5". You'll be surprised how far you can hang that out. I wouldn't use any side clearance, just grind some front clearance straight across and set it square. It might wander a bit, but that's no big deal.
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