OneGuyFromBarlick

Stanley, do you know anything about reheating castings to overcome the problem of hard spots. I recently saw an online discussion onthe subject. It was said that you put the castings into the embers of your fire after finally stoking it up for the evening. Apparently The idea is to get the casting u...

Yes Stanley I quite understand. Youngsters probably would not realise that as we get older and wiser? we Like to do what we want wish no pressures.
I’ve just looked at the 14 day weather forecast, looks like lots of showers so plenty of time in the shed.

It might have been suggested before but Stanley have you ever thought of copying sections of this blog to a magazine such as Model Engineer? They pay money, which could fund a few castings and your hints and tips would go down well. They have even published a few of my writings over the years!

This little gadget reads to 0.1 degree but I am not sure how accurate it is. I have spirit levels that are accurate to 1mm in 1m but are far too big to go on the mill! I have seen accurate machine levels but I suspect they are a bit expensive. Good measuring gear is worth paying for but I generally ...

Slow but sure is good here as well Stanley. I have had a fun time trying to work out way of holding the turbine casing cover so that I can face the mating surface and adjust the casting thickness. The exhaust port cast into the other side prevents and holding in a lathe chuck. I eventually found tha...

Another excellent job Stanley. You might know all the bits that could be improved but it is a good runner and that is all we need to know. The was an old one of these on the ebay auction site last week at a starting bid of over £800. Of course it is not about money, it’s about the love of a job well...

I find that a magnifier helps my accuracy but this punch certainly is a bit chunky. I have another model that is a bit finer but does not have as strong a spring so is ok on soft materials but not steel. I must admit that I do like the the tools that I use regularly, you get used to them so it helps...

Stanley, I must have had that auto punch for 45 years. It was part of our tool kits at CEGB.

Not a lot done here recently. I drilled the bearing housing and tapped the matching face in the main housing. I used a couple of drills to pin the two pieces together whilst drilling the holes through. It was then that I realised I had not skimmed the face of the casting for the screw heads to seat....

I have been making the bearing housing for the little turbine. It has two ball bearings, one at each end of the housing. It would be very easy to take off too much material in the cast aluminium housing, it cuts so easily.

Will you drill them individually Stanley or use one as a pattern for the others? Today I finished the adaptor plate for the dividing head though the morning started slowly as the bolts for my milling machine clamps had damaged threads and needed recutting before I could clamp the plate down to count...

Shame about the tap Stanley, but we have all been there. I have the recess machined To depth in the adaptor head for the indexer. I now need to get the diameter right, that is the critical dimension. When that is right I can spot through for the fixing holes. 193F7389-0432-4C11-B454-E7618A841A4A.jpeg

There is something almost artistic about that Stanley.

Yes, I expect you feel ok because you stayed out of the shed. Even I know that I have spent much of the day standing up. I am sure we can pick up the tube sometime over the next few weeks, Sue would probably enjoy an outing. I finished the inner face of the little turbine housing and took it out of ...

Many thanks for the offer of the copper tube Stanley, I certainly would like to put it to use. I will arrange with Sue to come and see you again when we are allowed. Meanwhile I have completely changed course as I described yesterday. The courier should be delivering the adaptor plate this afternoon...

Nice progress Stanley. Yes, I have made the boiler, the shell has been tested to 120psi, twice working pressure. The top and bottom castings together with the firing door came from PM Research in the USA spoils from a visit to Sue’s cousin some years ago. Relatively straightforward to build but the ...

It might not look much Stanley but is is progress. I have had to buy a few BA nuts and screws this summer and, as you say, they are not cheap. My tiling is now drying nicely so I have grouted and cleaned it. I will leave tidying the boiler until I do the plumbing. This morning I have opened up the c...

I think we have all been there Stanley. I thought at first that the chuck jaws had fouled some part attached to the cross slide. At least if the machine has a belt in the motor drive that takes the peak out of the shock. It doesn’t do much for the shock to the operator😈. That is where, in my opinion...

That is a very smart job Stanley, diagonal tiling as well. I have put a channel in to represent a drain and am wondering what sort or cover to put on it. When finished I am thinking of distressing it a bit, perhaps a little oil and soot rubbed in around the boiler firing door and oil around the engi...

Good progress Stanley. You say that you would not like to do tiling such as I am currently doing. I do just a bit each day, one more row today nicely lined up, levelled and gently wiped clean. I then have another project to get on with whilst the tile cement hardens a bit ready for another day. Curr...

I have been tiling the base for the vertical boiler. It is only possible to do one row at a time as levelling the small tiles, about 3/4” square, disturbs the adjacent row. Spot the deliberate mistake, now corrected.

I must remember this method Stanley, you have a cunning plan there. I spent yesterday sanding small white tiles to be pretty much the same size, checking them in a little wooden jig. I don’t like sanding things like ceramic in the workshop as the dust goes everywhere and gets into everything. Thus I...

You were certainly right there Stanley, there is only just room for me in the shed.

I set up a new belt sander this morning, that may need similar work to your grinder Stanley though I shall see how it goes after first serious use, perhaps next week. I finished putting the edging round the base for the vertical boiler and have left the glue to set. This is where the new sander come...

Very interesting Stanley and I’ll remember the tip for cleaning Hammerite from brushes. Hammerite solvent is an oddity and highly volatile, I had a small can once and used about half of it, the can is now empty even though I thought the lid was well sealed. I am currently reading a book on the devel...