Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

I left the lathe set up for boring the day before yesterday so it was easy to start this morning. If you remember I checked the alignment of Mrs Harrison when I finished Newton's engine and it showed this morning. The tip of that drill is stuck out a long way from the tail stock and I was pleased when it entered the bore dead square.



Here's where the piece of half inch steel came in. I wanted to extend the centre so I had room for the top slide when it was set up for the taper. I went back to the first cannon to remind me of the taper, it was 1.5 degrees.



As you can see I had to have a rethink and give the cutter more stick out. This was as far as the travel of the top slide would take me.



No problem moving along a bit to complete the cut.



Next a form tool to give the end of the barrel a bit of character.



The extension bar was a good fit, I had to grab it with the Mole grips so I could knock it out.



The last cut was a countersink on the muzzle. Then I had a clean up, harvested the brass chips and vacuumed the carpet, those brass chips fly all over the place! Not a bad morning......

[Stanley]

The fore end is finished and before I put the barrel back in the chuck I looked for the point of balance so I can make sure it balances nicely when I put the trunnions in.



Now we have to get a bit of shape into the back end of the barrel.



I found one of Johnny's old cast steel form tools that fits the bill. Cast steel is fine for brass, a lot of modern turners forget that and it has an advantage, it's easier to get a very keen edge on cast steel with ordinary oilstones.



Once I had the major shape cut, back into the form tool box for a suitable cutter for the next stage. Over the years you'll find you make a lot of special form tools, if you keep them together it can save a lot of time in subsequent jobs.





This little tool was just right.



Here's where we are at knocking off time, trunnions and touchhole next!

[Stanley]

This was the size of it this morning lads. I got the chop saw out and cut the timbers for the carriage. Not much but a step forwards.....

[Stanley]

Today is woodworking again. I want to get the carriage laced up and varnished so it has plenty of time to dry properly before I work on it again. I still have some metal cutting to do. So first thing was to put a new sheet of 220 grit sandpaper in the orbital sander and use it mounted in the vice to give all the component parts a good sanding ready for the varnish.



A short time afterwards.... I have it sanded and screwed together. The hook on the back is to hold it while I am varnishing it and hang it up afterwards well out of the way.



Knocking off time, everything tidied up, my varnish brush cleaned and the carriage is hung up out of the way and can take its time drying and more importantly, allowing the varnish plenty of time to set. Not my favourite sort of job but there you are, it has to be done.

[Stanley]

The start in the shed was a bit different this morning. One of the nose pieces fell off my new pair of glasses and I replaced them with two better ones from an old pair of glasses which had proper metal inserts instead of being moulded plastic. So nice to be able to do a repair like that and not pay out a fortune. The screws were incredibly tiny, hence the tweezers.



After a bit of measuring and a root in the brass ends box I was ready for trunnions and touch hole.



Drilling the touch hole.



Knocking off time and would you believe it, despite all my balancing and measuring it's still nose heavy!

[PanBiker]

Could it stand to have a bit shaved of the nose or re-profiled to get it balanced?

[Stanley]

No Ian, I have the proportions right. I was surprised because it defies reason. I must be wrong to say that of course because it can't tell a lie, it just nods forward, end of story!
I'll live with it, it's only an ornament!

[plaques]

How much weight would you have to remove from the barrel to get it to balance? I was thinking that you could open the bore up but leave the nose end as it is to maintain appearance but take the weight from inside.

[Stanley]

Theoretically that would work P but I shall not bother. If I make another I'll put the trunnions at the balancing point of the raw stock. i.e. Mid way. I shall make the trunnion mounts a bit tight...... Just like I did with Kev's.

[chinatyke]

Is it because you've taken some metal out when you drilled the touch hole? The touch hole seems quite a way back from the trunnions.

[Stanley]

No, far bigger imbalance than that and anyway out of balance before that was done.

[Stanley]

Today is axles..... I'm going to nake them the same way I did Kev's, crossways across the carriage because that way they strengthen the structure. So I needed some half inch square stock... I'm not well endowed with this so I had to go searching. I have a piece of 3/4" square mild steel but that's too heavy. I found a piece of 1/2" key steel but it wasn't long enough to get two pieces long enough to turn down to circular axles for the wheels. An executive decision was needed! I decided to use silver steel for the axles and will sink a suitable piece in each end of both the axles.



It's against my religion of course but I cut the two lengths using the hacksaw. You'll notice that I have given up economising, I have enough Eclipse all hard blades to discard them when they are dull!



I squared the ends and ended up with 2 X 3 5/8" axles. I had put the four jaw on Mrs Harrison. I could have squared the stock in the 3 jaw of course but it wouldn't have been on centre and I shall need that when I drill for the stub axles.



Into the silver steel stock. I hadn't got any 1/4" but had some that's a shade over 17/64" which will do. I cut 2 X 2" pieces. (I think it's 3.8mm actually.)



I sorted out my 17/64" drill and sharpened it and just to be certain laid the axles out on the carriage.... I make mistakes in my measuring these days and have to keep checking. That was enough for this morning.....

[Stanley]

It's quite amazing how easy it is to fritter time away if you aren't organised. I had a good example this morning. I'm sure you all spotted the mistake I made yesterday.... I only had two axles for four wheels. So this morning I went looking for some matching stock to make two more and that's where the time went, I haven't got any more! So I had to have a rethink, I found some 1/4" silver steel in another treasure chest and cut 4 axles from it, squared them and chamfered the edges. This didn't take the time up, it was the search for something I hadn't got!



A bit later I had drilled all the axles and Loctited the stub axles in place. I can do the final adjustments on length Tomorrow. Not a brilliant morning but a small step forwards....
One thing that went through my mind as I worked on Mrs Harrison. She is probably over 60 years old and is still perfect, tight and accurate. How many things do you buy today that are going to be as durable as that?

[Stanley]

I was in the shed at 07:30 and something caught my eye. In order to understand this first pic you need the second....



The tin you see above has been on this shelf holding these frequently used item ever since I set the shed up over twenty years ago and it has always been a bit of a pain. It struck me this morning that I could save space on the bench and make more space on this shelf at the same time. Little improvements.....



First job was to cut all the stub axles to the same size, refinish the ends in the lathe and then....



I ground a small flat on the end of each axle to facilitate drilling the holes for the cotters.



The flat made it possible to eyeball the location of the small hole in each axle.



Last job was some more measuring and drilling for the holes for the screws that will fix the axles in place. Next job is making and fitting the wheels and that's more work for Mrs Harrison so I knocked off. Nice morning with a little bit more progress.

[Stanley]

Sorry for the hiatus. Domestic matters have taken over. I decided that all bedding, curtains and nets have to be washed! Just as important as the Shed I am afraid. I shall be back!

[Stanley]

Update for you. I had an operation on Monday under full anaesthetic in case they found anything nasty and had to cut it out but everything went well and They don't want to see me until July for some maintenance immunotherapy and then another examination. The bottom line is that it looks as though the BCG treatment was successful and I am clear. So, so far so good!
Shad matters this morning after some housework. First order of the day was to diagnose why my cordless hand held vacuum had a dead brush. I found the trouble and rectified it and got into the shed.



First job was to vacuum up, I decided that whatever I did I wanted a clean floor!



First job I did was to take the coarse grit grinding wheel off my grinder and replace it with the green grit wheel (For carbide.....) Bit of a struggle getting the old one off but it's done and I am happy.



I did end up doing a little bit on the cannon. The axles are fitted to the carriage now, I can measure up and make the wheels next.....

[Stanley]

One job that has been waiting for good weather is completing the emptying and disposal of the cutting oil reservoir. Today was the day. I had two empty bleach containers ready and the big funnel that hasn't been used for 20 years.... (Never throw anything as useful as that away!) so I soon had the oil out and stashed away in the outside shed. Next job was to get rid of the container.



I had decided that the thing to do was to cut it into bite size pieces so it could go in the general waste. I got my high class Metabo jig saw out, this was going to be easy! Unfortunately the saw refused to join in so into the shed for some diagnosis and repair. Bog standard things like checking the fuse etc got me nowhere so I went to pull it to pieces. At this point it got complicated, Metabo use Torx screws and I couldn't remember where my Torx drivers were!



I got my sharp panel saw out and split the tank in two. It fitted in the grey bin nicely and can be filled with the bin bags. A clean up of my inevitable oil spills and back to the jigsaw!



My brain clicked into gear and I remembered where the drivers were.



I soon had it in bits. Beautifully made and in very good condition. I blew the sawdust out and did some continuity tests but found nothing. The motor was buzzing faintly when the power was on but no power and everything is very free. I suspect that the problem is something to do with the sophisticated 'soft start' circuit. I shall try testing that theory tomorrow. At the moment the the Archers is calling.... Not a bad morning actually, no cannoneering but plenty of progress.

[Stanley]

I went in she shed and gave the jigsaw some thought. The more I looked the more I realised that I don't have the knowledge to repair it. I had ideas of simply by-passing the variable speed unit but coulkdn't make sense of the wiring so I simply put it back together and returned it to the cupboard in the front room. If anyone knows of a Sparks who could repair it for me, please let me know. It's nothing major, but I can't pinpoint it.
So I turned my mind towards making the wheels for the cannon but realised that somewhere along the line I have damaged my bicep muscle in my right arm. Every time I reached out I got a violent stabbing pain. I'm sure it's not major, just a guider that has allowed the tendon to displace, it will put itself right. So the bottom line is I am back in the kitchen and it's a wasted morning! Ah well......

[Magnu420]

Stanley i got a mate who is a electronic engineer i can get him to look at it for you if you want

Also just a thought are the brushes ok

[Stanley]

Brushes look fine M. Where are you based?

[plaques]

My prime suspect on all hand held tools is a break in the supply wire. Generally somewhere near where the chord enters the handle. Often the wire is 95% broken with just enough connection to show OK with a continuity check but not enough section to deliver a usable current. Worth another look just to make sure.

[Stanley]

You are right P and the first thing I checked, full voltage at the motor brushes but I suspect that the soft start circuit is holding the amperage down which is of course what it's designed to do. Problem is it should wind it up for the soft start but this isn't happening.

[Magnu420]

Brushes look fine M. Where are you based?

Im based in colne stanley
I could bob over to yours at your conveniance and pick it up and take it to my mate let him have a look and see what he says and drop it of back to you

[Stanley]

That sounds great. Thanks for taking the trouble. I'm in every morning up to 10AM and would be grateful to take the offer. Mail me or post on the site first?

[Big Kev]

I have a couple of Bosch jigsaws if you need to borrow one in the meantime...