Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

That was a busy day Sue. I like days like that you really feel useful at the end of the day, stuff has been done!



This morning was devoted to one thing, boring the cylinder out to 1.5" diameter. I need to do this in order to make the piston and rod and turn the front and rear cylinder covers as I need to size the centring section in the centre. I have set up, done the boring and checked it for parallel as well as centre. It is fine, well within tolerances. I have put the boring head away but need to clean up tomorrow.... A very good and productive hour that opens up the path to lots more jobs.....
BTW... I have been for the shopping and put it away. The Co-op is getting like Riggs Sue, mince pies and selection boxes in every aisle.....

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed for an hour as usual and may force myself out into the gloom for a midday walk if the drizzle we are promised has stopped. We seem to be getting November weather earlier than usual.....

[Sue]

Morning

Another busy day in store for me. Bob is at a Regional model engineers meeting in Derby all day so I plan to wash, iron, clean the fridge out and pack ready for our trip to France. Bob should be back about 6 and we will probably have a take away for tea having run the fridge right down. I will first search in the freezer to see if there is a frozen meal lurking there. If I get chance I hope to finish the machine sewing of my jacket, so I will just have a bit of hand sewing to do when we get back from France, I am not taking it with me.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope you find a meal Sue......



The morning started well and I had a normal hour cleaning the VM and working on the steam chest. I got to the stage where I needed two more cuts to finish the chest and there was a phut out of the VM on/off switch and a very small puff of smoke. I isolated the mill and took the head back to the point where I had access to the wiring and found the trouble, not serious, just a loose connection that had given up the ghost. It needs another terminal fixing on the wire and then reconnecting to the switch. Not my favourite work but I have the necessary terminals and so there will not be any second sleep. I shall have my breakfast and then go back in the shed and re-connect the wiring, put everything back in place and see if I have solved the problem. I can't grumble, I have had thirty years service with no complaint and this is only a minor annoyance....

[Stanley]

I think I shall be stripping the switch out of the vertical mill and getting ready for installing the new starter switch when it comes. If that goes really well I can always go into Mrs Harrison to operate on the remaining castings. It all depends on how I feel after such a disturbed night......

[Stanley]

I decided to strip the defective starter switch out of the mill and free the wiring up ready for installing the new switch when it arrives. Then I cleaned the mill up and moved my attention to Mrs Harrison. I shall continue working on the castings with the lathe where possible so I installed the 4 jaw SC chuck in place of the 3 jaw and set the steam chest up for machining the remaining sides of it. That was 3/4 of an hour in the shed and I decided that was enough. I know my limitations and a short night's sleep plus the clocks changing signals to me the need to have a quiet day and take it easy. So I shall start here with breakfast and second sleep. I've done a good morning's work....I think you can see from the soot deposits on the back of the switch the point where I believe it failed.

[Sue]

Morning

Nice start to the day but rain forecast. We are leaving for Coventry later this morning and spending the day there, then its an overnight in a Premier inn near Oxford before driving on to Portsmouth and the ferry Monday evening. Hopefully the crossing will not be too bad though two weeks of rain are forecast from Wednesday onwards. Our plans are to clear the veggie plot, strip the wallpaper in the kitchen and start decorating as much as we can. Hopefully the roofer will have been and started our repairs too.

I finished my jacket yesterday apart from some hand sewing.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Not sure what the latest forecast is here Sue but it's not looking very cheerful. I shall be having a very easy day, just off to bed now for a dad nap to try to catch up on some of the sleep I lost last night.....
Whenever I surface I shall think about you down in Coventry......

[Stanley]

I am back in the world after a good two hours of sound sleep. I shall have a hot drink of tea and then might go for a walk, the sun is trying to break through the overcast out there.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed for an hour working on my castings..... (in the lathe!) Not sure about later, I will wait and see what the weather is like. No word from the pharmacy about my meds so I think I shall have to tweak them. Otherwise and normal day except for the fact I shall be pleased to hear from the courier about the delivery of my starter switch!

[Sue]

Morning

Well we are just outside Oxford and have a day to spend before our ferry this evening. The forecast is for damp to rainy conditions so we have an indoor activity planned. We are going to the Roman Villa and museum just outside Chichester.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Hope you have a good day Sue..... It looks as though you'll get your crossing done before this storm hits us on Wednesday night, I hope so.



First I finished the two sides of the steam chest and then in a departure from my normal process, I marked the steam chest for the attachment studs using the paper gasket that comes with the set of castings and drilled it. Normally I'd use the lid for the template but I can't process that until the VM is in production again. I could do it in the horizontal mill but it would be complicated. Then I marked the cylinder and chest with witness marks to keep me straight. Tomorrow I shall do the lids for the cylinder.

[Wendyf]

Burying my head in the sand for a couple of days while a section of our track gets resurfaced with tarmac. Lots of big machines arriving now.

[Sue]

Forecast is very calm tonight Stanley. Bob will be pleased, always a risk at this time of year. Hope the drive works go OK Wendy. Are they digging out or is it just a resurface. After a hearty Premier Inn breakfast we are set for the day. Sun shining at the moment no rain forecast till 4.00

[Wendyf]

Forecast is very calm tonight Stanley. Bob will be pleased, always a risk at this time of year. Hope the drive works go OK Wendy. Are they digging out or is it just a resurface. After a hearty Premier Inn breakfast we are set for the day. Sun shining at the moment no rain forecast till 4.00

They are taking off the centre where grass has grown, levelling it out and filling in holes before preparing the surface. The tarmac will be tomorrow! It's the same company who did the track from the road down to the cattle grid number of years ago, they did a great job with that bit.

[Wendyf]

The view out front!

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[Stanley]

I hope the crossing works Sue!
Wendy, With luck they should finish before the rain hits us on Wednesday.....

[Stanley]

Wendy, I note the forecast for this morning is for rain, not the best for your 'boys from the black stuff'!
I shall be in the shed as usual for an hour working on my castings and after second sleep I shall sally forth to do battle with the pharmacy! Then I shall meet Susan and Mick in the Town square for veggie shopping and lunch. After that back here for a good catch up, she has been to the States since I saw her last.....

[Stanley]

Only one pic needed. It took me an hour to turn this rough casting into a back lid for the cylinder with a register that closely fits the bore, the thickness adjusted and the PCD of the bolt hole circle marked on the end. Slow but accurate and no mistakes and if you think you could do better go to it. You'll find that it's surprisingly difficult and you have to get quite inventive to hold it.

[Wendyf]

Wendy, I note the forecast for this morning is for rain, not the best for your 'boys from the black stuff'!

The job is finished despite the rain and cold wind. It looks good!

[Big Kev]

Wendy, I note the forecast for this morning is for rain, not the best for your 'boys from the black stuff'!

The job is finished despite the rain and cold wind. It looks good!

Excellent news, have you put a toll booth up now?

[Wendyf]

Wendy, I note the forecast for this morning is for rain, not the best for your 'boys from the black stuff'!

The job is finished despite the rain and cold wind. It looks good!

Excellent news, have you put a toll booth up now?

No but I'm going to paint the white lines and a SLOW sign this afternoon!

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[Big Kev]

Looks good

[Stanley]

That looks a bit different than it was when I used to go down the track once a week delivering groceries.... I broke a half shaft just outside your gate...Those were the days, there was a gulley down the middle of the road you could loose a car in in some places!
Well done!

[Wendyf]

I preferred the look of limestone chippings with grass down the middle but it needed constant maintenance! Apart from damaged suspension the small stones mixed with sheep s*** stuck like concrete to the underside of vehicles. Not pretty now but should last a good few years! They have done a tidy job, it could have been a muddy mess in this weather with all the heavy plant moving around.