Innehållsförteckning för October 2022 från Model Engineer & Workshop

What do you want to see in Model Engineers’ Workshop? This issue is, I think, only the second in over 100 issues I have edited that contains a full three pages of ‘Scribe a Line’. Many and perhaps most of the letters and emails I receive are responses to articles within the magazine. I also receive many messages on more general aspects of MEW, as well as seeing much discussion of the magazine on the forum at www.model-engineer.co.uk. The recent change of publisher has facilitated making some changes to the magazine, and perhaps the most consistent response has been the diversity of readers’ views. The same seems to apply to readers views on content, and our last issue generated some particularly polarised opinions. For some readers the issue strayed too…

GIVEN ACQUAINTANCE with the principles involved, and the necessary time and care, hand fitting methods as applied to basic equipment such as faceplates, straightedges and squares, can attain the highest standards of precision. Contrary to what might be thought, the methods employed are for the most part extremely simple-and, moreover, have applications in optics, where the highest machine precision falls short of requirements. In possession of a faceplate, straightedge (such as a good steel rule) and a square, it is possible to undertake various tests of work and components. A part with a flat surface can be placed on a faceplate and tested for “rock” with the fingers. Lightly oiling the faceplate, or using a smear of red lead and oil mixed together or marking blue, the component when lifted…

This project evolved after two false starts, but I will start at the beginning as there may be some ideas illustrated in the earlier concepts that some readers may derive inspiration from. For more years than I care to count I have carried out grinding, welding and any process that creates sparks outside. To assist in this, I have a folding “workmate-like” bench the top is covered in polycarbonate sheet and has an angle iron metal surround. This was developed as I considered that it would be primarily used more for metal holding than anything else. This can be seen in photo 1. Having recently being doing more welding the polycarbonate was starting to get pitted from the spatter. I decided that the bench required a supplementary covering but of…

Don’t let darker days stop the job! As we enter the final few months of the year, it is not only going to get colder but also much darker, much quicker. That means it can be difficult to have enough hours of light during the day to get that outside work finished on schedule. Machine Mart, stock a wide range of free standing work lights and floodlights to help keep you in action over the winter months. Their lights are all portable and have an IP44, IP54 or IP65 rating, making them suitable for internal or external use. They supply lights on a strong, sturdy tripod or with a useful carry handle meaning they can also be used for a variety of purposes. The Clarke COB10CR is a rechargeable work…

Along time ago there came the opportunity to buy a kit for a Worden cutter grinder that had only just been started. Once completed, and capable of grinding lathe tools, it seemed sensible to obtain further accessories for it, and a kit for drill grinding was one of the first. This would enable drills to be ground with four facets, with the advantages that they bring. With use came the realisation that although useful, it did have some drawbacks, so further improvements were explored. What follows is an account of how accessories for drill grinding progressed, with an account of making one more to extend its usefulness. History The first attachment was based on holding the drill in a collet for that specific size of drill, to be held in…

Atmospheric Railway Roger Backhouse looks at the history of a fast, silent – but short-lived – Victorian railway. Concrete Sleepers Stephen Wessel updates us on the use of concrete sleepers in his garden railway and extends his methods to include pointwork. Annie Robert Knox constructs a 7¼ inch gauge version of the Lister petrol electric engine. Two Stroke Engine Patrick Cubbon takes two incomplete two stroke engines and uses the parts to create a single engine. Scotsman Sanders Peter Seymour-Howell continues the production of a set of steam and gravity sanders for his 5 inch gauge Flying Scotsman locomotive. Content may be subject to change. ON SALE 7 OCTOBER 2022…

Before turning to what would be needed, I am happy to admit that what finally emerged, photo 1, was effectively determined by a combination of what was in my stock of ‘come-in-handy-sometime’ materials, and what tools were available. There must be others like me who find it easier to look in their stores and find something that sparks an idea, rather than start with a blank sheet and produce a design from scratch. I much prefer to make it up as I go along, even if this sometimes means scrapping a stage when a better way forward emerges. The bandsaw is a good example, where the base for the table was completed with a leftover piece of aluminium plate long before I began to seek something for the table itself,…

Readers! We want to hear from you! Drop us a line sharing your advice, questions or opinions. Why not send us a picture of your latest workshop creation, or that strange tool you found in a boot sale? Email your contributions to meweditor@mortons.co.uk. Plating Plastic Dear Neil, I was very interested to read the article by Glenn Bunt in MEW 316, “Electroplating 3d Printed Parts”. It reminded me immediately of my boyhood days, 60 years ago, when as a budding industrial chemist I used to metal plate the plastic figurine novelties that came in the breakfast cereal boxes. I used a process described in one of my favourite books, “The Chemical Formulary”, 1951. The process was simple enough for me to prepare the solutions and follow the steps to catalyze…

If you have a real, regular damp problem, then the best solution is a de-humidifier, photo 1. They are not particularly expensive to run and can be fit and forget if the water collector drains to the outside (otherwise you need to regularly check if the reservoir has filled up). For workshops that have occasional rust problems, the issue is often not damp, but sudden changes in temperature or allowing moist air to enter a cool workshop. A typical problem is wooden walls that can allow moisture to evaporate in the morning warmth, which then condenses on machine tools that are still cold from the night before. Often a solution to this better insulation, including a vapour barrier. Another ‘cure’ can be gentle heat, perhaps just a couple of hundred…

Making the support bracket I first put the newly made chain support on the full size rotary riveting base sketch with the top edge on the lower line on the sketch about 45mm from the vertical centre line and marked through the hole in the centre of the support piece. This gave me the position of the hole for the support piece, I then set the arm of the drawing to 30 degrees and marked a line through the hole to the upright line. This gave me a size for the support bracket; the centre line to the hole was 47mm. These measurements were transferred to the 25m piece of steel for cutting. To cut the support bracket flat to size I set the bandsaw over to 60 degrees and…

I’m getting old and increasingly safety conscious. The worktable on my old Madding’s floor standing pillar drill seems to be getting more awkward and heavier each time it needs adjustment. It lacks the rack and pinion adjustment found on some versions. For more detail of the drill see http://www.lathes.co.uk/meddings-pacera/ Having seen a few ideas to easily lift and lower the table on a floor standing pillar drill it would be good to adapt my drill in a similar way. Many of the adaptations look like Heath Robinson affairs. However, they were for me great jury-rigged efforts to demonstrate the concepts and clarify my design objectives. The most suitable for my drill was the counterweight style as opposed to the winch arrangement offered by one experimenter. This design could be adapted…

The dovetail of my vertical table is slightly wider than the lathe saddle dovetail and it is also deeper. This means putting it into place is no problem as it slides very loosely along the saddle dovetail. I found that by using a brass slip 1.5mm thick and 10mm wide on the opposite side of the dovetail from the gib strip it would fit into the gap so that any small adjustment to fit could be made by the table gib strip itself. To retain the brass slip I turned the ends over at 90 degrees to locate at each end of the table. Because this slip is at an angle of 60 degrees the two lower corners of it were removed, see photo 1 and fig. 1. No additional…