www.mikes-models.com blog

Well today was the first time for many reasons I have been able to do some real metal work! I decided that I would fire up the furnace and melt and mould the coupling between the wiper motor and the milling table screw. I decided that instead of trying to make all the patterns in one go I would just make the coupling.

I find the process quite physical so before the melt I completed the welding of the lid to save me lifting it and raised the level of the pattern moulding at sitting level as well as the pouring. This did reduce the effort required so I will be making up permanent benches to fit onto the portable work benches I have. One will be made of metal (possibly aluminium tread-plate) and the second mdf with a border.  However back to today, after using the Plumbago (which was a little more granular than I anticipated) then the pattern was placed in one half of the wood cope.

Once the part was removed (which went much better than with talc powder) the two halves were put together and placed onto a metal surface for the pouring process. The furnace was then started up and the casting completed (more detail will be added to the main website ). After a hour or so the metal was removed and I  was pleased with the results.

There were several things I did different this time including using a stainless steel container as a crucible in addition to proper parting powders. However it was very nice to get back to metal! Overall a good session.

The next session will concentrate on completing the power feed. I hope to produce plans of all the power feed design and if anyone would like a coupling casting then please email me.

Well I have been using the lathe today for the first time in some time. The reason? I am making a baby Walker for my new (well 8 month old) granddaughter. It has stainless steel axles, phosphor bronze bushing in the wheels and nylon bushing through timber sides! So she should be ok up to around a 100mph!

I won't be giving a comprehensive write up since whilst it is loosely linked to model engineering, its main components are WOOD!!!!

Anyhow, hopefully the images will suffice.

Well thanks to a stupid moron who hacked into my blog I could not update this site until my brother Stephen, managed to sort it out! So a public thanks Steve, I owe you one.

Searching Google it seems that I am not alone so beware out there, even if you have safety on your laptop it doesn't apply to sites such as Word Press which are accessed on the web!

Ran't over......will get back to normal as soon as possible! Mike

Hello, please bear with me if you  follow me on www.mikes-models.com my main website since I have had a terminal failure of my laptop and it will take some time to reinstall everything (some of which may not be recoverable!). Also little will be done to sort this out since the internet will be unavailable for the next week (so I am told).

Bit of a rubbish time really.

Well I have managed to get into the workshop again and am in the middle of making a power feed to my own design for the RF25 milling machine I bought from Axminster tools some years ago. I will be writing up the design including drawings when I finally complete it. So far I only need to secure the bars and create a cover and lever (to engage and disengage the feed). So far in tests it works well and I have a shaky video to show how it works.

Don't worry about the driving dog since this was the first casting and I intend to make a pattern updated to take account of lessons during construction. The idea is that the motor will be engaged and released by use of a lever to slide the whole motor head in and out.  A picture or two should help understand....

Work continued on the pair of patterns for the Seal engine. I am now at the stage of painting to get a good finish. To help me I use two different spray colours so I can see clearly the areas I am covering. This works well and after making a few more adjustments, seen because of the paint finish, I am not to far away from finishing these patterns befre casting some to see what lessons I can learn in pattern making.

Whilst I will need to dust off the furnace I thought it would be sensible to complete all the different project patterns making best use of the furnace time. I must admit to being a little surprised at just how many different jobs on the go (or waiting for me to cast the part). These include a pen stand to display the pens I make (I hope to try a local Saturday craft fair in Brixham soon), a casting of the 3 pronged bracket to run the power feed to the milling table project (I will try first to use the metal part it will mate with before seeing if I need to make a wooden one) and a more substantial table for my Clarke bandsaw (for use when operating vertically).

I am quite happy I have the system of melting the alluminum sorted now but am not so sure about my patterns but the only way to find out is using them. We shall see. I expect to use the furnace the end of this week if I am lucky so watch this space.

I have decided to make use of the fretsaw before putting it away after making a couple of wooden toys for my grandchild. I need to have two castings for the Seal that are handed different from the norm, allowing one engine to run in reverse, allowing contra-rotating propellers in the boat (Fairey Huntsman) being built by one of my brothers.

When phoning Hemingway's, the supplier of Westbury's Seal castings I found out that whilst Edgar T Westbury designed the engine to work in either direction, no patterns for the 'other' way exist. So I am making a couple of patterns to cast the two parts needed. This is my first attempt to produce patterns to the quality required so it is interesting to say the least.

I have started by looking at the plans and comparing the existing castings to them. Remembering to allow for shrinkage and having the sides sloping, I made a start by tracing the outline then reversing onto wood and rubbing the reverse side, transferring the shape seen in the photo below. One the outline was done it was over to the fretsaw and cutting outside the line the basic pattern produced.

My next stage is to use filler to get the shape I want before spraying in one colour, sanding/filling then spraying in a different one to get as good a finish as I can. Of course the final test will be when they are cast.

Whilst I was at the fretsaw I also cut out some templates to make a set of pen stand patterns. So sometime next week I hope to fire up the furnace. Lots to do but its a start and its working on the Seal. Will post more tomorrow hopefully.

I have finally completed the couple of wooden toys for my first (and only at the moment) Grandchild and considering my dislike for wood am now able to start working in metal again. The funny thing is though that today the first job I undertook after completing the toys was.......two wooden patterns for the Seal engine! So perhaps my Granddaughter is teaching her Granddad new things! For one so young, she teaches a good lesson!

Perhaps I am thawing to wood? Perhaps though its just habit? Anyway the toys are finished and whilst not proud of the quality hopefully she will enjoy them, safety paint and all!

I dislike working in wood and I hate painting. So of course with my new Grandchild the toys mum and dad want are........wood and painted!

The first toy I made was a puzzle and the only enjoyment was making the aluminium knobs, but Freya loves playing with it so that makes it all worth while.

However, the wooden box I am making at the moment with animals and shapes to push through corresponding holes, is not going well. The main problem has been painting. I decided to paint the inside of the box by painting the panels before assembly. Freya, like all infants likes to put parts into her mouth so all have to be a certain size and the finish must be safe! After searching the internet and eBay I found a supplier and bought pots of 6 acrylic child safe colours.

I decided that I would first sand, then paint with an undercoat, sand again then spray paint the acrylic. However the finish I was getting was poor in coverage, so I decided to dispense with the spray gun and use a brush instead. That's when I discovered that the problem did not lay with my many different mixtures of paint when spraying, but the paint itself is poor in covering even when using a brush.

Now the paragraph above is a shirt one but covered many hours of work! I decided to see if my local hardware store had any other types of paint that was child safe and surprisingly they did. It is called Plasti-kote fast dry enamel paint. I decided to also purchase a soft saple brush to apply it.

On return, after sanding back the previous work with the new Black and Decker Mouse sander I decided to apply a coat with a brush first since it takes a while to clean up the spray gun (and I didn't know how it would spray) and whilst it was in direct sunlight, was disappointed with the finish achieved. So it was sanded flat yet again and the spray gun got ready.

Earlier in the morning I decided to make up a 'lazy susan' (revolving table) using a bearing I had for some time. A couple of pieces of mdf were marked out using my chain method. Simple put I use a chain secured at the center with a screw and then one link is chosen and a pencil is placed in the link and the circle drawn. Good enough for a non critical dimension and it works. Once the pieces were marked it was over to the fretsaw and the circles cut out.

With the first attempt at a thinned mix, I was pleased at last to see good coverage! So at last I could move on and complete the inside part of the box. Additionally, the 'lazy susan' worked tremendously well and I only wish I had made one years ago! It is so flexible and helps spraying a part no end and it only cost a few pounds.

Hopefully now progress can be made and the box finished. With a set of blocks completed earlier in the morning, this is the last wooden toy to be made for a while. I am designing a motorised vehicle but I suspect I have 12 months to make that before Freya can use it. I intend to have it electric powered and flexible enough to allow the chassis to mount different bodies. That will be a project I will have no problem in enjoying though!