It hasn’t been a good couple of days in the workshop for various reasons, one of which is Friday the 13th! Yesterday the bandsaw broke and a clamp on my only magnetic base for holding the DTI snapped today. I worked out that the blank I had cut for the Seal had the wrong end too long! Getting the face plate to fit my Turner lathe took 3 goes of removing studs, fitting the right ones eventually then working out how I could get sufficient travel to cut the various cams on the blank didn’t go well. The top slide doesn’t have enough travel (I prefer to have the cross slide power fed for accuracy) because the DRO fitted before the lathe was delivered to me new comes between the cross slide and the tailstock.
The only bright side to the couple of days was Mike coming down to pick up his stainless steel wing mirror brackets [photo] and with his help drilling the mounting holes in the correct position and then countersinking the right side (for a change) of the brackets. Before I had chance to give them a good polish Mike zoomed them away to see if they would fit, promising to bring the car back over the weekend sometime so I could take a photo for the websites. Well today Mike did arrive and was pleased with the results. They fitted the car and gave the required amount of adjustment. Since the stainless steel was quite substantial they were rock solid so no flapping will be encountered.
My only regret with the wing mirror brackets was the line sustained by the bending machine. I went to considerable trouble protecting the steel but to no avail. I thought they may polish out but are too deep and any grinding done to remove them would weaken the area requiring the most strength. Mike didn’t feel they were a problem and to be fair when they are on the car they don’t cheapen it.
I was pleased that the first attempt was rejected because I wasn’t happy either. The current solution is far more satisfactory and well worth the extra effort. Mike has given his permission to have the photo’s shown so here they are.
About Mike Freeman
Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom.
I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups.
Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again.
I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's
learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought.
My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a
stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own
shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the
bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!)
It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in
relevant positions.
Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable
speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep.
I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer.
Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This
was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
