Today I managed to get back into the workshop after being laid up for 3 days and thought I would clear up the gears project I am making for a reader of this site. According to a couple of reference books I have on model engineering, it should be possible to turn the gears using a hobb I purchased from Arc Eurotrade by offsetting the hobb to the blank.
Well no matter how hard I tried, using a piece of scrap bar to the same diameter, it wouldn’t work for me. As frustration set in I decided to put that issue to one side and ask for advice on a couple of forums before continuing.
It was then I then decided that I wasn’t up to making any progress with anything requiring an element of skill, so decided to make a new bait board for the boat we had purchased (see http://www.dartmouthfishing.co.uk) and it didn’t take too long to cut out a piece of chipboard and secure some 2”x1” batten to make the edges. These were then glued and screwed, and the whole assembly sanded with a power sander before giving it a coat of undercoat.
It will need a ring fitting to the underside so it can fit on top of a pillar we have on board. I will post some photos when it is finished and intend to remove the brass ruler I made for the previous board and fit it to the new one.
Once this little job was completed I looked for something else non critical to do and decided to make up some simple clamps for use on a faceplate. All I did was to drill, and then weld, some captive nuts to some angle iron. Again whilst not pretty, they worked very well when holding a large block of aluminum ( for the motorcycle brackets I am making for one of my brother in laws) to the faceplate.
That was the end of the session which I must say was more like butchery than model engineering but hopefully I will feel well enough soon to get back to using a little more finesse……………………
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!
