Sorry, needed to get that out of my system! 
Strauss on the first day
Today’s session in the workshop was very tense to begin with. Nothing to do with model engineering or making the adjustable handlebars for my brother in law, Steve, but all to do with England bowling out the Aussies at Lords! Well done to both sides and especially to Freddy.
Now back to the adjustable motorcycle handlebars. After setting up one block of aluminum the last session it was straight into drilling the centre with increasing drills before starting to use the home made boring bar. The benefits of digital readouts showed themselves again with the second project in a row. The recent pair of gears made for Thomas was all dimensioned in metric whereas this project has a mixture of sizes. For example the largest bore, which will be attached the motor cycle forks, is 45mm diameter and the smaller bore for the upright part of the handlebars is 7/8” or 0.8750”.
Bored to the 45mm diameter required by the forks
Because the bore needs to be correct in size and 90° to the top, time was taken to get it as near as possible to the 45mm. Now I am used to working in imperial and can visualise what 1 thou looks like it took me a little while to bring the final bore to 45.01mm which is within the tolerance I set myself.
Using telescopic bore measurement tool to get to final bore size
Getting the finished bore to 0.01mm isn't bad! The digital calipers don't go to that....
One lesson learned with using the first plate for the first serious work was when dismantling the work holding fixtures I thought I would loosen them and move the block around. In the end it was easier to remove all the brackets and start again because the position required for the second bore was completely different to the larger bore position. Next time I will just remove them and start again with a clean slate as it were.
Both bores now done on the first bracket. 90% of remaining metal still to be removed!
I was pleased that the fixtures held the piece securely to the face plate so that was a bonus. The next job to do on this particular bracket is to drill, then ream, the 4 holes which will hold stainless steel rods that will be cross drilled and forms the clamping force.
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!
