Sorry there has been little or no progress with metal! However the Trike is well received!

Posted on 16 December, 2010 by Mike Freeman

Unfortunately little has been done recently due to tendonitis of three tendons on my right hand and the spread of arthritis from lower back and ankles to my wrists, and hands! Not looking for sympathy, just letting you know that speed in projects will be 'extended' from an already extended time scale. Still you know what they say....."you shouldn't join if you can't take a joke!!!" On a more positive note, the trike went down well!!!

See pictures below :)

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No metal work…more woodwork…..still its for a great cause – wooden trike!

Posted on 21 November, 2010 by Mike Freeman

Unfortunately due to health and other issues, my only workshop time over the last few weeks has been used making a wooden trike for my wonderful granddaughter, Freya. Since she is only 11 months old she won't see her birthday present pictured above. When making it for real though I changed the front end to two wheels, and the rear end is a box to hold the electronics mention below. I have yet to put to transfers I have printed out on it (yellow spiral on the front wheels etc.) and will post a final picture in the next couple of days.....

I used Alibre 3D CAD to design it and fitted an electronic sound kit (from Maplins) so she can drive Mum and Dad crazy with the noise of a siren! Ho, Ho...

If you want a free copy of the plans then just email me but I am not writing the build up on this site which is for my first love, model engineering in METAL!!!!

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Value your health while you have it! – Kindle helps though

Posted on 27 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman

Unfortunately health issues restrict the frequency and time of my sessions in the workshop however in my 'down time' at rest I have made a lot of use of the new Kindle ebook from Amazon. Its a personal view obviously but I think it is great value for money! I can understand Amazon selling it at a 'good' price since it must drive a tremendous amount of business to them. However you can also have non Amazon content and there are many books on engineering on the web, many of which are free of copyright.

I was sceptical when I first heard about them since if I spend a lot of time on the laptop it strains my eyes. However when my Kindle arrived (a birthday gift from my Daughter, Son, Daughter in law and Son in law) I tried to remove the plastic advert on the screen only to find it was no advert, it was the normal display! It is nothing like an ordinary LCD Screen and it really looks like paper and ink.

There is no flicker and ergonomically its great. Long battery life and ease and speed of downloading books adds to the useful features. I really wood be lost without mine now. Because I don't sleep well or for long periods I use my Kindle during the night whilst SWMBO is asleep. Although the screen is not backlit I purchased a cheap battery powered led light that is ideal for night reading and not disturbing the good lady.

Hopefully, over time, I will add some Kindle ready engineering book,s as well as copies of my published articles to this, and my main website. In the meantime if you want to check out the kindle then follow the link below. You can also email me for further thoughts or experiences.



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Power Feed Drawings nearly completed – Alibre is great!

Posted on 18 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman
Constituent parts for the home designed wiper motor power feed.

Constituent parts for the home designed wiper motor power feed.

Well  am almost there with the drawings for the RF25 Milling machine power feed. I believe it may also fit the RF30 but that's only information received via the internet. If you have a RF30 then it would be simple enough to check to see if the casting on the milling table for the handle assembly is 2" in diameter and the two securing bolts are centred x " apart.

A full write up will be on the main website within a couple of days but in the meantime the image shows the constituent parts of my power feed solution. The plans are free to those that want them and I am willing to help with the casting for the wiper motor to table coupling although not on a massive scale!! I am only helping fellow engineers out, I do not run a business (health issue alone rule that out!). In the meantime please email me if you want a little more clarity!.

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Seal engine – 4 Pistons part made for the first engine.

Posted on 18 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman

I have turned 4 pistons for the first Seal engine and following advice I have turned them 1 Thou under size. The 2 sets of rings per piston take up the rest.....

A full wrote up of the build can be seen on my main website so here is a picture of the progress to date:-

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Frustrating session in the workshop!

Posted on 9 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman

I set everything up last night ready to make a start on cutting the 1.5" diameter round bar of high tensile steel, in half. I was full of hope that with the carbide tipped saw blade that cuts wood and metal, this would be a successful. However two issues quickly arose, firstly the width of cut was increasing beyond the width of the blade, and secondly, it was very brutal and I suppose to a degree I chickened out!

So I decided to see whether a 4" slitting saw with side cutting teeth would do the job. I hadn't tried this previously due to how to hold the work and secondly, all the handle work on the mill. These issues were resolved because the power feed was working well and I now had a method to hold the work (the use of tapped holes in one end to secure plates too). Well it worked to a degree, after adding additional table clamps to stop some lateral movement. However it was again very slow going and I was not convinced that this would be successful in a reasonable amount of time (and blades!!).

So I have decided to approach the problem in a different way. 1, search out a local engineering firm to see if they can help cut the bar. 2, research whether the need for High Tensile steel is still valid bearing on mind how much materials have changed over the last 63 years since Westbury designed the Seal. and finally 3, look to take on another element of the build such as con rods or pistons while I sort out 1 and 2 above.

So if you can be of any help then please email me.

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Flycut the top of the Seal Block – need to make a valve seat cutter next.

Posted on 8 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman

Today I managed to get the surface fly cut back and also the base but have left 3 thou for final lapping of the top and bottom. Hope its enough! The home made power feed worked great and certainly helped me with the physical side of turning x axis. So that was some good news!

Fitted the valves and couldn't resist trying a couple of springs just to see...don't know why we do it...get ahead of ourselves...anyway I will now sort out a cutter to cut the valve seats.

Decided to test out my idea for cutting the HT steel in half bought for the two crankshafts. My method is to tap the end of the bar (within the allowance of the finished length of the cranks) and secure two pieces of flat bar to it. These are then clamped to the saw table. This will allow both to be secured and remain there once the cut has been made.

Decided to try and make the two from one bar of HT (its very expensive in the UK) bit have left it for the next session when I will be fitter (don't want pieces flying around he workshop!

If it works all right I will start to make the crankshafts next.

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Seal work starts again – pressing valve guides and cylinder liners.

Posted on 5 October, 2010 by Mike Freeman

Pleased to get out into the workshop and carry on with the Seal build. Today I spent my time boring out the previously made  valve guide blanks. Once this was completed I reamed all the guides 3/32" to match the valves and decided to press all the guides and cylinder liners into place. Before pressing them home using the Myford face plate and tailstock, I checked the depth of recess and the amount of clearance on the cylinder liner or valve guide. Then I measured how proud they were so ensuring they were pressed fully home.

The next task will be to face the block off to size (allowing 5 thou for the base to be cleaned up) so I spent my last time setting the block on mill ready for tomorrow. I did a test running the new power feed and am wondering whether the control of speed has a wide enough range...... Will see the next time....

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No workshop time – however I am continuing the Postman Pat van design on the computer!

Posted on 23 September, 2010 by Mike Freeman

You need to click on the picture to see the full image

Because I have not been fit enough (and other distractions) I have not spent very much time turning metal (or wood for that matter!) however because I can use the laptop whilst laid up I have been coming to terms with assembles in Alibre 3D CAD. The more I use this program the more impressed I become. That's not to say I haven't had several headaches with learning how to use the assemblies, especially rotating parts that come in on the wrong plane. However, I am getting there! The only difficulty is I am itching to start fabricating the chassis!

Using the photo import facility and measuring against the image I managed to produce a spreadsheet of dimensions. Really useful facility! Anyway, adding a bit of colour helps differentiate between parts so the picture above is my chassis design to date. I found that importing the pillow block bearings is a great time saver and the best website I have found so far for bolts and various other parts (the grease nipple and pillow blocks came from this site) is 3D content central it will save you a lot of time I am sure.

Hopefully I will soon be out there welding away!

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