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!.

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....

It was nice to get back to fabrication recently. I was asked by a local man whether I would make a security gate for him and I jumped at the chance since I love fabricating especially angle and square tube work. After getting the dimensions and other requirements from this gentleman I ordered the metal from out local stockist Austen Knapman.

The metal duly arrived and the delivery man kindly laid it out on two folding benches. Since I have a disability, bending or working at floor level, is near impossible so I set the tables up with a spirit level and with my bandsaw relocated to the second garage I cut the metal to length. Fortunately Austen Knapman cut the metal to size give or take an inch (25.4mm) or so which made accurate trimming easy.

The materials as received from Austen Knapman

I now had a 'kit' of parts and set the outside of the security doors angle iron first. The major task was to ensure not only was the frame square but because it was not on the floor, without any twist. I achieved this by using a builders level then clamping the parts together. To get the overall size I needed to add the two securing uprights with the hinges and padlock metalwork in position. This allowed me to get the frame to its 845mm width.

Security gate outside frame being squared up

The hinges were made from stock BMS which after deciding on the diameter of the hinge pin and turning it down its partner was drilled and reamed to match. The length of the in was reduced later on to match the clearance above the door. The gate will be taken off at times so having the ability to remove the door was built into the design.

Using a spirit level to set the framework level in both directions

Once the outside frame was tack welded into place the distance between bars was calculated and marked out at both ends. (took me a while to make the right answer!). Now that the bars were secured the three bracing bars were located then tacked as well.

Fortunateley the chap I was making the door for arrived to lend a hand (and do the lifting!). Since he had the place for the door to fit into in his mind he was tasked with drilling the holes in the two uprights for the securing bolts. In the meantime, after checking with him that all was correct in relation to overall dimensions, I carried on and welded up all the joints. The framework was then turned and the underside welded where neccessary.

The hinges were set to the correct height within the framework using spacers and after marking the piece to be welded (it wouldn't come apart else!) as suggested by my friend, the hinges were tack welded to check they were in line and would work. Once all were cooled down and parted we decided to reduce their length to make sure there was enough clearance for them to be lifted off.

Gate nearly finished

That brought an end to my contribution and I waved the gate good bye as it rode on the top of his car as he headed home..............

I was pleased and more than a little relieved when I had a phone call saying it fitted nice an snugly. His next task would be to paint it using hammerite and after taken some photo's, send them to me. One unusual experience is he bought a can of hammerite spray (cost 25% of the door!) which was defective and not enough coverage so he painted it with gloss instead. Below are the photo's he sent me.......

The frame fitted in its place

Outside view of gate

I really enjoyed making this gate and it was completed in a couple of my sessions. I need to get back into the workshop as soon as I am fit enough again to finish the motorcycle handlebars, then three key rings, before I start on the Seals! Happy days.

I recently made a pair of gears for Thomas, who is one of the readers of this blog and my main website . Thomas contacted me ast week to say that whilst he was pleased with the gears the dimensions he supplied regarding the length ot the teeth was wrong and could I make another pair this time with 15mm instead of the 12.75mm initialy asked for.

Because the greatest part of the work required initaily had been done, it didn't take too long to produce the set shown below. The time taken to work out the cuttter required (and not found at a sensible i.e less than £135!) as well as calculating the holes, and number of turns for the Vertex dividing head and grinding a cutter with the correct profile, was the largets part of the project.

Set of extension gears for a childs electric jeep

So it didn't take too long to make the new pair. I made these in aluminium this time since I had some bar available. they will be posted off tomorrow (Monday) and hopefully Thomas will get them by Tuesday at the latest. Thomas has promised that he will send some pictures of the jeep when we have sorted out his problem.

I managed to buy a small oil dispenser and after it was emptied the first time I managed to refill it a couple more times before it split. These were sealed with insulation tape before finally giving up the ghost as it were. I have been considering how I can use the front part of the oiler and came upon a syringe I bought to help with painting.

I thought it may be useful to see if the syringe could be adapted as an oiler. When I checked the diameter of the second half of the nozzle it seemed ideal to fit the chrome nozzle part into. I didn't even have to cut the threads as the nozzle did that itself, sealing on the 'O' ring already fitted. The result was a very useful and hopefully more durable solution to oiling the button type oilers found on Far Eastern machines.

Unfortunately I have been a little under the weather today and whilst I did manage to get out into the workshop I didn’t trust myself to do any accurate work. After a cup of tea I decided to call it a day.

The only productive work done was to put a few tools away and clean up the stainless steel brackets for the MGA wing mirror project. I did manage to drill the ¼” hole in the end of both brackets whilst still clamped together, also rounding off the ends and corners to suit.

Hopefully tomorrow will see some improvement and I will then start on the Seal camshaft for certain (unless the Myford parts arrive, which I very much doubt).