Stuff you have fixed today

[Mick Annick]

I'm embarrassed to say I've been working from a single double socket in my garage for many years. Extension leads needed for everything.

So I finally went and got 6x more double metal clad sockets and the trunking and just finished it tonight. I'll not know myself now!!

They are dotted around the garage to suit existing tools etc and if I need to charge a laptop when working on a car / battery maintainers etc

When I refurbed my workshop a few years I had 20 double sockets installed, it’s still not enough

 

[Barking Mat]

Been having some 'fun' with the front axle of works boat trailer, after two needle bearing cages failed in October, we fixed the problem quickly to get the last boat home safely, and during this fix, identified the problem.

The axle, was not attached to the frame, the M10 bolts holding it in place, just weren't there, so as you cornered the entire axle slid left and right, only a couple of cm's, but enough to cause rubbing.

So experimentally I've made packing washers out of old cutting boards, to keep the wheels and the grease in place, it's an experiment, if it works I'll order some 3 or 5 mm sheets of PTFE.

That big vertical bolt got trimmed as the tyre profiles are different. (Above, in the middle).

The axle withdrawn again, to cut it off.

All reassembled and packed out with spacers, and new grease nipples all round.

 

[Danez]

@Dcal liking the earth tag

wow, how have I never thought of that before

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Bothe these came my way, the seller did tell me they did work. But he thought thast being on the shelf they may of become "Customer damaqge."

Nicw bit of history.
Ribbed tyres, old style motor and larger crown wheel

All this car needed was new pick ups, new rear tyres and a service.

Saddly in its life some one used a solvent to clean it. Removing the details.

The red car needed a bit more.

Full re-wire, new pinion and crown gears. The engine is a later version, but same power as the yellow car. But lighter, so faster.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

After getting a new oil lamp for pennies. I wanted the glass chimney.

I managed to drop the body and bend it.

I made a jig to hold it, so I could tweak it into shape.
The jig was no good, so I made another one. It held the lamp. But not in a way to bend it back.
Fire wood.

I dragged a board "Greenback" fed him Russian coffee and we used brute force.

Result.

Plus I found spares I could rebuild it with.
So the lamp it was going to supply parts for is now waiting for parts and this one has taken its place.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Some times the world tells you it will not be playing nice.

4 hours sleep and I gave up on my bed.

Workshop, cofffee, fresh bread and some good music.

This was meant to be a fun rebuild.

If you look at the thread, you will see the whitness marks. That is were it was beginning to bind.

3 flat driver bits latter and we hand it in bits.;

I had to use a bit of heat to get the thread lock to break down. The M6 threads were caked in it and the holes filled.

Getting the threaded part true was fun.
3 coffees worth, heat, copper tube in a steel pipe.

It was out of true in 3 places and 2 planes.

All done. Now sat in a secure place.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

dawn broke.
It was not my fault.

Pennies, I mean pennies.
7p.

The red tape? No clue either.

Boiling off the old oil, grease and wax finish. It also was given a citric acid dunking.

Cooking off to dry the metal out.

Given a good going over.

Only one part needed to be fixed. The pin. This pin was converted from a safety pin from a gas suppression system.

The finish?

Gun Black.

 

[bourbon]

I forgot to take pictures as usual. Collapsible trolley came into the repair café. Although I haven't been able to get there because of working weekends, The others know, when stuff needs welding, call Dave. So looked at it and the weld on the pin that goes through the yoke that holds the wheel had failed. Absolutely no penetration at all! basically held in place buy the plastic coating! It was thick enough to use my ARC welder on it, cleaned it uo squared in a vice. Hit it with weld. bit of black paint and good as new.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I got this thye other day. I saw it had bits missing and needed some attention.

If I knew then what I know now, goes the saying.

Ordered new parts and seals.
Rebuilt the boiler and the piston, got her into steam and she lets go on the seals.



Strip and rebuild again.

This time she blows the pipe from the piston.

So, I made a new pipe. I was lucky it was the pipe that failed, not the threads.


Again I striped it down, new seals, flushed the boiler and even brought the manufactures fuel!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This time, the whistle was leaking.
Removed it, found nothing wrong. and refitted. It was a new whistle as well.

At last.

Yes I do have a chimney for it.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I got this for spares, well that was the plan of cunning.

But this one is a nice odd Mamod workshop.

They used to sell the 4 machines and line shafts as single items.
Then they sold a complete workshop, but with pop rivets holding the machines in place. Then this lim ited run of having the rivets on the machines.

But they work loose and fail.
This is a copy of a Mamod repair idea.

How I fixed the loose ones on this item.
Clean the whole item down.
A blob or two of sealing wax to hold the machines in their correct place
Remove as much of the items from the machines as posible.
Using pipe frezzer spray of dry ice, chill the rivets.
Using a copper punch reform the undersides of the machines.
Then let warm up.

New drive bands. Yes I did replace the butchered pully on tyhe grinder.

I am thinking of removing the nuts and bolts and using Mamod rivets in the near future.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Last item, for for, for today.

This pile of crud.

It is a Aladdin No. 11 Ships Oil lamp. Minus a lot of things and its wall gimble.

This shows how bad the crud was, the crud is the black stuff.

I ended up boiling the whole lot in washing powder. Oven cleaner did not put a dent into it.

The wick was rotten, stuck in place and the wick adjuster was seized.
A good trick is to cut as much of the wick down, soak in water and tease it out.
DO NOT TRY TO USE THE WICK ADJUSTER. ON A SEIZED WICK.

You will strip the gears.

What I saved.

What I ordered.

New wick fitted. It was a pain. The wick adjuster was a bit out of shape.
It took 4 tries to get it all tweaked into the right places.

The new mantle needs to be burnt off before use.
DO This out doors.
Then do not go near the mantle, it will crumble.

Onces this is assembled and the chimney on, it will be safe from accidental breakage.

Warming up and ticking over

 

[brewdexta]

I got this grubby Verdict lever DTI of my dad's working a week or so ago, it had a bit of swarf in it, but it also had no glass, hence the mucky face

after a bit of cotton bud action, I measured the face as best as I could and ordered a glass 0.2mm bigger hoping to be able to press it in, 23.4mm to be exact. I didn't want to buy the dies and clamp for just one glass so improvised, the bloody thing wouldn't click in.

So, as I was going down to the market, I thought I would drop in to the jewellers there, he is very good and mended my dads old watch where other jewellers wouldn't even try.

So there he is with his double loupe looking at it while I explain that I just want the glass pressing in.

He said he couldn't. Why says I, Because its a gnats too small and is already sitting on the shoulder. Oh blow says I, feeling a proper pillock. Glue it he says, or buy one another 0.2mm bigger.

So four minute blobs of super glue later, it's done. Super glue breaks with a bit of heat so I could always warm it up if it ever needs replacing again.

So for future reference, for this style/age Verdict DTI, 23.6mm is a good starting place for a new glass

 

[brewdexta]

Following a recent acquisition of posh Python file handles, we chatted about how to attach them, an I remembered @The_Yellow_Ardvark recommended using sulphur.

So, I have posh python file handles in sizes 0, 1 and 2, so up to about 12" files, Size 3 has eluded me as the ebay seller sent me standard handles by mistake then declared the python handles out of stock. Never mind, the seller refunded the difference plus a bit so I'll use the standard ones for big files.

So, here's a file with a badly fitted handle, its one I probably picked up at a car boot or with some other tools

I thought his would be a good place to start. I drilled the handle out a bit more and filled it with sulphur

so heated the tang up with my propane torch, it didn't get to cherry red, just very hot

Handle on but I made a mistake and didn't have a BFH or mallet nearby and the workshop was filling up with fumes. You may be able to see a slight blue flame underneath the ferrule where molten sulphur is dripping onto the floor. So not quite far enough on, but it definitely won't come off.

It went much better with its sister file

Two down, about 40 to go. This may take a while as I need to let the fumes dissipate between sessions. I'm working from home this week and normally on line meetings finish a few minutes early, so it only take a a couple of minutes to drill and fill the handle, heat it up, shove it on, introduce it to BFH then run out so I'm slowly working through them, about one an hour

 

[Blue Chips]

Refitting wooden handles to files etc.

Warm the tang to dull red. Pour powder sulpher into exsisting hole.
Push handle on to tang.
It will smoke.
Allow to cool.

Following a recent acquisition of posh Python file handles, we chatted about how to attach them, an I remembered @The_Yellow_Ardvark recommended using sulphur.

When I was in grade school (it's been a while), I remember workmen setting steel fence posts into holes drilled in concrete, using molten sulphur to secure the posts in the holes. I think that molten sulphur had also been used to secure mounting bolts in concrete. I've never tried using it for file handles.

 

[brewdexta]

It certainly works, and it takes me back to my youth, making stink bombs with the old chemistry set my uncle gave me. I doubt very much if modern kids chemistry sets have half the chemicals they used to have in them

 

[Geoffm]

a couple of weeks ago... You can tell by the fine weather and lack of flood waters.
The cambridge roller had a couple of broken rings. Although I made transport wheels for it, they have been broken for a while as a dodgy weld holding one wheel stub, and the axle was 150mm x 50mm channel that was to floppy. FInally fixed that using a piece of 150*100*6mm box section. THat won't twist now. No action photos as my phone cracked the camera lens.
It also had the broken rings. I had one spare new ring from the repairs last time, but I found the new ring was 80mm wide, and the old ones are 60mm.
I ended up taking a previousl y broken ring, cutting out a segment to match the broken ring and welding it in. I used some no-name cast iron rods and gave it a good peening with the chipping hammer as it cooled. Seems to be ok and we will see next planting season.

 

[DennisCA]

Fix in progress, I seem to be doing a little, then leaving it for a month and doing a little again... The 1970s pressure washer I bought, removed the motor last night, it was simpler than I thought. Motor was lighter than I thought too.

So that's how the motor powers the pressure washer pump and the thing is filled with oil to some degree. Easy to remove and install at least. I turned it upside down to drain the oil and left it like that over night. It's unknown how old it is, but it looks dirty and full of this very very fine silt. Not sure what is is, if it's ground up metal or something else. I will wash it out with mineral spirits later.

 

[Seadog]

It certainly works, and it takes me back to my youth, making stink bombs with the old chemistry set my uncle gave me. I doubt very much if modern kids chemistry sets have half the chemicals they used to have in them

If you can find a chemistry set.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Following a recent acquisition of posh Python file handles, we chatted about how to attach them, an I remembered @The_Yellow_Ardvark recommended using sulphur.

So, I have posh python file handles in sizes 0, 1 and 2, so up to about 12" files, Size 3 has eluded me as the ebay seller sent me standard handles by mistake then declared the python handles out of stock. Never mind, the seller refunded the difference plus a bit so I'll use the standard ones for big files.

So, here's a file with a badly fitted handle, its one I probably picked up at a car boot or with some other tools

View attachment 383228

I thought his would be a good place to start. I drilled the handle out a bit more and filled it with sulphur

View attachment 383229

so heated the tang up with my propane torch, it didn't get to cherry red, just very hot

View attachment 383227

Handle on but I made a mistake and didn't have a BFH or mallet nearby and the workshop was filling up with fumes. You may be able to see a slight blue flame underneath the ferrule where molten sulphur is dripping onto the floor. So not quite far enough on, but it definitely won't come off.

View attachment 383226

It went much better with its sister file

View attachment 383225

Two down, about 40 to go. This may take a while as I need to let the fumes dissipate between sessions. I'm working from home this week and normally on line meetings finish a few minutes early, so it only take a a couple of minutes to drill and fill the handle, heat it up, shove it on, introduce it to BFH then run out so I'm slowly working through them, about one an hour

View attachment 383224

Tip.
Grip the handle in the vice, hole vertical.
Then push the tang down into the handle

 

[redlig]

If you can find a chemistry set.

And by the time they have put on the safety helmet /glasses/blast jacket /apron/ wellies /gloves et al they couldn't move about enough to make one anyway. My 14 year old grandson when I asked him what was the school equipment in the metalwork shop like he replied " not as good as yours, they are all covered in safety gizmo's and are too awkward to use" That took a bit of reeducating .