Stuff you have fixed today

[James1979]

You should have heard the outrage when I suggested that method on the Lotus 7 cub forum quite some years ago

I have a little screw type ball joint separator as well as a pickle fork type, both bought when I was around 17, 35 yrs ago. I have no idea where the fork is, but the screw type one is usefull for removing windscreen wiper arms

The outrage from people who’ve never had to separate ‘proper’ Ball joints, probably!

I’ve several splitters right up to a hydraulic one but I always start by whacking them. It never (usually!) fails and if you need to move to a splitter you’ve probably unseated the taper anyway.

The biggest issue with splitters I have is they invariably are hard to get in, and end up ripping the boot. So you then have to spend out on a new part, unless you have a boot to fit.

I keep meaning to make or buy a wiper arm splitter. Saves loads of damage. Strap on make one.

For a similar fortune you can buy a battery terminal one as well

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Nice 2 1/2 Lb axe.

No idea what this was/is. But it was hard and difficult to remove.

Pitted, but the edge was still sharp.

Cleaned up well.

handle sanded, finished with wax.

All done.

 

[Farside]

You should have heard the outrage when I suggested that method on the Lotus 7 cub forum quite some years ago

The outrage from people who’ve never had to separate ‘proper’ Ball joints, probably!

I've experienced similar shirts-ruffled and knickers-twisted when explaining how to fit a camchain using two hammers.
Oh, the preciousness of the bleedin' amateurs with cupboards full of special tools that they'll use once in a lifetime.

 

[Blue Chips]

Restored the old hinges and latch for the door to the new upstairs bathroom that I've been constructing. The hinges and latch (and the door) are all original and well over 200 years old.

Here are some of the old cast-iron door hinges from the upstairs rooms before cleaning. The latch was equally messy, but I forgot to take a "before" photo of it.

Here are the latch parts and door hinges after cleaning. The hinge screws are the originals, formed with primitive/simple equipment, and slots cut by hand, so no two are exactly alike.

This is the outer side of the latch after installation on the door. I used gun bluing to darken the iron parts, and then coated the parts with clear satin two-part polyurethane. I had to replace the screws on the latch plate, but the old ones (what was left of them) happened to be brass, so they're similar to the originals, other than the wider slots and the lack of patina (which I can remedy later).

Here is the inside portion of the latch. The lift/pull knob was missing; the original was probably iron or brass, but just for fun I made a cork knob, since the bathroom flooring is cork (and I have lots of corks)

I'm making good progress on the bathroom. I might start installing the fixtures this week.

 

[optima21]

and if you read my post at the top of this page, for the same steam toy and meccano show it would be rude not to annoy people with pop pop (or put put) boats, as they are the worlds simplest steam engines but have no moving parts. so I got a couple off ebay from india, and the "engine" needed to be soldered together to seal it as the crimping wasn't good enough

as standard these are usually heated by small candles run for a minute at most so not much good for display purposed, so I decided it would be better to fit it with a meths burner, (shown here with a £1 pound for scale

I think the inspiration for this burner came from when I was making my small steam engines and used a milk bottle top for holding the meths,

but for this burner I used a top from a 60ml almond extract, and is very thin walled to keep the weight down. I tried it with just the top on it with a silica wick (for e-cigarettes) but the heat from the flame was too hot and it turned it into a vapouring burner. the easy answer to that was to pierce a hole in the side and glue a piece of 3mm aluminium tubing in it.

I've got a clear plastic bowl, so that will do for running this boat at the show,

and to reduce the drag when turning, the water tubes were angled as the tiny rudder was useless, so it will now run round the inside of the bowl, or do "doughnuts" in the middle of the bowl . with the fuel tank in the open and with the 2mm vent hole in the lid, its can be refuelled without stopping every few minutes by adding 1ml of meths using a syringe. I could say it was designed that way, but it wasn't the hole is just there because the wick though the top didnt work. I've had it running continuously for 30 minutes, so that'll do me for the show.

and a video of one pulled from youtube (not mine as I dont do videos)

 

[Turbo]

Last couple of days I finally fixed my 9 inch grinder to a heavy duty section of thick steel channel, added a welded on plate to mount a Draper 1180 drill grinding device .

The grinder fitted exactly as planned , so did the drill sharpener but the sharpener is about as much use as a chocolate teapot , far to much play in the pivot point meant I had two totally different cutting angles . Waah!.
I purchased the sharpener about 10years ago hoping to fit it before I needed it . Pleased to say I can still sharpen all sized drills better than than the 1180 .
Next step is to find a small face sander machine , as sharpening drills on one is a doddle even if you have Parkinson's disease .

Also discovered that the Libre 2 diabetic blood sensor device you stick on your skin is frazzled by the high energy plasma arc . Finished working cleaned up came in , had a shower and a drink of orange took my blood sugar 9.4 cleaned my teeth and had forty winks . I woke up with the diabetic alarm sounding for low blood sugar .

Huh? reading 1.4 m.mol , a few min later reading 1 ............. heading for a serious low sugar hypo?

One quick high sugar drink down my neck and 20 min later, I read the meter again & get a message declaring " Your sensor is unreadable... change sensor ."
You have to wait one hour after activating the new sensor for it to take several calibrating readings then take a new first time intentional reading. Panic off nothing is untoward reading safely within my range

That's good to know.

My GP tried to talk me into changing to a Libre last time & no doubt will try again next week at my diabetic review. Last time I pointed out that I don't have or want a smart phone & the Libre is pretty pointless without one. This will be a new bit of info I can use to deter them from forcing me to convert.

 

[northwest]

One of my bits of productivity the weekend, soldered the latch back into a set of vintage barrels. Staged pic as I had dismantled the job before I remembered to photograph it.


No idea how it had become detached but as the top rib WILL spring off if you don't hold it all together while you succeed in getting too much heat into the job, I thought it best to wire the barrels up and wrap a soaked towel around them (my heat protecting paste hasn't arrived yet). Quite pleased with the outcome, simple and successful job, one of my favourite outcomes.
Yes, they are Browned Damascus barrels so I was taking no chances.

 

[awemawson]

Offside grass roller spherical bearing housing had broken on my Bomford 6 foot flail mower. I must have gone over a brick or something but not aware of having done so. A simple bolt off - replace - bolt on job. But those bearing are £62 each with the VAT - ouch.

Had to be done - I was leaving scratches in the paddock !

 

[DAPPH]

That's good to know.

My GP tried to talk me into changing to a Libre last time & no doubt will try again next week at my diabetic review. Last time I pointed out that I don't have or want a smart phone & the Libre is pretty pointless without one. This will be a new bit of info I can use to deter them from forcing me to convert.

You can get a separate simple hand held reader module but it does not do internet reporting back to the clinic like a working smartphone does .. I have both thankfully ..

After many false down loads and strange events trying to set up the smartphone Abbot finally got back to me and said my A13 smartphone is not compatible with the Libre reporting set up & it does not read my glucose levels as quick as the reader module.

I chuffed with the hand held device as i'm learnign how & when my blood glucose levels vary and when to have food or plenty of fresh water to drink . Suddenly my life has started off again It's become a lot easier to avoid or eat less of the fast acting carbohydrate foods & drinks now I know how they affect me. Also having an indication of sugar levels then if needed doing a proper blood test is important before driving and after every two hours of driving ( It's a legal requirement for diabetic people to do a proper sugar test up to 2 hrs before driving & at every two hours of driving apparently ) .

 

[Keithmac]

Last time a did 2 pairs of steering tower bearings I vowed never again!.

What an arxxhole of a job.

Believe it's called Brinelling?, Piaggio pre-loaded the bearings far too tight and a few years down the line this happens..

It's not so much getting covered in grease, it's the brake and damper fluid bleeding at the end that's the worst bit.

Hey Ho!.

 

[DAPPH]

Offside grass roller spherical bearing housing had broken on my Bomford 6 foot flail mower. I must have gone over a brick or something but not aware of having done so. A simple bolt off - replace - bolt on job. But those bearing are £62 each with the VAT - ouch.

Had to be done - I was leaving scratches in the paddock !

View attachment 401487

View attachment 401486

Is that a new bearing or a bodge to hold the old one in place?

Get a jacket/ mask plate made in 15 mm thick steel that will fit over the bearing housing shoulder , allowing you to simply bolt it on through the existing holes using longer bolts & new nylocknuts & bolt it in place for future failings

 

[DAPPH]

Have a requirement for a light ish SDS hammer chisel drill jobby to strip mortar off reclaimed engineering bricks and some 50x50 cm sq cast patio slabs with the intentionn of selling them off as a job lot . Not wishing to drop £ 200 or there abouts on a new machine I 've been looking on various websites .

This Metabo looked interesting and it's out of a tool sales shop Other than a coating of light dust it has few signs of hard use . On firing it it up it had a sluggish trigger response .
Repairing these things was my bread and butter for a fair time so I stripped it down and immediately found the live winding wire from the trigger to be loose , just touching the contact blade .( Common fault with this type of trigger setup ) .

I washed and cleaned the whole machine checking everything ,not a mark on the commutator segments , serviced it and sorted out the poor electrical connections.
Filled the flimsy vacuum pressed insert underneath with expanding foam to give it a lot of support , added two new over centre catches to the box as the original closers were missing , found and old SDS to chuck adaptor for it in my junk box .

It's now as good as new and for £39 I'm more than happy with it .

 

[awemawson]

Is that a new bearing or a bodge to hold the old one in place?

Get a jacket/ mask plate made in 15 mm thick steel that will fit over the bearing housing shoulder , allowing you to simply bolt it on through the existing holes using longer bolts & new nylocknuts & bolt it in place for future failings

No it's a complete bearing insert (1-1/4" spherical) with its housing. You can just buy the housing which was what was broken but it's 75% of the cost and you're never 100% they are compatible

If I'd wanted to bodge it I'd have cut a plate on my plasma cnc table, but I didn't !

 

[Brad93]

Offside grass roller spherical bearing housing had broken on my Bomford 6 foot flail mower. I must have gone over a brick or something but not aware of having done so. A simple bolt off - replace - bolt on job. But those bearing are £62 each with the VAT - ouch.

Had to be done - I was leaving scratches in the paddock !

View attachment 401487

View attachment 401486

i would have swapped that out for a generic one i think!

 

[bricol]

No it's a complete bearing insert (1-1/4" spherical) with its housing. You can just buy the housing which was what was broken but it's 75% of the cost and you're never 100% they are compatible

If I'd wanted to bodge it I'd have cut a plate on my plasma cnc table, but I didn't !

I think he was suggesting replacing that strap with a fabricated cover out of 1.5 thk steel, protect the bearing a little more.

Probably the inside that gets all the crap though?

I was quite surprised at the cost of a decent brand after you mentioned the price you paid - I could maybe save a tenner on a RHP flanged bearing when I looked it up. Could get a name I've never heard of for considerably less - but then you've no idea if you would be replacing it considerably more often.

 

[awemawson]

If you look at the first picture that I posted you will see one “ear” of the bearing housing has broken off presumably from a heavy blow on the roller that it supports, perhaps by going over a brick or some such inadvertently. No amount of placing covers on the outside of the bearing would save it from that.

 

[Keithmac]

Deja Vu this morning..

All back in one lump and all blead up ready for MOT retest tomorrow.

 

[DAPPH]

No it's a complete bearing insert (1-1/4" spherical) with its housing. You can just buy the housing which was what was broken but it's 75% of the cost and you're never 100% they are compatible

If I'd wanted to bodge it I'd have cut a plate on my plasma cnc table, but I didn't !

Cutting a sleeving plate on the CNC plasma table is not bodging, it is a well thought through skilled engineering repair.

 

[optima21]

Ive "fixed" the Wilesco D6 steam engine today ( the one on the right in the picture below) , it was working fine, but I wasn't happy with the performance with the standard fuel tablets as the engine runs too fast with then after a few minutes and wants to walk around the table due to the vibration.

when I got the SEL 1550 engine (the one on the left above), I didn't have one of the wick holders for it and so I tried it with solid fuel tablets using the burner from the Wilesco engine. When I then ran the engine on meths, and to burners I got a much more consistent performance. so this lead me to wanting to make a meths burner for the wilesco engine. which I made from 0.6mm thick brass.

as brass has a habit of snatching when you drill it, I thought I'd clamp it down to keep my fingers away.

also I try not to use snips for cutting into sheet metal as it distorts it , so for smaller pieces I normal cut it with a fine hacksaw and then will trim it with snips.

and the finished parts ready to be soldered together

the base and top were soldered together using a 50W temperature controlled Iron with a 5mm bit, I just ran it around the edges after applying flux. the bushes in the middle was soldered by putting a ring of solder under them and gently heating with a small blowtorch, as the solder melts the ring will then fall into place.

as the burner I made is slightly wider than the hole in the boiler casing, it was necessary to make that a bit bigger, which was done by filing it. i didnt want to make the fuel tank narrower as it would hold less meths.

and with the new burner in place just checking that it was working ok.

and there it is running again, and the cylinder is straight and not bent

it seems to run consistently with the new burner, so Im happy with that, and finally I made a restrictor for the whistle to reduce its steam usage as the hole the steam goes though is 0.8mm

and I got a flyer today for the show that these toy steam engines will be going to

 

[optima21]

Ive fixed my car horn, as it started randomly going off a few weeks ago for no reason (normally when turning), so I removed the horn push from the centre of the steering wheel and the problem went away. So this suggested that it was the horn push rather than the wiring which was the issue. The horn push has two brass plates with contacts on them, but nothing that would appear to keep them apart, and its been like that for the last 20 years, so no idea why it started to go off.

so the easy answer is to separate the two plates with something springy, and for that I used some 0.2mm thick hard rolled phosphor bronze which was bend to shape. the problem with this is that its conductive so it was held in place by nylon screws with pieces of 0.5mm styrene as insulators, so problem solved

and both parts of the horn push stuck back together

still no idea what went wrong though