Stuff you have made today

[DAPPH]

What suprises me most is that the magnet doesn't interfere with the caliper. Great Idea.

I gather that these calipers work on capacitance & counting each capacitance total as you move past the zeroed point . The metal block will concentrate & shield the guts from magnetism like an anti magnetic watch / & prevent oscillations of th magnetic field .

 

[selectedgrub]

Fancy tensioner for a linkage.

 

[Am333rcr]

that stuff is in very short supply. down out way. not good

We've started making a big heap of grass.
View attachment 292591

 

[Fraserb]

that stuff is in very short supply. down out way. not good

Were down about 5-7 ton a hectare on last year's first cut

 

[Edward Teach]

I had a go at making Roman numerals for my clock today. I will paint them but I need to add fixings on the back first.
I cut the 3/16" rod after working out the sizes on paper. I am quite pleased but I know they are not brilliant
View attachment 291755
Mug for scale, they scale nicely with the clock. I will show the whole thing once it is complete.
View attachment 291756

A little fettling with a few files, and they will be the business

 

[nickk]

Actually yesterday,I’m told by the customer this is a French style of curtain pole,it’s too long to show the other end,which is a hook to drop into the holed cleat that also mounts to the wall.
This one acts as a room divider so swings around 90deg and parks in the other cleat.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

A Fun rebuild, I should say it is picture heavy.
But a picture paints a thousand words.

Part 1.



A tired Mamod Road Roller.
From about 1961.
This is an early forward speed only model. "Meths." fuelled, solid wheels, cranked handle level plug and a short safety valve.
Nut and bolt construction.

It is extremely well used and is in dire need of attention.




Known issues when it arrived,
Whistle and whistle tank insert gone.
Level plug gone.
Level plug boiler insert stripped.
Seized piston.
Front roller sterring bar bent.
Both axils bent.
Missing drive belt.
What looked like a crack in the chimney.
Assorted screws, washer, nuts and bolts missing or clearly damaged.
I suspected a leaky seam on the boiler.
The whistle boss always lets go, when the boiler is ran dry. The solder melts and that's it.

Dismantling.

I pre ordered the bits I knew I needed.
I made some new boiler inserts, plus ordered some any way.
Turns out the inserts I made would not solder very well. So I was glad I had replacements.



This bent crank shaft bracket is not good, they are brass. They are know to crack when trying to bring them back in to line.
So strip the paint off, cold. Using paint stripper and wire wool. You need to be very clean, so a wipe with a de greasing agent with help. Warm it gently with a hot air paint stripper. Place on a flat metal surface, with some gear oil.
Then gently press flat. Do not hammer it, just press. It will take a few goes.
If it cracks then a silver solder or replacement will be needed.



The rear solder seam on the boiler had failed.
So it was cleaned up, flux applied and a ring of thing solder dropped into place. The 2 securing screws also were damaged, so they were removed and suitable replacements found.
The 2 new boiler inserts were also prepped with flux and a 2 dry runs were done.
Experience tells me you get one go at this. Turns out I was wrong on this.
Everyday is a learning day.



Stripped and cleaned ready to be rebuilt.
The alloy parts were stripped using paint stripper and wire wool then cleaned in warm soapy water.
The steel parts were left in a warm, but mild, citric acid bath for 2 days. Then cleaned in hot soapy water.

The chimney crack was looked at, turns out it is an original casting flaw. So it was left.
Axil and steering link were also teased back into shape, gentle force and patients.

The piston and cylinder.
It was very reluctant to be separated.
So I hung the crank end from some SS wire, filled the bore with grease and added a 2lb weight to the cylinder block. Then warmed the lot up until melted grease ran from the steam inlet. It still did not free itself.
So plan B.
Use compressing force. That got it to move a bit. Then slowly with heat and freezing spray I had it in bits. Then cleaned with vinegar and wire wool.



The boiler was a pain. Took 3 attempts to get it to be pressure tight. My repairs held. But the safety valve insert leaked. Then the front plate let go.
To cold test it I have some foot pump adapters to fit the level plug and safety plug holes.



The fire box came up very well. That is all original parts.
The paint is VHT paint, the clear coat is as well. It was a fiddly job getting the 6 screws, 6 washers and 6 nuts in. But coffee and more coffee was the answer.


Post First hot run.
We are water tight, steam tight and it runs very well.
Piston needs a bit more adjustments, but I will steam it a few more times.





Rear end view.
Level plug and whistle in place. The hunt is on for a correct whistle, should be a side lever one.
Back rollers cleaned and polished.
Scuttle added and a correct "Meths." burner tray fitted.



Just the view from the top. The rear of the boiler has shed some paint. Just visible by the whistle. But they all did that.
Safety/filler plug is re-built with new rings and sealing washers.
The whistle and level plug arrive with seals and washers.
I think the two copper pipes may have some hard water despotise in them, that will wait.

A long way from how it arrived.
It now has a new lease of life.

 

[Dr.Al]

I made some more gears today as I'm being indecisive about gear ratios. I made a couple of 75 tooth acetal ones and some 25 tooth steel ones (I really hate filing keyways in steel gears). While I was at it, I remade one of the 80 tooth ones that had a couple of iffy teeth; I didn't have enough acetal left to remake both of them. I made the new pinion with the smaller hole have a flange with a grub screw hole for fitting; I'll remake the 20 tooth version if I decide to use it. This gives me three different options for gear ratios, all using the same centre distances (two different options if I don't use the remaining 80 tooth one with a couple of iffy teeth or the pinion that needs a flange).

 

[James1979]

Not today but they were gifts so I only got told I could release the pics today.

2 more fire pits. One Orkney one and a Landrover 90

 

[Dr.Al]

Not today but they were gifts so I only got told I could release the pics today.

2 more fire pits. One Orkney one and a Landrover 90

View attachment 293192
View attachment 293193
View attachment 293194
View attachment 293195

That Orkney one is gorgeous.

 

[Munkul]

A Fun rebuild, I should say it is picture heavy.


A long way from how it arrived.
It now has a new lease of life.

I'm always amazed at how you take something that looks crappy, and turn it into something desirable. And it never seems to take you all that long, either... I assume you're retired, to be able to put those sorts of hours in?

 

[James1979]

That Orkney one is gorgeous.

Thank you

 

[brewdexta]

I've been busy up in the lofts sorting out ductwork, cabling and insulation, so not a lot to show for it apart from lots of swearing, but I did find time to print a few things.

I have a few raspberry pi, probably too many, and decided to tidy them up onto a DIN rail as that's where the PSU for them lives. I use these aluminium heatsink cases on them, and wanted to continue to use them,

They come with thermal pads to stick on the various chips and keep the pi nice and cool passively, at least for what I use them for.

At first I printed a couple of these off.

But the stand-offs get in the way of the aluminium heatsink case. And the clips break trying to put them on the DIN rail. I tried a few other designs based on various spring mechanisms, they are all carp.

So I had a look around for a better mount, and found these. Nice and simple, no effort to mount on the DIN rail and to take off too., its just a plastic tab that fits in a slot.

There are mounts for most of the flavours of pi, arduino etc. Below is an SSD mount too, although it would also take a full 2.5 HDD.

And here they are on the din rail. I have a few more to mount and I need to add some cable management and move a few other things out of the way

Here's the link to the 3d print on Thingiverse

Cheers
Andy

 

[AndersK]

Had two great days. First painted concrete floor red, jigsaw draw blood for the first time and it wasn't even running.
Then I was wading in the fish pond trying to pull up the water Lily's when I lost the grip and fell backwards to my wife and daughters amusement.
Fortunately there are no pictures as evidence so it will be denied when mentioned further

 

[Fraserb]

do u just cover that now with plastic

For anyone else interested as well.

Once we've finished chopping and rolling the grass in we pull in the clear side sheets you can see in this pic.

After that the whole pits covered with the double skinned plastic sheet. You can see the 2 layers seperating

On top of that is the green netting which is weighed down with old tyres.

 

[Gareth0123]

This is something I made back in April.

I have been extremely ill since December 2019 and have not been able to do a full day's work since then, which means my R-Tech 250 has pushed less than 1 X 15kg reel of wire in 18 months.

My adopted daughter lives about 2 miles across Norwich from where we do and she wanted to put her house on the market and move from her 2 up-2 down Victorian mid-terrace with a tiny north facing garden albeit in a desirable residential area to somewhere else in Norwich with a much larger south facing garden like ours.

No sooner had she decided to set about some of those little tidying up and decorating jobs done to make the house more saleable than some itinerant metal fairies disappeared her back garden gate. The gate was nothing special at all, just a cheap 30-40 year old Cannock mass produced wrought iron gate we haggled down to a fiver at a car boot. However, when Hannah moved into this house six years ago I had foreseen this particular issue and had replaced the cheap bolts and nuts used as the hinge with some grade 12.9 cap head bolts and nylock nuts thus I thought negating the casual two adjustables disappearing magic trick. I also thought I had thwarted all but a cordless grinder attack by cross drilling the nylock nuts and installing hardened roll pins as a further measure of antitheft security. I had not considered the cordless reciprocating saw approach as the Caravan Utilising Nomadic Travelling Scrap-collectors cut the wooden gate post off at ground level and stole it along with the gate.

For almost six months Hannah was without a proper garden gate, using an old pallet propped up to prevent her 5 year old son Isaac and her 10 year old dog Terra from escaping out the back and on to a reasonably busy residential commuter route.

As soon as I began to feel fit enough I made good on my Christmas promise to her and started to make a new gate.

I have inoperable kidney failure, my condition is currently not terminal but it is permanent as I we have found out with dramatic results about 12 months ago that I am allergic to both general and local anaesthetics.

Because of my condition, the proteinuria, the oedema, elevated blood pressure, retained fluid, dry retching and breathlessness, etc. I can only work for about 30 minutes and then I have to rest for about 3-4 hours, and this really frustrates the hell out of me.

Hannah's garden gate from beginning to end took me 5 days to complete; a job that normally would have taken me an afternoon and most of that would have been a tea break! .... and I didn't do the digging and concreting bit.

So here we go.

The rusty old new stock 75 x 75 x 3 box section steel gate posts. I've welded them to the 120mm X 10mm flat because of the step down from the garden to the communal back alley.

On the 1st of April I had got this far:

Rob & Paul did this for me on the 2nd of April.

Unfortunately I became ill again and it was the 22nd of April before I was well enough to start on the gate and by then the morning frosts had arrived here in Norfolk.

I set up a temporary work station in our garden and because Hannah was wanting to put her house on the market I decided to use some rusty old new stock that had been left uncovered and open to the elements and British weather outside my workshop for 15 months due to my illness.

05.45am on Friday the 23rd of April, it's -2°C out there and the steel for Hannah's new garden gate is covered in frost.

It's 06.30am on Saturday the 24th of April, it's -2°C and the frost is beginning to lift.
The main fabrication has been done and in about two hours time I'm going to position and fix in place the the closing stop plate and hinges and drill and tap the holes for the return spring and catch.
My trusty R-Tech 250-1 mig welder has been left out all night under that green garden waste bag.

I can only work for about 30 minutes before I become tired and have to rest. I rushed about and only rested for about 1½ - 2 hours between sessions, it took me all day to get to this stage and I've made a terrible school boy error: can you see it?

My adopted daughter Hannah stood proudly with her new gate at the pre-completion fitting to ensure everything is OK before painting it chocolate brown and final installation ready for her house to go on the market.

Back at ours and after a lick of Red Oxide the Chocolate Brown gloss has been applied.

I forgot to take my camera with me when I delivered the gate and Rob installed it for me, so alas there is not a final insitu photo.

 

[My Old Landy]

This something I made back in April.
I have been extremely ill since December 2019 and have not been able to do a full days work since then, which means my r-tech 250 has pushed less than 1X 15kg reel of wire in 18 months.

My adopted daughter lives about 2 miles across Norwich from where we do and she wanted to put her house on the market and move from her 2 up 2 down Victorian terrace with a tiny north facing garden albeit in a desirable residential area to somewhere else in Norwich with a larger south facing garden like ours.

No sooner had she decided to set about some of those little tidying up and decorating jobs done to make the house more sellable than Nomadic metal fairies stole her back garden gate. The gate was nothing special at all, just a cheap 30-40 year old Cannock mass made wrought iron gate. However, when Hannah moved into this house six years ago I had foreseen this particular issue and had replaced the cheap bolts and nuts used as the hinge for some grade 12.9 cap head bolts and nylock nuts thus I thought negating the casual two adjustables approach disappearing magic trick. I also thought I had thwarted all but a cordless grinder attack by cross drilling the nylock nuts and installing harden roll pins as a further measure of antitheft security.
I had not considered the cordless reciprocating saw approach as the Caravan Utilising Nomadic Travelling Scrap-collectors cut the wooden gate post off at ground level and stole it along with the gate.

For almost five months Hannah was without a proper garden gate and using an old pallet propped up to prevent both 5 year old Isaac and her 10 year old dog; Terra from escaping out the back and on to a reasonably busy residential commuter route.

As soon as I began to feel fit enough I made good my Christmas promise to her and started make a new gate.

I have inoperable kidney failure, my condition is not terminal but it is permanent as I we have found out that I am allergic to both general and local anesthetics.

Because of my condition, the oedema, elevated blood pressure, retained fluid, dry retching and breathlessness, etc. I can only work for about 30 minutes and then I have to rest for about 3-4 hours, and this really frustrates the hell out of me. Hannah's garden gate from beginning to end took me 5 days to complete; a job that normally would have taken me an afternoon and most of that would have been a tea break! .... and I didn't do the digging and concreting bit.

So here we go.

The new 75 x 75 x 3 box section steel gate posts. I've welded them to the 120mm wide flat because of the steps down from the garden to the communal back alley:
On the 1st of April I had got this far:

View attachment 293310


Rob & Paul did this for me on the 2nd of April.

View attachment 293311


View attachment 293312

Unfortunately I became ill again and it was the 22nd of April before I was well enough to start on the gate and the frosts had arrived her in Norfolk.

I set up a temporary work station in our garden and because Hannah was wanting to put her house on the market I decided to use some rusty old new stock that had been left uncovered and open to the weather outside my workshop for 15 months due to my illness.

05.45am on the 23rd of April, it's -2°C out there and the steel for Hannah's new garden gate is covered in frost.

View attachment 293313

It's 06.30am on Saturday the 24th of April, it's -2° C and the frost is beginning to lift.
The main fabrication has been done and in about two hours time I'm going to position and fix in place the the stop plate and hinges and drill and tap the holes for the return spring and catch.
My trusty R-Tech 250-1 mig welder has been left out all night under that green garden waste bag.


View attachment 293321

I can only work for about 30 minutes, I rushed and only rested for about 1½ - 2 hours between sessions. It took me all day to get to this stage and I made a school boy error: can you see it?

View attachment 293315

My adopted daughter Hannah stood proudly with her new gate at the pre-completion fitting to ensure everything is OK before painting it chocolate brown and final installation ready for her house to go on the market.

View attachment 293322

Back at ours and after a lick of ready Oxide the chocolate brown gloss has been applied.
View attachment 293323View attachment 293324



I forgot to take my camera when I installed the gate, so alas there is not a final photo.

That looks really good

 

[Hood]

Gate looks good, not so great regards the health, hopefully you get some better spells.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I assume you're retired, to be able to put those sorts of hours in?

Nah, like the Pinkerton Detective Agency, he never sleeps

 

[123hotchef]

I made a water wall and I also made my shogun lower