THE
VOL 34 No.8
APRIL 2004 THE MODELLER
WEB SITE: www.tsme.ca TSME CHAT LINE: tsme@yahoogroups.com
Come and join your fellow model engineers at the next meeting on:
FRIDAY 9 APRIL 2004 AT 8.00pm, at
WE CONTINUE IN OUR 70th YEAR – IN THIS EVENING’S PROGRAM, EXPECT TO HEAR FROM:
BERT DeKat will talk about his Thermocouple and controller,
ALEX BARRIE will show the Heating and A/C Dashboard Plate he machined for a friend’s 91 Honda Civic
ANDY WOJTECZKO will show and talk about some Race car part “left-overs”,
DON CARR will explain the workings of his part built Duplex drill grinding jig
ROBERT WYSS will talk about an EDM machine to the “Langois” design
JIM SMALL will talk about the process he went through to machine the crossheads for his loco
DAVE POWELL will do a boiler test for his 2 ½” gauge 2-8-2 loco.
IF YOU HAVE A PROJECT YOU ARE CURRENTLY
Please avoid talking during the meeting presentations – it is disturbing to the members around you and for the presenter.
2003/2004 DUES: Please send your dues - $30.00 in to DAVE POWELL, if you haven’t yet paid yours.
WHAT’S UP & COMING : MEETING DATES 9 April, 14 May, 11 June
VISITING
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT – THE MARCH MEETING – with many thanks again to DAVID BANHAM for recording these:
DON CARR - Hudson Springs and Swing Links - Don
commented that the first springs for his
0.010" thick, and shear the material to Don's approximate sizes. Don built a tool using a Dremel which he mounted under a plate and used to both cut up the spring steel and machine the internal shape of the Swing Links. Don used center punching with an automatic center pop first, and then drilling with a carbide spade drill from KBC. The
Swing Links are a very complicated flat shape with a heart shaped hole in them that is used to guide and manage the movement of the leading truck. The shape of the link was traced on paper and pasted onto the swing link material. The outer shape was cut out using the band saw, a band sander, and a drum sander. The internal shape was drilled
in the rounded corners, cut out with a coping saw and then milled using a straight dental burr held in the Dremel device mentioned above. The Dremel is used as an upside down router. Be careful using dental burrs, they can disintegrate - use safety glasses!
JOE FOSTER - Lost Wax Casting - Joe described the technique for lost wax casting using the production of a gold cap for a tooth as an example (Joe is a dentist). The technique involves shaping the tooth to receive the cap. A wax impression of the tooth is taken, along with the teeth on either side. A hard wax tooth, is made from the impression, and a cap of wax is made to fit on the wax tooth. The cap of wax, has a sprue attached and it is installed in a casing which is filled with Plaster of Paris type of material. This casing is heated and the wax is burnt out to form a mold of the correct shape. The casting is done using a centrifugal casting machine. The gold metal is heated using oxy-propane torch in a crucible, the heated mold is placed against the crucible at the end of an arm on the centrifuge, when the arm is released and spins the metal flows under centrifugal force into the mold. The casting is a very detailed copy of the original shape is made.
BET deKAT has made a support arm and an arbor so that
the Myford Dividing Head can be attached to the lathe spindle and used to
control the dividing of items held in a chuck or collets. Burt also mentioned
and enjoyable and educational visit to the
for most vehicles built by Ford up to 1955.
BILL HUXHOLD had his vertical Weir boiler feed pump on display and promised to describe details of its construction at the next meeting.
JIM SMALL and ROBERT WYSS - Sandy River Loco - Jim's locomotives are never small and he showed the crossheads which were substantially complete and the huge flame cut connecting and eccentric rods which were cut out of thick plate. Robert showed a computer program that they have been using to develop dimensions for the loco. The program shows visually and parametrically locomotive valve gear. The program is called 'the Valve Gear Program' and Robert will send it to anyone who is interested in using it. Robert also offered to display any computer graphics provided by members for the meetings. The graphics can have sound, be movies that can be run by Microsoft Media Player, and he recommends that graphics be 800 by 600.
LLOYD HALL - Lloyd has installed a 60 foot electrical heating element from a roof ice melter to warm his lathe which is installed in a stand alone workshop/garage. The garage is heated by either wood or propane when he is working. The element is wrapped around the bed casting and has a thermostat that switches off the power if the casting reaches 50F, it keeps the lathe from sweating when the workshop is cold.
DAVE BOWES - A Partially Built IC Engine - Dave had supplied parts to a builder / enthusiast who abandoned the engine when nearly complete. Dave completed the engine and got the engine to start, but it would not run slowly. He found that the engine piston was a very poor fit in the cylinder, so he made a new cylinder and rings. He found that with a compression ratio of about 7:1 it now runs well between 1400 and 7000 RPM. Dave ran the engine on the bench, where it started second attempt and ran very well.
KYLE SIMMONS - One of our junior members showed a robotic device he hd built that walks around the bench and is controlled by a simple micro processor. Programmed in BASIC (Beginners All Symbolic Instruction Code) from a ap top, and downloaded to the robot via a serial cable, it was a substantial effort for one person. Very well done!
RICHARD TROUNCE - showed his locomotive whistle for his
additional power. The whistle was found to work considerably better at higher pressures when the air / steam moves over the outside of the holes in the whistle. The flow over the outside draws the correct amount of air into the whistle chambers to resonate.
DAVE POWELL described a 2 1/2 " gauge locomotive he bought after seeing an advertisement at a TSME meeting. He is sure the engine was sold by George's Trains about 20 years ago. The original builder is currently unknown, and the engine has a lot of fabricated and hand filed components. Dave has cleaned up the loco, but has not made and
substantial changes. The engine runs well on air.
GARTH STATHAM described a 3 way tool post that was
described in M.E. August 12th 1985, by David Lamas. Hemingway in the
1964 (Volume 130 Number 3260), this made cutting the
slots in the casting possible. If you want cast iron materials for machining
try, Terra Nova in
FOR
FOR FREE from RICHARD TROUNCE: Ph: 2 original IBM PC’s (ones without hard drive) – still working. A/C window unit, 20,000 BTU – still works.
FOR
FOR
FOR
WANTED by DEREK O’DELL: Ph: 4” Rotary Table