THE
VOL 34 No.9
MAY 2004 THE MODELLER
WEB SITE: www.tsme.ca TSME CHAT LINE: tsme@yahoogroups.com
Well it’s finally looking like spring out there, so spring into you car, truck, streetcar or bus and head down to our next meeting of Model Engineering minds - Come and join your fellow model engineers at the next meeting on:
FRIDAY 14 MAY 2004 AT 8.00pm, at
WE CONTINUE IN OUR 70th YEAR – IN THIS EVENING’S PROGRAM, EXPECT TO HEAR FROM:
ERNIE HALL has been collecting the castings for his next project – a 4” scale Case Traction Engine
TIM HALL will tell us about the half size Stuart Launch Engine he has started working on
GERALD GARDINER will bring in an air powered “Air Hog” model aircraft and explain its workings
JIM SMALL is going to talk about the machining of the Crossheads for his locomotive and hopes to have some pictures of the machining set-ups
DON CARR has his part finished Duplex Drill Grinding Jig and Don will explain its machining and how it operates,
RICHARD TROUNCE will give a talk on Bearings – Plain and Rolling Element types
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: REMINDER REMINDER
Please send your dues - $30.00 in to DAVE POWELL, if you haven’t yet paid yours. Or give him your cheque or cash at the next meeting. Dave is acting for Treasurer Allan Gouldborn for the moment.
WHAT’S UP & COMING : MEETING DATES 14 May, 11 June
DOORS
OPEN
BOATS
IN THE PARK:
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We are sorry to have to tell you that long time member RUSS SEON died during the week of 12 April 2004. Russ had been a member of TSME since the late 30’s. He made many delightful small oscillating engines and boilers for sale in the late 40’s and had shown some of them at various meetings. He had also been restoring an MG in his basement ! Russ had the reputation of asking some of our more experienced modelers quite pointed questions during the meetings. He also had a liking for playing practical jokes ! We offer our condolences to his family and friends. |
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT – THE APRIL MEETING
BERT deKAT – described the workings of the basic Thermocouple – to measure temperature. They are made from two dissimilar metals joined at one end. Heat applied to the joint produces a very small voltage that can be calibrated to give a temperature reading. The disadvantage with this simple design is that ultimately the electrical joints will reach the same temperature as the dissimilar metal joint and the current generated thus becomes zero. An improvement is to have 2 thermocouples in series, one for the temperature to be measured, the other set in a known, fixed temperature source. The latest versions now have an integrated circuit with an electronic reference temperature. Very small voltages are involved: 25C – 1mV, 200C – 8.1mV, 750C – 31.3mV so that the output is usually amplified to give 10mV per degree. Analog chip: AD 595.
Bert described his use of the thermocouple to check the temperature of a modified iron used to iron-on paper in making circuit boards obtained from www.techniks.com.
STEVE LILLY – showed his recently completed air powered Single Cylinder Engine. Castings came from Roland Manufacturing in the US. The design is unusual in that the piston is rigidly fixed to the crank shaft. There is no crosshead. The piston has an ‘O’ that acts as a seal until it reaches bottom dead centre, where the seal allows the air to exhaust as the piston has tilted over relative to the cylinder bore. Steve demonstrated the engine in operation, and said that he had to alter slightly the angle of the piston on the crankshaft in order for the seal to release the exhausting air. The piston impacts on the inlet valve at top dead centre to open the valve for inlet air for the power stroke.
GERALD GARDINER brought in a tool that had an unknown function – GERRY REED recognized it as a Clutch Aligning Tool It consisted of a tapered collar able to slide on a bar through its centre with various end diameter collars. Gerald also brought in a fancy torch – it had no batteries and with its electronics all one needed to do was to give it a good shake and it produced a decent beam of light.
REMO COSOLO showed his Violin Playing Machine – second version (the first one went berserk !). Violins require to be broken in to produce a decent sound and the machine is design to do this. An oscillating lever moves the bow back and forth while another lever connected to the same motor rocks the violin so that each string is played in turn.
ALEX BARRIE had made a Dash Panel in aluminum for a friend’s 91 Honda Civic – the original was plastic. There was much milling out for the various slots and Alex used jacking screws to maintain the widths of the finished slots while milling the others. Nicely thought out and machined.
KYLE SIMMONS showed his Wankel like piston and explained how he machined the 3 sided piston using the rotary table and machining the 3 curved sides in turn. He also showed a 3 sided piston which could rotate in a square cylinder. Kyle explained his design for a Wankel type engine that he is now working on to run on air – he has made a clever design for the valves – we look forward to the engine’s demonstration when it is complete !
DAVE POWELL demonstrated the Hydro testing of the Boiler for his 2 ½” gauge 2-8-2 locomotive. Dave explained the reason for using water (as opposed to air) as water can be considered incompressible and therefore much safer should a leak develop. There can be considerable energy stored in compressed air ! Model boilers are usually tested to twice working pressure and held for 15 to 30 minutes – but check for ant leaks in all boiler joints ! It isn’t so serious if fittings leak at the connections – they can always be tightened up or re-gasketed.
DAVE SAGE brought in the Cylinder from the 1930’s Marine Engine he is rebuilding. Dave explained the make and break ignition driven from the top of the oscillating water pump used for cooling water. The pump is driven by an eccentric off the crankshaft. There is no spark plug - the make and break ignition is inside the cylinder.
BOB MORROW showed his 120 psi. Pressure Gauge that he had made from scratch with a 1 inch dial. Bob detailed how he made the Boudon Tube from a small diameter flattened tube. An inner flat strip was inserted before bending the tube to prevent it collapsing then withdrawn after the tube had been silver soldered to the centre block. Bob used part of a watch gear to drive the needle from the “free” tube end with another small watch gear on the needle shaft.
FOR SALE, WANTED AND/OR FOR FREE
FOR
FOR FREE from RICHARD TROUNCE: 2 original IBM PC’s (ones without hard drive) – still working. A/C window unit, 20,000 BTU – still works.
FOR
FOR
WANTED by DEREK O’DELL: 4” Rotary Table