SHED MATTERS 2

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , I remember seeing things about cutting bottles on Youtube, which is very similar to what you want I think they were scored then hot and cold used to make it crack along the score. I cant remember why they were doing it or exactly how but remember thinking it seems to work well and was easy to do

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Thanks Mick, that's one of the options I am looking at. There's a method I like the look of, scoring with a carbide tool in the lathe and using thermal shock to break it. Involves a blow lamp. I've seen the bottle cutting trick using a piece of string soaked in an accelerant but to make that work you have to fill the bottle with water up to the cutting line. I shall be experimenting today.... I have plenty of longer tubes!

[Stanley]

I started with four tubes that need cutting down. I'm going to try using the lathe so I have cushioned one end with insulting tape...



All the tubes marked and one has the initial cut with the glass cutter.



This was plan 'A'. Use thermal shock to cut the tube after first marking with the cutting wheel. Immersed up to the cut in cold water and then the top part heated. The result was the whole tube shattered. Back to square one for a rethink....



Sharp carbide cutter, low speed and very carefully deepen the cut. All went well and I got the cut almost made and decided that if I put a sharp knife on it and gave it a smart tap is would break at the cut.



I made sure I had a good deep cut....



I gave the knife a tap.... and once again, shattered it. (Getting a bit fed up!)



Then I altered the shape of the end of the cutter and had another go, blow me! It dropped off! To cut a long story short the other three were cut just the same way, 219rpm, a sharp carbide cutter and very delicate feed.



Here's the shape of cutter that did the trick if you want to try it....



Here we are, success at last.... I shan't be trying that one again in a hurry! Good clean up and stuff put away. I'm ready for a new day tomorrow.

[Stanley]

I'm ready to start building the lubricator up again so I went for a furtle and dragged my spares together.



First thing was to check that the sight tube gaskets were the right size. Notice that two of the delivery pumps are missing, these had been disused for a long time and I stripped them out to refurbish them.



The same gaskets fit the top fittings that hold the sight glasses.



The blokes who put these together in the old days at Kirkham's would know all the wrinkles and would have had specialised tools. I had to re-invent the method and play it by ear as I went on. Not as easy as it looks!



It took me over an hour to get here. All four pumps are operational again.



As I progressed more and more tackle magically appeared on the bench... But I'm making progress, all the bottom sight glass gaskets in place and the pump drive re-installed, tightened up and packed.



All the pump chamber covers are in place, all the ball valves and springs have been renewed and the delivery nozzles fitted. The screwed fitting stood on the top is one of the four stop valves, one for each pump. I have one of these missing and two lock nuts so I shall have to make them..



I could have gone on with the build but decided to finish the bottom chamber before adding any more components. I measured the stop valve up. I told you that brass finishers were a law unto themselves when it came to thread sizes. Anything that is 3/8" diameter is actually 1/8" BSP, 28tpi! So I had a putting tackle away session, found the correct tap and die and knocked off until tomorrow...

[Stanley]

The4 committee approached me this morning and pointed out that I had omitted to fit the four plugs I fitted yesterday with fibre washers to seal them so the first job was to get the washers out and find 4 that fitted.



Then on to making the new stop valve and two locknuts.



Finding the hexagon stock for the nuts took a while as I had to go digging but the bar on the left is almost dead on, it will certainly do...



I soon got the stock threaded 1/8" BSP and tested the valve for a fit, perfect.



I think John Kirkham would pass these... I soon had them fitted.



Next job was to fit the retaining bolts and fit gaskets to the top and bottom before fitting the reservoir glass which becomes the spacer between the top and bottom. The gaskets I had were exactly the right width and depth but slightly too small so I broke both of them and filled the gap with Manganesite.



The top gasket before I filled the gap.



It's beginning to look good...



The oil filter wasn't sitting properly in the ledge at the top so I adjusted it by grinding the edge down. The lid has to sit in the register on top of the filter. That was enough for today but just for interest I tried the shortest sight glass and it's OK.... I'll fit them tomorrow...

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , its starting to look the part now , a small work of art really I am looking forward to seeing all back together............keep up the good work, I can tell you have got the bit between your teeth with this project !
I have half a plan for Friday 28th for shaper delivery, would that be ok your end ?
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

That would be fine Mick. Remind me nearer the day.....

[Stanley]

No shed activity yesterday, I was not as other men.... However, normal service later today!

[Stanley]

First job was to make sure the lock nuts were all free on the top sight glass fittings and install them.



Then into the treasure chest to find new sealing washers for them.



Fit all the sight glasses and make sure they were seated properly. If you don't get this right either they don't seal or you shatter the tube when you tighten them up, I know, I've been there!



New sealing washers on all the caps.



All the sealing caps needed new wires (They act as the guide for the drop[s of oil when the pump injects them otherwise they would wander and stick to the walls of the sight glass). Into another treasure chest and find some .016" steel wire. Bought from Williamson's in Oldham for £1, never pass a bargain up!



All the plugs and wire guides fitted and the top fittings nipped tight. The lubricator is finished but it is still missing the top lid on the filter. They are missing off both so I shall have to make two.



I had one disc that is a bit thick but the right diameter. I shall slice the other of this piece of 4" bright bar.



Time for Mrs McMaster to step in! God knows what I did without her. Many heartfelt thanks to the Geordie Mafia!



It took 38 minutes to make the cut, no drama and the motor only just warm when it was done so that was a good test. Nice square cut and I can knock off and leave the lid making until tomorrow. I remember reading a blog when I was investigating power saws and one bloke said there was no more relaxing sound in the world than hearing a power saw clunking in the background as you do something else.

[Stanley]

First job was to make sure the lock nuts were all free on the top sight glass fittings and install them.



Then into the treasure chest to find new sealing washers for the caps which seal the top of the fittings..



Fit all the sight glasses and make sure they were seated properly. If you don't get this right either they don't seal or you shatter the tube when you tighten them up, I know, I've been there!



New sealing washers on all the caps.



All the sealing caps needed new wires (They act as the guide for the drop[s of oil when the pump injects them otherwise they would wander and stick to the walls of the sight glass). Into another treasure chest and find some .016" steel wire. Bought from Williamson's in Oldham for £1, never pass a bargain up!



All the plugs and wire guides fitted and the top fittings nipped tight. The lubricator is finished but it is still missing the top lid on the filter. They are missing off both so I shall have to make two.



I had one disc that is a bit thick but the right diameter. I shall slice the other of this piece of 4" bright bar.



Time for Mrs McMaster to step in! God knows what I did without her. Many heartfelt thanks to the Geordie Mafia!



It took 38 minutes to make the cut, no drama and the motor only just warm when it was done so that was a good test. Nice square cut and I can knock off and leave the lid making until tomorrow. I remember reading a blog when I was investigating power saws and one bloke said there was no more relaxing sound in the world than hearing a power saw clunking in the background as you do something else. He was right!

[Stanley]

What I am after this morning is two blanks with parallel faces and a 3/4" 26tpi hole tapped and drilled in the middle. This is eventually for the knob but in the interim it will be the boss to hold the lid while I turn the rim to size and shape.



Tapping drill for the thread I want is 43/64".... I have one so I sharpened it and cut the hole..



The smart ones among you will have perked up and said, hello! That isn't 26tpi.... Quite right! When I looked in the treasure chest I found I hadn't got a 3/4" 26tpi tap or die, biggest I had was 5/8". What to do? I decided that even though the hole is too big I'd tap it 3/4" Whitworth. It won't have a good hold but it will be good enough for a knob! I soon had that done and set into the other blank.



I must have been half asleep yesterday because until I started on this I hadn't realised it was cast iron. That's a useful bit of stock to have about me for some job where it's essential so I did this facing cut just before I knocked off. I shall slice off another piece of the 4" BS stock tomorrow....

[Stanley]

Just popped in after my afternoon sleep to post Bob's Bit for today and I thought I'd report that while I have been dealing with a load of washing and doing this Mrs McMaster is chunking away quietly in the shed cutting a fresh slice off the 4" BS stock. Before she came to live with me I would have wasted that nice piece of CI.... How times can change.



The new blank for the other lid....



That 3/4" 26tpi tap must have been on my mind because this morning as I woke up I realised that there was a drawer I hadn't looked into.... This one has all sorts of oddball taps and dies in it, the sort you only need once every Preston Guild. Sure enough, there was a 3/4" 26tpi bottoming tap in there, brand new, never been used! I haven't got the die but of course that's no obstacle. So I can go ahead with Plan 'A'! What's puzzling me is why I never put it in the right drawer! Now I'll have to hunt for that 45/64" drill again!

[Stanley]

Late in shed this morning and then delayed by a scammer....



I chucked the cast iron stock back in the treasure chest and tapped the disc I did yesterday with the 3/4"26tpi tap. Much better.



Then I put the disc I cut last night in, got it parallel both sides and drilled and tapped it like the other.



Then I changed chucks and got set up to make the threaded piece I shall use as a boss...That was it because then the phone rang.....

[Stanley]

I turned the bar down and threaded it 3/4" 26tpi and screwed the blank on. It's a good fit.



First I turned the major diameter to size, I'd set two pairs of spring callipers to the size I was after, no complicated measuring!



Once I'd cut the lip I tried the lid just to be certain I had it right and then reversed the lid on the spigot to do the back side.



It didn't take long to finish it, break the edges and polish them with a bit of fine emery.



Next lid romped away because I had everything set up. This is the lid with the bad thread.



It didn't take long to knock that one off and by knocking off time I have two lids. All I want now are two nice brass knobs.... I can remember the shape of the originals....

[Stanley]

I was going on to brass turning this morning so my first job was to have a good clean up. I found a piece of scrap brass and popped it in the chuck ready to begin....



So why, all of a sudden am I clearing shelves.... This shelf is a good piece of wood, Keruing, and one of the things about good grades of Keruing is that they weep beads of resin, especially if they are in the sun. I've been getting annoyed for a while because everything I put on the shelf sticks to it so I decided to do something about it. I scrubbed the resin off with wire wool, oiled it up....



And covered it with a tablecloth. This will stop the resin getting through to the tools.



Then I got on with the job, this lubricator is officially refurbished and finished!



I finished the lid for the other lubricator and it was knocking off time....
I shall start on this one as soon as I have written some articles for the BET. It's got round to that time again. I'm pleased with the first one.....

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , looks like a cracking job to me the whole thing has turned out very nice indeed. I dont think you have mentioned what you intend to do with them ? I can not really think of anything you will have to use them with ? or are they just going to be mothballed ? either way a job well worth doing as they deserve to be in good working condition because of their quality of build and age.

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Good question Mick. It's my tidy shed syndrome. A dirty corner needed cleaning out and sorting. I had two of the best HP lubricators ever made and the knowledge and spares to refurb them. I also had the tackle and needed a project. The solution seemed obvious.
I enjoyed turning a mucky piece of scrap into what is now, in effect, a brand new artefact. Someone somewhere would give their eye teeth for it and it's available, after all nobody needs two 4 feed Kirkham's lubricators! So, If you or anyone who sees this knows of anyone who wants one or has a way of spreading the word that it's available, go for it! It would be nice to see it doing the job it was intended for.
I have the other one to do.... but this morning I shall be writing articles.....



Apart from anything else it is a beautiful thing and I am really pleased it is fit for another 100 years hard work!

Have a look at the Summer 2015 topic Mick for some wood carving that has popped up on my morning walk......

Shortly after writing this I was looking for an image and tripped over this one....



It's 1977 and I'm completely rebuilding a Land Rover diesel engine at Hey Farm. I used to do them for Walt Johnson at Crawshawbooth and he said my rebuilds were better than Rovers!
Tis tidying up gene must be very powerful!

[Super_7b]

Hi Stanley,

I was just catching up on the latest videos from John Doubleboost and Adam Booth on YouTube when I came across this guy, David Richards:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WXHNBMLZZM

I don't know if you knew about him before, but his shop looks like it is out of the time of Johhny Pickles. I'm sure Newton would have approved.

Best Regards

Mick
(Ossett Mick, not Mick from The Toon)

[micktoon]

Thanks for the info Mick, I had never come across that lads videos before , very interesting I have sent link to John Doubleboost as sure he will be interested in the videos, I am sure you will be Stanley, looks like the lubricator would find a new home somewhere like this blokes workshop.
Where would the lubricator have been used in the day Stanley ? I was just wondering what the 4 outlets would be for, would they each supply a line shaft bearing where there was multiple shafts running ?

It does look a real class item mind so glad you have given it a new lease of life.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Yes Mick I've seen it before. I mentioned it on here I think and made the comment at the time that it was a work of art but must have been hot in summer! It would have been fine for Mick the Shed as he has plenty of wood....



Here's where the lubricator was used, on the high pressure cylinder of a steam engine. This is the one at Bancroft which was a two feed. The two I'm doing up are four feed, top of the range. They were designed to deliver oil against up to 300psi and would probably stand more, that's why the sight glasses are so thick.

[Stanley]

First thing I did was clean the brass chips off the lathe and but them in the John Mills Memorial Scrap Box. Then get my stall set out for stripping the second lubricator down.



Quietly away and when I had the reservoir and the sight glasses out I cleaned them and put them safe in the kitchen. I saved the gaskets for the reservoir as they came off in one piece and will be perfectly serviceable to re-use.



Getting down to it. This lubricator is in better nick than the other in some ways but a lot dirtier. The old cylinder oil is so thick it's like glue. I shan't have to dismantle the pumps as they are all in good nick and from the wear on the ball which drives them, this lubricator hasn't done anywhere near as much work as the first one.



I decided it would be a good move to put some paraffin in the bottom of the reservoir to start softening the old oil but hadn't noticed that one of the stop valves was missing, just like the first one. So I finished up with a spill and had to set to to put this right.



A bit later, all cleaned up and a new tablecloth on. I had to wash the paraffin out of the other cloth before I put it in the washing machine and so that meant I had clean grease free hands. It was a bit early but I decided this was a good point to knock off.



I dropped the level of paraffin in the bottom, gave the inside a good brush, spread paraffin over the top surface and left it to soak overnight. I put paraffin in with the oiliest of the small parts as well. They'll be a lot easier to clean after an overnight soak. A good start....

[Stanley]

I decided the next stage was to drain the paraffin out of the bottom casting, have a good clean up inside there and make some assessments as to what I needed to do.



My first thoughts had been to do as little as possible to the bottom but I knew I wanted it cleaner than it was and had to get rid of the rust on the different parts so I stripped everything down except for the pumps themselves. I know already that I have to make one new stop valve, just as I had on the first. I took this opportunity to wire brush and clean the casting and blow all the passages clear.



So much for minimum work! When I got everything clean I realised that two of the pumps had broken springs and so I stripped the first one out. Here's the state of it. I cleaned it all up, fitted new springs and replaced it.



Then I attacked the other pump with broken springs and this proved to be a bit of a bugger. The pin securing the collar was badly chewed up, the collar itself was all shapes and in the process of taking it off one leg was broken off the small brass casting.



You can see the state of the collar and pin, in the end I had to drill it out.



Here are the parts ready for refurbishing and re-assembling. It was knocking off time so I'll make my decisions about this lot tomorrow. Thankfully the other two pumps are OK!

[Stanley]

The Design Committee has been working through the night and have come up with a repair for the small broken brass casting. I was considering making a new one but if you think about it, it's an incredibly complex machining job. I shall try their suggestion this morning but it will be a fiddly job!

[Stanley]

This was the problem. As I said yesterday I started under the impression that the pumps were OK but no such luck. The first one was easy, just broken springs but this one has all sorts of problems, broken springs of course but I had to destroy the retaining collar on the adjustment rod to get it off and in the process broke a leg off the small brass casting that takes the drive. (I suspect it was cracked in the first place). First job was to find the right springs in my Kirkham spares, no problem there. Then I had to straighten the adjustment rod and clean it up so it fitted in the brass casting. Then the casting itself.... There would have been spares in the shop at Kirkhams and they had a foundry anyway but I had to ether machine a new one or repair the old. Not enough metal to simply solder the broken leg on and it wouldn't have been strong enough anyway so I set out to make a replacement piece I can graft securely on the old one.



You can never have too many treasure chests! This one has odd sections and lengths of non-ferocious in it and I settled on a piece of heavy brass angle.



Not a bad start, now I have to make it the right shape.



First the fork....



Then after I had cut the section to the right size and cleaned it up I soldered it on the the original. There was a good area and this is a strong repair but I decided to make absolutely sure...



I found a good copper rivet in another treasure chest, drilled the joint 5/32" and countersunk it on each side



Filed it down to give me good clearance for the collar and after riveting it up tight I filed each side off so the rivet is flush with the surface. I don't thing this is going to come loose now!



The next job was to make and fit the collar and find a taper pin to suit (another treasure chest). It was knocking off time, I am ready now to do a bit of re-assembling tomorrow. It's been a fiddle but I'm pleased with the morning's work.

[Stanley]

I only got about 90 minutes in the shed this morning and it took about half an hour of painstaking fiddling to get the pump fitted to my satisfaction. Funny how dirty the inside of the chamber looks in this pic!



The next job was to clean up the cams and the operating rod and get them fitted. It's beginning to look ;like a lubricator again.



My next job is going to be to make a new stop valve, clean up the old ones and the plugs and get them fitted. I sorted out the 1/8"BSP tap and die ready for the job but by then time was going on and there was another fiddly job to do.



I cleaned up the gland nut for the operating rod and dug into my boxes to get some graphited packing string. This digging for the packing is actually the biggest job! I have to move all the boxes under Johnny's lathe. Anyway, here we are with a clean gland nut and I soon got it fitted. Tomorrow I'll attack the new stop valve and clean the others and the plugs up. Not a bad morning.....