Feb 2016
Bluewater Bulletin
Bluewater Model Engineering Society Sarnia, Ontario
Vol. 31 No.5 February 2016 Editor John Lovegrove
Our next Meeting will be on
Monday March21st, 2016 @ 7:30 pm
Northern Collegiate Machine Shop (Rm. 148), Indian Road, Sarnia.
The February Meeting
I was not in town for the meeting (away skiing) so the newsletter has been put together from notes and pictures taken by Bruce Mannerow.
He talked about Murray Bennell who passed away the Thursday before the meeting. Several of us had been to see him in hospital on a fairly regular basis and were shocked at how rapidly he declined after the cancer diagnosis. Murray was a very good friend to many of us and he will be sorely missed. Here is a link to his obit (it was still up when I last checked.) <http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=934023>
Our treasurer was absent so there was no report on finances.
Bruce talked about a couple of You-Tube machinist videos: One was by Tom Lipton showing a surface plate being checked and re-surfaced. Another was by Dale Derry called "Machinist Tips and Tricks" apparently he looks and acts somewhat like Ned Flanders out of the Simpsons.
Nick Jonkman passed on some videos of Jan Ridders. He lives in Holland but has a following both in Europe and N. America:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpiYYWiPEnU
I came across something he had done a while back using the coil from a BBQ type lighter for ignition on a model engine. This is in fact in the series that comes up using the above link. Making use of the coil avoids the problematic and very tedious task of winding one’s own HT coil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09R6teBOlco
Show and Tell
Kasey Schuilenberg brought along his finished spot welder, made from a 1100 watt modified microwave transformer. All the secondary bits, i.e. controls where made from scrap electrical components and where mounted under the base. It has a timer to control the duration of the heating and a lock-down lever that starts the weld.
Kasey's spotwelder
Bruce also gave a short dissertation on why spotting drills should be used for starting holes when drilling in a mill - instead of centre (Slocum) drills which should only be used in a lathe. Basically the 1200 hole made by a spotting drill allows the centre of the 1180 drill to touch first and hold the drill steady until both drill lips are cutting. This minimizes drill wander. A centre drill with 600 sides means that the drill lips will touch them unsupported and if the drill is not ground properly the drill will push off centre and cut a "wonky" hole. (I am wondering whether "wonky" is an ISO approved term?)
John Sibbick explained that he was absent from the last couple of meetings because he has had a stroke. Fortunately he seems to have recovered without any lasting ill effects.
Keith Orr brought in the machined cylinders, cylinder covers and connecting rods for his Tiny Power 2V-10.
The cylinders have had the ports machined, including the exhaust passages. He also brought in the mounting plate that was used to drill the passages. This is clamped into the milling machine vise at the angle needed for the passages
Keith's engine parts
Bruce brought along the Derck’s Gauge Dial which he talked about at the January meeting but forgot to pass around. These "dials" provide a lot of information that is regularly needed around a shop, without having to "dig" through books to find it. They started being produced in 1943 and where sold up to 10 years ago. They can still be found on Ebay.
Derck's Dial Gauge
Nu-Way Machinery
Tony Koolen brought along some valves he had fabricated for his Case traction engine. The parts were machined from bar stock, with all the proper internal workings, then silver soldered together. They also have some nicely machined hand wheels. The picture shows the valves connected together for the hydro test, used to prove integrity.
Tony's test set up
I had a note from Ed Spencer saying that they have now moved to the East end of a strip mall at 480 Sovereign Road. This runs parallel to Veterans Memorial Parkway, one block East. Trafalgar Street is the cross road, Bubba’s Diner is the big sign to look for. (The Piper Lane address is no longer valid.) Joe Narcissa is the person Ed has dealt with and he has been very obliging. He has just ordered a 40 mm x 1.0, left hand plug tap for Ed and promised a 48 hr delivery. Hopefully Ed can fill us in on details at the next meeting (including a re-play of the look on his face when he found out the price?)
Workshop Tips
Since Bruce gave one regarding spotting holes when drilling on a mill, we can treat that as the tip-of-the-month. I did find an article on the web that basically gives the same advice:
http://blog.cnccookbook.com/2012/05/15/when-to-use-a-spot-drill/
Our Website
https://sites.google.com/site/bluewatermes/
The TSME Newsletters
https://sites.google.com/site/tsmeweb/the-modeller
Remaining Meetings this Season
2016
March 21st
April 11th
May 9th
June 13th John Lovegrove