May 2016
Bluewater Bulletin
Bluewater Model Engineering Society Sarnia, Ontario
Vol. 31 No.8 May 2016 Editor John Lovegrove
Our next and last Meeting of the season will be on
Monday June 13th, 2016 @ 7:30 pm
Northern Collegiate Machine Shop (Rm. 148), Indian Road, Sarnia
The May Meeting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Odh1eoNqs
Our Treasurer was not present so there was no report. A successor to Larry Walker was discussed and Nick Jonkman volunteered to do the job. This will require some new signatures at the bank and probably a move to a more convenient branch.
NAMES was discussed fairly briefly. Six of us went along and I did give an account in the last newsletter.
There was some discussion about ALRO who supply a range of metals and plastics. The have outlets in a number of US states, including several in the Detroit area, but most of them only deal with industrial customers. The only "retail" store nearby was in Ann Arbor and a few of us have bought stuff from there. However, it is quite a long drive from where we are. Fortunately, they are now opening up a similar store at 26200 Groesbeck Hwy, Warren MI, which is a lot closer. The downside is that the range they carry will be more limited. One aspect that makes them useful to hobbyists is that they stock a range of different steels, aluminum and brass in pre-cut 1, 3 & 6 ft. lengths. There was some discussion about prices because with our $ being where it is at present, one would expect them to be fairly expensive. Brian Lawson had priced out some materials for a job and the ALRO cost was $US80 compared with $Cdn250 at the Metal Supermarket, for the same things – so maybe they are OK.
Dave Sage from the Toronto Club (TSME) came along as a visitor and talked a little about their club: It has been in existence for ~100 years (rather more than ours) and they have around 40 members, which is to be expected considering the population they have to draw from. In the early days the main interest was in locomotives and boats but now interests are much more diverse. They have a few members interested in live steam who also belong to the RHLS. He reminded us about the Ontario Model Engineering Meet at Hamilton on September 18th.
Turning to websites; Bruce mentioned a YouTube video by NYC CNC where someone has been experimenting with deep drawing techniques for metal. Here is the link.
Metals
A couple of meetings ago we talked about different steels and what should be used for what. It seemed like a good idea to have a discussion whereby we could all share our experience of what works best for which application and extend this to materials other than steel.
We asked Dave to lead off on this and so far as steels are concerned his suggestion was that 1144 is good for the more highly stressed components such as crankshafts whereas 12L14 is suitable for general components so long as silver soldering or welding are not required. (1144 is otherwise known as Stressproof, has an ultimate tensile of ~51 tonnes/in2 and machines well. 12L14 contains some lead that makes for very free machining but the UTS is only ~35 t/in2 and it is also susceptible to rusting) So far as aluminum is concerned 6061 is the most readily available alloy and is OK for most purposes but where a higher strength is required (e.g. connecting rods) 7075 is preferred. (The UTS of 6061 is ~20 t/in2 whereas that of 7075 is ~37 t/in2.)
For steels that are to be machined, hot rolled material is generally preferred to cold rolled because the locked in stresses are less. This is important if a lot of metal is to be removed and distortion becomes an issue.
When it comes to sourcing materials, Dave mentioned that he had obtained good material at low prices from scrap yards. Occasionally machine shops have to dispose of surplus material and if you are lucky to be around at the right time you can pick up essentially new material at near scrap prices. In Sarnia our choice is rather limited because apparently only Trijan on Plank Road will re-sell material that has been brought in.
Show and Tell
system. This time he had the complete thing. He has made a suitable case for the transformer with louvered sides to allow cooling. It is complete with the power cord and the two output leads, one with a ground clamp and the other with a holder for the carbon electrode that heats up to perform the soldering operation. (He did a demo and the electrode quickly got to a bright red heat.)
Nicks soldering outfit
Last month Nick Jonkman brought along the transformer Kasey Schuilenberg had modified to form the key component for his resistance soldering
https://archive.org/details/gasengineconstr00weedgoog
His other engine was a V8. This was based on doubling up on Jerry Howell’s V4 engine. He fired up both engines so that we could see and hear them running. You can get more information on Dave’s models at: http://www.davesage.ca/
Dave's V6
Dave Sage brought along a couple of engines: One was a large single cylinder ½ hp engine made according to plans in the book Gas Engine Construction by Parcell and Weed. It is of all fabricated construction, 2 ¼" diameter piston, runs on propane gas and is hit and miss governed. The governor is of the pendulum type but relies on the engine being firmly fixed down to work properly (which is generally not the case.)
Dave Sage's 1/2HP engine
Keith Orr has just about finished his Tiny Power engine and has overcome the problems mentioned in the last newsletter.
Keith Orr's engine
Some very useful books are available on line through Archive.org, the following link brings up the book that Dave mentioned:
John Sibbick's Launch Engine
John Sibbick has been working on a twin cylinder "rotary" valve steam engine. (To be pedantic the valve is angularly oscillating.) It is 9/16" bore x 7/16" stroke and made entirely from bar stock. The crankshaft is machined from solid, which is nice. (The trend nowadays seems to be to use a built-up construction for small steam engines and rely on Loctite to hold the parts together.)
Bruce Mannerow brought along his 18 pounder artillery piece. This now has the recently completed items; the sighting system and recoil shield, mounted in place.
Bruce's 18PDR
Don Eastman has completed another item for his Petrolia Discovery model project. This time the steam engine and boiler.
Petrolia Discovery Model
Tony Koolen has completed another item for his Case traction engine – the smokestack. Tony has brought along the base casting before but the main part which is rolled and riveted, is new.
Tony's Smokestack
Brian Lawson had one of those "what the heck is it items." It turned out to be a simple torque indicating device for an Allan wrench. When torque is applied the wrench twists slightly and this in effect measures that torque. It is calibrated for 3.6 Nm (Newton metres) which is equivalent to ~2.7 ft.lbf, so it was presumably made for some application where that setting was critical.
Our Website
https://sites.google.com/site/bluewatermes/
The TSME Newsletters
https://sites.google.com/site/tsmeweb/the-modeller
Shows this Summer
The information assembled by Bruce is set out in the table below. (Some dates are still missing.)
See events page
Remaining Meeting this Season
2016
June 13th
John Lovegrove