Bedford
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Everything posted by Bedford
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Lucky you have that 60 tooth gear on the lathe to index the work with, very convenient. Yet more very interesting and educational engineering going on, thanks! -
I am learning from using the lathe and as such decided to make something else for the ship, a tool. I used to just have this as a piece of 2.4mm brass wire about 200mm long but thought I would make a better version for the sake of the exercise. The tool is for tying off the running rigging to belaying pins. I catch the line in the groove at the end of the tool and while keeping tension further down on the cord I can easily place it around the pin, top and bottom. I am learning, the ferrule on the handle end is straight of the lathe and is a much better finish than the tool end which has been buffed with the dremel after soldering the tip in.
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I've milled the rings and soldered the bars on, next step will be to fit it to the ship and work out the geometry of the pulls. Before mounting I must remember to turn up the pin that will mount to the servo horn and engage the bars. Once it is mounted and I have worked out the geometry I will solder on the rings to tie off the lines to.
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Congrats Michael. It looks really great in action. Like Mark I think know there are some more good lessons coming up.
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Thanks Shaz, I just hope it works the way I think it will!
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I am making the mechanism to handle tacking of the stays'ls, I developed something earlier but it worked on differential motion where it let heaps of line out as it took a little in but I have realised that I need the windward line to go completely slack before the lee line takes up so I have adapted something Jerry posted somewhere like page 13 and am making a mechanism that will do just that (he said hopefully), only testing the completed mechanism will tell and I figured it is easier to make it properly than try and jury rig something. The idea is two long arms pivoting on the servo shaft and pushed by the servo arm, one at a time. They will both lie parallel at rest with a pin rising from the servo horn between them to push one or the other. So I turned up a pivot that will fit into the top of the servo horn and be held down by the servo horn screw. There are two 4mm thick rings that will have 4mm square brass tube of approx 115mm in length soldered to them but first I have to mill some flats onto the rings to locate the tubes but I have done enough machining for today. And because I am learning from Michaels Skipjack build I have turned up a plug to go inside the two rings and hold them in perfect alignment when I put them into the mahine vice to mill the flats for the square tubes.
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I'm with Mark, lots of learning and ideas here!
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You're a brave man to rely only on paint to keep water out of the glue, in my schooner build I painted the whole thing inside and out with thinned epoxy resin to guarantee protection for the timber and glue. The other side of doing this is that it increases the strength of the timber and the joints by bonding the whole thing into one.
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I like the way you will make the bushes, very simple and effective. Still in the front row!!
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That's the mark of a true craftsman, spending hours making the tool holder to make the part properly. I wonder if I will have that kind of patience when I get more into machining things.
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I have made the cradle to carry the UBEC (power supply) and the stays'l tacking servo. I was going to use timber for the servo but relised I needed to keep the UBEC up out of any water that may get in and doing all that with timber was going to be bulky and heavy so 35 grams of brass and solder later.............. The servo sits accordingly, I still have to drill and tap the mounting holes but that won't take long. In place with the UBEC where it will be secured with cable ties, when the servo is fitted there will be plenty of room around it. Now I know the solder work is a tad ugly in spots but it is below deck.......................
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Absolutely beautiful design and workmanship there Michael. It all makes perfect sense and is such a simple elegant concept typical of the age. On a side note, just looking at that heavy flywheel supported by quite a thin crankshaft, are you concerned about the weight of the flywheel forcing the crank out of true over extended periods of non use? I have no experience with such small machines so I realise it may never be an issue but I know the diesel engines my brother works on must be kept rotating by way of an electric motor even when not in use otherwise the cranks will sag and they then have to run them with the motor for a week or so to get the crank true again before they can start it.
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Right, it is a dog clutch. It all makes perfect sense now. Can you tell I love old mechanisms?
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This is a beautiful mechanism, simplicity and elegance. I get how all of it works except the "spline" made from the socket head screw, what's that about?
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Inventive work, I love it. You find what you want in other things like the socket head screws, brilliant! The gearbox mark 2 looks very good, nice and smooth too.
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Well John, I started with a brand new blade and it did the job just fine, it has dulled the teeth a little bit but I am impressed. Got the blades from an ebay manufacturer in QLD. I did try and get lose dirt of the exterior before I started because that will blunt a blade in the blink of an eye. The grain is so fine that the saw dust was just that, dust! I sanded it with a belt sander in coarse grit then medium before finishing with 400 grit open coat on the orbital sander and as that wore out it polished the timber to such extent that it had a reflective finish before I applied the wax. It looked almost like a man made resin artificial timber. The wax just brought the colour out a little better. It was a joy to work with in this scale, I have used it before. I turned the pedestals for my Schooner for Port Jackson from it and the top of the capstan on same but you don't really get to appreciate the beauty of it on such small items. When handling it I was reminded of the piece of Lignum Vitae I once had the pleasure of handling at the old Sydney Maritime Museum, not quite as dense or heavy but not far off and almost as smooth.
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I have walked away from the technical side of this build for a while and it was so nice to just make something for her in the workshop. First, take one very old block of river red gum (I've had this for a quarter of a century and it looked like this when I got it so no idea how old it is) then run said block through the band saw.... Do some sanding then add a little dab of this and rub a bit. Add a few bits of brass fresh off the lathe and you end up with this. It really is such a beautiful piece of timber that I didn't need to make it look fancy by giving it a nice shape, just a small bevel around the edge and it looks amazing, the pics can't do it justice! And this is what it looks like
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Taking shape beautifully
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Got it ! I was thinking it might work like a differential in a car and it pretty much does, if you turn one axle with the drive shaft stopped so the diff centre can't turn, the other axle will go in the opposite direction. Free the drive shaft and allow the diff centre to turn and both axles go in the same direction. Obviously in this case there is no differential action, just locked and free, reverse and forward Does that sound right?
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I think I get it Michael, I'm guessing forward involves one pinion "linking" the two gears directly while reverse involves the first pinion moving off the output gear and driving the second pinion which will engage the output gear. I'm not sure my eyes would be good enough to work at that scale.
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Hey Floyd, DEFINITELY keeping the auxiliary power in the schooner. I just took the yacht out to the lake for a little sailing, took ages to find the right place to launch to guarantee she would be blown back to shore in the event of failure. I launched her and had about 5 minutes of nice gentle sailing before deciding to bring her back because the wind was failing. I just got her on line with enough momentum to keep her inching forward with the aid of gentle rolling waves from astern. I held her for 10 or 15 mins before I thought the breeze had come back but only did one circle of about 6 metre diameter to bring her back due to the wind failing again. This time she almost didn't make it. I packed up and came home. Still, it was a beautiful afternoon to be out there. On a different tack. The new motors and speed controller have arrived from the UK. She will lose 100grams from the stern with these motors which will help raise the stern closer to level while still (I'm sure) having ample power. Now to make a new motor mount.
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I'm interested in how this bit will come together. There are some things that are worth keeping aren't there
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Beautiful work as always, the pins are tapered so you only need the put a locking pin through the other end and the taper keeps them in place, is that it? Also how big is the hole through the pin that forms the valve, ie what size hole does the fuel drip through, or are these just for appearances?
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So are you offering to send them to me, that's very kind of you
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I didn't think it was possible to make small engines like this run slowly but the leaden flywheel makes it sound very promising, if I'm not mistaken it will also help dampen any wayward vibration that may sneak in. I've moved my chair up the front!
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