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[Tracy D'arth]

7 minutes ago, dmr said:

Would you like a lesson in making neat square holes ?

Here is how to drill square holes with an end mill cutter. Not a joke, seen it done.

 

 

 

 

 

[nicknorman]

12 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Here is how to drill square holes with an end mill cutter. Not a joke, seen it done.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting, but quite a bit of infrastructure needed. I think I’ll go with the Blue Peter solution!

 

[BEngo]

22 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Good idea! Where is Valerie Singleton when you need her?

Living up the road from us, in the next village.  Occasionally does poetry readings locally.

If you want a neat hole in your next one I can do it with the milling m/c  if you post me the bit that needs a hole, and the  dimensions needed.  You can add the sticky back plastic later?

N

[nicknorman]

2 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Living up the road from us, in the next village.  Occasionally does poetry readings locally.

If you want a neat hole in your next one I can do it with the milling m/c  if you post me the bit that needs a hole, and the  dimensions needed.  You can add the sticky back plastic later?

N

Thanks, I may well take you up on that offer when we get home!

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Living up the road from us, in the next village.  Occasionally does poetry readings locally.

If you want a neat hole in your next one I can do it with the milling m/c  if you post me the bit that needs a hole, and the  dimensions needed.  You can add the sticky back plastic later?

N

A vice, a drill, a file and a bit of patience will do a pretty good job, and probably quicker than getting it in the post to you.

 

But I am pleasantly surprised at just how many people now have a little Chinese milling machine in their garage (or even bedroom in one case)

 

...................Dave

[WotEver]

30 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I am tempted to look at 3D printing, but that is a project for the winter.

This guy's tutorials are well worth watching if you're not already up to speed with Fusion 360: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCooViVfi0DaWk_eqxIXXiOQ

[BEngo]

26 minutes ago, dmr said:

A vice, a drill, a file and a bit of patience will do a pretty good job, and probably quicker than getting it in the post to you.

 

But I am pleasantly surprised at just how many people now have a little Chinese milling machine in their garage (or even bedroom in one case)

 

...................Dave

We have seen the results of a vice, a Dremel and possibly a file, admittedly in the absence of patience....

 

Some of the Chiwanese stuff is quite good, if you get it from someone who does QC, or reworks the machine before sale,  and the stepper motor CNC conversions are rather clever, but I'll stick to winding the handles on my Aciera F3.  I would like a Parkson 2N or similar to go with it for slow spindle speeds and gear work, but I haven't got room.☹

N

[dmr]

5 minutes ago, BEngo said:

We have seen the results of a vice, a Dremel and possibly a file, admittedly in the absence of patience....

 

Some of the Chiwanese stuff is quite good, if you get it from someone who does QC, or reworks the machine before sale,  and the stepper motor CNC conversions are rather clever, but I'll stick to winding the handles on my Aciera F3.  I would like a Parkson 2N or similar to go with it for slow spindle speeds and gear work, but I haven't got room.☹

N

I am not a competent machinist, I can just about muddle through on a lathe and mill. Have just got access to a lovely little machine shop so one project is to up my skills over the next couple of years, trouble is there are so many things I want to do and life is finite. As you say space is a problem with these things. When I lived in Southampton a local bloke solved it by mooring a huge old barge in the river to house his machines.

 

..............Dave

 

[TheBiscuits]

25 minutes ago, dmr said:

As you say space is a problem with these things. When I lived in Southampton a local bloke solved it by mooring a huge old barge in the river to house his machines.

 

Well if you get a 55 ft playing out boat you could convert Vox into a workshop and storage unit ...

 

 

 

[BEngo]

And then you could have, say,  a big old Lister driving a chunky 3 phase generator to power it all.

 

I have often thought that a 500 or 750 rpm 3 phase genny feeding  a Variable Frequency Drive to an induction  motor on the propshaft might be a fairly good way to go diesel electric, and you would have power to spare when tied up.  If you could get  the VFD so you could feed from a Li Fe bank into the DC section of it you would have a hybrid.

 

N

[cass1]

I suspect that lots of folk on here have not heard of belt dressing.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, cass1 said:

I suspect that lots of folk on here have not heard of belt dressing.

They will have if they have owned a 300tdi Discovery or Defender.

 

?

[dmr]

I know what belt dressing is but don't do it on the boat, I also know what cross dressing is and don't do that either ? though it is tempting on a very hot day.

 

..............Dave

[roland elsdon]

We used to run a 130 amp alternator through an advec and into a 700 odd amp battery bank on our last living boat. It had an hb 3 lister, single v belt set up, with a large modified pulley on the crank.

It was not fit and forget. Any attempt to rev up on a cold engine after a weeks residential use on the towpath, was met with smoking belts, and howling. Of course once mr advec  had kicked in this got worse. We never used the engine for charging, and had no generator, but our bank was ok for a week  usually.

We just ended up with a strategy of if the batteries were very low, of running just off tickover for 20 mins, before engaging forward and reving up
If we we were in a hurry, I just switched off half the battery bank until we had some charge in, then hopped into the hole and turned on the others.

We used belt dressing, but it makes a hell of a mess, combined with belt dust.

Never used belt dressing on the tdi disco either.

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, dmr said:

I am not a competent machinist, I can just about muddle through on a lathe and mill. Have just got access to a lovely little machine shop so one project is to up my skills over the next couple of years...

If you’re into YouTube I can recommend the channels of Abom79, This Old Tony, and Blondihacks. The latter is good because she only has little hobby machines. Abom is good because he has a huge Monarch lathe, big shapers etc, and ToT is good because he’ll make you laugh. 

[dmr]

1 minute ago, WotEver said:

If you’re into YouTube I can recommend the channels of Abom79, This Old Tony, and Blondihacks. The latter is good because she only has little hobby machines. Abom is good because he has a huge Monarch lathe, big shapers etc, and ToT is good because he’ll make you laugh. 

Thanks

 

I get a bit frustrated with some YouTube stuff because its a huge introduction and very little, or even zero, actual content. I will have a look.

 

..............Dave