My 1910 Mitchell "parts car" project

[JV Puleo]

To my mind, that hasn't gone away but it has been heavily glossed over by a layer of "what's it worth". I've found that, at least among those of us who actually do much of our own work, it's still alive. I suspect this has a lot to do with the huge influx of people involved with old cars whose primary interest is profit. I don't think that we thought much about profit 40 years ago, perhaps because we knew there wasn't going to be much and what paper profit there was was usually absorbed by the expenses. I'm no enemy of profit...I wish I had more talent for making it but it isn't the be-all, end-all and as a driving force in what is essentially a hobby with little or no practical application I think it may be detrimental.

Edited July 7, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

The crankcase continues to loose a very small amount of oil. It isn't enough to feel it when I run my hand over the tubes and there are no visible drips but my goal is no leaks at all so I've got some different gasket material coming. It was Ed's suggestion about using "O" ring material on the oil pan that got me thinking about that. I've ordered some 1/32 x 2" strips of the rubber material O rings are made of as well as some punches for the bolts. I'll try making my own flat washers out of it. The rubber has a hardness of 70 on the Durometer scale making it relatively hard but it will be softer than the fiber washers I've used and I'll be able to give them a larger OD which will increase the surface area under compression. I want to finish that before I start on the bearings because I'd like to box these parts up and put them away until its time to assemble the engine. In the meantime, I have 4 pieces of aluminum bar I bought on ebay. Three are to make the test bearings and the 4th is for the hub of the fan. Before I start on the bearings I want to machine the hub to get an idea how the material cuts...not knowing what alloy it is.

 

I cut one of the pieces down...

 

 

It needs a 1.125 hole in the center. I didn't have the right drill so I ended up boring it to just undersize so I could ream it.

 

 

 

I have to turn about 2/3 of it down to fit in the fan. The end will be made into a sheeve. The Mitchell used an early form of V belt. Heldt calls them "trapezoidal belts". I've never seen one but you can tell from the broken sheeves that were on the original crankshaft hub that they weren't flat belts. I'll use conventional V belts since I've no idea where you'd get the right ones and I think it's largely inconsequential in any case.

 

 

 

Like usual, I made it a bit too long and had to face the big end off to a thickness of 3/4".

 

 

It will go together with these flange ball bearings. They are sealed bearings which I know aren't "period" but no one will be able to see them I want the absolute minimum drag on the engine from running the fan.

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[chistech]

Received the nut in the mail today and tried it on the shaft of my neighbors Divine brand pedestal buffing machine. It went on fairly easy about half it’s thickness than it got too tight for just by hand. We used the spindle lock and the aluminum spanner wrench and turned it on some, removed it to find small brass milling, then put it back on repeating the process using the shaft threads and any burred edges to chase the threads. After about 5 on/off cycles on each side, it screws on perfectly just with bare fingers. I tried it on his other  buffer (the one with the buffing wheel attached)and it fits perfectly. There is just a little burr where the thread starts on each side of the nut that a jewelers file will take care of.

     I would say to make the other two exactly the same size but no tighter in diameter and we will be fine. Your RH threading project is a complete success joe! Just the LH to test.

Edited July 7, 2020 by chistech (see edit history)

[F&J]

40 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

Like usual, I made it a bit too long and had to face the big end off to a thickness of 3/4".

However, it is more accurate when using a surplus (well used) 4 jaw chuck, compared to the typical surplus 3 jaw.  A 3 jaw makes it frustrating to get it centered again, if you removed it for test fit.  But you already knew that decades ago 

 

BTW, I was very fortunate to have the local scrapyard when looking for 3 feet of large diameter new aluminum round stock for my Nash spring eye modification (to be able to use modern smaller diameter rubber bushings).  They had many sizes and lengths of round, square, rectangular, and flat stock from machine shops that had closed. Dirt cheap, as sold by the pound.

[JV Puleo]

34 minutes ago, chistech said:

Received the nut in the mail today and tried it on the shaft of my neighbors Divine brand pedestal buffing machine. It went on fairly easy about half it’s thickness than it got too tight for just by hand. We used the spindle lock and the aluminum spanner wrench and turned it on some, removed it to find small brass milling, then put it back on repeating the process using the shaft threads and any burred edges to chase the threads. After about 5 on/off cycles on each side, it screws on perfectly just with bare fingers. I tried it on his other  buffer (the one with the buffing wheel attached)and it fits perfectly. There is just a little burr where the thread starts on each side of the nut that a jewelers file will take care of.

     I would say to make the other two exactly the same size but no tighter in diameter and we will be fine. Your RH threading project is a complete success joe! Just the LH to test.

 

 

Quote

Excellent. I knew there were little burrs at the ends of the threads. I should have run a countersink into the ends but I don't have one big enough. You can try a tiny bit of fine grinding paste on them...it will smooth the threads on the nut out without effecting the shaft since the nut is softer.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Frank, about the only time I use a 3-jaw is to hold hex stock that is too big for a collet. I don't even have a backing plate for it...I just put it in the 4-jaw. I lock a piece of round stock close to the measurement across the flats in the 3 jaw and indicate it by moving the jaws on the 4-jaw. That way it is always very close and even almost repeatable. I'm lucky in that because my small 4-jaw and the 3-jaw chucks came from a local High School where they were hardly used. When they closed down the industrial arts program they threw all the tooling in a dumpster. An old friend (who was the teacher) pulled them out and gave them to me. I had to make the backing plate for the 4-jaw and have the material to make one for the 3-jaw but have never gotten to it...and probably never will. My engine stand came from the same school...also something they dumped.

Edited July 8, 2020 by JV Puleo
typos (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Not wanting to put it away half finished, I cut the groove for the V-belt in the fan hub. I'd been dreading this job. The last time I did this, for the crankshaft hub, it took hours and gave me endless trouble, not the least of which was caused by the fact that I couldn't figure out the geometry for setting the angle of the compound. Since them I've figured that part out. I used this huge grooving tool - something I literally found in a box of miscellaneous lathe bits I bought on ebay solely because they were cheap. I only noticed I had it recently but it's proven a real lifesaver this time.

 

 

The groove has to .350 deep and it has to be done in very small increments but still, I think it only took an hour to put it in where, in the past, it has taken three times that.

 

 

 

Then, the compound is set over to 70-degrees... which gives the correct angle for a 40-degree belt. The big grooving tool worked perfectly for this as well so all I had to do was move the compound. This part does, however, have to be fed by hand since there is no power feed to the compound.

 

 

All done! The center is held in place with two set screws. This is how it was originally held as well. The threaded holes were already there.

 

 

In the midst of this I installed a bushing in one of the foundry machines next door and then started on the remaining acme nuts.

 

 

In giving some thought to making 5 of these, I decided to make a small aluminum spacer...1-1/2" ID and about .020 less than 2" OD. This is going to allow me to put the nuts in the 3-jaw chuck squarely and to remove and replace them. It's one of those things I wouldn't bother with if making one but when making several these little additional tooling bits are a big help.

 

 

I should have taken more pictures but was on a roll and wanted to finish at least one side before I went home...

 

 

More on this tomorrow. With luck, I'll finish just in time to make the gaskets for the crankcase and get back to my bearings.

Edited July 8, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

12 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

. . . . I should have taken more pictures but was on a roll . . . .

 

Sound a very familiar situation!

 

Nice job on the fan and pulley Joe.

[JV Puleo]

If you[d asked me six months ago if I could make these acme nuts I'd have said no. It still isn't something I'd undertake as easily as my regular 60-degree threading but I'm beginning to think you can make almost anything if you apply yourself. This morning I faced off the remaining 5 blanks. You can see the little ring in the chuck that I made yesterday. Because this has perfectly parallel ends I can use the chuck as a fixture. I also put a spot of red dychem on one flat of each nut so I can take them out of the chuck and put them back in with the same orientation.

 

 

There are so many separate steps in this job that I had the idea of putting the necessary tolling in this tray on the lathe bed... (the lathe is 10' long). I waste a lot of time losing things I just had...

 

 

I drilled the blanks, bored them to 1.140 and threaded them. The last step was the chamfers. I did this in the chuck rather than with the threading gauge to save the added setup but also because you can't do the LH nuts that way...they unscrew. I learned that the hard way some time ago on my very first LH thread.

 

 

I also lapped the threads to eliminate any burrs so I think these should work perfectly just as they are. These are last two RH nuts. Tomorrow I'll make the LH and I see that my new gasket material came in so with any luck by the weekend I'll be back to the car project.

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

16 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

I waste a lot of time losing things I just had...

 

You and me both! The tray is a great idea as long as you put each tool back when you have finished with it. I hung up all the spanners I use on the the lathe, above the lathe, on hooks on a shelf, I still loose them when I forget to put them back in the correct place. 🙂 I suppose there is no helping some folks!

[JV Puleo]

I made the tray when I was working on the cam followers, which is why it has 8 divisions. I never thought I'd have further use for it. This time, when the job was really done, I put all the tooling back where it is supposed to go so I can find it the next time.

 

 

I finished the acme nuts. I don't think they are perfect and I am pretty sure that the LH nuts are a tiny bit loose but the beauty of acme thread (which is why it's used) is that all of the thrust is on the tapered sides of each thread. It wears much better than V-threads. This is the reason it is used for things that will be screwed and unscrewed a lot, like lathe cross feeds and lead screws. It's clearly a lot more demanding to do so it's only used where it's needed. When you feel the "backlash" in a lathe cross feed it's the result of the acme thread wearing but many machines, mine included, have cross feed screws that are 100 years old and, aside from a little extra backlash, are working just as well now as they did new.

 

Now I'm back to the Mitchell engine, making more gaskets to see if I can get the sump 100% leak free,

[JV Puleo]

 

I'm back to the Mitchell now, thinking about the gaskets for the sump connections. I am reasonably certain that, in period, they would have used soft copper washers but I've been quite unable to find any with the right ID, OD and thickness. Part of the problem is the odd ID, 13/16 and 15/16 but there is nothing I can do about that. I tried a slightly undersize metric punch but wasn't happy with the result...it would probably be acceptable anywhere else but oil connections on the bottom of the engine are critical since any failure would be catastrophic. So, I decided to make my own punch for the ID...unfortunately, I have to make two of them. The first step was to cut 4 pieces of 3/4" steel - I happened to have a piece purchased for another job but that I've since found something much better for. I drilled and tapped a hole in the center for a 3/8-16 cap screw.

 

 

I bolted two pieces together and squared the ends.

 

 

Now I will but a cap screw in each corner. The drill press table is acting as a jig all I need do is clamp each piece in place to drill it. It's drilled 5/16", then the bottom piece is threaded and the top piece drilled out to 3/8.

 

 

 

I'll do the other two corners tomorrow. Then I'll add a pair of dowel pins to each so that the two halves will always be in perfect alignment. The last step will be to drill and ream the center for each size and make a punch out of a piece of drill rod. This would have been a lot easier if the sizes were more standard...as it is I had to buy two reamers and a drill. I'll use these to make some rubber gaskets but I'm inclined to think I'll have to make the copper ones. Fortunately, I can get soft sheet copper strip and at this point I can't see any reason not to make them and finish it right. Of course, this is another one of those things I've never done before so I don't even know if it will work.

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

Joe, this maybe a way of making the copper washers.

 

 

[edinmass]

Don't forget to anneal the copper gaskets before you install them!

[JV Puleo]

No. I won't. I did think of that. In the past, in an emergency, I've lightly sanded them and annealed them. That has always seemed to work but you have to have the right one to begin with...and I don't really like expedients like that.

[JV Puleo]

I drilled and tapped the other 4 corners...

Then drilled and reamed for two 1/2" pins. These will hold the two halves of the punch in perfect alignment.

 

 

I won't take these apart until after the holes in the center are drilled and reamed. That way there is no way the alignment can be effected.

 

 

And, since I can only use one punch at a time, I only made two pins.

 

 

I'm waiting on the 13/16 and 15/16 reamers but the drill rod for the actual punches came in so I'll finish those tomorrow.

[JV Puleo]

I made the punches with a concave end. I'm not sure this will help but it might as the pressure will be concentrated on the outside edges.

 

 

I also have to make something to turn the OD's with since none of my regular fixtures are the right size. The video Mike posted above gave me an idea...it's a little more complicated than I've done in the past but I think it will be a lot better. I can only make the bodies of the fixtures for now as I'll need the reamers I'm waiting for to finish them.

 

 

I'll make a sleeve that goes over one end of the fixture body and hold it all together with a 1/2" bolt through the center. If I tighten the bolt up really well the washers will not move. I've ordered some .032 copper strip for this. I'm not sure what I can do tomorrow...maybe put the motor on my planer.

[Mike Macartney]

10 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

I'm not sure what I can do tomorrow...

 

Seeing the photo above Joe, how about a tidy up of the bench? 😉  

[chistech]

9 hours ago, Mike Macartney said:

 

Seeing the photo above Joe, how about a tidy up of the bench? 😉  

Then joe will never be able to find anything. Over here Mike we call it “controlled clutter”. Everything in that space is under control of the person responsible for making that clutter and their mind knows it’s there, it’s just somewhere. When someone comes in and cleans up, then the whole system gets screwed up and things end up in “unknown”!😁

Edited July 16, 2020 by chistech (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

14 hours ago, chistech said:

When someone comes in and cleans up, then the whole system gets screwed up and things end up in “unknown”!

 

Hmmm, sounds like me, when I put 'that' (whatever it maybe) somewhere safe so it doesn't get broken or lost. Then, when I eventually need it, I can't find it and I thought it was just my old age!

[JV Puleo]

I did tidy the bench up a bit. there was a lot of dirt and chips mixed in with the tools so after putting away things that really do have a proper place and sweeping it off, it looks a lot better. As I'm still waiting on a reamer and a drill I decided to do an experiment making the spring shackle bolts. I think this is probably an original but I don't have all of them an all that I do have are worn. they incorporate a grease cup in the end and it occurred to me that I could make them.

 

 

What I can't do is the serrated portion at the end...nor do I want to. These were intended to be driven in and never taken out. I'm going to try to make them with a hex at the base so I can use a wrench to hold them when putting the nuts on. For this I bought some 1018 hex stock and turned it down.

 

 

I was not happy with the finish and, since I need 14 of them, making them this way would be a considerable chore. I'm also certain I can't hold a perfect tolerance on the shaft portion. On the way home I had another idea...to make them in two pieces. That way I can sue a tough steel for the shaft but the 12L14 which threads so nicely for the head. I cut a piece of 12L14 hex and reamed it out to .495 (.005 under 1/2") and cut a piece of 1/2" ground stressproof for the shaft of the bolt.

 

 

After pressing them together I pinned the shaft in place with a 3/0 taper pin...which I seated too deeply but this is only an experiment so I kept on going.

 

 

I turned the head...

 

 

And, in the process, largely disappeared the tapered pin. Having done this, I will change some of the dimensions to make it a bit more robust. I was going to make brass caps with a 3/4-20 thread but I realized I could make them a tiny bit bigger and use a 13/16-16 thread which will also allow me to use ordinary brass tubing for the caps rather than machine each one.

 

 

When I went up to the office to check my emails I found that my other reamer had arrived so I set the 15/16 punch up in drill press.

 

 

And drilled it out and reamed to 15/16.

 

 

It fits perfectly...

 

 

So I went on to finishing the OD turning tool. This is a ring that will retain the punched copper pieces...

 

 

And...I made a measurement error on the very last piece trying to squeeze it in before 5:30. I should know better...but it's and easily fixed problem that I'll leave for tomorrow.

[JV Puleo]

The piece I messed up yesterday... a little projection turned to 15//16

 

 

Then cut off...

 

 

and flipped around so I could face the cut side and put the 1/2" hole in. This is how it works...the washers will be pinched between the body of the tool and the sleeve with a piece of 1/8" aluminum on each side to stiffen it...and the OD turned. It's a lot of work to make a few gaskets but if it works well will be worth the effort.

 

 

In any case, I'm quite unable to find copper crush gaskets in the size I needed so there really wasn't much choice in the matter.

[mikewest]

Joe what size gasket do you need >? Restoration specialties in Escondido calf has all the sizes.g

[JV Puleo]

13/16 and 15/16 ID with an OD of about 1.4.

 

(edit) But Mike, if I don't make them myself how can I maintain my reputation for being slightly odd...I did look though and they don't have anything close. I'm not surprised, they are very odd sizes. Besides, the punches are done (or nearly so). I tried the 15/16 punch on some rubber material and it worked perfectly so I don't think 1/32 copper will be a problem.

Edited July 20, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[F&J]

43 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

But Mike, if I don't make them myself how can I maintain my reputation for being slightly odd...

I really did laugh out loud reading that!

[JV Puleo]

I can say that sort of thing to Mike because he's at least as odd as I am.

[chistech]

Old car guy=odd. Math seems about right by the majority of our restoration threads!

[JV Puleo]

At least by the standards of the general public but I can't say those are standards I've ever wanted to live up to.

The place I ordered the copper for the gaskets from is taking it's time shipping it. I probably should have ordered it from McMaster Carr. It would have been here in two days. In the meantime I'm working on the spring shackle bolts and very much taking my time since I won't need these for a very long time...but I will need them and I'll be grateful when I do that they are done. I decided to thread the heads on rather than pin them... these are the heads.

 

 

Drilled and tapped to 1/2-20

 

 

 

The brass tube for the grease cup caps came in so I've got something to do tomorrow. The shafts of the bolt will be ground stock. I forget the number but it's about 1/3 stronger than the stressproof I made the prototype from. It will be tougher to thread but in a case like this I think it's worth the effort. The springs and spring perches on the chassis are going to get bronze bushings. The idea is to get the fit really close...I'll lap the bolts into the bushings. Wear on this chassis is very erratic. Some parts (like the spring perches) are very worn while other parts show little or no wear and it seems right to get all the tolerances as close as possible. Much of that wear is probably attributable to a poor fit to begin with allowing dirt and grit to get in and accelerating the wear.

[edinmass]

On 7/19/2020 at 9:54 PM, JV Puleo said:

I can say that sort of thing to Mike because he's at least as odd as I am.

I’m  sure glad I am “normal”...........🤔

Edited July 22, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

The drill I needed for the 2nd punch came in last night so this morning I set it all up in the drill press.

 

 

Only to discover something drastically wrong. Even though the drill is marked 51/64 (the size I want to ream for 13/16) it drilled about .025 oversize. I'm not certain why but I suspect it is ground incorrectly. It was new, too...so now the hole is too big for the punch that has to go in it. I think I can fix this but I needed time to think about it so I went on to the holding tool for turning the OD of the washers/gaskets.

 

Because the drill won't work, I bored the hole to about .800 (13/16 is .8125)

 

 

Then I reamed it and made the cap that goes over the end.

 

 

I decided to make a bushing to fix the punch. I'll use the 15/16 OD measurement from the other punch since I know that drill and reamer work just fine. The bushing is steel. There are actually two of them but to make them identical I'll do them together. This is a piece of 1" stock reamed to 3/4" so it will press onto a mandrel.

 

 

Then the OD was turned to about .0015 larger than the 15/16 hole.

 

 

It now could be squeezed into a 15/16 collet where I bored it to .800. The final reaming won't be done until both pieces of the punch are bolted together.

 

 

Then it was cut so that I had two busings about .030 longer than 3/4".

 

 

 

It was getting near the end of the day so rather than push on (and make another error) I'll leave the fitting for tomorrow.

Edited July 23, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

This morning I drilled and reamed for the bushings...

 

 

The press was not as tight as I wanted but rather than doing it again I just used some locktite on them.

 

 

According to the technical data sheet this material takes 72 hours to reach full strength. I see no reason to push this so it won't be ready to machine until Sunday...and I will probably leave it for Monday morning.

 

 

I'm waiting for materials on this job as well but I do have the brass tube I need so I set this up to cut it in lengths 7/8" long. These will be the caps on the grease fittings.

 

 

Fortunately, a 1" diameter will pass through the old collets that came with the lathe. It won't pass through a 5C collet so if I had to use those I would have had more work to do and more waste. This way there was hardly any waste at all. This tube is 1" OD, 3/4" ID. 3/4" is the hole size for the 13/16 thread I used for the sump fittings so I have the right tap and by using tubing I've saved the considerable labor of drilling out bar to make these. I reamed the ID - just to get the burrs out and a consistent ID (tubing is close but usually slightly undersize).

 

 

And threaded them.

 

 

I only finished 7 by the end of the day but this isn't a taxing job and I'll have no problem finishing it tomorrow.

 

 

I don't put in 8 or 10 hour days very often...usually I'm in around 10 and leave a little after 5. mostly because I've found that I make all my mistakes when I'm tired and I'm not in my 30s or 40s (or even 50s) any more.

[F&J]

36 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

I've found that I make all my mistakes when I'm tired and I'm not in my 30s or 40s (or even 50s) any more.

I noticed a big change in mid 60s.  I always have said that this is why they "let" us retire at that age...we are worn out and tire much easier.  Add some triple H weather like today and some technical things seem very taxing.

[JV Puleo]

I finished threading the caps today...

 

 

For the top of the cap I bought some 1" brass discs on ebay. They are probably left from punching 1" holes in sheet brass and it was a lot easier to buy some than it would have been to make them. In order to solder them on, I made a little holding fixture out of aluminum since lead solder doesn't stick to it.

 

 

The discs are a tiny bit larger than the cap but that doesn't make any difference because they will get turned down together.

 

 

I finished one as a test. It will work just fine but the knurl isn't ;perfect. I know why...the piece that was holding it was not stiff enough to take the pressure generated by knurling so I'll have to make something for that as well but, on the whole, they will look good.

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

I like it. Making them out of tube and soldering on an end isn't something I would have thought of. It has given me an idea for the Humberette oil pump - whoops - too late! Would it improve the look if you machined body down a fraction and left the knurled  area slightly raised? 

[JV Puleo]

It might but here isn't much to work with and when I get the knurl right it has the same effect.

 

(edit:) I did think about that but it added numerous complications to making them. I suspect it could have doubled, or even tripled the time required so since it's one of these points only a tiny handful of people might even notice I decided to forgo it. The original caps were probably made by drawing and stamping in the same way cartridge cases are formed. The machinery for that is highly specialized, developed late in the 1860s to make rimfire cartridge cases. After the Civil War the US was approached by several countries to purchase cartridge making machines...they were sold to Denmark, Spain and I think a few others. One of the most interesting transactions was 3 machines that went to Russia. The Russians offered to pay for them but the Ordnance Department chose to give them to them - I suspect in recognition for the support the Union had received from Alexander II during the war.

Edited July 26, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

I pressed on with the grease caps even though they weren't coming out as nice as I'd hoped. Knurling the soldered-on end proved to be difficult because the pressure from the knurling tool wants to pop the end off. This happened three times. I was able to reattach them but the knurls aren't consistent or as deep as I'd like. These will work...and I doubt anyone but me will care but I know I could have done better.

 

 

When there were only three left to do, I had another idea. So, when I'd finished I decided to make a prototype of the improved version.

First making another cap. I don't have the materials to make a complete set but there is no point in getting them if I can't improve the result.

 

 

On this one, I knurled it below the end cap so that the pressure from the tool would not dislodge it.

 

 

It isn't as close to the top as I'd like but I think I'm on to something. Although I didn't take a picture of it, I turned this knurl off and did it again with another tool I have and got it even better. I don't have the patience to do this all over now but I will probably get the materials in and the next time I'm stuck for something to do because I'm waiting on materials I'll go back an make another set. If the shackle bolts come out close to perfect, I'll have to just to satisfy myself. I'm also thinking of putting little zerk fittings inside under the caps. I know that isn't original but the purpose is to force grease into them and that will work better...the jury is still out on that one but it does seem like a good idea, especially as I'm aiming at much closer tolerances than the car originally had. I want to eliminate ALL extraneous play in the springs...no clunking or squeeking and I've good reason to believe that getting the tolerances right will make it easier and safer to drive.

 

The copper for the sump gaskets came in so, having some time I tried out the punch I'd made. I still have to finish the repaired 13/16 punch but the one for a 15/16 hole is usable. I cut a 2" square of copper and clamped it in the punch then put everything in my shop-made 20-ton press.

 

 

This worked like gang busters...I got a perfect 15/16 hole in the sheet copper.

 

 

So, I'll go on and finish the punches and make the gaskets and keep on with the shackle bolts. About 90% of my experiments have worked so I have no valid reason to be discouraged when one doesn't come out exactly as planned.

Edited July 28, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

10 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

and I doubt anyone but me will care but I know I could have done better.

 

Well Joe, they look fine from here!

[JV Puleo]

I think you are more than the proverbial ten feet away...

I had one of those days where little seemed to get done...though it may be that I'm just tired. I did receive the newly polished brass fittings for the water system. You'll remember I had used copper which isn't really right but was all I could find. I eventually found some brass NOS plumbing fittings...almost enough. I only had to make the "T" fitting. Ted, "christech's", neighbor polished them. I doubt anyone would now recognize them.

 

 

I used the 15/16 punch to put some holes in copper sheet and made some rubber ones as well.

 

 

Holding these pieces to turn them is a challenge...so I also decided to make some aluminum reinforcing rings to go on the ends of the stack of copper pieces in the fixture.

 

 

All of this is a PIA because of the odd sizes. I did this twice, the first time with a piece of mystery metal I had. It gave me all sorts of trouble so I just scrapped it and did them over in aluminum. They really don't have to be steel. Here's the fixture all bolted together. I finished this at the end of the day so I think I'll wait until tomorrow to turn them. If ti works, I'll then do the rubber ones the same way.

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[F&J]

19 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

Holding these pieces to turn them is a challenge...so I also decided to make some aluminum reinforcing rings to go on the ends of the stack of copper pieces in the fixture.

I was a bit lost when I saw the stack of squares in the fixture.

 

I was thinking how on earth can he cut those stacked flopping sheets on a lathe... but you must be making the OD cuts on the copper very close to the OD of the aluminum backing rings?      If so, how close to the actual aluminum OD?

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[JV Puleo]

The OD of the rings is actually a bit larger than the finished OD. I'll cut everything at once. When I make more, I'll use the same rings but work very close. The second set will be rubber so I can "finish" the outside edges with some sand paper. As long as everything is very tight they should come out fine. I did the same thing with the gaskets for the water system although that was a stiffer material. If this works really well I could replace those with rubber...but it probably isn't necessary.

Edited July 30, 2020 by JV Puleo (see edit history)