Mike Macartney Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 Looking at the photos I have taken since my last post I am having trouble remembering what I have done! Normally, the photos act as an aid to my memory, but not this time. I haven't a clue what this shows apart from a bit of metal with a hole down it that fits into the bush? This part I put in a collet the other way around to machine a flange and pin that would fit inside a 13.1mm (33/64") rod to keep the bronze bush in line when it was pressed in. Now I am starting to remember. This must be the 13.1mm pin the size of the gudgeon pin that the other part I am making fits in. This photo may help to explain the flanged part a little bit better. It all becomes a bit clearer now - I think! This mandrel slides onto the flanged part. This photo explains it even better. I am now starting to understand what I did. I made it in two separate parts so that the flanged part would hold the bush in line with the other bush. The part in the first photo is a mandrel I made to fit through the bush. In the end of it, is a hole to fit the pin that is in one end of the flange the other end of the flange has a 3/4" long pin the size of the internal diameter of the bronze bush. The idea being that the mandrel and the flange with the turned ends will hold the bush inline with the other bush when it is pushed in. It worked. Now to drill the oil holes and make the gudgeon pins. I can't believe it has taken me two days to make those two tools! I thinks I will make the other six bushes first and then drill all the oil holes at the same time. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Good work Mike, and nice tools you have made. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV Puleo Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Two days to make the tool and two hours to do the job is about par for the course. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 12:23 AM, JV Puleo said: Two days to make the tool and two hours to do the job is about par for the course. Thank you Joe. At least that has made me feel a lot better about the time it has taken! I have been looking on the internet for one of these 5C collet holders to use on my milling machine. I had thought about buying a new one from China, when this one popped up on eBay, asking for offers, I managed to buy it for less than half the price of a new Chinese one. I also looks a lot more robust. Having given up smoking since the end of September, I keep thinking that I can spend the extra money I have saved on equipment and tools for the workshop! The problem is, I am probably spending more than I spent on tobacco, never mind, its only money! Two more bushes machined from one end. I decided to finish the machining of the flange ends after all the rest of the bushes have been machined from this end. I can then then change the 5c collet to fit the smaller diameter and then face off the flange end of the bushes to 1/16". I had been gaily drilling the end of the bronze bush with a centre drill, then drills and then a reamer. I then realised that the bore on some of the bushes I had made was not central in the bush. I looked for a small enough tool to fit into the tool post to bore them to the correct diameter but could not find anything that I had that was suitable. I then thought about using this tool in the tailstock. I had never tried using this bit of kit before. I seemed to work for me, so after boring, I put the reamer into the bush. It worked and I manged to machine and ream the bronze bush ready for the circlip groove and oil groove to be machined in the bore.Just as I was going to fit the tool holder into the tool post, with the cutting tool for the circlip groove clamped into the tool holder, I managed to drop it. Of course, as Murphy's law states, it landed with the cutting edge down on the cast iron bed of the lathe and the end snapped off. I found another HSS tool that had been ground for cutting internal grooves and measured the width of the groove it would cut. Slightly wider than the tool I broke, but only by 0.003". I thought that I maybe pushing my luck if I attempted to thin the width down by a few thou on the grinder . I recalculated how far in I needed to wind in the compound slide to cut both the circlip groove and oil groove. It worked out at 0.093" for the circlip groove and 0.550" for the oil groove. With a cut of 0.035" deep. I then tried the circlip in the groove to check that it fitted OK. After two circlips sprung out of the circlip pliers, never to be seen again, I placed some paper roll on the lathe bed to catch any flying circlips! Of course the paper roll worked, or perhaps I should say, the paper roll was not needed, as the next clip fitted without flying out and vanishing. Bushes for another two pistons faced off and ready for fitting into the pistons. I don't know if I was now getting over confident, but the next bush I made I somehow managed to bore out at too larger diameter. When I went to ream the bush the reamer was a very loose fit in the bore. Luckily there was just enough bronze bar left to make the final two bushes. The next jobs are making the gudgeon pins, pressing the bushes into the pistons and drilling the oil holes. After my mistake with the boring I shall leave those jobs until tomorrow. On Thursday afternoon I found that I did not have a 5C collet that would exactly fit the drill rod for the gudgeon pins. I ordered a new 33/64" collet and it arrived on Saturday. I checked it clamped the rod firmly and faced off the end of the bar. We have not had any rain today here in North Norfolk, the weather is cold with bright sunshine. It is supposed to stay like this for most of the week. I don't know if it is just the sunshine, but it seems to have made my breathing a little bit better. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV Puleo Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 I suspect it's the dry air – something I doubt you get much of in Norfolk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 No, Joe not a lot of dry air this winter. We have only just started having a few frosty mornings this winter. "What's for lunch Jane?" "Pistons on toast!" Tools, gloves and bits and pieces we might need for pushing the bushes into the pistons. Because the pistons were going to be around 200 degrees C, when they came out of the oven, we had a practise with the tools etc. on a cold piston first of all so we both knew what we were doing. I said to Jane that the bushes would just press in easily and will not need the threaded rod to pull the bushes into the pistons, therefore we didn't practise with that with gloves on! I was wrong! The first bush we tried to push in, started with a tap from the hammer onto the original Ford wrist pin which was placed through the other pin hole so as to keep the bronze bush square on to the hole. Then it jammed and didn't want to go any further! Out came the threaded rod and we managed to get the nuts and spacers on it without burning our hands, more by luck than judgment. It moved a bit and then did not want to move anymore. Rather than try and force the bush in, we put the piston back in the oven to heat up again. You can see from the above photo the bush has not even come out the other side. I removed the stuck bushes with the threaded rod and spacers, turned the oven off let the pistons and bushes cool down. The photo above is actually successfully pulling in one of the bushes with the threaded rod, nuts and spacers. After trying the bushes in another piston with the same result of getting stuck. I realised that I had probably made the bushes a bit too much oversize at between 0.0015" and 0.0020" maximum. After lunch, when they were cool I super glued them in turn onto the mandrel that I had made previously and used some 400 grit emery to take each of them down to 0.001" oversize. I forgot to take the camera back up to the workshop with me, so no photos of this operation. After heating the pistons up again in the oven, we tried again, they fitted easily, without resorting to pulling them in with the threaded rod. All 4 pistons now ready for drilling the oilway and final reaming. When the pistons cooled down the bushes were nicely fixed in the pistons. Next job; drilling the oil holes and making the gudgeon pins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Nice kitchen! And good job on the pistons. You were both lucky to have not be burnt with your experiment! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Harper Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Nice Job Mike! This where the "Machinery's Handbook" comes in handy for calculating interference fits. (LOL) I remember years ago helping my ex-father-in-law install new sleeves in a Ford 8N tractor. Previously he had knocked the old sleeves out by splitting them with a chisel. After heating the block-up with a torch he grabbed the new sleeves out of the freezer and knocked them in with a hammer and block if wood. As crude as it sounds it worked well! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Before I machined the drill rod to length for the new gudgeon pins (wrist pins) I measured the pistons to decide on the lengths they needed to be. The idea being that I did not want too much of a gap between the pin and the circlips. They being fitted to stop the pins sliding out of the bronze bushes. I looked on the internet to see if I could find any minimum and maximum clearances for circlips, but had no joy. Each piston was given a number on a length of masking tape which was then stuck to the inside of the piston. In theory, each gudgeon pin should have been the same length. There were discrepancies between the lengths, presumably due to my machining of the bushes and possibly due to having to change the lathe tool, for cutting the circlip groove, after I managed to drop the toolholder and broken the cutting end off the first cutting tool. I was going to include a photo of the A4 sheet I made my calculations on. I have now decided against that as it looks so scruffy in the photo. It wasn't a simple job of measuring between the two circlips as I did not have suitable measuring tool that would fit inside the bushes. I measured the distance between the outside of the two bushes and took off the distance in from the outer end of the bush to the circlip groove (0.050" x 2) and double the width of the circlip. I was surprised by the difference in length between the four gudgeon pins. If you have only just started reading my posts, you maybe wondering why I am modifying 4-pistons for a V-twin engine? Two are for Kevin, a fellow Humberette owner, in Australia. The next job of drilling the oil holes was easy, when compared to the previous work on the pistons. Firstly, I used a centre drill to locate the correct position for the hole, drilled with the centre drill, before drilling through the bronze bush with a 3.5mm drill. I forgot to take any photos of making the gudgeon pins. To date, I have only made the two for Kevin's pistons. I will attempt to remember to take a couple of photos when I make the pins for my pistons. I marked the two pistons for Kevin with a red and green paint dots on both the piston and the gudgeon pins so they don't get muddled up. I was pleased to find that when I tried the reamer in the piston it went through both bushes fairly easily by rotating the reamer by hand. The gudgeon pin was slightly stiffer in one of the pistons. But as they used to say at Burtons, the UK high street the tailor of the 1960's "They will ride up with wear Sir"! When it came to came to painting the green blob of paint on the second piston, all went well until I put the lid back on the paint tin. I tapped the lid on with a hammer and turned the tin upside down to seal the lid with paint - then the lid fell off, pouring paint onto my tools, lathe and floor. After a manic 5-minites cleaning up the mess. I seem to buggered myself up, and have to pulled a muscle in my stomach. Today, I have decided to take it easy and not venture out to the workshop. I left the paint on the pistons to dry in front of the workshop fan heater. The stern comment from Jane - "You shouldn't be let anywhere near a tin of paint!" 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Well, in England there is normal red blood, blue blood (in French we say that about the aristocrats) and you manage to have green blood! Anyway, I feel you pain even if I had to laugh! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Mike, hope you feel better. The car is coming along nicely. Coming out of the oven, it looked like Piston pot pie! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsfarms Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Mike, It is impressive that you are well on your way to get your new mfg. pistons ready for fitment onto your original rods and all is looking good. You will have a nice Humberette "hot rod" when finished! Al 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Mike, how are you doing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Well Ted, I am still alive and kicking and just about to finish yet another course of antibiotics and steroids. I don't recommend these 'short vacations' to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. For most of my life I have been lucky enough to manage to steer clear of hospitals. This episode started when Jane suggested that I needed to go and see the doctor as I was not too good after my green paint juggling incident and clearing up the mess afterwards. Jane made an appointment for me but it was a week later. Last Wednesday, I went to our local surgery in the village, and the doctor sent me straight to hospital, as my breathing was so bad. After spending two nights in there, they chucked me out on Friday. It felt as if I had been in there for two weeks! One of the problems with COPD is that it does not get better, every time you have, what they call an 'exasperation', your breathing capabilities go down a notch. I had hoped that when I gave up smoking, at the end of September, my breathing may have improved a bit. I have another visit to the Doc's on Wednesday and I have decided that it is best to stay out of the workshop and in the warm until after my next visitation to the local surgery. Of course my breathing problems maybe caused by drinking this! I know the Coronavirus is not a laughing matter but I have to admit this photo did amuse me. Perhaps, I've got a warped sense of humour!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 34 minutes ago, Mike Macartney said: Perhaps, I've got a warped sense of humour!? You need to have one! I hope for you that you will recover soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Thank you Roger. Maybe, I will have to start having a go at model making?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Maybe. But to go from scale 1:1 to something smaller is more difficult than the contrary. I noticed that when I was restoring my first car. OK, parts are heavy, but when I came back to modelling during the winter, I had some difficulties with tiny parts and needed some time to be again confident. Anyway, if you decide to follow this route and need help like "how to do", I'm here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Just take it easy for a while Mike until you really feel better. Don’t push it. Here on the east coast there’s a joke, “What goes good with the Corona virus? Lyme disease! You see, we’re all a little twisted at times.😁 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsfarms Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hello Mike, Hang in there! Regards, Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloth Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hello Mike, I wish you a fast recovery, COPD and paints are not the best combination I can imagine. Thirty five years ago, I got floored by using phenol resorcinol glue, I nearly choked. Since then, I am highly allergic for the stuff. So my (needless) advice: stay away from those paints, as solvents in the paint find their way in your body through the unprotected skin. Best regards, Harm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 17 hours ago, Sloth said: So my (needless) advice: stay away from those paints Harm, I definitely need telling and reminding! I must admit that I have now decided that I need to treat, what is left of my lungs, like 'gold dust' Jane has offered to do any dusty clearing up, painting etc. for me. I am going to buy some new filters for my air fed Powercap and make sure I wear it when grinding. I now know my days of being 'gung ho' about things like that must stop. I am also going to get somebody else to finish repairing and painting the wings (fenders) for the Humberette. I am really enjoying learning and carrying out the machining work so I am going to concentrate on that side of the restoration. Much to Janes consternation, I bought a couple of machines yesterday on eBay, a Bridgeport Mill and a Jones and Shipman Surface Grinder. Although old, they look as if they have been well looked after. The next problem is getting them collected and delivered to me. I then need to sell the old Archdale mill and old surface grinder to make room for them in the workshop. I hope I have enough height in the workshop for this Bridgeport milling machine, otherwise it may end up a bit of an embarrassment for me! It comes with loads of tooling and accessories. It says on the plate Bridgeport and underneath Adcock-Shipley. It was a spur of the moment bid, so I need to find out more about these machines. The Jones and Shipman grinder comes with dust extract, about 12 grinding wheels and a balancer. Life's not worth living if you can't have some toys to play with! As you can probably tell from the above, I am now feeling better than I have done for months. 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Sorry to hear you've had a rough go lately but glad to hear you're feeling better and have some nice new toys to play with (well... when you get them home and sorted). 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 Thank you Jeff for your kind words. You too, have had a rough time, I hope your shoulder is starting to recover properly and that you will soon be back up to full strength. The new, well, new to me, machines are being delivered next Wednesday morning. Until then, Jane and I are having a good clear up, to make some room for moving the old machines out and the new ones in. I think it maybe a week or two before I am back working on the Humberette as I have a lot of tools and equipment that I will put on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Mike, Hope you are feeling better. Take your time to heal, we can wait. You are in my prayers. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 John, many thanks for your kind words and thoughts. I have managed to do a bit in the workshop this week. Jane has been wonderful. She has been tidying up the workshop and cleaning up my old milling machine and surface grinder that I am putting on eBay. She would not let me do that in case I breathed in some dust or fumes. I used to joke that I would swop her for two women half her age, I don't think I could cope with younger models now! 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 7 hours ago, Mike Macartney said: John, many thanks for your kind words and thoughts. I have managed to do a bit in the workshop this week. Jane has been wonderful. She has been tidying up the workshop and cleaning up my old milling machine and surface grinder that I am putting on eBay. She would not let me do that in case I breathed in some dust or fumes. I used to joke that I would swop her for two women half her age, I don't think I could cope with younger models now! I realized long ago one is enough trouble, never mind two! Besides, mine does a really good job of being spectacular most of the time. Of course, there are those times.......................😟 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 (edited) I thought about venturing out to the workshop today to have a go at doing a little bit on the Humberette. The problem is it is 'blowing a hooley' outside with 70mph winds, thunderstorms are forecast for later today. Perhaps, I will sort out and file my Humberette paperwork instead. Edited February 9, 2020 by Mike Macartney (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 41 minutes ago, Mike Macartney said: The problem is it is 'blowing a hooley' outside with 70mph winds, thunderstorms are forecast for later today. This kind of weather is expected in Switzerland for tomorrow! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloth Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Hello Mike, no damage done I hope? At the moment Ciara -the storm that is😃- is blowing mightily over here. Two threes down and a lot of flying branches, and way to much water in the trenches. No Cleveland work today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 No damage here, trees down and power cuts. Hoping that you two have survived the storm OK in Holland and Switzerland. Harm, we had a lot of rain also, with the storm, the road at the front of barn flooded but luckily drained away reasonably quickly. The filing of the Humberette paperwork took very little time yesterday. why had I put it off for so long? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 This night it was windy; still is but not so strong. It should continue till tomorrow. It's not cold, we have rain and right now sunshine... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 After all the wind and rain, it has just started snowing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 You sure have some funny names for your towns over there! Ian Steel captured photos of snow falling in Snettisham. Rush hour traffic problems as snow falls across Norfolk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Hope you're doing okay Mike. The weather looks pretty crazy on your side of the blue marble. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted February 17, 2020 Author Share Posted February 17, 2020 Thanks for your post, Laughing Coyote. We live on the east coast of England about 3hrs north of London and near a coastal town called Cromer. We are protected from the weather coming in from the Atlantic by the rest of the country. Wales and the west coast of England and Scotland have had it worst. A lot of rivers have overflowed their banks and a lot of homes have been flooded. It must be pretty horrible being flooded at anytime, but even worse when it is very windy and cold. On a brighter note, although my breathing isn't brilliant, I am able to go into the workshop each day for a short while. Last Wednesday, the Bridgeport milling machine and Jones and Shipman surface grinder were delivered. The two guys from Emcon were fantastic, nothing was too much trouble for them and they removed my old mill and grinder before placing the new (well, new to me) machines in the workshop. As you can see, from me leaning on the gate, I was exhausted just watching them work! My friend Robert came down to help, he untied ropes and sheets while the Emcon guys moved my machines outside the workshop. Earlier that morning I had an offer on my Archdale milling machine. that I said I would accept. The buyer said he could not arrange collection for a couple of weeks. I told him that a company called Emcon was delivering my replacement machines today. He messaged back to say that he had contacted Emcon, as the company was only situated 20 miles away from where he lived, they would take the Archdale mill back with them. He then transferred the money for the mill by PayPal. How lucky was that, for both of us! The mill and surface grinder safely in the workshop. The company selling the 2 machines were downsizing and moving to a smaller premises. On studying one of the photos, which showed a rotary table that was going to come with the mill . . . . . . . . I spied these items 1. 2. & 3. and asked if they came with the Bridgeport? The reply came back that it was all going to be 'weighed in' as scrap! I quickly emailed back to say "I hate seeing good usable stuff sent for scrap, is there any chance of having it?" What turned up with the machines was . . . . . . . . this. Three pallets stacked with tooling. I rang and thanked them for their generosity. What a lucky boy I am. I now have days, maybe weeks, of work trying to sort out the stuff and finding somewhere to put it. I did manage to get it in the workshop before the bad weather came. On Thursday morning, I heard this sporty sounding engine and opened the door to see this arriving outside my workshop. I have never seen one of these in Norfolk before. . . . What is it? A McLaren. Hmmm, I think I might struggle to get in this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush Mechanic Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Wow! What a great score. Three pallets of machine shop goodies. That's the sort a thing we dream of, Mike. Especially here in Tasmania, where machinery and accessories are very hard to find. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Was the McLaren stolen and ended in your yard? Nice machines you got! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Glad to hear your okay. Looks like you got a lot of nice stuff. That should keep you busy for awhile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsfarms Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Hello Mike, Some guys get all the good stuff and you are certainly one of "those guys"! I am sure happy for you. Keep up the good work. Tell me how the McLaren fit, does it need some more tailoring? 🙂 Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloth Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Hello Mike, That is a really nice set of machines, and the tools come by the pallet load! Am i jealous, not at all, well maybe a tiny bit 😇. As is mentioned before, I can only dream of it! Well, the McLaren, that super car is only meant to tease us, we are just a humble lot very old car drivers (both ways that is), aren't we? Mike, on a serious note, I hope your health will improve and wish that you may use your machines a lot, during many years to come. Regards, Harm Edited February 17, 2020 by Sloth (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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