Model Engineers' Workshop - September 2022

68 Pages·2022·73.1 MB·English

On the
Editor's Bench
EDITORIAL
Editor: Neil Wyatt
Designer: Andy Tompkins
Publisher: Steve O'Hara
By post: Model Engineers' Workshop,
Mortons Media Group, Media Centre,
Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR Phew What a Scorcher!
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Last month saw the h test ever recorded in the UK, with multiple locations having
Email: [email protected]
temperatures reaching over 40°C. I hope that readers were able to keep themselves
© 2022 Mortons Media ISSN0033-8923
reasonably cool and comfortable and did not suffer distress from such heat.
CUSTOMER SERVICES Naturally all record-breaking temperatures must be recorded with proper
General Queries & Back Issues meteorological equipment to be valid, it is easy for temperatures to go far higher,
01507 529529 especially in full sunlight. Here in Wales we didn’t get the full impact of the h test
Monday-Friday: 8.30-5pm day with temperatures rising to around a ‘mere’ 37°C, but when I checked the
Answerphone 24hr max-min thermometer on the outside of my workshop it indicated 47.5°C. This
is in a position exposed to the sun until about an hour before the sun reaches its
ADVERTISING
highest, so the temperature in full sun may have gone even higher here. This was
Group advertising manager: Sue Keily
an interesting test of the insulation I fitted to my workshop last year. My original
Advertising: Angela Price
[email protected] Tel: [phone] hope was to keep it warmer in winter and minimise heating costs, but obviously
By Post: Model Engineers' Workshop advertising, insulation works both ways. I used expanded polystyrene on the walls, but only
Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, relatively cheap ‘metallised bubble wrap’ under the roof to keep the maximum
Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR amount of headroom. This product sometimes gets a bad press for being relatively
ineffective, however the highest temperature recorded in the workshop was only
PUBLISHING 27°C, despite the roof being in full sun from early morning to late ternoon.
Sales and distribution Manager: Carl Smith
Marketing Manager: Charlotte Park The Right Tool for the Job
Commercial Director: Nigel Hole
I often reflect on how having the right tool for the job in hand can make a big
Publishing Director: Dan Savage
difference to a task. A few days ago, my brother helped me remove a pressed steel
Published by: Mortons Media Group,
bath. Despite pulling it out from the wall by a couple of inches, the original lead
Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle,
Lincs LN9 6JR piping was making undoing the tap connections almost impossible. Juggling with
an adjustable spanner only led to me skinning my knuckles. Thinking about how to
SUBSCRIPTION solve the task gave me a sudden flash of inspiration! I hurried to my workshop and
Full subscription rates (but see page 54 for fer): managed to find a proper basin wrench I used the last time I changed a bath, some
(12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) - UK teen years ago. The head of these flips from side to side and has a simple sprung
£56.40. Export rates are also available - see page ratchet that grips the tap nut. The only issue is that the tommy bar (not visible in
46 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-
the photo) is quite short, but it did the job.
rated for the purpose of Value Added Tax.
Readers will be reassured to know the lead pipes have been capped off and the
Enquiries: [email protected]
new bath and shower will be plumbed into with new copper piping.
PRINT AND DISTRIBUTIONS
Printed by: William Gibbons & Son,
Wolverhampton
Distribution by: Marketforce (UK) Ltd, 3rd Floor,
161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP 0203 787 9001

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTION
Accepted photographs and articles will be paid for upon publication. Items we
cannot use will be returned if accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope,
and recorded delivery must clearly state so and enclose sufficient postage. In
common with practice on other periodicals, all material is sent or returned at
the contributors own risk and neither Model Engineers' Workshop Magazine,
the editor, the staff nor Mortons Media Ltd can be held responsible for loss
or damage, howsoever caused. The opinions expressed in MEW are not
necessarily those of the editor or st f. This periodical must not, without the
ten consent of the publishers first being given, be lent, sold, hired out or
otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or, in any unauthorised cover
by way of trade or annexed to or as part of any publication or advertising .
literary or pictori ter whatsoever.
This issue was published on June 17, 2022.

The next will be on sale on July 22, 2022.
September 2022 3
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Paper back, 294 pages of practical
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Available from Amazon, WHSmith
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Contents
8 Tap Guidance 56
Thinking about a future anniversary, we
bring you a handy tip from 1923.
9 ting a Rubber Membrane
Roof
It was time to put a new covering on R.
Finch’s engineering stores, so he opted
for a synthetic rubber membrane.
18 A File Organiser
Martin Berry wanted to file away all his
files and came up with a neat organiser
using 3D printed inserts.
21 Beginners’ Workshop
Geometer explains how to use a scraper,
future instalments will build on this by
looking at the art of ting
.
22 Changing a Shell Mill Arbor
David Ever t found that this was not
a simple swap, his experiences will help
readers wanting to move accessories
betw ferent machines. 40 Vehicle Customisation and 56 The Origins of Modern
Restoration Engineering
26 A Chain Alteration Tool Many readers of MEW are involved with Stub Mandrel visits the Science Museum
Will Doggett makes further progress, classic cars and bikes, what do you need to see machinery from early days of
now making the main body of his rotary to get into this side of the hobby? precision engineering.
riveting tool.
42 Building A Free Pendulum Clock 61 Bob’s Better Bevels
32 Rewinding a Single Phase To free completes the work on his Part 4 sees Bob make some bevels using
Induction Motor electronically controlled free pendulum a CNC approach.
The mysterious ‘Black Fingernail’ clock and contemplates what future
tackles a complex task that can be projects it may lead to.
safely completed with patience and an
understanding of how these motors 47 Cover Story – A Bandsaw Blade
work. Tension Meter
Gary Wooding explains a clever device
that take the guesswork out of setting
up a bandsaw.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
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32
See page 54 for details.
6 www.model-engineer.co.uk Model Engineers’ Workshop
Coming up… HOME FEATURES WORKSHOP EVENTS FORUMS ALBUMS
Visit our
in our n t issue
Website
In our next issue Alan Jackson makes an indexing chuck.
www.model-engineer.co.uk
Why not follow ter:
tw ter.com/ModelEngineers hashtag #MEW
Regulars
3 On the Editor’s Bench
Phew! What a scorcher!
THIS MONTH’S BONUS CONTENT
16 Scribe A Line
Our monthly reader feedback. Editor, Neil Wyatt, is always Log on to the website for extra content
keen to hear from readers, just drop an email to meweditor@
mortons.co.uk.
Visit our website to access extra downloads, tutorials,
31 Readers’ Tips examples and links.
This month’s winner is a quick and dirty alternative to callipers. www.model-engineer.co.uk/extracontent
52 On the Wire Other hot topics on the forum include:
We review a range of metallic lacquers and discover the world
of ‘upcycling’ along the way. Further Adventures with the Sieg KX3 & KX1
A thread for new owners of these machines to post in. By
66 Readers’ Classifieds JasonB
More of our most excellent readers’ sale and wanted ads.
Parting tool trouble
Discovering the pitfalls of parting by Chris Murphy
First print with new resin printer
Experimenting with the increasing popular alternative to
fused deposition printers by lee webster
ON THE COVER ›››
Come and have a Chat!
The cover of this issue shows Gary As well as plenty of engineering and hobby related
Wooding’s neat device for using discussion, we are happy for forum members to use it
a dial test indicator to measure to share advice and support. If you feel isolated by the
the extension of a bandsaw blade lockdown do join us and be assured of a warm welcome.
under tension. Full details of how
to make and use your own are
given from page 47. CLASSIFIEDS EXTRA SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SUPPLIERS
September 2022 7
Tap Guidance – a tip from the past.
Next year is the 125th anniversary of Model
Engineer magazine. We’ve been looking at
how MEW can celebrate its fellow publication’s
milestone; to whet your appetite here’s a
classic ‘tip’ from 1923.
When tapping shallow holes, it is difficult to start
the tap at right angles to a machined surface, more
so when a taper tap cannot be employed due to the
holes shallowness.
The [adjacent] drawing shows a simple form of a
tap guidance in section; it is turned from brass or
mild steel round bar-, and its length overall being
somewhat shorter than the tap, in accordance with
the depth of the hole to be tapped.
-E. G.
Sketch of Guide for Tapping Shallow Holes.
Roofing a Shed
Fitting a Rubber
Membrane Roof
1
R Finch describes how he re-roofed his ‘engineering stores’ with a rubber membrane.
I
t all started when the workshop fibre insulation. The garage roof was heads which last for around 30 years
roof started to leak - again! When I covered with ‘Big Six’ galvanised steel or so. As the garage roof was around
moved to my present house, I built box-profile roofing sheets. This type of this age, it had started leaking in a few
a workshop in one half of the double roof is held down using screw ted places. I rectified this using a petrolatum
garage, insulating the roof with glass with soft sealing washers under the cloth tape - such as Denso tape or
2 3
›
The roofing felt stripped off. The plywood sheeting nailed on to the roof.
September 2022 9
4 5
The rubber membrane left to relax. Note the generous excess at
The gutter deflecto ted flush with the plywood. the sides for trimming f later.
Sylglas tape. This was a reasonable cure
6
at the time but, ter 10 years exposure
to the weather, the roof started leaking
again as the petrolatum tape was
beginning to lift off the steel sheeting.
ter a prolonged spell of heavy
rain, the leaks got so bad that I decided
to do something about it.
Spurred on by Howard Lewis’ letter
in Model Engineers’ Workshop No. 306
concerning installation of an EPDM
rubber membrane, I decided to have the
garage re-roofed professionally since the
roof was 5 metres wide and 5.5 metres
long - a bit too big for me to handle.
They stripped all the old corrugated-
steel roof off, laid OSB (oriented strand
board) sheets and then glued the EPDM
one-piece rubber membrane down
before trimming the edges - all in a
ter of 5 hours (there were six of
them walking about on the roof at one
point...). For those who simply need
to know, EPDM stands for Ethylene- The partly-dried solvent based adhesive - note the clip holding back the folded membrane.
Propylene Diene Monomer and the
membrane is designed for a guaranteed The calculator mm and 1.5 mm. I thought that as the
life of 20 years and a potential life of 50 The first thing I did was to search for membrane was rubber, I might well
years. a kit to do a shed roof. This proved end up poking a hole in it if my usual
This new roof covering was tested interesting as some websites have kits DIY skills were anything to go by, so
thoroughly a mere two days later when for specific sizes only - not much use I ordered the 1.5 mm thick material. I
we had almost a month’s worth of rain if your shed isn’t one of their standard found that this was totally unnecessary
in just six hours. As the new roof didn’t sizes. I finally found a website that as the rubber is really tough and it
leak at all, I decided that the small shed had an on-line calculator where the simply added to the weight I had to lift
that I used for the “Engineering Stores” dimensions of the roof were entered. on to the roof.
should be re-roofed as that was g ting The width and length were then By selecting the type of edge of the
to the point where the old roofing felt calculated with a 200 mm excess for roof, the calculator determines how
was splitting and there were a few trimming being added at each side many kerb strips you need (for the
ter heavy rain, photo and each end. As the rubber is made ends - where the facia boards are) and
1. I decided that I could handle the in standard widths, it may be that the how much gutter strip you need for the
membrane for a 2.2 metre by 1.8 metre width you get is quite a bit more that edges that have gutters (the two sides
roof single handed, so used an on-line the roof dimension plus the 400 mm in the case of an apex roof). There is
calculator and bought a roofing kit. This allowance. My shed size was 1.8 m x 2.2 also the option to select an edge which
ended up not being quite as easy as it m and the membrane size determined goes into a wall if needed - imagine
says on the tin so here are some of the by the calculator ended up being 2.53 a flat-roofed garage built on to the
problems I had if you decide to re-roof metres by 2.6 metres for my shed. house. The quantity of adhesive and
your shed or even workshop. There are two thicknesses available - 1.2 sealant required and all the corner trims
10 www.model-engineer.co.uk Model Engineers’ Workshop