Whisperings

[RayG]

Hang in there Phil, sometimes the race goes to the one with with most endurance!

Escalating a conflict is only a good idea if you know what the outcome will be.. play your own game, not the other guys.

Regards
Ray

[Stustoys]

Surely a dividing head isn't historically correct in a wheelwrights?(or are we talking "out the back"?)

Stuart

[Steamwhisperer]

Still more good advice. There is a common thread coming through and it's one of maturity and be the bigger person which I might add will be the line I am taking.
I'd actually like to take this opportunity say thanks guys for all the advice. I was getting a bit clouded over this but you blokes have made it a lot clearer.
After reading 'every' response about this I am not anywhere as angry about it all, you might say Yin is talking to Yang again
I'll get the ball rolling today

Phil

[Steamwhisperer]

Oh yeah, the dividing head is 'out the back' Stuart.

Phil

[PDW]

It's a shame that the minimil(sic) is just going to sit there and get covered in sawdust.

Not all bad. Many years ago in a CSIRO division that no longer exists, a mill was surplus to the needs of the machine shop. The carpentry shop thought they could use it so it was written off as an asset & given to them.

Fast forward 10 years and the carpentry shop was being downsized, nobody wanted or needed the mill, and my FIL asked what was going to be done with it. Short form, he was told that if he got there with a trailer before 1700 they'd load it with the forklift and he could dispose of it as he saw fit.

So - he did. It helped that he was in charge of the machine shop section by then so knew the history.

Sad part is, it's still in his garage, surrounded by 'stuff' and totally unusable due to zero access. A problem that one day I will have to deal with. Sadder part is, he was a scientific instrument maker and a far better machinist than I will ever be. By the time he retired, he'd had enough of machine tools so never uses those he has.

WRT the dividing head, the boss is the way to go. I know precisely what I'd do were I the boss and it'd be direct, polite, fast and final.

PDW

[Steamwhisperer]

Hi all,
did a bit on the Worthington pump Thursday, finally back onto it as it has been a bit hectic around here with the removal of the Cornish mine pump from underground.
These Cornish mine pumps weren't built to last 33 years and seeing as how the shaft had a bit of a slip and dumped a fair pile of dirt around it, it was decided that as the pump had to be removed to re-line the shaft we may as well get a new one made.
More on that later.
Anyways, the Worthington pump.
The part that makes this pump work, the steam side, needed a bit of a touch up which is kinda like saying the second world war was a skirmish.
Looking closely at it I would say that it wasn't touched during it's last rebuild. I wonder how it worked as well as it did in fact.
The plan was to re-machine then scrape the valve faces back to flat. It's going well so far.
Pics are taken with a camera that was given to me so I apologise for the quality. My fault not the camera.

Phil

IMG_4430.JPG IMG_4431.JPG DSCN1100.JPG DSCN1102.JPG DSCN1106.JPG DSCN1107.JPG DSCN1108.JPG DSCN1114.JPG DSCN1117.JPG DSCN1124.jpg DSCN1136.JPG DSCN1141.JPG DSCN1149.jpg

[Stustoys]

Hi Phil,

Are the first two bluing pictures in the wrong order and misslabeled or is that blue thinner or are you making things worse?

How many points for steam tight?

Great as always. Thanks for the pictures.

Stuart

[Oldneweng]

Hi Phil,

Are the first two bluing pictures in the wrong order and misslabeled or is that blue thinner or are you making things worse?

How many points for steam tight?

Great as always. Thanks for the pictures.

Stuart

I thought it must have been transfer from the surface plate (caravan ballast?). Bluing in reverse so to speak. I may be wrong tho. It has been known!

Dean

[Big Shed]

Hi Phil,

Are the first two bluing pictures in the wrong order and misslabeled or is that blue thinner or are you making things worse?

How many points for steam tight?

Great as always. Thanks for the pictures.

Stuart

Looking at the original numbering from the camera they are displayed in the order they were taken.

[Steamwhisperer]

Hi Phil,

Are the first two bluing pictures in the wrong order and misslabeled or is that blue thinner or are you making things worse?

How many points for steam tight?

Great as always. Thanks for the pictures.

Stuart

I can explain!
The first pic is with the blue 'trowled' onto the master. I didn't have to put anymore blue on for subsequent scrapes, giving an indicator of how much I put on in the first place .
The next pic shows how heavy handed I was in the middle and how I scraped like my little sister around the edges.
I managed to get into a rhythm towards the end...sorta.
By the time I get to the 'D' slide valves I should be pretty good at...pffft

phil

[Michael G]

The next pic shows how heavy handed I was in the middle and how I scraped like my little sister around the edges.

You have a sister who is also into scraping cast iron? (and her name here is "Sis-of-whisperer"?)

Michael

[Steamwhisperer]

You have a sister who is also into scraping cast iron? (and her name here is "Sis-of-whisperer"?)

Michael

Hi Michael,
I'll go with 'annoying' whisperer, the only thing she would scrape is her fingernails down a blackboard 'cause she knows it annoys me

Not sure on the point count for steam tightness Stuart. Not sure it would matter too much as it normally has a lot of pressure to hold the valve against it's seat and a film of oil on the mating surfaces as well.

Hi Dean,
It funnily enough is kinda bluing in reverse. I have a small surface plate about 6" x 6" (0.15m x 0.15m or 15cm x 15cm or 150mm x 150mm etc ), I found in the Restorers Barn in Castlemaine and scraped it flat.
This is a lot lighter than the pump so I just blue the plate and rub it on the valve faces, albeit too much blue but still a lot easier than throwing the pump around.

Phil

[Steamwhisperer]

I managed to get a bit more done on the pump.
After 37 cycles I reckoned the valve chest was good enough. So good I tried a fancy schmancy pic (it's the first one )
So far I have completed one of the valves and nearly finished the other one.I put a smear of oil on the valve and tried it on its mating surface. The harder I pressed the valve onto its face the easier it was to slide. Very happy!
It even suction cupped so compared to what it was when I started it should be heaps better.

Phil
IMG_4460.jpg IMG_4472.jpg IMG_4478.jpg IMG_4483.jpg IMG_4486.jpg IMG_4487.jpg IMG_4493.jpg

[Steamwhisperer]

Here is a couple of pics of the new Cornish mine pump that should be going into the shaft in the next week or two. This pump is driven by the Ruston Proctor engine in the winding house.

Phil
IMG_3519.jpg IMG_4462.JPG IMG_4464.JPG IMG_4466.jpg IMG_4468.jpg

[Gavin Newman]

Nice job on the new pump, was it made on site at the Hill?