Thread: Machining tiny components

Excellent work Mike,
those parts are really tiny. What sort of speed did you turn them at? I imagine you would need to go really fast to get the SFPM up to anything like 100.
Cheers,
Ew

Hendy, Hendy, Hendy, Hendy, Hendy, Hendy...........

Hi all good to see some one else who dabbles on the micro side thought I was robinson Crusoe. Not much chop for 60 yo eyeballs.

If you don't already have one I highly recommend an Optivisor. I got one with the DA3 lens for $40 plus $12 postage from eBay seller stcarp.

Chris

Originally Posted by jack620

If you don't already have one I highly recommend an Optivisor. I got one with the DA3 lens for $40 plus $12 postage from eBay seller stcarp.

Chris

I second that. The Optivisor and a couple of Bausch and Lomb loupes are constant companions.

Here's a part I finished today. It's the fuel spraybar for a 1cc diesel engine I'm making. You can just make out the 0.5mm fuel jet in the side of the narrow part of the spraybar.

Some years ago I was friends with an old engineer called Wilf Manning until he moved to a retirement home in Adelaide, having first made arrangments to house his lathe etc where he could access it. Wilf learnt his trade with steam engines.

He told me about boring out the cylinder of a steam engine using a vertical wire stretched in line with and at the centre of the bore to take measurements with and getting in with a hammer and chisel to remove the bits not needed.

At the other end of the spectrum he told me about making bearing races for the needle shafts of gauges used in the cockpit of planes, from scratch.

Dean

Originally Posted by Oldneweng

Some years ago I was friends with an old engineer called Wilf Manning until he moved to a retirement home in Adelaide, having first made arrangments to house his lathe etc where he could access it. Wilf learnt his trade with steam engines.

He told me about boring out the cylinder of a steam engine using a vertical wire stretched in line with and at the centre of the bore to take measurements with and getting in with a hammer and chisel to remove the bits not needed.

At the other end of the spectrum he told me about making bearing races for the needle shafts of gauges used in the cockpit of planes, from scratch.

Dean

Dean
Just read your post & Wilfs name came to mind. He had a section in a Model makers magazine called "Wilfs Workshop"
Obtained a lot of good info from his knowledge & the subjects on machining etc that he wrote about.
Good to see he has access to his lathe in the retirement home.
These retirement homes need workshops for the likes of Wilf, & others with similiar interests.
regards
Bruce

Originally Posted by Abratool

These retirement homes need workshops for the likes of Wilf, & others with similiar interests.

The aged care facility where my parents are, has a "Men's Shed", which is about the size of a 1 car garage, with glass panelled doors at both ends.

My dad is the only one who shows any interest, so the good side is that it's effectively his, but the bad side is that he's pretty lonely out there. He's sanded and re-oiled all the outdoor furniture, made trivets for the jugs and urns, made a couple of footstools, and is currently making a batch of easels for the diversional therapist. He also repaired the facilities flagpole, saving them a $500 call-out fee, and in return for all this work, they have soooo generously agreed to reduce his monthly parking fee from $50 to only $25.

If he wasn't getting personal satisfaction out of this, and getting personal thanks from individual staff members, I'd be pushing for him to stop working for the facility for gratis.

Cheers,
Andrew