Knowing when to down tools

David Taylor

Western Thunderer
About an hour ago would have been about right!

I've had some Ultrascale gears sitting around for ages and thought it was time to try making a gearbox for them. I have some 3/6" ID ball races for the axles, some 2mm ID thrust washers with ball races for the worm, and bought a chunk of aluminium to make the prototypes from. I figured this was softer and cheaper than brass.

After one false start yesterday I spent more time thinking and measuring and had a plan. I'd mill a block of aluminium to size, drill holes right through in the corners 10BA tapping size, and slit the block at a point where I would have one piece thick enough for the gears and one axle bearing and then a side plate for the other axle bearing, perfectly registered by the pre-drilled holes.

So first of all I drilled three holes really carefully and got a bit impatient with the 4th. And broke a brand new #54 drill leaving some of it in the hole.

Hoping 3 holes would be enough and that the slitting saw would either handle the drill or pass under it, I start slitting. And I find the slitting saw arbor won't pass over the vice jaws meaning I'll have to sort of cut around the edges and then figure something else out. Of courseI carry one. And I hit the drill, blunted the teeth on the slitting saw to rounded bumps, AND twisted the head off screw which secures the cap to the arbor which holds the saw on, with the bulk of the screw still in the arbor. A high tensile screw, no doubt.

I hack-sawed through the block the rest of the way and was about to face it off with an end-mill to tidy up when I was called in to look after the kids for a while. Probably a good thing or I guess I'd have broken a cutting edge on the drill stump still in there. I better just file that corner away.

What a relaxing hobby.

Anyone else got some workshop tales of carrying on when perhaps discretion would have been better?

Regards,
David.
 

daifly

Western Thunderer
I've 'liked' your post because I recognise the typical disastrous sequence of one of my quick and straightforward jobs, not from any sense of schadenfreude!
 

iak63

Western Thunderer
Oh does this ring true at the moment...
Too much medication and mucking about and not enough modelling of any quality.
Mind I can only keep going, the concentration is getting slowly better so I'm having to declare less modelling sessions...
Perseverance pays as well as kenning when to stop - dribble!
 

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
Never had any problems myself, everything has always gone as intended.......

Yeah right !!!

Far too many failures to list.. Be safe in the knowledge that I have wasted days and a reasonable amount of money on trying new things. Especially frustrating when you look back afterwards and think to yourself "That was never going to work anyway...!"

The only way to learn and get the old cells to think laterally though..

JB.
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
I would like to say that I would have stopped as soon as I broke the new drill in the 4th hole.
I would like to say that, but I know it would be untrue.

In reality I would have carried on until I had made things worse.
 

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
I can also pretty much guarantee that the next time you try to do what you're doing, it'll work perfectly first time..

JB.
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
I didn't realise how tough things can be right up there at the Front of The School Hall....!!! You all look like you know what you're doing, at least..!! :eek: :confused: :bowdown:
You need to be careful... a recent post to the forum has introduced the skill of "lousy carpentry" which I reckon is not quite up to the standard of "comedy carpentry", so please set out a row of chairs somewhere between the back row and the other side of the hall.

regards, Barking
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
I call it being at home to Capt cock up and his pals, there is always a certain point during this/any passage of woe where it dawns on you (dimley at first) that it's not going well, but, you 'decide' to carry on in the hope that it will get better, this is a false hope, one doomed to failure. The art is to try and stop as close to when that dim thought presents its self LOL.

I have also solved the conundrum of the missing etch part, that one.... the most important one, that is not duplicated in the kit, y'all know the one, goes missing. Simply stand up and leave your study/ workshop, remove all footwear, sock and all, walk back into your study/ workshop and pace around for a few minutes, if the errant part does not find the bottom of your unprotected foot......then it truly is lost forever. However, there is a high chance that thin sliver of brass will connect with your sole in the most painful of ways, and thus the missing part.....is no longer missing, works for me every time :thumbs: bloody awful sore feet mind!.
 

David Taylor

Western Thunderer
Having read through Simon's workbench thread today and seeing how he gets out to the workshop at all hours I was inspired to head out to my own after the kids were in bed and do some work on the SECR 0-6-0 kit I'm building for light relief.

Put the gearbox back on, cut away some of the body behind the backhead to allow it to fit, put another sandbox on, then I got enthusiastic and decided to make a sandbox to replace one which didn't arrive with the kit.

I found the perfect scrap of brass, spent ages filing (and milling after filing got boring), got it the right size and shape up until the last filing operation where it narrows down towards the bottom... and rather than making a mirror image of the box I was copying, made it the same. So I'm still missing a sandbox, but have a spare for the other side. :headbang:

I left the workshop at that point, and headed to the back of the class.

I could just make this my workshop thread. This is probably how most of the entries will end up.

Regards,
David.
 
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