Author Topic: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop  (Read 186084 times)

Wombat

  • Is it supposed to hurt this much?
Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #300 on: 02 December, 2017, 09:53:23 am »
Thats good work, John!  If it helps to analyse what is bent where, the accident involved it being hit from behind at a slight angle by a Honda CB1100 motorcycle.  The trike had just come out of a turning from the right, and the bike ran into it, so it may have been still at a slight angle.  Bike was supposedly not exceeding the 30mph limit.
As I said when we met, the main reason why it got abandoned in the shed, was because nobody could face up to dealing with it, and it took moving house to finally push me into facing it.  You taking the project on is the best possible outcome for me, and I'm overjoyed that you are tackling it in this way.  I like that rear hub, and its about what I would have done in the circumstances.  When we eventually get the nod to move into our new home, I'll have a much bigger workshop inside a barn.  Meanwhile, we're living in one room of a friend's house in very rural mid-Wales.  Not very satisfactory, but hopefully our ambition will come through soon, and we may possibly be in our new home by Christmas!

A big thank you from me!
Wombat

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #301 on: 03 December, 2017, 06:19:44 pm »
I remember this being offered and thinking that it seemed like a great project. Now I've seen the level of the work required and the equipment and skill you have, I'm glad it's your project. Fantastic work, keep going (and taking pictures).  :thumbsup:
Cheers
Duncan

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
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Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #302 on: 06 December, 2017, 01:55:01 am »
As you may be aware, I have access to two 'Seat of the Pants' 'Cheetahs, #s 176 & 216. The latter is sitting in the shop so reasonably accessible. If you need any pics or dimensions just call or PM and I will do what I can to help.

I don't know if you have the seat but 216's is available if you want to take a mould off it and I can let you have the cushions to copy - I don't think anyone's going to want to buy it anytime soon. Can't let you have anything off #176, Redshift wouldn't be very happy! Comparison pics are possible. #216 is on a 7 speed freewheel, #176 is on a freehub and the axles are different.

Just give me a shout if you need anything.
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #303 on: 06 December, 2017, 06:33:11 am »
Hi Torslanda. The Speedy is No. 209, and uses a 7 speed freewheel/block also.

I have the seat. It has some damage, and some of this appears to be older, as it has been patched.

Kevin at Dtek has offered the chance of looking at early Speedys and also the original drawings, so I already have a resource close by - he's only 3 miles away from where I work.

Thanks for the offer, though.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #304 on: 06 December, 2017, 06:39:11 am »
A jig for milling the hexagonal end of the axle has been made, and we are nearly ready to start machining.

It probably won't get done this week as we are doing aluminium casting tomorrow, which means a bit of reorganising in the workshop - we only do this once or twice a year. There is one part I would like to cast for the Speedy, but I havent made the pattern for it yet, so I can't fit it in with this round of pouring.  :(
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #305 on: 08 December, 2017, 09:41:36 pm »
Here's the setup, for doing the hexagonal end, on the vertical mill - (If anybody is having trouble visualising the size on these photos, I'm using a 12mm dia cutter. the MDF blocks are 25mm thick each):

Using the old spindle to set the height/depth stop:



The new spindle is then swapped in:



The hub/disc mounting holes are used to stop it rotating or being pushed back through the MDF blocks (it had to be hammered in with a plastic faced mallet):



...and the first flat is milled (I machined it in 3 passes, gradually increasing depth of cut, as I'm only using a MDF jig and also didn't want to get the metal hot and have it harden. We don't run coolant on the mill, so WD40 cutting oil (CT90) was sprayed on)



The next step is to unscrew the hub/disc mount from the block, rotate the spindle one hole and mill the next flat, and repeat - it's lucky disc mounts have 6 holes and I need to mill a hex end, isn't it?  ;)
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #306 on: 09 December, 2017, 09:37:44 am »
IIRC my grate frend Mr Woolrich, who built a Speedy from a kit, was the inventor of the hex spindle thingie as he wanted to use a cassette rather than the screw-on blocks which BurrowsCorp Intnl plc were still using.  Mr Burrows said "that's clever" and nicked the idea.
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Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Kim

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Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #307 on: 09 December, 2017, 01:41:16 pm »
...and the first flat is milled (I machined it in 3 passes, gradually increasing depth of cut, as I'm only using a MDF jig and also didn't want to get the metal hot and have it harden. We don't run coolant on the mill, so WD40 cutting oil was sprayed on)



I regard this sort of thing as the same level of witchcraft that people seem to think I'm doing when I molish things with electronics.   :thumbsup:

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #308 on: 09 December, 2017, 01:59:59 pm »
But, but, you can see what's happening with machines. You can't see electrons. What you do is def witchcraft.
Rust never sleeps

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #309 on: 09 December, 2017, 03:14:07 pm »
Here's the setup, for doing the hexagonal end, on the vertical mill - (If anybody is having trouble visualising the size on these photos, I'm using a 12mm dia cutter. the MDF blocks are 25mm thick each):
...

The next step is to unscrew the hub/disc mount from the block, rotate the spindle one hole and mill the next flat, and repeat - it's lucky disc mounts have 6 holes and I need to mill a hex end, isn't it?  ;)
A delight to watch.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #310 on: 09 December, 2017, 03:44:16 pm »
But, but, you can see what's happening with machines. You can't see electrons. What you do is def witchcraft.
'Zactly this.
Like many things, it is a matter of trust.
Give me a bubble in a spirit level, over the GPS-generated level in my iPhone any day of the week.
Every time.
The list of where the GPS generated level has the potential to go wrong, is a long one.
The bubble, not so much.
FWIW I'd use the iPhone to level something if I was mucking about.
I'd use a bubble level if I was serious and wanted something to work.
[/philistine]

Kim

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Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #311 on: 09 December, 2017, 04:19:42 pm »
But, but, you can see what's happening with machines. You can't see electrons.

That's what oscilloscopes are for (and I'll accept that the modern ones are more than a little bit magic).  Hardly comparable with the art of not making things slightly wonky.


And yes, obviously a spirit level is more trustworthy, but not as practical as a device for sensing which orientation your phone should display its image.

Reminds me of a friend encountering a vintage doorbell where you pulled on a rope which caused a counterweighted arm to pivot and an attached mercury switch would complete the circuit.  I joked that that wouldn't be allowed today, and you'd have to use a 3-axis accelerometer chip instead...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #312 on: 09 December, 2017, 04:47:19 pm »
Quote
oscilloscopes

Takes stuff to another level....
Pass the metric adjustable wrench....

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #313 on: 09 December, 2017, 05:13:15 pm »
Talking of silly-scopes and witchcraft, have you had a go with Jerobeam Fenderson's Oscilloscope Music yet, Kim?

https://youtu.be/5WBWIKnr0Os

Yes, you can actually get those animations on a CRO by playing the music stereo signal to the X & Y inputs!  :D

(although I always seem to get them upside-down)  :facepalm:
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Kim

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Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #314 on: 09 December, 2017, 05:52:17 pm »
Talking of silly-scopes, have you had a go with Jerobeam Fenderson's Oscilloscope Music yet, Kim?

From last time it came up:





That's one of the few bits that sort-of works on a digital scope.  It's much better on analogue (the Goldstar scope is only part-time digital).

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #315 on: 11 December, 2017, 08:19:30 pm »
Sorry - Didn't take camera to work, so only have crappy phone pictures.  :-[

Following on from Friday's milling of the first of the flats for the hex end, I found it wasn't easy to rotate the spindle round to the next disc-rotor mounting hole, to use it as indexing for the next flat...  >:(

...so I used a bit of scrap to make a pin spanner:


That's the laser-cut MDF template for the holes in the photo - I used it to get the pin spacing right too.

This allows the next face to be milled.



...and it does't take long to do the remaining 4  :smug:



The big question is....


...does it fit?  :demon:



...Yay!  :D

A bit more snugily than the original, which is probably a good thing.  :thumbsup:
I think it's going pull on nicely when the socket screw and washer are used.  :smug:
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #316 on: 11 December, 2017, 09:05:44 pm »
We also put the spindle back in the lathe to try to centre drill it to reduce weight.

When I first tried this, I found the welding had hardened the high-carbon silver-steel used for the spindle.  :-\

But today a colleague had brought his cobalt drill bits in for me to have a go...  :demon:

... The cobalt drills hardly scratched the spindle - I'm just gonna have to put up with those extra grams. >:(



If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #317 on: 11 December, 2017, 09:14:10 pm »
Yay!
Suitably impressed.
And envious of the result.

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #318 on: 11 December, 2017, 09:47:30 pm »
Thanks, Jurek. That means alot to me.

I think my ex-toolmaker colleague was suitably impressed...

...but also frustrated that I did the milling without using any measurements or measuring tools whatsoever (apart from an engineers square when bolting down the first MDF jig block).  :demon:
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #319 on: 12 December, 2017, 09:56:41 am »
Thanks, Jurek. That means alot to me.

I think my ex-toolmaker colleague was suitably impressed...

...but also frustrated that I did the milling without using any measurements or measuring tools whatsoever (apart from an engineers square when bolting down the first MDF jig block).  :demon:
That just makes it more impressive. :)

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #320 on: 16 December, 2017, 07:43:08 pm »
I'm sure I took photos of the seat when I started work on it, but I can't find them anywhere.

There was a crack/split on one side and a few other impact cracks. There were two sets of mounting holes, and there appeared to be a few places where the composite seat had been repaired previously.

As I can use the heated school workshop during the holidays, I reinforced the splits/cracks with tape and epoxy, and used body filler to patch & fill areas that needed it.

I took it in to work on Friday (last day of term), and did a bit more fine sanding...



...and started rubbing down with wet & dry.

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #321 on: 17 December, 2017, 01:39:31 pm »
...oh, and I got new bearings for the back wheel spindle:

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #322 on: 18 December, 2017, 09:56:50 pm »
Built up a few coats of wax on the seat today...



...and carbon, kevlar, glass tissue and resins arrived.  :D
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #323 on: 29 December, 2017, 09:21:07 pm »
ARSE!!!

I needed a new front rim. I ordered one of the only 36 hole 17" rims I could find online - they were listed as offset holes, and looked as if the holes were offset left & right alternately...

Just unpacked it and - it's an OCR rim.  >:(



 :facepalm:

As I need to order spokes, I measured it up, and then got the hub and existing wheel out (both off the crashed trike)...

The hubs don't match either!  :o



...so, I rounded up the spare Sturmey hub brake wheels up from the workshop/store (don't you all have such wheels lurking around?).

I had one of each type!  :D



I stripped them out to check the backplates match the trike hubs, and thought to check the bearing size, as the inboard, trike ones are 12mm id...

...ARSE - the bike ones have smaller od bearings.  :facepalm:

So, it looks as if Wobbly John's gonna have a Wonky Windcheetah.  ;D


If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Tales from the Wobbly Workshop
« Reply #324 on: 29 December, 2017, 09:30:09 pm »
...Oh, and it was a chance to try out the new 1/4"drive socket set.

I've seen hexagonal sockets and dodeconal sockets before, but never ones like these:



 ???
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...