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There was a bit of head scratching and high school trigonometry :) End result was very pleasing though and I have found the cutter to be a useful addition to my toolkit. Thanks for watching John. Cheers.

Thank you

Greg's Machine Shop: TH-cam - ‪@gregsmachineshop‬ Website - gregsmachineshop.com/

@@alanshomeworkshop gracias

Thanks Graedon. I'm certainly getting plenty of practice at fixing mistakes :)

Thanks Kit.

Thank you.

Good'ay Paul. There's a steel supply store near me and they have an offcuts "bin" for pieces under a meter. I cruise through from time to time and check it out. My good mate Murphy ensures that I'll never find a good offcut when I need it, so I go looking when I don't :) Thanks for watching.

@@alanshomeworkshop Murphy's always hanging about somewhere, sticking his oar in😁

@@paulrayner4514 Are you familiar with some corollaries to Murphy's Law that are particularly relevant in the workshop ? A dropped object will always land where it can cause the most trouble Where there's a possibility of multiple failures, the most damaging will occur The probability of the loss or breakage of any part is directly proportional to the difficulty of getting a replacement part. Material will be damaged in direct proportion to its value. And one of my favorite aphorisms: - And a voice from the gloom said smile for things could be worse; so I smiled and, yes, things indeed became worse.

@@alanshomeworkshop oh yes, Mr Murphy is quite prolific in my workshop, I'm beginning to wonder if he's using my workshop to train his offspring in the mystical art lately.😁

Thanks Henry.

Thank you.

My I-Beam is 6"" deep by 3" wide with tapered flanges (the modern Universal Beam or UB profile has parallel flanges). This was the minimum width recommended for the trolley. If it is fitted to a narrower beam, the wheel flanges cannot be set close enough together to track correctly. I did mount the trolley to the beam first and then bolted the hoist up to it: th-cam.com/video/KJXbOYrOMxI/w-d-xo.html Thanks for comment and I hope the video helps you achieve your project. Cheers, Alan.

Thanks Paul. I've tried a few different magnification options with varying degrees of success. I currently use a USB microscope (eg for the valve stem photo), and a headband magnifier with 5 lenses for work in the lathe. The microscope is ok and more useful after I made a taller column for it. This is my "go to" tool for metal splinter removal. The headband magnifier was ok but the lens retaining clip is cracked and the lenses are prone to falling out. It also requires me to get up close and personal with the target - not always desirable with the lathe. But I shouldn't keep whining about it, there are people much worse off than me :) Cheers.

​@@alanshomeworkshop Somewhere, a mobile phone was used as a magnifier. Not sure, me I do not own one, and never will.😊

@@alanshomeworkshop I know what you mean with the head bands, i've got 4 of them. what appeals to me is I've see Joe pie using a loop and he puts the loop close to the work with his head away. like a normal magnifying glass I suppose.

Thank you.

Thank you.

A magnified view of the drill tip in situ would be really useful - especially to old eyes :) Thanks for watching.

Thanks Philip.

Thanks Graedon.

The pulleys are cast iron and were sold as rope sheaves ~3" diameter with 3/8" rope groove. There is no inserted bearing and, as bought, the pulley runs on a 12mm steel pin supported between side plate straps pressed into a "Z" pattern. I would have bought them from ePay, but the only listing I could see today was from a US seller with expensive shipping. Thanks for watching and good luck with your project - it'll transform the press and make it much easier and safer to use. Cheers. PS: the winch and cable came from Bunnings

Sounds plausible to me. Thanks for watching.

@@alanshomeworkshop I have a Webster engine I built a few years ago. It runs up to about 3500rpm which seems quite something when you consider the inlet and exhaust share one tiny little hole into the cylinder. I leave mine running about 1000rpm for about 45 minutes, I used an enlarged head with fins but everything gets pretty hot... I stop it if the oil starts smoking lol.

@@piclife1178 The longest I have run mine for is about 5 mins - its only a desk ornament :) However, when revving it up for a mate's amusement recently, the intake valve threw out its retaining pin and dropped into the manifold. Fortunately no damage was done but it could have been quite nasty as cylinder compression vented through the fuel tank until the engine stopped turning. Amazingly I found both the pin and keeper on the engine deck, so I just reattached them and all good again. I should probably make new keepers with deeper recesses to prevent this happening again...

Thank you Stewart

Thanks for that feedback Bruce I really appreciate it. I think I kept the part no for the points and will look for it - but I just went with what was available. Car parts stores in Adelaide have stopped stocking them...

Thank you. I'd be happy to stay in touch and share notes re the lathes. Cheers.

Good idea - "waste not, want not" Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestion Karl, but I have trouble getting consistent readings when using the tail of the caliper as a depth gauge. I find that the readings are quite sensitive to how I hold and position the calipers - I expect my technique isn't very good. I will use the calipers this way if I have no better option, but I have to take several measurements before I have any confidence in the reading - I'm much happier with micrometer readings :). Cheers.

Thanks for watching Karl.

Thank you. I always try for a good result - but I have learnt to be happy with what I can achieve :) Cheers.

Some of the setups have presented interesting challenges, but I have yet to decide how I will machine the exhaust port at 17.5 degrees to its flange face :) Thanks for watching Graedon.

Thank you.

Thanks Paul. Such feedback is very encouraging. Cheers.

@@alanshomeworkshop credit where it's due mate, We all learn from others, and I for one am thankful to you for taking the time for sharing your journey, the good, bad and the ugly we all learn from it. Thank you👍

Thanks for watching Jeffrey - glad you found it useful. Cheers.

Thanks for your support Henry. Cheers.

That was an excellent "Shop Gem" from Joe. I did that test myself and was really surprised at how far out it actually was.

Thanks for that link Mike. I was aware of the concentricity issue that Joe Pie raises and have been wary of it. Most of my T-handles have two sets of gripping jaws - one at the tip and another smaller set further back in the chuck. When the square end of a tap is engaged in the inner jaws the tap shank gets additional support from the forward section of the chuck and concentricity is better. My spring loaded tap follower (Brown & Sharp) looks identical to the one Joe Pie was referencing and I didn't know that the centre shaft was double ended. I'll certainly be using that feature in future - not least because direct driving the tap needs less height under the quill. I'll also round up some weaker springs for use with my smaller taps. Thanks again.

Interesting, thanks for that info.

This is a very good comment. On my last engine built I had the flange on the cylinder sleeve fit into a groove in the cylinder, then I flycut the top of the cylinder with the sleeve installed to create a uniform flat surface. The combustion chamber was a pocket in the cylinder head and a gasket covered a large area including the cylinder and the cylinder sleeve. My thinking on this engine was to have the groove in the cylinder head instead of the cylinder to make the path for the compressed ignition gasses longer. I agree with the commenter and your thinking that we need a gasket on only one of the two surfaces, the larger flat of the cylinder/cylinder head interface or just where the cylinder sleeve flange touches the cylinder head. The problem with the latter is that the area is quite small and a blow out would be more likely (I think). All of that said, I think the best course of action is the one you suggest; use a gasket fitted to the largest contact patch, the face of the cylinder rather than the face of the sleeve.

Thanks for the compliments Carl. Cheers.

Thanks Paul

Thanks William. It's rewarding to hear that my videos are helpful to others.

Cheers Denny. I might get better a surface finish if I had honing stones with a finer grit and will look into that. I didn't show it in the video, but I also gave the bore a polish with a buff and some sort of red compound that was included in a Dremel kit - that made a noticeable improvement. Thanks for watching.

Well, I'm a hobby machinist as well and can only comment based on my experience. I have no training or credentials to support my opinion and, for context, my hobby activities rarely generate any heavy machine or tool loads. The only time I have observed slippage in a MT shank is when I started using a 30mm twist drill with a 3MT shank. That occurred because I did not preload the the drill in the socket with an axial tap from a copper hammer. Now to your question Stephen, I wipe the MT shank before use with the "clean" rag currently in my pocket and then with a wiped (but unwashed) hand. When returning the tool to storage I apply some Inox MX3 (similar to WD40) to the shank. I probably should be more rigorous and disciplined about this, but that is my approach and it has worked for me - so far :) Thanks for watching.

Thanks Jim - the project was made easier by your compound rest sine bar :) Cheers.

Gorilla Super Glue: th-cam.com/video/JsWkPKdhA5E/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hyaG5zhFzD1RXzTc&t=212

@@alanshomeworkshop I have to stick synthetic rubber (poly) belt. Is gorilla super glue suitable ?

@@acreations799 Sorry, I don't know. However, the glue is quite cheap so I suggest you make up a test piece and check it out on your material. Cheers.

Thanks for the soda can tip - I'll give it a try. Cheers.

Thanks Rojer. I have been using the saw with these modifications (see playlist) for nearly 2 years now and can report that they worked out really well. As the saying goes, you can't turn a pigs ear into a silk purse, but the mobile stand and recirculating coolant system have made the saw much easier to use and live with. Cheers.

The Webster design is quite forgiving and there are not many critical dimensions. It is also very modular - no multi-process pieces that can be spoiled after many hour of work :) I see you built a plasma cutter, so I am sure you'll be able to build a Webster. Good luck with that project David, and thanks for watching. Cheers.

Thanks for the kind words Kit, and for your long standing support. Cheers.

Thanks Mike - I was a bit worried that the extra video length would not be appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it.

I was a bit surprised at how much time it took me to make the connecting rod - it looks like a fairly simple piece. I expect an experienced machinist would have found a better way to make it, but I needed many operations, non-trivial setups, lots of tool changes and repetitions. I heaved a sigh of relief when I finished it without messing up :) I have found Vertex gear to be of pretty good quality. It isn't cheap, but it is well made and generally offers consistent accuracy. That boring head is a joy to use. It can reliably cut to 0.01mm on the diameter - 0.005mm can even be finessed with care (and a bit of luck). It can also perform facing operations. The only issue I have had with Vertex gear has been the excessive runout of the MT3 socket in the rotary table. Thanks for watching Graedon.

Thanks for pointing that out Paul. Can you recommend or suggest a suitable product ? (Just had a quick look at Tempilstiks and they seem quite expensive ~A$50ea) Cheers.

The 6mm end mill is HSS. Thanks for watching.

Thank you Kenneth.