What did you do today?

[Dan Dubeau]

Had the day off, so I worked lol. Spent most of the day out in the shop finishing a pile of little odds and ends. Had the CNC going for a good portion of that, and also finished the 2nd blanket lining in my forge. Letting the rigidizer dry overnight, then firing it tomorrow to dry out with a roofing torch outside as I don't have the blower/stand done yet for my ribbon burner. Then I need to line it with refractory hard coat. Inching closer.

[Mike Burch]

Repaired a rattling kettledrum.

I've had a pair of my local choir's timpani (kettledrums) at home for a few months, practising a piece I'm due to play with them. One of the drums had a nasty rattle when played loudly (as timpani tend to be!). I had tightened everything that could be tightened, to no avail, so the fault had to lie in the rim or the head (skin).

The bowls of expensive timpani are made from copper, but cheaper ones, like the ones I have here, are fibreglass. Timpani are tuned drums, and the rim of the bowl must be exactly planar and circular (withing a millimetre or two) if it is to produce a note and not just a thud. The rim is about a millimetre across, and the rim of a fibreglass drum is relatively fragile compared with copper, but is also easier to repair.

Removing the head revealed a very dirty rim, with loose PTFE tape (used to help the head slide over the rim easily when the tension is changed when re-tuning to produce a different note). To my astonishment, when I removed the old tape and scraped the accumulated crud off, a 10mm section of the rim just fell off! That would have explained the rattle all right.

Some quick-setting two-part car-body bog soon built a new bit of firmly-attached rim, and was sanded back to the point that it was indistinguishable by feel. New self-adhesive PTFE tape went on, followed by the head.

It's crucial to get the tension even all the way around the head, a process known as "clearing" the drum. Some professionals just use their ears, but many timpanists (especially beginners like me) use a meter. When I first saw a picture of such a gadget, it looked rather familiar, and a bit of thinking saved me a bit of money. It's basically just a dial gauge with a wide annulus, measuring the small amount of deflection the spring pressure of the gauge's spear causes in the stretched head. And since I already had a dial gauge and a bit of aluminium round bar, it was a quick job on the lathe to produce my own, essentially free, meter. The actual reading on the meter is irrelevant, the idea being to get the same reading adjacent to each of the six tuning handles.

The rattle has entirely disappeared, and the note the drum sounds is now much cleaner, too. A fun afternoon.

[Cenedd]

Set fire to things! (safely)


(Video)

Why? I wanted an air tank and they go for north of £300. A refurbished CO2 fire extinguisher was £23 including delivery and is rated FAR beyond the 8 bar I'll be using it for. Just need to make a new top for it now. Also, it was good fun and useful practice - if you ever have to use one for real, you ideally don't want it to be your first time!

[Dan Dubeau]

Made 6 of these TTS tool holder racks tonight, while watching to Motogp qualifying on the laptop, and my bluetooth worktunes on. Will make the 4 other parts needed tomorrow, as I've still got to design them tonight.



Chipping away at the shop organization list. The problem is that everytime I complete one I think of 3 more lol.

[wierdscience]

Finished up a cart for a friend's Heidelberg offset press today. 4"x 8" x 5/16" angle and 5" 1000 lb casters.

[DennisCA]

I bought a hex ER-32 collet holder a while ago, ebay cheapo from china. I used it today for the first time and found the thing does not hold things concentrically.

Well that's my story....

[PStechPaul]

Do those casters have swivel locks? The friction locks often do not adequately inhibit wheel rotation. But locking one pair in the X direction and the other in Y is very solid, and takes little effort to lock and unlock. They can be purchased separately, or perhaps just built.

https://www.rwmcasters.com/products/parts-accessories/swivel-locks/

https://www.mcmaster.com/swivel-locks/high-capacity-kingston-casters-with-phenolic-wheels/

[The Metal Butcher]

I am trying to rid my shop of casters on most all tools. Casters never roll right, always get dry, cost a lot, rot, etc. Much easier to maintain limited wheels and move everything with a pallet jack or forklift. Much more lift capacity too.

[Tundra Twin Track]

I am trying to rid my shop of casters on most all tools. Casters never roll right, always get dry, cost a lot, rot, etc. Much easier to maintain limited wheels and move everything with a pallet jack or forklift. Much more lift capacity too.

Using this setup works great,8” wheels on Saw and Dolly Handle.

[Tungsten dipper]

Nice idea, but a shin masher!

[Dan Dubeau]

I remember seeing that idea long ago in a woodworking magazine, and always wanted to integrate it into my shop someday. Then I got my pallet jack 😍. Like the butcher, I want to do away with casters on most things and just make the palletized. Frequent flyers like my welding cart, and tool carts will stay on casters, but machines, and other less moved items will be easier to just pump up and roll away. Good heavy duty casters are $$$, and a couple pairs not bought would buy a good pallet jack.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Nice idea, but a shin masher!

No Shin Masher with table protruding out,you can steer these into 90 deg corners and remove dolly.Would need magic to do same with Pallet Jack.

[wierdscience]

Do those casters have swivel locks? The friction locks often do not adequately inhibit wheel rotation. But locking one pair in the X direction and the other in Y is very solid, and takes little effort to lock and unlock. They can be purchased separately, or perhaps just built.

These just have wheel locks, though the notches are there for swivel locks as well.I may add some to opposite corners if needed,in use the press won't have any lateral force applied to it unless it's being moved over for cleaning.

[PStechPaul]

With hard rubber or plastic wheels on a smooth concrete floor, you can immobilize a caster by just using flat metal "wheel chocks". Even a couple pennies will often do the job, if the machine is heavy enough.

[The Metal Butcher]

I remember seeing that idea long ago in a woodworking magazine, and always wanted to integrate it into my shop someday. Then I got my pallet jack 😍. Like the butcher, I want to do away with casters on most things and just make the palletized. Frequent flyers like my welding cart, and tool carts will stay on casters, but machines, and other less moved items will be easier to just pump up and roll away. Good heavy duty casters are $$$, and a couple pairs not bought would buy a good pallet jack.

My powerhacksaw can be moved easily with it's 6" risers. But on casters, it wouldn't be a great machine haha. So that's a good example of where the pallet jack reigns supreme.