Point actuator base plates
Gasifier building
Generator engine
It was a quieter session than usual as all three of us were totally engrossed in our individual projects.
Laurence continued with the aluminium base plates for the new point actuators. Nine are required, so three remained to be made following last week. Stephen had supplied a CAD file of the hole layouts, which Geoff had printed onto a sheet of inkjet self-adhesive labels. When the base plates were finished, the first template was fixed to a plate and holes spotted through. Just before 'closing time', the basic fixing and wiring holes were complete. Full production next week!
Geoff continued with the generator engine, and spent ages carefully planned how to make the crank shaft. He decided on the 'traditional' method, silver soldering two axles into two steel blocks, then removing the unwanted axle sections before turning the excess solder .... Bang! the unit shattered. Plan B - turn the whole unit on the lathe, using a 4-jaw chuck to create the offset and ..... Bang! A second attempt was going well.......
Plan C?
Stephen continued with the Gasifier building. This week, he remembered to fix the external scrubber unit to the baseboard before starting work. This was necessary to check the alignment of the flue/ducts from the internal gasifier to the external units. Once aligned, the timber frame could be glued in place and the fixing hole for the gasifier base drilled. Drilled it was, extra deep, but it was nowhere to be seen until a hole was spotted in the main electrical connector block! Unfortunately, the wooden support blocks were glued and screwed to the baseboard, so, for expediency, a very long bolt was used to hold the base in place. Everything fitted nicely.
The white timber frame just didn't seem right, so along with the internal floor areas, the whole structure was painted light grey, and weathered.
The raised, floor panel in the generator room was fixed down using 4mm tee nuts, to allow it to be easily removed to fit the engine and electric motor. A hole for the light bulbs (filament Christmas tree lights) was drilled and the connector wires tested for ease of assembly. Some more thought was given to how the lights would be fitted and accessed later, if required. This led to whether the generator walls should be fitted to the removable floor, or to the removable walls. To access the lights, the former is more suitable, but to avoid joins and loss of floor space, the latter is better. TBA.
PS An artiste at work!
