Snippets and pages about engineering – if you’re looking for the Workshop Calculator this page has the download.
Bearings – there are many different types of bearings and systems to adjust the bearings.
Belt Drives – an overview of the different forms of belt drive along with some of the pro’s and con’s of each type.
Centre Drills – the profile of the drill and how this captures a small amount of oil that keeps a fixed centre lubricated. An extension for a centre drill to access difficult and restricted parts of an engine.
CNC – Computer Numerical Control – becoming much more cost effective and so give the hobbyist the ability to create items that were once only in the realm of the very experience toolroom engineer.
Drill Bit Basics – some fundamental basics around drill bits from 100 years ago – little changes in engineering. Drilling a hole accurately in a pillar drill or mill just takes patience to centre, drill slightly under size and then finally at size.
Fan Design – One of the most important considerations in fan design is that the fan must impart a uniform velocity over it′s entire area. There are several simple relationships between fan capacity, pressure, speed, and power, which are referred to as the fan laws. The first three fan laws are the most useful.
Fluid Dynamics – describing the flow of liquids and gases.
Gear Design – Some fundamentals about gear terminology and design parameters, separate page on some of the basics with regards to gear noise. Gear cutting with the HobbyMat lathe and a Unimat 3 milling head or gear cutting with a rotary table.
Lathe Tools – cutting angles required for different materials, a description of the different types of material used for lathe tools and some basic hints and tips on setting up the tool in the toolpost.
Levers – One of the basic tools that date from prehistoric times. Simply a beam (lever) is used to move a load with a fulcrum (pivot) and an applied force. The position of the three determines the mechanical advantage.
There are three classes of levers:
- First Class Lever: the fulcrum is situated between the load and the applied force. Examples are: scissors, crowbar, tack lifter, balance and pliers.
- Second Class Lever: the load is situated between the fulcrum and the applied force. eg: nut-crackers, wheel barrow.
- Third Class Lever: the force is applied between the load and the fulcrum. eg: Examples of the third class lever are: tweezers, wool shears.
“Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth.”
Archimedes, 260BC
Metals – a page about all of the different types of metal, along with cutting tool parameters and examples of the use.
Noise & Vibration – Any unwanted acoustic response or vibration – can be related to tool chatter, motor noise, gear noise or noise from an engine exhaust.
Nuts & Bolts – A type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole & a cylindrical threaded fastener – together we have a nut & bolt
Oil & Lubrication – Liquid that reduces friction or wear, or both, between the moving parts within an engine; removes heat, particularly from the underside of pistons; and serves as a combustion gas sealant for the piston rings.
The simple oil can – keep all machinery in the best health by oiling it regularly.
Plastics – lots of different plastics are used in model making and in model engineering. Notes and hints on cutting, turning and finishing along with types of glue that can be used.
Pressure and it’s Units – defined as the force exerted per unit area. The SI unit of pressure is the pascal or newton per square metre.
Radiused Connecting Rods – there are a number of ways of machining the radius on the end of connecting rods, one way is to use the hole in the end as a pivot in the machine vice and make lots of flats.
Rivet – or solid rivet is a a permanent fixing used to join plates. The unheaded end is forged or flattened to upset or close it.
Springs – the physics of simple springs in their different types, helical and beam forms. The simplest is cantilever beam. There are a lot of applications of springs in everyday life. In our models we employ them to great effect. This page looks at the fundamentals.
Steam Boiler – A device for generating steam for power, processing, or heating purposes or for producing hot water for heating purposes or hot water supply.
Tapers – Jacobs for chuck arbors and Morse for machine to chuck arbors, centres etc.
Thermodynamics – deals with heat and temperature, and their relation to energy, work, radiation, and properties of bodies of matter – one of the fundamental fields of engineering and physics to understand as it forms the building blocks of understanding batteries to engines to stars.
Threads – A helical projection of uniform section on the internal or external surface of cylinder or cone. Also, the operation of cutting a screw thread. Lots of subpages to this including: BA, metric threads See also the life of the tap wrench.
Tool Manufacturers – as I buy tools I thought it would be nice to write something about the manufacturer, especially as some have ceased to trade.
Traction Engine Manufacturers – all of the UK manufacturers listed from A to Z along with a brief overview and further reading.
A list of available plans, castings and kits are also listed.
Workholding – there are many different ways to hold a workpiece. Sometimes the fun of engineering is working out how to hold and machine a part. Sometimes you need inspiration.