2018 POTD Thread Archive

[hman]

I will experiment on sand blasting it to a matt finish then have a go at blackening it with copper carbonate and ammonia.

It usedta was that you could buy a chemical called "liver of sulfur" - whitish rocks that smelled of rotten eggs. IIRC it's sodium and/or potassium sulfide. Dissolve in water and it does a great job of blackening copper, brass, etc. by forming a surface layer of black copper sulfide. I've not seen it for a while ... probably nanny-stated out of existence. But maybe you can find it in OZ.

Meanwhile ... great job on the ring roller! Figure it out, get it done, and there you are.

 

[savarin]

sharing all the way?!?( .......he says hopefully.......)
-brino

but of course.

It usedta was that you could buy a chemical called "liver of sulfur"

It flakes off too easily, I've used it on silver, great for filling in details but not so good for surface work.

 

[extropic]

Yet when spoken to , they claim to have zero control on their transit cost and it is all governed by the Bay.

I don't doubt your comment but I suspect the seller is either ignorant or trying to scam you. $45 S&H for one 3/8" Sq. tool bit is outrageous.
Life is tough enough without these sorts of BS arbitrary barriers being put in place.

Just go to usps.com and figure the shipping cost for yourself.
A small FRB is almost $25 and only 4 pound limit.
A medium FRB is almost $46 and a 20 pound limit.
A large First Class Envelope (1 pound and 3/4" max thickness) is only about $7.

 

[blaser.306]

I completely agree. This is not just one seller. A vast majority will not even sell or at least ship to Canada or anywhere else out of the US of A . Just venting I guess, but this is one of the hurdles that we ( non USA residents ) must face when pursuing just about any hobby involving the outside sourcing of parts or materials.

 

[BGHansen]

Not patting myself on the back, but when I sell on eBay I always charge actual shipping. eBay charges seller 10% plus PayPal takes another 3% so some sellers make up the fees by padding shipping. I give less than 5 star ratings to sellers who charge more than actual shipping. Doesn't really mean anything in the long run, but lets me vent.

I've been told by some members of our Erector set collecting club that they've been burned on international shipments where the buyer either said the item arrived damaged or they didn't receive it. I'd have thought a tracking number would take care of the "not receiving it" problem. The buyer requests a refund which eBay then deducts from the seller's account. I haven't personally had that experience, but a number of members in our club are gun shy as a result of the stories going through the membership and don't sell internationally.

Bruce

 

[wlburton]

It usedta was that you could buy a chemical called "liver of sulfur" - whitish rocks that smelled of rotten eggs. IIRC it's sodium and/or potassium sulfide. Dissolve in water and it does a great job of blackening copper, brass, etc. by forming a surface layer of black copper sulfide. I've not seen it for a while ... probably nanny-stated out of existence. But maybe you can find it in OZ.

Meanwhile ... great job on the ring roller! Figure it out, get it done, and there you are.

You can buy liver of sulfur from jewelry supply companies. I got mine from Rio Grande. It is occasionally used in brass musical instrument repair--trying to match the patina on new parts to old instruments.

Bill

 

[ch2co]

Amazon and others sell liver of sulfur. Always sold in liquid state for longevity.

 

[brino]

The snowblower I was going to rely on this winter DIED back at the end of November with a clunk, clunk, bang then silence.
(Yes I had checked the oil before starting, and even pulled it over a few times with the gas off to try and splash lube it.)
December was about moving the snow plow from a truck with a dead transmission to a newer truck.
Luckily while I laid in the driveway doing that it was too cold to snow!
January has been a lot of fixing that snow blower, I just got it back together and running today.

It is an Ariens 928 (9HP and 28" wide cut). Apparently I bought it back in March 1999, which makes it older than I thought....but since I had a plow on the old truck it didn't really see many hours, and is in good enough shape to repair.

The problem....after I removed the starter I could see a bruise on the side of the block:


When I got it opened up I found a broken connecting rod:


...and the woodruff key was sheared off in the crank and the flywheel:





A new connecting rod was CAD $71 (USD $54) delivered.


There was also some aluminum from the old connecting rod smeared on the crank shaft:


and one burr/mark where I think it hit the connecting rod clamp bolt (but it looks a lot like a frowny face to me )


A file got the worst of it, and then a good polish on the cotton wheel removed the rest.
Sorry, no pictures of the cleaned-up crank shaft.

I initially thought I'd just JB-Weld the crack in the block, but I went for glory and decided to TIG it instead.

Not perfect, but I didn't totally crap it up either...........I'll call that a win!

It runs!

(oops, sorry I was wearing the big snowmobile mitts when I took that picture!)

One more job off the list.
-brino

 

[Bob Korves]

I once had a VW bug break the top off a piston at the oil ring groove and pieces put a bulge with cracks in the top of the crankcase. I drove it home a few miles with that racket going on. The piston completely shattered and the wrist pin was making grooves in the cylinder. After disassembly, it was not so bad, so I cleaned it all up really well, bought a new piston and cylinder kit and gaskets, and put it back together. I used Permatex #3 aviation gasket sealer to fill the hairline cracks in the block, inside and out. If it would have been worse I would have used Permatex #2 with a covering of #3. The damaged area was visible on the top of the engine. I drove the car at least another 50K miles after that and there was never a drop of oil from the crack sealing. I loved those cars, you could fix most anything with simple hand tools and not much else. I once removed and replaced a VW bug engine with basic hand tools and the factory jack and some chunks of 2x4s and 4x4s. Two of us lifted the back of the car while the other one slid out the engine on cardboard by pulling on the tailpipes. Similar going back in. Those were the days!

 

[dtsh]

Trivial, but I made my first chips on the new RF-31 mill/drill by making a a T nut for the QCTP for my Seneca lathe. I was worried the mill/drill would disappoint, but I'm very happy with it, it is better than I had hoped for. Other obligations keep me from doing much machining most days, but I do what I can, when I can.