Quarantine Projects!

[Weldo]

Update on the lard experiment... Total bust.

The solvent strained out and left the solid lard in the filters in all three cases. The mineral spirit sample was the softest solid.

The solid lard left from the acetone was just like normal lard, solid at room temp, but smelled of acetone. Some tiny particles remained floating in the filtered acetone but it's unclear if these were solid lard crystals or oil droplets.

So I think I'm done with chemistry for a while! On to other stuff.

 

[hman]

You can pretty safely wipe down just about any surface with isopropyl alcohol. I read an article recently about how to sanitize inside a car. The article said that automakers use isopropyl for cleanup, so it's safe for surfaces inside the car

 

[Winegrower]

I am finding that an apocalypse really cuts down on interruptions in the shop. It was an opportunity to knock out this simple aluminum box, it’s a single cell calorimeter for a science program I’m doing. I drilled and bored out a 1.75” cavity with a flat bottom, with a milled channel underneath as a wire feed path. It’s tapped at 5/16-18, and I used stainless thread inserts (not shown in this picture) for #8 screws. This has to run at 350 degrees C, where the aluminum tends to stick to the screws without inserts.

 

[Weldo]

Here's a fun project! Build a pop pop boat!

Here's a great website with very detailed instructions.

Build a pop-pop boat.

www.nmia.com

I built one a few years ago so it's not strictly a quarantine project but it did inspire me to play with it again!

Some pics.

I built mine with a diaphragm type boiler. I forget where I got the idea but there's pretty much two types of boilers you can make with one of these. The diaphragm type or the coil type.



The tubes are just some common 1/4" copper.



Here you can see the shape of the boiler. It's a very shallow dish that was pounded out from some copper sheeting. Two holes are drilled and the tubes are inserted and soldered such that they do not touch the diaphragm on top.



The diaphragm is made from a thinner piece of copper. Think soda can thickness. People have used soda can but I wasn't having luck soldering it. I was lucky enough to find some really thin copper flashing tape at work.



It runs off of a tealight candle, though to get enough heat output I had to melt a few down and harvest the wicks to make a three wicked super candle!



To make it work you must first fill the boiler with water. It's easiest to just take some water in your mouth and transfer it to one of the exhaust pipes. When water comes out the other pipe hold your fingers over both pipes as you place it in the water. Once the two outlets are below the water's surface the water will remain in the boiler. Now you place the lit candle under the boiler.



Here's a quick video of it underway in the old laundry tub. I need a bigger pool!

View attachment Pop Pop Boat.mp4

 

[Weldo]

Hey @Winegrower, how did you finish the bottom of the box? Since you said you drilled it then bored it out, did you have to take some kind of final facing pass on the bottom surface?

Looks super cool by the way! Custom made scientific instrument!

 

[Winegrower]

Weldo, thanks. The process was to first drill a pilot drill, to a depth less than the finished cavity. Say, a 1/2” drill. Then, I used a center cutting 3/4” end mill, down to the final depth, leaving so far a flat bottom but still too small. Then I have a 1.25” end mill, so I enlarged the hole to 1.25”, and milled down to the final depth. This still maintained a flat bottom, now at 1.25” diameter. Finally I used a boring head, boring out to 1.75”, and the boring bar leaves a flat bottom, presto it’s done.

Yes, it would have been easy with a 1.75” center cutting end mill, but no. I could have skipped the drilling, but I did not have a center cutting end mill with deep enough cut, so I had to drill out the center. The bottom is flat, but there is a small shallow depression in the center from the pilot drill. Not important in this application.

The length of this answer reflects the ponderous thinking, trying to find tools and sequences that would work. You guys who have every tool and know exactly where they are, are probably unfamiliar with this.

 

[devils4ever]

From the reports I’ve heard , the virus can live on hard or shiny surfaces for up to three days . Maybe just let the steel sit for three days .

Yeah, I think I'll let it be for a while before using it.

 

[Weldo]

The length of this answer reflects the ponderous thinking, trying to find tools and sequences that would work.

Figuring out the set ups and especially the order of operations is definitely one of the hardest parts.

 

[Weldo]

Got my bench grinder all balanced up! I used the kit from Oneway Manufacturing. It's very well designed and easy to use.

Oneway Balancing Kits

The grinder has never run this smoothly and quietly. First I balanced the wheels but then they were still running slightly eccentrically. So I mounted each one on the lathe with a piece of 1/2" all thread in a collet chuck and faced them off with a dresser held in a tool holder on the carriage. It trued them up very well. Then I re-balanced and mounted the wheels.

Here's a few pictures of the tool rests I made a few months ago. I don't really like the design, it's kind of hard to adjust.











I also took a quick video of the grinder running! It used to walk all over the place if not clamped down. I plan to use this for grinding HSS bits only and I don't really have space in the shop to mount it permanently so not having to clamp it down every time I bring it out to use it is wonderful.

View attachment Balanced Grinder.mp4

 

[devils4ever]

Well, I decided not to wait because I wanted to use the steel stock today.

So, I washed, rinsed, dried, and WD-40'ed all my steel stock. I have to say that the stock was filthy. I knew it was dirty, but I never guessed how bad it was. In any case, I guess it okay to use now and hopefully the WD-40 will prevent any rust. It was a lot of work!