The watch project
Thu 23 November 2023
My quest at the moment is to try to make a mechanical watch. Specifically I want to make
the movement. I'm not interested in buying a bunch of parts and assembling a watch.
I'm also not interested in cloning a standard movement, I have my own design in mind. Read more
The Douzieme gauge
Mon 2 October 2023
In this post I'm going to explain what a Douzieme gauge is, show you how I made one myself,
and propose some alternative designs for higher precision. Read more
Measuring Wig-Wag inlet pressure fluctuations
Mon 17 April 2023
I have connected an electronic pressure sensor near the inlet of my Wig-Wag so that
I can test the hypothesis that the actual pressure available at the inlet changes throughout the cycle of the engine. Read more
My Wig-Wag
Sat 8 April 2023
I have finished building the Wig-Wag engine that I mentioned
in my post about the simulator,
and it runs! Great success. Read more
My mini lathe stand
Sat 25 February 2023
I'm working through the book
Lathework: a complete course,
and it is suggested that benchtop lathes really need to be
bolted to something sturdy in order to do accurate work, because they lack the required rigidity. Bolting to
a plywood workbench is not enough, because to make the lathe turn parallel you need to adjust the mounting to take the twist
out of the ways, which means the stand needs to be broadly as strong as the lathe bed otherwise you will twist the
stand instead of the bed. Read more
How small can you make text with a drag engraver?
Mon 5 September 2022
A drag engraver is a very sharp spring-loaded tool that you can hold in a CNC
spindle and drag over a piece of metal to engrave fine lines. Read more
Toolmaker's Clamp
Tue 14 June 2022
I have managed to make the toolmaker's clamp that I mentioned last time.
It is made out of mild steel, which is soft for a machinist's tool, but harder than wood, plastic, and aluminium, which
are what I'm normally limited to.
Since I made it, it belongs to me, and a clamp is a type of tool, I suppose this is both a toolmaker's clamp
and a clampmaker's tool. Read more
A method and apparatus for polishing shafts
Sat 1 May 2021
I have invented a new tool. From time to time, I expect you, like me, need to sand down the outside of a piece of round
bar. I expect you, like me, chuck the round bar in a drill or a lathe, spin it up, and then hold sandpaper
against it to sand it. This works fine when you are able to spin the round bar, but sometimes the bar is
already connected to something big or inconvenient and you are not able to spin it, and you are left wondering
what to do. Read more
I want to cast some rings
Thu 21 January 2021
Emma and I are getting married later this year, which means we need to acquire some wedding rings.
I initially wanted to get rings made of some exotic alloy like Inconel,
but now I think I'd like to cast them myself out of gold, which means I need to learn how to cast rings. If you
know how to cast rings, perhaps you can help me learn. Read more
My DIY Cryptosteel Capsule
Mon 20 January 2020
Bitcoin wallets give you a mnemonic seed to write down and keep safe. This is usually 12 to 24 words
from the BIP39 word list. But if you write it on paper, it is easily
damaged by flood or fire. An improvement is "Cryptosteel"-type devices, which allow you to record the mnemonic seed in metal, such that it is
recoverable in the event of flood or fire. I built one myself. Read more
The 2019 BLMRA 12 hour lawnmower race
Fri 9 August 2019
We raced at the BLMRA 12 hour again this year. Read more
We entered the BLMRA 12 hour lawnmower race again
Sat 11 August 2018
After last year's poor show at the 12 hour, we
did some much-needed work on the mower and had another go. Read more
I made a plymetal heart decoration
Sun 26 April 2015
This evening I had an idea for making an effect like plywood, but out of metals (hence "plymetal"). I tried it
out to make a little heart decoration and it worked great, although I did a poor job. Read more