3 wheels on my wagon, sorry, trailer :)

On the way back from Lancashire we had a trailer wheel seize up so I had to remove the wheel to get home.

Today was the day to sort it out.
The problem turned out to be a seized bearing on the inner side of the hub.































I had to get a grinder and very carefully grind a flat on the inner race all the way through to the stub axle in order to remove the race as it had spun on the axle and welded itself on. The damage to the stub axle was only minor so after a bit of fettling the new race was fitted and all was ok.
While I was doing this I thought I may as well do the lot. The brake shoes were well past their sell by date, so much for the trailer being serviced just before I bought it!!































A good clean of all parts,































And the back plate































Then all was reassembled, adjusters and all nuts greased with copper slip, new bearings packed with fresh grease.
Brakes came with new shoes and all new springs so now adjusted and now all running free.

GRP and pretty lights

Well we had fun this weekend!! ( that was sarcasm !)

I got an offer of a classic car shell to make some Fibreglass molds so I can make some new panels to hopefully sell on. The biggest problem was the 200+ miles between me and said shell!
The kids were away already so I grabbed the Mrs and off we went, that was after many phonecalls to try and find a BnB in Blackpool on a bank holiday weekend at short notice that would allow dogs!

We didn't leave till gone 3pm and after a steady trip up the M5 with the Landy temperature gauge hovering just under the red we got there about 8. As it was a bank holiday weekend we found parking difficult, ended up taking the trailer off and pushing that into a space with the landy parked across the back of it. A short wander around the sea front and a pizza for tea we headed back to the BnB for bed.
The following morning we could move the Landy and trailer into a better place while we walked the dog on the beach.





















We left the carpark and immediately found a lack of clutch which turned out to be a lack of fluid due to a leak some where, found a garage a few miles down the road where I managed to find some fluid and all was well again.
I also noticed some squeeking noises coming from underneath the truck which on inspection was a blown UJ on the front propshaft, oh joy!!
We met the seller at the arranged place and then followed him to his yard. I checked the prop and the fluid while there and there was no change for the worse so I decided to carry on.
The shell was loaded onto the trailer, straps tightened and trailer lights checked, after a cup of coffee we were away. several hill starts to get of his estate did not do the prop UJ any favours but once we found the motorway it quietened down and we could sit at around 60/65 with out to much fuss. Temperature gauge was still hovering just below the red but showed no sign of climbing.
The UJ did let out a scream just after we left the M6 but after slowing down on the hard shoulder it went quiet again so I pulled back on to the carriageway and carried on.
Then as we just passed the entrance to a service station I happened to glance in the mirror to see a cloud of smoke coming from the off side of the trailor. I quickly pulled onto the hard shoulder to investigate. Nothing was obvious so I jumped back in the truck and slowly drove to the exit slip of the services so I could cross over to the inside hard shoulder were I could inspect the trailer in more safety. After a poke about it turned out to be a seized hub which stopped the wheel turning. I chose the easiest option which was to remove the road wheel from the offending hub and carry on with a 3 wheeled trailer.
































The propshaft continued to make odd noises and vibrate occasionally but it held together and we arrived home around 8pm.
All in all an experience of a weekend :)

Modified wheels

A place I work at have some large jigs for painting on, 3m long near 2m high + wide on 4 steel castors. They get filled with painted items and pushed in and out of the ovens. Doing this means they pick up paint on the wheels which breaks off randomly meaning square wheels that rattle the jigs and the items that were just painted can fall off
soooo
My idea is to make the wheels pointed in the middle so the paint can be pushed out sideways when hot and soft and the higher pressure on the centre ridge should break the paint off when cold and hard
First job was to mount the wheels in the lathe. I made a mandrel out of some steel bar, turned the end down so the wheel slide on but leaving it over hanging, a 12mm thread was put in the end, aftera 10mm stripped to easy as it wouldn't hold tight enough. The wheel was then put on and bolted up using suitable spacers.

mmmm, belated posting again !!!

Well the machine base is finished and i have heard that the machine is now up and running and everyone is over the moon :)
This is the actual machine mounting framework just before we poured the concrete. The RSJ thet is painted red is the top and only the top surface of this will be seen. The two RSJs on their sides on top are only there to hold the framework approx 300mm off the base of the hole. They are bolted in position on the machined plates that will be the final mounting points for the "A" frames.






The steel work that is being covered by concrete is purely just to hold the top in position.












Done.
You can see from this pic the bolts in the ends of the supporting beams that were used to level the whole framework while the concrete sets and also the yellow stripe, this is a wooded batten sitting atop the anti vibration foam which will be removed and replaced with silicone sealer.







The "A" frames.












The barrel, made from 2" thick steel!!

SAFEtey on the stairs

Can you give me a hand he said!!
I need to get a safe up a flight of steps into the office, 2 chaps lifted it into the back of a van so its' not that big he said...

Well not that big turned out out to be very big! also the flight of steps turned out to be 2 flights of stairs with a 180' landing half way.
After a quick look at the job we had some idea of what we needed so into the van and drove to a couple of places we know to pick up a bit of kit, a wheeled trolley and some ratchet straps is what we ended up with.
We manhandled the safe onto the trolley to get it along the side alley and into the front door of the building with a brief stop to remove the bottom plinth as it was full of rather smelly water.
We attached a ratchet strap round the safe then another strap led to the hand winch cable, the winch was attached to a 4x4 timber placed across the entrance to the loos.
With 2 planks on the stairs we started to winch. Slow but steady to the end of winch pull, wedge safe with 3rd timber plank while winch and strap were adjusted to get second bite then third.
At the top of the first flight was a narrow landing and straight ahead was a set of 3 step which we had to get the safe up so we could then stand it up to maneuver it along the landing to the second flight we had to climb. This was the most difficult part as we had no where to attach the winch so had to use a ratchet strap and pull a bit at a time.

After a struggle we got it stood up and were able to move it to the base of the second flight. Due to lack of space we rocked the safe onto a 4x4 timber then a second so we could get it onto the first step and have enough room to lie it down for the final winch. This pull was easier as we now knew what we were doing and we could also place the winch further back due to another room further back. In the picture you can make out some timbers with the jack in the middle, this was a method of transfering some of the strain from one stud wall to another to stop the walls from pulling off the floor.
After all that a well deserved cuppa, white and one please :)

the pit

Fancy digging a hole and filling it with concrete he said!
Turned out to be a base for a large tumbling machine, dig a 3m square hole 1.5m deep add a 300mm concrete base then 200mm concrete walls, stick a wedge of foam to the concrete and fill the hole with more concrete and bolt the machine to the top.
Theory is that the foam allows the large center block to move a little reducing the vibration transmitted to the surrounding floor.

Had a minor mishap, the concrete for the base turned up over 2 hours late and after we had said forget it and were packed ready to leave. We decided to stay late and get it done but that was the wrong decision as the concrete was old and very dry with a driver who was unwilling to wet it enough. This meant the poker was no use for leveling so we had to get in and tamp it. 15 mins and we could stand on it!! Unfortunately this meant we ended up with a rubbish finish.
Luckily for us the concrete company admitted liability and we dug it back out and started again. next load was great, poured wet, poker leveled it nice and we just ran a float over the top for a final finish.
When that was cured we set the wall forms in and made sure they stayed put by holding down with two 1 ton stillages of steel bars. Thats it for the moment as the company now has to make the chassis for the tumbler so we can cast it into the concrete.

still working

I fitted the church rostra before christmas and that looks very nice and the church is happy.
More farmhouse decorating and also repairs to walls and bannisters etc. just waiting for a block of days to do the next phase as it is the living area so I cant spread my tools around like I could upstairs :)
In my spraying job I am getting things sorted to my own layout. Made and fitted some hook racks so I can sort the hooks to uniform length, made some hook jigs too so I can make new hooks. Just put up new brackets to hold the turntable and a gun rack. Recently labeled all the powder racks so i can see what is on a shelf without going through every box! All easy stuff that makes life a bit sweeter :~)