Apprentice Pieces

[Mick F]

Next one.

This is a combination of lathe work and file work. Taper locating pins to be half way through.
The shaft is slid back and forth and turned, and the square brass block has to fit all four ways.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Never did half the stuff Mick and others posted, different place firm era etc, recognize most the other stuff
It was white coat jobs after ist year but thats what all mechanical guys wore unless you were a cleaner, white coats did not stay clean that long
This is all thats left after some 46 years, chizel, punch, pipe grips, plenty phase tests you weren't allowed to keep.
There's making the stuff and then there's marks for accuracy, instructor delighted in telling me that 9.5 was his max score, He also says I was a machine....or was the your stuff looks like it was was machined
The Hydraulic shaper was the machine you wanted to get your hands on with flaming swarf
I have some other stuff tap wrench large I pulled from the tip along with another apprenti tool box I acquired not made by me.

Only thing not made is the lid hinges, before that year you made them. Corners box and fixed hasp was brazed.

The eng parallel clamps may not be mine, a close inspection of rads may solve that, I was ace at filling rads.

Black left are school work.

[Mick F]

The next piece, I have a problem with. I can't get it apart despite trying, so after you've seen it, maybe you could give me some advice.

It's a lathe piece with a hex brass bar threaded onto the main unit, and the other end is parallel turned very accurately to fit a steel sleeve, a knurled brass sleeve and a final steel boss with a taper pin through to hold them all on. The taper pin will go in so it's even both sides.

The pin will come out and the brass sleeve will turn, but the steel sleeve and the steel outer boss refuse to rotate or come off.
I've tried knocking the thing vertically downwards, using a heat gun to (hopefully) shift it and generally sworn at it.
I'm loath the use hammer engineering as it's a very accurate bit of work.
I doubt Plus Gas would get in there, but it could be my only hope.

I'm open to ideas.

It's about five inches long.

[cycleruk]

The next piece, I have a problem with. I can't get it apart despite trying, so after you've seen it, maybe you could give me some advice.

I'm loath the use hammer engineering as it's a very accurate bit of work.
I doubt Plus Gas would get in there, but it could be my only hope.

I'm open to ideas.

It's about five inches long.IMG_0559.jpg

Have you tried a lot of heat ?
Does it have a practical purpose or is it just for a test ?

[Mick F]

It was an apprentice piece I made during my RN apprenticeship.
May have taken a couple of weeks to make. Turned on a lathe down to less than a thousandth of an inch. You got marks for accuracy and if you got insufficient marks, the piece was scrapped. If you were really bad at it, you had to do it again .............

Made sometime in in late 1972 or early 1973.
Been sitting in oil for many many years and it was absolutely fine when I put it away.

As for "a lot of heat" ......... blowlamp worth a go?

[Cyril Haearn]

Gentle heat, put it in the sun

Ever thought about how metal is made, did you learn about that? Just been reading interesting descriptions of steel and copper production by H V Morton, quite frightening actually

[cycleruk]

As for "a lot of heat" ......... blowlamp worth a go?

Not sure about a blow lamp. I tend to use a heat gun on max'. I also have a gas canister flame torch which can be set to have a small flame. Can be set to use very local on a small part instead of heating the whole thing.
Any chance that the metals have welded together ? (dissimilar metals?).

[Mick F]

Mild steel only.
The brass sleeve turns because it's brass and naturally lubricated.
The steel has probably tarnished and locked solid.
No rust at all as it's been sitting in oil for decades.

When I used the heat gun on max, and only doing it to the outer boss, the whole thing got hot despite being held in the (soft jaws) of the bench vice.

Next time we have the oven hot, I'll put it in there and get it baking. It could shift then, but I'll have to wear oven gloves!

[Cyril Haearn]

If that doesnae work, try putting it in a cold place

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
If it's been soaking in oil try soaking it in a solvent?
Personally I wouldn't heat it with anything more than a hairdryer, blow-lamp and acetylene torch really are desperate way of getting things apart.
unless the manual says heat to Xc.
After soaking it in solvent I will try tapping the ends sharply With the item in your hand On a solid lump of metal like a vice, Protect the ends with a piece of aluminium strip so no damage to the item.
Does the brass not come off, remove the pin also

[philvantwo]

What are you going to do with it if you do get it apart?

[Mick F]

The pin holds the steel boss in position, which in turn holds the brass sleeve and the steel sleeve on.
If it was all separable, there would be six pieces.

the taper pin
the steel boss
the knurled brass sleeve
the plain steel sleeve
the threaded brass hex nut
the steel main unit

The removable pieces are a very good smooth but accurate parallel fit, and it's the steel ones that are solid.
The brass nut is a normal RH thread and turns and comes off.

Why do I want to take it apart?
Because I lovingly made it over a couple of weeks with my own fair hands and skills. There's a bit of me in there, and I want it the way it should be.

[Mick F]

In the solid fuel range oven at 175degC.
Leaving it in there for ten minutes.

This is the range and we feed it with anthracite. Provides much of the cooking and much of the hot water.
Not ours, just a piccy off the internet.

[Mick F]

Ten minutes later, and even longer, didn't help at all.
Still solid.

Oven continued to read 175degC.

[Mick F]

Not shifted at all.
I'll leave it alone as I don't want to damage it.

Here's the next bit of turning.

Left hand end brass knurled boss is a fine LH thread.
Next brass bit is parallel turned sleeve.

The other end is a coarse RH thread.
The brass sleeve is taper, and the task was to get the gaps at either end of it to be equidistant.