What did you work on today?

[FrankenMech]

Way too many colors in that room. Being in there for more than 10 seconds would give me a headache.

[milly]

I like it FrankenMech, but then I am weird. I looked up the name of the village and it translates to Llan being church and gwryfon be the thousand virgin's.
Saint Ursala and her thousand virgin's.
Not even more than about 150 people there now.

[FrankenMech]

That church would not hold 1000 virgins so they must have lived somewhere else. Must have been false advertising... -By the local pub.

[90GTVert]

I cut a head for a friend. He had a 50mm and a 54mm (actually 53.something). Both with no recess for the squish band/combustion chamber. He wanted one to match an old head with a .8-9.mm recess. I tried to tell him to check first then cut. He said just cut it and he'll check it later, rationalizing that the cylinder and piston look like the same heights as what he had before than needed the recessed head that he brought along so it should be the same with the new stuff. I tried to tell him that's flawed logic. I did at least convince him to leave the 54mm head alone and let me cut the 50mm to 54mm. He didn't realize I could do that.

He had sent me a video showing someone cutting a head that was 20-30 seconds long. I've cut heads before on the lathe and using a drill as a lathe with just files to cut before that. I spent a good bit of time trying to at least come close to the angle of the squish band. He told me just cut it straight, it's fine. I cut it to match anyway. After a couple of hours to get it setup and cut, I said there you go... 10 seconds. Looks a lot easier on the internet. Finish isn't perfect, but it's me and a Chinese mini-lathe. The scratch on the original 54mm head is from me trying to check angle by running across it with a tool. I had a dial indicator setup on the tool post and then realized that I can't use it at that angle because the little lathe runs out of range. Setup a dial indicator to go against the carriage to measure how much I was cutting in to make it easier, but then it couldn't fit the space I had either. Came out OK in the end though.



I then demonstrated a squish clearance check and gave him a piece of 1.57mm thick solder to use. He messaged me later that it didn't even touch the solder with the head that he wanted cut. I don't know what standard clearance figures are for a 125cc Dio build, but I told him probably 1-1.2mm would be fine just based on 2% of the stroke or so with a little margin for error. Fingers crossed that the non-recessed original puts him in the ballpark. Maybe this will reinforce what I was trying to tell him about check then cut.

He also bought a spark plug from me, because the standard head uses short threads. A BR8EG with a 19mm reach looked about perfect to me when screwed into the head. He said later that it's too long, but I have no idea where that came from suddenly unless he means it's too tall because it's a vertical engine and he'd need a stubby plug. No way the crush washer thinned so much that what looked fine to me is not protruding into the cylinder too much for a guy that doesn't sweat any details.

[90GTVert]

The old mower wouldn’t even move when cold. After a minute it goes slow and then the smell of rubber burning accompanied more speed.

Found a plastic idler pulley in bad shape. New metal replacement and belt ordered.

Sharpened blades while I have the deck off anyway. One bolt head stripped. Hammered a 15mm socket onto a 5/8” hex head to get it off and then had to press the bolt out of the socket. Replacement blade bolts on the way too.








Might was well mount the spray bar that’s been sitting here for months to the cart while I’m at it. Decided to mount to the cart instead of the mower because the old mower may or may not be around much longer. Waiting on a Y shutoff and hose so I can plumb in the wand and bar and switch to either as needed.

[oldgeek]

Apr 17, 2024 13:06:33 GMT -5 90GTVert said:

I cut a head for a friend. He had a 50mm and a 54mm (actually 53.something). Both with no recess for the squish band/combustion chamber. He wanted one to match an old head with a .8-9.mm recess. I tried to tell him to check first then cut. He said just cut it and he'll check it later, rationalizing that the cylinder and piston look like the same heights as what he had before than needed the recessed head that he brought along so it should be the same with the new stuff. I tried to tell him that's flawed logic. I did at least convince him to leave the 54mm head alone and let me cut the 50mm to 54mm. He didn't realize I could do that.

He had sent me a video showing someone cutting a head that was 20-30 seconds long. I've cut heads before on the lathe and using a drill as a lathe with just files to cut before that. I spent a good bit of time trying to at least come close to the angle of the squish band. He told me just cut it straight, it's fine. I cut it to match anyway. After a couple of hours to get it setup and cut, I said there you go... 10 seconds. Looks a lot easier on the internet. Finish isn't perfect, but it's me and a Chinese mini-lathe. The scratch on the original 54mm head is from me trying to check angle by running across it with a tool. I had a dial indicator setup on the tool post and then realized that I can't use it at that angle because the little lathe runs out of range. Setup a dial indicator to go against the carriage to measure how much I was cutting in to make it easier, but then it couldn't fit the space I had either. Came out OK in the end though.



I then demonstrated a squish clearance check and gave him a piece of 1.57mm thick solder to use. He messaged me later that it didn't even touch the solder with the head that he wanted cut. I don't know what standard clearance figures are for a 125cc Dio build, but I told him probably 1-1.2mm would be fine just based on 2% of the stroke or so with a little margin for error. Fingers crossed that the non-recessed original puts him in the ballpark. Maybe this will reinforce what I was trying to tell him about check then cut.

He also bought a spark plug from me, because the standard head uses short threads. A BR8EG with a 19mm reach looked about perfect to me when screwed into the head. He said later that it's too long, but I have no idea where that came from suddenly unless he means it's too tall because it's a vertical engine and he'd need a stubby plug. No way the crush washer thinned so much that what looked fine to me is not protruding into the cylinder too much for a guy that doesn't sweat any details.

125cc LC dio 2 piece head?

[90GTVert]

May 2, 2024 18:32:43 GMT -5 oldgeek said:

125cc LC dio 2 piece head?

Yeah. IIRC he said he got it on AliExpress. Looks like THIS.

He has an air cooled cylinder with the studs enclosed around the bore and he's cutting sheet metal to go around a few fins. Much different than what I'm used to. The head and cylinder will be separately cooled. Just plumbed together. Not a lot of cooling around the cylinder, but better than AC I guess.

[FrankenMech]

With a lathe you don't have to wait for some parts like that pulley, you can make one... Any box store or hardware store should have a Y shutoff. I have several sitting in my 'hose junk' boxes. I was looking in one the other day for a washer and I did notice I am getting short on replacement hose washers. I failed to remember that when I was in Homie Depot tonight picking up a few furnace filters. I always fail to remember something. Someday maybe they will sell replacement memory units for brains so I can be a full cyborg. Dogs will bark at me like a Terminator unit. Some dogs already look at me with terror in their eyes and run away. Maybe I just stink bad like a walking dead man zombie thing. Maybe I am just OLD.

[90GTVert]

May 4, 2024 0:43:52 GMT -5 FrankenMech said:

With a lathe you don't have to wait for some parts like that pulley, you can make one... Any box store or hardware store should have a Y shutoff.

I definitely make some stuff that I could buy, even when it doesn't make sense. HERE'S an example recently where I could have saved myself a ton of time and not ate the coating of a wheel or risked a crash learning all the requirements of the job. The material to make the pulley and a bearing would cost more than the $25 pulley and thanks to the age of amazon it was here yesterday along with the belt, hose, and Y. Not to mention the time and risk of failure. I've got the TMAX apart, the two-stroke in need of a top end and who knows what else, and the mower and spray rig all in the garage needing more time so I have more than enough projects in the garage right now and home repair/paint crap waiting. I live with my parents and neither of them can really do anything requiring much skill or physical ability (don't mean offense but it's true at this point) so I have 2 people coming up with projects for me constantly. Dad fell and broke a shelf trying to catch himself the other day, adding another one. He went to breakfast with friends the next day, picked up wood glue at the hardware store he used to work at, and asked me literally 2 seconds after he sat the glue on the counter if I had fixed the shelf yet then went to lay back down to collect his 12-16 hours of daily rest.

I looked at local store sites for hose and the Y. Hose is more expensive and I didn't see Ys local unless I wanted to use garden hose instead of 3/8" barbs.

[FrankenMech]

TGFA, LOL I definitely buy too much at Amazon because it saves so much time traveling to and searching stores for many unobtainium parts, pieces, and stuff, -as you noted.
TGFA == Thank God For Amazon.

Amazon has changed shopping for everything. I placed 20 orders in the last 3 months and 60 orders last year. I don't even want to see how many $$ I have spent there. I have had to return a few things because of defects but most of the time they were replaced. A few times I ordered the same thing from another vendor. Sometimes items were not as described.

Houses are a money pit, -there are always things to fix, modify, or improve.

I think I will go back to sleep now that I was rudely awakened at 4AM by the need to pee so I can get my 16+ hours of daily rest.

[jackrides]

Milly,a little late on this, but You have pictured a number of reeally cool looking churches near you. I'm curious if they are kept locked or not. Those stained glass windows probably look Great from the inside!

[milly]

May 6, 2024 13:08:14 GMT -5 jackrides said:

Milly,a little late on this, but You have pictured a number of reeally cool looking churches near you. I'm curious if they are kept locked or not. Those stained glass windows probably look Great from the inside!

Sorry for late reply jackrides a lot of them are open in the daytime, a few of the remote ones are closed up.

[milly]

Today I went into town and everything was shut except one coffee shop had a bacon butty asked for it well done was assured it was but was prepared earlier so they only heat them up. Damn thing looked raw to me and the coffee mediocre with no body to it plus £3 more for the same thing in my usual coffee shop Joio where food cooked when ordered  and coffee is proper.

[FrankenMech]

Vote with your feet at the dodgy coffee shop and never darken the door there. They could have just had a really bad day but one can never tell.

[FrankenMech]

Worked on a refrigerator that took a 'dump' during a power outage this weekend. My power usually doesn't go out because the transformer that feeds my house and a neighbor feeds right off a main line that feeds thousands of people. Damn power cables are an inch in diameter. If the power blips it usually only goes out a few minutes before some fuse etc clears the line. Storms have been bad lately and power has failed three times for many hours over the last two weeks. I think the power blipped or browned out several times when it came back on last time. At least bombs and missiles are not blowing up the lines. I have replaced the blown overload components on the compressor while standing on my head but I fear something else has shot craps. I visited the local Home Box store and they want close to a thousand bucks for a new refrigerator without any major bells and whistles. An ice-maker would save me over $100 every year since I buy ice instead of carrying ice cube trays with water in hands that shake like shit. I don't need a water and ice dispenser in the door though.

I may have to find some sort of delay on ON relay to protect the fridge circuit. I think a 10 minute delay like used on HVAC systems would work well. Hmmmmm I may have to rig one up in a box down by the breaker panel. I have some small contactors in the 'junk' box and those HVAC delay modules work at 120VAC as well as 24VAC. I have a small NEMA 4 box also that looks like something from a power plant or submarine, I think the cover is 1/4" plate with 6 or 8 bolts. That will make some electrician scratch their heads in confusion in a few years when I am gone. I could really add to the confusion by using red Loctite on the bolts