Skip to main content

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) cockup

Burrell Traction Engine,  LASER.




Nearly Christmas almost got our 1 day off to Covid mix. 

Progress has been made however the old 2 steps forward and 1 back also applies, I was fortunate to have a good friend who can laser bits out. So I was able to obtain the spokes for the rear wheels cut nicely. However the old saying measure once and cut many times applies, it remains to see if I have goofed up as I forgot the 2 bends and measured it flat off the drawing.

Following on from this success, I decided to get the strakes also cut but this time being 5mm thick I had to go with a local engineering firm to cut them. I was lucky enough to get a .dxf file sent to me on Facebook. I sent this off, and as work must have been quiet they completed all 64 the same afternoon. 

Disaster number 2, the holes were 1/8" but I wanted them cut 3mm as I was going to ream them out for the rivets to be a good fit. The laser company did say they could not cut a 3mm hole in a 5mm plate, so fair enough just to etch a crosshair, was good for me to locate for drilling and I agreed at that. 

However, they then thought the hole was 3mm, and decided to re-scale the drawing from a 1/8" hole and made the strake 0.06% smaller, which resulted in the 3/4" width being 1 mm shorter and all the drilling crosses being in the wrong place., doh!!

After spotting this and a few emails they decided to cut again, I had to do a fast drawing in the lunch hour and still manage to walk the dog. Disaster number 2 (rushing) !!

I drew it using the only drawing program I had, solid edge and I'm not very familiar with using it.

I added a dimension on a horizontal but forgot that the angle of 26 degrees would mean the part came out thinner than I'd intended by 2mm !!! this time so to sum up, as the strakes need a twist making them 2mm narrower will aid bending them so it's a design feature!.


                                

Left:- a collection of laser-cut parts accurate to 0.1mm but drawn to +- 3mm, and the bottom piece of steel cut by hand in the miller 1mm oversize ready for final machining but 63 more required so I gave up.   




This is the last post this year, if you enjoyed it so far please tell me. I will hopefully continue next year and fingers crossed less mistakes, hope you all have a good Christmas and a safe new year.

If you have any question you can mail me at  :- meredithstephen1@gmail.com

All the best Stephen. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Midlands Model Engineer Show 2024 - Warwick

 Midlands Model Engineer Show 2024 - Warwick This year’s Model Engineers Show 2024 was a huge success! All four days of the show were fantastic with exhibitors and visitors alike enjoying plenty of opportunities to purchase items, learn and explore the very latest in machinery tools and model engineering. The 2 exhibition halls were abuzz with vibrancy, excitement and anticipation. I went with a usual shopping list, and a few parts that I had organised from suppliers to take to the show for me for collection and postage saving opportunity. I ordered an expansion Link and had it water jet cut this being the results after only minimal cleaning up required. I reamed the holes out and basically park this until the rods are done. Back to the show report. There were some fantastic models on display and also the gas turbine demonstrations running outside along with the traction engines and a few helicopters in the main carpark. Below the pictures I took on the day and a few videos of the ...
1" Minnie Traction Engine By Stephen Meredith   Background Working Progress (Gears) Front End Parts Following the completion of a small marine steam engine "Trojan Engine", I decided to tackle a larger project. Having visited various shows and the model engineers Exhibition, I decided to buy the Construction book for building the popular 1" scale 'Minnie' traction engine. The initial workshop experience was limited but keen to learn, and research has enabled me to get it this far. A s can be seen, this is basically finished well almost, it steams, and runs well a few tweaks are needed but tweaks don’t make piles of swarf. The intention was to show the engine and run it, at rallies but what I really wanted was a capable engine that could pull an adult or (me) on a field. This engine was, therefore, a stepping stone to be able to tackle the engine I wanted. After research, I bought a set of drawings for the Plastow 3” Bur...

Stoke Prior Steam Rally 2025

 Stoke Prior steam rally 2025 📣 Show Report ✅ Strong Attendance – Rain or Shine! The show, as usual, was well attended, and we’re pleased to report that paying numbers held up strongly —despite a soggy Saturday. Fortunately, Sunday brought sunshine all day , which made up for it! A big thank you to everyone who braved the elements. This year’s weather was a definite improvement on last year’s continuous showers—and a far cry from the scorcher we had the year before that (we still remember those sunburns!). 😎 🚜 715 Exhibits on Display! We were welcome a whopping 715 individual exhibits this year, offering a fantastic variety for visitors to enjoy. This included: 25 Miniatures 7 Full-Size Engines 2 Steam Cars A huge number of commercial vehicles , classic cars , motorbikes , military vehicles , and stationary engine displays From the tiniest model to the largest working machine, there was something for everyone to marvel at.  <---This is us on the Su...