Other Workshops: A Twin Cylinder Solenoid Electric Motor and some Very Cool Craftsmanship

This project caught my eye for a couple of reasons:  

First, it is the product of a very cool metal shop and a very skilled craftsman.  It is fun and inspiring just to watch Maceij build this motor.  We see great precision in the metal cuts, speedy tap and die work, and some great PC board technique.  The use of an open flame on the heat shrink material was, well a bit courageous. 

Second, this is a far more sophisticated version of the trivial electric motor that my son Billy and I built 17 years ago (I still have it!), following up on inspiration from Alan Yates VK2ZAY (see below).   With Alan's device we turned on power to the commutator by just sanding away the insulation on one side of the enameled wiring.  Maceij takes a much more sophisticated approach, with carefully milled switches and opto controllers turning on and off power at the right time to each of the solenoids.    

 

Maceij's YouTube channel has many other projects, many like this one:  https://www.youtube.com/@maciejnowakprojects 

Thanks to HackaDay for the heads up. 

Marb Builds a Replica of Michael Faraday's Motor

Really cool, at a couple of levels.  First, well, Faraday's motor.  Cool enough right there. But also very cool is the workmanship.  Marb (in Germany) clearly knows how to work the metal.  Lots of tapping and dieing.  I also liked the way (with a flame!) that he stripped the enamel off the wire.  The fancy feet on the board and the varnishing were really nice touches. 

Thanks to HackADay for alerting me to this.  And thanks Marb! 

Building Nixie Tubes for a Hiroshima Project

Thanks to Bob Scott KD4EBM for alerting me to this wonderful video.  It seems especially timely, given the recent release of the Oppenheimer movie.  

I posted back in 2000 about Dalibor Farny and the Nixie tubes he makes in a castle in the Czech Republic:

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2020/09/dalibor-farny-making-nixie-tubes-in.html

In this more recent video (above) Dalibor describes a very cool and very challenging Nixie tube project:  A museum in Hiroshima Japan was presenting an art project designed by a Chilean artist.  The display needed a lot of large, custom-made Nixie tubes, some of which would display Japanese language characters.  So: Museum in Japan, Chilean artist, Nixe maker in the Czech Republic.  There are big geographic challenges before you even get to the technical challenges.

Dalibor does a great job in describing all of the challenges that they faced.  The technical stuff will be especially interesting to SolderSmoke listeners.  His description of the evolution of his Czech workshop fits very well with our "other kinds of workshops" theme. 

The video is really worth watching.  Check it out (above).  The ending is quite moving. 

Thanks again to Bob Scott.   Congratulations to Dalibor, his crew, and to all those involved in this Hiroshima museum project. 

Homebrew Transistors

Hang your heads in shame, my friends.  This dude is getting ready to homebrew his own transistors.  None of that store-bought stuff for him.  He is a few steps away from breaking free of the GLOBAL TRANSISTOR CARTEL that has been abusing us so-called "homebrewers" for so many years.   This guy really puts the home in homebrew. 

Plus he has a seriously cool shop enabling him to do some excellent metal and chemical work.  

Thanks to Hackaday for alerting us to this. 

https://hackaday.com/2023/08/22/start-your-semiconductor-fab-with-this-diy-tube-furnace/

Greg Latta AA8V on Making Aluminum Chassis -- FDIM Interview by Bob Crane W8SX #2 (audio)

Our correspondent Bob Crane W8SX caught up with prolific builder Greg Latta AA8V.  Greg gave an FDIM talk on how to make aluminum chassis without having a machine shop.  I guess I am now going to have to buy a belt sander from Amazon.   

I was really glad that Greg mentioned his real passion: retro building.  FB Greg.  I have talked to Greg several times on the ham bands -- it is always an inspirational experience.  

Here is Bob's interview with Greg: 

http://soldersmoke.com/AA8V23.mp3 

Here is Greg's pdf file on his aluminum chassis construction technique.

https://www.frostburg.edu/personal/latta/ee/chassis/aluminumchassisconstructionnomovies.pdf 

And here is Greg's amazing web site: 

https://www.frostburg.edu/personal/latta/index.html

Thanks Greg!  Thanks Bob! 

Tim Hunkin on Drilling Holes (Secret Life of Components Video)

 I guess that aside from being a great video, this is something of a test of technical nerdy-ism.  If you find this hour long video really interesting, well, you know... 

Really cool stuff from Tim Hunkin: 

-- I liked the angle driller.  Need one. 

-- The placement of the magnets near the hole to catch the shavings was really cool. 

-- Tim's reluctant admission that it is just better to buy new drill bits (as opposed to sharpening old ones) is good advice. 

-- WD-40!  Yea! 

-- Note:  No white "Boffin" coat for Tim.  Just "overalls."  But as I watched I found myself thinking that he could probably have used an armor plate or at least a Kevlar vest amidst all that flying metal. Perhaps a bit more eye protection too...  

-- Fiddley.  A useful tech term.  

--Swarf:  Another useful tech term:  the metallic remnants (shavings) of drilling. 

-- The digi readout on the milling machine looked really useful. 

Finally, I loved the sign that Tim has posted in his workshop:  

SMALL HADRON COLLIDER

How to Tap an Aluminum Heat Sink: Pete Juliano Shares Tribal Knowledge

This is a SolderSmoke Classic:  Pete Juliano N6QW coached me on how to tap (put screw threads)

a piece of aluminum.  This is an important homebrew skill that -- as I demonstrate -- is 

easy to screw up (no pun intended).  Thanks to Pete for sharing this tribal knowledge. 

This video has been quite popular.  It has been viewed more than 33,000 times since 2014, and there are 35 comments attached to it.  

Thanks Pete! 

Tim Hunkin on Prototyping, Welding, and on Being a "Jack of all Trades"

I always like Tim Hunkin's videos, even when they are not directly related to radio electronics.  In this one we learn about his prototyping techniques -- this does seem similar to what many of us do when building rigs.  

I liked his explanation of welding, and of the dangers of the angle grinder (his precautions on this device were similar to those in a recent video by "Spirited Man" Van Neistat). 

Tim's final comment on how in the modern world we seem to have moved away from the notion of having one person skilled in many different areas -- we are now very specialized, so the "Jack of All Trades" is increasingly rare.   That's a shame.  Oh well, we can be Jacks of all Trades in our radio shacks. 

Thanks Tim! 

Words of Wisdom on Which Tools to Buy

Also interesting are Van Neistat's thoughts on workshop design: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8bzWKBvZsE

 

Soldering to Aluminum with Mineral Oil

 Hack-A-Day has a potentially useful workshop tip.   Has anyone tried this? 

https://hackaday.com/2022/03/06/how-to-solder-to-aluminum-easily/

KG7TR Describes his Homebrew SSB Rigs (Video)

We have posted before on the amazing homebrew creations of Mike Bohn KG7TR. 

Today I watched this 54 minute video in which Mike describes his rigs. (Thanks to Pete Eaton, WB9FLW for pointing me to a site that has this video.)    

Quote from KG7TR:  "I have never destroyed a pristine Command Set." 

Wonderful tribal knowledge throughout, especially on the metal work, parts acquisition, front panel work and toroid placement. 

Clear you schedules.   This is really worth watching. 

Tribal Knowledge: More on Tapping Metal

Back in 2014, when I was putting together my EB-63A solid state amplifier, I had to learn how to tap aluminum so that I could attach my transistors to the heat sink.  I did short YouTube video on how I did this (with tales of woe!).  This video turned out to be amazingly popular -- more than 27,000 views!  Apparently there is a great thirst for this kind of knowledge out there.  Recently someone in Alaska came across my video and shared with us some more useful information on how to tap metal.  Here is some tribal knowledge from Paul KL7FLR:  

Hi Bill and Pete,

Stumbled over Bill’s YouTube video about tapping in Aluminum and I would like to add my experience doing such. I have probably tapped over a 1000 holes in various metals, cast iron, steel, aluminum, bronze and brass from 0-80 to ¾-20. Each metal poses its own problems and solutions. There was nothing in error with your video or the method you presented.

My comments:

What causes broken taps is the tap is not being perpendicular to the work. A hole not perpendicular to the work, a worn/dull tap (this applies to the drill bit too) and lack of lube.
Every hole to be drilled and tapped must be perpendicular to the metal. A hand drill electric or battery will not be perpendicular unless two other people can spot the drill operator. Not possible when you are alone in the shop.

Any serious homebrewer should have a drill press. A small bench drill is very inexpensive. Even the $69 Harbor Freight model is adequate for the average ham’s workshop.  I see these items at flea markets and on Craigslist all the time cheap. Estate sales not so cheap but sometimes on last day you might get a bargain. Adjustable from 500 to 3600 rpm will cover all the normal sizes of drills. An x-y table could be added ($$) for added accuracy if desired. (search x-y table for examples and sources)

The size of hole you drill makes a difference too. Most drill charts assume you are tapping at 75% of thread contact. This is amount of the male thread of the bolt/machine screw threads contact the female thread in the piece. This is about the max you can expect without some precision tooling that won’t be in the average home shop.  75% provides maximum strength of the fasteners.  So unless you’re working on something that requires strength like a tower support bracket or the wings of an airplane you don’t need 75% as 50% thread contact is more than adequate. So when the drill chart shows that a #43 you can instead use a #42 or a 3/32 drill. A little bit larger hole will be a lot easier to tap threads.

The type of tap will also influence the difficulty of tapping threads. The typical hardware store tap is a straight 3 or 4 flute taper tap. The chamfer of a taper tap is 9 threads making tapping much easier. This is the tap for hand tapping.  The plug tap has a chamfer of 5 threads and is best used in a tapping head or fixture. The bottom tap is for tapping threads in a blind hole, usually after started with a taper tap. That increases the pucker factor x10. The normal taper tap cuts as it is rotated in a clockwise direction or counter-clockwise for left hand threads. The cuttings will clog the tap and you must back the tap out frequently to clean the cuttings from the flutes preventing the tap from seizing and possibly breaking the tap. Breakage is easily done with the smaller taps but also will happen to a larger tap too.  There is a style of tap called a spiral point tap. It will push the cuttings up to the top of the hole and not clog the flutes as easily as the straight flute taps. I still back it out and clean it out of habit. These don’t cost any more than the hardware taps. A 4-40 is about $2.90 the last time I bought one.

Avoid “carbon steel” taps. These will break easier than “high speed tool steel” taps and they are usually a few cents cheaper too.

Lubrication is necessary. Bill’s use of 3-in-1 oil is a good lube but “Tap Magic 20016A Aluminum” fluid is better for tapping aluminum and regular “Tap Magic” for everything else. https://www.amazon.com/Tap-Magic-20016A-Aluminum-Yellow/dp/B00065VEUO

The metal you are tapping can be an exercise in patience. “Hardware” store aluminum comes in various grades from crappy to real crappy. They are of an alloy best suited for the extrusion process and are not wonderful for the tapping process. Aircraft grade aluminum is nice stuff to work with but not cheap. Comes in many grades from 1000 series to 8000 to match the application. Grade 2024 is communally found and is easy to work with while 7075 works like steel.  Since most of us won’t be buying a 21 foot stick of aluminum or a 5x8 foot sheet we must take the hardware store grade into account when tapping holes and lean towards the 50% thread engagement, plenty of lubrication and lots of patience. I frequent several aluminum boat building firms and they let me pick through their scrap piles and I’ve made frequent donations of a case of soft drinks or a can of coffee to the break room fund and have also paid the going scrap price for the scrounging privilege.

Worn taps:  These get dull with use and will break at the worst possible time and in an expensive  workpiece. Broken taps  can be removed but are time consuming and require some expertise in doing so. Best to retire them when worn. I used to keep a chart of how many holes a particular tap had been used and at 35 holes for the small taps they got retired. 50 holes for taps larger than ¼”.  I once spent over a week of evenings extracting a worn tap from a locomotive cylinder casting. Never again! As my mentor said many times, “dull tools cause accidents and ruined work”.

Clamp the work to be tapped stationary if possible. You don’t want it moving around thus inviting a broken tap. Use some method of a tap guide (as Bill did with a block of wood, not great but better than nothing). I use what is called a “Piloted tap wrench”, https://www.amazon.com/Set-Wrench-Piloted-Spindle-Capacity/dp/B077SVQD4S .

Picture is of my setup.
Step 1: Work clamped securely to table at desired hole location.
Step 2: Drill hole.
Step 3: Use piloted tap wrench to tape hole.
Step 4: Done.