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Been busy playing with scaffolding and my new cornbinder, so not much motorcycle activity. Finally set the spindle heights and instead of a slide hammer, I used this. Happy with the results because you can feel when the spindle starts to move whereas the slide hammer is just a wild guess. I thought about using 40 threads per inch (same as a micrometer) to make it easier to measure movement, but wasn’t sure the thread would take the load.

C5151E3D-0042-4D4F-8EBB-339E5D0E0AF3 by First Last, on Flickr

400C9E01-CEA9-4F08-8D5C-B7A145AE9601 by First Last, on Flickr

A reasonable modification for those with knackered knees or no kickstart lever. With the “stock” Lightning rearsets, there is no provision for a kickstart.


B9F5111E-054A-4C1F-B7E6-500E1A5EB14E by First Last, on Flickr

619217A7-0695-4021-8A8E-6CA7C5CEC4CA by First Last, on Flickr

Just couldn’t figure out the correct feed and speed for turning hockey pucks.

A0CA11D0-4089-4AF7-B0C8-BA021FC662AC by First Last, on Flickr

Pretty sure there are NOS ones to be had.

Could only find metric ones.

39851CD1-040C-44E4-800E-F54805D3EF04 by First Last, on Flickr

BBBD0FF5-21A5-4CE1-AEAF-22D214866D94 by First Last, on Flickr

That last photo might be a little misleading. It’s an extra bedroom in the basement… a clean area for engine assembly etc. The shop actually looks like the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Attaching the seat brackets.
Not the rear frame member that I started with….. I lost that battle.

D47CC83F-8CD2-4F8E-BF98-D07BD72E5C3C by First Last, on Flickr

If you turned the camera around you would see it's also the site for Cyborg's side hustle with NASA.

Well I do have an interest in that sort of thing. Many years ago, I was testing a small reusable solid fuel rocket engine. On the initial test everything went according to plan up until actual ignition. There was a deafening high pitched shriek from the engine as it ripped out of its mounts never to be seen again. Gave up the hobby at that point. Fast forward quite a few years and I inherited some solid fuel rockets. I say some… don’t know exactly how many, but there a lot…. a bizarre amount. Included some interesting reading on how to convert them to exploding warheads. One book… I dare not mention some of its contents. No Idea how they actually got away with publishing this stuff.

Made brackets for the tach and speedo a while ago. Powder coated them today. The thingy on the left is one of the two pieces that hold the handlebars.

27B1B465-C0D0-4869-ACA9-7E35FEA508DD by First Last, on Flickr

If carbide wont get a finish did you try HSS?

John

John, I didn’t try it, that cutter just happened to be in the holder. No doubt you are correct. HSS would have worked much better…not that it matters in this situation. I’m a fan of HSS. I’ve never sat down and spent the time to learn more about feed and speed, I just wing it. Lots of times I get a better finish with HSS and have made a few custom cutters for various jobs.

Still my favourite….. keep the fingers away from this stuff. It would come off the cutter, stick out 6 inches and finally break off.

8B9DCA43-0D5B-4DAB-96D0-DB813E7FE77A by First Last, on Flickr

Ouch! Nasty stuff.

Sometimes when using carbide with a particular speed & feed to get the right finish I end up with small red hot chips flying everywhere. In those circumstances I put a full face shield on but that does not prevent the occasional chip getting down my collar and burning my skin and making me perform an impromptu dance whilst still keeping an eye on the tool. It must look very comical to an onlooker.

John

On occasion, I get chips the way they should be. When I made those I was surfacing a large cast aluminium pot lid to use as a cerrobend container that I could clamp down to the mill bed. Although I was using HSS with a serious looking chip breaker ground into it, I didn’t want to use the speed that was probably required. The outer edge of the lid was tapered slightly and the way it was clamped into the 4 jaw looked a little sketchy. The sight of short curly blue chips would probably be enough to convince a normal person to spend more time figuring out how things work.

Larger lumps are finally started to accumulate.


53DE0990-3B2A-4EC5-A9E6-9EC6D37404D3 by First Last, on Flickr

A random photo…. Not mine. Belongs to another member here., It represents the target for the end of January. I may not have the gearbox completed by then and my magneto may not have any guts, but it should look like a reasonable facsimile other than my paint quality. They are pretty engines.


04AF38BC-4710-47CF-A4A4-0A48C8D291EC by First Last, on Flickr