[TheForge] Ralph, Mike and their toys (Was: OT Threads ?)

[Mike Spencer]

> ... ran the driveshaft right to the mill husk (which was metal).
> They found they kept loosing bearings on the direct drive all
> mounted in line with steel contact and no cushion.

Yes, you mentiond that before, albeit in less detail.  I already have
a jackshaft with the small gear and pillow block bearings on it.  The
present plan B (still rather nebulous) is to make a flexible, heavy
rubber coupling between the engine drive shaft and the hammer gear
shaft.  Since it will only turn at 900 RPM, I doubt that balancing is
critical. Or 1:1 V-belt pulleys would be doable too, if a bit more
expensive.

> They used a centrifugal governor to run this as the motor needed the
> throttle held open during work periods milling.

Oooh.  That's an as yet unsolved problem.  I have to find or build a
governor.  I've seen one made in the back yard from baling wire,
bicycle chain and (mostly) wood that was very clever.  (I wish I had
bought it -- nice piece of functional folk art.) If I can't find
something to bolt on, I figgered I could try to do something similar,
upgraded from the bit-brace, nails and claw hammer level to ball
bearings, welded construction and machined slip ring.  Most governors
I've seen (and that's very few) were gear driven, sort of hard to
modify for an ad hoc bolt-on even if I found one.  But I'm looking
around.


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^