Right I'll have a go at rewriting the post I lost last night.
ok. what did I talk about.
For my accelerator pump linkage project I need an adjuster nut. The way that the linkage and the arm move, to do it properly I will need a nut with a domed end, aka not something available off the shelf.
Over the length of this project I have been making calls all over town to try and sort stuff out. One of the places I tried was the science engineering workshop at the local university. From talking to him I was impressed, he really seemed on the ball. It helps that most of the other shops in town have no interest in small stuff or one off stuff for that matter.
I had dropped up on Friday but the manager had left, so I tried again yesterday. It was like walking into heaven. NC mill and lathe, digital readout lathes, various mills and a heap of other stuff that I have NFI about, all in a nice organized, well lit, clean room.
I got chatting to the guy who runs the place and he was more than happy to talk about what I wanted, he spent a good hour talking to me and showing me about the shop, the NC gear and how it was set up etc. all this when he new it was only a small cheap job I wanted. To be honest I think he might have been pleased that I had put a lot of thought into exactly what I wanted and done a little research into what materials to use.
I so want to work there. From what he said a lot of what they do is one of stuff, with quality and accuracy being the focus rather than straight out volume, the guys who work these have that air of craftsmen about them, that quiet intelligence and a distance from the world around them that seems to come from focusing completely on the work at hand... exactly the kind of environment I want to work in. plus of course my mind is racing throwing out ideas of what could be done and made with the use of that shop.
I had no idea that NC lathes could cut radiused faces so easily. It seems that venturi's would be easily made as long as I can draft them on the computer. It had been a long time since I have used drafting programs (like 15 years) but I'm sure it will come back to me.
The possibilities are massive... all the bits I had dreamed of making (well not all but lots of them, some would have to be cast and others laser cut). The stupid little stuff that I would love to do. Aka aluminium oil seal retainers for swing axle gearboxes, held on with titanium bolts. Titanium axle tubes with machined titanium or alloy ends bolted with again titanium bolts to composite titanium/steel swing arms. Alloy brake drums with titanium liners, titanium brake shoes, alloy wheel cylinders with titanium pistons, alloy spacer bars and handbrake arm etc all on titanium backing plates with titanium star adjusters etc....... yes I'm going through a massive “it will handle better if I reduce the unsprung weight” phase.
Ok back to reality.
I will need to source the material, aka 10mm AF mild steel hex bar as they don't have any in stock, but I can get it in sydney so hopefully my parents will be ok with picking some up and posting it up here. It won't be cost effective to make just one pair so I think I will make a small run and see how they go. Due to the minimum charge at the engineering shop it is very little more money to make 15 sets than 1 set.
On the 28 PCI carb the accelerator pump linkage is threaded and screws into the arm on the throttle shaft. It pivots on the thread so as you can imagine on all of carbs I have looked at the thread in the arm is worn. one option is to have a bronze bush made to fit into the arm and to change the design of the joint to rod through a bush with washers etc to keep it in position sideways hence foxing the pivot joint and making sure that it will not ware out quickly. The other is to just thread the end of the rod, fit it as normal and pretend the slop isn't there. HA! Typing this made me think of a 3rd and possibly better option. To make a threaded bronze bush... fixing the problem, increasing the longevity of the joint but retaining the simplicity of the original idea. I like it. Now if it was just threaded inside and out like a stud repair thingy it'd be perfect, but way too complex so not perfect at all... maybe just a plain threaded bust with a shoulder. Not as neat but a lot easier to make and to fit. I wonder if a non shouldered bush with a slight interference fit, fitted with loctite would stay put?
Anyway. While I was up there I asked if they had any positions going and he wants someone, but the uni doesn't. I really want to work there. In so many ways it fits the criteria I set for the kind of job I want to have long term. It includes lots of both hand and brain work, quality seems to be more important them speed, the place had a good feel to it, the people seem nice. It just hit me. THEY HAD PRIDE IN THEIR WORK. You could see that in every aspect of the place. It's even in walking distance of my house. That doesn't even begin to cover it... it felt right. Now, what do I have to do to get a job there.
well i just re read that and it is nothing like what i typed last night, funny how that can happen. i have to say i won't bitch so much about last nights computer failure as without it i wouldn't have thought of the threaded bush idea or realized the pride thing at the uni workshop.