Adding Lead to Toys, plus, thoughts regarding efficiency

Reid · Adding Lead to Toys, plus, thoughts regarding efficiency

Whaaat?

See, I have leftover boxes piano keyleads from my former career as a piano technician.

Today I have lightweight tin: steam toys that want screwing down.
I would rather not be screwing them down or taping them at this time,
but can do so in the future if and when I make a fixed set-up.

So, why not lead-weight them, and put them on grippy surfaces instead, and this way
I'll learn if they will stay put, retaining ease and flexibility of laying out and then putting away the toys when not wanted.

First subject: the M54 color wheel. It's stays in place fine with a few mashed leads hidden underneath.

PLUS

We all know that REAL QUALITY is told by the HEFT of a piece (ha ha)

But, yes, true, the pieces do feel better to handle when they are weighted. I will be sealing the leads with clear elastomeric when done,
to preclude any lead oxides from getting free.

Leads often go "sick" like pot metal does too, but lead turns to a toxic powder that they called sugar of lead in the old days.
So I will seal-in the leads.

Sugar of lead? Mates, it tastes sweeter than any sugar.
Confectioners used to add lead to hard candies.
And as a cosmetic, lead carbonate was much used by the ladies for white rouge.

Toxic? Piffle!

---

HERE, right now, I'm further improving the operation of my re-based HOG stirling.

The black marble base is a great improvement in mass damping over the stock plinth with its bouncy elastomeric rubber foot pods.

(vibration, permitted to act-out, robs power from wee engines)

The process as it's going on, these leads will build-in, in successive layers.
For this engine the base cannot be too heavy.

tmuir

Yes I agree most modern steam toys feel 'too light' to me, I like a bit of weight in them.
I used to use rubber faced quick release clamps on my engines to stop them running away until I discovered if I got an old towel and folded it over itself a couple of times and sat the engine on that it would sit still. No good if you want to drive something off an engine but fine if you just want to fire one up.

Mister Occlusion

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pxmHFb9qhA8

that's what I initially came up with. Just some K&S angle pieces cut to length, folded and beveled and nailed down with estucheon pins (can't spell it).

The idea was I'd have a lineshaft and some permanently mounted models. I could then set up any future engines on this by adding another set of angle pieces such that the engine PTO lined up with the designated PTO on the line shaft.

My set ups of the day proved to be too fluid, however, and so the board was mainly used for something for the oil to fling itself on instead of the decking.

It won't kill vibration, but it'll calm those dancin' feet.

On my old wilesco we just sunk nails through the screw-down holes in the base and then cut their heads off so the engine could be mounted and removed at will.

johnreid

I have actually given that some thought too Mark, I even thought of laminating two sheets of 1/4 inch pegboard together and making pins to insert in the holes to hold items.
Since I have to do all of my tinkering in the kitchen during the winter months, I will have lots of time to think this through.
Wood bases on Jensens are so much better for staying put, but I also have considered putting rubber feet on the bottom of the plywood.
So many ideas and even more time to do them.

IndianaRog

Walmart supplies rubberized shelf liner in the kitchen dept. I get the stuff as a roll about 1 foot wide...cheap and plenty for lining bottoms of engines. It can be applied using a bead of glue stick run around the bottom of engine base then an X across the middle...later that can be removed completely if desired.

The rubberized shelf liner keeps the wood based Jensens from vibrating at all even when tethered to accessories. A big improvement.

Reid

Good stuff above. My main aim for the moment, aside from this engine, is to anchor toys I'll be obtaining in the future--with lead,
and with grippy pads underneath 'em like coaster mats,
like that anti-skid material sold for auto dashboards,

but I think I can make my own: PVC-E glue (fabric glue) looks like white glue,
but it dries clear. And it is tacky to the touch: grippy,

So! If I mount my weighted M54 to a cardboard disk (as a coaster),
and coat the bottom of that with fabric glue, I'll have the weight and have the grip to stay in place on most surfaces, including cloth.

----

For right now, how the stirling base came out:
Its weight is now doubled: to four pounds and a couple ounces.

and this helps it to run a bit stronger which means faster too.

The marble is solid black, through and through. The makers
put a glaze over the stone to give it gloss.

Someday I'll wet sand it and give it a few coats of instrument grade nitrocellulose laquer;
it will look like black glass then.

Here, at this moment of writing, the pair is running, sitting upon a stool which has a piece of that rubbery kind of shelf liner material
to keep 'em from sliding.

Now, it's running, say, guess, 1,000 rpm.
IF I PRESS the marble, by hand, against the stool surface,
the engine picks up a couple of hundred rpm.
This is why resonant vibration is undesirable when we want maximum power.
The power that we -don't- fritter away vibrating other objects,
instead remains IN the engine and some of it goes into the flywheel,
instead of to the foundation, table top, board, frame, etc.

I need to go buy a bottle of fabric glue a the local fabrics store.
I'll treat the bottom of the marble base to that, making it anti-slip,
and then be able to set it on the stool without any padding.

Alternately: three pins set into the stone would act as: anti-wobble
and anti-slip, but will mar, of course, any fine surface.

Talk about tiny, inconsequential deciscions we make...

Mister Occlusion

I'll have to try the rubber matting...

On my specials I just used these big stick on fibrous furniture foot pads. Those buggers are heavy enough that they just don't move on their own anyway.

I think Reid's engine better get there soon

Can't wait to see how you weight it.

Though Tom could give you pointers on making a D455 very heavy

Must admit I never thought much of the white powder that forms on old lead. I suppose it's the same stuff that grows on car battery terminals.

Reid

Reid

At this moment I have the microstirling's base blue-tacked to the wooden top of the stool.
It's setting right beside me as I write.

The M-54 is also blue tacked.
This is the equivalent of having the pieces screwed or clamped to the table.

The burner is well adjusted for most economical flame.
The engine is running the wheel faster than ever before.
If the stirling is not winding out 2,000 revolutions per, I'd be surprised to learn otherwise
*reid needs a tachometer*

POINT: with an engine of stable operation (it's not steam-serendipitous),
and with an engine of very small output power,

we can see directly by eye and hear by ear, the effects of power losses to vibration,
or to misaligned belting, etc.

It makes a good, practical test sled for subjective observations.

Am timing this run. Let's see for how long it goes on its now-efficient flame.

Let me show you where the flame best works on these glass bulb engines:

blue flame: anhydrous alcohol
yellow or orange in the flame: watery alcohol (n.g., colder flame)

Still running full blast at 27 minutes after the filling.
I'll measure the capacity of the cup...

more in this space in a bit (running time, capacity of the burner)

-Just passed 30 minutes. This is like, on a tablespoon of spirit?
(will measure best I can after the run is over)

The neat thing about the Hog's burner: its Pyrex-type glass font:
it does not conduct heat down into the cup. The cup stays chilled.

Reid

A record burn time for the Hog microstirling:

39 minutes and some seconds, from lighting of the lamp, to the moment the engine came to a stop, driving the M54
(not that that would affect running time; it does not).

and here it is during the beginning of this very run, just uploaded,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rDPlH6g5Gs

39 minutes on (just measured with a calibrated syringe): 8 ml of USA denatured alcohol (mostly grain, 3-4% methyl alcohol).

Burners are susceptable of refinement.
The Hog's burner is elegant, and look,

We are not required to protrude the wick:

This wick is simply straight glass fiber, floss, folded in half and stuck through the font; that's how the maker does it.

Now, I have run this before with the a much shorter font,
and with the wick pulled out substantially in order to get flame onto the bulb. The bigger flame and the wick-exposure, cut down run times to about 15 minutes.

Reid

Reid

And anther run just finishing: 42 minutes

sheezam!

I am going to get deep into my cups.

tmuir

I like that burner and the idea of keeping the heat away from the tank with the glass.
May have to make some experiements with a burner like that myself in the future

johnreid

WHEN DOES REIDS WILESCO COME?

I have a Chandelier that dates back to the early days of electric lighting and it is held together with lead. Crystal arms reach out to where the lamps are and those arms are held in place with lead. Once the arms started sagging, all I had to do was heat the lead, add a bit of fresh and let it cool. I lights my Dining Room table to this day.

IndianaRog

Reid

Ha ha, yes lead shot. I agree that is the ideal, next to casting the lead,

But I have to make use of the lead on hand, so keyleads it is!

Lead shot: I suppose I'd mix the shot with slow setting epoxy and make a pour?

---

REID's Wilesco just ain't around yet. It has only been three weeks since the order. Three years, three weeks, I can't tell the difference,
if you know whut I mean.

--

Put the hog in front of the monitor? I'll try that, Roger.
But do I need even more psychedelics? Anything to pass the time, OK!
--

mc_mc

It's horrible when waiting for something to arrive (usually you are waiting for the lazy ****** to ship it), busiest time of year for the postal system. too. I feel your pain.

Reid

Oh, thank you for speaking up for me.

Well, as it turned out nobody was lazy; it's just that time of year,
and it was free shipping, and a very low price, great seller,

and it arrived yesterday!

But, you know, it was just one of those unaccountable things,
detailed here with nice pictures and some video:

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about7687.html

Thanks for your empathy, mc. It's appreciated.