The first thing I need to do is make a shaft key. The key slot in the split taper bushing.is 0.125 inches square. The closest key I have is 0.150 inches square. So rather than drive to the hardware store and buy another one, got plenty of the wrong size, I'm just going to modify one that I have.
I'll just chuck the key up into the vise, and grind it down to the right size. Then test fit it into the groove.
Next I want to make an 0.125 inch groove in the shaft. The problem I have is how to hold the shaft. I need to clamp the shaft to the table before I can machine it. It would be nice to have a set of V Blocks to do this, but I don't. So, gotta make something similar. I have some Steel bar stock that I can use to make a U Block.
The shaft is 0.500 inches, so I put a half inch hole in the 1.000 inch by 0.500 inch barstock. Then cut it in half to make two half inch diameter U Blocks. They will help me hold the shaft while I cut a groove in it.
Then I sliced the two U Blocks off the end of the bar stock. I'll go clean them up and see how they look.
The U Blocks support the bottom of the shaft and the Table Clamps hold the shaft down on the table. The radius in the U Block provides the friction to prevent the shaft from turning when the tool hits it. The plan was to mill a 0.125 inch groove into the shaft.
The plan changed when I snapped off a 0.125 inch Cobalt mill, Doh! So, rather than a slot I just made a flat with a 0.500 inch mill. Really I should have used a High Speed Steel Mill instead of a Cobalt Mill. Doh!
I was careful to sneak up on the right depth so that the fit is tight and needs to be pressed into place. I don't want a floppy split taper bushing, especially since this one is holding the UABMM2 Rotor.
Then I'll take a piece of pipe and tap the split taper bushing into the right place. Then the split taper bushing is solidly mounted on the shaft. More rigidity for the Rotor is always a plus in this application.
The last thing was to drill a couple of holes in the Rotor to bolt it to the split taper bushing. This locks the Rotor to the shaft, and makes the whole assembly have the rigidity of a single piece.
Next I need to re-install the magnets on the Rotor and get back to testing.
I always let one of my Vegetable Beds go to flower in the Spring. The Carrots, Parsley, Beets, Cilantro, Onions, and other cruciferous vegetables will grow all Winter here, and when the Spring comes they will "Bolt" and go to flower and make seeds.
This is a Carrot Flower, something most people have ever seen. Once these flowers are mature and producing seeds I'll harvest the plant, take the root to eat, and hang the stem on the fence to dehydrate.
Onions produce a fireworks burst like flower.
This is a Beet "Flower", not so much like a flower.
Cilantro produces bizillions of tiny white flowers.
This Sage produces purple flowers, but these are done flowering for the year.
Getting the bearings fitted in the UABMM2, first we need to turn the 0.500 inch tooling holes into 1.125 inch bearing holes. The bearing plates are quarter inch thick Aluminum so we can use a Step-Drill, or some people call it a Uni-Bit, to do this.
Some of the steps on the Step Drill are not quite a quarter inch deep so I'll drill out the face as far as I can go, and then finish the hole from the back side. The advantage to using a Step-Drill is you can make a small pilot hole, right where you want it, and then work it out to the size you need, with out moving the center of the hole. It makes it easier to keep the center, and minimizes the tolerance errors.
This is the bottom bearing. These are off the shelf bearings from an Ace Hardware store. The shaft size is 0.500 inches, and the mounting bore 1.125 inches. I was working for low cost here, and these bearings were $2. I could get much better bearings for around $8 from MSC, but I figured that I would try and make it work with the cheaper bearings first, and then I can upgrade later when I need to.
So far I am pleased with the Ace Hardware bearings. They have a little more play (tolerance) than I like, but they spin good, and that is what really matters. Now I need to get the Rotor Assembly built. I need to put a shaft key groove in the shaft to lock the split taper bushing to the shaft. Then drill some holes in the Rotor to mount the Rotor on the split shaft coupling. After that I can put the magnets back on to the Rotor and give this another test.
I bought some Kale at Rosemeade Market last weekend, was craving noodles, and was looking for a way to integrate them. So I decided on Stir Fried Noodles, maybe sort of like Lo Mein, but with fat Egg Noodles, so maybe more like Thai. My cooking has gotten all fusion-ed up so its really not this or that but really just Z.Monkey Chow.
So I take sliced Onions, sliced Mushrooms, chopped Celery, and chopped Kale and Stir Fry them in some Olive Oil. Add some Red Chile flakes, and Sea Salt. Then in the meantime I am preparing some extra wide Egg Noodles. The Kale is a pretty hearty leaf, and it takes a while to cook it down. Once I have the vegetables to a cooked state I'll throw in the Egg Noodles, and finish off the Stir Fry.
Now we'll add some Asian flair in the form of Soy Sauce, and Toasted Sesame Oil. Give it just long enough to reheat the Egg Noodles, and move it to the Noodle Bowl.
I have some Parsley that has been growing all winter, and has gone to seed quickly this spring. The Parsley will quickly grow large stems, produce flowers, and then the flowers produce seeds. I want to preserve the seeds, but also replant some of the small Parsley plants to repopulate this pot.
First I'll take the whole pot over to the compost heap, dump it out while protecting the stems, and then take the root ball apart carefully to protect the Parsnips (Parsley roots). I want to replant the small Parsley plants for this year, while taking out the large plants that have gone to seed.
The large plants get screwed, literally to the fence, upside down, to get the last bit of juice from the plants into the seeds. This is also to dehydrate the plant which will help liberate the seeds later. There in the lower right center is a Cilantro plant that has gone to seed, it is the next on to get screwed, to the fence.
The small parsley plants will get repotted in a fresh pot of Compost Soil Mix to start a new year. I try to be very careful with the roots, and preserve as much of the root fibers as possible. The will go through some transplant shock, but it shouldn't last for more than a few days.
Keep them watered well and they will be OK. I usually have three pots of Parsley. I'll augment these with the seeds I harvested from the larger plants and we'll have an abundance of Parsley soon.
Here, a week later, you can see the transplanted Parsley has perked up quite a bit, and started to grow.
Finally got some time to work on the UABMM2 this weekend. Last thing I was doing was making a new mounting system for the rotor and its axle. I finished cutting out the Bearing mounting plates, and got those cleaned up...
Then I wanted to test fit all the pieces together, and make sure they are aligned. First thing to to assemble the rotor and the shaft. Its held together with electrical tape now. I need to make a groove for the shaft key in the shaft to holds the shaft key which locks the split shaft coupling. Then there are a couple grade 8 bolts that attach the rotor to the split shaft coupling. Right now they are test fitted together.
One of the next steps in the process is to make the groove in the shaft which holds the shaft key which locks the split shaft coupling to the shaft. So now I need to setup the Mini Mill to make a 0.125 inch groove in a mild steel shaft. I chose to start with mild steel, grade 2, for the initial build.
This is just a test fit for alignment.There are no bearings, and the shaft holes are the 0.500 inch tooling holes, which will become the bearing mounting holes. Then also notice that there is a lot of vertical space between the bearing mounting plates, and the UABMM2. First, this is test fit. Second eventually there will be an Alternator in there as well. Right now I want to play with the Magnet Motor part first, then if I can get that part working, I will build an Alternator which will fill up the extra space.
The 0.500 inch rods that hold everything together are six inches long. That variable can change if I need to add space for a brake, or more motor plates, or different options not yet thought out.
If you need a refresher on the UABMM2 Operating Principles look at the UABMM-X Page.
To look at the whole development process look at my thread on Overunty The Bucking Magnet Motor.
If you need an all weather, non-toxic, beautiful ground cover that is kid and pet friendly, take a look at Oregano. I have a four by sixteen foot bed on the east side which was totally covered with Oregano. Right now my present problem is where to put this Oregano which is busting out of its pot.
These pots have lasted a really long time, more than 10 years. But the weather, the string trimmer, and the plants themselves put stress on the pots, and they fail eventually. This Oregano plant is suffering because the pot cant hold water, so time to replant it.
This time I am going to use the Oregano as a ground cover to start to replace the Ivy under my Crepe Myrtle trees. The Ivy has been growing there around 5 years, so it pretty thick. I'm going to clear enough space for the Oregano and dig a ten gallon pot sized hole for it. Again make the hole four or five inches bigger in diameter than the pot.
After I pulled the Oregano out of its pot you can see the erosion in the root ball where the water would flow through the pot. That soil will be replaced when I fill in the sides of the hole with Compost Soil Mix.
Again I add a couple inches of Compost Soil Mix to the bottom of the hole. Use a Tine (Fork) to loosen any compacted root, and lower the root ball into the hole. Then fill in the sides of the hole with the Compost Soil Mix. Then I'll water it down thoroughly . This Oregano plant was pretty dehydrated because of the hole in the pot, so I'll let it rehydrate for a few hours before I trim it. Once it gets to growing vigorously again it will start to takeover the space where the Ivy is, and I'll trim the Ivy back as needed.
