Recent content by johnwm

In the UK commercial usage the term for this carriage bolt is "Cup and square"

I just use a "vanishing wire" optical pyrometer that I found on EBay for a tenner. Very easy to use, and certainly accurate to within 10 degrees.

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For a full 3D CAD package try the free version of OnShape (Free Plan | Onshape). It's comprehensive and very easy to learn and will output drawings to DXF for CNC milling/plasma as well as STL for £D printing. Only limitation is that all your work is automatically public - great for sharing...

I would also appreciate a pack. Please contact John (jm at essexsteam dot co dot uk) and I will Paypal you postage costs

Traditionally steam cylinders have always been cast iron. I suspect that a mirror finish won't retain the (very necessary) oil film. Might be worth looking at cast iron cylinder liners (as fitted to loads of car engines). Cheap replacement liners are readily available.

Best CAD for non-commercial use that I've found is Onshape Education . They have a great range of training material online and some excellent tutorials. You can construct 3D models and fully animate them. You can also output drawings to DXF for CNC plasma/laser or models to STL for CNC...

Unless you need all your stuff to be secret you could try Onshape. It is fairly easy to use, has lots of tutorials, a very helpful forum. It can output to DXF for sheetmetal cutting or to STL for 3D printing or machining. Oh, and did I mention that it's FREE for home use if you don't mind yur...