Leave it to the 'expert'

[SignalFailure]

I can see I'll be posting quite a bit in this section ;D

I was quite please when I tapped the last four holes in the cylinder for my current project...

Until I realised I'd put them on the wrong face!!!! (I even put a punch mark on it as a reference beforehand - now that's a quality b*lls up!).

Still, with 19 pretty accurate holes in one part it's staying, I just need to figure out the tidiest way to plug those boo boos.

 

[mklotz]

Cylinder drain cocks. No one will ever know.

Next time, when you make the punch mark, put a big red "X" on the opposite side with a magic marker.

 

[tel]

;D 'appens to the best of us! Screw in some brass screws, cut off, file flush, lap the whole face on a bit of wet'n'dry on a flat surface - invisible repair!

 

[SignalFailure]

Cylinder drain cocks. No one will ever know.

I like it Marv ;D

Tel, I thought about screws and some sort of concoction of brass 'dust' and lacquer (maybe nail varnish!). I'll bung some screws in and go from there.

 

[tel]

If it's a complete bugger up, Araldite heavily loaded with brass dust will work, but the screws are better, and less visible.

 

[bearcar1]

As stated previously Paul, a couple of brass screws, a touch of soft solder or loctite to secure them in place, then a final burnish on a flat surface. No one will be the wiser, except I am going to announce to the world of your blunder and you will have to live with the shame for the rest of your natural born life. Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof}

I'm only kidding about the world wide announcement of course.

Cheers
BC1
Jim

Addendum: Of course you could strategically place a couple of brass strips, 3/4 the length of the block, soft soldered to same (covering the holes of course). This would add a touch of 'depth' to a flat surface. (boy does that sound like a method used recently by some one to whom will go unmentioned at this time to cover a cosmetic defect ;D ;D )

 

[SignalFailure]

I'll stick some screws in tomorrow Tel, I've had enough tonight (boring out the eccentric strap).

Jim, I'll probably suffer less humiliation for that blunder than for the general appearance and workmanship of the rest of the contraption! ;D

 

[bearcar1]

Don't sell yourself too short Paul, I can guarantee that there are a whole lot of those mistakes made that we never hear or for that matter know about. As to the looks of a particular engine, I love them all, some more than others, but I do appreciate any end result that yields a runner, be it a newbie or a professional.

BC1
Jim

 

[mklotz]

Don't sell yourself too short Paul, I can guarantee that there are a whole lot of those mistakes made that we never hear or for that matter know about.

How do you think I was so quick to suggest drain cocks?

 

[Stan]

Marv has the right idea. Someone will always look for any sign of a patch but never question something obvious. When my shop was building electronic panels, I told employees I didn't want to know about extra holes because they were in exactly the right place for a wire clamp.

 

[Maryak]

Paul,

An old man, (other than me, I was younger once), said "Remember this, the person who has never made a mistake, has never DONE ANYTHING."

Best Regards
Bob

 

[mklotz]

Another way to deal with errant holes in electronic panels is to install a pushbutton and label it

Push to arm. Release to detonate.

If you don't like drain cocks, simply install some nicely bent, polished copper pipes that go from one hole to the other and tell the curious they're part of the steam demogrifier that boosts power under heavy load. Trust me when I tell you that very few people are going to ask how anything with a five syllable name works.

 

[RobWilson]

Paul what about some sort of name plate? ;D
Rob

 

[DavesWimshurst]

I've called such defects fixturing holes and gotten away with it. :
Dave

 

[kvom]

Just put in some "industrial looking" screws.

 

[agr]

I can agree with Marv's idea of some extraordinary pipework as a conversation starter.

My grandfather & I once converted a Honda 50cc Motorbike engine to steam. Rather than make a plug for the Spark plug hole we just left a spark plug screwed in. Just for laughs we also left the high-tension cable connected from the magneto to the spark plug.

When on display as shows, it was amazing how many different theories people had on how the spark interacted with the steam. We even overheard one guy explaining (quite seriously) to his friends how the ignition spark helps to "ionize the steam" and increase its efficiency.

So sometime covering up a mistake (or laziness) with an out of the ordinary feature can actually draw more attention to a display than just "oh, its another one of those type engines"

Tony.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

We even overheard one guy explaining (quite seriously) to his friends how the ignition spark helps to "ionize the steam" and increase its efficiency.

Oh. So what does 'ionize the steam" and increase its efficiency? ;D

 

[SignalFailure]

;D I see that I am not the only 'expert' in this area, lots of knowledgeable er....advice...there!

Rob, I made a similar but not so obvious mistake on my last engine. I was going to buy the PCB etching stuff and make a nameplate for that one but the stingy side of me took over and a socket-headed screw was drafted into service

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[90LX_Notch]

Plain studs or studs with nuts would give an illusion that the screws from the otherside come all the way through.

 

[Cliff]

I always thought part of being a good machinist is how to cover up a mistake to where nobody knows it. Cliff.