Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Steel mills

Gallaway steam engine
As an apprentice I worked in the billet mill at AIS Pt.Kembla. On down days we were assigned to work in various parts of the mill. In the soaking pits the billets were red hot and in the crane over the the soaking pits had to be worked on while the operation could not stop and the temperature was over 140 degrees and you could not put your spanners down cause if you did they were too hot to pick up again. We worked five minutes on and half an hour off. On one occasion I worked in the Galloway steam engine the largest horizontal steam engine in the southern hemisphere. I could stand in the high pressure cylinder and the stroke was probably 10 feet long. This engine drove the mill to produce railway lines, the rolls were 36 inches diameter and this engine nearly stalled when the rolls were squeezed to close. It was about 5 thousand horse power. They also squeezed down steel ingots to be used in the billet mill, the steel started as from memory 3ft square and went into the mill at about three miles an hour and came out the other end at thirty miles an hour. Some times we had a cobble, that's when the steel goes the wrong way and comes out the side of the mill and goes any where and the process can not be stopped till the steel stock is threw the last rolls. There is a fifty ton billet that is squeezed into a three inch billet and all this steel is wrap around the mill like spaghetti then it cools and hardens and has to be cut up with oxyacetylene. At the end of the mill the steel is cut into billets to feed the wire mill, this is done on the flying shears at thirty miles an hour the blades slam shut every two seconds at the end of each billet, each billet was about forty feet long. From the billet mill the billets are reheated to white hot again and put threw the wire mill rolls and the length of the wire is a mile or more long after this. The blokes who worked there were cool to watch as they grabbed the red hot steel and sent it back the other way threw the second rolls and again threw the third rolls.
Posted by imagineering at 2:51 AM

Monday, November 9, 2009

hayfever


This does not come under the blogs heading so it is in a category of its own.

Just got some new tablets and the price has doubled in less than 12 months by halving the quantity.Thirty to Twenty.The last time you raised your price you changed the colour of the packet. The brand name is POLARAMINE made by Schering-Plough Pty Limited Level4,66Waterloo Road North Ryde.NSW 2113 Australia. Thanks guys, I now know how much you love money So watch your selves for loving money. You know what it says about loving money.You have got me as I have no other choice.If you have hay fever try putting a bit of bi carb soda in some water and sniffing it up your nose , it works and there is less need for the drug lords... cheers Stewart

Sunday, November 8, 2009

steel boat



Finally have just launched the steel boat went like a dream the total cost is around $500 for boat and trailer. I can stand on the back corner and the thing don't try to tip you in the water it is really stable. I would recommend building in steel using 1.2 steel plate, the cabin is square tube covered in alloy sheet and glued in with Sega flex. I wouldn't use this glue again as it let go and the cabin vibrates... cheers Stewart

working trailer


This is my working trailer that I have had for many years,the hoist is welded to the frame and has lifted over a ton and broken welds.I used it as a mobile butcher shop to dress sheep, there was a plastic pallet that fitted on the top as a table and was easily cleaned down after use,It carried my little excavator ride on lawn mowers and any other job that needed doing. It was also a mobile scaffold with the scaffold tied down with ropes.It also served to gather fire wood.The tray is aluminum plate.The box on the front is water and dust proof and is used to hold ropes chains and spare wheel bearings.Again this is recycled steel and bits. cheers Stewart

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

steel boat


Put the outboard bracket on the boat today. This boat will be launched this week end at the Narooma traditional boat festival.
cheers Stewart

washing machine update




They gave me my money back and left the ruddy old new washing machine thing with me to get rid of. I did what I should have done in the first place and bought a machine from the scrap yard. As I have now done and its a little ripper cleans the clothes and dries them in the spin. I wont have to put them in the clothes drier to get the lint off the clothes like they suggested with the new washing machine. I would have had to buy a clothes drier as well and the electricity to run the drier would have broke the bank or the meter on the electrical box. So much for water saving energy efficient you bute washing machine.
When I finish washing the water will be drained over the garden so I get a second use for the water.The best thing is the cost difference between the two machines is a wopping $1004.00
The first photo shows the warranty sticker
The second photo shows the scrap washing machine.
cheers Stewart

free fuel for the life of your new car

Free fuel for the life of your new car.unlimited warranty and we pay you if it breaks down......That's the talk of a salesman who sells you the new car..Here's a free tip go and sit in the costumers lounge at there workshop and watch with bated breath as the costumer has to pay the bill he just got, when his car is in the full warranty period. Just watch out book the car in at $110 / hour and they keep the car for a day." Just leave it here at 8.30 am and pick it up a 5.30" This equates to 10 hours at $110/ hour=$1100 for the time it was there plus parts that you have broken. Then they claim off the manufacturer the correct price and there profit goes threw the roof. Thats what they wanted to do with my new Zuki. I wont mention the dealers name but they know who they are.