Not a lot to report in this week’s update from the Old Kiln. With Emmet sitting ready for her boiler inspection our attention turned back to the brake blocks. Unfortunately we had a couple of hurdles to clear first: our elderly diesel generator blew a gasket in its oil cooler last week so the first order of the day was to unbolt the affected joint, make a new gasket and give it to a colleague to fit and test. Between us we managed to get it running again, but it’s clear that it’s in need of a major overhaul. We’re crossing our fingers and hoping it lasts until we get a three-phase supply and it can be decommissioned.

Next we had to take a look at the milling machine in our workshop. It’s got an electrical fault that’s preventing power getting to the spindle motor. With the power safely off and the circuit diagram in front of us we tested electrical continuity through the components, verifying that the switches worked and eventually – through a process of elimination – arriving at the conclusion that the fault lies with a solenoid. Next weekend we’ll try switching it with one of the others that we know works but that we don’t use when operating the machine. We don’t use the motorised feed on the table, and there’s an auxiliary output for an additional motor that our mill doesn’t have, so we can reuse their components if necessary.

It felt like I didn’t have a lot to show for my day’s efforts: while some of my other colleagues were busy overhauling a Motor Rail Simplex and digging out tree stumps for a line extension I spent my day tinkering in the workshop. But helping to get the generator running again was important, and if we can get the milling machine operational that will also be a big plus. That’ll be my first job next weekend. If we’re successful we’ll be able to use an annular cutter to finish boring the mounting holes in the brake blocks, but otherwise we may have to take them off site and beg the use of someone else’s machine shop for a few hours. There’s always a way.

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