overhead hoists

[fillibuster]

Am I the only clown who hangs his cylinders over the engine while installing the wrist pins? without a buddy's help?

How about for installing the power plant into the frame? ...... I'm not young Atlas anymore, so I have to tool up hoists and such.

Time as a cripple sure changes a guy. Can't bare-hand anything anymore.

[T. Cotten]

Filibuster!

I have religiously used the "Indian method" of installing the pistons into the cylinders and then slipping in the pin before setting the cylinder down upon the cases.
On the bench, I used cardboard boxes or large chunks of styrofoam out of the dumpster to gently hold and support the cylinder while I fiddled with the pins and clips.

It allows for a cleaner, safer assembly. Why H-D didn't suggest this was probably pure arrogance.

To get an Indian powerplant into the frame, it is best to lay the chassis on its side over it.

....Cotten
PS: I feel your hand pains, if they are anything like arthritis, Dupuytren's contracture, stenosing tenosynovitis, etc.

[fillibuster]

Filibuster!

I have religiously used the "Indian method" of installing the pistons into the cylinders and then slipping in the pin before setting the cylinder down upon the cases.
On the bench, I used cardboard boxes or large chunks of styrofoam out of the dumpster to gently hold and support the cylinder while I fiddled with the pins and clips.

It allows for a cleaner, safer assembly. Why H-D didn't suggest this was probably pure arrogance.

To get an Indian powerplant into the frame, it is best to lay the chassis on its side over it.

....Cotten
PS: I feel your hand pains, if they are anything like arthritis, Dupuytren's contracture, stenosing tenosynovitis, etc.

I had lumbar 3-4-5 fused 2 years ago, so I have load limit. Reaching to the back of the bench to pick up a cylinder will cost me. Riding costs me!
I suspended my cylinders with a bolt-on bracket that takes the hook of my baby lug-all, and I have I-beams in my ceiling. I hang my engine/trans with a cable coming up behind the intake manifold. It allows me to tilt the load with mild effort.

I was thinking, as you suggested laying a frame on its side for the motor install, the last time I laid a bike on its side to operate on it was so the cam followers would stay up while I slipped the cam into its bushings. Another trick occurred to me a few months ago: magnets. The welding supply store sells a scribe, which has a magnet in one end. The diameter of the scribe's body is like an ink pen, under 3/8". If you remove the pushrods you can use two magnets to suspend the followers until the cam is home. ......... and that little magnet works great for fishing little parts out of the solvent, too.

[T. Cotten]

Golly Filibuster,

I had to buy a de-magnetizer for parts.
I even de-gauss floatvalve needles when they swing a compass wildly.

But magnets do have a million uses.
I put speaker magnets on the bottom of my solvent tanks and in my blasting media hoppers; The accumulation of fine metal is amazing.
A teflon-covered stirring bar magnet sounded like a good idea in my Pan oil tank until it covered the feed and made my hydraulics hammer.

....Cotten

[duffeycycles]

I agree with Cotton ,Magnetizing the lifter rollers doesn't sound like a good idea

[T. Cotten]

In practical reality, Folks,..

Filibuster's little magnet probably did not impart enough residual magnetism to attract particulates.
The question in motor building is where did magnetism come from in the first place, such as this rod bottom (attached).

....Cotten

[fillibuster]

In practical reality, Folks,..

Filibuster's little magnet probably did not impart enough residual magnetism to attract particulates.
The question in motor building is where did magnetism come from in the first place, such as this rod bottom (attached).

....Cotten

That's why I like it here (we like it here, we like it here......) We get it all, including the science fiction! (no offense, Tom)
I mean it though, I enjoy reading about phenomena that just don't happen any day on the farm.

[T. Cotten]

Anybody need magnets?

.....Cotten

[fillibuster]

Anybody need magnets?

.....Cotten

Tom, I'm thinking of sending you a shopping list!

Re reading, I see I never mentioned handling all the lower end rollers with the little magnet. Also, I used a larger magnet to hold thrust washers while sweeping them across sandpaper. ... and the machine shop throws the thrust washers on his magnetic-base fluid-cooled surface grinder. And we magna-flux flywheels and rods to find cracks, ... and what else do we put at risk with magnetic tricks?

[T. Cotten]

Filibuster!

De-magnetizing, or degaussing, is easy.
Just pass the object through an energized coil a few times.

When a connecting rod is degaussed, the ends are no longer north and south poles. The ends have the same polarity, and the other pole is moved to the middle.
Magnafluxers and generator growlers can degauss if used properly.

....Cotten

[BoschZEV]

When a connecting rod is degaussed, the ends are no longer north and south poles. The ends have the same polarity, and the other pole is moved to the middle.

In the interests of accuracy, the situation you describe has a magnetic monopole in the middle which, if you discovered one, would undoubtedly get you the Nobel Prize in Physics. The situation is a bit different than this. When more of the microscope "magnetic domains" in the steel are aligned pointing one direction than another the metal is magnetized. The more that are aligned in a given direction, the more "magnetized" the steel is. However, this is an energetically unfavorable condition so it doesn't take much energy to cause domains to flip. If some of them flip direction the steel becomes "partially demagnetized," and if nearly all flip it is essentially "fully demagnetized."

Demagnetizing coils have enough turns of the right diameter wire to provide enough electrical resistance that when plugged into the wall the current is limited so they don't burn out. While plugged in the current that is oscillating at 60 Hz in the coils creates an oscillating 60 Hz magnetic field. If designed properly for the application at hand the field strength is high enough to impart sufficient energy to the magnetic domains to allow them to flip.

The first of the of the coils shown in your post looks to have been made to demagnetize components inside a television. I doubt if it generates a sufficiently large oscillating magnetic field to demagnetize a part like a connecting rod.

[T. Cotten]

BoschZEV!

As far as the "monopole" phenomenon, it is is readily observable with a compass (footnoted in the last attachment to my last post. Do you want it to run 'like a Swiss watch" or not?)
What little I know beyond that, I now thank you for googling for me.

Rods are best demag'd on something more like the Magnaflux and growler coils. Mine's a cheapo, works great if you don't leave it on for long.

One buddy told me to hold the object aligned N-S and rap it with a brass rod.

....Cotten

[BoschZEV]

One buddy told me to hold the object aligned N-S and rap it with a brass rod.

Because of the "shape anisotropy" N and S will be aligned along the long direction of the part and, since the design of many demagnetizers has you pass the object through their coils, by default you normally would do that by passing the long direction through (unless you have your dog do your demagnetizations for you, in which case he might try to do it like when he tries to carry a stick through a gate).

Hitting it with a brass hammer will make you feel like you're actively participating in the process but it's unnecessary. This practice dates back to the early days of steel magnets. The hysterisis loops of those metals were so narrow that acoustic energy could help a bit with the demagnetization. With most steels you might encounter it's unlikely to do any good (but, it won't do any harm).

[fillibuster]

qu: " acoustic energy could help a bit with the demagnetization."

My, My! The "Aha!" moment! The kids with those boom boxes in their trunks, ... that's why they're seemingly so aimless, right? no compass?

and gee, now I can lose sleep over all those itty-bitty steel particles and ring wash sticking to my rollers. Got a magnetic drain plug in the case, and it collects that break-in ring wash pretty well. Fingers crossed.

[T. Cotten]

I forgot the acoustic aspect, Folks...

You are supposed to chant "Bad motorcycle,... BAD MOTORCYCLE!" while you rap it with a rod.

....Cotten