Member postings for Elliot Hirst

I remember a friend’s mother plugging her electric iron into one of these splitters. In Leeds we were on 210 volts until the mid60s when a changeover to 240 v was carried out. All of our equipment was checked by YEB the Yorkshire Electricity Board. Some was upgraded, some replaced and the immersion heater was granted a 10 year warranty. It never failed!

Our local tooling engineer was known in the factory as “Mr Pledge”. He sprayed cutters with furniture polish containing silicone. Cutting results were good and factory smelled pleasantly of lavender.

Thanks. That's good news.

Jason, Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I could not find the link you suggest at the bottom of the classified advert. I did manage to contact the vendor by searching for him by name and then sending a message.

Has anything been sorted about getting access to online back copies now that Flash has gone?

How do I contact someone who has no public profile but has items for sale in classifieds?

I seem to have lost access to contacts in classifieds. I don’t understand why.

For me, as a relative newcomer, it is a very valuable "bonus". It will be a great pity if it is lost.

I find the MEW archive very useful. The early editions have lots of good information. However, I am now receiving messages from Adobe that 'Flash' will be withdrawn from the end of this year. Is there another tool I can use in future to get access? Many thanks.

I think it just took a couple for me.

Thanks for the many welcome notes and thanks also for the advice on the Warco and other things. I am not attempting a restoration of the Hardinge, more an overhaul; just stripping down parts that look like they need to be checked and putting things right where needed. My biggest problem is that as I open things up I keep finding someone has been there before me and bodged the job. So far I have cleaned out and reset the top slide and the cross slide, and stripped and rebuilt the variable speed drive unit which is similar to the DAF variomatic transmission. Unfortunately, there has been some rewiring that seems to mismatch the directions of spindle, speed adjustment and carriage feed direction. Spindle speed adjustment and carriage feed are driven by motors to provide infinitely variable speeds for the spindle and the carriage. At present, I have the spindle brake, carriage apron, cross-slide oil pump and tail stock in pieces. I have fitted new meter units to the cross-slide oil distribution system. I am awaiting delivery of a new check valve for the oil pump; this will need to be modified from 1/4” NPT to fit UNF 3/8” x 24. I am hoping that there will be enough ‘meat’ on the unit to turn it down, thread 5/16” and then fit a threaded sleeve. I have bored and threaded the id of a piece of brass ready to fit and plan to then thread the old. There is not sufficient space in the oil pump assembly to fit and adaptor. The spindle brake solenoid had a broken copper loop which needed replacement and I have yet to test this to see if this stops the vibration problem. (I understand the copper loops damp the magnetic decay with AC which causes the noise and vibration.) I have turned and fitted a new cork for the spindle brake lever. The spindle brake was disconnected! Although there was lots of sludge in the carriage apron, the gears and clutches look okay, so I shall reassemble and test. I have had to replace or make missing parts in the cross feed and carriage feed clutch operating mechanisms. I have an interesting problem with the tail stock. When wound fully back it does not eject standard centres. I have stripped the unit and can find no glaring errors, serious damage or missing parts. However, the backlash adjuster seems to be slightly proud. I shall try resetting in the hope that this gives sufficient extra travel. All good fun, really. If I can work out how to post some photos I will. If and when all of this is finished I plan to complete the basic Gauge 1 loco from the Gauge 1 society ‘Project’ book and to follow I hope to build the Jacobs gear hobbing unit. Lockdown is a great opportunity to put some time in.

I started my career in manufacturing with training at Leyland Truck and Bus during the 1970s and followed this with more senior roles at Gardner Engines, Self-Changing Gears, Lotus Cars and GEC-Avery. My last 15+ years were spent as a management consultant with C&L, PwC and IBM working for a variety of clients. On retiring I decided to set up a small workshop in the garage, joined the SMEE and bought 2nd hand an Excel Pinnacle 1018 and a Warco Minor mill. Membership of SMEE has been invaluable; there are so many really skilled members who are most willing to share their experience. Last month, in a rush of blood, I purchased a very old Hardinge HLV-H lather and I am currently in the process of putting right many of the 'bodged' reapirs and adjustments that is has suffered over the years. Hopefully, at the end I shall have an accurate machine that will be a pleasure to use. I look forward to sharing and learning with other forum members.

I am also a long term subscriber to both ME and MEW and wish to contact someone who has an item for sale. How many posts do I have to make to get contact access to contact details?