Member postings for Rik Shaw

Thirty something years ago we were camping on a site by Chesil beach. It was a clear but moonless night around two in the morn and black as your hat when I unzipped the tent flap to visit the site toilet. What I saw near took my breath away. I have never seen so many stars in the sky before or since. I saw two shooting stars before I had even reached the lav - an unforgettable memory! (the stars - not the lav)

Rik

With that Sky dish pointing earthward you are unlikely to receive anything other than Mrs Dales Diary or Gardeners Question Time

Rik

I use anything oily as long as its less than three quid a gallon from the beneficent boot.

Rik

Thanks to most of you for blade advice. I'll order a couple of blades today to deal with my brass sheet.

Rik

"I suggest you are overthinking this...."

Your remarks puzzle me!

Rik

Ian - Bog standard UK car boots is what I visit. True, most of the stuff on offer is of no interest to me but visiting up to four or five boots a week in the past meant that now and then a diamond would shine through the tat. The trick is to get there regularly and early.

I have to admit though that at 71 I am slowing down and I am no longer able to spring into action at five in the morn every Sunday. Talking about spring, three weeks ago I bought an ammunition box full of what looks like air gun springs for a quid - that was an unusual one!

My largest purchase ever was an Alba 1A shaper which I spotted dangling from a vehicle hiab at a local boot and no, it didn't fit in my boot! (They delivered it for me - see my album if interested).

Good luck and keep trying.

Rik

Bought one of these today because the box said it could cut non-ferrous (although the handbook does not mention this fact). The blade supplied and fitted has large teeth and is obviously meant for wood/plastic.

I have quite a large pile of .070" thick brass sheet. Will this machine cut it with the correct blade fitted? If so, what sort of blade should I be looking for. i.e Width -TPI - bi-metal etc. etc.

Never used a little bandsaw before, only experience was with one with a 1" wide blade in a die shop many years ago.

Rik

Had a shuftey round the car boot today and bought a pair of boxed digital scales - one of 300mm and one of 600mm. The 600mm is ok but the 300mm has been sitting for to long unused and is suffering from battery corrosion muck spreading onto the circuit board and its components. Had a quick google and it seems that white vinegar will deal with it. I'll get some in the morn and try. Be nice if I can fix it as the two could go on my WARCO BH600G. Anyway, £18 for the two did not seem to expensive.

Rik

Its a sight gauge alright. Fill point is on LH side. If I remember correctly, WARCO advised to fill/top up until the oil spilled out from the back of the casting. So why the sight glass? You'll need to ask Mister Warco. You'll get more better info if you download much better GRIZZLY manual for their version of thee WM250.

Rik

I agree with Hopper - its how I would do it.

Rik

I’ve just checked the average rates of interest paid on savings accounts in the UK. Last year the average was 1% over the year. In 1990 the rate was - wait for it - 13.56% (I don’t ever remember it that high but that is what the online chart read when I looked an hour ago.) It has steadily declined to where we are now in 2018 – a year in which the average looks like it will be well under 1%.

I can’t help but think that there are some very greedy bankers up there crapping on my head, yours as well (unless you are a banker of course)!!!

**LINK**

Bought a large swiveller from Axminster (they do have a rather nice showroom ) . The vice is intended for use on my shaper. Like Jason the first thing I did was remove the rotating base and confine it to a cupboard - maybe it will get some use one day .

Rik

"I have a single phase motor which is ok but tends to get hot to touch"

My now departed WM250 suffered the same complaint. I limited this to some extent by lashing up a large computer fan on the end of the motor. (Only JUST enough room between motor and splash guard to do this!)

My WARCO bandsaw gets even hotter. After 20 - 30 minutes work (even with a new blade) the motor gets so hot I can smell the varnish burning on the windings meaning that in order to avoid flames the work has to be done in shifts while the motor cools down. Maybe the fan idea might help here as well but I am doubtful ... perhaps a round TUIT sometime

Rik

Richard - your dims tie up exactly. Thank you for taking the trouble.

ATB

Rik

Thanks for that Richard. If you get a minute could you measure the approx distance from the tip of the brassy noses to the centre of the fixing holes for me? I make it about 144mm. Thanks in advance.

Rik

I have just been given this steady and told that it came of a WARCO lathe - model unknown. I have compared it to the fixed steady belonging to my BH600G which is 6" (150mm) centre height and it looks a little smaller. My guess is that it fits on a lathe of around 5" centre height or thereabouts.

Does anyone know which model it is meant to fit?

Rik

Edited By Rik Shaw on 27/05/2018 13:29:39

I don't have the problem. I wear latex/nitrile examination gloves (ooerr!!) which I buy at the car boot. At about £2.50 for a box of a hundred. Sometimes I can buy them cheaper so I presently have enough boxes to last quite some time.

Rik

Felix - Over to John Rudd as regards advice - John really knows his onions!!!

These speed control boards seem to fail all to often. Mine did on a number of occasions. A WARCO engineer told me that it is ESSENTIAL to back of the speed control to zero before starting the machine in order to prolong the life of the board. (Poor design? - almost certainly is my guess.) It even advises this in the machine manual but I think that this advice should be in inch high block capitals and printed in red.

My final solution was to flog my lathe and buy something without electronic speed control. OK, its a PITA changing belts and back gears to change speed but I no longer have the constant worry that the thing will go "PHUT" on me when I switch it on.

Rik

"I have been steam cultivating today with a pair of 1917 Fowlers"

Farmer near me still uses horses and flail cutter for harvesting wheat into stooks so would have loved to have seen your steam cultivating today - but then I would have been an onlooker

Rik