Member postings for Danny M2Z

This concept is a scary scenario as it's apparently technically feasible Autonomous killer drones

Aready deployed in this part of the planet are these Chinese underwater drone caught in Indonesia

Edited By Danny M2Z on 02/01/2021 03:57:27

When I used to teach radar technicians about gyroscopic precession in a ferrite isolator my demonstration model of choice was the front wheel from a bicycle with a pair of wooden handles attached to the hub.

I used to get the students to hold the handles while another would spin it, then told the student on the handles to twist the wheel.

They soon learned about gyroscopic precession.

Edited By Danny M2Z on 01/01/2021 02:51:37

Clock just passed midnight here in Oz.

So goodbye to a year many of us would prefer to forget and so best wishes for 2021.

Regards from down-under.

* danny *

On Christmas Eve I stopped by the local road block (NSW-Vic border) and told the policeman a joke about why the Indian cricketers could not be infected by the corona virus (they cannot catch anything that comes from a bat).

Poiceman pulled down his facemask, yep, he was of Indian descent. OMG, how embarassing!

Roll on just a few days later and instead of Indian, insert Australian cricketers and the joke still works.

Next time I am stopped at the road block I shall just answer "My mum told me never to talk to strangers"

If you never hear from me for a while it's maybe because I am in gaol. Do prisoners get internet access?

* danny *

No such weather here down-under, actually a mild Christmas, no 40°C days so far and thunderstorms for the next few days.

This time last year bushfires were rampant but now we have. **LINK**

So have to keep an eye on them as lightning strikes caused most of the fires

Have a great new year.

I have an idea to market toilet paper printed with "2020, put it behind you" just to wipe away the memories of a realy crappy year

^ danny ^

Nice lathe the SB Heavy Ten.

I have a few contacts in the US who use them for gun-smithing duties as they can fit a rifle barrel through the headstock and using an outboard spider they can cut and ream a chamber for custom rifles.

Wouln't mind one.

* Danny ^

Why does the Indian cricket team not have to go into isolation?

Because they can't catch anything that comes from a bat.

Given the low RPM of the lathe and (presumably) low torque then the ingenious use of a high speed rotary cutter makes sense.

+1 for ingenuity

Best wishes to all the forum members and MTM people (especially Neil and the moderators) for keeping this a safe place to forget about the news and just de-stress.

Also thanks to whomever waved the magic wand to ensure that all my copies of MEW arrived at my local newsagent in a country town in Victoria, Australia. Awesome!

Here's to a better 2021.

Eating local tiger prawns, lobster and oysters for a traditional Aussie Christmas lunch, washed down with some VB tinnies and Australian wine.

29°C today so took a Christmas card, a tin of toffees and some fresh apricots to the police who man a border control checkpoint near my home. After over 30 years military service I know what it is like to be recalled from leave at short notice and deployed at Christmas.

So here's to all the police, testers and medical staff who are working hard to keep us all safe

Regards from down-under * Danny *

I visited my newsagent (Wodonga, Vic. Australia) today for the first time since March as I only usually have two magazines on regular order, both from the U.K. and after reading about distribution problems I sort of gave up on ever obtaining a recent copy in these difficult times.

Well imagine my surprise when the lovely lady told me that they had all my magazines ready to go and there they were! MEW complete from March - October and most of my Aeromodeller magazines.

I felt a bit embarrassed that I had not visited sooner, but with all the doom and gloom forecasts there was no way that I suspected that these magazines had slipped through the hoops. Happy to top up the till for my local newsagent just before Christmas. Didn't even have to wear a mask after months of trying to do the right thing.

So all's well that ends well.

Have a safe and happy Christmas and let's hope that 2021 is a bit nicer than 2020

Regards from down-under * Danny *

Like Barrie said, plenty of other places to share our work without commercial censorship dictating the rules.

Time to reveiw my favourite website options!

* Danny M *

I forgot to mention that many of my local peers were into drugs. I remember the names blues and bennies and was horrified after what I saw the effects that they had on them.

This was a pity as they were pretty good kids to grow up with but come 15-16 the dealers got their hooks into them.

My late dear mum once remarked I did not get sucked in because I was too busy building model aeroplanes and working. Very astute mum. A few of them died of heroin overdoses before reaching 18.

Also managed to fit in 4 years at the Army Cadets (the annual camps were my holidays), and learned many useful skills (map-reading, rafting and rifle shooting) among others.

Nowadays I notice a lot of 'umbrella kids', sheltered from the big cruel world by overprotective parents, left alone with Facebook imaginary friends and totally unprepared for the real world. A local teenager was run over while chasing an imaginary 'Pokemon' with his mobile phone, very sad.

As a young bloke growing up in the East End of London, it seems that I always had a job of some sort either after school or on weekends.

The majority of my wages went to the family (6 brothers and sisters) but my parents never pressured me to seek the work, it just seemed the right thing to do.

So here is a list of the jobs that I did, some paid quite well.

Age 12-14 paper rounds. The tips of sixpence made it worthwhile as the wages were lousy.

Age 12-16 washing cars at the local pub each Sunday lunchtime opening. Made a few quid at that one.

Age 16. Spent school summer holidays humping coal up stairs in multi storey flats.The workout toughened me enough to sort out a few local bullies who were hassling my family. Pay was ok

Age 16-18, Glassworks in Homerton E9. Loading glasses into conveyor belts to go through fusing furnacxe or unloading after the transfers were fused. - Very hot work.

Age 17 School summer holidays full time at the 'Metal Box Factory' in Hackney. Wow, could those ladies solder, learned a lot there.

Age 15-18, Resident guru at the local second hand shop. If I fixed a broken item I got paid so electrical items were my favourites. Nickname was 'brains'. The owner was a survivor of the Nijmegen paratroop drop into Holland and had just lost his son (about my age) in a motorcycle accident so I finally figured out that I was replacement son. Finally gave that job away when I discovered that taxi driving mates were delivering dodgy goods (stolen goodsand pistols) .

A lathe was but a dream but I did manage to save enough to purchase a few model aeroplane engines and kits, usually from Henry J. Nicholls shop at 308 Holloway Road,.

Lol, a bit of a rant but that is what it was like in the 60's for a kid in London.

So how did the rest of you survive in the age of flower power and hippy culture?

* Danny M *

Lumiweld works well if one carefully follows the instructions.

My first attempt restored a broken out mounting lug on an ancient DC Dart model diesel engine,

Apart from the fact thet the repair is a bit darker than the original it's still working quite well 20 years later

A big blob of 'Blu Tack' placed onto a boring bar works well to dampen vibrations due to it's strange 'Non Newtonian' properties.

This is not a joke, I learned enough about Blu Tack from an MEW article a few years ago to design a unique barrel tuner for a rimfire target rifle.

* Danny M *

For what it's worth.

When a model diesel engine compression screw gets a bit loose in the cylinder head then a turn of Kevlar thread around the screw with the end trapped into the hole snugs things up nicely.

Not so out of date Neil although this is a bit worrying 8" floppy disks now obselete for defence systems

* Danny M *

If purchasing an SD card online, be aware that there are many available cheaply, often fakes. Here is a typical example Fake SD card.

Search online for fake SD cards, it's pretty scary what is out there!

In my own case I only purchase such items from a reputable local supplier and rely on our Australian consumer protection laws to look after the details, Never had a fake so far so the retail chain here seem to be doing their homework.

In 1984 I lost a Free Flight model aircraft at the Australian Nats.

One day in 2002 I received a mysterious phone call; "Have you lost a wee model aeroplane laddie?" (with a fake Scots accent)

I relied that I had not lost one for over ten years.

"What about a model with a KSB timer and a Cox Tee-Dee .051 modified engine?" was the reply.

LoL I replied, I had lost such a model many years ago.

"Well, it's yours again for a donation to the Doonside youth club".

It later transpired that a punter had arrived at a buy and sell market at the SSME Sydney Society of Model Engineers and attempted to sell a model aircraft that the vendor obviously knew nothing about.

The 'VH' number on the wing tracked it to me and so 18 yerars later I was re-united with my model.

The engine was in good condition, the timers were rusty but it was nice to get the old girl back after 18 years.

The fake 'Scotsman' was an old friend, Ivor F of Doonside, NSW, Australia who was keen to raise funds for disadvantaged young people.

* Danny M *