Member postings for Gordon Wass

A thin 1mm disc, cut on the flat sheet as long as possible, ie. not on the thin edge. My biggest problem is burning holes in trousers and jumpers.

It's reckoned that a thread will distort under load, only about 3 threads carry any load. I was taught this years ago, may not be entirely correct. Think of the thickness of a nut, and how much clearance there is on a standard nut and bolt

Used to cut figure 8 grooves and similar inside bushes with a small chisel with rounded end. the bushes were bigger than usual model eng. ,about 1" to 2" dia. but could be done.

Not having a mill I have done these sort of jobs by hand, in 16 g copper would be easier than maching ? Draw the development on thin paper and stick it in position, then drill and file. In steel tube can get to be hard work.

Not really model eng. but my indespensible is a sack barrow, bought at auction for £8 about 20 years ago and used every day, will easily move a 8" x 20" lathe.

I wish I'd bought lots of scrap copper and ally years ago instead of giving money to the licensed robbers.

My first thought was little model cars and such but I now see that matchsticks are used. Trouble might be that no one uses matches now. As a smoker and wood stove owner I haven't seen a match for years. Cutting up wood into little bits and then glueing them back together seems a bit OTT.

Paper money in UK might well be plastic soon. Who remembers when nuclear power was first employed ? News stories about how it would be so cheap it would not be worth sending out bills.

I was moaning about the difficulty of buying quite common materials on another post. When I remember buying ether, carbide, sulpher etc. when I was about 12 years old. I think one problem is just that there is no demand now, so no reason to stock it. I was quoted the safety thing for getting meths. and pointed out it can be sent by post. BTW meths. in UK does now have more water added.

It's not the criminals they shipped out that are the problem, it's the screws that went with them. An Aussie told me.

A little update on colouring brass. Tried the vinegar and salt method, nothing except a cleaner bit of brass, yellowy colour, maybe the vinegar was old. Found, in a tut shop, stuff called Kleen Off, by Jeyes. This seems to be ammonia. Some in bottom of jar, brass bit in the fumes, lid on, next morning all nice and dark brown. Cleaned up and another shot will be done tomorrow. A bit of rub with oily rag will look like 17C job.

I'm still getting used to it, but do find it easier to read. But can someone explain the different clours in the" latest forum posts" ? Black, blue and green, seemingly at random.

Thanks , know about ammonia solution and etc. even from my young days with iodine. Strange thing is lots off stuff used to be available just about everywhere. Nearest supermarket to me, about 20 miles does not have it. Whent to village chemists and the helpful lady looked on a data base and could not find anywhere near that stocked it, but did offer to order 5 ltrs for me. Don't sell sodium silicate now ( water glass ) either.

Will try the vinegar and salt mix and see what happens, nothing much to lose. Trouble is can't easily get all the exotic solutions suggested , can't even find ammonia solution. Could get everything on line but it's just a one off, well for now. Plenty of organic solids and liquids round here, thanks for the offer tho'.

By, that was quick! The steam punks come up with some ideas, might try chicken muck, I'm not in a hurry. Prefer Jason's, will show to wifey and tell I must go to pub first. Thanks.

I made a small model ships cannon from brass, about 6" long. I want to stain/ colour it to look a bit more like bronze. All my books have recipes using white arsenic and similar materials. Was going to try ammonia but can't even get that at any shops round here. Does anyone know a method using common materials ? I have thought of chicken manure, I have that, but not sure of results. BTW no need for perfection, it's only a filler piece.

I bought a cheap unnamed digital caliper about three years ago, the seller thru' in a spare battery, SR44. Still on the original batt.. Don't use it much, I prefer my old vernier, but must be more than only the display switching off.

Just about everything is magnetic to some degree, check it out. BTW the milk thing was meant to be a joke, following on from a discussion we had in the pub a couple of days earlier, but of course only me on here knows that.

If you have a powerful enough magnet you could attract the milk as well, that would be fun.

As a beginner at silver soldering I followed CUP's advice and was very pleased with results. But if I can add a couple of things - Flux seems to last several months after it has dried out. I found using meths instead of water helps , especially with delicate jobs, less bubbling. I use stove bricks also, good enough for small jobs but the proper bricks will be better for big jobs.