Member postings for Bob Mc

Hi all again...

Brian Sweeting....I have Wet AMD... this is treatable.. I can vouch for that, I am indebted to Herbert Punter who mentioned Macular Dystrophy and Macushield Gold I have not heard of it as yet and thanks to Ian Skeldon2, I will ask at the opthalmic clinic if I should get some.

I would also again submit my praise for the NHS, the care I have received has been excellent and I was told that the injections/surgery each time cost around £1000, I have had 8 treatments so far!

One thing I would like to find out is how many people per head of the population are affected by this condition? when I go to the clinic there always seems to be a long queue, it must be a very common complaint.

rgds..Bob..

Thanks Bert and Ady1....

these are the things that people generally don't really want to know about until its too late... better at least to have some knowledge of what can be done to avoid them.

Thanks...rgds...Bob...

Thanks Michael,

I had not seen that study by nhs.uk/news..... but it seems to confirm my views about taking the supplements.

if I had known about it previous to having this condition I would have gladly taken it and believe me when I say that when you wake up one morning and there are dark patches right in the centre of vision and then find out it can cause something akin to blindness you start to think that your life has virtually finished.

The condition for me has improved due to the fantastic treatment by the NHS opthalmic surgeon and I would not have written this forum post if I had not had the experience of stopping the supplements only to find that the condition worsened, after a week or so of resuming taking the supplements my vision responded quite well again.

The consultant I have for treating the condition was quite adamant that the NHS were totally incorrect is making the statement that the supplements did not make a difference.

....Bob..

Hi all...

I think that there are many model engineers who are in their more mature years of life and I class myself in this group; I am sure that some of you may have heard of 'aged macular degeneration AMD' which I started to suffer from nearly two years ago.

The condition causes dark areas and distorted vision, just what is NOT required for model engineering, fortunately there is treatment for some types of the condition which includes injections in the eye, and I have had quite a number of these. There are also some medicinal tablets which used to be free for OAP's on prescription, now however the free prescription has been withdrawn and I received a letter from the NHS stating that the tablets are not necessary for people who have a balanced diet.

In my opinion the tablets which can be bought at the pharmacy without prescription DO make a difference and I can't understand why older people are not made aware that they could avoid the condition if the tablets were taken even if your eyesight is good, in my opinion.

I don't want to put anyone off having the treatment there is no pain you don't feel a thing...but the thought was enough to make my hair (whats left of it), stand on end.

I would urge anyone in our age bracket to consider taking the pills which have as a main ingredient 'Lutein' found in Kale I believe.

I must make it plain I am not in any way connected with the medical profession so I can only say seek medical advice if you are considering taking these tablets.

Rgds...Bob...

Had a go at making Will Doggets height gauge using a caliper gauge not required.. see MEW iss 235 p68.

I milled the finger grip flutes with the Dore Westbury set over at an angle as I don't have a round nosed cutter.. below..

another view..

The completed article..

My air conditioning system...

I've got the same problem with hot lines meself...

Cornish Jack mentioned Astro-tele-geeks..

I just made this fitting for a friends Skywatcher 5" Refractor... he had problems when trying to take photo's due to the commercially made fitting for a mobile phone camera, especially when he used a x2 Barlow which was quite difficult to adjust for distance from eyepiece and x.y lateral movements.

nb..the phone is not fitted in 'selfie' cradle as yet.

...Bob...

Ha Ha.. thanks Sam..

...."One would assume that is quite a while since our warships had sail instead of engines..You must be knocking on a bit ".

The knocking on a bit is unfortunately true...! it should have read...'but I didn't work with engines' I did the gubbins for the radome thingummibobs.

...Bob...

Thanks Ady...

yes that could explain it....funnily enough I worked on type 45's myself...but not with engines.

rgds..Bob.

I went to Blist industrial museum near Ironbridge, very interesting and lots to see and do.

I went to most of the exhibits and one in particular caught my attention .. the Hay Inclined Plane.. This was used to transfer material and small barges from a canal at the top of a hill down to the River Severn, a fall which would normally require around 27 locks.

The Inclined Plane is in effect like a funicular railway but when power was required to pull loads not balanced by the downward weight of another load a steam engine was used, the engine is long gone but some of the brick built housing is still there, I understand the engine built by Adam Heslop was a condensing one, but the thing I don't understand is that there appears to be two boilers...?

I have to admit that I do not have a great deal of knowledge about steam engines in general but could anyone explain why the need for two boilers..?

I found only one picture on the web a diorama at below... the two boilers are clearly seen and seem to be connected together.

rgds..Bob.

Nice job John..

Thanks Neil..ha ha..!

now for rocket to fit the missus in..!!

rgds...Bob.

Thanks Michael G & Mark ... that clears it up ..

just in case you are wondering why the interest in bevel gears, I knocked up a simple drive mechanism for my 6" Newtonian binocular telescope which desperately needed some sort of Azimuth drive which didn't have to be accurate but would free up some manual control for adjusting collimation, focus and Altitude.

I used a clamp to fix the drive to the main vertical post of the ram which is required in order that the height of the eyepieces can be adjusted to suit the operator, however the Alt drive has to be disconnected when the ram is raised or the hydraulic ram would tear it to pieces .

Hence the picture of the clamp screw... I had little space to put the motor/gearbox so it had to be fitted vertically, which meant that the drive would need to be connected at 90deg to the motor drive and so a 90deg bevel gear was needed.

I purchased a small bevel gearbox which on arrival I thought might not be man enough, to my surprise it worked without failing, however the gearing could do with being reduced and made a little more robust, so I might have a go myself at making one.

see pics.

Hi all...

what is the error in Ivan's book as mentioned by Neil on 17/04/2018

rgds...Bob.

Thanks Andy, Daniel..

my opinion is that although there is very much a place for new technology in schools and as you point out this is what engineers would need in a technological environment but I can't help thinking it is all a bit one sided.

Is education all about fitting a person in place for a certain type of employment environment, should it not rather be a case of letting youngsters have a go at traditional skills as well where he or she would get a feel for the material and tools in their hands...hand and eye coordination.?

It might be that some youngsters would get excited about doing practical things but who knows if they don't get a chance..? I know I was.... I'm in agreement with you about asking a youngster to build a model loco..to be honest it is something I would struggle at myself along with many others, but there are lots of other things to be made.

I can only say that thank God I was educated in the 1960's, although my occupation for many years has been an electronics/communications engineer, at school we were introduced to pottery, woodwork, metalwork, even gardening and this has stood me in good stead when it came to doing things around the home and sometimes in the workplace.

I will say that these days we have a throw away society, for one thing the goods bought today seem to have built in redundancy and are engineered in order so no repair can be undertaken, but not all things are like this.

I was amazed when a very well educated chap moved in next door, a product of these new ideas of education, he wondered if I could put a mirror up for him on the wall..! one nail later it was done... then he had an ill fitting door which needed a little work with a plane..in 10 minutes job done...could I come round a fit a garden gate...? he had read the instructions and didn't want to bother me again, but couldn't fathom out why his drill bits wouldn't penetrate the bricks... to be honest it was if he had come from another planet!

Well I don't think my ramblings will alter things, to be honest I just think the real reason for not teaching traditional skills in schools is that it is much more cost effective to keep a healthy distance from them.

...Bob...

Hi all...

Although it has been some time (4 yrs) since the last post on this thread which covered many aspects of the problems..but could anyone tell me if anything has changed..? do schools now have any more practical technology subjects apart from cooking? are there any more youngsters seen at Model Engineering shows?... are there any tv programs which feature model engineering? or practical skill programs aimed at youngsters..?

I am enquiring about this for my own interest and someone at the uk school of child education sciences who is doing a research project on the subject and seeks the opinions and/or experiences of model engineers and hopefully he will join the forum.

After visiting a number of Model Engineering shows I have to say it looked more like a Darby & Joan club meeting with older gentlemen in preponderance with very few youngsters, is there a connection between this and the running down of school interest in engineering skills..?

...Bob..

With thanks to Gracie Fields...

Sung: She's the girl that makes the thing that drills the hole
that holds the spring that drives the rod that turns the knob
that works the thing-ummy-bob.
She's the girl that makes the thing that holds the oil
that oils the ring that takes the shank that moves the crank
that works the thing-ummy-bob.

etc...

Bill...

I vaguely remember taking apart an engine many years ago and I am sure there was a magnetised ball bearing to pick up swarf fitted in the sump plug ..

Bob.

Hi All..

just seen this sent to me by a friend, I can't seem to get to the bottom of it but it does look like the old pedal driven lathe is no longer safe from electronic control.

see... https://twitter.com/BoschGlobal/status/951812068042305537/video/1