Member postings for Bob Unitt 1

Me too. It takes a bit of getting used to, after other mailers, but is well worth the effort.

Signed, thanks.

I bought a set of 'tungsten' twist-drills at an ME exhibition a few years ago. When I first used one of them it 'untwisted' as soon as it started cutting, so I ended up with straight flutes ! Needless to say, that set went into the bin before they could do any more damage - the case came in handy later for some better drills though.

My case is slightly different, but I'm an over-70 (75) who had a clean driving licence for nearly 60 years, which I had to surrender when I had a heart problem early last year. My cardiac consultant told me I'm once again safe to drive last September, and even gave me a letter to send to the DVLA with my new application. Over five months later the only response has been the return of my identification documents (with a promise that the licence would follow "within two weeks" !). I'm reluctant to phone them as a) some guy in the paper spent 6 hours waiting for an answer on the phone the other day and b) I've been told that every time someone contacts the DVLA they add a note to their file, which then goes to the bottom of the pile.

I wonder what the legal position is ? Could you sue them for preventing you driving due to their own failures ?

Check first - my local Calor dealer will only replace with the same size cylinder.

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 10/03/2022 09:56:24

You should also take into consideration your equipment - metric plans with imperial equipment, and vice-versa, are not a trivial issue for a beginner.

Redsetter mentioned the Reeves Trojan. As it happens I just last week bought the plans for this whilst reconditioning the one I made as my first model (30+ years ago, on a treadle lathe). I'd forgotten that it calls for small Whitworth threads (3/32", 1/8" ), which were difficult enough to obtain back then. I substituted various BA threads instead, but you do need to have some idea of what the best size substitute is for each fastening.I've recommended the Trojan a few times in the past, but having been reminded of the Whitworth threads I'm not sure I would do so again. I know taps. dies and even fastenings are available in small BSW sizes, but when would you ever use them again after making the Trojan ?

In summary - buy the plans on their own first, and study them to be sure you have the equipment (both machine and hand tools), and sufficient skills, before you lash out lots of money on the very expensive castings.

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 06/03/2022 12:44:26

I used to use the spare wheel of my car - pump it up at the garage, make an adaptor with a tap on it  to go on the tyre valve, and use a bit of hose to connect the adaptor to the model. Not sure if it would give enough pressure to run your model for a reasonable time, but it worked for me before I got a compressor.

Pro-tip - don't get a puncture on your way back to the garage to refill your tyre...

Edited By Bob Unitt 1 on 06/03/2022 12:25:06

I'm the same, except not quite so many books a month (10-ish). Another consideration is the space to store them all - I buy reference and technical information in physical-book form (I currently have about 10 yards of bookshelf in use for engineering, woodworking, model-making and other 'technical' books), if I added the space needed for a further 10 fiction books a month I'd soon have no room in which to live. I used to take a couple of tea-chests of books to the second-hand bookshop every year when I was younger, most of the money received usually being spent on more books before I left !

A further consideration is ecological - an e-book doesn't require trees to be felled and waste-products to be recycled, it just uses a (very small) amount of electricity.

I too have trouble finding the right words to use as search terms sometimes, far easier to ask real people who might know what I'm talking about, rather than an algorithm written by someone else with a completely different mind-set.

Here's the Carraige Stop I made for my Myford 254. No automatic lathe-stopping or anything, it's mainly to prevent me running into the chuck when roughing-out by hand. No changes made to the lathe itself, it just clamps around the top and bottom of the ways. It consists of a holder with a clamp on the lathe centre-line, with 4 different length rods (adjustable) to set the actual stop position (which acts on the centre of the saddle).

First picture shows the holder with clamp, and the four stop-rods.

Second picture is a close-up of the holder.

Third picture is the carraige-stop in use, with the saddle stopped by it.

What's a "spline chunk" ? Google has never heard of it...

Sigh...

Find yourself a new optician. I have several pairs of glasses for different purposes, and I've had new lenses (in one case, just the one eye) fitted on all of them.

Can't find anything called 'Trefelux' on Google, so I assume you're talking about 'Trefolex' ? If so, where did you get the idea that it's specifically for stainless ? I can't find anything on Google saying that, just that it's sold for the 'drilling, tapping & reaming' of 'metals and plastics' (Cutting Compound 2KG (2.5LTR) ByTrefolex). I've used it for years, on everything from nylon to gauge-plate.

Here's the finished and painted Lady Stephanie, complete with plinth:-

I have some video of it running (.mov files) but can't upload them to my Albums. Does anyone know of somewhere that would host them so I could link to them here ?

So they don't want any new customers !?

I was recently told by my supplier that Calor are no longer supplying new bottles, just replacing ones you already have. Has anyone else encountered this, or is it just local to west Wales ?

When we bought our new cooker (LPG) I made sure it didn't need electricity in order to ignite - came in very useful in our 24-hour power outage, along with having an open fire in the sitting room.

Way back when I worked in a factory (my first job after leaving school in the 60's) they had a huge tank of hot Trichloroethylene for dipping stuff in to be degreased, in wire baskets. The tank was tall enough to need a little stepladder. As the 'new guy' I used to have to take stuff to the 'trike tank' and dip it for my colleagues. I also smoked like a chimney back then. Needless to say I had a cigarette in my mouth while dipping one day, inhaled, and passed out - fortunately I fell back off the ladder rather than forward into the tank.

'Health and Safety' wasn't quite such a thing back then...

I use a paste called Trefolex that I picked up at an exhibition 25 years ago (!). It still works as well as the day I bought it, and I still have an unopened spare pot.