Member postings for Jesse Hancock 1

Being left to our own devices in the wilds of Australia there was no end of nonsensicle things we did as kids it really does amaze me that I am still alive today. One thing which we did try was shoving a live 303 bullet into the hole for stringing wire in a concrete fence post and then trying to get it to go off using anything our imaginations dredged up. Sticks, stones, iron bars, bricks.

We were lucky I guess but we couldn't get that thing to blow not no how.

A whole gang of us kids ran around in an eight foot diameter rusty bottomed water butt for weeks. We took that thing everywhere like good little hamsters which goes show you don't always learn anything useful from your peers and elders aye?

Another time we made big a corregated iron sheet into a boat. It took the best part of a day and bucket load of sweat beating that thing into shape and folding the ends tightly so as to be water tight. Then we dragged it for about two miles to the nearest beach where ...well it didn't sink exactly because it never floated. Even standing in it bailing with empty paint tins like possed maniacs didn't get us sailing.

Ah to be a kid again with all that boundless energy.

Some time ago people in England would seek out their favourite cigarette from the local shops.

It's an odd concept in that broken into it's basic constituents one cigarette was more or less exactly the same as the next. Given this knowledge people were still willing to pay twice or three times the amount for a different brand just because they felt some sort of affliation with their particular brand.

When I was a teen I bought Ladybird Jeans because in all honesty Levi's never fitted me as well and were easily half the price of Levi's. Were they as good... Darn right they were. In my veiw they wore longer and better. Shame was that due to the fashion conscious people buying Levi's, Ladybird (a British company) went to the wall or at least the brand did. Same with Stukeys their ordinary cotton shirts were every bit as good as Ben Sherman but Shermans sold more than Stuckeys. The same can be said for their jeans and at fifteen bob a pair as against seven quid for a pair of Levi's to me there was no comparison. I could fall off my A10 with gay abandon and not be too concerned if I managed to tear a hole in my jeans.

As for Mitutoyo I still have one 6" and one 8" vernier which I hardly ever use because they are pre electronic. With an electronic readout I don't have to strain my eyes or worry as to wether I missed a division. Reading an electronic device takes out a lot of guess work and I assume that goes for most of us on here.

Now if you're worried about your (brand) of mitutoyo not reading correctly then you can have them caliberated as there is usually one or two little companies around which will caliberate all your measuring equipment. They will surely tell you when your micrometer or vernier is out of wack.

It might even disuade the young ones using a micrometer as a small G clamp! Yep I caught my more adventurous lad doing just that and using a vernier for undoing a large slotted screw cap because you (I) haven't got a big enough flat bladed screw driver dad and I can't find the three foot steel rule!

PS: As a final observation two minutes ago I was holding a vernier in my hand which was a gift from Model Engineer just because I ordered a years supply of the magazine. I have tested this unbranded vernier against my branded ones and guess what there is no difference on the read out.

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 29/03/2015 12:55:16

Hi Roy, I have a little space round mine... at least I feel sure I can squeeze a bike or two round the back if you're that tight for space.

I'm not against guns just the nutters which get hold of them from time to time. I wouldn't say the Police here are paronoid about guns but it has been known for people to be shot carrying such things as table legs in public.

I remember headlines in Oz similar to "Son thought his father was a kangaroo while out hunting. Father on life support." Yeah right just another shooting accident. The problem with guns is the results can be a bit too final. That said I'm sure you will have plenty of interest here on the subject all be it a bit one way.

Oh and welcome aboard.

Robert Van,

If there's a clear difference then why have I read else where that people have a job telling the difference at sight and in use?

One of my earlier guises was as a quality engineer and what I found was that the human factor was the greatest deviation in any cap study. Training and familiarity with the tool are the key to consistant output when using hand tools be they verniers, spanners, files or anything else.

Personally price and utility win the day with my choices but if you wish to buy Mitutoyo thats your affair and I won't knock it.

Love the roller blades. Would ice skates be okay?

I'm not tall anyway but for those who find they are a bit too tall just give it a few years and you will find that it's not quite as far to the ground as it used to be. Or you can always wear leather slippers as the soles are thinner than on boots but don't forget to sew in toe caps.

When is a fake not a fake?

Mitutoyo have given up trying to police fakes as one assumes there are so many. Other people report it's hard to tell the difference in look and use between Mitutoyo and a fake. Fake only in name then?

Sounds like it's time for Mitutoyo to review their product, drop unnecessary processes and finishes and drop their prices. Unless they wish to have a Rolls Royce on their hands. Or do a Black and Decker: They used to have hand tools in Grey plastic (Amateur) which were cheaper than those in Green plastic (Professional). However they were both the same underneath. Naughty.

Personally I always preferred Jaguar but have to admit I never had a Rolls Royce and I guess it will be the same when it comes to veniers etc.

Swarf Mainly,

I had my tongue in my cheek when I wrote that... The Pilot boat has a recommended engine size of 1 to 5cc or a suitable electric motor. Sealion is 30cc. I suppose I could shoe horn the sealion in but I wouldn't want to risk drowning it in such a small hull. My main dilemma is finish the boat or keep plodding on with the sealion. I think it's sealion.

Yesterday I was given a Lesro Kit of a Pilot boat partly started I guess you'd say. I was half way through machining the cylinders for my Wesbury Sealion.

I immediately turned my brain to jelly wondering what the guy expected me to do with it in terms of when rather than how since I am a boat enthusiast. I remember making a Vic Smeed V hulled design back in about 1966, I think it was a Remora which was the last hard shine design I tackled prefering round bilge boats to tea tray water skippers.

The second thing I did yesterday with no result, was try and find a cable to connect my phone to the complicator and thus take piccys to post on here. Hence no piccys of gift horses either.

I guess I will console myself with taking an inventory of the kit parts and who knows it might be complete enough to finish.

PS: In case you're wondering I doubt the sealion will fit under the deck head.

Edited By JasonB on 26/03/2015 13:07:55

What I find irritating is doing the washing or driving in town or the editor on here, not discussion on a subject which is perhaps only of interest by a minority sure but it's all part of the tapestry guys. So, long may we debate the varied aspects of this hobby.

We could call it the German inch, or the 4th Reich inch

Not while the Camerooon Clan rules pal. Wheel have teh call it the bonny Highland inchey.

But yeah I've already got a set of BA spanners AF spanners Whitworth spanners Metric spanners and not forgetting taps and dies to suite. I could mention Philips and Posi drive and straight screw drivers to which you can add all those wonderful hex sets which most modern goods including cars are screwed together with. Self tapping and no thread needed types too. (naughty you're not supposed to open that, type of threads and drivers)

But hey if we didn't have all this crud to play with what would we do, build stuff? Come on be realistic.

PS: We'll just add it to everything else while the Acme company down the road caters for all those who haven't got that elusive what the hell is it thread??!!

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 26/03/2015 08:24:20

As far as window panes are concerned you'll have a job finding someone to do it today. Most of it is done on machines, you just order what size you want and pick it up when ready.

As for compasses and so on you might try slide covers or similar. They are very thin but I suppose you might be able to use a few together after sealing the edges??

I was dragged up in South Australia where a walk in the hills around Blackwood revealed huge boulders of iron ore just sitting there on the surface some the size of a house! Put a couple of chunks in the old ute and Bob's your Gallar but I guess they wouldn't be worth much though aye Danny?

The day I came back here I swore I'd get back to Oz one day. However I'm still here in Brissol with my hopes fading away as time passes.

Talking about postage and time lag: On the back of comics back in the sixties there used to be an advert for staging your own invasion of a Pacific island using land sea and air forces game. It was all very exciting to me back then so I saved up my pocket money and sent off to America to get this wondrous game.......About six months later it arrived in a small cardboard box about the size of two packets of twenty fags. Was I disappointed? You can bet I was. It was a game of Battle ships using small ship tokens instead of a pencil and crosses

The bell punch and live centre I ordered arrived today so I gave them both a twirl. I love the Bell punch as it takes any guess work out of centre punching on round bar and is quick and easy to use.

I then set up a piece of Meehanite using the bell punch and setting it on the new live centre. The live centre is a 100% improvement on the old static centre. However I may have spotted an Achilles heal as there is a gap at the business end which could easily allow dust (particularly Meehanite dust) into the bearing.

I grubbed around in the kitchen and turned up a plastic spray starch cap which I fitted galosher like or rubber over-shoe to encase the live centre. I bored a hole in the end leaving a tight fit on the sharp end of the centre and presto one dust cover.

Well chuffed I am too.

Change your name to Oopsa Daisy and see how you get on then mate.

My latest was in modifying that pack of drills I bought at the Sunday Market. These things were supposed to be of German origin, my arse! Let me explain. Each drill had a hexagonal sleeve to engage, I suppose, in a fancy snap in drill chuck .

The draw back was that the tip of each drill scribed an orbit depending on how well the piece had been assembled with it's hexagonal sleeve. Fine I suppose if you wish to drill and bore small holes of no particular size at one in the same time!

The Remedy! I popped one in the lathe and chewed the offending soft hexagonal sleeve away to see what lay beneath. Aha! An ordinary twist drill lay naked before my eyes. I pressed on the £3.00 purchase would after all be an investment instead of a waste. WRONG! The lathe tool dug in and since I have replaced the bearings in the lathe with taper rollers something else had to give. It was the cutting tool of course and like a true burke I tried another one just convince myself that what had happened was caused by the wobbly sleeve and not due to any movement of the lathe.

I was right again dag nav it!! Now given an hour or two on the 6" grinder I may be able to reshape the tips and salvage the day but like they say a reject costs twice as much as a first time good-un.

I think I'll change my avatar to Bits and Pieces.

Without researching the reasons why British steel codes haven't changed is that the specifications don't change. Other countries like Australia and USA produce good steel and seem to have kept the same codes as the British.

Steel can be likened to cooking with varying ingredients depending on requirements and so, as needs change new steels are concocted to fill the gap.

Maybe the Chinese and Indians have found Kraptenite and have decided to recode their products accordingly.

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 15/03/2015 08:39:18

ChrisH : My desk was always clean and smelt of polish but then I hardly ever sat at the darn thing. The other one at school had quite a few scars which made interesting reading when in an RE lesson or some other boring nonsense.

Dave: For anyone who thinks freely understands that fearing God was a way of getting the general population to cow tow to those in power.

Today they think up other plans to get you to toe the line.

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 08/03/2015 12:10:46

I was always told that you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs and of course this can be applied to making more or less anything.

Cleaning up after yourself is very necessary on many different levels which I don't intend listing here but it really helps in the main to take stock of where your project and your machinery are. It gives one a chance to scrutinise wear and tare more closely. It gives you a chance to think about what you'll need when you next start work.

Well that's what I do when cleaning up.

The revelation should be that a brush will last much longer than cling film and so in general terms a brush is more economical.

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 08/03/2015 11:28:18

Assuming you're a complete novice to hanging doors and changing frames :

My take is get a professional in to do the job depending on how many doors / frames your intend to replace / repair.

Be careful with who you employ! A good chippy will make good before he goes leaving redecorating and perhaps some dusting for you to do.

PS: Sounds like a power planer would be a better tool for you.

Edited By Jesse Hancock 1 on 07/03/2015 06:31:29

When first married me and mine had silk sheets on the bed, I think they were a wedding gift.

I remember messing around between the sheets play fighting and what not. Anyway the trouble and strife shot out her side and kissed the bedside cabinet good night. It was all taken in good spirit and she only laughed, I laughed myself breathless.

Learnt a good lesson on friction or lack of it that night.