Member postings for Nick Wheeler

An electronically fired coil pack(whether it's one per engine or plug) is a massive improvement over the 'it just about sort of works' distributor. Anyone who has fitted a mapped, distributorless ignition to an older engine will know the benefits of better starting/running/drivability/economy/emissions and reliability.

My Dad says that when he worked for Foster Clarks, their own internal quality control was stricter than all of the big-name contracts, simply because they got to decide how the money got spent and where the profit came from.

Most of us are only casual buyers - a new car every few years, or one lathe per lifetime - so our experience and advice arising from it is largely subjective and anecdotal. And that's without personal dogma, like not buying Chinese or I'll never own a Ford, which ought to be instantly discounted but rarely is.

Are you a restorer that has to put things back to how it was no matter how bad the original design, or can you change things? Replacing the aluminium channels with plastic would be an example.

We see this counter productive idea a lot with church bells, where we're frequently forced to patch up old and worn out wooden frames or fittings simply because they're old, rather than replace them with modern parts that would render the bells good for another 150years without any extra work.

The Corsair was powered by a V4 version of Ford UK's Essex engine.

Ford Germany simultaneously produced similar capacity V4 and V6 Cologne engines that share only the basic design ideas, but have no interchangeable components.

I'm with Clive: eight new whitworth screws are about £2 and a couple of minutes at any industrial supplier - as long as you know what to ask for! Making square headed ones just to avoid occasionally having to clean the key holes is pure masochism.

I use Dextron 3 automatic transmission fluid on my lathe and mill as I had about 3litres left from topping up the transmission of a car I no longer own. Current use suggests I've about ten years supply....

The truth is that any thin oil will be good enough for the job, especially if you use it frequently.

It's just the electronic equivalent of fitting one wiring loom for all the cars, but not the equipment - I fitted factory front foglights and auto dipping rear view mirror to my 1992 BMW 525 by removing the blanking covers and plugging them into the wiring behind. My 1979 Chrysler Sunbeam was the same; cigarette lighter, clock, panel dimmer and foglights were all easy additions.

The German manufacturers would charge you for the air the car ingests driving off the delivery transporter if they thought they could get away with it.

If replacing the screws, I'd go for flush fitting grub screws so they don't stick up. That's something I've been meaning to do to all of my QC holders for some time. Picking grot out of the internal hexes when I loosen them every few years doesn't matter, whereas they do collect swarf every time they're used.

the other side of that is the QCTP and the 14 tool holders are the best value tooling I've bought for use on and around the mill and lathe. My opinion is that a QCTP should be high up the list of necessities for anyone who intends to actually use the machine.

Why not measure them so you can source them locally and cheaply?

All it takes is a caliper - which you'll need to use the machine - and a thread gauge.

Serious answer - because it is just more clutter for the eye to not focus on.

Replace it with the "The magazine for....." strapline.

The issue number doesn't need to be repeated with the month.

Lose the website address, anyone likely to use it will already have the mag in their hands.

The "Shows are back" headline is enough by itself.

Similarly, "Win an English wheel"

The list at the bottom should be more concise; "Laurie's lockdown project", "Stan Bray's classic optical punch", "Converting a CNC mill to manual???"

The photo is an excellent example of what not to use as it's hugely cluttered but also has loads of wasted space and it's hard to see what the central machine is with all the overlapping items.

When cutting a thread, the stock needs to be smaller than the nominal diameter. As an example, the M5screws I've just made were turned down to about 4.9mm before I even considered getting the die out of the box.

3/8" is about 9.5mm, so your stock is about 1mm too large.

The procedure is misnamed, as the lathe doesn't need to be level to turn accurately.

But to adjust it efficiently an easily acheivable(and easily repeatable) baseline is needed. And that's all you're doing with the most precise level you have.

As a beginner, fitting a hobby machine to its stand, or the bench it will live on, and just using it without stressing about the level has a lot to recommend it. There are more useful things for you to expend your efforts on.

My WM250 isn't even bolted to the bench, as I need to get in the cupboard next to the headstock and swing the bed away from the mill table when using that.

It's a mess:

too many horizontal lines breaking up the page.

that's made even worse by the captions and pictures that aren't horizontal

far too many extra words in tiny fonts that repeat the captions

what is the picture supposed to show? It looks like I took it, and my photography is almost as bad as my singing

english wheels are great machines, but why is he wearing one as a cod piece?

Considering just how little Phosphoric acid is in Coke, I doubt it's cheap compared to just buying the acid.

I'm about to make 2 left and one right of these from 10x20 steel and 1/8" bits:

Most aerospace tubing will be aluminium and uses a single flare. Car brake pipes are steel until you need to replace them. Then you'll be using 3/16" kunifer - 4.75mm - and mostly double flares

Oh no.

Just out of interest, how many devices can you use simultaneously?

The Fusion subscription is for your account, not the computer you use the program on. So you can download the program to as many computers as you use.

Mine said the same. It does seem to make the chuck grip a drill better.

So I tighten all three jaws on the lathe chuck when I think the part would benefit from more security - like roughing out a fresh piece of stock. I don't do it on fragile, already machined parts.