Member postings for James Alford

I certainly need to do something. There is one Echo in the house, one in the garage and the plug in the garage. There is booster in the conservatory which is as close to the garage as I can get. Perhaps another in the garage would help.

James

I have one in the garage along with a "smart plug" which controls the lights. In theory, I can ask the Echo in the kitchen to turn the lights on in the garage, ready for when I get there and then off again from indoors. The trouble is that it is so unreliable that I frequently get told that it is not responding and end up going out again to switch the lights off manually. It is a really good concept, but seems to be unreliable at present.

Regards,

JAmes.

I use a straight 30 weight oil on my Flexispeed's headstock. I fitted a pair of small drip feeders and fill those. It seems to be work all right. I did use 3-in-1, but it seem to run out of the headstock too quickly and fly everywhere. The 30 weight is less prone to this.

I can post a picture of the tailstock and drill arbour later, but, like you, I have failed to find a commercial fitting that will fit. I was lucky that an arbour came with my lathe.

Regards,

James.

I certainly use Whitworth, and BSF, spanners as I am slowly rebuilding an Austin Seven which uses these. I have a small selection of spanners in these forms, but never seem to have the right one.

James.

I bought an Orazio low noise oilless silent 24l compressor from e-bay a few years ago. They are now £150.00 It is quiet enough to hold a conversation still when it is running. It runs a pencil die grinder and a small US Pro die grinder comfortably. It also powered my compressed air-propane torch easily. It was good value for money.

James

Try Renaissance Wax. I did a lot of work with copper a few years ago and it was highly effective at delaying any tarnishing of the surface. It is apparently used by museums, but whether that it just advertising exaggeration or not, I cannot say.

James.

I agree entirely. I used to do stats analysis for a living. It was quite surprising how even the selective choice of mean, median and mode for the "average" could change the narrative of the figures.

Regards,

James.

No: you do not need a different dimmer, unless we happened to have the right type already. I fitted dimmable LED bulbs to replace some filament bulbs and the existing dimmer switch worked perfectly.

James.

Old bicycle spokes. It is amazing how often I seem to use one for "something".

James.

How well does it handle? I had a two litre Vitesse and the handling was scary until I fitted a swinging rear leaf spring from the very last models. It lowered the rear end somewhat, but utterly transformed the handling.

James.

"If a digital calliper, or DRO, gives odd readings, removing the battery for a minute, (Advised in the leaflet that comes with the calliper ) or cleaning the scale usually cures the problem, in my experience."

Mine have a habit of randomly deciding to display what appears to be half of the actual measurement and need the battery taking out regularly. It is really irritating.

JAmes.

Geoff: are you are referring to the compound slide which is used to turn tapers? If so, my Flexispeed came with an aftermarket version which is secured by central screw rather than a lug and a screw at the side. It is not the most robust piece of equipment that I have seen, but it does stay securely in place when being used.

Or am I completely misunderstanding your question and the problem?

James.

I am intrigued by what aspect of the top slide that you find unsatisfactory.

James.

Michael: I see what you mean by "reassuringly expensive", but there are some good ideas there. Thank you.

Trevor: thank you for the details of your two vices, but I think that they will be too large, sadly. I shall have a look at the Arceuro and Proops products, though. Thank you for the suggestions.

Regards,

James.

Not at all. Thank you, Michael.

Regards,

James.

Thank you for the compliments.

A drilled and tapped plate would be a useful addition. Thank you for the suggestion.

Trevor: may I ask how large the vice is? The cross-slide on the Flexispeed is diddy, being just 2" wide.

Regards,

James.

Quite some time ago, I asked for information about making a milling attachment:: I have finally finished making one now for my Flexispeed. The lash-up with the plastic wing nut and the spacers is temporary until I can buy a suitable 6mm cap screw or bolt of the correct length.

I was uncertain how rigid it would be or whether the 70 watt sewing machine motor would be suffiiently powerful to be useful. I am pleasantly surprised as the device can take fairly deep cuts, produce a reasonable finish and the motor does not stall. The finish is lot better than I was getting when I used the vertical slide as a conventionaI slide with the cutter on the lathe spindle. I am confident that with patience, I should be able to do small jobs effectively.

All I need now is a small vice to attach to the cross-side. Does anyone have anything suitable which they would consider selling?

Regards,

James.

Edited By James Alford on 14/03/2021 18:42:50

Resurrecting a old thread of mine: I have been working on other things, but now am thinking about this engine again.

I have sketched out the attached plan, taking the dimensions and general layout from information on the internet. Whether they are good or not is another matter.

Have I understood it correctly that if I simply use a reversing valve to put steam in the pipes currently labelled "Ex", using the current "In" as the exhaust, the engine will run in reverse? The plan is to make this a twin cylinder, so it should be self-starting.

Regards,

James.

Thank you. That explains why I could not find it.