Member postings for Kiwi Bloke

I always enjoy your posts Dave and know that you can take challenges without getting silly. I think every part of the first quoted paragraph can be challenged. Certainly democratic voting methods are all flawed and do not prevent despots or idiots at the helm and often result in the election of a party that the majority have voted against.

I suggest a reworking of the second paragraph is also true. 'Problem for people is politicians are selfish, emotional, think they know better, and have short-memories. Surprising numbers suffer from disorganised thinking, an affliction worse than dyslexia and discalculia combined!'

Where have the trillions of dollars to stimulate the economy suddenly come from? What about trillions to combat this disease more aggressively and prepare for the next one (as BillGates suggested in 2015)? What is being done in many countries may be heroic, but it's often too little, too late, and too chaotic.

Politics aside, Here in NZ, we are also locked down. The only food outlets are supermarkets and 'dairies' Equivalent to 'corner shops'. This means that all the other food providers' cutomers, in addition to the 'usual' customers, are funnelled through a very much smaller number of outlets. These will become 'super-spreader' foci. What happens when a worker in one of these outlets gets infected? There will be others, not yet symptomatic. Should the outlet be shut? The answer has to be yes, but what then?

At present, with cases increasing, it makes sense to make any anticipated visit to a food outlet (or anywhere else) as soon as possible: the probability of infection is currently low, but it's increasing rapidly. Sorry if this causes panic.

OK, I'll kick off an argument...

Why a toothed belt? Even a link-V-belt can transmit enough torque for a not-very-rigid, little lathe. Poly-Vee belts run more smoothly and cooler than simple V-belts and can transmit more torque. Making the required pulleys is easier too - a kit is even available. Retaining the option of altering motor : spindle gearing by belt-swapping is still a good idea for a VFD drive, to retain good low-speed torque.

OK, it seems that there's some sort of unfortunate interaction between web site HTML code, browser, ad-blocker and a triggering advertisement. It seems bass-ackwards to blame the ad-blocker. No ad = no problem. One should not have to accept problems resulting from trying to prevent unwanted content invading one's computer. Grrr!

Agreed. Governments are no longer the servants of the people. There's little evidence that they wish to be caretakers of the people either. People are votes, so people-pleasing decisions are made, and short-term ones at that. 'The economy' - whatever that is - must grow, apparently at all costs. Like all bureaucracies, the prime purpose is to remain in position and to gain more control. Politicians believe what they want to hear and ignore what they don't like or don't understand. Bill Gates' TED talk of 2015 predicted this and suggested ways forward. It was ignored. Perhaps this will wake up the sheeple and make them demand that scientists be listened to.

Sorry, I haven't got a No.1, but in smaller and larger Record vices, the spring is an entirely non-critical, ultra-crude anti-backlash component. Anything that can be made to fit should be OK, or you could even fit a tube. A spring is, however, preferable because it will take some of the rattle out of the vice.

Same problem here: Linux and Firefox, AdblockPlus on or off, so difficult to understand why Adblock Plus is thought to be the culprit. Quite a lot of scripts blocked, most being trackers or site analytics, and, of course Farcebook, which pokes its unwelcome nose into everything. So this site can be assumed to be seeking revenue (or some other advantage) by selling our details or trying to force us to see advertisements. I'm not going to allow scripts just to clear what seems to be a minor formatting problem. I hate any attempt to force my machine to do what I don't want it to do, particularly when there's no way of knowing what the script actually does. All these unnecessary scripts make me mad!

What does the panel think are the pros and cons of resilient mounts versus rigid fixing into a (concrete) floor? Do resilient mounts tend to damp low-amplitude machine vibrations and/or encourage large-amplitude rocking movements?

In shaky NZ, it's a good idea to have some method of preventing the machines taking a walk across the workshop. This doesn't disqualify resilient mounts, however, if, say, safety straps are added.

Just another thought, sparked by NDIY. The oil level should be about half-way up the sight glass (IIRC there is one...). I'd expect this level to be below the bottom of the semi-circular cut-out in the end of the casting - the worm really only has to dip into the oil. So is the leak in fact from one of the tapped holes, which has been drilled right through, into the oil resevoir? A bit of thread sealant will fix that.

Oh, gaskets are sooo last century...

I'd suggest either a neutral-cure silicone 'instant gasket' or a non-setting sealant like Hylomar, or Red or Golden Hermetite (if they are still available). No cutting or fitting needed and no risk of moisture, absorbed in the gasket material, causing corrosion. If using silicone, only a tiny bead is needed (eg from an hypodermic syringe without a needle), around where the oil may 'come over the top'; be careful to get 'neutral-cure', otherwise it will be the type that releases acetic acid on curing which can cause quite spectacular corrosion (ask me how I know...).

I don't know the composition of Flexoid sheet, so can't comment on its suitability, but, if you want to keep the machine 'period', oiled brown paper makes pretty good, cheap, gaskets, when the mating surfaces can be assumed to be well-finished and flat. (Oiled so corroding moisture doesn't get in.)

As others have said, be careful about replacement screws. 'Fraid I can't remember the details, but the screws in one big Record vice I reconditioned had a countersink included angle of less than 90 degrees and were of a finer pitch than I expected. I was expecting Whit. or possibly UNC, but they were possibly finer than BSF. Had to make new ones.

Pushing a taper cock-eyed into a hole is different from just letting it fall in. In the first case, there's a sideways force trying to maintain the lack of alignment, so the end of the tap is subjected to a force it wasn't really designed for. A taper tap needs a push, to get thread engagement, and hence self-feeding, established. Larger holes allow more misalignment.

I hate starting taper taps by hand, unguided, especially littlies, because I find it almost impossible to feel when the tap is aligned properly. If the hole can be deep enough, one can counterbore at the thread's OD and start the thread with a 2nd tap. It will be pretty-well aligned. I find I rarely use taper taps anyway. One day, I'll make a set of short guides - just blocks or cylinders drilled the OD of the tap, to be hand-held on the work-piece surface.

If you really need to backwards-turn, try to resist until the thread-cutting is well established: very little swarf is generated in the first few turns. I have broken more taps when turning backwards than forwards. It's not surprising, if you think about what's happening. Spiral, or spiral-point taps are so much better.

Edited By Kiwi Bloke on 23/03/2020 22:44:49

NZ enters UK-style lock-down tomorrow. There's a distinct risk that boredom and frustration will make my future posts even more irritable, pedantic, argumentative and generally unhelpful. You have been warned. However, please accept my advance apologies.

Blimey! If there was wax in the middle ear the poor beast was in real trouble! (But I know what you meant.)

Beware the ear syringe. If the external canal is occluded with wax, you can't see that the eardrum is intact. Syringing wax, debris and water through a perforated drum, into the middle ear, is not a good thing to do... Wax dispersants are so much better. Sodium bicarbonate (1%, IIRC) solution was favoured by the NHS ENT people.

Forgot to say that internally-notched belts, being more flexible, run considerably cooler. Modern belts can take 60C running temp OK, but their life will be roughly halved.

It used to be possible (may still be for all I know) to buy special vice jaw screwdrivers. These were stubby things, of hexagonal section, to take a wrench and/or cross-drilled for a tommy bar. The 'other' end was pointed, intended to sit in the slot of the opposite jaw's screw. The driver was engaged with the screw ro be removed, and located in the opposite screw by gently tightening the vice. Cam-out prevented! You might be able to use one of the screwdriver bits intended for magnetic drivers, etc., but a larger diameter is better for the gorilla-like forces usually required.

Here in NZ, things haven't really taken off with a vengeance. Yet. Neighbours opposite have just returned from two weeks somewhere in Africa with their children. They are self-isolating, as advised. However, granny, who lives locally, is being helpful, seeing the kids, etc.. Her car has been outside for hours on several days...

Living truly isolated is going to be exceptionally difficult. Please try to be a bit more intelligent than our neighbours.

Edited By Kiwi Bloke on 22/03/2020 22:59:24

...or the belt slipping. However, its more likely because V-belts heat up simply by deformed by their having to flex around the pulleys. Worse if the pulley is of small diameter and/or the belt speed is high, and, of course, the heat builds up as long as the belt runs, until heat loss mechanisms balance the heat input. For machines which run for a long time, hot belts aren't uncommon.

Here in NZ they make the women tough. At our local farmers' supplier, I occasionally buy a 25 kg bag of gypsum, or two. It's usual for the young female assistant to wheel the step-ladder/platform to the appropriate high shelf, scurry up the ladder and retrieve them. They look a bit surprised when I chivalrously insist that I carry them (the bags of gypsum, I mean...) out to my vehicle. Even though I may look like Methuselah's dad, I can still throw 25kg around easily. I used to find 1cwt bags an easy lift, but those days are gone... I was told by an elderly Scottish farmer that, when he was young, 1 1/2 cwt sacks of grain were the norm. Calculations have been done regarding the speed that the ancient Greek triremes must have gone, to cover the distances recored in ancient texts. It's suggested that the oarsmen (slaves) were far stronger, and had far more stamina than modern athletes. We've gone soft!

Edited By Kiwi Bloke on 22/03/2020 09:42:35

Edited By Kiwi Bloke on 22/03/2020 09:47:52

Oh! good grief! How does one design such a thing, let alone make it so beautifully? Having followed the links, nothing will ever seem the same as it did. I think I should sell all my gear and grow vegetables...

The prudent pensioners are the section of society most at risk from the virus. Pension fund managers must be thinking 'in every cloud...'. There will be spare capacity in retirement villages. In the future, the seasonal melt-down of the NHS will be mitigated. Perhaps the moderators ought to remove this...