Member postings for SillyOldDuffer

Not just EIM it seems. Which recent ME article contains the phrases:

"It must be admitted however that the vast amount of money we are spending on wind turbines does somewhat reduce fossil fuel use when they are working. Sadly, the only 'wind of change' likely to blow through this industry is the wind produced by the verbal output of delegates at Global Warming Conferences."

"The psychology of solar panel owners is interesting. I once told a friend that, with his solar power output, it would take thirty years to repay the debt. He then said that he really didn't mind, because it made him feel so much better."

"British Governments have been so convinced that carbon dioxide emissions were damaging the world's climate and that they agreed to unrealistic emission targets."

"So much for the ever closer union in Europe"

"May I make a plea that we seriously think about the advantages - and not only the disadvantages - of the changes that may be encountered"

It might be me being grumpy again, but I distrust anything that mixes good facts with un-evidenced opinion. All too often it turns out to be propaganda!

Cheers,

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 24/06/2016 17:13:12

As the pound lost 10% of it's value overnight this might be a very good time to buy some new kit and spares. Imports will be more expensive until the pound recovers. I hope that doesn't take too long.

Poor Ken. Being in a quandary about the size of mill / lathe he wants is typical Model Engineer angst.

I think you should help Ken out by showing him what a really good workshop looks like. So you have to completely refit your own workshop with the biggest and best kit money can buy. I know this is bad news but grit your teeth and crack on Remember you are only doing it because you love your daughter...

Nice work Paul - your daughter will enjoy playing with that. Now Barbie has her bookshelf you'll have make a complete model workshop for Ken. I've heard he's the jealous type.

Cheers,

Dave

I'm amazed at your naivety chaps. I don't have a workshop and strongly recommend that you don't have one either...

Cheers,

Dave

Gardening...

The fuse is fine. Last time it blew I replaced it with an old horseshoe for luck.

Dave

You can't trust any of those modern Pedant Switches to do a good job. My 1928 Mark VII Boring Pedant insists we talk octets, preferably in Latin.

Huge apologies for being a super-swot, but isn't it lower case k for kilo?

Cheers,

Dave

Being a cheapskate I've used a car tyre foot pump with a plastic lemonade bottle as receiver to turn a small engine. Make two nozzles to fit through the bottle cap and connect between pump and engine with aquarium tubing. Cheap and cheerful and you get a real sense of how much work you have to do to keep a even small engine running.

I've not managed to burst a bottle yet. Blood vessels yes - exercise isn't my thing!

Dave

The link reveals this peculiar statement: "Peak Horsepower represents a level at or below the maximum horsepower output of an electric motor tested in a laboratory using a dynamometer".

Presumably it means that they got 6HP out of the motor by overloading it with lots of volts and amps.

Without saying how long the motor lasted at an output of 6HP, it's pretty meaningless. If the motor ran for an hour at 6HP I'd be impressed. More likely something melted in short order.

Has anyone here boosted a standard car engine or model engine with nitrous oxide or similar? How much extra oomph did you get and how long did the engine last?

Cheers,

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 18/06/2016 19:54:32

Hi Ian,

I just bought a mixed pack of 3000, 5000 and 7000 wet and dry. I spotted them on Amazon while looking for 2500 (which works well) and bought them as an experiment.

They're marked "Matador Wasserfest, Starcke, SiliciumCarbid, Waterproof, Made in Germany".

7000 grit feels slightly more abrasive than an ordinary sheet of paper. No idea yet if they are worth the money.

Cheers,

Dave

Been there done that Brian!

I'm on my second Stirling and they both needed light oil on the cylinder to run at all. However, now the first engine is well run-in and much polished, it works best without oil. Now that it goes as it should, Ian is quite right : after a bit the oil gums up and stops the engine.

After 3 days work I've just got my second engine to the point where the piston doesn't need oil. Unfortunately there's more to do - some of the bearings are still too sticky for good running.

I think, as first built, that my engines aren't as smooth as they could be. Repeated cycles of "oil, run, clean" help polish up the rough bits until the engine no longer needs oiling. Someone more skilled than me probably gets closer to perfection straight off the lathe than I do, but then I am just a learner.

Cheers,

Dave

That's nothing. When you buy a railway ticket there's no guarantee of a seat, or even that the train will run at all!

I empathise with your frustration though. Who hasn't wasted a day or two waiting for a delivery that failed to turn up? All I can say is that it was much worse when it was hard for me to take time off work. Now I'm retired and master of my day stuff usually gets to me on time.

Tracking can be fun. Last year I watched an urgently needed part progress from order to despatch into a surprisingly complicated delivery chain. I got really excited when it got to my local depot but then it all went wrong. I watched the package all the way back through the delivery chain until it got to a returns depot in Scotland!

Before I had time to complain the following morning the part arrived. My guess is that I'd been sent a replacement as soon as the delivery system had reported a problem. Possibly the first package had been damaged in transit.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 17/06/2016 13:26:28

Hi Mick,

Your symptoms could be due to faulty hardware. "I've had loads of glitches with emails, copying files and photos etc," , followed by trouble connecting to USB devices. Whatever else Windows 10 may be guilty of it doesn't seem to suffer from basic reliability problems.

One common example of a hardware issue that could cause your symptoms is overheating due to a faulty cooling fan or blocked vent. At first the computer behaves erratically. Later on something cooks and the fault becomes permanent.

You mentioned that the machine is only 8 months old. I would ask the supplier to replace or fix it under warranty.

Good luck,,

Dave

Good link from KWIL if you need the real thing. I notice it's a lot cheaper to buy it in bulk - 25 litres is only £70. You could keep it in the bath - what could possibly go wrong?

I'm pretty sure it's not just Sulphuric Acid and water - that purple colour isn't normal! I doubt One Shot would be suitable for any purpose needing uncontaminated acid. The Safety Data Sheet doesn't identify anything other than Sulphuric Acid but that doesn't mean it's pure.

We shouldn't expect too much, it's for unblocking drains.

Cheers,

Dave

Or mils divided by 100.

One Shot Drain Cleaner is 91% Sulphuric Acid. I got mine from B&Q, but I've seen it under various trade names in various plumbing type emporia.

When I wanted some battery acid to top up a damaged car battery, it was unobtainium. Even from my local agricultural garage/tyre/battery place don't keep it. The young chap made me feel like "Grandad trying to buy a gramophone needle for his smartphone" - apparently there isn't much call for loose battery acid these days.

That's me out then!

Cheers,

Dave

Quick report. I lifted the lathe this afternoon and put cut-to-size 5mm thick roofing felt underneath. I ran the lathe up immediately to see if padding with the felt had worked. It had - the vibration point had moved up to 530rpm and the amplitude was much reduced. I guess the lathe is still settling because another test this evening showed another improvement.

Fingers crossed that I don't find tomorrow that weight of the lathe has completely squished the felt. At the moment it's looking good.

Thanks again,

Dave