Member postings for Bodger Brian

A few years ago, I visited Waterperry Gardens, where there is a small museum of rural items. In a cabinet there was a mystery item that was thought to be a tool used in the process of grafting plants. Although that one had a trigger mechanism, rather than a plunger, and was made of brass, I wonder if this is a variation on a theme.

**LINK**

Brian

Why not ask the seller? Mind you, that’s not so much fun as speculating

Brian

That certainly applies in my case.

The nearest club to me claims (several times) on it’s website that it’s members have a wide variety of interests but you’d never know it. Most of the pages are about the operation & maintenance of the miniature railway they operate - you really have to burrow down to find any hint of other interests and then it’s less than a handful of photos of non-railway items in a gallery of items on display at the Midlands ME Exhibition.

The next nearest society makes the same claim and once again, the gallery of members’ work is predominately of railway related activity with only a handful of other work on display. At least this one appears to be more welcoming, giving details of where & when meetings take place. You’d never know the first one actually had any meetings apart from when the railway was running.

Although I can see some advantages to joining a club, for me these are outweighed by the disadvantages.

Brian

Are you referring to the LBSC articles or ME in general?

Brian

Thanks. That had crossed my mind but I’d dismissed the idea on the basis that overall was one word.

Brian

OK, I’m going to show my ignorance now. What does OAL mean?

Brian

I'm logged in & I can't see them either. Normally I can see pictures in posts without needing to log in.

Brian

Edited By Bodger Brian on 10/08/2018 09:07:11

I agree entirely that it’s up to indivuals how they they spend their money - that was the point that I was attempting to make. What I was questioning was the assertion that Cowells machines are only for a wealthy few. By that standard, given the prices that are asked for completed models, as well as the monetary worth of the contents of the average workshop seen here, model engineers must rank amongst the mega-rich!

Brian

Maybe your definition of wealthy is different to mine but I'm struggling to see how Cowells machine tools can be claimed to be only available to a wealthy minority, given that the current price for a new ME90 lathe is £2700 +VAT & that locomotives & traction engines are featured in the For Sale section here at prices ranging up to £9000. You only need a decent quality lathe & mill (of whatever make) and you won't be far off of that £2700.

As for Brookes saddles, the most expensive saddle that I can find on their website is priced at £320. Expensive? Yes, but it's not a matter of how much money you have but one of deciding how you spend what you have.

Brian

Edited By Bodger Brian on 08/08/2018 13:13:54

Edited By Bodger Brian on 08/08/2018 13:14:09

Edited By Bodger Brian on 08/08/2018 13:17:11

Politics in the tea-room? No problem

Serious answer......

Benefits are expected to be exactly the same as partaking in this forum.

Brian

Reminds me of the tale that wifey tells about being given a Zimmer frame on wheels when she was in hospital recovering from a bad break of the leg after a horse riding accident. She started off going up & down the ward so fast that they promptly took it away from her. Spoil sports!

Edited By Bodger Brian on 06/08/2018 20:51:10

It may be coincidence but 4 minutes ago I received notification that my request had been approved!

Thanks for the suggestion Derek (which obviously I won’t need to try now) but even now as a new member I can’t see details of admins. Perhaps I was being blocked for reasons of incompetence

Brian

Judging by the general derision directed at Facebook / social media users on these forums back in March, I’m not too hopeful of much response but I’ll give it a try....

Twice over the last couple of months i’ve tried to join the UK Model Engineering group on Facebook. Both times I’ve answered the required questions & both times i’ve had absolutely no response - not even the courtesy of a rejection message. I wondered if the group was dormant (it’s a closed group, so I can’t see if there is any activity) but it claims to have 10+ posts per day. Perhaps I’m deemed to be a spammer, or not worthy enough, but it would be nice to know.

Is anyone here a member of the group who can possibly shed any light on the matter?

Thanks

Brian

A little update.

Mainspring sorted and new suspension spring fitted. The clock now runs with an even beat & without any obvious problem. However.....

Despite adjusting the pendulum bob as low as possible, with the suspension spring also adjusted to it's lowest point, the clock still gains approx 10 minutes per day. My initial thought was that perhaps the new suspension spring is wrong in some aspect (thickness?) but now I've turned my attention to the pendulum.

I'm working on the assumption that the clock is French. Using the formula on the M&P website, I used the figures stamped on the rear plate (4 & 6) to give a pendulum length of 122mm. This gives rise to further questions as the pendulum in the clock is more like 145mm, whereas I was thinking it might be too short.

1) Am I right in my assumption that the clock is French?

2) If so, am I using the right figures for the calculation? (Serial number on the right?)

3) I've recently been told by my father that when his father was still alive, two other people attempted to get the clock working without success. Is this the sort of pendulum that would be expected in a clock like this or is it likely to be non-original?

Any thoughts? I'm very confused!

Brian

Fair comment but I would add a qualification of my own. Rational discussion is one thing but I fail to see the need to use phrases like 'namby-pamby' & 'police state'. Unfortunately as soon as politics rears it's head, rationality usually goes out of the window.

Brian

Just wondering what the opinion is of political views within the forums.

I engage in model engineering and participate in these forums as an escape from the 'outside world' and don't expect to see (or want to see) what another member's political views are, regardless of whether I agree with them or not. If a thread has a title that makes it obvious that it contains politics, fair enough, I can ignore it & move on.

What bugs me is the type of thread about a subject that I'm interested in - I start reading it, and then suddenly I'm faced with unwanted politics. A classic example is the recently revived thread on air guns. Despite a contributor pleading for members not to start a rant about pros & cons of legislation, posts soon appeared doing exactly that!

I lurk in another forum (nothing to do with model engineering) that once had a sub-forum (a bit like the Tea Room) specifically for politics. Unfortunately the sub-forum had to be shut down as it got rather tempestuous and now comments on politics are banned totally. Excellent idea....

Thoughts?

Brian

Thanks for the link Russell but I've managed to locate what I think is a direct replacement spring from Meadows & Passmore. Every dimension of the two end blocks appears to match (it seems to fit & adjust correctly) but I must confess that I haven't checked the thickness of the spring itself. However, I now have a slight diversion to negotiate before I can try it out.

After I let the mainspring down, the end came unhooked from the winding arbor (correct terminology?). I've prised the end cap off the barrel and am having a bit of trouble re-hooking it. Oh, and before anyone says anything, I'm well aware of the dangers of coiled mainsprings - I have no intention of trying to remove it from the barrel unless there is no alternative!

Brian

Just curious - in this context, what is a tadpole?

Brian

Many thanks - it's amazing what can be found on the internet when one knows what to look for! Having researched a bit more, I think it's actually a Vallet suspension. I might be wrong but my understanding is that in a Brocot, a block slides along the spring, effectively altering it's length, whereas in a Vallet the spring is physically raised or lowered so the effective length is what is exposed below the two halves of the assembly - very nicely illustrated at the bottom of page 1 in a post here :-

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=87189

I've disassembled the suspension & ordered a replacement spring but one question remains. There appears to be little or no clearance between the two halves when they are screwed together. I'm concerned that having fitted a new spring I'd immediately wreck it by forcing it through too small a gap if / when attempting to lower it. Should it be lightly lubricated to allow a smooth passage?

Brian