Member postings for Martin Dowing

No.

Hydrogen is better heat conductor because it has smaller molecule and much higher velocity of molecules than air components like oxygen or nitrogen do under the same p/T conditions.

For the same reason argon and even more so heavier noble gases are good heat insulators - slower mooving molecules.

Martin

It is even easier to produce hydrogen by dropping a piece of aluminium to caustic soda solution. This way you can produce it up to any reasonable pressure, eg 200at if done under proper enclosure, eg in empty gas cylinder. Make sure you know what you are doing while attempting that because you may end up like this unlucky chap.

Btw, neighbours of the guy who were talking about something like "nuclear explosion" obviously didn't see one.

Martin

Buy 100 packets, bar your wife from touching them (if you have a wife) and you have got life long supply. They are cheap enough.

Martin

Engineering is an art of compromise. Surely we *can* manufacture packaging materials of sufficienty low environmental impact and degradable fast enough not to bother us. Technology *is* there.

Solution for electrosh*t on the other hand could take a form of compulsory manufacturer warranty for 5 or 10 years to legislate out cheap disposable crap. I have TV 30 years old (Sony Black Trinitron). Quality of reception still beats many modern plasmas and LCDs. It have *never* seen service albeit on 1 occassion I have replaced a fuse myself.

I have also several warm light energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs made 20 years ago. They were 10 queeds each at the time but maybe 2 of 20 are blown by now. Current versions won't last more than a year or two.

Martin

Your maths is off by approximately 1 order of magnitude. More like 0.3 per person per day.

If they want to attack plastic problem, the first place to look at is food packaging industry. For example by setting a standard stating that no more than 0.01% of brutto weight of food can be a plastic.

Return to glass bottles for drinks and force shops by law to accept returns for money deposit. Oblige shops to accept returns without proof of purchase from a given shop. Set a price of bottle high enough to make sure that 95% of consumers pay attention to its value and set final price paid by drink manufacturer for recycled bottle high enough that shops are making profit too. If cheaper to manufacture new than collect recycled, tax new bottles until making new is more expensive. Make unified standard for soft drink bottle, wine bottle etc so they are easy to refill by any manufacturer. The same for jam jars and other common packaging. Permit aluminium for light weight "convenient" drink packaging. It corrodes fast enough and already there is a good incentive to recycle anyway.

Make an exception for biodegradable plastics, eg those easy digestible by microorganisms with environmental halflife less than 6 months or so.

Bans on toothpicks or cotton buds are lipstick on pig but in an era of reign of stupid everything is possible. I wonder when they will legislate in paper condoms.

Martin

Edited By Martin Dowing on 22/04/2018 06:58:06

Edited By Martin Dowing on 22/04/2018 07:03:10

Richard, I disagree with you. You are writting how things *should* work, unfortunately they are working entirely different and we are no longer living in capitalism.

Subsidies are extremely important for businesses now because they are one of last remaining lifelines for them.

So lets beging with our Western banking sector.

Do you really believe that it would still exist in current form without *subsidies* from taxpayer following Lehmann Brothers collapse?

Now look on all these European projects. There are subsidies, EU funds everywhere. Any green, less green and not green at all but politically well connected entity will get EU subsidies for some esoteric green projects.

The same holds true with entities promising innovation. There are countless subsidies there, owners and managers are getting rich enough to buy mansions, luxurious cars and porn star girlfriends but hardly any innovations are coming out of that. One time I wanted to buy an item from engineering company which is thriving on subsidies. Purchasing procedure was so complex that I have realized that I have incurred more cost on this company than any possible profit they could make by selling me ordered item. I have asked manager over the phone why it is so and he was surprisingly honest. I was advised that they are living off EU subsidies, they may not sell anything at all as long as they are keeping up with production of documents as required by Brussels and that it *is* their business model. I have asked "what then?" Answer was "Then we will be rich so we can close down or apply for grants in another project".

Doing business in an honest way is long time gone. Now we are left with fraud, ripoffs, corruption, subsidies etc. This is last show in town before lights go off.

Capitalism no longer exists.

Martin

Edited By Martin Dowing on 06/04/2018 22:25:11

Many thanks for suggestions.

I have purchased spray etchant in specialistic shop supplying car repair businesses. Seller is very confident about its performance.

Yes, it is sometimes good idea to search older threads.

Martin

I have made of aluminium quite nice switchbox dedicated for motor control.

How to paint it? It is known that most of paints do not stick to aluminium and anodizing means much troubles. Chemistry is easy enough but I really want to avoid troubles related to purchasing appropriate chemicals and making appropriate bath, all just to make an odd item looking nice.

So any paints which will stick to aluminum well?

Martin

For those who believe in Sandvik carbide tools/inserts are made in Europe mythology here is an interesting reading:

https://www.home.sandvik/en/news-and-media/newslist/news/1998/03/sandvik-has-inaugurated-the-most-modern-cemented-carbide-tool-factory-in-china/

Don't forget to check the date of this release...

Martin

Edited By Martin Dowing on 05/04/2018 20:26:09

You often don't even know what you are buying. On many occassions you are convinced that you are buying UK goods only to get Far Eastern/Romanian/Bulgarian imports.

I have ML7 lathe so buying spares for it from Myford (Mytholmroyd) or RDG should imply that I am buying UK production. Yet I am quite convinced that custom made Far Eastern or Eastern European imports are usually delivered and all what is done in UK is label sticking and packaging. Quality is often questionable as well, perhaps because cheapest (and crapest) Far Eastern manufacturers are selected and their price still bargained down as much as possible.

Another thing is that for items like carbide inserts, torx screws, boring heads, broaching sets, ACME taps and many others I will not overpay 3-50 fold to keep bureaucrats happier, welfare m(b)ums even fatter and lazier and for immigrants to get more benefits.

By buying it in UK you are usually *not* supporting local manufacturer only cheeky trader who imports it, sometimes sticks "made in UK/EU" label on, rips you off and laugh all the way to bank. If not that it will ofen be a corpo with production facilities in China and some of managers and accountants located here. That is what "made in UK/EU" usually means these days.

For those abhorrified about possible tax evasion:

You can buy carbide inserts £ 0.2 each via Banggood from Netherlands stores and diamond coated grinding discs worth 4 packets of peanuts, countless other similar products all of superb quality. So EU duties paid, all done lege artis and pimps may p**s off.

Martin

DMB & others,

I am not a fan of EU at all. In the past it was great as free market agreement but now it is no more than troubled and failing social engineering project. The faster it goes to dustbin of history, the better. However I would still support former formula, eg free trade agreement.

One way or another countries belonging to so called Western civilization must realize that they no longer have a global influence like used to be in the past. They have constructed defunct socialist/liberal systems no longer competitive on global scene. At the moment it is only a threat of military force, which prevents other nations from grabbing most of wealth and influence but superiority of this military force is already questioned. It was easy enough to bully Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or Serbs but really nothing lasting was achieved and a lot of money gone wasted

Syria is the first place where Americans have suffered conclusive defeat in this century, North Korea seems to be a non starter, Iran too. Relations with Turkey are turning more and more disastrous.

It seems that "democracy", "freedom", "women rights", "gay rights" or any other BS no longer can be exported elsewhere. Interests of huge foreign powers are under threat and further efforts in this direction will only result in trade wars, economic collapse and who knows, maybe even atomic war.

Martin

Did you ever think *why* goods produced in the UK are more expensive than Far Eastern counterparts?

Here is the hint: red tape, taxes, welfare programs, workers rights etc.

Toxic legal environmet have made UK companies uncompetitive. There is no "dumping" from Far East. All what we can see is that better managed economies are succeeding and those overregulated are getting bust.

Bans or tarrifs on imports will *not* make UK companies competitive again. There is a concept known as "marginal utility". If you cannot produce something below certain price, you cannot sell it either. Too expensive items are simply not purchased at all - hence manufacturers protected only by tarrifs who cannot produce cheap enough will not succeed.

So introducing tarrifs without laxing local regulations making manufacturing uncompetitive in the first place will achieve nothing and only contribute to progress of technological retardation.

Martin

I don't expect EU or UK to go on with trade war on China.

And if they do we will have trouble with puchasing shoes and panties. On the top of it we could see Russo-Chinese consolidation against EU/UK in such scenario. They may refuse to sell raw materials and natural resources in most of European countries are either insignificant or already depleted. Americans have far better situation than EU in this respect.

Nevertheless I suspect following: China will sell their goods to ASEAN countries and elsewhere, they will ad 5% surcharge and their labels and it will all go to US as usual.

Martin

I have heared Plutonium argument but it seems insufficient.

After all U233 made in thorium cycle is also as good for nuclear weapons as Pu239 would be. Comparable critical mass etc and on the top of it there is no issue with Pu240 which is a nuisance for weapon engineers.

My suspicion is that thorium tech has some hidden issues making it inferior to uranium approach.

Martin

So why they are not around?

Martin

It will do so for next 40 years before projects are finally abandoned due to a lack of materials capable to withstand 14 MeV neutrons for worthwhile periods of time.

Martin

There are legitimate concerns for river wildlife. Fish migration is for example affected between many other issues like formation of anoxic zones (and, no, passages for fish around water PP are not enough to address it).

Regarding payments for using water - water mill drinking water out of river and sending it to abyss would be rather exotic entity.

Martin

My bet is for methane releases from Siberian permafrost and associated GW impacts.

Process have already started and nothing on Earth including abandoning FF from tommorow can stop it.

Mind you, if the concrete and steel used in construction of windmills, road network, buildings etc is to be made only with aid of renewables, eg electric heating of raw materials for concrete and electrolysis and electric furnaces for steel - civilization would end within few decades - time necessary for existing infrastructure to crumble.

Costs of "green" concrete and steel would be prohibitive.

Btw I also expect to either die or be very old before significant peak resources and habitabilty issues became a prominent concern. This is a cup of tea for our grandchildren to drink.

Martin

It may look a bit too high tech for birds.

They may well hesitate sensing something unusual and suspicious.

Martin

Yes, radioisotope was thrown away, not in the UK btw.

Martin

Edited By Martin Dowing on 01/04/2018 20:22:15