Member postings for Jon Lawes

Yes exactly that, but I suspect everyone knew what I meant.

A lot depends on the definition of engine....

I've built car engines in my workshop, so that is 1:1 scale...

My exhaust runs a while around the workshop to add radiant heat. I don't have a silencer but the distance helps keep the disturbance to my neighbours down. I discarded the cheap nasty hose clips supplied with it and used better quality ones. At one point I had to take the exhaust near some domestic wiring so I made a top hat bracket to keep it very well clear.

Two CO detectors might sound like overkill but I chose different brands as I figured they might have different thresholds, and different battery lives. One started going off when I was running my stationary engine outside the door the other day so they appear to work!

As mentioned mine was primarily used to seperate the bill from the household bills, it may or may not be any different in price. The exhaust fumes by the time they leave my long exhaust pipe (which has been made to minimise the use of tight radii) as cooler than the air from a hand dryer. The exhaust pipe as it leaves the unit has turned blue with the heat.

I have one. I have the suitcase type mounted on the wall with the exhaust leading to a hole in the wall (brick double thickness). I use ducting to take the air to two different points in the workshop for better air mixing.

As the exhaust comes from the bottom I had to make a shelf type arrangement with a hole in the bottom to allow it to pass through. I use two carbon monoxide detectors as a failsafe. It's very efficient and cost effective in my opinion. Primarily my concern is not to reduce the cost as to take the heating of my workshop off of the electric bill so its my responsibility, not the family's.

For the power I use an old car battery on a trickle charger.

Not everyone has the same level of success; I've heard of many people getting faulty ones. However mine was under £100 at the time so felt like it was worth the risk. Also you can change individual components if they fail, and a fault code tells you which one is at fault apparently. If warms my medium sized workshop from zero to 18 degrees in about half an hour, but if you get the ducting right the average ambient doesn't matter as you are getting a majority of the heat from the ducts in your face....

Don't worry about the heating, just cover the tools in a blanket. It's rapid temperature changes that causes moisture to form on tools and machines, hence the rust. Cold tools in warm air is asking for trouble; the dew point won't be far away.

My Grandfathers ML7 was kept in a completely unheater workshop in the side of an earth bank, with a polycarbonate roof. Not a spot of rust on it or any other tools, an old wool blanket (not plastic, it needs to breathe) draped over it.

Southbend maybe?

Tim, sounds like you are heading into this eyes wide open. I sincerely hope you find as much pleasure in it as I have.

It is very refreshing to hear positive stories. I sometimes think this forum is one long moan.... including my post here!

For custom gauges we used letraset or pantograph engraver.

Following a recent thread on the subject on a different site I think you can get a better feel by attaching a tube to the drain cocks and gently sucking.

If you have multiple lights required you can put a few in series to do the voltage dropping, you only need one ballast resistor per series string. For 5 LEDs at 2.2v each it would be 2.2v * 5 = 11v, so then you only need to drop a volt or so using the ballast resistor meaning less heat dissipated.

Apologies if I have the wrong end of the stick.

The only person you have to please is yourself. It isn't unusual to go to shows and see the engines ticking over on an air compressor due to the safety implications of using a boiler inside.

If it makes you happy, do it. If it makes others happy, even better. Too much of this hobby is taken up by worrying about things that don't matter.

Welcome Jack. Always glad to hear from another enthusiast.

I'm not mad for it, but when the pressure is on at work, I'm working into the evening and I haven't got lunch, its better than starving. Some of their recent efforts have been a lot more "real food" like.

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Jon Lawes (Mr.)

I have some Dasqua callipers and they have been excellent so far.

I'm North Dorset too, Gillingham. I keep thinking Gillingham and Shaftesbury need a model engineering society!

That VAT swindle really is quite devious. I have used ebay for years but that really does dull my opinion of it. Poor show.

Being a Mod is a thankless task, which I'm glad I don't do. Basically any action or inaction will annoy half the forum.

My understanding is the vehicle will need to be have all the relevant tax, MoT and insurance for its taxation class (where applicable) even if it never turns a wheel under its own power. If the wheels are touching the road then it needs to be fully road legal, A-frame or otherwise. Discovered this with track day cars.