Member postings for Jon Lawes

I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question correctly, but if its marked as Normally Open then that refers to its state of rest, i.e. not being operated by a finger or whatever. If the switch has two output terminals, say one of each type, they should be clearly marked Normally Open or Normally Closed, either on the switch itself or the datasheet. As a last resort (or a good idea with a switch of unknown provenance!) just a quick check with a multimeter will clear things up.

I started setting the valve timing of my William Prairie.

Welcome back to the most rewarding hobby I've ever had. I'm proof you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it, but by the looks of it you are already ahead of the game!

I don't think you need to apologise.

Don't forget for those whose eyesight isn't perfect (like me) its possible to zoom the screen on most computers.

I've bought and sold many cars on eBay, over the years I would guess 10? All for personal use, I'm no trader. The only issue I've had was when a chap who bought an old V6 Mondeo off of me got halfway home before the gearbox blew up. It showed no signs of a problem previously, but had been parked up for a while so maybe some sediment had settled. He rang me on the off chance of a refund, but it was a £1500 car, bought privately. Buying any car privately at that end of the market is a risk for both buyer and seller. As with any of these things, go in eyes wide open and being realistic.

I've also avoided looking at cars that were too cheap to be true when the seller told me to meet him at an abandoned pub carpark with the cash....

Welcome,

That would have been hydraulic retraction, are you looking for something that looks the part or is an exact replica of the system? Either way it's a fair chunk of effort, I would suggest you make it clear what the deal would be; paying for time and materials etc.

**LINK**

Piasecki were not always the very pinnacle of aircraft engineers...

If you haven't already look up the PA-97 Helistat.

Edited By Jon Lawes on 20/12/2019 10:04:41

I may be being a little over-cautious here, and I don't want to unfairly slur anyone, but I am slightly unsettled by someone selling something with such value for so little as they don't know what it is. Surely the original owner wouldn't have let them just go for peanuts, unless it was a poorly carried out bereavement sale or similar?

The rest of that sellers items appear to be cast iron items, possibly sifted from a scrap heap before smelting?

Maybe I'm being a worrywart.

Just a warning, don't be tempted to use an araldite type adhesive (unless its their glass specific adhesive). My grandfather used some to refit his rear-view mirror to the windscreen on an car he owned. What we suspect was the exothermic reaction caused by the hardening process caused the glass to crack a few minutes later!

What a lovely little engine. Top work.

In the absence of any replies, I post this for the benefit of anyone else who comes across this problem: after I cut the edge of the flange off I was able to get access to the sheared off bolt to remove it. Once this had been spun out the regulator unscrewed out freely. The regulator is screwed into the steam pipe.

I'm currently taking apart a William boiler (the Martin Evans design) to replace what I suspect is a sheared off bolt in the ring of bolts around the regulator, and to potentially improve the seal on the seat. I'm attempting to remove the regulator tube intact but its very firmly in place. I've taken out the vertical steam collector pipe within the dome, removed all the bolts and am trying to ease the tube out but it seems very well stuck in place, presumably by all the brown jointing compound that seems to abound in this particular engine. Does anyone have any tips please? Anything I may have forgotten to disconnect? I don't want to force anything. I have applied gentle heat and penetrating oil to no effect.

Where are you in the country Paul? If you are down South West I would be happy to show you the basics on mine. It would have to be the basics, I'm only a novice myself!

One quick question; could those who bemoan the lack of exhibits have brought items of their own to display if they did not already? Maybe one constructive suggestion would be to make it easier for individual models to be displayed. I appreciate that for this to happen one would need to be at the show from the start and to remain there until the end...

I've machined carbon fibre components in the past and even the most hardwearing tools get very blunt tediously quickly. And the mess it makes..... I can understand your logic (my workshop runs on scraps other people throw away) but in this case it sounds like a lot of mess, work and risk to health to save yourself the price of a few beers.

I hope that comes across the way it is intended; I mean no offence.

Thank you Werner, very interesting.

Thank you Werner, very interesting.

What a miserable bunch. Light a candle rather than cursing the darkness.

I don't know how many hoops to a rood or chains to a gill, but then I also don't have rickets or TB, so swings and roundabouts.

Another quick point, Nitro is fun and all, but a good electric brushless setup with a lipo is simple, clean, rapid charging (but you need the right charger) and astonishing power. Way more reliable than nitro and more cost effective too.

..and I came from an RC10 background!

I think the hardest part of the build is likely to be finding a suitable gearbox; may I suggest something like a tamiya DT-02 gearbox? It takes a standard 540 sized motor (the most popular motor size, so it allows you lots of interesting brushless upgrades) and has an integral diferential with output to dogbone style drives that should be easy to build. Many people buy tamiya kits to seperate out to sell on auction sites for those that require spares so the bits will be easily found. It also has convenient mounting points to allow it to be mounted to a simple frame.

I would suggest you look at the design of the Kyosho 2wd buggies such as the Tomahawk; for all intents and purposes this is two pieces of solid square section bar bent up at an angle at the front, and joined together with flat plates for the speed controller, radio gear and such. the motor hangs off the back.

Flysky 2 channel 2.4GHZ radio gear such as the GT2 will be ideal for this project; it's cheap and reliable, and when you want to add another car you just spend another fiver on a receiver and pair it to the transmitter.