Member postings for Jon Lawes

Just musing, could it be the o-rings are being rapidly degraded by the oil/fuel? Are they of a material that will be resistant? The black gank could be rubber...

What years were you there Bill? I started with them (fresh faced and runny nosed, from the MoD apprenticeship) in about 1999 I think. Still on site but not quite in the same capacity.

The ETPS Lynx' were getting 40 hours maintenance for every hour in flight towards the end of their lives...

(Whats the plural of lynx? Lynxes? Lyni?!)

Coming along nicely!

A lucky escape!

Where are you roughly in the country Nige?

Glassblowing, and potting on a wheel I reckon.

Navigation was a hell of an achievement back then, especially over such a large expanse. I suspect those who did succeed was more luck than judgement.

Hi John, nice to meet you .

Good point! On the rare occasions I do this myself it reminds me I'm still learning....

It's a two way street. I suspect (apologies if I'm wrong) that I'm one of the younger forum members at 38. Someone called me a Tyro the other day and I had to look it up on Google to check it wasn't insulting!

Nice bit of engineering that.

Thats the difference between an engineer and the layman! Someone else would have just bought another....

I've got a tiny lean to on the side of the house. It's so small I have to mount things in the vice in such a way that I can cut them without banging my elbow on the wall.... but it's mine.

Advice was requested, and a wide range of experience given. If experience is there to be learned from you'd be a mug not to do so. If it isn't there to be used then you do the best you can.

It might be alright if you use it gently but the Walker Turner I have has been used as a mill in the past and its definitely worse off for the experience. If you don't mind that it might not enjoy the experience it might be ok as long as you don't take major cuts, but they are just not used to side loads.

Variation on the theme; my friend drove to a job a hundred miles or so away from home. He got back very early to his house and his girlfriend asked how come he was home so early? After a few moments of being puzzled he realised when he stopped for a coffee halfway there he got back in the car and accidently set the sat-nav to "home" rather than his destination. He then blindly followed it without thinking. I should stress at the time he was in his late twenties so you can't really blame old age!

To maintain interest make sure you apply it to things he might be interested in. I've made basic mountain bike parts with my son (bar ends, that sort of thing) which seems to have kept his interest. At 17 a gearknob might be good, something like that. Rather than trying to push the engineering in its own right, show him how it can help him support an interest he already has.

I used to teach in a college and most of the students were keen enough, the two biggest issues were trying to stop them throwing themselves into it at a million miles an hour, and keeping the projects small enough to maintain a lad or ladies interest. A wobbler engine from stock is a great starting point, I suspect a stuart single would be a bit much for first ever project if no metal has ever been cut prior. Maybe it would be a good second project.

I've got a spreadsheet at work that I made which woks out optimum ratios for running from a Sirius, it would adapt easily for you but we would need to know wheel size, typical RPM for the engine and your desired speed. I sketched up a design for a two speed box that would give up to 4mph (max!) or 10mph (max!) to give torque or speed as desired. Those speeds were purely speculative and not fully researched.

I'll grab the spreadsheet when I'm next in work and you are welcome to use it.

More grist for the mill!