Member postings for Nick Clarke 3

The most common 'odd' thread I have come across is M3.5 as used for electrical switches and sockets.

In theory an ideal replacement for 4ba but not easy to find and often expensive.

2oz tobacco tins are not used anymore but I bought a load for next to nothing at the Telford Radio Rally a couple of years ago.

While in Amsterdam there were loads on sale, admittedly at silly prices, decorated for people who don't smoke tobacco to keep their stashes in so they are still being produced new somewhere

About 20 years ago we took our two girls, probably then 4 & 5 on the Santa Special at the Severn Valley Railway. The weather was atrocious, pouring with rain, and we were grateful for the tent that had three sections, each with its own Santa.

Neither girl said anything about this multi Santa situation and I couldn't hear any comments from other children either, but it puzzles me to this day!

Wasn't St Nicolas the spelling? - That is how it is spelt by my local church - They told me it was the original Turkish spelling - while Nicholas (my name, but only ever used in full when my mother was cross) is the anglicised version?

ME volumes are an interesting study.

Originally the magazine was weekly with 26 copies per volume.

Post ww2 it went to two weekly and 13 issues per volume.

In the early sixties things got complicated as when the magazine was sold by Percival Marshalls there was a slightly extended volume followed by a shorter one.

The final change was to two copies per month as the magazine was published on a Thursday so some months had three issues and some two before that.

The final problem is that some years had an extra Christmas issue over and on top of the 13 or 26 issues per volume

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 28/12/2022 14:01:32

I can count the number of accidents I've had in the workshop on the fingers of one hand.

Two!

What did the mechanical frog say?

Rivet, rivet

Some old style motherboard's had a piezo beeper on wires about 3cm long that just plugged into a jumper on the motherboard alongside the reset button etc.

Frequently, especially if reusing a motherboard I didn't bother - so check inside you have something plugged into the connection - either a small. Beeper or longer wires connecting to a speaker in the case.

After they wiped their car down the side of mine.

Happy to help,

Nick

What is Santa's phone number - O O O

A friend who has a credit card for his business - Mr John Smith Bus Acc - not his real name! - gets spam calls calling him Mr Acc

I have just had a phone call telling me that the service plan on two of my appliances have expired.

I told the caller I was amazed because I have not and have never had any service plans - replacement if it is something I can't fix is usually cheaper.

I then added some more words - probably not fair as the caller herself is not doing the scamming - but someone wiped their car down mine in the supermarket car park this morning and then drove off and I am still in a bad mood.

If you search the internet you can find copies of Myford sales brochures which could help identifying you stuff.

All the above is good stuff and the screw in option is what I use on my current minilathe but I don't really like self ejecting tailstocks.

When I used an ML7 regularly at a workshop years ago I kept a length of tufnol bar and a small hammer in my toolbox to release tapers.

When they upgraded the ML7 to the Super 7 I could never understand why they made the tailstock self ejecting - it decreased the bed length and allowed chucks and centres to come loose and flap about when drilling holes by advancing the tailstock body to get more depth - if the chuck was then withdrawn too much. As a teenaged learner a half inch Jacobs chuck rattling about was scary!

Cecil Moore was a member of my club at the time but I never thought to ask him why.

A quick scan through the manual does not suggest anything so perhaps some kind of loop to show 25 or so records that then pauses and waits for an INKEY$ before giving the next batch???

Quick and dirty - if you only expect a hundred or so records repeat your loop 5 or 6 times needing an extra INKEY$ or two before the program continues?

Or more elegantly check for a null output to exit the loop.

Is the use of coke for brazing with propane frowned upon nowadays? - in old magazines it was recommended for insulation and added general heat - I know it might add 'dirt' but surely that was always the case yet it appears to have been widely used - also steel does not get 'dirty' when hammer welding in a blacksmiths forge burning coke.

I am looking for information from those with experience in this area.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 16/12/2022 17:40:24

Hi Michael I am at present putting together a Scamp - petrol/electric driven in my case but there is a battery option where a battery box replaces the petrol engine and dynamo. No machine tools required!

The sheet metal and other parts are available from CMD Engineering and the Scamp Locomotive group on Facebook is popular and informative.

I started collecting film cameras with former USSR ones and while quality control is always limited there is also the issue of the 'Vodka' camera taken after a too enthusiastic lunch!

As a member of two clubs in the W.Midlands I would heartily recommend joining one - but most (certainly both of mine) have a steam locomotive focus - which is not where your main interest seems to lie, reading your post. However the friendship, access to model engineering experience and possibly a workshop is valuable and IMHO worth the usually small subscription.

While I agree with the sentiment, having had several 'run out' models over the years, all with 'unusual' standard features I suspect the reason for being a standard fitment in this particular case is that as it ended production Ford made certain that stocks of parts for the Fiesta were used up before the end.