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Member postings for Nick Clarke 3

Here is a list of all the postings Nick Clarke 3 has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

Thread: Harrison L6
16/09/2022 13:35:11

A quick search produced an advert from Lathes.co.uk at £1650 but note that this is almost certainly a private sale so there is no VAT element to consider and also the ad may not be current.

**LINK**

Thread: Linux Mint
16/09/2022 08:29:01

Peter -

Rather than trying to get your DOS program to work under an emulator under Linux have you considered making your computer dual boot with one of the free MsDOS equivalents 'cutting out the middleman' so to speak?

Another way might be to use the free version of VMWare and again running a free DOS operating system so your database is running natively rather than under emulation.

Thread: Edgar Westbury Wallaby ignition
15/09/2022 17:02:18
Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 15/09/2022 16:16:32:

No resistor in this particular circuit, but they were used in the past to drive a 6V coil with a 12V battery. The extra 6V causes the magnetic field to change faster and boosts the spark, but it's essential not to overload the coil. The resistor, or 'ballast', prevents the coil from getting more than 6V continuous. No doubt the extra-fat spark improves combustion, but I believe the main reason was better cold-starting. Cranking a heavy engine full of gummy oil on a cold morning would cause an ineffective spark due to the voltage of a chilled 6V battery being pulled down low.

Dave

In the 70's Ford (Cortina and Escort era) used a 6V or Ballast coil but instead of a ballast resistor used a resistive LT wire (pink from memory) from the running position on the ignition switch and bypassing this with a direct wire when starting.

Several time we had cars coming in which would not start where this resisitive wire had been replaced by a normal one and totalled the coil or it had been removed as superfluous as there was 'already a wire there'.

Fortunately, there are fewer home fiddlers without the required knowledge today!

15/09/2022 11:38:02

This is the circuit diagram from the original article but it is not unusual to have spark plugs firing each revolution instead of every other.

wallaby.jpg

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 15/09/2022 11:38:34

Thread: Making screws
26/08/2022 14:04:58
Posted by JasonB on 26/08/2022 10:22:11:

Depends how you grind your screwdriver, those ground with two concave faces tend to have little or no taper.wink 2

It's a slitting saw for me with the screw in the 5C indexer, soon knocks out a batch with identical slots

I believe a countersunk screw with a domed top is an instrument head - but what are your cheeseheads with a domed top called Jason?

Thread: Burrell 2” Gold Medal Tractor
26/08/2022 14:00:10

If it is near to you Keatleys Shadwell Street Birmingham might be a possibility 0121 236 4300

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 26/08/2022 14:00:25

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 26/08/2022 14:01:43

Thread: motor insurance rant
25/08/2022 15:39:12

A few weeks back I got caught by a manned speed camera on my way home from the college I taught at on my motorbike. Having a quiet rant with some students the next day they were saying 'Oh you must have been going fast Sir!' I just murmured at that point not really wanting to say I was doing 47 mph in a 40 limit! A question of image!

The interesting thing was that when I told the bike insurers I has SP30 and 3 points on my licence my premium did not go up. My car premium was the same - no change but my wife's insurance on which I was a named driver did go up. That led to some long and pointed silences at home for a while!

 

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 25/08/2022 15:39:51

Thread: BOR Auto Graph Oil
23/08/2022 19:33:36
Posted by Howard Lewis on 23/08/2022 15:56

Might be beneficial as an additive to a gearbox, (As well as the specified SAE 80 or whatever ) to reduce friction.

Howard

I would be a little wary about using in a synchromesh gearbox as the cones need some friction to do their job

Thread: Update Smart Meter
22/08/2022 10:46:24

In its basic principle - what is the difference between this and the while meter in our house in the early sixties?

Thread: BOR Auto Graph Oil
22/08/2022 10:01:02

The company name was Burmah - it incorporated Castrol and after financial difficulties became part of BP.

I seem to remember that Halfords was part of the group too and that Sir Dennis Thatcher was a director at one time.

I suspect that the oil you have is colloidal graphite - a popular additive to car engine oil at one time. People have tried adding it to steam engine lubricating oil but reports suggest it separates out and can clog things up.

Thread: MEW 319 - Roofing A Shed??????
19/08/2022 09:28:20

The very first edition of MEW opened with an editorial which included the line ‘the magazine exists to concentrate primarily on workshops and their use’ and surely an article on the repair of the roof of a workshop comes under this heading?

There is a long tradition of articles in ME and MEW which spun off from it on workshop buildings and their construction – indeed in 1905 H.Muncaster of steam engine fame wrote a series of articles on the subject.

I suspect that there are two reasons for this thread – firstly the article was not needed at this point by many readers although perhaps more might find it a useful reference and secondly there were undoubtably people upset that other subjects have not appeared because this one took up space – although like my fellow newsletter editors who have already commented sometimes it virtually takes red hot pincers and cattle prods to extract work from authors to have the variety of articles one might like!

Another thought is that some may consider this article an aberration as nothing like it has appeared recently – but surely that is absolutely the point – it is a topic of use/interest occasionally but not every issue or even every year.

Finally I can only add to the comments on contributing articles if you wish a subject to appear in MEW.

Thread: Do you "still" enjoy driving?
19/08/2022 08:52:07
Posted by John Doe 2 on 19/08/2022 08:25:30:
Oh yes, he wants to reverse park into that space !! So perhaps they should stop well back, allowing me the room to do so, instead of stopping right behind me and blocking me completely, so I have to give up and drive on.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 19/08/2022 08:37:45

And as you do drive on you know the guy behind is thinking you are an idiot because they believe you were so incompetent that you weren't capable of parking in that space and just drove away. Nothing to do with them of course!

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 19/08/2022 08:53:40

Thread: Cleaning corroded zinc plating
17/08/2022 09:52:08
Posted by Hopper on 16/08/2022 09:47:03:
Yes, be very careful going to the toilet after handling caustic soda. Be sure to wash any residue off your hands before handling anything of a sensitive nature! I learned this as an apprentice tasked with filling the caustic soda tanks in the boiler water treatment plant. Ouch!

I was given the same advice years ago when working in a dodgy back street garage as used oil can be carcinogenic!

Thread: Writing articles for MEW
07/08/2022 16:18:03
Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 07/08/2022 15:44:35:

I separate with single space, the two punctuation marks that have conspired to create the blasted symbol.

If you receive payments for regular, or frequent, articles published by any commercial magazine presumably HMRC might come round pleading poverty, but would they expect you to notify them of very occasional, one-off work?

If it was a one off they might not consider it worth bothering about but the decision is theirs to make, not yours to ignore the payment/tax due - this advice came from daughter (accountant) and she also says that the case for employing a professional is to argue such cases on your behalf (but thinking about it she would say that, wouldn't she!)

Thread: Electroforming a dome
04/08/2022 09:42:09
Posted by Tim Stevens on 03/08/2022 18:52:15:

I know it as gilding metal - it might help to find a source. It is a copper alloy which works rather like silver, less inclined to split as brass can. Heat to redness to anneal, and if possible, leave in the work-hardened condition if the part is subject to attack by housewives or small children.

There are Jewellers Supplies firms which are likely to carry stock of sheet.

Cheers, Tim

Try Edwards Metals in Birmingham - They list it.

Edwards Metals

Thread: 47xx 5” gauge build and hello!
30/07/2022 19:37:11

While like those who have already given advice I think you have bitten off a lot you have met probably the most important criteria - You have chosen a model that you want to build.

OK you will need to practice making parts to size etc but you won't be the first person to succeed at an ambitious first model and provided you accept the need to ask for help from fellow club members and are prepared to get some bits wrong and have to remake them you are already on a roll. Just try not to spoil the expensive bits - and even if you do you have only wasted your time and some cash but hopefully learnt a lot.

Learning as you build something that you want is far more satisfying than making a small steam engine just as a practice piece - although a lot of people, including me, get a lot of pleasure from finishing one - and the same applies to making workshop bits and pieces - but the main aim is the 47xx.

Post a picture when you have made some progress.

Thread: Mystery PCB
26/07/2022 09:44:14
Posted by Nicholas Farr on 25/07/2022 23:33:35:

Hi Andrew, I don't know what the board is for either, my one has no physical electrical connections to the cartridge, so all I can assume is that is a counter for determining the level of ink left after each use which is shown in the ink management display. The contact pads connect onto the printhead.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 25/07/2022 23:37:46

They are counters and whenever the cartridge is asked to squirt some ink it increments and when sufficient squirts have been made indicate the cartridge should be empty.

The ones in the Canon printers I use now appear to be quite accurate but I have had experience (admittedly long ago) where a Texas laser printer over estimated and I had to change drums, toner cartridges and excess ink catch bottles which were far from exhausted making it an expensive hobby to keep replacing them.

Thread: Loco transmission
22/07/2022 20:41:25

You would need to design a separate F/R gearbox but what about a 'traditional' automotive automatic gearbox?

It depends upon how much space you have - but a 125HP engine suggests it is not small.

A FWD box with twin driveshafts might be suitable for a twin bogie loco but at the expense of more complex F/R

Just blue sky thinking of course - but perhaps sowing a seed?

Thread: Amazing! Too Good to be True?
22/07/2022 18:19:30

Nigel B. -

That looks like the one I trialled for the company that looked after my Beetle (1500 SP) and the car certainly ran on unleaded with no issues and when I and a couple of guys from the workshop took it to the MOT station the emissions figures were very low indeed - far lower than they were used to on air cooled flat fours although my car being a 1966 model emissions testing was only mandatory to be 'no visible smoke'

Thread: What Did you do Today 2022
22/07/2022 13:53:29
Posted by Dave Wootton on 22/07/2022 12:47:43:

There must be lots of accessories to make for these that'll keep me out of mischief!

Have a look at this from Archive.org Link

I have (for reasons very similar to yours but including a possible temporary downsizing) just succumbed to the temptations of a Unimat 3 with Milling attachment, top slide and fine feed attachment, all in the original box.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 22/07/2022 13:53:47

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 22/07/2022 13:54:30

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