Member postings for Dr. MC Black

I have checked the drills

The shanks were reduced so they could be used in a corded electric drill by my Father so some of the markings have been lost

Some of the drills are marked CAST STEEL - Two Dogs brand.

One is a Dormer Brand marked "HS" (not HSS - NOT a typographical error!)

I have defective colour vision so there's no chance of being able to distinguish between Carbon and High Speed Steel by spark colour!!!!

Who sells Imperial size drills Treasurer attractive prices?

Your comment appears to be directed at somebody else since I am no longer young. I retired from the university nearly 20 years ago.

However, I have a lot of tools that I inherited from my late Father and I derive a lot of please from restoring and using them.

During the early lockdown, I replaced all the slotted grub screws in his Die Stocks (some of which he appeared to have made himself) with socket screws, for example.

I'm very reluctant to buy a 19mm drill when I have one marked 3/4 in.

MC

I gained the impression that the work was done on site rather than pre-fabricated in a factory. In those circumstances, nobody would want to be loaded down with unnecessary drills or other tools.

I suggest that Fire escapes do NOT involve "precision engineering" and that reaming would be unnecessary.

MC

I don't know what sort of Ferrous metal was used pre-war so that could affect recommended tapping drills. I know the firm built fire escapes. Also Father seemed to be proud of the gates built for The People's Palace by the firm.

MC

I have now been able to check and my largest BSF tap is 1"

I know that one can use drills for other than for making holes that will be tapped - but 35/64 is a size that I would NOT jump to use rather than say, 9/16.

I also inherited a lot of drills smaller than 1/2" and 13mm - it was fun trying to sort them out and I was fortunate in being able to buy metal Drill Indices for Metric, fractional letter and number sizes. I now have complete sets in 0.5mm up to 13mm. 0.1mm up to 6mm, 1/16 increments up to 1/2" and a weird assortment of letter and number sizes.

When I received all these drills, I tried to classify them but the shank of far to many had been mangled by use in a drill with a loose check. So I visited a Hardware shop and asked for a Driil Gauge. They must have seen me coming because the assistant sold me a gauge for Letter Drills - obviously "old stock".

MC

Thank you both for taking the time to respond.

There are no other 64th increment drills; others include 5/8 and 9/16

From discussions with my late father (before he died over 40 years ago), I believe they tapped holes on site for bought bolts rather than hot rivets. There are a lot of Whitworth taps up to 1"!

My Zeus Tables are the Metric edition but a tapping drill for 5/8 BSF seems very likely. I'll see if there are any 5/8 BSF taps in my inheritance

With best wishes and thanks again.

MC

.

I spent some time this afternoon sharpening some fractional drills that belonged to my late father. I think that they date back before WWII when the family company (now defunct) was involved in architectural ironwork

I was VERY surprised to find in the box TWO drills marked "35/64 in".

There were NOT multiple drills in any of the other sizes larger than 1/2 in

I have NOT been able to find any threads for which 35/64 is a tapping drill

Can anybody suggest any specific uses that a 35/64 drill might be used for, please?

MC

Ladies & Gentlemen

I have purchased a "VOCHE® 3.6V CORDLESS SCREWDRIVER".

The Instruction Manual provided is singularly useless!

When I plug in the Charger a Red LED glows and remains glowing even after the internal battery is fully charged.

There are two other LEDs next to the charging indicator but they have NOT lit at all.

If I use the screwdriver only for a short time, it seems sensible that there should be some way of knowing when it is fully recharged.

The firm from which I purchased it are unable to provide any useful if and refuse to either pass my queries to the manufacturer or provide the contact details of the manufacturer.

Can anybody kindly provide contact details for the manufacturer, please?

Very many thanks

MC

Readers may be interested to learn that there's a new UK Stockist of Peatol = Taig machines and accessories.

Unsurprisingly, they have a website: http://www.rotagriponline.com

There are links to Peatol/Taig items right at the bottom of the first screen.

I have no connection with Rotagrip other than being a satisfied customer

Happy New Year

MC

I did comment earlier that your view may differ.

MC

NOT if they were isolated in single cells

MC

If visitors from overseas were monitored and quarantined, it would reduce the opportunity for the Covid to spread.

Telling people to self-isolate is a waste of time.

A better solution would be to ban all international travel completely but some people would complain.

The Government seems more interested in business than people.

MC

It's a pity that my pension does NOT keep up with inflation.

This is because it's index linked to CPI rather than RPI (a change that was made without consultation)

My only hope is that I'll die before I run out of money.

MC

It seems to me that anybody coming into the country from anywhere should be required to be put in secure quarantine for a month - and I mean really secure - somewhere like the Prison on Dartmoor.

Your view may differ

MC

When I last had a cold, my local pharmacist refused to sell me Contact 400 since I am on medication to lower blood pressure.

I find a hot drink with HONEY helps with coughing.

MC

I understand the difficulties and have now wish to criticise or slap anybody on the wrist.

Very many thanks to you all for pointing me in the right direction.

I will now sit down and try to work out which captions belong to each image.

With best wishes and thanks again.

MCB

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I don't know how one can contact the author of an article in MEW but I am having difficulty relating the text of Mr. Tierney's "Centring Rotary Table on a Mill" article (Issue 323) with the numbered photographs.

it may be that I either senile or stupid but I wonder if there is any possibility that the photographs are numbered or captioned incorrectly.

Can anybody help, please?

Happy New Year

MC Black (Dr.)

I bought a couple of tins of Screw-wax some time ago.

I use it whenever screwing into wood.

If I could remember how to access the archive, then I would certainly do so.

Thanks anyway

MC