Member postings for Dr. MC Black

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I think that the capacity of any cylinders is unlikely to be more than 50 to 70 ml.

With best wishes and thanks again.

MC Black

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

The point that I was attempting to make was that, in my view, it would be sensible to warn younger/newer readers against using techniques that were no longer considered safe.

MCB

I'm interested in an inexpensive source of Compressed Air to test engines before connecting to Boiler.

Does anybody have experience of using the sort of compressor that are used for inflating car tyres for this purpose.

Are there any warning or caveats about ths sort of use, please?

MC Black

I have only been subscribing to Model Engineers' Workshop for a relatively short time (being a newcomer to Engineering), so I'm happy to see reprints of old articles but the warning at the top of these reprinted articles about techniques that are no longer considered safe is very disturbing.

Has anybody considered highlighting those unsafe practices so that newcomers like myself do NOT make the mistake of adopting them?

I enjoy reading Model Engineers' Workshop and there's stuff in most issues that I find useful even though a lot is above my head.

MC Black

I don't understand why you feel the need to alert a Police Constable

If anybody rapped my knuckles, I would have them prosecuted for assault

I can and do address a female person as Miss/Mrs. unless she has the courtesy to write her title in brackets after her name.

I was taught when I was at school this was always the correct thing to do if the writer's title was NOT "Mr.".

For this reason, I write my name as....

MC Black (Dr.)

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for the clarification.

One wonders why the "Autumn Special" was mentioned at all in the message received from Miss/Mrs. Parkes.

Doing so has only generated alarm, despondency and stress!

With best wishes and thanks again.

MC Black

When I have attempted purchases using Chrome, the payment failed to go through. When I queried this with the company, I was told that the old version had poor security so my payment details might be compromised.

That may NOT be true - but why should any company suggest that it is ?

MC

I received a message from Miss/Mrs. Kate Parkes:

On 24/02/2021 14:09, [email protected] wrote:
> MTM ME
>
> Dear Dr Black,
>
> Thank you for your recent email.
>
> Please accept my apologies for the time it has taken to respond to
> your query.
>
> The onsale dates as follows.
>
> 08.01.2021FEB 2021 ISS 300
> 12.02.2021MAR 2021 ISS 301
> 19.03.2021APR 2021 ISS 302
> 23.04.2021MAY 2021 ISS 303
> 21.05.2021JUN 2021 ISS 304
> 18.06.2021JUL 2021 ISS 305
> 23.07.2021AUG 2021 ISS 306
> 20.08.2021SEP 2021 ISS 307
> 03.09.2021AUTUMN SPECIAL ND no delivery
> 17.09.2021OCT 2021 ISS 308
> 22.10.2021NOV 2021 ISS 309
> 19.11.2021DEC 2021 ISS 310
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> If there is anything else that I can help you with please don’t
> hesitate to contact me.
>
> For and on behalf of Model Engineer
>
> Kate Parkes
> Email Customer Services
>

I can only assume that this message from one of the people who deals with subscriptions is correct and up-to-date.

MC Black

Very many thanks for your prompt and courteous response.

Since I'm Clinically Extremely Vulnerable and it's quite unlikely (in my view) that the world will be back to normal by September, there's no way that I am going to risk visiting a shop.

How will one find out how one can obtain the "SPECIAL" issue?

MC Black

Lots of web-sites don't work on the version of Chrome installed in my computer. Others do NOT work in Firefox and lots don't work in Safari.

I see messages telling me that I "MUST" upgrade.

I feel that if organisations want me to look at their web-sites, they should design them to work on all computer systems -- not just the latest versions.

I can live quite happily without using that organisations web-site - especially since they often want something from me (like completion of a survey)!

I realise that there are security implications with some old software - but that is irrelevant unless one is attempting to make purchases, et hoc genus omne

MC Black

Ladies & Gentlemen

I understand than an AUTUMN SPECIAL issue of Model Engineers' Workshop will be published in early September 2021.

I have been advised (by [email protected]) that this issue will NOT be delivered to subscribers.

I simply can NOT understand the point of printing an issue of the magazine and NOT send that issue to your loyal subscribers.

Perhaps somebody could kindly explain.

MC Black

A similar problem faced me when I bought my Mill.

I chose to buy from a company that offered to deliver to the bench in my shed rather than the kerb.

MC

It's easier (and cheaper) to employ a poorly trained operative who can simply replace a circuit board than a highly skilled engineer who could trace the fault and solder in replacements for defective components.

Please explain A… lady

Too subtle for me

MC

A used Taig/Peatol lathe will be a lot less than that!

They do come up on Ebay from time to rime.

And, if secured to a baseboard, can be put away in a cupboard.

MC

When I needed to replace my stove (condemned by insurance company's contractors after the fire), it was impossible to buy one where the oven door opened sufficiently to move the shelves.

The one supplied by the insurance company was NOT fit for purpose - so I threw it out and bought an induction hob (and lots of new pans) and a built in oven. Cabinets were all adapted by my builder.

The condemned stove had lasted 33 years and I would quite happily continued with it until I move into the care home but it was cheaper for the insurance company to throw it out than have it cleaned!

My Tumble drier has four settings and I always use the Extra Dry. It runs for about an hour but the things do come out dry.

The question of whether a suitable dryness to iron is completely irrelevant from my point of view!

Both my Washing Machine and Tumble Dryer are Miele brand.

If they connect to the Internet, it's NOT mentioned in the Manual - but maybe they are too old now.

Is Journeyman going to reveal the brand of his new machine?

MC

I have a couple of these.

The first was under a fiver but the second a little more expensive.

The warning label is in Chinglish and it took a long time to decipher though!

Suggest binoculars with an adaptor on a tripod.

I have a zoom binocular which I use on a “cam cane” - an extendable walking stick with a ball head. There’s a rubber cup attached to the bottom of the adaptor so that’s excellent when I’m out but if stationary a tripos has to be favourite.

With a zoom feature, one can easily find the “target” with lower magnification and then zoom in for higher.

MC

Many years ago, when I was a schoolmaster, a colleague (who taught History) cam up to the lab and explained that his television stopped working while his wife had been watching it - and could we mend it.

After explaining that the department existed to teach boys rather than to mend colleagues electrical equipment (in the same way as the metalwork department did NOT exist to mend staff cars) we had some Vth formers who were helping out around the labs, being "after the exams". These boys could look at the defective set if he wished.

So the Television set was brought to the lab and I told the lads to take it into an empty room. I then told them to leave it for a couple of hours in case there were any high voltages which needed to disperse.

I then told them to remove the back and see if there were any obvious problems.

"There's something like a light bulb that all cracked and crazed"

"That's a valve. They were used before transistors."

I gave them a tray of spare valves. "See if you can find one with the same number as the damaged valve."

So off they went and came back a bit later.....

"We found a valve that fitted"

"Was it the same number?"

"We could NOT see the number, but we found one that fitted in the socket"

I then took them into the lab, plugged the set into the mains and switched on the mains from the master switch on the far side.

Much to my surprise, a clear picture appeared. This was very near the Crystal Palace transmitter so an aerial wasn't needed.

We gave the set back to the owner who was very pleased and said that he would tell his wife NOT to spill coffee on the repaired set

But I was truly amazed that a valve, pulled out of a box at random, should be exactly the sort that was needed.

MC