Member postings for Trevor Crossman 1

Neat solution!

Trevor

Well April has come and gone, along with the wind, rain and snow, I've aged a bit more and the engine has progressed a little more. I have turned all of the valve towers, counterbored the valve spring recesses and enjoyed endured the job of cutting the grooves to generate the cooling fins, all 198 of them! Only one near disaster along the way ( 2nd head ) when I forgot to open the flood coolant tap and the swarf jammed and broke the grooving tool tip, so that head has one of it's fins thinner than normal. Vertical learning curve!! Perhaps I've been a bit too​ ambitious attempting this as my first multi cylinder engine especially as it is drawn in imperial measures and I've an old metric lathe with well worn feedscrews, no DRO, and more backlash than should be seen in polite company. Next task is to make a split collet to fit the tower fins so that I can drill the valve guides and bore the recesses for the valve seats . On second thoughts, maybe sort out the machinery first!

Ha-ha, we're on dodgy ground talking about personal habits, but it really does depend on the individual, their level and type of activity, their work and also very much what they eat and drink when considering washing frequency. Some individuals can sit around all day, never break into a sweat, but absolutely pong even though they frequently bathe. Covering oneself in an aluminium compound is not really a very good thing to do, though millions do use deoderants/ anti-perspirants daily. Perspiration is a perfectly natural way for the body to excrete waste but one can also be overzealous in removing it and then end up with skin problems. As one who has suffered in recent years with some skin problems, possibly though insufficient PPE care and the subsequent contamination and then harsh cleaning, I now have to be very careful in my methods of washing, hands and arms especially. Going from our perfume-free home into public places, I am extremely surprised that the majority of the population can smell anything at all given the level of massive levels of refumery that drifts from them, their cars and clothes.

Trevor

yes Mark​ , you're quite correct, I was referring to my use of MT2 arbors with a soft stub that 'sticks out' Trevor

Paul​ in answer to the original question, from my own experience I'd say that it is quite practical to carefully bore a blank MT2 arbor to accept a Weldon shank and drill/tap for a retaining grubscrew, then I case harden the holes. I've made them in this manner to hold and drive Rotobor type cutters up to 48mm diameter to cut holes in thick plate and I do not see an issue with runout, though I must admit that I tend to be more interested in achieving a practical working result rather than fretting over theoretical perfection. Give it a try, the blanks are cheap enough and the result will be down to the accuracy of your boring.

Trevor.

+ 1 for the Bt Call Guardian system. Kills all junk calls dead!

I used to do what several others do/did and waste as much of the scammer's time by pretending to be senile/deaf/short sighted or say '' which computor, I've got 5'' and all the other tomfoolery just to waste the scammers time, but of course there are literally thousands of these ratbags out there and so I got the call blocker system because I do have other things to spend my time on! It can be a bit of a nuisance though for 'innocent' callers who might be encountering the system for the first time,though mine seems to work better than Martin's​ because I also use TPS and only ever get genuine callers. What does annoy me though is Bt's seemingly feeble efforts in stopping these scum in the first place, they own and run the network and surely a modern electronic phone system can identify bulk/ automated calls, after all, computors filter out junk mail? Perhaps it's a sales ploy to get folk to subscribe to Call Guardian and buy phones with call display? Trevor

Here you are ​Old School.....https://ghw-modellbau.de/index.php?cPath=4&MODsid=d48c7de78d0c614d5ffab9db62586279 Trevor

Richard​ , my suggestion to solving your division plate difficulty is to use this....https://www.blocklayer.com/circle-dividereng.aspx. Select 'circle divider' then put in however many holes you want and then use your printer to print out in an appropriate size, glue to a steel disc and accurately centre and drill. I use double side tape because it does not distort the paper by shrinkage. If at all possible, print the largest size that you can fit onto a spindle under your mill or drill, so that you can 'target' the divisions at a large radius but drill the holes on a co-axially mounted disc at a smaller radius. This will minimise any dimensional variations in your drilling. A temporary indexing device can be made up with a magnetic stand and a scriber, and a magnifier to augment the view.

Trevor

I have not owned a TV set since 1987 when I threw it out of the window into the hedge to demonstrate to our 4 children that I meant what I said about arguing over programs. Since then I have amassed a collection of over 500 of that crummy agency's threatening letters of quasi legal language which are computor generated and automaticaly despatched. The language is designed to intimidate but unless you can be observed ( and that includes them looking at your ISP's internet search results) viewing or recording TV there is no statuary obligation to respond to their letters, in fact if you do then you are tacitly allowing them visit you to check, so do not respond.........you don't have to!

As for winding up GCHQ , UNcle Sam's Snoopers and all the other state noses sniffing around the interweb, I do the same and quite happily search about whatever I happen to be interested in at the time . As someone has already said, Orwell and Huxley really were far ahead of their time and government uses fear and threats as a control, reminding us of penalties for non compliance.

Trevor.

That remarkable beer dispenser was still 'working' in the mid 60's, though I definitely never got my glass filled that way!!

Trevor

Exactly so Martin !

From the time that I became self employed until I finally chucked it in at nearly 70 I always decided upon the quality that I needed for any task and bought whatever items needed legitimately from wherever the delivered price was best, whatever the country of origin. I must have done something right to support a family of 6 without welfare, pay all my taxes, generate a good customer base and come out clean .

It is quite laughable and thoroughly p****s me off that some folk think that buying from a non UK based supplier somehow hastens the demise of British manufacturing, retailing and distribution, when there are far more destructive forces at work....central government policy for the past 50 years, business rates, school curricula devoid of practical training, local nimbyism, and many other factors. My buying gears from Czech, or tooling from Germany or metals from Poland is no different to another's foreign car or holiday!

Any trade war, tariffs, quotas, protectionism, harms trade, depresses business confidence and ultimately will raise prices and the smaller economies will suffer the worst, and within those economies hobbyists do not have much importance, so it will affect all here. Free and fair trade between all, with less political and social engineering is what is needed to ensure a more harmonious world.

Trevor

Sometimes a larger ' cockpit gradient' might be a good thing! Many years ago I did not fly aircraft but just repaired them and was the sole passenger aboard a battered old small twin transport crewed by two crusty old Warrant Officers, approaching Benghazi or maybe El Adem , I forget which. Anyway I was aroused from my slumbers by the change in engine noise and the rattle of gear and flaps deploying, and heard through my headset a monstrous, heated argument between the two drivers who were f....ing and blinding at each other , then a silence, then bouncing with an almighty din and clattering along the underside of the aeroplane, more bouncing, clattering and revving up of the engines, I had automatically braced myself for impact but was relieved to hear the normal squeal of rubber on tarmac.

It transpired that because they were arguing about who had control we had touched down in the undershoot causing a stack of stone damage to the flaps. A large supply of beer tokens was made available tor me to get the flaps repaired 'quietly' alongside the other work I had to do before we returned to base.

Trevor

It is a fact DMB​ that trade wars which is what this thread is all about, is political​, and will not do this hobby any favours whether one is pro Bexit or anti Brexit or doesn't even care. Increasing any tariff just makes imports more expensive and is resorted to by politicians to bolster domestic status, and since we metal bashing hobbyists are probably economically insignificant, officialdom would take no notice of our opinion. It is already very difficult to obtain many of the less commonly used materials in UK due to the disappearance of much of our small manufacturing, and material importer/stockholders in this country are not interested is small retail supply, hence my reason for buying from the EU whenever that is the cheapest source for a particular item after all shipping and vat ( which may be much higher than UK rate) is taken into account. Trade wars will only make small scale supply to hobbyists more expensive and ulimately less available.

Trevor

Yes I too have read the B52 account which was a damming inditement of US Airforce management, and back in the late 50's and through the early 60'swhen I signed up, a very similar culture was prevalent in the RAF, which operated as if it were a sort of uniformed flying club generously provided for the pleasure of the officer pilots. At that time individual bases had what was called the Station Flight with one or more of 'their own' aircraft, usually smallish old transport types which although they did do official work were also used as a sort of taxi or hire car for the Station Commander and other senior officers and strangely with many 'official' journeys being made at weekends and holiday times, often to parts of the kingdom where there was little to do but play golf or fly fishing! Fitters who lived in Scotland often had free trips home in return for servicing the aircraft turn-rounds.

So the introverted, class dominated culture that Flt Lt Pollock lived in was radically different from today's seriously professional Service. Luckily Pollock's escapade did not end in disaster though it could so easily have done, but he man was a Fool, not a hero and the RAF wisely got rid of him before he did any more damage.

Trevor

Oh dear chaps, trouble buying panties ​. Seriously though, we in UK will definitely suffer post Brexit due to many of our politicians having a preference for closer ties to USA over the EU. For many years I have bought quite a lot of items from EU countries because the same item is often cheaper from Germany France or Italy than the UK and that is even allowing for shipping, and post Brexit the total cost is very likely to rise because of import duties on goods from these countries as a Customs Union seems anathema to the government. Any substantial purchase, especially heavy stuff that has a high shipping/insurance charge from USA is already nets our Revenue a tidy sum as others have mentioned, so for the same to happen to stuff from just across the Channel is not good, and it is not very likely that government will lower import duties or VAT, and America will not do us any special favours. Our much reduced home manufacturing is going to cost the populace dearly, and government will have more taxes to squander as it wishes.

Trevor

Hello to members in the south Norfolk / Norwich area......I am about to get the materials together for my new back-yard foundry and wonder if anyone else in the area would be interested in combining an order so as to get larger quantities at a better price and make better use of the carraige costs of palleted items.

Please pm me within the next few days if interested.

Trevor.

Mark , my suggestion would be to grind a sizeable area flat around the diagonally running crack, make a substantial steel plate to bridge it and drill , tap and bolt in place. Use a piece of heavy steel angle , 10mm perhaps, which has its lower surface ground out in such a way that it sits neatly on top of the foot bolting boss and makes contact along the sloping upper surface of the foot with the 'vertical' flange flat against the previously bolted steel plate. Bolt this in place also then securely tack weld the two parts together, remove, weld securely and when cool, trim as required and refit. Perhaps even put a gusset in before welding.

Trevor

Nice piece of work mick ! Is it easy to start and run well ? Good to see a finished example to help keep the show on the road. I'd be interested in your method, bearing in mind that my heads are part machined up to page 126 operation #3 / 19 . So that means that I've cut and threaded the combustion chamber, finned the outer diameter and milled off the intake/exhaust manifold face on all 9 blanks.......did have 10 once! Looking at your picture, perhaps you have used 10mm plugs? They look bigger than my tiddly 1/4 unf ones. Pm me your suggestion, I like easy......too little time for aggravation and frustration.

Trevor

Congratulations CorRad, your result of six months labour looks and sounds very good indeed.

Trevor.