Member postings for Bill Phinn

Chris, the iPad I use has six transverse cracks, three of them full width, and a couple of spider's web-like cracks about an inch across in one corner, where the glass is distinctly uneven and spongy.

It has been that way for about two years. Since the damage has never, as far as I can tell, affected the functioning of the device, I have not felt the need to attempt a repair.

I too got an "amazing" deal using UPS via Parcel2Go, though not amazing in a good sense; UPS are still unable to trace a £500 Femi bandsaw I returned to Amazon at the beginning of July.

I bought the highest possible protection for the return [~£70], and though Amazon have now refunded me the purchase price ["as a goodwill gesture"] I am still waiting for my £70 courier fee back [plus compensation?] from Parcel2go/UPS. The last communication I had from them was over two weeks ago telling me they're still "investigating" the missing parcel. If I do nothing, will I ever hear from them again, I wonder.

In Latin it means a female magician or enchantress.

Posted by Mike Poole on 03/08/2020 22:03:55:

| Having never worn a baseball cap I have not experienced this problem, in the U.K. they are only really worn by kids and gang members.

Mike

I used to be averse to them too, Mike, for similar reasons, but they're very good for keeping the sun off your eyes when you're working outdoors, looking skywards or into the sun, and really need to see what you're looking at. They're also readily available and cheap, unlike more traditional British headwear.

Have you tried Jif/Cif cream on a damp rag and baby wipes/Wonder Wipes?

It'd be interesting to know what the stain actually is. Looking at it, you'd think rust off a wheel rim, but you said it was just tyres you put down.

I got some rust on a nice old Formica-topped table once after leaving a steel oven dish on it for a few weeks; nothing I tried could get rid of it.

Rod, as someone who looks after two elderly and very handicapped people, one of whom is also profoundly deaf, and used to look after a similarly circumstanced neighbour, the best solution to the doorbell problem I can think of is for your neighbour to have a note on her door saying "if no reply, try next door's bell" [i.e. yours].

You could have a key to your neighbour's house, and if the visitor seems important and totally trustworthy you can let yourself in and take things from there.

As for the smoke alarm, is it not possible for her to have a wireless one that rings out in your house?

Thanks for the further replies.

I think I can happily live without the four-pin version after all. The block of wood acting as a stop for the handle gives me much better control over the single-pin version than I have when using one on a collet chuck in the spindle of my mill.

Thanks for your message, Keith.

I wasn't very clear in my last message. The single-pin c-spanner supplied with the indexer is, afaik, a standard ER32 single-pin spanner. At any rate, the one I have fits both standard ER32 collet nuts [approx. 50mm diameter] and the indexer's 54mm diameter nut.

By contrast, the four-pin ER32 spanner I have, bought previously to fit my ER32 collet chuck nut, only fits the standard ER32 collet nut, not the bigger 54mm one on the indexer.

If there is a four pin spanner out there that fits the indexer's nut, I will gladly buy it. I'm almost certain that Arceurotrade don't sell such a spanner.

ETA: Is it possible that a four-pin ER40 spanner would fit the collet nut on the indexer? Since I don't own an ER40 collet chuck [or four-pin ER40 spanner], I'm not in a position to say.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 28/07/2020 00:03:12

Thanks a lot for the help and especially the video, Jason; it's much appreciated.

Thanks also, Tim, for your suggestion. It sounds like it would provide a firmer hold between the handle and the adapter sleeve than just set screws on to smooth metal.

I've now tightened the adapter sleeve as tightly as I can following Jason's advice. I'm pleased to say after several tightenings and loosenings of the collet nut, the adapter sleeve is apparently still screwed all the way home and the handle is not wanting to unscrew it when I go to loosen the collet nut. Hopefully things will stay that way.

I found that the thin lock-ring at the base of the threaded section the collet nut screws on to had also worked loose. I'm not sure what the ideal tool is [some sort of thin-section pin spanner, presumably] for tightening this up. The blunt end of a 4mm transfer punch has had to do for now.

I've just discovered something that greatly helps me with tightening and loosening the collet nut: placing a block of wood between the flat edge of the handle and the milling table so that I don't have to hold the handle at all when tightening and loosening.

One last point: the c-spanner for the indexer collet nut is not a standard ER32 spanner because the nut diameter is bigger. If anyone knows whether there is a four pin spanner as well as the standard single pin one I'd be interested to know where to get one; I find four pin spanners way more secure in use than single pin ones.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 27/07/2020 19:57:08

Thanks for the reply, Jason.

I don't really understand this.

The handle at the end is mounted via set screws on to a black sleeve that is free to rotate inside the outer sleeve/spindle. Holding this handle while tightening the collet nut just keeps the handle and black sleeve stationary while the outer sleeve remains free to rotate.

I'd be grateful if any owners of the Stevenson's ER32 Spin Indexer could advise me of their technique for tightening and loosening the collet nut without the indexer's spindle [the silver coloured sleeve] rotating at the same time.

The thumb-wheel locking screw is not enough to stop unwanted rotation of the spindle when tightening and loosening the collet nut, and even a strap wrench has a hard job of stopping it from rotating completely.

Thank you.

Sorry to hear that.

In these cases eBay are actually obstructing buyers from enjoyment of their rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The salient point for our purposes is that:

"the retailer is responsible for goods until they are in your physical possession, in the possession of someone appointed by you to accept them or delivered to your nominated safe place.

This is because your contract is with the retailer, who you bought the goods from.

So, if your goods are still undelivered and you would like to make a complaint, you should complain to the retailer - even if you think it’s down to a poor service from the courier."

Naturally I've emailed the seller pointing this out, but received no reply. Chasing up the missing parcel with the courier direct is impossible as the courier insists on knowing such things as whether the parcel had stamps on it or was franked, where the parcel was collected or handed over, what date this was done, what kind of packaging it was in...

Being the buyer I have no way of knowing the answers to these questions.

Can you type only with the arm with tendonitis? Or perhaps you have only one arm?

I can honestly say that in over forty years of using computers I've never had autocorrect or predictive text enabled on any device I've owned. Their shaky grasp of human language makes them, for me, more trouble than they're worth.

One of the other factors militating against donation to a museum for me would be the freedom museums, libraries and other institutions give themselves to dispose of donated artefacts. It is in fact a routine part of their activities.

In my own case I own several academic books, some of them hundreds of years old, that proudly display donors' labels on their paste-downs with, in some cases, a date of donation only a few years earlier than the deaccession date.

People tend to think giving an artefact to an institution is a way of ensuring it will be valued and cared for in perpetuity. All too often, the opposite happens.

Whether the buyer is better off overall is hard to say, Barrie.

I opened an "item not received" case a couple of weeks ago, because I hadn't received an order long after it was due. Eight days after I opened the case the seller responded by simply uploading tracking information showing the item had been delivered, but not the address where it had been delivered to and no signature had been taken. It was certainly not delivered to me, nor to any of my neighbours.

A long phone call with eBay resulted in me being told that, even though delivery was self-certified by the courier not certified by a recipient and there is no record of where the delivery took place, and furthermore even though I insist I've still not received the package, eBay are going to find in the seller's favour because the tracking information is "proof" enough that I have received the item.

Apparently in these cases eBay place absolute faith in couriers' infallibility and take no account of a buyer's testimony. So I am without my item and without my money, and that looks as if it is the way things are going to stay, unless I can persuade my card provider to do a charge-back.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 24/07/2020 01:21:44

Yes, wire might be enough to hold things together. It can be a bit fiddly to get the binding up right, though, particularly on small parts, and excess tautness in critical places can be as bad as, or worse than, not enough.

I've used pins numerous times to connect parts for soldering. The only caution I would give is that if you apply flux to the joints before heating, the assembly may still want to move apart as heating proceeds and the flux bubbles, whether the parts are pinned or not. This should be less of a problem when using pins, though, as long as they don't get pushed out altogether; just make sure you push the parts back into place before the solder flows.

Can members shed light on any of these ten objects?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2020/jul/19/mystery-objects-from-the-science-museum-in-pictures

My contribution: the top one [with a "Hobbies"? logo on it] looks like a mechanical scroll saw.

...And now the courier has lost ["can't locate"] the parcel that has been en route back to Amazon for a week, and I am approx £600 down.

In comparison with me at least, you do sound lucky, Barrie.

I spent the best part of 18 months looking fairly committedly for a decent 2nd hand mill and lathe. In all that time no mill and only two lathes were promising enough and near enough for me to go and have a look at. One [a Boxford] turned out to be a bit of a dog and the other [a bigger Boxford] would have been a costly and logistical nightmare to extract from its location and get into my garage. Sellers of secondhand gear are not always willing to assist buyers much in moving their stuff, and in my case that is a big deterrent.

After buying an Aldi metal bandsaw last year and returning it because of some serious quality issues, I thought I'd buy a Femi instead. Stakesys didn't have the one I wanted [105 ABS] so I bought it from Amazon UK  [Amazon themselves, not a third party seller].

It arrived today after several days on the road from Spain. Two pin plug fitted, bent head-lowering speed adjustment pin [preventing selection of the lowest speed setting], a missing foot, and it won't cut anything like perpendicular to the base/vice. Stakesys advised [I rang them] that there is no adjustment possible for perpendicularity in these cases. For the record, I had exactly the same issue with the Aldi saw.

I initiated a return with Amazon to be told they will refund a maximum of £4.75 postage and I need to arrange my own courier pick-up. After much argy-bargy on the phone they agreed that this was unacceptable under the circs and they would refund my courier costs [£70] on return.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 03/07/2020 17:39:26