Member postings for Graham Meek

Thanks for the humor Guys, it brought a good few laughs from yours truly.

The two rivet holes on the lower pan were elongated into slots for drainage and the table has a slight pitch to make the slots the lowest point. Not that the food lasts long enough to get wet. As yet our occasional visiting Squirrel has not attempted the slick surface of the pans. He / she likes to go for the Fat ball holder on the Summerhouse.

Regards

Gray,

I thought the Forum might be interested in how to earn some valuable bonus points from the other half.

This bird table was made from two old Frying pans. The top is height adjustable to cater for different sized visitors. The pole of the table sits in an old table umbrella stand which is no longer used.

This table is directly outside the kitchen window so Mrs M can watch the visitors come and go. Of course I get all the news on any new visitors as well as the regulars.

The non-stick surface makes keeping the table clean, dead easy. To make a larger version I am on the look out for an Old Wok. Maybe this will increase my bonus points still further?

Regards

Gray,

What really gets me is that they have no records of where the stuff was used.

Nothing more than a "grade A" farce as regards how this has been handled.

Regards

Gray,

Hi David,

I have sent you a PM.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Leo,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I seem to have had computer problems this end.

The belt Ref No. is 559P/220J _10 RIBS. I purchased my belt form Simply Bearings, (Usual disclaimer), it was here with in two days.

I am going to send you an PM with my email address so that you can have the PDF drawing of the pulley.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Jason,

Will the new version have a count of how many times an image has been viewed? This is a good tool to an author to let he or she know they are on the right track with an idea.

Also I have been visiting this post for sometime with a view to find out when the likely change over will occur. Have you a date in mind? If you have already posted this and I have missed it my apologies.

Regards

Gray,

One apprentice in my year lost his middle finger from leaving a chuck key in. From what I had been told the Turning Instructors usual trick was to drop such an offending chuck key on the apprentices foot. Just behind the steel toe cap. Clearly he missed this person.

Surface plates especially the old cast iron ones get used for all sorts of things these days. As seen on TV. Seeing a hammer on a surface plate is not so bad. It was what that hammer was used for in connection with the surface plate and whether that surface plate was still in used for the purpose it was intended, that bothers me.

It certainly is not the sign of a good craftsman and I would give these video's a miss in future.

Regards

Gray,

A few days ago I promised that I would post a few photographs of the conversion.

The next photograph shows the new ribbed pulley. Which is all that is required to be made to convert this machine.

Lastly the saw in action, if you notice from the the blurr on the hacksaw frame this is taken with the saw in motion.

The material is 40 mm Aluminium and the saw cut through this in several minutes.

You might also notice the Brass swarf from the previous cuts this morning.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Buffer,

The common fault with this machine, and it is down to wear in the crank bearings. The crank pulley automatically swivels clockwise due to this wear and in doing so sheds the belt. This wear is due to the high tension required by the original flat belt. With my muscle illness I struggled to get this belt on and off. When the saw is set-up correctly according to the manufacturers data.

Also I have seen that some saws have motor pulleys with 16 mm bores running on 5/8" shafts. How this ever worked from new I will never know.

The Poly V has very minimal tension when compared to the original set-up. I had the machine set-up and running in under 5 minutes. With the belt running dead centre on the larger pulley rim.

Regards

Gray,

Hi John, & Bernard,

I have seen this type of fixture at my local bearing factors many years ago, but this was explicitly for standard Vee Belts. Not the multi-ribbed Poly V belts. Please correct me if I have got this wrong.

Regards

Gray,

Generally,

Poly Vee belts are a whole new ball game for me. As far as I can make out the length of the Poly V belt is buried inside the thickness of the belt. For the J section belt that I used this belt length is 1.8 mm from the inner surface. At least this corresponds to what I have drawn out. I have also cross-referenced by measuring the actual, versus designed centre distances of the pulleys on the Saw after conversion. This has come out within 0.25 mm of the designed dimension. Thus I am pretty confident this is how the belts are measured. Of course I could be completely wrong and this is just a fluke.

As always am prepared to learn from anyone with more knowledge on these belts.

Regards

Gray,

Last night just before I turned in for the night. I had a sinking feeling that the new larger pulley would not fit inside the existing Kennedy Belt Guard. A quick look this morning allayed my fears. During today I have managed to manufacture and fit the new pulley and belt.

I chose steel for the pulley, but with hindsight aluminium would have been better. As the Compact 5 was not impressed with the 2 mm deep Vee grooves in one hit. In the end I worked out a routine which used four cuts, two of which were off-set and formed the width of the groove at the top of the Vee.

There was a bit of a setback with the Phos Bronze bearings. I think they were inserted when the main body was cast. They did not want to budge when using a puller, and the only way these are likely to come out now is by boring them out.

However the saw works fine with the new belt and I have so far tested it on 25 mm Mild Steel. I did also try using an 18 TPI blade which the saw easily took in its stride. Even though the manufacturer states 24 TPI blades on the machine plate. Tomorrow I have some 40 mm square aluminium to cut up so we will see how it performs on this and maybe get some photographs.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 17/08/2023 19:33:28

Hi Michael,

The Washing machine drive was what I had based my drive on. If it works for Hotpoint it will work for me.

Regards

Gray,

With regard to the drive belt I must own up to having had Brain fade. Checking the drawing again yesterday I had measured the inside of the belt and not what might be called the crest of the inverted Vee, which is 1.8 mm above the inside of the belt measurement.

This dimension in round numbers is 555 mm which is 4 mm short of the next size up 559 mm or 22". This belt arrived this morning and all it requires is a slightly larger pulley at 30 mm diameter. As opposed to the original 22 mm diameter. It will mean a few more strokes per minute but I can live with this.

Hopefully I can post some photographs later this week of the conversion.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 16/08/2023 15:13:26

Well despite actually measuring the saw twice and drawing things out the belt above arrived today and it is too short. Thus it is back to the drawing board and order a longer belt. When I hit the right one I will let you know.

Regards

Gray,

I intend to use the Poly V on a grooved pulley on the motor, but with the ribs running on the larger pulley with no grooves. The large angle of lap should more than compensate for the lack of grooves. Further my current lathe will not swing this size of pulley.

The ultimate aim is to reduce the loading on the Saw bearings which wear quite considerably when using the current set-up. The other plus point is it should stop the smaller pulley from slipping. As well as stopping the belt from running off this pulley due to the above shaft mis-alignment.

It is possible using the Grooved motor pulley to go slightly smaller, as the minimum pulley size for this belt is 18 mm diameter. This however would mean a smaller belt and a reduced number of cutting strokes per minute.

The cost of this conversion as well as new Oilite bushes comes in a good deal cheaper than the replacement flat belt.

Regards

Gray,

I recently acquired a Kennedy 60 and one of the things I have wanted to do with it is replace the rather aging drive belt.

I have just drawn up the pulleys and pulley centres. The belt comes out at 535 mm and the nearest to this is 533 mm or 21" , belt number 210J10. I will be placing an order shortly for this and a few other things so I will let you know how I get on.

Regards

Gray,

Unwanted graphics

Edited By Graham Meek on 11/08/2023 15:53:58

Edited By Graham Meek on 11/08/2023 15:54:47

Edited By Graham Meek on 11/08/2023 15:55:21

My take on the sewage system is that when the water companies were sold off. There was a loss of control as regards new houses being built and the necessary upgrading of the sewage works to keep the status quo. Because this side of things was no longer under council control.

I remember spending a Friday afternoon tutorial in 1970 at Netheridge Sewage works in Gloucester. At that time water going into the Severn was classed as drinkable. The site at that time was using large diesel engines to pump the sewage from the wet well 90 feet below ground up to the surface. These engines were running on Methane from the sewage decomposition. One diesel engine was specifically producing electricity for the site and the excess was sent to the grid.

I did ask the Manager showing us around which was better, the sewage plant or a Septic Tank. He said that a properly set up Septic Tank would win every time.

Having just looked at a satellite view of the site it does no look that much bigger than when I was there in the 70's. Yet Gloucester has had massive housing developments in the meantime. Which has notched up a gear in recent years. To the extent that local villages are starting to be consumed into Gloucester proper.

I could not find any plans to expand this site, so inevitably this site will be overwhelmed at some point. I did find, "they want to build 200+ homes next to the Smelly site" (words used in the Google search)

So much for the sales pitch used in the water shares sell off, "better for the consumer and better for the environment".

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 08/08/2023 16:33:20

I think the ecosystem is a valid point, but I also think we have left things a bit late in the day to worry about local environmental issues. Salmon used to be caught in large numbers on the Severn but they have declined to the extent that only a handful are caught now.

Dumping effluent into the water courses has put paid to many a stream and river. Another issue where Big Money and foreign investment has dictated UK company policies. Shareholders before wildlife.

I also doubt the two bridges across the Severn have not had an impact on the water courses or the habitat since they were built. My late Uncle worked on the first bridge when it was being constructed. Empty tins of Red Lead paint were regularly thrown down into the river. As well as empty milk bottles. Milk which they had to drink to combat the red lead. I doubt that was the only littler from this site.

Besides if we can construct such a barrage I am pretty sure we can dredge the silt build up. I would also like to add that I am not pro, or anti the Barrage, I mentioned it earlier as the Severn was mentioned.

Things started to go wrong for the Earth when man stopped being a hunter-gatherer.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 07/08/2023 16:53:34

As regards Tidal power Guy Martin showed a system in operation off the coast of Scotland, (I think it was). It had two underwater turbines which were either side of a moored pontoon.

Why aren't there more of them, good question. After all as long as the Moon is there we will have energy. The tides do not stop so it is constant energy. I suspect the answer to the question is the Grid is not there to bring the power ashore. It would also suit the NIMBY's as they are virtually invisible.

As regards the Severn, a Barrage has been proposed on more than one occasion. This would have provided a roadway as well, but like all these suggestions it was kicked into touch. I think the French built one, and of course you get power on the incoming tide and on the out going tide.

As regards politics, I have no inclination to even try banging my head against a brick wall. "There is too much we have always done it that way involved" Although the pay and holidays are very good.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 07/08/2023 11:26:18

IanT,

I am with you and as I said earlier big money is controlling things not us, or the politicians.

Generally,

There is no doubt that there is a big problem with the climate. However we need calculated and well thought out solutions not knee jerk reactions which seems to be the current trend.

The stupidity of it all comes when burning wood pellets is carbon friendly. The carbon will be recaptured by the trees that are planted to replace the ones which have been felled.

How do trees capture carbon emitted from airliners which puts carbon in the atmosphere above where it would normally be found? I have not yet seen a ban on all fossil fueled aircraft by 2030.

Regards

Gray,

A couple of years back Cinderford was engulfed in smoke due to Forest England burning off loads of felled trees. This was not a one off occurrence and went on for nearly a week. This was part of another ill thought out plan, introducing non native trees.

As regards freedom of choice concerning the fitment of Heat Pumps or Hydrogen heating and cooking systems. The residents of Whitby in Cheshire have a different story to tell. Apparently they were going to be changed over to Hydrogen as part of an experiment whether they wanted to, or not. No freedom of choice there and the implications of such a move are legally mind boggling.

The cheapest form of renewables is "on shore" Wind Turbines. Yet it took 7 years for the one in Bristol to be erected due to the planning nightmare. I wonder if those people who oppose them would think the same when they cannot watch their favorite TV program, or charge their electric car because we do not have enough capacity.

The use of Modular Nuclear plants is another non starter in my book. Not that I am opposed to Nuclear. It is just that I feel no one will want one in their back yard. It could be however that like Whitby in Cheshire, those concerned don't get a say in the matter.

Regards

Gray,