Member postings for vic newey

Thanks, enjoy my Pittler website as well Vics Pittler website

No locating pin but takes one minute to set to zero and check alignment of both centre points

Unlike most lathes, the headstock on a Pittler lathe can be rapidly offset by as much as 20 degrees in either direction for fancy taper turning. Here is my first attempt on this 118 year old machine. Using the swivelling cross-slide I first turned a ball near the centre and then added tapers either side.

The drive belt restricted me from moving the headstock much more than 7 degrees as it's not long enough to allow further without the belt slipping off.

In a factory setting with a much longer belt from above then the full 20 degrees would easily be possible although probably not work between centres but held on a face plate or chuck. The headstock is fitted with one large bolt under the pulley and another smaller one above the degree scale.

Yet again someone sent me a private message to which I replied but after several days I can see my reply still remains unopened.

I had a message via my email that someone had sent me a PM so would not my reply to him do the same?

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I have a draughty unheated bare boarded lean to shed with transparent roof and flagstone floor @14ft & 8ft and I have 5 vintage lathes in there and they almost never have rust. I say 'almost' as for the first time in 20 years on the 19th of December someone posted here that their machines were soaked with condensation and going rusty overnight and lots of ME members rushed out to check and reported the same.

Apparently a freak combination of weather caused it here in the UK. I found on the side joined to the house that the machines and overhead countershafts were soaking and rust had appeared already so spent ages wiping everything down and cleaning off rust and spraying WD40. The opposite side of the shed was still bone dry!

I though this was rather amusing, a water power motor for your machines , I would think it would be rather feeble and struggle to run a sewing machine and not a good idea if you have a water meter

My father used to work for BR parcels and had free travel for our family, we were often going on day trips to places like Rhyll in the 1950's. I remember vividly waiting on New Street station in B,ham and constantly looking up the line waiting for the engine to appear. Then it would come thundering in belching steam and smoke and everyone would step back and then run forward to try and get an empty compartment.

During school holidays I often used to go with him to Curzon street goods depot. While he sorted out the order of the parcels alongside the goods wagons I used to wander around the huge gloomy building which dated from 1838, I remember gigantic curtains that were used to block out the weather on the huge doorways, some let the daylight through and others were solid old tarpaulins.

I remember one foggy winter morning at Curzon street I wandered further than usual and vividly remember looking through a gap in the curtains and seeing a whole row of ghostly looking disused steam engines with cow scoops on the front, like the wild west engines, maybe used for clearing heavy snow off the tracks? That's the most vivid memory for me.

Edited By vic newey on 11/01/2023 10:05:11

I came across this website which gives great details of different makes of engineers tool chests and thought maybe it might be of interest to some of you

Machinists tool chests

Our local Tesco has Lemsip this morning, I prefer this rather than capsules as if you have a cold you need plenty of liquid so a mug of Lemsip is more comforting

In the 1960's the chippies who worked alongside me at a shop fitting company always kept a bar of hard soap to lubricate screws, it something I've continued doing myself, My father was taught this in the RAF as well

A Christmas cracker joke thread with practically no actual jokes in it!

Here is my poor attempt

Our Turkey came from a local pop group which then packed up, it was the only one with drumsticks

What do heating bills and wrapping paper have in common? ( both are being ripped off)

How did king Charles III sign his Christmas cards this year? ( the artist formerly known as Prince)

The Government have had to scrap their version of the nativity, they can't find 3 wise men

I remember going to see Father Christmas in the early 1950's, In Birmingham store Lewis's they used to also have 'Uncle Holly' to help him hand out the presents, anyone remember him?

I wonder why generations of children saying 'Father Christmas' has now been substituted for Santa just about everywhere these days?

Santa of course refers to Saint Nicholas but if everyone's kids run around saying I want to see Santa then they are actually saying I want to see Saint which makes no sense whatsoever.

The terminals appear to be numbered, I can see a 3 and a 4 and bottom left UI ?

Edited By vic newey on 24/12/2022 10:16:10

I remember my using Kasenite to harden gun parts, as already mentioned you had to get the part to red heat and then dip it in the powder, if the temperature was correct you would see it fuse and run like liquid all over the part and only then would you plunge it into water or oil.

I used to visit the gun quarter in Birmingham where they would harden parts buried in trays of old leather and bonemeal kept at red heat in an oven for several hours in order to produce lovely mottled colours on the lock parts

It's almost certain to do with Cookies being deleted with browsing history or whatever. Firefox for e.g. has a setting to remove all cookies on closing except ones you you choose to keep permanently such as log ins

Log ins rely on a Cookie, if your browser deletes Cookies when you close it then the log in will be lost, which browser do you use?

After me bragging that my unheated draughty shed never gets my tools rusty I got a shock yesterday when I found the lathes on one side of my shed covered in condensation.

The side joined to the house towards the door was the worst. the lathe farthest from the door unaffected.

The opposite side of the shed with an Emco miller and South Bend lathe had no condensation whatsoever! Never seen anything like it in the 22 years I have had the shed.

It's strange but I have a draughty 14X8 ft wooden lean to shed against the house, the floor is paving slabs , roof is corrugated plastic with shading screens, there are four vintage lathes, loads of tools etc and more or less nothing rusts at all.

Only problem is sometimes in Spring on a warmish day condensation can drip a few drops but this rarely happens