Member postings for john halfpenny

Something for opening up a woven material, for sewing? -maybe sailcloth or sacking

The main 'advantage' is that you don't need a loft - not uncommon in modern houses/flats.

On the other hand, I have just had a Hermes delivery which was quick and in good order - but our regular delivery person is known to be careful and reliable.

Would it be the book by my friend Pierce Carlson? readily available on ebay

Scotchbrite pads from your local automotive paint supplier

This thread has drifted somewhat, so I'll add Wright Hassall, the old established (175 years) firm of solicitors in Leamington Spa.

A simple adjustable stop on my Clarke lathe. The excess length disappears into the drive housing on the left. Next job is to add a fine thread button/lock nut at the contact end.

That's not even funny

Also guilty of that Hopper. My lathe has metric threads, but my mods (dro , carriage stop etc) are attached with bs cap screws because I had them.

I sympathise Hopper; needs must. It's also true that some suppliers do try to send UNC in place of BSW on the basis that close enough is good enough - and presumably of loose tolerance, or BSW heads on UNC threads (these probably of chinese manufacture)

In the UK I work with BS threads every day on classic cars from the fifties. We know that, say, 5/16 UNC will screw on or in BSW quite easily, but the combination often locks up horribly when you try to unscrew. Fortunately we can get BS screws and bolts without difficulty, so we don't need to resort to a unified thread bodge, apart from the natural desire to do the job correctly and give the right head/spanner size. Of course, on these cars many bought out parts, from suppliers such as Lucas, are unified threads because the changeover date was not consistent, so care is needed.

Ally Pally is not within the Congestion Charge Zone, but is within the ULEZ. The latter is £12.50 for non-compliant cars, and easily paid as a one-off by credit card. I did it yesterday evening. Most cars after 2005 are of course compliant, so no extra charge.

Nothing to be concerned about re cyclic variation. You may find a suitable sprag clutch in an overdrive or an automatic gearbox, though these typically have a rather larger od.

No longer true Dave. Inexpensive readers are available (£50 for my air suspended 2005 Land Rover) that will read and adjust everything via a smart phone. I think german cars are more problematic. Of course it's possible to cause havoc if you are not careful. We have to get with the programme, or stick with Morris Minors, or maybe a horse and cart.

Chas, it has been my practice to leave the top off oil based paint to allow a deliberate skin to form before replacing the lid. The skin is cut out with a knife before next use. I also wipe the mouth and lid clean to avoid cured paint dropping in when the lid is next removed. This is relatively non messy, and keeps the paint uncontaminated with bits. What do you think?

Not very much, but of course depends on the torque you are trying to transmit/overcome. However it's easy to start slack and snip bit by bit off the female end before re-attaching the (tapered) male end

The point is that using the opposite hand is much more likely to make the driver look back. It is a very good practice.

This old chestnut has been done to death elsewhere, many many times. I humbly suggest forumists don't go down the rabbit hole.

Hunterston B is coming off-line at the end of its life. What do you mean by 'calming down'? More silly interpretation of the dials on Gridwatch?

You have a 'warm' roof design (multi- layer insulation immediately under the tiles), so an additional vapour barrier ought not to be necessary. Possibly you already have foil backed plasterboard on the ceiling. If the roof space is sucking up heat, perhaps you have draughts around the roof edge keeping the roof space cold. I have the same kind of roof insulation and it works well at keeping the loft space (and main living area) tolerably warm and usable.