Member postings for Michael Callaghan

Hi, I paid for my renewal of the magazine using Pocketmags.com. Now I find that I can’t access the back issues anymore. Is this correct, as to be honest the signing on bit can be a pain at times if you forget your password like I do.

Thanks Gary, sorted now. I find that the power feed had disconnected. But thanks for taking the time to post and take the picture.

Hi, I am having a problem with fitting the bed back in place on a centec milling machine. So far I have the bed on the knee slides and the gib in place. I can just about push the bed from side to side but turning the handle does nothing. The machine has power feed which makes the bed very heavy on one side. The gib is not set so it’s not putting any pressure on the bed. Can anyone please let me know if there is a correct method of fitting the bed to the knee to insure that the half nut is set correctly. I have tried looking at a copy of the manual but can’t find any information there. Thanks

Hi, yes I did know, but thanks anyway. I think I have a mix of wear on the chuck pegs and the locks. It’s a very old lathe

Hi, today for the first time I am having problems with locking my lathe chuck too the lathe. It’s a Colchester bantam using the cam lock D1-3 system. The problem I am getting is that the camlock starts to undo during the job. I have tried resetting the Chuck pegs, but nothing works. Has anyone had this problem and what was the answer. Thanks

Over the years I have had problems with Hermes delivery drivers, but it’s mainly Amazon drivers that are a problem. I found one inside my car on the driveway. It was unlocked as I had just put a loading it and was getting more items from the back of the house and walked around the corner to see the driver in my car. He had my coat in his van, which had my phone in it. I asked him what the hell he was doing and got the standard reply. No English. I can’t say I was happy and a few weeks later I ordered a cctv set up from Amazon, only to find that the driver had stated he had delivered it, but had nicked it. Amazon replaced the set up. So just take care.

It’s a very nice mill. A dealer will give you next too nothing for anything. However for a private person the problem is always moving these big machines. If I was you. I would take lots of better pictures, give more details on the milling machine bed size, single or three phase. How easy or not to get too the machines with a van etc. and look for any name plates and photo. Then stick on eBay and see what happens. But this is not a great time to sale anything with fuel costs being so high.but worth a try and costs nothing.

It’s not just gas and electric being a total rip off. Last week I had to drive last then 40 miles. I needed some diesel, so popped into Morrisons. I was amazed to found that the price of diesel was 12 pence more a litter then my local Morrisons. I pointed this out to another driver filling up who stated that it was the cheapest fuel in the area. Needless to say I only put in enough to get back. All the big companies are ripping us off. The government is allowing it because they want to push the green nonsense on us.

From what I have seen over the years a large number of club members are only in clubs to keep their locomotive in test. As I stated I do understand that clubs need income, be it from membership fees only or topped up by public running. However I think that one person missed the point, being more interested in pointing out an error due to predictive text. Anyway there is a point which many clubs have come to in which members being able to enjoy using their own locomotive to just stream around for an afternoon or a few hours during the week have been totally overlooked by the drive for more public running, or not allowing private use of the track by hiding behind health and safety. Enjoying the hobby of model engineering is giving way to just almost working at a club. Has I said. I don’t mind doing my bit, but I do want something in return. And that is simply to be allowed to use my locomotive without the need of dragging the public behind, on days that suit my available time and not a clubs odd idea that once a year is good enough.

Not sure what you mean by hard cash. maybe it’s me but the fun is just not there in clubs anymore.

Hi, I know this is a bit of a moan, but is there a club in the southwest that is not a Labour camp? . I don’t mind doing my bit, however I do want something in return, and that is to be able to run MY locomotive without pulling the public around. Is that too much to ask? Maybe it is. I know clubs need money, however when public running is the be all and end all. And there is no or very limited access to the track to just do your own thing, ie play with your own loco. Then I don’t see the point. So my question is, is there a club in the southwest, that allows members to just play with their own locomotives without signing their life’s away to endless public running or maintenance. Moan over.

Thank you.

Hi, as anyone a good drawing of the axle box for the trailing wheels axle for a 5 inch gauge Stirling single. The only drawing I have is missing much information. Thanks

Hi Adrian, the world of cnc is a bit of a minefield for the hobbyist. However there are a lot of good quality videos on utube covering all the aspects of cnc. I use vcurve for the router which is very easy to use, and there is a good forum and video support. However there are some free cad software available but I am not sure of the support available. Also there are a few cnc hobby forums on Facebook that you may find useful.

I have owned bmw,s for many a year. However in 2019 that all ended. My car was a 6 month old bmw 530i touring. It had all the toys, hud display, sun roof, adaptive led headlights and lots more. I was talked in by the tech, I just love tech. However within a few months the fun had gone out of ownership. The rear hatch would just open on its own account when parked up. Many a time I walked back to the car and found the hatch wide open and all my shopping on view. It went into bmw for a fix. Three weeks later, no fix. Two weeks after that I got the call that the car was ready to be picked up. Well it was undriveable, the gear change was all over the place, the sat nav did not work, the engine was lumpy. So back it went. I was told they had had to fit a new command unit, and it would not take all the software. Yet they expected me to take the car knowing it was totally broken. I asked for my money back, it took some doing and a few months but I got the cash back. Never again will I buy a bmw. They have cut so many corners to make the cars more profitable that they are next to useless if something goes wrong. And they wanted I think £300 for Apple car play. However I now have a vw passat, and they wanted wanted to turn the hands free on. They are all at getting has much out of the customers they can.

Thanks again.

Thanks chaps

Hi, the control board on my Wabeco d3000 lathe has gone bad. Wabeco no longer carry parts for the lathe so I am at a bit of a loss what to do. The motor is rated at 1.4kw but that’s the only information they give. I take it that it’s dc motor but can’t be sure. There is no label on the motor itself. So my question is would the motor be dc ? Is there a control unit I can buy to bypass the old board. Or is there a motor upgrade that would suit. Thanks. Michael

Thanks Clive. You are a lifesaver

Hi, has anyone a copy of the drawing for the trailing wheels of a 5 inch gauge Stirling locomotive please. I need the measurements of the wheel. Thanks.