Member postings for houstonceng

Hi All

sudden thought that I had not seen my MEW since June. Checked my subscription and it said it lapsed in April. Actually had issue up to 316, as a couple of issues were added due to lost in post. My concern is that our Publishers gave no warning of the imminent lapse and offer to renew. Anyone else had this ? If you have a yearly subscription, may be a good idea to check the lapse date.

Model Engineer Laser also list balance weights for College or Firefly wheels, and I have passed on the information that CES might do the wheel, to Bob (my friend on whose behalf I was asking).

As many of us have probably found, ycastings for nearly all the MAP plan locos were available back when LBSC and Martin Evans wrote in the Model Engineer. Sadly, a lot of designs now don’t have castings available from suppliers. Case of “not worth stocking them when we only sell one set every millennium”. Trust Bob to build one of them. Castings for Maid of Kent, Simplex, Speedy, Sweet Pea, and similar “fly off the shelf” quicker than they can be cast. Classic supply and demand.

..I talked to him again today as we were dismantling our MES for removal to its new site. As an aside, it’s shown us how much junk we saved ‘just in case it comes in handy”, and a lot has gone to the scrappy.

Anyway, when he built the loco, he couldn’t get the correct 28xx wheel castings so used the 5” Firefly castings. They, apparently have a shorter stroke, so the crank-pins are are a bit close to the end of the webs. Now he has worn out these wheels, he was hoping to be able to buy the correct wheels on the basis that “a few more 28xx castings should be available by now”. Apparently not !

if the correct wheels cannot be sourced, he was thinking of putting tyres on the current wheels, but wanted to check if he could source correct ones before going down that route.

Edited By houstonceng on 07/05/2021 18:05:04

I think he’s tried them on the ‘phone. With no computer, he cannot check the list, but I will ask if there was any wheel that could be substituted. AFAIK, it’s a question of crank throw. It appears that 5” Firefly wheels are used now in new builds, but the throw isn’t correct for his Swindon, so he cannot use them. He tends to build using works drawings and that means he has used the correct throw, knowing what he is doing with a King at the moment.

Asked on Google and, of course, MECH means the ME Clearing House and I have already asked there as well.

Sorry, don’t recognise M E C H forum. Can you direct me to it.

Hi Guys

A fellow Model Engineer has worn out the wheels on his 5” Gauge GWR “Swindon” and wants to know from whom new castings can be obtained. He has tried most of the well known suppliers to no avail. Definitive answer is required.

Thanks

Andy

As I have bought MEW since Issue 1, I’m very unlikely to stop just because of a simple mistake. However, I was a bit worried that the deja vu was just in my mind, so had to look back in the archived copies to ensure it wasn’t.

Mike. I ring the subscription service and they have nearly always sent a replacement. A couple of time many years ago, they offered an extra copy because printing problems resulted in no extra copies available to send out as replacements. In one case, I was able to buy one at WHS in Victoria Station - there being none in local newsagents. In the other case, not one was to be had fir love nor money and I, therefore, have a missing ME in my collection.

Well. My Subscription issue of 299 arrived yesterday, however, I’m a bit disappointed that the reprint of the 4-facet drill sharpening article in 293 have been reprinted again in 299. I know MEW is probably short of copy, but reprinting an article twice in a short toile is bad editing.

Hi All

Just received the latest (293) copy of MEW. A lot of "from the archive" articles (not surprising given the current situation) which prompted the thought:-

"Whatever happened to the article about Rotary Broaching by Malcolm Leafe", that was advertised as being in the March (291) issue ?

Keep safe

Andy

Hi Colin

​Yes 1/4" BSF 26TPI is the same as the 26TPI Model Engineer thread of the same size, however, the TPI on BSF and BSW varies with the size of the thread - as does the pitch in mm of metric bolts. BS Brass and BS Cycle threads are 26TPI for a range of diameters, but as the former is a Whitworth form with 55 degree included angle and the latter is 60 degree, they are not compatible.

​Despite what some people say, 55 degree and 60 degree threads do not mate well and forcing a 60 degree into a 55 often damages one of the threads.

​Andy

I've just read the latest episode (Part 7 - in Issue 4580) in "Lathes and More for Beginners" by Graham Sadler. Although he should be congratulated for attempting an "All you need to know, but were too afraid to ask" type series, he is guilty of propagating an error that could lead to beginners buying the wrong taps and dies.

​When talking about the various types used by Model Engineers, he states "BSB - British Standard Brass is 26 TPI (teeth per inch) also known as cycle thread".

​Whereas he is totally correct that both BSB and Cycle Threads are 26TPI, they are not the same. BSB is a Whitworth form of 55 degree included angle, (as are the 32, 40 and 60TPI ME Threads, BSF and BSW), however, cycle threads are 60 degree included angle.

Andy

Edited By houstonceng on 10/02/2018 17:05:09

The discussion, kicked off on another forum, prompted me to re-read the article. My initial comment would be that the author was confused between "Converters" and "Inverters" (aka VFDs) as applied to driving 3-phase synchronous motors. ​I also found it hard to understand the points he was trying to make, However, he obviously put a lot of work into rewinding the motors for 12v operation and building the electronics. Shame his conclusions were muddled.

As I have fitted a number of VFDs to Lathes and Mills and fully understand the principals of V/f and Vector Control - as well as being able to design and build such units if necessary - the article was not of much interest to me and was, therefore, only scan read back in April. I was, however, intrigued to find out why electrosteam had posted the comment about it being a spoof.

​Neil's comments above would be mine, only he got there first.

Neil

Can't get a screen-shot to copy to the forum. JasonB has exactly what I had and, as I said MEW renewals via my account appear to be OK

It's ME renewal system that needs fixing.

BTW. Why does it work using the URL "me.secureorder/mode/rp01". As a subscriber with an account, I'd expect to be able to go there and just enter "rp01" fin a discount code box.

Andy

A few days ago, I got a renewal letter for my ME Subscription - even though my subscription expirees on 05/08/16 - but the offer appeared good, so I thought I'd renew now using the "on-line" service.

When I finally got to the "renew" page for Model Engineer (having set up an account), it only offered "Print + Digital" with no way to select "Print" version.

So I tried again today. It still only offers Print + Digital, but it also shows this as "Out of Stock".

What's wrong with the system ? A subscription renewal cannot "Out of Stock" and why can't I select the Print only option ?

The MEW renewal page seems to be OK.

Thanks. Have skimmed through these and some of the links within, those that work anyway, but none lead to Prof Jorg Hugal's article. Basically, I wondered why he suggests 6 degree slide to offset the drills when Duplex used 10 and van Royan used slightly over 3. What is the angle on the Potts ?

Hi All. In this thread and in the articles mentioned I see reference to the writings of Professor J Hugel. I've searched in the ME and zeIM indexes and can't find anything by "Hugel" that approximates to him correcting the Duplex jig or explaining about the Potts. Has anyone got a reference to the article by Prof Hugel ?