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Member postings for Ian Abbott

Here is a list of all the postings Ian Abbott has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

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Thread: Metric vs Imperial - Practical or Traditional?
29/10/2010 19:56:35
I liked the days when I could fill my Morris Minor's tank for, I think, five bob.  This was also when American tourists had no clue about pounds shillings and pence, we'd hang around the castle and "help" them with their change.  
 
Ah, those were the days, it wasn't always uphill both ways in three feet of snow in bare feet.
 
"Half a league, half a league, half a league on......" 
 
"Point eight two of a kilometre,  point eight two of a kilometre,  point eight two of a kilometre on......"
 
Just doesn't have it.
 
Ian 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thread: Dial Gauge
29/10/2010 19:32:23
The thing to watch with those magnets is not to get yer' fingers in between them if you let one go.
 
How do I know?
 
And, made some badges for gallery staff, but they didn't like pushing clips through expensive dress material, so I fitted them with magnets.  Problem was that if the badges came anywhere near credit cards it was curtains, and if the magnet was released more than a few thou. from the other, it smashed the badge. 
 
Ian 
28/10/2010 18:05:01
The two plastic pointy thingies would be to mark the high and low points of the needle travel.  Split a difference as you say.  
 
We don't of course ever nudge the work over using the dial gauge foot.......  Yes, I have seen that done, just like the ones who use a hammer and chunk of wood to remove SU carb needles.
 
Ian 
Thread: Simpler the Better -what do you use?
27/10/2010 20:11:18
I've been using Vectorworks (for Mac) and its predecessors since about 1990 and grew with it.  To start now, would be an incredibly steep learning curve, but it is a very powerful, full featured program.
 
My version 11 unfortunately won't run worth a damn on the latest Mac OSX and they want £1,600 to upgrade to a workable version.
 
Unwilling to part with that lump of dosh, I've been looking at TurboCad for about £1,400 odd less, which should import DXF documents of all my old stuff and wouldn't bankrupt the household finances. 
 
All I have to do now, is to find a convincing argument to sway the keeper of the purse strings. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Dynamo/generator.
27/10/2010 19:51:02
On old stuff like this, we'd check for open circuits on the commutator or where the segments had shorted out between the segments.  
 
If the windings were okay, we'd spin the armature up in a lathe and either clean the comm. up with emery, or if the wear was too bad, turn it down to a good surface then polish with abrasive.
 
This would invariably burr one segment over onto the next, so we would then undercut the segments into the insulation with a fine hacksaw blade with tape as a handle.
 
I think that there was a proper undercut tool, but we had broken hacksaw blades a plenty. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Neville Evans
25/10/2010 20:26:36
Get well soon from me too.  I look forward to Neville's return to health.
 
Regards 
Ian 
Thread: Finished model too good
17/10/2010 18:02:30
I really hate to finish models, once they're done, it's just another dust catcher.  My enjoyment is in the making.  This of course makes the finish immaterial.
 
However, I can admire someone else's work with either ex-works or British Railways finish.
 
The authentic BR finish can be achieved by leaving the model on the floor just under the bench vice for six months or so.
 
Ian 
Thread: Tool tips
17/10/2010 17:52:51
Keith wrote:
What about setting the tool as near as possible by eye, facing off a piece of bar, and using the centre pip left on the bar to set the exact tool height?
 
Funny, I thought that I was doing it that way because I'm lazy to do it properly. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Metric vs Imperial - Practical or Traditional?
07/10/2010 19:22:10
Speaking of pizzas, which originally came from China, shouldn't the dividing of such be undertaken using Chinese measurements.
 
The expert sitting across from me says that for linear measurements we'd be using 毫 (hao), 厘 (li), 分 (fen), 寸 (cun), 尺 (chi) and so on, which of course would only work for dividing around the circumference.  尺 being about one imperial foot.  To divide into segments 度 (du) would be the same as our degree.
 
That's about as much Chinese translation as I can manage for one day.
 
Ian 
06/10/2010 17:37:54
For a lot of jobs, I use the spray paint method.  Hold the pattern up against the material, a quick spray over with mat black paint, when dry, cut around the line with a big saw / chisel / hot axe, job done.
 
And when I wor a boy, it wor uphill both ways, barefoot, three feet o' snow, in the dark. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Gazelle 2-2-2 Drawings
02/10/2010 18:58:41
02/10/2010 18:56:47
I've put up the preliminary frames and horns.  The horns and axleboxes are from the 4F, as they seem to fit nicely in the shallow frames.
No positions for the cylinders, motion and brakes yet, until I get more information.
 
Interesting thing, the drive axle is right under the firebox.
 
Buffer beams, stretchers next, then perhaps cylinders and motion. 
 
Ian 
29/09/2010 18:45:59
Hi,
 
Gazelle was built as a sort of executive runabout, the teak wheels were supposed to give a better ride.  I doubt that using hardwood on model wheels would make any noticeable improvement, but building them as on the prototype just seems right.
I'm still working out the building process in my head, but they should be within the capabilities of most small lathes.
 
Ian 
28/09/2010 21:17:29
So, I've had several out of print magazine suppliers looking for anything on Gazelle, but there is apparently nothing out there.
I'm promised a drawing with general outside dimensions, but nothing yet.
 
I've collected several photographs of Gazelle and from these, the drawings are emerging.
 
The wheels are intriguing, with teak fill between the rim and hub.  I'm trying to upload some of the preliminary CAD output, but the site is acting up. The first sheet is the wheel construction. Others are the beginnings of the frames and axles.
 
I hope that showing the work in progress might interest a few watchers.
 
Ian 
 
 
Thread: Shine a Light
28/09/2010 20:18:51
Getting back to the Canadian price for ME.
 
Three years ago before we came back to England, the over the counter price at the bookshop for ME was an exorbitant $9.99, but if I remember correctly, magazines were tax exempt in BC.  Even at the worst gouging exchange rate the price should have been about £5, but this isn't a publishers thing, the price is set by the importers/distributors.
 
Ian 
Thread: What are you building?
19/09/2010 18:19:41
Working on isn't an option right now, but pending a new workshop:  3 1/2" 4F, 26 note organ, wind generator, overhaul the old Randa, a second Baroque clarinette, various work on the Royal Enfield, putting huge wheels on the shopping wheely, (small bike wheels from the recycle) sundry 4mm railway models, a 24" printing press and I've just started work on drawings for a 5" model of Col. Stephens 2-2-2 Gazelle, which by the look of it, should need no castings.   When a suitable building arrives, I feel the need to build another boat.
Other than that, whatever I'm instructed to do by the foreman, and my writing, printmaking and painting. Oh yea, and repairs to the farm hedge masher.
 
Generally quiet then. 
 
Ian 
Thread: Misfire
12/09/2010 18:35:04
Making a guess here, but I don't know what type of carburetter you have fitted.  
The problem could be something to do with the air flow through the carb.  Too small a venturi and the engine will get too little air, too big, and the airflow through the venturi will be too slow at idle to draw fuel and vaporize it properly.
From the symptoms, the engine running acceptably at a mid range speed, could indicate the latter, with the airflow then moving quickly enough to get a good mixture.
Is it possible to eliminate the fuel with the throttle closed and fit an auxiliary jet for idle? 
 
Ian 
Thread: Gazelle 2-2-2 Drawings
11/09/2010 20:22:47
'Kay,  the MRN article is in the January 1971 issue.  I've requested a search for a copy.
The Colonel Stephens Society has a very basic set of drawings of the 0-4-2 plus cab variety, with a scrap added of the big wheel of the 2-2-2, which may or may not be available.  They also have a couple of useful photos on their site.
 
East Kent is a bit far to go for photographs, so that'll have to wait, but I can start laying out drawings for a 5" gauge model with scale cylinders of 0.354” x 0.796”.
 
Any other information would be very welcome. 
 
Thanks 
Ian 
Thread: Is this hobby dying?
11/09/2010 20:08:06
Something which is a problem when relating to most model engineering projects is that anyone under the age of say fifty, has no concept of what it was like when steam trains and lorries were in regular use.  I can only just remember steam wagons, but they were still in use when I was of an age to notice them, and of course, steam rollers were a regular sight well into the sixties; in our backward town anyway.
 
Watching preserved railways and steam fairs do give some idea, but it 'aint the same.  If I stand a couple of feet away from a GWR 2-8-0 tank engine across the river, in the midst of the oil and steam I'm barely tasting what being on a Paddington platform was like when a few Kings, Castles and Halls were lined up with the roof arches swirling with sulphur smoke and steam.
 
Oh damn, I'm getting all nostalgic.
 
Ian 
Thread: Gazelle 2-2-2 Drawings
09/09/2010 18:12:27
Thanks David,  so far I've only been able to find stuff on its 0-4-2 incarnation.  I have a middle distance photo in one of my books as a 2-2-2, but that's all.  I may have to do some creative draughting work on a 0-4-2 drawing.
 
Ian 
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