Member postings for the artfull-codger

I've made a few of these mainly for long case clocks & I use the spring that's at the end of a tape measure ie stanley or lufkin, I look after our towns turret clock [gillett & bland] & the suspension spring snapped about 15 yrs ago so I machined a new one from an old panel saw, I first bent the saw both ways & it went back straight so I knew it was good spring tempered steel & machined it down to the right thickness,making sure it was cut lengthways & it's been in ever since, when you think about it it swings millions of times each year.

Graham.

Hi Mark, was that the new price or was it a 2nd hand "scoop" he he,?

Thanks Graham.

I use a kane-may k330 pyrometer with a k type thermocouple probe & I turned a stainless socket/sleeve to fit over the end of the thermocouple to dip it into molten alloy, brass/ bronze,it's good for about 1400c, the modern cheap infrared types don't go high enough for my use [home foundry] .

I still have my Rapidor manchester"nodding donkey" hacksaw & it does quite a lot of my cutting the blades are quite expensive but I never ever pay more than a couple of quid for the blades at steam rallys/autojumbles,I also have the machine mart larger bandsaw, bought 2nd hand!! their blades are expensive & don't last that long, again I look for 100ft coils at autojumbles at around the £25 mark[not so many about now] & make my own up silver soldering the joint & it works out at about just over £2 per blade.[not that I'm a tight sod from yorkshire] I just don't like paying full price if it can be got cheaper.

I've watched posts on the dewhirst switch with amusement, there's nothing wrong with them at all if you use them to switch the starting windings in the direction you want the motor to go, but switch the lathe on & off with your push button starter, & don't use it as your main switch to start up, as for starting & stopping single phase motors all the time[apart from the extra cost in electricity] I certainly don't do it, the students at the high school where I worked were all lined up waiting to use the belt sander & the teacher let them switch it on & off each student & sure enough eventually the motor failed & I had to fit a new motor, there was no clutch on my colchester student so I hinged the motor & made a swinging mechanism to use as a clutch[it's flat belt drive] my old edgewick lathe had the same drive, the only thing I do if I'm measuring the workpiece or touching the chuck is to simply put the high/low ratio lever in neutral so it's 100 percent disengaged.

Great video[s] ,well done for the "heads up" Derek, so women say men can't multi-task eh? this guy can drill, shape, turn & tend to the boiler at the same time!!, when I was a boy there was a well respected engineering works on the way to school [in Yarm-on-Tees, north yorkshire] called Hauxwells[sadly now turned into flats] & we just HAD to look in , there was all sorts of machinery driven by overhead line shafts, I loved it & the blokes used to let us in to see, never forgotten it [never did like footy& still don't] that was much more fun to me.

I don't know why but everyone [on various forums] seem obsessed with the tank size,which is fine to buy you a little more air but if the pumps not big enough but it takes longer to fill, as Howard says direct drive compressors are fast running & very noisy, I have a large tecalamit [3hp 2 stage] ex garage compressor for larger jobs but most of the time I use my home made one I built 45 yrs ago from a clayton dewandre air brake pump from a green goddess, mounted on a redundant gas bottle, it has seperators, cut-out & safety valve regulator & drain valve,it's sprayed cars, chiseled every bit of plaster from our old cottage,runs all my air tools & even ran a small double glazing plant for a few weeks, the only time it let me down was when a bit of swarf got into the oil feed pump & it melted the white metal from one of the big ends,[no shells straight onto the rod & cap]after a strip down I made a jig,re-poured the big end with some new & the old white metal, onto the myford faceplate to bore it out a tight fit, a scrape in with micrometer blue & back together & it's still going strong & that was 30 yrs ago. great bit of engineering [the air pump not me!!]

One of our club members did all his own castings for his 6" Garrett T E mainly out of brake disks, I use one for the lid of my foundry furnace, it saves making one & you have a hole in the centre for the exhaust & for pre-warming up the pot fodder.

Hi George,there's one in preston park, one at hurworth & one in darlington pumping station, I was a member of teesside club for a number of yrs in albert park,before it folded, then I was chairman at hurworth club but now a member of northern miniature road locomotive society [affiliated to same] as the title says it's mainly road steam from 2" to 6" road engines but we have model engineers as well, & Dennis one of our members is the absolute master of injectors,[I have one on my engine as loads of other members too.

Graham.

Hi Roderick,

I saw this engine at the kauri museum myself quite a few years ago, good to see it's still there,happy memories of N.Z.

Regards

Graham.

Hi Pero,

Thanks for that I'll keep you informed,Mrs Artfull's going over for a month next week [yesss in the workshop!! & no moaning]] but it'll be later in the year for us.

Regards

Graham.

Hi Pero [& wecome of course] perth eh!! there's a model engineering club there I've been meaning to pop along to when I'm next in perth,I go to my daughters in Joondalup,poss be going later on in the year,might even see you if you're nearby.

Regards

Graham.

My thoughts are with you, a couple of yrs ago I had £2000 worth of model engineering equipment stolen,police offered me " counciling", & I had to try & describe the items to them, needless to say I didn't want councilling[well not their type!!] never got anything back, one problem is,when you repair something for someone people in pubs talk ie " the old bloke who lives down the end of the village can fix all sorts in his workshop etc etc" & well meaning but it's overheard by wrong uns.

Graham.

I've not used it in my steam engine but I use a standard/petcoke mix (as supplied) mixed with coal in my Rayburn & also in my foundry & it burns hot aga Rayburn do NOT recommend using it so it might be too hot for your boiler so I'd be wary of it.

Graham.

Thanks for the replys "hollowpoint" & Bob much appreciated.

Graham.

Interesting posts, what is the difference between the mk 1 & the mk 2 please?

Graham.

Lovely little item Hollowpoint, it's nice to make "quickies" like this in between the larger jobs [keeps you sane!!

Graham.

What about the window firms? you buy one you get one free ie 50% off plus free fitting, what a load of crap you can't sell your product at 1/2 price then fit it free, it's economic suicide UNLESS it's a trumped up price to begin with, also "we'll beat any quote for the same spec product" well of course they can because they'll have a section or fitting to that's exclusive to them, adverts are just a massive con. Insurance for the over 50s? peace of mind?,do they seriously think I'm going to pay out of my pocket every month so my kids can have a bean feast when I croak,I don't think so,they've had plenty out of me allready, my "piece of mind" is not wasting money on insurance so others can have it.

There I've had my moan for the week.

I use my cheapo aldi digital calipers [digital verniers don't exist even though some are advertised as such] for most run of the mill jobs & mitutoyo ones for more important jobs, they seem to have a smoother more positive action,cheapo's don't seem to like the cold & use more batteries but you can make tailstock mounts etc as they're so cheap, I have lovely set of 8"moore & wright verniers which have a much larger scale than most standard ones & are easy to read & I use then regularly to " keep my hand in" & because I like using them, but for really accurate jobs, the mike' comes out of course.

Graham.