Member postings for the artfull-codger

My last tub of loctite is now about 30 yrs old , it still works but you've got to be quick as it sets fast & I don't use it for important jobs I recently bought some 648 retaining compound off the internet, fairly cheap & most of the writing is in chineese,& looking at prices they range from £10 ish to £30 ish for 50ml, anyone know if these are "fakes" or if they're ok, I've used it for some jobs & it seems ok but don't want to use it on something important.

Thanks,Graham.

Eclipse make good hacksaw & jnr hacksaw blades which I use but I don't rate their piercing saw blades though,much prefer vallorbe swiss blades [more pricey !!] but much more accurate & easier to use.

Yes it is v8eng, It'll be the open weekend at the pumping station darlington soon, a few of us take our engines on the saturday it's a fantastic place [victorian engineering at its finest.] might see you there if you go RevStew.

Philplug great stuff, when I worked for pilkingtons we used nothing else for fixing mirrors & splashbacks it didn't matter if the hole was slightly off as long as you had the collar on the mirror, you got a pointed bent spike with each pack to start the screw off, [I never ever broke a mirror & fitted 100s in my time] & yes I once fitted them to a bedroom ceiling!!

Hmmn 2 pack acid etch primer from an aerosol Neil?

Graham.

I paint quite a lot of alluminium castings mainly plaques & signs etc and also my models brass alloy steel etc, I'm fanatical about cleaning my brushes sprayguns & airbrushes, & I prime with ICI acid etch primer [don't think it's available any more] but I allways brush it on as it's thin & doesn't leave brush marks or runs, you can't tell if it's brushed or sprayed, my brush is immediately washed out in cellulose thinners, I use celly thinners for cleaning house painting brushes as well much superior to white spirit.

One shot is a good signwriters enamel with plenty of pigment in it & sticks well even to gloss surfaces as is keeps enamel signwriters paint as well,we used the latter in college.

I use Hamiltons brushes, 1st class brushes but quite expensive, the only trouble is if you buy a new one they need a good "running in" period to fully paint well, I got some 2nd hand ones recently at an autojumble & a treat to use,for fine work & signs I use A S Handover brushes & american Mack swordliners for lining.

Hi Steve, I toyed with the idea of drilling it out but as you say it would foul the spares in the handle so I just cut them down with a slitting disk,they were quite hard but now fit snugly up to the start of the cutting edge.

Graham.

Hi Steve,called into local lidl & I bought a set of those files,as you say it's worth it for the handle alone,downside is the files only go in a short distance as the collet is not drilled right through,is yours like that? I thought of drilling it then I decided just to cut down the file shank so they go right in.

Thanks for that Neil

Graham.

One of the main reasons [apart from faulty manufacture] is water ingress and the unit standing in water at the bottom of the frame,the unit seal won't take it, the main failures were wooden frames & units not filled in all round with butyl putty,[latterly tape & silicone] & beading not sealing, with pvc & alloy the unit stands on spacers & when the water gets in it drains out through the weep holes [drained system] as long as they're not blocked up with drillings or worse forgotten to put in.

Hi everyone, I have a set of pultra 10mm collets & a 3 jaw chuck etc, my lathe is no 2 mt [myford] & I was wondering if an adapter was ever manufactured from no 2 mt to 10mm pultra?to enable me to use them in the myford.I would prefer to purchase one if available but if not then I'll have to turn one up. Thanks

Graham.

I bought my large wood garage 40 yrs ago & I paint it with proper coal tar creosote mixed with old engine oil every other yr & the woods in first class condition,when I do my gates I remove them for a couple of weeks to let it dry,just in case the postie touches them,our barn was built in the 1930s & creosoted regularly & still ok, not been done for about 10 yrs & I've just painted it with barn paint,[to improve the look, not my idea but needs must] it paints over previous creosoted wood, I'll see how long it lasts,you can't beat proper creosote & yes you can still get it & it smells lovely .

Quite a dangerous business polishing, I never ever wear gloves when polishing,I prefer black fingers to missing fingers.

Hi Stew,

You could pick hotpoint washing machine motors up for a quid once,dead usefull for all sorts of projects, I've got one mounted under the bench that's 40 yrs old driving a "skomo" spindle with a chuck on the end & still going strong & it gets lots of use, wonder if anyone remembers "skomo"stuff? .

Kind Regards

Graham [secret admirer of your M.E. articles& youtube videos] keep 'em coming,they're great!!

Nice little machine Stew,could never afford one years ago but got a 2nd hand adept & only sold it when I got a large alba, you could pick 'em up dead cheap then but they seem to be sought after now hence the higher price!, looks like a twintub washing machine motor driving it, dare I say the feeds feeding on the cutting stroke instead of the return stroke.

When I was a lad[a long time ago] we used to go to my aunties She was german & she had an old cast iron coffee grinder bolted to a table & we used to love the smell [we didn't have anything like that] I never forgot it & when I got married 44 yrs ago I got hold of one,it's moved house a couple of times but I still use it & grind beans only as needed & have an italian percolator that goes on the rayburn stove, last yr I bought a milk frother & that makes it tast even better,the wife uses camp coffee for baking with & I also like that as well,not too keen on the powdered stuff.