Member postings for Robert Dodds

For you moon watchers out there I was sent this link to a full moon over Wellington NZ.

**LINK** 

I was impressed by it anyway.

Bob D

Neil,

Your tail of woe reminded me of Ken Whiston of New Mills. He was an active member of Stockport MES and used to advertise in ME in the seventies and eighties

"Have you seen my cat?" was the headline

Lots of bargain bags of surplus bits at very reasonable prices. I'm still working from his bag of self tapping screws and there's lots of washers still to go too.

Don't rely on 201 for a Proxxon cat. It's not purfect

Bob D

Neil,

What do they mean when they say "converted to electric"? I thought they started life as electric drills.

I think I prefer the electric cornet, although I don't think it will play mp3s!

/**LINK**

Bob D

David,

Is this the model you're looking for?

Bought about 1950 to construct an angle iron and asbestos sheet garage for Dad's first post war car! Still a good runner (drill not the car) with an allen key locking 1/4" chuck, it usually has a flap wheel fitted and is at the ready.

Bob D

Kwil,

Thanks for that tip. You can always learn something useful on this site, even if it has little to do with engineering in its wider form.

Bob D

Well, I found it, but do you really want comments when the print on the two topics shown is SO small. And thats on a 19" desktop so what its like to read on your laptop heaven only knows.

It's another case where the ads are making the page smaller.

PS. Is there any chutney in the Mango?. I can't open pg 8.

Bob D

Cornish Jack,

I don't think they had invented the Magnetic base / drill spindle idea when that photo was taken and I wouldn't fancy doing it with a B&D pistol drill!

Bob D

Well described Nick, but Key Steel is a bit special.

There was a a thread on here last July, "Properties of Key Steel" which gives an account of the steel grade that is designated as Key Steel. It's medium carbon En 8, for the added strength but still easily worked so that you can properly fit it to the hub and shaft.

I recall the slotter operator clamping down the hub onto two "tapered parallels" to set the hub at the appropriate angle to match the taper in the hub keyslot.

Regards Bob D

John A,

If at all possible drill your cross holes before threading the rod/bolt. You'll get far fewer drill dig ins or breakages that way round. If you have to drill into a threaded bar at least file a little flat where the hole will be to help get it started but beware the break out on the other side.

Bob D

Darren,

If you need to go for a custom made you might look at

http://www.beakbane.co.uk

They do many different styles, one I used in the past was from a dip plastic coating.

For 1offs the moulding former may make it expensive so one of their standard ones would be more cost effective if you can get one to suit.

Bob D

Ian,

Have you considered nylon shims?
3x4.5/5mm might be difficult to get but see

http://www.rapidonline.com/Mechanical-Fastenings-Fixings/M3-Plain-Nylon-Washer-Pack-100-33-5064

They do 3x8 which can be put on a 3mm mandrel, tightened up and skimmed down to your 5mm O/D
Cheap as chips as well!

Bob D

Don't blame Carol Kirkwood, she tells it like it is!

The Beeb's Breakfast told me more though, It was all tabletop railways, plastic helicopters and R/C trucks- not a machine tool in sight.
Perhaps they are not photogenic enough for Morning TV.

Bob D

PhilH,

You might get what you want from the assortment boxes at Screwfix and Maplin's have an assortment of compression and tension at £2.99 for 150 but the web detail is too small to make out sizes
RS Components have spring kits (in stainless as well) but you need a local counter or a trade account to get delivery from them. They are also a tad more expensive!

Bob D

Hi,

Is it fact or an OWT that spiders will cluster around mains voltage cables?
There are always several in my outside meter box when I go to get my meter reading!

I've got one of those catchers. Its great as a guillotine for cutting spiders toe nails off when you rotate the thing round to capture the blighters.

Bob D

Home use,

Springbok put some pics of his and phone details to Arrand on this forum under "Rivet Set Dimensions" just 12 months back.

Bob D

Without politicising this debate, was it not the EITB ( Engineering Industry Training Board ) who some years ago instituted regular reports from firms regarding the "on the job training" they were providing as a means of firms evading the Training Board Levy and so give rise to the rank of Training Provider.
The GD&T nicely fell into that era and the tutoring of GT&D satisfied the need for "the suits" to show that sufficient funds had been expended on relevant training to minimise or eliminate the EITB levy.
That, together with the introduction of new style Standards that said a lot but told you nothing specific ensured the stratospheric growth of Training Companies offering On or Off Site training courses in any subject you could dream up and charging mega bucks in the process.
It was of little concern that the subject matter was frequently nether relevant nor understood by the target audience.
As John Stevenson says, looking up GD&T brings forth all these con men but I did spot that one or two offer pocket books such as "The Ultimate Guide to GD&T" to go alongside our engineers pocket guide. Is it possibly a suitable "freebe" for our worthy editor to offer for extended magazine subscription?

Meanwhile, I do hope it stops raining soon and we can all get back to cutting metal but heres wishing all a Merry christmas

Bob D

Edited By Robert Dodds on 21/12/2012 23:07:31

I got a copy of The Presto book a few years ago and agree it is very useful.

It seems to be downloadable as a pdf. and is called Counsellor. It is on

http://www.presto-tools.co.uk/counsellor.pdf.

A call to their office might get you a hard copy.

Bob D

Merlin,

Do you think that the name Oliver is another Cockney slang based on Oliver Twist?.
The alternative name for the book is after all " The Parish Boy's Progress "

BobD

Merlin,

I'm no expert in church metalwork and furniture but I did spot this archive with catalogues of church equipment. Two are UK names, albeit old catalogues and you might find your candle stick illustrated amongst them.

**LINK**

http://archive.org/details/churchartinmetal00armo

Our "sponsor " is Brasso which gets into every nook and cranny but does not get polished out every time and then builds up a yellowly green scale in the recesses.
The answer seems to be a Karcher wash every so often to force the dried on crud out of the inaccessible spots.

Another source of info would be your Diocese Architects office. They should keep up to date catalogues of suppliers

Bob D

Merlin,
Sorry my input is late but I ran a brass shop in the 60s and would confirm that even then the tools and methods were "simplistic", to be kind. Threads were chased in brass wherever possible, one TPI for all, 26 TPI irrespective of size. Many of the tools were home made from hardened carbon steel as this was adequate for brass on slow machines or for hand cutting.
Short of a deep clean I can't put my hands on the split die block that was used to thread iron tie rods like the ones off the candlesticks, but it was after the style of the sketch below.

Being split dies it would be an easy matter to take 5/16 whit (18 TPI) and produce home made taps in carbon steel to near 1/4 dia x 18tpi (perfectly capable of tapping into brass) and then using the same dies, a little tighter, to thread the tie rods. Soft iron nuts would be similarly made with a carbon steel tap.

There was no sophisticated measurement or concern about British standards let alone Metric or American. Parts were required to "fit" and interchangeability was low on the priority list and the candlesticks .bear witness to the fact that they can stand the test of time OK.

The 50s/60s was an interesting time to enter an Engineering career, fortunate to be trained in modern methods but still able to see the traditional approach in the peripheral industries and then grafting onto that skills from both a toolmaker father and smithy grandfather.

PS SHMBO is unhappy to think your church brasses only get an annual treatment . There is a weekly rota for polishing in our church! A bit OTT to my mind.

Bob D