Member postings for Martin W

A quick and dirty way that may fix the leak is to fit either a copper or fibre washer under the head of the bolt having coated all parts with Hylomar and assemble while still wet. If this doesn't work clean up parts and try assembly dry. The advantage is that you already have the Hylomar and if neither option works all you have lost is the cost of a small washer.

Martin

EDIT TO MY PREVIOUS POST

I assume that the 2BA thread you are referring to is the cap head bolt at the bottom left in your picture. If so then I would expect this to screw into a blind hole in the case of the gearbox. If this assumption is correct the threaded part of the cap head would not be exposed to any oil in the gearbox. If so then the leak past this cap head might well be due to a failure of the gasket between the flat face of the gearbox and the cover allowing oil to seep through to the unthreaded shank of the 2BA screw and show up as a leak around this cap head bolt. It is relatively simple to confirm if the tapped section is blind or open to the inside of the gearbox. Remove the cap head bolt the fill the gearbox with oil, if it runs out then the threaded section is not blind, if no oil appears then leave it for a few hours or longer and check again and if no oil leaks then it is a fair chance that it is a blind hole.

The Hylomar data sheet states, and I quote: "Hylomar Universal Blue can be used to seal joint faces or threaded parts." While the data sheet specifies surface smoothness limitations for the three grades it does not give any gap filling limitations for threaded parts.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Martin

PS

If the threaded portion of the hole is blind then wrapping the threaded sect with PTFE will not be effective.

Edited By Martin W on 24/06/2020 10:38:45

Should have included the sentence highlighted in italics.

OOPS Bad day at the office

I assume that the 2BA thread you are referring to is the cap head bolt at the bottom left in your picture. If this assumption is correct the threaded part of the cap head would not be exposed to any oil in the gearbox. If so then the leak past this cap head might well be due to a failure of the gasket between the flat face of the gearbox and the cover allowing oil to seep through to the unthreaded shank of the 2BA screw and show up as a leak around this cap head bolt. It is relatively simple to confirm if the tapped section is blind or open to the inside of the gearbox. Remove the cap head bolt the fill the gearbox with oil, if it runs out then the threaded section is not blind, if no oil appears then leave it for a few hours or longer and check again and if no oil leaks then it is a fair chance that it is a blind hole.

The Hylomar data sheet states, and I quote: "Hylomar Universal Blue can be used to seal joint faces or threaded parts." While the data sheet specifies surface smoothness limitations for the three grades it does not give any gap filling limitations for threaded parts.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Martin

PS

If the threaded portion of the hole is blind then wrapping the threaded sect with PTFE will not be effective.

Edited By Martin W on 24/06/2020 10:38:45

If it is still of interest the data sheet/instructions for the 3 grades of Hylomar Universal Blue can be found here.

Martin

While strictly not on topic but in relation to shipping costs from China to the UK are NOT free though they are extremely cheap. This site gives details of the cost of postage from China, at present the exchange rate is about 10CNY to £1 or about 10p to 1CNY. The cost to post a parcel to the UK is 5CNY for the first 50g + 0.09CNY for every gram extra even for air mail.

Martin

We have an area of lawn that is shaded and the moss was always present and no matter what we did with regard to scarifying etc. it always returned and swamped what grass was growing there. We read a recommendation for a product called Mo Bacter by Viano and this has been totally successful at removing and preventing the regrowth of the moss, usual disclaimers.

While it will not help with the weeds it will get rid of the moss and is a lawn fertiliser which will help the grass re-establish where the moss was, details can be seen here.

Cheers

Martin

Dave

As Douglas has said with sharp tools it is great to work with either in the lathe or milling. Have used it quite frequently in the past and with a little care the finish is superb. When turning don't allow the swarf to gather round the tool as this can cause problems with the swarf getting caught on the tool, this really depends on the tool, depth of cut and speed.

Martin

I use a virtually identical soldering station as Peter's but bought from CPC see this link. I have had it for many years it has been reliable, famous last words, and the bits seem to last as well. Use it for electronics, general soldering and for a period it got extended and heavy use as I built/rebuilt an amateur dramatics lighting system, pre DMX days, which meant there was a mass of joints to be made. There are/or were many bit variations from fine point to much heavier tips plus the temperature can be set at the press of a button to suit various solders and minmize heat damage to components or substrates. Normal disclaimers re vested interests.

HTH

Martin

I have had this problem on my Samsung phone whereby it appears that there is an intermittent problem. I traced it down to literally finger trouble. I found that if my fingers of the hand that was holding the phone encroach onto the screen then the shutter release function sometimes won't work. Prior to discovering this I had put it down to a problem with the phone but in reality the problem was how I was holding the phone.

Cheers

Martin

Well I am proud to say that I have made quite a lot. The list ranges from piles of swarf, discarded items that just didn't turn out correctly, a complete mess in the shed and the obligatory unfinished projects. I have toyed with the idea of making a small stationary steam engine but that is about as far as it has got.

That said I do make bits and bobs for friends and family where the bits can't be sourced or are too expensive but model engineering it isn't. Does that matter to me, 'NO' because I have the satisfaction of solving a problem, the enjoyment of doing the task and developing my limited skills; when I was working many years ago, no engineering training etc, they used to call it 'Job Satisfaction' and that is all that matters. My shed has a notice on it that reads something like 'This may only be a shed to you but to me it's a SANCTUARY'.

Most contributors on this site are always willing to help when asked and for those few that deride/mock other members equipment, tools and/or efforts speaks more about them and their shortcomings. We all have had to start somewhere and ask for help or advice and that needs to be remembered.

Ramble over for now. Just enjoy what you are doing and the fun of learning new skills.

Martin

PS

Made my wife a cup of tea this morning and took it up to her in bed, hope to have earned a few brownie points to exchange for shed/sanctuary time.

Edited By Martin W on 23/05/2020 11:58:21

Michael

A very interesting article though it does reveal how little we really understand what's going on under our feet. Recently I saw an article about the north magnetic pole that for a long time had been relatively stable under northern Canada suddenly upping sticks and rapidly migrating to the west.

Cheers

Martin

Hi

What is this for, is it a DC motor as found on many hobby lathes or for an AC setup. A lot of the lathes/mills have a separate reversing switch and NVR switch. The interlocks and one pole of the reversing switch are frequently wired in series with the hold on coil of the NVR and when the reverse switch is operated and passes through the off position the circuit is opened and the NVR will trip, as will any open interlock switch.

So it would be very helpful to know what you are intending to use the setup for, a new build or an existing piece of machinery. Without any information any suggestions will be purely guesswork unless anyone knows more.

Secondly if you want help with the wiring etc. it would be good to know roughly where you are, nearest town is fine, so that should there be someone locally they might be able to drop in and advise/help.

Martin

Duncan

A reputable UK company, see here, is offering these at a very similar price plus 4 x AA rechargeable batteries. The main benefit being that should there be any problems then you have a much better chance of sorting things out. I use them fairly frequently for a variety of products ranging from rechargeable batteries and chargers, memory sticks/cards to printer inks.

Martin

How about finding a chuck key with the required gear size and then turn the spigot down to the required size to fit the chuck. It doesn't have to be particularly accurate so could be done quickly on a lathe or even with a bit of careful filing in a vice.

Martin

If I recall correctly from my childhood some 60+ years ago one unscrewed the safety valve and used the hole to pour water into the boiler. Looking at the state of the soldering on that boiler I wouldn't want to steam it before giving it a very close inspection and run and low pressure hydraulic test, also make sure that safety valve operates at the correct pressure. Much information I would expect to find on something like the Mamod sites.

HTH

Martin

Nick types quicker than me evidently.

Edited By Martin W on 26/04/2020 16:57:24

Michael

Been there with a cheap pair of jump leads that appeared to be OK on a light engine start, enough to for the lights etc. but on a bigger engine/diesel stone dead when the starter was engaged, like you a run round with a meter and all seems more or less OK until load voltage was tested with the starter engaged and all became clear. Now the proud owner of a set of heavy duty jumper leads but not had to use them in anger yet, that's tempted fate with a vengeance .

Cheers

I note that they say before first use charge for 10-12hrs. If we assume that the unit is supplied in a fairly discharged state, the input charging voltage is 5v, see USB cable supplied, and the output voltage is 5V standard USB then the charge current would need to be something approaching 90 amps. Therefore I suspect that the charging cable they supply must be fabricated from a superconducting material. My problem is that I don't have to hand 100 amp 5V power supply to suit, that said I wonder if Tesla might be interested in the technology as a stack of these 'small' batteries would have the ability to power a car and not take up too much space.

Then it might be that my thoughts may be incorrect and, as Andrew says, the info is just a load of "b*****ks"

John you evidently type faster than me

Martin

Edited By Martin W on 04/04/2020 01:13:12

Looks like a nice job Steve. I have been meaning to fit one to my mill but haven't found the right "Round Tu-It" yet, hopefully will do soon.

Martin

That also explains why the table on the back of the packet has been left blank which confused me .

Hi

The best product I have used for the removal of black mould and the staining it produces is 'Kilrock BLAST AWAY Mould Remover'. While I don't know what the effect might be of applying it on the painted surface of your telescope I have used on a variety of surfaces including emulsion paints, oil based paints, various plastic surfaces, silicon sealant, acrylic sealants, bare plaster and have not noticed any detrimental effects to any of these surfaces. That said one of its constituents is clearly a bleaching agent similar to normal household bleach probably sodium hypochlorite. Not only does it remove all traces of the mould, including any staining, it also seems to actively inhibit regrowth especially on the more porous surfaces.

It might be worth testing some on a small inconspicuous area to see how quickly it removes the staining/spores and check if it has any detrimental effect on the coating. You can purchase as a liquid spray or brush on gel from various high street outlets or from ebay.

Usual disclaimers other than I have found it to be extremely effective and usually have some about just in case I find some mould about the place.

Hope this helps

Martin