Member postings for old Al

We all have our own tastes and scooters are not mine. Give me a ploddy old Matchless anytime.. But its different and a change from conformity. Bring it on.

The 'sticky pin' was a tool used by toolmakers and the like. In the toolroom that i in worked in, we used grammer phone needles (ok ,it was a long time ago). They were only about 3/4" long so your fingers got close to moving parts.

First you would dob your plasticine on the cutter, center drill, chuck, whatever. Then turn on the drill and mould it into a cone and then stick the pin into the centre when it was still going round and then centre the needle with your thumb nail. We could always get within 5 thou, usually better. (and only took seconds, every mill had a piece of plasticine stuck on it somewhere)

Their are better ways to do that now, its dangerous in the wrong hands and best forgotten

I sell a fair bit on ebay and wondered why i never got any feedback on stuff i sold via 'global shipping programme' I wonder, now, if its the shipping cost the buyer has to pay. Never gave it a thought till this forum.

I would ask Warco for some better photos and explain why. After all , they have already sold you tonnes of money's worth.

And every model engineer still buying stuff is worth looking after

Anybody considered it might be 13mm x 13 mm to fit a model

I woundnt use Araldite to seal a tender. it doesnt have a good bond on brass and is likely to leak after time.Crazy glue comes up as a cynoacrylate and i definatly woudnt use that near water.

If you have access through the top of the tender, you should get a small flame and locally solder the gaps. What lead solder have you used so far. Plumbers solder fills bigger gaps, but has a higher melting point. Their are lower melting point stuff that would work also.

You need to get it right at this point because a leaking tender will mess up your paintwork and will be a real pain to fix thereafter....... and make you cry....

I have known people to use motorbike petrol tank sealer, its an expensive option, but seems to work

Screws arrived today. job done, happy bunny.

Thanks for everybody for their help

Thanks all.

Dont know how i missed them on on Ebay, but i have now ordered a pack of 10. a lifetime of screws. £4.50 free p+p and i can sleep well again

thanks

Alan

Hi

I did have one of these on my Chinese made slitting saw arbour. Why its not metric is a mystery.

Anyway, with the cutter continually tightening the screw, it went bang last week.

All of my efforts to find a replacement screw have come to nothing. I dont want to buy a sackful, just one or two

Any suggestions please

Just remember its a DRILL chuck. Dont ever think you can take the lazy route and do a quicky milling job with the drill chuck holding a milling cutter

As is pressing the buttons on this computer twice!

I see Curtis has not replied to the latest comments. It would be interesting to find out what he did wrong. Getting a 1/2 decent model maker from his local club would sort the problem in seconds. It is likely to be an easy mistake done by a beginner playing with new toys. So much to learn!

I see Curtis has not replied to the latest comments. It would be interesting to find out what he did wrong. Getting a 1/2 decent model maker from his local club would sort the problem in seconds. It is likely to be an easy mistake done by a beginner playing with new toys. So much to learn!

Is your tool sharp and at centre height. Do a facing cut on a bit of spare stuff. I recon the tool could be a little too high.

I always avoided building my boilers. Different techniques, different tools required and your whole workshop full of shiney tools made all sweaty by the heat and then going rusty.

In the last 10 years i have made several boilers and have enjoyed the different style of engineering.But i wouldn avoid outside help if i felt so inclined.

I dont condem any shortcut in getting a loco on the track. Its a long and expensive project with all sorts of things to trip us up along the way. dont forget, the earlier model engineers didnt have a micrometer, should we not condemm the use of them also. we should use what is available and in our budget to make our creations

As model engineers we need new blood in someone to build our boilers. The good ones always seem to have at least year+ waiting list. So good on you.

The first photo with the boiler facing to the left on the second row shows an incomplete ring of solder round one of the stays, a later photo shows a lack of solder to the right hand, lower side of the backhead and some solder seems not to have flowed too well. It could well pressure test OK, but looks wrong and likely to fail prematurly . Not what i would expect when you say you have done more than 100 boilers.

I personally would not buy a non CE marked boiler of any size. I have also seen both the workshops of the boilermakers i have used. I dont agree with the working conditions of one of them, but the final product is always good.

Keep up the good work and show us your next completed boiler and show us up for the moaners we really are. f to moan about someones loco painting now or something else. Their is just rubbish on the telly this Christmas, so we have to moan at something, this year it was your turn to be picked on

stop moaning about the auction website We all know its a good place to get rid of sub standard stuff and buyers rarely complain. The complaints system is floored for those who try.

This advert has super photos showing all the floors of the boiler and another, so you know what to expect. The only thing the seller hasnt done is taken a photo of a completed, unconnected loco to show what might be. And that is allowable under these auction rules.

I dont think i would pass that one if it turns up at my club, but i would have to look at it more closely before making my final decision.

Now where did i leave my CE stamp, or where can i buy one, i thought they had to be earnt.

This 'professionally ' built boiler make the ones i do look really good. Ive missed my vocation, or am i just tight and dont want to splash silver solder all over the place!

I know their is a load of gash drills out their, but have you ever thought the operator is at fault also.

speed, feed ,rigidity

on a bit of 1" square it should only take a minute to centre the bar using the tool and edge method already described.

A tip. if you put a scrap piece of stuff, brass, mild steel, etc between jaw and work, you wont damage the edges of the work.They do fall out at the most inconvienient times when you are loosening and doing up the jaws.

I also use the jaws adjacent to the makers label as the jaws to take the work out. When i put the bar back in for a second item, they are nearly set for the next one. Never been rich enough for a self centering 4 jaw and practice make you quicker