Member postings for David Colwill

There is nothing new in this. It has always been the same.

if you take a class of 30 people learning anything from plumbing to brain surgery, one will finish at the top of the class and one will finish at the bottom.

A sobering thought when you have someone drilling your teeth.

Regards.

David.

Castrol Cooledge used to carry the dead fish and tree symbols (the new stuff doesn't), so used neat may work.

I'm going to stick to soap / water and alcohol hand gel for now

Regards.

David.

I generally try different things on a small area until I see results. Among the go to things are in no particular order. WD 40, acetone, petrol, kerosene, washing up liquid, isopropyl alcohol. I'm sure there are others. You do have to be careful as some can cause damage to the thing you are trying to clean but I am often amazed how easy it is to remove various stains / residues when you have the correct solvent.

Regards.

David.

I may have a Denford Triac for sale

I have never had anyone pay by Paypal for anything that has been collected ( I have lost count of the number of transactions that I have done but more than 100 ). Arranging pick up and collection through ebay messages leaves a record that is visible to ebay.

If you collect something you are accepting that you are happy with it (also in ebays rules).

Don't forget that ebay needs people to sell as much as people to buy.

A few points on ebay.

If you go into advanced search you can view "sold items". This will allow you to see actual prices for recent sales.

They often have free or cheap listing offers that you can take advantage of.

Take clear photographs and point out any defects.

Decide whether to include accessories or to hold them back and sell them separately (often the best bet)

Don't be in any kind of hurry.

Be careful when offering transport as you can look like a scammer. (offer it as an option but be sure to allow collection)

Try to show that the machines have been used by someone who knows what they are doing.

Consider offering a selection of minor accessories (drill chuck, cutting tools, centres etc) so that your buyer can get up and running with it.

Spend time on the description, make sure that it is clear and doesn't contain any spelling mistakes (scammers frequently write with very poor English)

These are a few pointers from someone who makes a living off ebay. For all its negative press I have had very little trouble with it. Most of my buyers (99.9%) have been genuine people who want a particular item and are willing to pay for it. If you are reasonable with them they will be reasonable with you. Yes you will encounter the cretins but they are everywhere and whichever way you choose to try and sell things, they will find you.

Personally I would list everything you own, provided you get the right money for things you will always be able to replace them ( I'm sure someone will disagree here but if you got £300,000 for your super 7, I doubt that you would have much trouble getting another).

Don't forget that storing things is expensive. Even a small space can cost £1500 per year. If you have to leave stuff there for a year or two this can start to add up. Cheaper alternatives like Uncle Freds garage have all sorts of hidden problems (the roof leaks or someone breaks in).

Just my thoughts.

Good luck with the property though.

Regards.

David.

Hello from Basford.

Regards.

David

I have read all of his books including a couple that were only published after his death. He had an amazing way of describing ordinary events in a way that can really involve you.

My favourite is still "An old captivity"

Thanks for bringing this up, it may be time to dust off a couple of his books.

Regards.

David.

A radio with a mute button. Isn't that called a

So who would pay for advertising on Classic FM?

I do listen in the car and at home and am staggered by the incompetence of who ever sorts out the adverts.

You can often hear 10 seconds of an advert followed by a few seconds of another and then back to the original. Sometimes with comedy results.

I wouldn't have thought this possible in this day and age but Classic FM seem to be able to do it again and again.

I have felt the frustration of Peter Shaw long before the Govt announcements started.

I got sick of hearing the joyful singing of "The Claims Guys" and then was horrified after the deadline to find that you can claim if your bank mis sold you investments. They also ran adverts by several charities for free will writing which coupled with the cancer care adverts caused my wife and I to dub it Classic Death M.

I have nothing against any of these and am not against adverts and announcements but there are many things that need to be advertised and much that should be announced Just not the same things every half hour.

Now listening to Prime Music

David.

The world has truly gone mad.

Hermes (through eBay's packlink) put their price up to £4.36 for a 2kg parcel the other day.

Now UPS have lowered the cost of their next day service to £3.75 for 5-10 Kg

Obviously I am not complaining.

If only!

I use (or at least used to use) Hermes through eBay. They just put the price up for a 2kg parcel from £2.85 to £4.36

As an ebay trader I have seen an increase in trade but also an increase in costs. If a parcel goes missing it is the suppliers responsibility to replace it and I have had to do this several times. On cheaper items it is not worth the bother of trying to claim.

David.

I feel your pain!

David.

I sent a parcel out on the 28 April by Hermes that arrived Yesterday.

To be fair they are better than they were but I'm not that keen on them as a company.

Both Royal Mail and UPS are struggling at the moment so I wouldn't be too quick to judge any of them.

David.

Ahh,

Sorry about the left hand thread bit. The lathe I use for manual threading has a dog clutch arrangement, when I reverse it I am operating the tumbler reverse and not the motor direction.

Good job on the thread though.

Regards.

David.

I should have said that apart from not withdrawing the tool,the method is correct.

Take small cuts rather than trying to do it in one or two passes.

David.

Hi,

If you reverse the direction you cut a left hand thread!

So no, most definitely not.

Don't be too upset with yourself though, it isn't that intuitive!

Regards.

David.

I'm getting to this stage too. I like the concept but am not keen on the toolpost mounting, not because I don't think it isn't strong enough but because it seems a pain especially as it has to be changed over depending on which machine you are working on.

My DSG and mill are next to each other so I think some sort of swinging arm between the two is the way I will go.

Regards.

David.

I saw this too and didn't like the idea of 500lbs hanging off my toolpost but having thought about it, I'm sure it is okay.

If you want something to compare, have a look at how the ram is held on a cheap 1000kg engine crane. The materials on these are cream cheese painted to look like cast iron. He has this mounted to a quality toolpost on a 17" Monarch lathe. I would say that most lathes could lift the weight of the chucks that would be used with them from the toolpost without too much bother.

Sadly though his channel has just turned into a series of paid endorsements ( at least that is how it seems to me ) and it is difficult to gauge how useful any of these things are!

Regards,

David.

I generally use the appropriate oil for the job ( easy for me because I sell oils ) but agree that any oil on slideways will probably work. Yes the proper slideway oil will reduce stiction but I doubt you would be able to measure the difference on an ML7 tailstock.

Viscosity is more important, especially with bronze bearings fed by drip feed. My Jones and Shipman 540 uses a mix of oil and kerosene which is like water, chucking engine oil into this is not a good idea!

If running machines with bronze bearings be careful with the oil that you use and make sure that they don't run too hot.

I realise that this is obvious to most on here but point this out for the beginners who may stumble upon this thread.

So yes oil is oil but not always.

Regards.

David.