Member postings for A Smith

I recently bought a tool from LouisMoto in Hamburg. I paid the price on the website + the shipping cost. It arrived a week later with no extra costs incurred.

When I see that fellow at the autojumbles peddling his spark gap thing, it always reminds me of:-

What you need is a monorail!

A monorail?

Yes, a monorail!

(Simpsons - lifted from The Music Man)

I think Flanders and Swan provided a good introduction to entropy, and set it to music!

Tempered to achieve a hardness slightly less than that of a file? Seems possible but would require better temperature control than I can manage with a gas ring.

Vanity! All is vanity! Even QCTPs.

Real engineers faff around with bits of hacksaw blade to get their lathe tools on centre height - apparently.

I didn't realise that my QCTP was an indication of a character defect. Add that one to a long list.

"what colour do you temper them to as I don't see this being mentioned just "hardened"

Not sure why you would need to temper something that won't see a shock load?

It's unlikely that the Alexandra Palace Show will return. The excellent Bristol Show seems to have died. Doncaster may return in 2023? I'm happy to go to MEX just to see the models, even if the suppliers don't attend. 400+ mile round trip for me. (400+ pales into significance compared to 4 Stroke Fred's trip to Doncaster a few years ago!)

Andy

Following with great interest.

Andy

Wonderful & very entertaining. Thanks chaps.

What you do depends on the intended usage - to some extent. If it's intended to be trailered to and from rallies and not ridden for any distance, knurling, loctite, wallpaper paste or whatever.

If the intention is to use it on the road at all, it is well worth a permanent fix, especially so, given the highly desirable nature of the bike.

As the valve gear lubrication may be marginal, an oversize cast iron guide and a recut seat, seems to be the obvious choice. I'd give it to a specialist such as T&L in Bedfordshire.

Andy

My ML7 tri-Leva has a 3/4hp 3ph motor, fed by a VFD. No shortage of power, excellent speed control. Two things though. I wish I'd bought a TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) motor, I had to make a guard to stop swarf getting in. Also, the 3/4 motor is right on the physical size limit of what can be fitted on the original mounting plate. I'd suggest that you ask the supplier if they have any knowledge/photos of their motor fitted to a ML7, if you go to something in excess of 3/4hp.

Andy

Some of my bikes have wiring looms that are more than 60 years old, they have soldered bullet connectors. The ignition, lights and charging circuits on my 1960 G3 seem to working well. I don't recall seeing any flux related brass/copper corrosion. In contrast, I helped a pal change the regulator on a CB250 Superdream, every crimped connector was an ugly mass of greenish- blue corrosion. The corrosion had tracked back up the loom for more than an inch in some places. Much cutting, extending & crimping required.

Andy

Really interesting work Fred, please keep posting.

Andy

Quite agree with the above comment, the less the soindle is disturbed, the better.

I use a cheapo oil can with a brass biro nib pushed into the end of the flexible tube, little ball removed, Push into the oil nipple, depressing the ball and pump away. Suits all the oil nipples, including the one on the backgear buried in the headstock.

With regard to the Trileva, if you search my posts, there's one somewhere about setting up the tension on the three headstock drive belts. Don't over oil the countershaft bearings -cus it gets all over the belts & they don't like it! Don't be tempted to use segmented belts on the head stock, absolutely incompatible with the jockey wheel tensioning system.

Andy

Did you fit a S7 crossslide by any chance? If not, ignore the following. The S7 cross slide comes in a least two versions. The relationship between the feedscrew and the two securing screw hole centres (handwheel bracket) differs between the two that I have. This would cause the problem that you've encountered. Check the ML7 slide against the S7 by placing them on a flat surface and comparing the vertical position of the tapped holes.

Andy

Regarding reducing the length of hammer handles, it's certainly very common in the shipbuilding & repair business. There are places you have to wriggle into, to flog up a flange for instance, where a full length handle would not be usable. I don't imagine that shipbuilding is unique in this practice.

Andy

Never had much luck with tomatoes but I may try some of the outdoor varieties suggested above. Thanks for the suggestions.

Andy

67% of statistics are made up on the spot. - Vic Reeves