Member postings for Samsaranda

Dave, you mention that coal and iron ore have to be imported because local resources have been exhausted, I was under the impression that in respect of coal there were at least 100 years of resources left in the ground when the politicians decided to close our mines, the other factor was a commercial one the price of imported coal undercut our home product.

Dave W

Correction to my previous post, my chop saw is Lidl not Aldi, always get mixed up with those two.

Dave W

My Aldi chop saw was bought with two purposes, I don’t cut metal on an industrial scale so for occasional use perfectly adequate and also space in my workshop is always at a premium so the chop saw easy to stow away. I was tempted to buy a Fermi bandsaw, size wise I could have accommodated it but price was a problem, would have serious problem with scrutiny by other half. My chop saw uses proper metal cutting discs as against the carbide toothed versions that look as though they should only cut wood. With the correct discs the cut finish is very good and quick, only downside is sparks, best used outside otherwise the workshop is at risk of catching fire, cutting outside is not a problem, even in winter there are dry days that you can use. Wouldn’t be without it now, one of the best buys that I made. Dave W

I would imagine tool is not square to the piston.

Dave W

I bought the Lidl metal cop saw, very reasonable price and cuts steel like butter, no regrets and you can experiment with different specs of disc to fine tune for what you want you want to cut.

Dave W

I endorse John’s recommendation, Brede Pumping Station well worth a visit and there is an excellent pub in the nearby village for lunch.

Dave W

I have a variant of the CMD 10 and it does have its limitations, I would think that a 50 mm facemill is probably at the limit or just beyond its capabilities, hence the damage to drive gears. Fortunately I now have a Champion V20 mill for the heavier cuts.

Dave W

Martin, I accept the figures that you listed, my comment about not wanting to be within a hundred miles in 1986 was based on my experiences as a radiation worker and the premise that no dose is safe and you need to minimise your lifetime exposure figures. 6 mSieverts exposure definitely preferable to something 50000 times more, just so lucky that we haven’t had such a disaster like that in the UK, well not since Windscale or that we know about.

Dave W

William, I stuck with plastic gears for the reason that Ketan illustrated, better to replace a sheared plastic gear than an expensive burnt out electrical board. I don’t use my minimill that frequently because I now have a Champion V20 mill which I have fitted with DRO’s and other mods, giving me much more machining capacity. Glad I was able to help solve your issue.

Dave W

Martin, the dosage at Chernobyl in 2010 was infinitely lower than in 1986 because the isotopes had yet to decay and also the reactor was then yet to be capped with steel and concrete thereby sealing the open core of the reactor. I wouldn’t have wanted to be within a hundred miles of the site in 1986, nowadays it is relatively safe fairly close up to the reactor site, although not recommended to spend a prolonged period there. I am impressed with the technical details of the series and also the sets are realistic, it is apparently filmed in Lithuania, an ex Soviet state, I am sure that the Lithuanians are not fussed about upsetting their former masters in Russia, there is no love lost there between them.

Dave W

Bill, uncharacteristically the winds immediately after the Chernobyl accident flowed east to west over Europe causing a plume of radiation to be swept up over Scandinavia and then down across the UK, I think a lot of the contamination had settled across Europe and Scandinavia before reaching UK. It was just bad luck that the winds were in the wrong direction for us and we got a share. I seem to have a vague recollection that about that time there was concern about radioactive contamination of the overalls of personnel who had reason to work inside the air intakes of Lightning aircraft, due to the large volumes of air, from high altitude, passing through the intakes and the particles of contamination being deposited in the intakes.

Dave W

William, I have an Axminster MiniMill and when I bust my gear, easy done, I bought a replacement from ArcEurotrade, can’t remember how cheap it was but they are brilliant at responding to orders, I think it was here the day after I ordered. If you go on Arc’s website they have a comprehensive parts list for the minimill and ordering couldn’t be simpler. At least you can get running again until you decide what or which material you will replace it with.

Dave W

Chernobyl is a brilliant series and I remember the event very well, a few days after the event this country was covered by a layer of cloud which was depositing a steady layer of contamination. The areas that seemed to be most affected were the hill regions of Wales, Lake District and Scotland, the ground became so contaminated that for years it was illegal to sell any sheep grazed there for human consumption because the meat was so contaminated. In the series great play is made on the fact that certain components of the contamination would take in the order of 20,000 years to decay to half its original intensity, beggars the question how much of the intensity of the fallout that fell here on the UK has diminished, are we being kept in the dark because there is nothing that could be done even if we knew ?

Dave W

I have a number of different sizes of straightway drills in my drill collection, cannot remember where I got them from but now I know what they are used for, often wondered.

Dave W

Hopper my sentiments entirely particularly having one daughter vaccine damaged.

Dave W

Try feeling the temperature of the wall behind the radiator when it is heating, the wall will be warm from radiated heat, certainly a good idea to use foil to redirect the radiated heat, saves wasting it especially on outside walls where it will conduct to outside and be lost. Perhaps lost heat doesn’t matter to some but I am all for insulating and conserving heat, lost heat equals wasted money, it’s a no brainier.

Dave W

A 167 kw sound system is unbelievable, I guarantee that those within range would have suffered permanent damage to their hearing, not always apparent at the time. I suffered exposure to gas turbine engine noise in the early 60’s without hearing protection and consequently have suffered a profound loss on my high frequency hearing, I jokingly say that it is only women’s voices that I have difficulty hearing, really winds up the wife, the reality is that even with high gain hearing aids I struggle in any social environment, the only place I feel on the same level as everyone else is when I am clay pigeon shooting because we all wear ear plugs so we are all equally handicapped. Noise is such a crippling environment, youngsters are totally unaware of the damage they do to themselves when they wind up the volume on their earphones.

Dave W

Was under the impression that feed in tariffs no longer available for new PV installs after the end of March 2019, I had my installation completed in Dec 2018 and was urged to make sure it was before end of March 2019 because fits for new installs ceased to be available then. I may be wrong, always am according to wife, worth checking before committing to a project.

Dave W

Silly Old Duffer, I acknowledge your policy change, it takes a person of courage to change their policy so publicly as on this forum, I wasn’t having a go at you just poking fun, life’s too short to get too serious, I look forward to your contributions on this forum, you speak a lot of common sense and you come across to me as a person who doesn’t tolerate fools gladly, keep up your contributions.

Dave W

Spent a lot of my childhood in Malaya as it was then, managed to avoid malaria despite the only precautions being a mossie net at night, my sister was not so fortunate she succumbed to Dengue Fever also spread by mosquitoes, which made her very poorly at the time. Later in life I happened to find myself in the midst of one of the last major outbreaks of smallpox, was in the Air Force at the time and we were all revaccinated, regardless of when our last one had been given, that was in the sixties.

Dave W