Member postings for Nicholas Farr

Hi, there are things like CNC for example, that appear in MEW that I'm not really interested in, but many other people are. It used to be the same with electronic magazines that I used to get years ago. I think there is only a minority of people that will find every page is of particular interest and enjoy reading. Just skip those pages that don't interest you, but others will be.

Regards Nick.

Hi, I see the Blacker power hammer model can be seen in both videos, in my first job when I left school, they had one of these, and the Blacksmith who was in charge of me, used it several times, and I had to assist him at times by hold up the end of long items he was working on. I got to use it a few times myself before I left for a better job with a better wage. One thing I did learn was that you could make that hammer pat quite gently to crack a nut, or you could give a bit of welly as if to knock the anvil into the ground, they really were quite controllable once you got the hang of it, made drawing out worn road drills and worn pick axes etc. easier, that's for sure.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 14/03/2023 22:08:27

Hi, I bought two magnetic bases and two 0-1" - 0.0005" resolution dial indicators many years ago from Chronos Tools, which were not that expensive, and none of them have any brand name, although the dial indicators were made in China. The dial indicators still work very smoothly, and this evening I gave one a simple check using a precision ground block that came off a second hand indicator that I bought. I didn't need the block on the indicator, as the shape on the other side wasn't much use for my needs, when using it with the indicator, but does make a good true spacer for other jobs.

Shown below is my dial indicator and magnetic base attached to my small surface table, with the indicator set to zero with the plunger touching the table.

The block was measured in several different places on each of the two sides, and came out at 25.08mm.

The block was then placed on the table under the indicator plunger, and a reading was taken at 0.9875". The block was rotated so to get a reading on all four edges, and the reading stayed the same, and I repeated the procedure three times and got the same reading each time.

So, 25.08mm = 0.9874" near as, and so my reading of 0.9875" looks pretty good to me for an unbranded dial indicator made in China.

Regards Nick.

Hi Sonic Escape, you only need enough short good runs of weld between the top and whatever you put it on. You don't say how heavy your heavy metal is, but as the others have said, your design will distort like a good-un, 10mm thick would be the minimum for any short of real fabrications or heavy stuff and 12mm thick would be better. If you really do have some heavy metal to work on, this is the sort of bench you want, with a good sturdy angle iron frame or a strong steel bench, which you can keep the gear you are doing any jobs with in.

The top on this one is a little over 1M x 1.2M and 25mm thick, the angle iron is close to being 75mm X 75mm X 10mm. The legs on this will be coming off and the top frame made a little smaller, and those 100mm X 100mm hollow sections laying on the ground will be put on instead. The idea of making the frame a little smaller is so G-clamps can be used on the edges of the top more easily. If you got heavy metal, have a heavy bench.

This is one end of the one I used in my final day job, and you can see how convenient being able to use G-clamps are on the edges of the top.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 13/03/2023 01:05:13

Hi Mike, I was lucky in that the tide was at it's highest and was still water. If the tide was coming in or going out, the result may have been a lot different, as it is a very fast flowing river, however if the tide was completely out, it could possibly have been life changing as the photo below shows. It did not phase me about flowforge floors or catwalks though, but I don't frequent as many now my time is all my own, so don't miss them or the work associated with them.

Regards Nick.

P.S. I was facing that fat steel pillar and inside all that woodwork when my head popped out of the water.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/03/2023 12:29:36

Hi Dell, it looks like it is skewing round out of parallel to the work, as suggested by JasonB, or you have not got it parallel in the first place.

Regards Nick.

Hi Bernard Towers, Sutton Bridge, I know it well, had my right lower leg and foot in plaster for six weeks, and a total of ten weeks off work, when a panel in the catwalk under the bridge where we were working, gave way and I took a dip into the cold February river eight years ago.

Regards Nick.

Hi Hopper, yes it's harder to remember these days, but there is no need too, unless you enjoy mental arithmetic.

Here's an improper fraction you may or may not recognise, 127/5, but easy to work out.

Regards Nick.

Hi DMB, easy enough on the right sort of calculator, and no messing around with imperial decimals.

Only used the two calculators to save changing the mode on the left hand one. The hardest part is learning how to use the left hand calculator, but it didn't take too long.

Regards Nick.

Hi Geoff, I wasn't aware these women were doing this task, but I have seen women drivers and firemen on a few preserved lines, and they seem to handle the job very well, and I think it's a good thing they do get involved in such things.

Talking of silly mistakes, I made one in my previous post, saying the the pipe array on the Evening Star was on the left hand side, when it is in fact it is on the right hand side, I guess I was remembering seeing it, and they are on the left hand side of my view at the time I was taking the photos.

Regards Nick.

Hi, I sat in the driver's seat of the Evening Star with my hand on the regulator, we were doing a tremendous speed of absolute zero MPH. It was in the National Railway Museum when I visited there back in the 90's. I wanted to take a photo of the left hand side with the array of pipework on that side, but there was a big information board right in front of all the pipes, I then spotted one of the staff there and asked if it could be moved for a few minutes, which he was kind enough to do, and after I had taken the photos that I wanted, he said I could get up onto the footplate and take some photos from the driver's point of view, which of course I did.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 09/03/2023 19:05:06

Hi, yes I've made many silly mistakes, both at home and at work. The last one I remember making in my final day job, was cutting up material which only enough was ordered each time on one customers items which were made on a four to six week periods, depending how quick they would wear the previous ones out. Cutting up the material, which was 25mm dia. EN8, meant putting aside four uncut lengths four each of four fabs, as their lengths were cut at the end of each fab. I then had to cut 40 short lengths and eight long lengths, but! eight lengths had to have three short lengths and one long length cut, however, I must have got a bit carried away cutting the short lengths first, but I realised just in time that I wouldn't have enough material to get the four longer lengths. The next but! was, what was left over was not long enough to complete the number of short lengths, and butt welding any bits together was unacceptable, however, I was lucky enough to find some odd off cuts in the stock shed that would complete the job, but. yes there was a third one, two or three of them were about 20mm shy, however, this is where fortune shined on me, as all the short lengths had to have a short section bent to a right angle at one end, which can be seen in the photo below. This sort section is where all these short lengths were welded to each of the four uncut lengths and this bent section could tolerate the odd shortcomings here, and so the mistake could be to some degree hidden by not putting them all on the same fab. Needless to say I had to deliver them to the customer the day after the were finished and no comments or complaints were made from them.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 09/03/2023 15:55:40

Hi, mine came in this mornings post, all good.

Regards Nick.

Hi, I have a small Press Fasteners set, which is used in the same way as shown in the instructions that Rod has posted.

I also have a small Eyelet plier set, which the Eyelets have about a 4.4mm hole, which are really self explanatory to use.

Lastly I have a large Eyelet set with 7/16" holes, and is shown here with their instructions of how to fit them.

They all work very well, even though they were not very expensive.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 09/03/2023 08:45:50

Hi iNf, that's a good improvisation, but did you need the Abrafile to cut the slot?

Regards Nick.

Hi Bill, I only bought one, I did think about buying the two, but decided not to be greedy and let someone else get the chance of getting one. There where seven available when I first looked, but soon went down to two when I decided to buy one quick.

Regards Nick.

Hi Rod, thanks, I ordered one when there were only two left, and then there were none, but my order has been confirmed, so I guess I got one just in time.

Regards Nick.

Hi Ian P, when you create a photo album, you can untick the public box, this way the album cannot be viewed, and even the member who created it can only view it when adding more photos or when including photos in a post.

Regards Nick.

Hi, I believe the No. 0 vice Richard means is the one in the list in the scan below.

The Fibre Grips he is looking for, I believe are in this scan below.

I do not know where to get any from now though.

Regards Nick.

Hi Jacques, the index's you are looking for are as follows;

Vol 222 Dec - June 2019 - Vol 223 issue 4615 - 21 June-4July 2019

Vol 223 June - Dec 2019 - Vol 224 issue 4628 Dec 20-2June 2019

Vol 224 Dec - June 2020 - Vol 225 issue 4641 19 June-2July 2020

Vol 225 June - Dec 2020 - Vol 226 issue 4654 18 - 31 Oct 2020

Vol 226 June - Dec 2021 - Vol 227 issue 4667 18June-1July 2021

Vol 227 June - Dec 2021 - Vol 228 issue 4680 17June-30 Dec 2021

Regards Nick.