Member postings for Nicholas Farr

Hi, those USB microscopes are good for making those close up photos that you used to see very often years ago, where you had to see if you could tell what the object is. Like this one.

Can you tell what it is yet?

You may only know if you live in Great Britain.

Regards Nick

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 26/05/2013 20:17:06

Hi Chris, those USB microscopes are handy, for checking how close one gets their drilled holes on the scribed mark for example, as shown below.

This is a 4 mm countersunk head machine screw.

Regards Nick.

Hi David, no, it's the EFS 17 - 85 mm IS USM. I'm guessing that it's just a screw or something that has come loose and preventing the mechanism travelling, as it will move everso slightly and it feels like it's hitting on somthing else. Luckily the Canon mounts are backwards compatable on both my cameras and I can use my EF 28 - 80 mm ultrasonic lens from my "real" photography camera, as Norman has put it, as an acceptable substitute for the time being.

Hi Norman, don't you just hate it when that happens, like myself yesterday when I got a nice line up on train hauled by a steam loco that was visting in the main line station in the town near me, when somebodys elbow and forearm nudged into view just when I was ready to press the button, had to reframe quickly so as not to miss a reasonable second good shot, good job it was only plodding along slowly so it could then reverse into the station ready for it's return journey.

Regards Nick

Hi, I have a choice of two digital compact cameras or two DSLR's but I mostly use the compacts for posting photos on this forum.

The first digital camera that I ever bought is an Olympus Camedia C-3020 zoom which is a 3.2 MP. It has a macro facility and can focus as close as 200 mm. It was boasting USB auto-connect and 7.5 X seamless zoom optical + digital, which was impressive back in 2002 when I bought it. Still a good camera, but the downside is it uses SmartMedia memory which isn't sold much anywhere now, so every now and again I have to save all the photos somewhere else.

The other compact I have I got in 2006 and it is a Casio Exilm EX-Z70 and is 7.2 MP. The macro facility on this will focus as close as 100 mm and the flash intensity can be adjusted by two positions up and down the normal position. It's a fairly slim camera, only 22 mm at the thickest part and easy to use and handle. This one uses SD cards, so now I have a little pile of full ones, which I might never save anywhere else.

My two DSLR's are Canon's and allthough I have some photos in my albums taken with them, they are for more serious photos, but alas, my favorite zoom lens I have is stuck on the wide angle and has to go away for repair when I get around to packing it up safely.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 26/05/2013 16:17:31

Hi Pat, the links above are for the well known MD 65 Hobbymat lathe and its variants. The photo below shows the part which I think you are asking about, which is called a coupling in the manual and it's part No. is 3800-0211. There is no real detail about it in the manual.

There are more views of it in my Hobbymat Lathe Referb album. I may be able to measure it up and do a sketch of it in a couple of days or so if it is the one you mean.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 23/05/2013 20:48:36

Hi, well I can't see any problem with having posts printed in the magazine, after all any posts can be copied and printed by anyone. I personally have no problem with any posts that I have made and if it helps only one person with a problem or a query, then it's worth it. Is it not the main purpose of the Forum posts to help others without expecting any reward.

Regards Nick.

Hi Jason, very impressive and a striking colour contrast. I like it.

Regards Nick.

Hi Ian, yes, I couldn't get a good class work sample when doing my C&G advanced gas welding, my lecturer gave me a domonstration once again, and then said quitely, do your tests on that one and submit it as your clas work sample. That was back in the 70's and I beleive he knew gas welding aluminium in general was starting to wane, as TIG was then starting to be more popular.

I agree with you about the wire brushes.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 17/05/2013 06:50:27

Hi, if you are using a stick welder for welding aluminium it will in the majority of cases need to have a DC output with the electrode positive. Your welding plant will probably need to have OCV of around 70 volts. Most of the DIY welders will only have an OCV of 50 volts at best.

If you want to weld aluminium with TIG, it can only be done with an AC welding plant, and you will need filler wires suited for TIG welding, gas welding filler wires are not suitable.

Aluminium is not easy to weld and you really need to know what the composition of the aluminium that you are welding for the most suitable filler wire to use. It is a bit of a skill of its own and you will probably need a lot of practice before you will get good results.

I have welded aluminium, but pretty it is not.

Regards Nick.

Hi, well here is one I photographed at Harrogate in 2007.

Regards Nick.

Hi, well first thing, after a pot of tea of course, wandered down to my local garage to fetch me shopping trolly, after having put the new tie rods on it the other day. I got them to check and adjust the tracking while it was in for her MOT yesterday, which passed OK.

Then after breakfast done a couple of maintenace jobs about the house and then put me new belt, which I collected from the Chester stand at Harrogate yesterday, on my Chester Champion mill/drill.

I then tried it out and milled a short length of 10 X 16mm keysteel to make four T nuts for my mini mill, two with 4mm tapped holes and two with 5mm tapped holes, haven't decided which two I want to use yet.

I've got to cut them off yet of course.

Later after the rain, I managed to wash my proper car after going to Harrogate in it yesterday.

Regards Nick.

P.S. not as good looking as Jasons bits, but it fits in the T slots a treat.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/05/2013 20:53:32

Hi, I went yesterday and got there around midday and the place was quite full. As John has said it was best to miss one or two stands and go back later.

I had to stand a watch the trains go by on the big layout whilst eating my lunch as there where no empty seats available anywhere to sit down.

It was also a bit of a hussle to veiw things on a lot the trade stands, even at about 2.30, maybe the reduced number of the major traders ment more people round the rest of them.

Like John says there is a good diversity of models on show, one I was intrigued by was a Swing Surface Grinder which is described in MEW 45 & 46, a good example of what can be done with a cheap bench grinder.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/05/2013 10:47:29

Hi Peter, the Loctite retainers are designed to be used on cylindrical items. One common use that we had for these, where I used to work a few years back, was where a ball bearing had spun on it's journal and thus making a new bearing a slide on fit instead of a press on fit. Providing there was no shake to talk about we used Loctite 638 to glue a new bearing on which often saved buying or making a new shaft, of which some of them were very expensive. You had to heat the bearing up and tap it off fairly quickly when it needed another new bearing though.

Another job was a helical pinion on a motor shaft, after many times these pinions were pulled off the motor shaft and fouling the locking nut on the shaft with the gear that this one was driving, the gearbox manufacture came up with this remady and it worked fine.

I used To use Industrial two pack Araldite way back in the 70's for sticking 5 ft stainless steel screen cloth to a circular box section ring which was then clamp into the machine. I remeber having to wiegh out the two epoxies quite precisely, other wise it would not go off. The screen cloth had to be bolted into a frame to make it taut, the Araldite was then mixed and applied to the ring and then the frame with the cloth was lowered on to it. The Araldite would then ooze through the cloth and puddle flat, it then had to be covered with a tarpulin and left for at least 24 hours before trimming the cloth to suit the outside of the ring.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 09/05/2013 18:21:18

Hi, like Derek I have one of the older generation of Dremel's, Mod 395 type 5 10,000 - 37,000 rpm made in USA. I've had it since the eary part of the 90's and have still got all the collets and the spanner/screwdriver that came with it, and it has certainly earnt it's keep.

I've never experience the collets comming loose or any wobble in the main shaft and my abrasive tubes stay put. Don't know about brass brushes as I haven't used any of them.

Regards Nick.

Hi Peter, my stand was largely made with the same "what have I got that Might do" basis and my plastic raising blocks do the same as your long spacers, because as you say to give clearance for my hand to work the Y handle without scraping my knuckles.

Regards Nick.

Hi, I once made a couple of brushes from carbon rods out of a dry cell (battery) for an old style metal case Black & Decker two speed drill, they did work OK but there were a lot of sparks racing around the cumutator and they didn't last any amount of the time that genuine replacments did. I remember that at the time I counld not get any for a week or more, (how times have changed with the internet shopping) but I needed the drill before then to do some job or other in the house.

Regards Nick.

Hi Doug, according to Loctite's data sheets their anaerobic liquids should be stored at an optimal temperature between 8 - 21 C. They should not be stored below 8 C or above 28 C as this can adversely affect product properties.

RRegards Nick.

Hi, well my biggest job that I did this afternoon was replace the two track rods on my shopping trolly, AKA a 3 door Corsa. Bit of a fiddly one but got it done OK.

Regards Nick.

P.S. Isn't MOT time a wonderfull thing to look forward to, lots of potential big engineering jobs to do.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 07/05/2013 21:31:04

Hi, I'm not aware of any shelf life of the anaerobic liquids as I have some of them and have used the at work for many years and they have always worked OK. There is no mention of a shelf life on thier data sheets that I've looked at, which can be found at this **LINK**

Peter, I believe at lot of tablets and the like just become less efective to the point that they do nothing at all after the use by date, they apparently woun't do you any harm, but if you are unsure, it is best not to take them.

Regards Nick.

Hi Didier, I do apologise, I've missunderstood your query.

Try Costomer Services, or one of the editors by email from the link below.

**LINK**

Regards Nick.