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Member postings for Nicholas Farr

Here is a list of all the postings Nicholas Farr has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

Thread: An unexpected weight
05/09/2023 15:45:16

Hi MichaelG, that 1:3 & 1:4 you have mentioned, could actually be I:3 & I:4, which looking at my previous two week bags that I've fished out of the bag ready to take to Tesco's recycling trolley has H:24 & H:31 and this weeks bag has I:3 on it. I'm guessing these are "display until" dates, as I bought this weeks bag on Sunday the 3rd September, hence, the H denoting August and the I September.

pear bags.jpg

I noticed that your pears have a size from 58 to 68mm, whereas my pears seem to have a weight from 105 to 140g.

I've never really taken much notice of these things before.

Regards Nick.

P.S. My pears are also packed in Welwyn Garden City.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 05/09/2023 15:50:41

05/09/2023 10:04:41

Hi, well I usually get a Pack of Packham pears, produce of South Africa, (I don't like Conference pears) these packs just have 550g printed on the packaging, and contain five pears. I've weighed the four that are left with the packaging and it comes to 549g, the packaging weighs just 4g, so assuming the packaging is not included in the weight stated on the packaging, the pear that I had yesterday weighed -3g, which it clearly didn't, as it was about the same size as the four that are left. Often when I get these, the pears are significantly smaller than those that I have at the moment. So my conclusion is that the weight that is printed on the packaging is the minimum weight of the produce you will get.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 05/09/2023 10:17:14

Thread: Old bearings never die...
04/09/2023 15:09:57
Posted by gerry madden on 04/09/2023 10:30:59:

Circlip, its actually before WWII, but even so, I think the SKEFCO name was reserved only for the manufacture in UK registered arm of SKF. ...but of course one never really knows what went on in those days

Gerry

Hi Gerry, SKEFCO had factories in Luton and Sundon, Bedfordshire, and Irvine, Ayrshire, and sales & service throughout the UK.

Scans from my 1969 SKF equivalent book.

skf e#cat. 1969.jpg

skf e#cat. 1969 2.jpg

Regards Nick.

04/09/2023 10:15:18

Hi Gerry, I don't know if any "SKEFO" bearings you are after are available anywhere, but RL 4 and RL 10 are equivalents to NLJ 1/2 & NLJ 1-1/4 respectively, which were made by Ransome & Marles Bearing Co. Ltd./ Ransome Hoffman Pollard Limited.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Compressor question
04/09/2023 09:00:25

Hi Dave (SOD), the unloader valves were not exclusive to single phase motors. In my old day job, all the plants had their own compressors, which were driven by three phase motors, and the idea of the unloader valves were to keep a reasonable constant air pressure in the systems while varying air volumes were needed during each batch of operations. Even three phase motors had a limited number of recommended stop/starts each day. All these individual compressors were eventually replaced with one very large multi-vane compressor with an air dryer and a very large air receiver and still had the unloader system so the three phase motor could run continuously.

An analogy to the unloader system, could be a voltage regulator in an electronics circuit.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 04/09/2023 09:26:55

04/09/2023 07:00:56

Hi Grotto, I agree with Bernard Towers about an unloader valve, these were often used in industry where they could/would be running 24 hours a day all week, where a plant would require a high demand of compressed air, the idea means that a fairly stable air pressure could be maintained, with the continuous time of use.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Drill press vice jaws
02/09/2023 21:46:05

Hi Jon, don't get too concerned about the name on these things, the style of these vices hasn't been limited to Record. I have two No. 412 vices, one of which is a Record, which a previous owner had modified, the other one is a Fabrix one, of which there is an advert in Buck & Hickman's 1964 catalogue, but I don't know if it was made before, at the same time or after Record was selling their version.

fabrex.jpg

A while after I made my last post, when out in my garage, I had the same idea about using a vee block in your vice as JasonB has suggested.

small machine vice.jpg

As you can see in the above photo, both the Fabrex and Record vices have used the same castings and are the same style as each other and the Soba one.

Regards Nick.

02/09/2023 09:15:34

Hi Jon, that Harlingen one looks a little similar to a cheapish mill/drill vice that I've had for many years, although it needed a bit of work done to it, to minimise jaw lift. It has a 8mm wide vertical vee in the centre, and two 4mm ones either side of the fixed jaw, plus a 6mm horizontal one. It will hold up-to a 20mm piece of round bar vertically, securely enough for drilling in the middle vee, but not for any milling operations, the two smaller ones each side would probably only hold about 12mm, but I would put a piece of bar the same size in both the smaller vee's, if I needed to drill just one piece, as the moving jaw would tend to twist otherwise. The only thing they don't seem to say, is how big the vee's are on that Harlingen one.

cheap drill vice.jpg

I've only ever used this vice for very light milling, but very infrequently though, but it does do well for general drilling operations.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 02/09/2023 09:26:38

01/09/2023 22:34:52

Hi Jon, I don't think that Eclipse vice is designed to hold round bar vertically, as there is no vertical vee slot in either of the jaws. You might overcome your problem by gripping two round bars of the same size, one on each side of the vice.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Eclipse E225 scriber
31/08/2023 12:27:22

Hi, well I also bought one of those £4.99 scribers, and although it wasn't very quick in arriving, it came today and was before the estimated delivery time. I haven't ever had one of these before, except one that I found several years ago, which was very rusted up and well abused, as the very tip was broken off, and the nut that holds it into the body wouldn't undo, although it would turn about one or two degrees. I had to use a bit of very brute force and ignorance with two pairs of pliers to get it off, which split the nut and busted the screwed part off the body that held the tip in place.

old eclipse 225.jpg

Needless to say the new one works OK.

Regards Nick.

Thread: LBSC Netta
31/08/2023 09:12:51

Hi Perko7, PM me your e-mail address and I can send you a PDF scan.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Draper GD16/16c pillar drill drive belts
27/08/2023 08:54:32

Hi Jon, these machines are pretty much the same who's ever badge is on them. The central pulley, as said, should swivel between the two others, and is probably rusted into its socket, as there is not normally any grub screws or the like holding it.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Bandsaw coolant system.
26/08/2023 12:03:16

Hi, my Boxford lathe has a built-in suds compartment in the stand, which has a divider, the photo below shows that with a suds pump that Paul Lousick has shown, although I've never fitted or wired it in, I can't remember how much it cost though.

suds pump#1.jpg

The best thing about these pumps, is there is no shaft seal to wear out or leek, and the impellor has enough clearance to tolerate small particles without damaging it.

suds pump#2.jpg

They will also let you know if your suds is getting to low, as they will stop pumping without damaging the pump.

I've no problem with other peoples systems though, a person has to use what they have and can afford.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Forum Platform Changes - PLEASE READ
24/08/2023 11:08:28

Hi, well I've just had a count up of all the photos in my albums, and it comes to 1782, most of which have been cropped, resized and or both, but every one is either on my laptop and or in an external hard drive, so I've not bothered saving any from this site. I do have one album that is not public, and I can't even review it, as whenever I try, I get a message saying that the album cannot be found, so if I want to look into it, I have to pretend I want to add more photos, strange that.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Beginners First Mill
22/08/2023 08:02:48

Hi Chris, I would say you need to decide what the largest thing you will likely need to machine, you will then need a machine where the table travel in both directions is longer than those, bearing in mind what the largest cutter you would be using. The next thing to think about is the tooling you will need for the machine you choose, like a machine vice and or clamps, cutters and any arbors and collets that you may need to fit the spindle. At the end of the day, you are the only one who can choose which actual machine you want, so just consider those within the parameters of what you are most likely to need.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Is a hammer on a surface plate worse than leaving a chuck key in?
21/08/2023 08:47:12

Hi MichaelG, ah! the Norwegian Blue Parrrot, I remember that, and I think it lead onto the Lumberjack song, which had a few innuendos in it. You had to be a bit broad minded to watch a lot of those shows, don't know how many people would understand them now.

Regards Nick.

19/08/2023 22:25:27

Hi, I can't se the problem, the guy is selling a surface plate as a workbench, the plate which is not in any condition to be used for the purpose it was made for. You could buy it and have it refurbished if you want, but it can be brand new one, and as long as you have paid for it out of your own wallet, you have the right to use it how you wish.

Regards Nick.

Thread: What did you do today? 2023
19/08/2023 00:32:35

Hi Nigel Graham 2, thanks for the info about Bressingham, looks like they have put that Kriegslokomotiven 2-10-? in much the same place as The Royal Scot was when I saw it, and they seem to be using the same steps up to the footplate as well.

the royal scot.jpg

Those ex-quarry mineral wagons that you saw, could well have come from the company I used to work for many years ago, they had hundreds of them when I first started there in 1970, but slowly reduced in numbers as new conveyors were put in and disappeared altogether after about ten years, didn't really do any maintenance on them myself, as they were done in another smaller workshop.

The two German narrow gauge engines were 15" gauge, Nos, 1662 & 1663 Krupps 4-6 2 named Rosenkavalier & Mannertreu and came to Bressingham in late 1972, but they were on the Waveney Valley Railway, part of which ran along side the standard-gauge track. They were very impressive engines, and there was a 15" gauge exact replica of the Flying Scotsman in the Museum foyer.

They had fifteen static standard gauge engines altogether, four of which were part of the National Collection, of which the GER T26 is one, the other three were Oliver Cromwell, London Midland & Scottish Railway No. 2500 Stanier Class 2-6-4T & London, Tilbury & Southend Railway No. 80 4-4-2T Thundersley, that King HaaKon 7 which is aMogal Class 21C 2-6-0 and was painted green and was in front of The Royal Scot when I saw it. It wasn't the best place to get photos back then, as the shed was just about full up.

The Garden Railway was a 9-1/2" Gauge and had the first Locomotive at Bressingham in 1965, named Princess, built in London in 1947 on the lines of an LMS Pacific Princess Class.

This info is from a booklet that I remember buying there, which was published in 1990 by Bressingham Steam Preservation Co. Ltd. and Jarrold Publishing, and has much more info about the whole site as it was then. It seems from a few photos that I took, it was around the mid 1990's when I last went there, but I can't remember how many times I went.

Regards Nick.

18/08/2023 11:03:21

Hi Nigel Graham 2, long while since I've been to Bressingham Steam Museum, and the last time I went they still had the Royal Scot and the Oliver Cromwell on static display, along with the GER T26 No. 490 and Granville Southern class B4. 0-4-0T, and one or two others. Don't know how many they still have now though. I they also had two narrow gauge, German engines I believe, which I think may have been 4-6-2's but I can't be sure of that, that ran on their Garden Railway.

Regards Nick.

Thread: Eclipse E225 scriber
18/08/2023 08:24:55

Hi MichaelG, I had a look in my old Eclipse catalogue from the sixties, but the E in the number isn't mentioned, it just quotes No.225, and in the price list from 4th March 1968 it cost £0-8-3, about 41p. The length of it was 4-3/4" when open & 4-5/8" when closed. Maybe the E was added to denote a new shorter design of the same item. Fascinating!

eclipes scribers.jpg

Regards Nick.

P. S. About £11.00 seems to be the most common price.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 18/08/2023 08:30:00

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