Member postings for Speedy Builder5

Could you profile them and then use them as formers for boiler backheads etc ?

We used the Redux process at BAC (Vickers) Weybridge on VC10 and BAC 1-11 (Vickers commercial type 10 and BAC 1st - 11th Vickers Commercial !!)

In 1965, we were making fuselage panels easily 8 x 4 foot in size with up to 5 layers thick around cargo door frames etc. The panels were profile stretched and then routed to shape. Each layer was laid on a former, coated with the Araldite type mix and then the next layer added until the complete panel was sandwiched together. A heavy rubber sheet was laid over the complete panel, vaccum applied to squeeze it all together and then rolled into a huge tubilar autoclave with giant oven doors at each end and 'steam' baked for a few hours. So glue thickness was pretty thin but homogenius.

I remember that the 'glue' was two part as we would beg a cup of the stuff (2 cups) to hold our old Ford 8 and Austin 7 cars together and it would not be the first time we arrived home with a duffle bag with a new epoxy coating to the inside !! I can still remember the buiscuity smell of the Redux shop - lovely.

Whilst knocking the use of fractions, why don't we jibe at number and letter drills ? For us IMPERIAL lot, did any one see drill and reamer sizes in decimal increments - Oh yes please, can I have a 0.35" dia drill. Fractions, letters and numbers are the bread and butter of many of our old drawings as too are milimeters for newer drawings - so don't knock it when us traditional enginers use a bit of modern metrology to connect with the past.

I have a low cost caliper, problem is that the battery drains away when not in use. I can't get much more than 6months out of the battery - unless I take it out each time! Anyone else have this problem ?

This reminded me of a friend of mine. Whilst he was finishing his final year as an apprentice, the factory went bust, but to get his certificate, he worked the last couple of months (Cash in hand) stripping various machines and exporting them. On the last few machines, there were lots of bits 'spare' and as the shop floor had to be cleared, they went on the inventory as "odding bars" Which translated was any sodding bars left. I think that perhaps my friend's son packed your mill up for you.

If they have been annealed in a reducing atmosphere (as they should be) then they will be scale free and soft. Ask for a sample and try to set them cold. Make sure you have the correct length. I was taught to use material thicknes + rivet dia x 1.5 for the length of rivet. It is important to start with the cut end of the rivet perfectly square with the shank, and use a heavy hammer and strike the rivet no more than 3 times. More than three times and the steel will have work hardened - same true for aluminium !

I have just bought a load of copper rivets from Sapphire products co uk and they were a nice bunch to deal with.

Good luck

It could be the reason why windscreen wipers only break down in the rain. I guess your steam engine does not get steam in the right place at the right time. Like most engines - its a matter of timing.

I would bend the cladding first then

You could use a Dremel type grinderette - but wear goggles as copper in the eye is VERY DANGEROUS.

If you had the Dremel jigsaw attachment, that may work, but its a bit expensive just for 1 job.

Thanks guys - I have plenty of lime stone to neutralise the hydrochloric and start again with sulphuric acid.

I have been using diluted 38%Hydrochloric acid for pickling copper. We use it to alter the Ph in swimming pools. Seems to work well.

I needed to remove some heavy calcium deposits on plastic tube, so used the pickle.

Now, when I use the pickle, it cleans the copper, but leaves it a dark straw / brown colour. As a scourer, I use the wife's stainless steel scourer, and have switched to a green scouring pad.

Has the dissolved calcium in the pickle caused this new problem ? Any chemists among us ?

Does anyone own a Speedy who could have a look at their backhead/ fire door plate and count the number of stays please ?

Can anyone help. Following LBSC's writings in the MAP book 1978 and sheet 5 'Mechanics' there are no dimensions for placing the 1/8" stays on the backhead / fire/door plate. Reading from the text, there are 47 stays each side of the firebox, 6 in the throat plate (All OK so far) and 3 in the wrapper. Now by my interpretation these would be in the backhead / door plate - BUT 3 do not look like enough. 1/8" stays are drawn at between 3/4 to 11/16" pitch. Thus there should be at least 10 to support the doorplate.

Can anyone shed a bit more light on the positioning of these stays? I intend to use 1/8" copper rivets and silver solder in place instead of using 5Ba/1/8 x 26 as specified in the drawings / text.

Why don't you use a toothed belt turned inside out ?

Thanks guys, looks like expotools is the one for me.

I don't know, but I had the same thoughts about melting down brass taps and fittings etc. Is it worth the gas ?

I am trying to find a source of tiny woodscrews. Making dolls house stuff, and trying to find a supplier of about 50 countersunk brass woodscrews 1/4 inch #1. These are about 1.2mm in diameter. Currently I am using 10Ba screws, but not the best for holding in wood.

Edited By Robert Humphrey on 05/02/2012 16:50:37