Member postings for RJW

I have that book on my shelves, a 1st edition hardback, and indeed just 12 pages, also along with Wilding's book on building the 30 hour clock the mechanism was designed for,

The articles in HJ are in the August to December issues according to the first paragraph in the book, so you can probably save yourself a goodly few quid if you have them, as MichaelG mentioned, the book is probably a collection of those articles.

John

Edited By RJW on 18/05/2021 16:38:32

Thanks very much Neil, also bought the Norden, should keep me out from under the feet of 'er indoors for a little while

If anyone has any hassle trying to wade through Amazon's attempts to flog a Prime trial to get to the Kindle for PC download link, go to the reviews, a couple of people who have had the same grief as me have posted a direct link for the software.

John

Andy, is that from the strike train, the wheel that lifts the hammer arbour?

which make of clock is it from? looks like it may be a 20th century type such as Hermele or Smiths Empire etc,

If you let me know what it is, I've got dozens of wheels and several broken movements here and can probably fit you up with a replacement, they usually take a hit from the recoil when the mainspring breaks,

The best way to repair these is by cutting a section out of a similar wheel and dovetailing it into the damaged unit, quite easy to do, just take your time and easy with the fret saw,

The new section only needs soft soldering because the wheels don't carry enough load to cause any angst, even on antique longcase movements.

John

Edited By RJW on 07/01/2020 19:13:19

1st ever lathe was a Boxford CUD, back int' pre internet days when lathes were bought and sold via Exchange & Mart, major cack handed screw up one day and somehow stripped the teeth off the mainshaft gear :/

Myford ML7, one owner from new, beautiful well maintained machine, and the one I Really should have kept,

Star 8mm Watchmaker's lathe, smallest workhorse with good range of accessories, (still use)

Boley 8mm Watchmaker's lathe, bought from estate of 1st Myford (Stalag VIIb inscription in box lid & a keeper)

Myford ML7 bought from late friend when he was needing to shut up shop, needs a lot of fettling (still use)

Unimat 1, found it to be a fiddle to use and flimsy, didn't like it at all and got rid,

Unimat 3 + milling head & attachments, not a bad bit of kit, but asset stripped it for insane money which paid for my Cowells 90 & kit

Sieg C1 + M1 mill, many mod's and tweaks to that machine and half decent if you weren't in a hurry, (sold last week)

Cowells 90 with good range of accessories (overhauled and still use)

Brian, the foot on mine, which I'm guessing will be similar to that on Hollowpoint's lathe, has a rectangular foot about 150mm wide x 40mm deep, so it's long and shallow and has two Allen bolts for attachment at each end, so considering what's hanging from it already, isn't particularly robust to my eye, must admit I've never done anything more than light drilling with it because I bought a floor standing mill soon after I bought the combo', the milling head and post has been shoved under the bench unused ever since,

The cut down leadscrew probably wouldn't be a problem unless going for the extra height with another post, there's not a lot of clearance to use much of it anyway with just a drill is in the chuck and wound all the way up,
No idea where some tube could be bought unfortunately

Happy to help, if ground hollow tube isn't available from anywhere, I'd be inclined to wait the 5 weeks for the real deal TBH, solid bar would work, but it would likely be a bit heavy at the back and destabilise the machine if you swung the head away from the bed to use the lathe, perhaps even have it toppling over backwards if it isn't bolted down, also not sure how or if the extra weight would twist or affect the bed in other ways over time .

I have a combination Sieg C1 + M1 mill, the pillar on mine is just shy of 40cm

Edited By RJW on 21/02/2019 11:46:01

Nicely made clamps and presentation Kevin, well done,
I use a similar process using a product called 'Blakit' and it's lasted well on tools and engine bits I've done, just a quick wipe now and again with WD or engine oil keeps the surface decent, got a few bits to do for my ML7, Quorn grinder and a Black & Decker Valve refacer, so your posting was a timely reminder I need to get them done before winter and damp weather sets in

John

Cheers John, I've found some photo's of a replacement spring I made for a longcase movement I Restored, it was for a 5 pillar 8 day 'Pinchbeck' clock with a small 'refinement' not normally seen on run of the mill stuff, so it may suit the skeleton, I'll get them into my albums and post them up for you.

John

Hi John, the ratchet on the mainspring barrel doesn't have a spring, the pawl is initially held away from the ratchet teeth during initial setting up, then engaged and locked tight once the mainspring pre-load is set, it isn't moved again unless necessary to reset the spring preload,
The mainspring is then wound via the fusee cone which winds the chain/wire off the barrel, the barrel arbour always remaining stationary

The spring on the fusee wheel holds the ratchet pawl against the teeth on the ratchet wheel adjacent to its train wheel, this can be fashioned out of strip brass, a common repair on antique longcases and fusees when they work harden and break,
I'll have a dig into my repair archives and try find an example,

John.

It's possible, but the machining is off centre slightly which makes it look odd, and by the look of it someone has chewed the threads off with mole grips or stripped the threads winding something off the end brutalising it, appears threaded off centre too,

Haven't had the crank out yet because of the shape of it, so no idea what other horrors lay in wait.

John.

Thanks Andrew, much appreciated, I've trawled all over the web and found nothing like it,

John.

Few more photo's:

Can anyone identify this engine for me please,

It's a 2 stroke spark ignition single, fairly crude castings and machining so may have been from a casting kit,

There are no fittings for a contact breaker outfit, but has a machined slot in the nose and clearance for a cam and push rod,

Alloy head, cast iron cylinder, approx 3/4" bore & 1" Stroke, overhung crankpin and a bronze connecting rod, the piston looks a bit skewed with the deflector on the crown hand filed, intake on the back of the cylinder with exhaust through slot drilled & filed in the cylinder casting, carb's missing unfortunately,

Total height approx 3.3/4"crankcase back to front of nose approx 3", crankcase approx 1.5/8"

Edited By RJW on 08/03/2018 21:02:32

John, Your spreadsheet is Superb, Many Many thanks for the link and passing it on, I'm sure many others will appreciate it too,

Thanks too for the tips Clive, hard earned from the sounds of it and well noted, Very much appreciated,

All I need now is for this crap weather to clear up and hoof it over to the seller and see the thing, hopefully in the next week, will update accordingly.

John

Yeah right, have you seen the price of Meccano lately Bazyle

Thanks Hopper, yes I'm heading for gear and pinion cutting plus a few gear wheels for i.c. engines,
I've been paying on average around £40 - £50 per raw un-crossed wheel from a pro' cutter, which hasn't been a problem when clients have been footing the bill, he charges around double that for crossed-out wheels, I've never bothered with those though because the work needs to match original parts,

I'm getting ready for a set of wheels and pinions for my Congreve but he's quoted me such an insane amount of money for them I don't think he wants the job, so I'll have to get my sleeves rolled up,
I've also got a couple of Skeleton clocks on the go that'll need them at some point, so plenty of work for it once I've got to grips with using one,
time isn't of the essence for any of these, so cost of the device and keep V cost of wheels and no device is a good argument with domestic management .............. we've all been there

John

Jon, the handles and wheels on my ML7 were in a pretty bad way with flaking chrome etc, plus several exposed steel parts on the crosslide and tailstock,
After stripping down, removing paint and degreasing, I shoved the lot into a very hot citric acid mix, they came out squeaky clean in a matter of hours, you need to dry, polish and coat them soon after washing in clean water otherwise they'll rust again immediately,
If you can't attend to them straight away, leave the parts as they are straight out of the acid, the fluid will dry and protect the surface stopping rusting, but as soon as you wash them they'll rust if left,

For the handles and handwheels to get the bad chrome off and pitting out, I shoved mine in another lathe (the Myford was stripped) and cleaned them up using 180G production paper to get the real grot out, then worked up to 600G W&D finishing with a scotchbrite pad then general oil, the centres of the wheels got ordinary grey paint.
If your headstock is still in business, you could still use the chuck for that sort of gear.

The acid is dirt cheap typically £1 for 250G of crystals, and safe, you can shove your hands in it but not advisable if you have any cuts, it's also safe to chuck down the drain when done, if you leave it in a tank it'll grow big gobs of mould on the surface so don't leave it hanging around.
I bought a 30 litre lidded plastic storage box to do my stuff, everything goes into it now, from tools to car suspension and brake parts, I've got a grit blast cabinet but never use it now, this is far easier.

John.

Thanks Nick, I'm sure I'll get to grips with them quick enough if I go down the mechanical head route, just seems a bit of a black art when you don't have the thing in your hands,

John.