Member postings for Fowlers Fury

Attn: "Chuffer"
You asked 2 questions in response to my posting:-.
"..... finally being finished in 2012 would GM castings in those days be better quality or were you just plain unlucky? What process took place to seal the porosity in the GM cylinders and did it last? "

One of them made me realise I'd been unclear yet again.

I don't know if GM castings were worse in terms of porosity in past years. Those very porous castings I purchased must have dated from the late 1970s. I don't know from where the original purchaser acquired them, but from his location I suspect they were "from a M.E. supplier" in the north. I had no original receipt so returning them wasn't an option.. Of course many hours of machining had been completed when the porosity was first identified, so no-cost, GM replacements weren't my priority !
As to your question about the process & cost to seal the leaky castings ~ apologies, I wasn't clear.
I made a call to a specialist company to ask the cost for sealing the 3 cylinder blocks. Their reply effectively eliminated any prospect of going that route ! It was then I purchased the CI castings & Meehanite and started all over again.
The industrial process for sealing (using a methacrylate resin) didn't commend itself to me for use in a steam loco. The maximum operating temp for castings so sealed was quoted at 200 C. One company provides a reasonable description of the process involved (See their 'FAQS' tab on the website) :-
**LINK**

No doubt someone can provide more information about the longevity of the sealing or perhaps of different industrial sealing methods.

Chuffer posted ".......... why gun metal cylinders are not used as often as cast iron."
IMHO there are a few factors why GM castings are not used more but cost is not the main one. Confronted with a set of 3 expensive GM cylinder (unmachined) castings & liners from a private seller's abandoned project, the cylinders were duly machined. But then arose the vexing question of what material to use for the piston and valve rings with GM liners. Differential expansion prevents harder metal for liners.
Published opinions are numerous and often contradictory. In the end I opted for graphite-impregnated PTFE rings Making them & their necessary jigs was a major undertaking. Much later, low pressure steam was finally admitted to the cylinders. Water droplets, then steam was emerging from many surfaces of the GM cylinder blocks. Porosity in GM castings I later discovered was not uncommon. Dismantling and and then getting them sealed professionally was a huge cost. When the wailing & gnashing of teeth had subsided, I purchased a set of CI castings & Meehanite for liners. Clupet rings were ordered and eventually all seems good.
I put screwed plugs in both end caps of each cylinder and squirt in WD40. The wheels are rotated occasionally.
Clearly many locos with GM cylinders + whatever material for rings, having been running for some years. But the advantages of Meehanite liners in CI blocks wins it for me.

NG2 wrote" .......... the number may look like a British one (starting 01xxx) but be from abroad by a sort of parasitism or relay method that the telephone companies claim impossible to stop. Meaning they can't be bothered to try. "

As the frequency of incoming scam calls increases, I don't always have time to do this but reporting to the "Who called me?" website is always worthwhile.
**LINK**

As if we needed proof, the incessant reporting of scam calls is shown live.

The explanation for NG's justified anger is given on their 'site:-
"Why do I get so many calls with local phone numbers from overseas?
They are using a feature called 'presentation number' that has been in telephone exchanges for decades. Essentially, you can dial from number X and arrange that number Y is shown instead to caller id, call return, and the various other network services."
So claims that this is "impossible to stop" by the telcos seems cr*p.

I'm sure you'll know that a good source of information (and the metal itself) is Johnson Matthey and their website. Therein there's a section "how can I tell if a metal is platinum?" Unfortunately the simple suggested methodology is rather naive and concludes with recommending that density is confirmed to be 21.45 g cm^–3 which was the subject of your original posting : - (
Link

Nevertheless, the website does provide a huge bibliography of articles on platinum and its many alloys.

My purchase of some Pt wire from JM many years ago, came with a certification of purity.

Caveat emptor....

Re: NG2's posting above. To circumvent the requirement to supply your real number try this service (for UK numbers) :-
website

It has good reviews on TrustPilot FWIW and I used it a few times without any issues.
When I can "get away with it" signing up for some new service or site access, I'll fire up my VPN first.

Clearly many so-called bona fide companies pass on (sell?) telephone numbers and email addresses to 3rd parties. There are many free online sites which will provide an e-address which expires after a day or two. That is, long enough for you to have confirmed your email to join !

As for the accursed cookies which pervade the web these days, "Cookie Autodelete" with Firefox Focus is excellent.

There are a total of 87 replies according to the search box. Yes, there may be repeat postings included in that total. My point was that there's useful information already on the site.

I'm really not being facetious but I wish some folks posting queries would first try the site's "Search for" box. There's already a wealth of information and advice on the subject - "Blueing".

Whichever method is adopted, worthwhile protection is possible by the (regular?) application of black shoe polish to the metal surface followed by light buffing.

As Michael Gilligan, but for the last 4 or 5 months I regularly receive emails purporting to be from familiar people with whom I have exchanged emails in the past.
They all refer to "pictures" I must see by clicking on the link. Easy enough to spot and delete of course.
What annoyed me (other than those original people who allowed their email contacts lists to be accessed through inadequate pc protection) is that this spoofing of familiar email senders' names didn't seem 'blockable'. I'd created "Rules" in Outlook to immediately delete emails containing their names but somehow they keep getting through. Some on-lline research suggests it's becoming a global problem and it is possible to block them but I've yet to work my way through the numerous M/soft links:-

**LINK**

(I've become a great fan of the free services provided by the silly-named Duckduck organisation which appears in the above link. I now use their service for deleting all trackers from incoming emails as well as all my Google searching going via their website..

**LINK**

Not for the first time am I moved to quote perhaps my favourite source of wisdom:-

"“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.”

W.C. Fields

Regarding " I thought all Panthers had to be fitted with sidecars, the bigger the better, they all were in my young day. They fired every other lamp post was the rumour. This one looks very nice indeed."

Thanks for the "complement" Duncan. You are of course correct with respect to your other 2 comments : - )
The big slopers were indeed ideal for being married to sidecars. If you could afford a Busmar double-adult s/c then you really needed a Panther or an Ariel Square Four. The flywheels weighed in at 28lbs I think, so a lot of weight was low down in the frame and the torque was quite incredible for an ohv. They look to be long stroke engines but were in fact about square. Riding one solo (as I did) was an unforgettable experience irrespective of all the quirks & faults of a mid 50s British 'bike. In 4th gear at 30mph you could believe the joke about firing at every 2nd lamp post.
At the annual Panther Owners Club Rally in the late 70s there was a "flywheel flinging contest". A 'bottom end' with its con rod would be produced. Farthest fling won, needless-to-say by the beefiest hulk present.
Must cease the reminiscences...............

True enough about chrome re-plating these days. For one of my rebuilds where surface rust had ruined the original chrome plating, I used a nickel plating kit. The process is safe enough altho' tedious & requiring a LOT of preparation. A preliminary coating of electroplated copper is advisable on mild steel. The final finish of course will not look as reflective as chromium but a polish with Solvol or the like and the appearance is very close. For chrome-plated Cu oil pipes that needed replacing, I made new pipes then silver coated them. Again, a simple, safe process used extensively by clock restorers.The silver (from silver nitrate soln) binds directly to the Cu surface and is resilient to oxidation if coated with a non-yellowing clear varnish..

A low-res image of the Panther but the covers on the rear shocks, the front brake actuating arm, tank filler cap and a few other smaller items had been Ni plated back in '84.

CT wrote " having restored a number of motorcycles over the years but not for a while.................Can anyone point to publications, website or general information about this route. "

Likewise, I too have restored a few Brit bikes ~~ but not for a while. It is your request to be pointed to publications etc that I'll offer some - no doubt unhelpful - suggestions.

I still have, gathering dust behind me now, bound magazines from 1982 until about 5 years later. They include Classic Bike, Classic Mechanics, Classic Motorcycle. Within them there is a wealth of information on restoration.
(Note to self - really must get rid before the Grim Reaper appears).
There is an index for CB (Jan 83) and it suggests there's an article on the Sunbeam model 9 in the April/May 1981 edition. Unfortunately, that's a year before my collection began.
I did come across an advert for "Atlantic Motor Cycles" in Jun 86 of CB offering for sale a "Sunbeam , 1930 Mod G for £2,000 ~ what does that equate to in 2023?
In the Classic MotorCycle of May 1983, there is an informative article "A Glint of Sunbeams". I'm unsure of copyright issues but think if it's for your private study, I could copy it. PM me if wanted.

I would though recommend you have a look for such magazines of FleaBay and the like.

Tried my usual 1st tactic with these intriguing "what is it" queries - upload the image to Google's Reverse Image Look-up.
No pretence at all that this is the answer but an interesting trail resulted.

There was a bit of similarity to the basic shape of a tool I'd never heard of - a cooper's CROZE.
This was a curved plane used in barrel making for cutting the inside rebate where the lid would be hammered in. A further search on "coopers croze" produced dozens of images none of which exactly matched the OP's pictures but might indicate the article was part of such a plane. However unlikely, it's been a welcome education.

Re. Martin K's posting above..............
As so often Wikipedia provides a succinct summary & bit of interesting history on the subject.
Wikipedia

FWIW ~ "Gun Blue" will produce a decent cold blackening on steel providing the surface is chemically clean first. I use it when I want to blacken m/s screws which need to be given thread-lock before insertion or parts I can't risk distorting with heat.
I found oil-blackening leaves a surface coating of oil embedded in the oxide layer which adversely affects thread-lock agents.
After the Gun Blue screws have been water-washed, then given the thread-lock & inserted, a rub over the exposed bolt head with black shoe polish maintains the black & stops (delays?) surface rust formation.

There's a USA website called "Instructables" huge %age of trivial ideas for construction but frequently some excellent ones. **LINK**

An article therein is "The-Aging-At-Home-Transfer-Mobility-Device-a-Fast-/" Might give you some ideas.

Here

(There were frequently idea-starters for us on that website when I was a REMAP member, so +1 for suggestions above to approach your local REMAP)

Re: Steve Fletcher...(quote from website) "Please be advised that due to our current workload it may be sometime before we can start repairs. We currently have around a 9 month waiting list. "

If you consult The British Horological Institute's website, you can input your location details and find one of their nearby accredited repairers.

**LINK**

Martin, don't be so self-critical, no software (especially graphical progs) is easy to pick up quickly.
With IrfanView you have to look at the "Save As" once you've finished with your image:-

At the bottom of the left hand box above (Win10) make sure you correctly specify the location to <Save>
Failing that, IrfanView will automatically <Copy> your modified image so just close & reopen IrfanView then <Paste> or simply press Ctrl+V and the modified image will be reappear - I've done that in the image above.
There's also the <Save Original Folder> command. Clicking that will overwrite your original unless you rename the newly modified image.
(Do have a look at the "Acquire / Batch Scanning" function. Also, the package of "Effects" or Add On filters you can d/l for free from the website is impressive; many can mimic complex Photoshop effects.