Member postings for Richard Parsons

If it is the personal decision of the Editor (or the Editorial Committee) not to publish such information then that is OK, but if this decision has been made as a result of pressure being brought by the ‘Authorities’ then that is censorship which is contrary to one of the protocols in the European Charter of human rights. If threats were used under some act then that is downright illegal as Parliament never intended that the act be used in that way. People have been arrested for taking photographs in the street under this act!

In 2002 (the last year I drew books from a U.K. public library) books on gunsmithing and pictures of guns were freely available. You could also buy them from a well known Mail Order book seller who advertises in M.E and MEWS.  A 1/5 scale 0.577 Enfield dating to 1857-8 would have a bore of 0.115” which is 0.006” under 7/64”. Try drilling that hole about 7 to 8” deep.

The problem is when is a gun not a gun?  When is a piece of metal a gun? When it has a hole drilled up it? If that is the case every bit of tube is a gun! Where does this logic end? The pons asinorum is, “Is a quantity of metal ore a gun”? A Chief Constable once said publically that all model engineers spent their time re-activating de-activated weapons.  The answer to him is that well known soap powder 'Brollix'

I suspect that this is all down to our ‘Managers’ in the Hume Office and the gnomes of Elfin Safety who for reasons of ‘Blame’ wish to suppress all knowledge of anything sharp, pointy, or goes bang. They would only allow us to have wax crayons in here as a pencil can be sharp!

Do you know I cannot remember. I made a sketch and calculated the total movement of the chuck which allowed enough of the chuck stem to remain in the holder. I drew up the bottom bar with its position ½ way along that movement. Drew the centre line of the handle in the forward position and calculated the width of the slot. I marked the centre line of the trunnion holes on the metal at a suitable point (allowing for the length of the lower fork) drilled them tapping size and used that as the centre line of the slot. It is not too critical if everything is marked form the centre of the trunnion holes.

I originally drilled the bottom bar to the calculated length but later I had to revise this as I found the chuck was a little wobbly and needed to be given less travel. I did not bother to shorten the bar hence the extra hole in it.

Hope this helps

Regards

Dick

The foliot clock escapement is one of the larger escapements. It has several forms one of which you can find here. This is the most fascinating form of the equipment by God’s Clockmaker one Richard of Wallingford (have often had a drink or two in that town). The best example of is in St Albans Cathedral (it is a replica). It has been added to since I last saw it circa 2002. The Astronomical clock which was not there in 2002 looks fascinating. But it is Big!. There is another one (probably original) in Salisbury Cathedral which is here. It is a bit older. These clocks or Clochers (from the French for bell) rang bells (as in the song Frere Jakquer .. Sonnez la matina etc) so they originally had no dials.

On the later smaller domestic machines these normally had a dial but with one hand. The verge escapement often used hog bristles ti limit the swing of the foliot arm. There is a Foliot watch in the Asmolean Museum Oxford which also contained a Sundial and compass and an alarm. From the inscriptions on it it was made for a ‘Hansea merchant’. It refers to Lubek, Riga etc. It was the super Rolex of its day and would have cost serious money. That would be a beauty to make. I will try and find the photos of it if anyone is serious. To our Dutch friends, if you will promise never again to sail up the Medway and burn our ships in Chatham, I will see if any of my contacts are still alive. They may be able help you.

There is a good article in Britten’s Watch and Clockmakers Dictionary. The verge and foliot were not accurate time keeps

Jupiter! you do ask the 64 megabuck question. I made the thing about 10 years ago and do not really remember the details. If any drawings/sketches were made they would have been in my old workshop notebook now long lost in the move to Hungary.

The length of the bottom bar depends on the length of the stem of the drill chuck. You have to keep enough of the drill chuck stem in the tail stock holder to make certain that chuck is held firmly when it is the full out position. From memory that distance was some 6 to 8mm. The main problem is drilling the hole in the tailstock stem. I am used to drilling deep holes. The barrel for my 1/10^th scale baker rifle was 3.2” long by 1/16” diameter and the 1/5^th scale 0.577 Enfield was well over 6” long by 3mm diameter. The trick is to ‘peck drill’ brushing the drill with a paint brush moistened with cutting fluid after each ‘peck’. About 1 peck in 4 is done just to clear swaff left behind. One easy way to break a drill is to jam it up with swaff. I also use an old fashioned (glass barrelled) syringe with a long vetinary needle to help flush out swaff. The depth of each ‘peck’ should be about the same as the diameter of the drill. The watch word is ‘take it slow and easy’. I reamed the hole and finished it with a ‘tool maker’s broach’.  This is a piece of steel (of the right diameter) whose end is ‘slash cut’ at about 10° hardened and stoned off (there is one in the new pictures). Be careful they are greedy beasts but do not ask them to scrape more than 0.05 to 0.127mm (0.002” to 0.005”. Make certain that the cross drilled hole is made so that it will not get covered up in the tailstock. My Lorch has a slot along its length but I do not know your Boley-Linen at all. Remember the tool you are looking at is for a 6mm lathe yours is an 8mm. The new picture shows the ‘front view’ of the thing. The bottom bar is just pinned with plain pins. Only the bottom bar was reamed and the other holes were drilled a few thou undersized. The two cap screws had points machined in them to fit the ‘Tommy bar’ holes in the chuck

If you ‘right click on at pictures you can then save it to your computer and ‘play tricks’ with your picture editor.

The other large thing in the earlier picture is an adjustable ‘filling rest’ for the Lorch.

Norman it is about the same as mine.  If you can trace the source of the runout you may be able to fix it.  However my Lorch tailstock has some inaccuracies as the bed is of the sliding bar type and i have never measured it's out of line distances. I do not know  the Schubert lathe at all. Mine which is a 'bitza' (I know that parts were made before 1914 and some bits in the late 30's

Edited By Richard Parsons on 28/08/2010 17:13:26

If the whole machine is your worry then wind 5 or 6 turns of cable round the confounded machine and hook it up to a low voltage AC source for a few hours. I have a similar problem over here in Hungary. The soil is full of iron but it is too diffuse to recover and the ‘Variation’ is Zero not 12½°West like back in the U.K. but I only demagnetise  small hand tools. 

Edited By Richard Parsons on 26/08/2010 08:35:21

Steve,

Dick

Edited By Richard Parsons on 21/08/2010 15:43:07

To do the tap removal trick: -

1.    Degrease the tap and hole. This is important!

2.    Build a little dam around the hole using wax/modelling clay/shellac/PCB resist. Do not let any go down the hole.

3.    Use an eye dropper/pasture pipette or W.H.Y. drip in your reagent.

4.    Make sure you do not get air trapped in the hole.

5.    Let the reaction start. Wash out and refresh as needed.

Do not use acids they will not work well in this way.

Selotape (Durex for those who live upside down where the Cross hangs in the sky)  I have never used it. (U.K. stuff has semi-water soluble glue).

The last time I had to pull this stunt was in 1996 on a 12 BA tap (or there about) I used some candle wax (from a real ‘Frankie Randall’ not one of those smelly things the S.W.A.M.B.O’ have in the bathroom).  I like good old Carbolic anf a lump of bath brick -to get rid of any clinkers- my self

For small taps It works! And is cheaper than building a ‘Sparky’.

Good luck

Dick

Edited By Richard Parsons on 21/08/2010 12:55:08

The Ferric Chloride solution will work in bronze, brass and gun metal.  It also works in Spherical cast iron. Back to lower level school chemistry (or ‘stinks’ as we called it)! The reason it will work is that in brass etc the alloy has a lower (less reactive) position in the electro chemical series than iron. The hard steel of the tap reacts with the Ferric Chloride in the same way that the ‘Wasting Anode’ protects your central heating system. What you are really doing is making a battery where the iron is the wasting anode and gets eaten away (dissolved).  In cast iron, the carbon in the matrix protects the iron in the casting so that the broken tap is dissolved preferentially.  It can also work in mild steel where the materials in the tap tip the reaction towards the harder material –the tap-. Do not try it if you are using free cutting mild – think how badly this rusts-.

In an ‘etching bath’ dissolving copper on a printed circuit a different reaction is occurring.

Edited By Richard Parsons on 20/08/2010 10:19:36

John

Look at the plug. Sometimes the insulation degrades as the plug warms up. Have a look for fine filaments of carbon forming across the points. These often break as the plug cools.

Small plugs can be the very devil with this problem. It is often caused by too much lube oil sloshing around in the cylinder, in the fuel. As you are ‘running it in I will bet that you are keeping the engine well ‘oiled’.

Also try placing a small spark gap in the plug line. This also helps by making the plug fire ‘harder.’ These things can be bought as ‘performance improvers ans are often found in plug caps.

Bill,

There are at least 2 types of head. One the Herbert pattern and the other made by some American outfit. The chaser are very different and cannot be interchanged.

Geoff Here is what I thing you want. The smallest drill chuck was made from a little chuck I bought from as I remember it ‘Expo Drills’. This one had a hole for a tommy bar which is where the fulcrum pin goes in this version. The 7mm was drilled and reamed to take the original chuck stem. Do not forget to cross drill into the bottom of this hole to let the air out and the oil in!

The second largest is made from a Jacobs size ‘00’ I found in the £2 per item at M.E. Exhibition at (I think Ally Pally). They are both for my 6mm Lorch. It has a No 2 MT adaptor for use on the Myford. The big chuck is for drilling square holes.

The 6mm Lorch has a 7mm tailstock so I bought some 7mm silver steel (drill rod)

Edited By Richard Parsons on 15/08/2010 15:13:54