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Member postings for alan frost

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

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Thread: Model Engineer Exhibition ME and MEW reader's free offer
04/11/2011 20:51:59
I could explain "take it in good part" but this is a family show. This site has a lot of helpful and reasonable members despite which the a------e to good guy ratio must be one of the highest on the internet.
03/11/2011 21:55:52
Come on guys . David's done a good job here and I'm sure its not been the first thing on his mind at the moment.
Did I complain when my free subscription gift , the set of golf clubs , did n't have a putter included ? Of course not -just asked ,David politely to make sure a putter was included next year.
Some of you guys remind me of the customers of my fellow Philips Sales manager  (for consumer goods ,tellies etc). Every year they were treated to a lavish ,I think foreign jolly, entirely free and most complained bitterly if the weather was n't good. We did n't make the same profits in semiconductors and my customers got a local golf day if they were lucky and were most grateful.

Edited By alan froonductorsst on 03/11/2011 21:56:42

Edited By alan frost on 03/11/2011 22:05:00

Thread: Drill Sharpening Jigs - Advice please.
27/10/2011 01:46:37
This is a long thread which I think I have read all of but if not sorry for repeat. Guy Lautard's Bedside Reader (That's the 1st one and not cheap ) has a jig for grinding small drills ( 1/8 inch to number 60 ) which he improved from an article in ME (Oct 25th 1934 page 397 by Inchometer ,if I remember correctly , Ahem).
Have n't tried it or made one but skimming through it I don't see why it would n't work down to number 80 drills (0.35mm ) given a magnifying glass
Obviously uses fine abrasive paper or an oilstone-I imagine for anything below about 3 mm grinding wheels are out.
My guess is its pretty similar to the jig in Howard Jones post (page 2 ,this thread )
Thread: Overseas distribution
25/10/2011 23:27:04
David , can I point out that if you give free gifts to all the colonials you may have to reduce the value of the free gifts we in the mother country receive.
Talking of the free gifts can we assume that this year a putter will be included with the set of clubs or if we chose the sports car , at least three months road tax. As you know I'm not one to cause trouble and complain, but please be aware some of us are pensioners and can ill-afford laying out for a new putter every year. Thank-you in anticipation.
Thread: Hot Air Engines
14/10/2011 00:08:19
At one time I had an interest in hot air engines , after all I spent a great deal of my life working for Philips and I live more or less, in Stirling. What puzzles me about them is that hardly anyone builds one with a useful (lets say 1 HP plus ) output. There does n't seem much point in building yet another engine to run off the heat of my hand and produce a picowatt.
I know its not easy but Philips developed several powerful engines in collaboration with Ford and GM ,and the Swedes still have I think submarines powered by them-and all the Philips info is published. Yet year after year I used to visit the Stirling stand at model exhibitions only to see yet more sizeable engines strugging to keep a 100W bulb glowing. Nothing wrong with toys but surely a , if not the , point of a Stirling engine is that as an external combustion engine it could burn any fuel, and could produce useful amounts of power.
Engines are supposed to be prime movers. With a few honorable exceptions hot air engine builders seem to produce mainly microdust movers.
The Philips work came to nothing , mainly because the advent of the transistor meant there was less need for power plant to drive radio and TV and the Stirling engine is pretty unsuited to car propulsion (although modern hybrid cars might have changed this picture ) .
Hoping someone will prove me wrong.
Thread: Lathe and mill or combination
05/10/2011 00:39:44
For what its worth an Emco V10 (even better a V10P ) is a reasonable quality lathe and usually comes with a useful milling head. I have a couple of high quality mills (a Fritz Werner and a Hardinge copy (Haighton ) ) but often use the Emco mill as it has a lot of daylight under the quill and for the trouble of making a subtable to supplement the provided table can mill items up to 20 inches long (i.e. an X travel of 20 inches.)
Mind - no huge cuts , the mill is not an Adcock and Shipley but its certainly a step up from vertical slides as far as convenience is concerned..
I belong to the Emco Yahoo group which has a lot of experienced machinists , who generally rate the quality of the V10 and its smaller versions. I certainly rate it as a very well made and versatile lathe , and it is generally accepted as one of , if not the best of, the lathe mill combination machines. As a lathe it will do much bigger work than say, a Myford and I suspect , just as accurately and more conveniently.
Having said that I would still recommend separate machines , but if you have space or budget constraints, a V10P or one of its smaller siblings ,would do all that you wish and do it well.
 
Having said that one guy bought a V10P with every problem under the sun and I and most of the group are absolutely mystified , as I think is he , on how such a machine came into existence. The consensus is that some previous owner misused badly ,and then bodged the machine.
Thread: Building lathe/mill in cast of concrete?
28/09/2011 00:19:22
Reading the post about vibrating concrete with a hammerdrill and a hardened dowel reminds me of how I vibrated some concrete for some fence post bases. Remember the old Black and Decker sanding attachment that clamped onto the nose of the drill and was driven by an eccentric that screwed into the nose of the drill once the chuck was unscrewed ? I used this screwed into the chuck mounting , without the rest of the sander and bolted a piece of scrap steel bar onto the side of the drill using the alternative handle mount tapping. Ran the drill in fast gear and dipped the bar into the wet concrete.
Vibated like the dickens and worked beautifully producing some very strong post bases.
Thread: Rotary broaching - the easy way
19/09/2011 23:01:37
Certaqinly was-don't know when but thanks-very clearly written and photographed.
Thread: Hacksaw blade tension
16/09/2011 23:58:34
Put an abrafile in it and use it for curved cuts. The name Eclipse comes from the fact that they eclipse all others at sawing curves.
Thread: Miracle
16/09/2011 12:22:33
All Right ,David. You're getting there-keep on their backs. One day if you keep at it you'll find the faceless one who does decide how the system works. Just publish his OS coordinates here (I don't need a name). My current project is a home built cruise missile.
Testing is going well -you may have noticed in the news the odd house explosion in Scotland that the authorities ascribe to gas. You might care to check how many of these properties had gas supplied.

Edited By alan frost on 16/09/2011 12:33:53

Thread: Hacksaw blade tension
16/09/2011 01:24:08
 
If you have n't come across this site b4 have a feast and read the article titles. I'd be surprised if you don't find something worth tasting.
 
The tensions quoted endorse JS's comments and I would certainly endorse his opinion on the tubular types although I suspect you'd have trouble hitting the cat judging by the way they saw-I do have one I keep with an abrafile blade in it. I use this for sawing curves which the tubular type are particularly adept at.
 
For most of us with 4X 6's the tension translates into as hard as you can tighten it unless you've got exceptionally strong wrists , which I would n't admit to if I were you. Makes people wonder how you spent your youth.
 
By the way among several mods to my 4X6 ,I added an old valve spring to the tensioner so the blade rides on spring tension (an easy 60 minute modification ) and my blades last a long while even when sawing up dubiously procured railway track -embryo anvils-(a severe test of man and machine I can assure you. . Rail track is much bigger than it looks from 10 feet up in a train compartment and bloody heavy. I actually got mine legally ,which I hate to admit , when they rebuilt the Alloa -Stirling line ., "Go down the yard and pick a few bits and I send a couple of my men to help you load it. Don't want you nicking bits when the trains are running, do we "  

Edited By alan frost on 16/09/2011 01:28:17

Edited By alan frost on 16/09/2011 01:35:24

Edited By alan frost on 16/09/2011 01:39:33

Thread: Miracle
14/09/2011 00:28:12
I can 't blame fusing for procrastination as during a recent revamp of part of the workshop (painful ) I installed a 16 amp socket and wired it with cable to handle 32 amps if I need to upgrade and a 32 amp breaker but thanks for the tip.
 
Why , David, do you casually accept two months for delivery?. When I worked in semiconductors my customers would have been very disappointed if I could n't arrange an extra shipment (from California ) to Glasgow airport, certainly in less than a week , probably within 3 days if a production line was stopped. Once it cleared customs (less than a day) we got the parts to them the same day , including weekends.
 
I can think of no good reason why your free gift offers should not be shipped within a day of receiving a subscription, but say a week at the absolute maximum. Are you growing the trees to make the paper ? What sort of outfit are they running there ?
Thread: Myford large bore Super 7 for sale
08/09/2011 00:16:16
Are we all moving in together ? The JS link works for me -nothing else. David I.m not buying house-just curious to see what sort of castle a publishing mogul spends his loot on apart from rewarding staff who don't phone tap.
 
Was very complementary the other day about the magazine powers that be spending some money in sorting some of the glitches around this site--seems I was a bit previous.
Thread: Miracle
06/09/2011 16:08:26
Hard to select a topic for a miracle but one has occurred. It looks as if the esteemed publishers have spent some money. Today they prompted me by a PM to renew my subscription, promising a free gift, a welding book.
I last welded in 1961 and despite having several projects needing this skill, and promises from a friend of " If you've done it ,half an hours practise and you'll be flying.." I keep putting off using my TIG welder and cheap Aldi stick welder.
But these publishers know the way to a man's wallet . A welding book !!!
I resubscribed and found for once the site friendly and intuitive . It even found my address (which the police have n't managed yet, thank God) from my post code.
Let's hope this spirit of largesse continues and they pay our long suffering editor suitable compensation for the abuse he suffers (when his only fault is to defend the indefensible too often .As I've said before his only excuse is that the indefensible pay his wages ).
Must go-I'm off to Knock mountain , which I may ascend on my knees if the free gift also arrives. But well done MEW.
Thread: Wheel Dressing
06/09/2011 15:46:44
Never used wheel types but they look hopeless. A non-diamond dressing stick is cheap and will dress the wheel quickly and sufficiently for 90% of the times you need to dress the wheel. I've never as aspired to anything with a diamond encrusted bar although I like most bars .
You'll need a diamond point for the odd 10% of your dressing needs---Hmnnn--diamond encrusted bars---we used to dream about those.
Thread: Time for reflection
26/08/2011 23:43:15
What on earth is this lot about ? Is Charlie the only one without a handbag ?
Thread: Drill Sharpening Jigs - Advice please.
22/08/2011 14:39:28
Just to add two penny worth I have owned most of the cheapo sharpening jigs and find with care they can give a good result,including the swing jigs. I had never tried free hand sharpening as I'd read so many threads on how difficult it could be but recently I was lucky enough to get a visit to my workshop when drilling lots of big holes in mild steel (upgrading a trailer to take a couple of tons) by a retired toolmaker. He gave me a demo of freehand sharpening including very small drills, four facet sharpening etc.
A demo with a chance to then try it yourself is worth thousands of words and within literally five minutes I was producing very acceptable results with the promise "The more you do the better you'll get ".
The ability to sharpen any blunt drill within a few seconds without setting up jigs is not as difficult as many would have us believe especially if you can get a demo from an expert and is such a convenient skill,
It became even easier once I cleaned up my wheel with a dressing stick and used a pinchuck and eye loup for small drills. I'm not claiming my sharpened drills cut dead to size (how often does that matter ?) but I keep a good set for that which I use rarely enough that they don't need much sharpening. They don't cut dead to size anyway.The ones I now sharpen freehand cut really well and altho I have n't measured anything , pretty well to size.
I have read somel none positive reports of the drill doctor.

Edited By alan frost on 22/08/2011 14:41:18

Thread: Schaublin 102VM Lathe Tailstock
21/08/2011 21:42:37
Read the gaffer's notes on making tailstock barrels with interest and found it full of sound common sense. My only query would be the use of scrapbinium which doesn 't need work to harden it (rather like a rioter ) and wonder if this could be an application for the more easily machinable Skipalloy.
Thread: `Outdoor storage -another approach
15/08/2011 17:16:43
Back again. The electrons supplied by Scottish power were well up to their usual standard. Just took me a bit of time to upload photies on this not very intuitive site. Photies should be loaded into album called outdoor shelter
Thing is with these shelters you have to adopt and be ingenious. For poles any lengths of timber will do (used branches for my sieving shelter ) just knock a nail in the end and cut off the head and if you want, one in the other end to go thro a tarpaulin eyelet. For the one pictured I just hammered a bit of dexion into the crack between adjacent concrete slabs , but on earth or gravel a nail will do and on concrete u can drill a small ,easily refilled hole in the concrete.
The one pictured was hastily knocked up because having bought a couple of diggers recently (Two ? Well as I said to my 4 year old grandson "You want one ,don't you ?) I needed a shelter until I build a permanent home. The cord running along the tarp edge (hard or impossible to see) is fixed by pushing a bight thro the eyelet and then just passing the free length of cord thro the bight, a very quick process if ,as always when lashing, you keep the free rope in a compact bundle to avoid having to pull the lot thro every time (watch a seaman or lorry driver ,if u can find one who still has to lash loads). Its also easy to make final adjustments.
 
It is better to have a bit more lean on the supports (I was constrained by space) and this time I've had to lean an old wheel and a digger bucket against the posts to keep the posts leaning out and tension on the canvas.You also need a centre support to keep a slope to the "roof" to stop water pooling on the roof.
 
This one took 3 cup hooks, some thinnish rope (easier to get thro the eyelets), a few screws to attach the posts to the dexion, a couple of bits of dexion, 2 or 3 nails ,and the tarpaulin. It went up in an hour on a gusty day. I gather it is already attracting envious comments from passing airline passengers who think I can afford a swimming pool.

Edited By alan frost on 15/08/2011 17:18:49

15/08/2011 14:44:20
Most of us need extra temporary storage from time to time and I agree with all the points made in the recent posts on outdoor storage. I have another approach with I think advantages.
This is to rig a tarpaulin on posts , guyed and leaning outwards from the centre tensioned by water-filled 1 gallon containers. If my digital camera is charged up by the time I've typed this will add photie of my latest effort which took about an hour to rig.Hard standing is essential if dampness is to be avoided and if on concrete or slabs the posts can be fixed by a small hole drilled in the concrete (with a cut off nail in the end of the post as a spike) or a piece of right angle steel knocked in between the slab joints.
 
This has a few advantages over tarpaulin wrapping. Firstly the cover can be made of a height to suit and the stored items are assured of adequate ventilation. A bit of rain may be driven in but the same high winds that drove the rain will soon dry everything when it stops. Secondly you can see everything thats going on unlike wrapping where inevitably some moisture gets in , drying is slow, and rust could start unseen. Such shelters are amazingly strong being semi flexible and tensioned by the weights and a few years back when I needed a large qty. of sieved earth I rigged a 16 square yard shelter to give me dry earth suitable for rapid sieving in my sieving frame. It stood all summer with no damage at all to the tarpaulin and looked like an 18th century mining camp in America.
I have left until last the two main advantages. Firstly if you have the common blue tarpaulin and leave a bit of extra space you can sit under it when the light filtering through will give the impression of permanently blue skies , not unimportant in Scotland.
The second advantage is the result of a tip I got from Viz which read something like "Why not paint a blue rectangle on your lawn to give passing airline passengers the impression you own a swimming pool.". My idea achieves the same effect without ruining your grass. If you want you could paint a green border on the tarpaulin to give the impression of a guitar, piano or girl shaped swimming pool set in a lawn, although the good old-fashioned rectangle has always done for me.
Ah ,- Electrons have been sent by Scottish power to my camera battery. Will post photos in follow-up post as its a while since I've posted photies and don't want to risk this typing.
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