Member postings for Sam Stones

Norman,

Sorry for the delay in answering your question about ultrasonic cleaners. I can only reiterate Tony's answer. It does seem to work OK for smaller items.

The stainless steel tank measures about 90mm ID and is about 40mm deep. The base of the tank is fairly well rounded, which further limits the size of items to be cleaned. I have to assume that the transducer is connected to the centre of the tank, which also appears to be isolated from the casing via a rubber seal at the top edge of the cleaner.

Hi David,

Thank you for your posting. I have to admit to only ever making one case similar to your description. It was made to enclose and protect a model of the Wasa Sailing Ship by Airfix, which had received a considerable amount of my time and patience.

John,

It’s the same sort of Imperial/metric mixture on my Toledo rules (150mm and 300mm). I’m into metric, so the flip-side hardly gets used.

Now for a couple more digressions.

My father, who was born in 1913, was adamant that it’s a rule not a ruler. Fortunately, it didn’t need a whack across my knuckles to hammer home the point. That only occurred at school and for different reasons. It just goes to show that violence wasn’t really necessary after all.

As part of my apprenticeship, I had a six-month spell in the DO c.1953. It didn’t take long to be caught using my slide-rule to do some calculations. The section leader told me to burn it.

"We use longhand or six-figure logs in here!" he declared.

During exams at Tech., we were obliged to tape over all those useful formulae printed on the backs of our slide rules.

Regards,

Sam

I echo Ramon’s closing remarks too. Well done Mr Olsen.

Two years in the RAF as a ground wireless mechanic brought me many interesting experiences. But first :-

Hi Len,

That clip (the guy losing a wing) was doing the rounds a few months ago, and a friend in my email circuit suggested it was a model. I don’t believe that myself, but would there really be enough lift from the fuselage, or was it mainly engine grunt?

Around about the same time, I had the pleasure of being flown to Aden in an RAF Hastings. In those aircraft, it was a two day trip with an overnight stop in hot, sticky, sweaty Bahrain, where a broken-down Pepsi Cola machine could only deliver tepid drinks. The return flight was in a DC3. Speaking of noise, there was hardly any damping in the fuselage of either aircraft.

Under canvas alongside the east/west runway of RAF Nicosia, perhaps the most impressive experience was having fourteen Bristol Beverlies arrive overnight. Then to watch them take off a few days later with virtually no load. They climbed looking more like fighter aircraft but rather slower. Just sort of hanging there.

From this same vantage point we could see aircraft like the Canberra, the Hunter, the Venom, the Meteor, the Gannet (I saw one land on its bomb-doors when the nose-wheel failed to lock down). Then we had the Comet, the Britannia, the Viscount, and other commercial aircraft coming and going. There was even a mock dog-fight between two Hunters and three Venoms. The tighter turning circle of the Venoms allowed them to get in behind the Hunters.

And that was the end of my brush with fame and I realised at that moment that I was not made of "the right stuff"

He ended his email to me with this comment

"It was however a chance to get drunk and tell extravagant tales."

However, the warmest feeling I have for an aircraft was c1942, and being buzzed by a Spitfire. I was standing on the flat roof of an air-raid shelter, which happened to be one of those places kids could climb onto. The experience lasted about three seconds as it zipped over our heads. I still have an image of the structural detail underneath. From my child’s eye, I’d guess he was less than 100'.

This is a wonderful age we live in, and this seems the right time of the year to reflect.

Compliments of the Season to you all,

Sam

Hi Nick,

Apologies to Clive also!

I know this is something of a digression from Silver Soldering, but . . .

On his marriage certificate c1910, my grandfather’s occupation indicates that he was an Agricultural Engineer. I have admired this detail since I seem to have followed suit.

However, in those days, would an agricultural engineer be more of a blacksmith?

Regards to all,

Sam

For example, (starting in the bathroom) - at the gum-line across my top incisors, there are grooves where toothbrush bristles have been rubbed to excess well before I learned about circular movement. Professionals of the dental kind usually advise us to use a soft toothbrush. As engineers, we know from experience that there’s trouble afoot with that concept.

In another example, this time in the workshop, holes and other surfaces in (say) steel, are generally lapped using a softer metal such as brass. I was privy to tests with a motor mower which, for some reason, showed that plastic gears survived the environmental onslaught much longer than the metal gears they meshed with.

The engine of my first mode of (powered) transport was a Cyclemaster, installed into the rear wheel of a bicycle. Unfortunately, the previous owner had failed to properly replace one of the circlips intended to hold the gudgeon pin central inside the piston. Several parts had become damaged when the circlip came adrift and buried itself into the side of the piston. What surprised me was that the old (hardened) gudgeon pin was significantly worn away where the bronze, little-end bearing made contact with the pin during use. From memory, the one-sided wear pattern on the pin was at least 0.5mm deep. Even more surprising was that a new gudgeon pin fitted perfectly into the original little-end bush made of bronze.

In other words, the softer bush showed no obvious signs of wear, yet the gudgeon needed to be replaced.

I’m fairly convinced that I know most of the answers, but only from experience, not from a tribology standpoint.

What are your views?

Regards,

Sam

Hi Norman,

Hi TerryD,

Thanks for your comments too! If only I didn’t let the file slip occasionally. I'm not as steady as I used to be. Mind you, using the magnifier helps a lot.

Regards to all,

Sam

A `Do Not Open’ instruction, ie. the type of message you can only read if you DO open IT.

A piece of `Kilroy was Here’ graffiti.

An order for Fish & Chips - (Home-Delivery).

Sam

Having been responsible for hitting a very obvious raw nerve, when I picked up on Lathejack’s photographs, I could see that they were telling the truth admirably.

So, I have a couple of comments to add.

Firstly, how about directing expletives towards the junk on offer, rather than towards your fellow ME members? I have had lots of opportunities to curse at poor quality, so to repeat my warning for beginners - BUYER BEWARE.

If you don’t know how, finding Lathejack’s great photographs is easy. As of Monday 22/11/10 11am, fifteen are currently top of the `Albums’ list. Three steps down, and there are four more pictures. Both albums are titled Chinese torture. Click on Albums on the green band across the top of the ME page.

For many reasons, I shall never buy another machine wherever they are made. But, is the gist of these messages that - if you buy cheap it becomes mandatory to do a complete strip down?

As for `jumping through hoops’, I doubt whether our local machine-tool trader would even know (or care) what a hoop was, let alone be prepared to jump through one.

I would hope that this information (especially with the likes of Lathejack’s photographs and clear documentation), provides a powerful message for those with little or no knowledge of what to expect, but who are about to venture into our wonderful hobby.

Good show, Lathejack.