Member postings for John MC

I was wondering the same, presumably because of the "10% +2" rule? (May or may not be a motoring myth).

Seems odd to deliberately set the cruise control (well) over the speed limit unless one knows the accuracy of your cars system, That is to say cars speedo vs actual speed, to squeeze out a few, doubtfully legal extra mph.

My previous car would hold the speed set on the cruise control, using the brakes if it exceeded the set limit by what it considered too much, there was some hysteresis in the system so that the brakes were not constantly on/off.

John

I'm with Jason B on this one, when drilling brass I nip up the quill lock lightly, drill, mill or lathe, for any size hole other than the smallest sizes.

Saves he need to blunt (sort of) a drill.

John

I've just been having a look at the photos I have in my album in this forum, couldn't find any information that would giveaway my location. looked in other members albums, same lack of info. I assume that the metadata is removed when the photo is uploaded to an album?

Perhaps someone with the necessary computing knowledge could verity this to be so.

John

I think Mick B is doing it exactly right, a bit of a faff making a mandrel, but concentricity is important and thats the way to do it.

Incidentally, phosphor bronze is not the best material for valve guides, it doesn't like the heat, especially around the exhaust. Aluminium bronze is much better, better still is Colsibro, a free cutting version of aluminium bronze. Cast iron is also worth considering in preference to PB.

John

A different take on the "How much is a life worth" subject. Some 10 years ago a colleague and I were asked to look at the costs of buying defibrillators, the training to use and ongoing maintenance for my workplace. The site is big, some four square miles and, being a rural site, somewhat remote from medical assistance so it was thought to be a good idea.

I looked at the costs, the business was awash with money at the time so no problem there. Things got tricky when I looked at the statistics, the effectiveness of the equipment. I don't recall the figures but had this been an industrial process there was no way it would ever happen. Wished I had ignored that. The argument went right to the top and was passed by one vote.

We were made aware of how the voting went and the comment from the senior guy who proposed the idea was that those who voted against were likely to be those who would use a phone while driving!

Seven defibs were installed across the site and none have been used as of a couple of months ago other than being brought to the site of a medial emergency, just in case.

I lent my cycling GPS (Wahoo Elemnt) to a friend to record his lap of the local track. The information recorded was interesting, he said, but, perhaps, not that useful!

I uploaded the information to Strava. From that lap speeds, times and elevation could be seen. Also a map of the route.

It generated some interest at his club the afternoon he was using it, he phoned me to ask how to reset the device to record someone else's journey, ended up recording several other loco journeys and my friends drive from the track to my home!

Strava (other GPS apps available) can be uploaded to a phone to do exactly the same as I described for zero cost for the basic and entirely adequate version. It will give real time info, more or less, during the journey. I have noticed that these GPS devices don't quite have the transient response of the old school cycling "computers". The GPS devices are processing a lot more data I guess?

We've had the B1 bombers based at Fairford fly over a couple of times. Impressive looking planes, more so when they came over so low!

John

Stueeee, no, I didn't know about the interchangeability between Wolf and B&D. Useful to know.

I buy my replacement stones from Goodson in America. They do a very wide range of stones, both grade and size, pre-dressed or not. Interestingly with several different sizes of threads, I find that useful for smaller diameter seats.

John

I too was a great fan of Neway valve seat cutters until I acquired a Wolf valve seat grinding set. Overall much lower in cost than the Neway kit and easier to use especially if there is a lot of material to shift. These wolf sets come up for sale on Ebay regularly and new stone are available. Dressing the stone for truth and shape is easy. The photo shows a spindle that fits in to the valve guide, stone turns on that. The thing that looks like an electric drill (it's not) spins the stone at ~10000rpm.

OP here, thanks for all the replies.

The reason I asked the question is that I want to panel a wall, 1930's style. There's some in the house already and I want to cover another wall. The way its been done is to fix sheets of faced ply to the wall and then put the battens (is that what they are called?) on top. I don't think its original done this way but looks good.

I like the idea of the reversible cutter (thanks Jason B). No need to cut the slot for individual panels with the method described. Having said that I may do the job in what must be the traditional way with individual panels, I'll buy the cutter and see how it goes.

Again, thanks for the replies.

John

This is a woodworking question, hopefully the tea room is the best place for it!

What are the routing cutters called that round an edge and then create a mirror of that edge so the two parts fit together.

The photo shows, I hope, what I want to do, get the routed (molded?) edge to run around an internal corner.

John

Just had a look in my Herbert 0V operators manual, no help. I made a new spindle with a 4MT taper to suit some existing tooling I had. With hindsight I may have gone for a small international taper. Would the OP consider this approach? Not 4MT but 5C or R8?

I have collet chucks for the machine but prefer to use collets that fit directly in to the spindle nose, far more rigid then a chuck protruding from the spindle nose. Also more Z axis capacity.

My 4MT collets are ex-Meriden Triumph tool room.

The 0V is a nice machine, very rigid and accurate, I'm surprised more haven't found their way in to home workshops.

NDIY, can't find the thread you mention, got a link?

John.

When I drew the plans for my house extension I called the workshop the "playroom". Planners didn't query it. I also added an inspection pit in the garage, guaranteed to get the planners attention, again, not queried.

Did Tom Walshaw (Tubal Cain) write something about his workshop, an upstairs room with a wood floor? Might be worth finding the relevant copy of ME to see if that helps.

John

I have had a Chipmaster in my workshop for few years now. The lathe had seen very little use so was in excellent condition, including the variator. Early on in ownership I removed the variator while it was still quiet and therefore still in good condition, sold it and replaced with A VFD for speed control.

The one big criticism I have of the Chipmaster is its "footprint". For a small lathe it is ridiculously wide, far too big front to back. The swarf tray makes this worse. I modified the tray to stand nearer to vertical to reduce the amount the machine stood out from the wall.

Clearly Colchester had one eye on style when they designed it, the downside being that it is as wide as the much larger capacity Triumph!

Otherwise a fine machine.

John

Would that be a Herbert 0V? Mine had a single tee slot, I added a second slot midway between the existing slot and the front of the table.

I considered other options, a plate with three tee slots, would reduce vertical capacity too much, likewise a plate with an array of threaded holes. The latter idea would have been a pain to use, clearing the swarf out of the threaded holes!

John

Whatever type of construction is chosen, if the building is visible to neighbours, would it be worth gathering their opinions?

I recall seeing a survey suggesting that prefabricated steel and concrete buildings were the most "hated" addition to a garden!

Many years ago I helped out a local guy who drew out plans for house extensions, garages and the like. He always made a point of getting the neighbours "on-side" before committing too much time to the actual drawing.

Just recently there have been ructions between nearby neighbours over a prefab concrete building going up. An ugly building that appeared without warning. The problems stem from the planting that has been done by nearby neighbours to hide the building.

John

Seems I'm guilty of the crimes here, I cycle and wear lycra! I always thought that me wearing lycra was a treat for the ladies, apparently its not, so the ladies in my life tell me. I also spend far too much on that particular hobby.

I'll start smoking, if it is to be believed there is a net gain to the NHS from smoking tax.

John

Ps, I like runner beans, a marvelous crop this year.

I'm struggling to see the point of measuring the run-out. If seat and/or guide have been replaced then the seat will need to be re-cut to ensure concentricity. I've repaired a number of cyclinder heads and never needed to make this measurement. The seat cutter will show and correct any error.

John

I too have found Screwfix to be reliable, I've used then from the mail order only days, we now have several shops locally. Been let down once some years ago and got a money off voucher for my next purchase. During lock downs service has been as good as ever.

I would like to say the same about Wickes. Their "click and collect" service was okay. Recently went to the local branch for the first time in over a year only to find stock levels drastically reduced. Tried them online, most of what I want unavailable. Hope they raise there game otherwise I can see them disappearing.

John

I've had a set of dies like the OP's for longer than I care to remember. Always assumed they were wire spoke thread sizes. A couple of them definitely are as I have run them down threads rolled by my "Cyclo" spoke thread roller.