Member postings for Clive Hartland

All the synthetic oils/grease form an affinity with the base metal. Teflon and PTFE are excellent lubricants and will fill the smallest cavities in metal and then the dirt and abrasive materiel which is then pushed out.

This leaves a very smooth surface and will make any motion easier as per Johns report with the needles.

I have a PTFE spray that I put on my woodwork saw bench and planer and it makes the wood slide easily, it sets hard and makes a slippery surface. Quite expensive though.

I would change over to synthetics if I could afford it !

Clive

Hello Liam, First of all I would not commit to buying that ship advertised on TV, over the period of building it will cost £800 or so and would take nearly 3 years to receive all the bits and by then I would be bored !.

Buy a few model mags. like model railway and Model boats and model airplanes. There is a Hobbies mag. in Smiths which is full of projects and suppliers of small tools etc.

Clive

Hello Will,

basically making the steam valves does not need critical accuracy, drills make a hole and reamers clean up holes so you then make the spool to fit the hole. No big deal really as if you make a mistake just re-make another piece untii you get it how you want.

I would buy from Brutsch Reugger, they supply excellent quality tools and drills and cutters. Many things we dont get in the UK. I used to sit and study the catalogue for hours, a page at a time just to get to know what was available.

Just do it how you feel and thats it, by becoming very critical you take the fun out of it.

Today I took delivery of a Seig X3 from Arceurotrades special deal. Its uncrated and sat on the garage floor and I have to shift it to the end and lift it up onto the bench, all 170Kilos of it.

Extras came with it, including a large machine vice and three 'Tin' cutters and a set of collets and a clamping kit. Well worth the money I think. Cant wait to get it running as I have jobs lined up already.

Initially it looks good and I can see things I can improve later. I will fit a measuring system in time.

busy making a small pipe bender, having to adapt bits and change the design a bit. Its from an American source and the drwg. is a bit Naff !

Bees are working very hard now with this Indian Summer and as the Ivy has now flowered its their last chance to fill their combs for winter, and for me ! The Ivy is covered in insects of all types, bees, butterflies and hoverflies and of course wasps. There is a lot of Ivy about here where I live as the orchards are now derelict and Ivy takes over.

Clive

I have made house nameplates from Oak wood, using the engraving machine.

Fill the engraving with two or three coats of black or silver/gold then varnish all over with yacht varnish.

Clive

Peter, the time of etch in the Caustic bath is a key factor and then the time of replacing what has been taken off in the next bath, what process are you going to use?

If you just etch and then dye it that will not be any good. You have to use a process that is commercial.

Find a local Anodiser, makes it much easier. All he will do is add it to his next batch of heavy anodising.

Clive

If you use Ali for the house sign and have it anodised then it needs a very heavy anodising AA25 which should stop it bleaching from the Sun.

This is the quality used for shopfront fittings.

Anything less and it will fade very quickly.

Clive

Will, on that link page that you quoted, click on the title 'Drehwerkzuege IFANGER. This takes you to a page where you will see the different types of tool.

Click on the ECS tool and scroll down to the No 2 size.

The number you want is 311110.0700 @33.70Sf

The tool holder KG1 is 311560.0300 @28.40Sf

Clive

Hi Will and Hansrudolf, I have looked at the tool sortiment and you have chosen the ASB style, where I think that the EDS head style is better for boring the cylinder.

The reason I say this is because the ASB is for roughing cut and the EDS is for fine finishing.

You will also need the Klemfutter KG1 which will take all the 8mm shank boring tools.

I agree the fine series threads are better for scale visually as the item can be smaller, an over sight on my part, sorry.

Clive

Wallace, you need one and half thread diameters for an effective thread.

If you use a 3mm thread for the adjusting screws then the wall thickness will be 4.5mm.

Clive

Will, I only use the standard series of Metric threads though I have a set of fine threads. As far as I can see there is no need to use the fine series for model work.

If there is any need for a special thread for some part I buy what I need, I had that recently when making the tool and cutter grinder, the thread was for the micrometer.

I will look at my boring tools tomorrow and try to see if there is a part number on the ones that will reach 30mm. I have a feeling it will be the one with the detacheable heads. Remember you will need a tool holder as well or use a mini 'V' block.

Glad you made contact and visited Hansrudolf and his workshop, he sounds a very experienced engineer.

Clive

Garry, Look at Precision Tech Supplies. I have had an excellent service from them.

pts_uk.com/products

Clive

Have you ever seen a Carbon Fibre fishing rod explode? Though they are excellent and springy for fishing , if they come under extreme load they shatter and break into shards.

With regard to the athletes, I think it is amazing that they have been able to get off the wheelchairs or false legs and run in a race.

There is no two ways about it, it is just a race and there should be no moaning about blade length and if you lose start training with longer blades.

Recently there were TV pictures of an 'Able' man who was running and leaping about with blades, my first thought was that it is a long way to fall if you stumble ! It must be very tiring with them on.

Clive

Neil, I see wasps as complete nuisance as they harry the bees at the entrance to the hives. The bees guard the entrance to deter them and sometimes I have to reduce an entrance to a small slot.

Clive

While in kenya I worked on Marconi E10 and E11 transmitters, the valves were huge and had a 10HP blower motor to cool them. One of my jobs was to overhaul thse blowers after so many hours running

The transmitters themselves were about the size of a small room and had a door to enter with a special grounding pole that you touched to everything. One chap did'nt and it arced to his head and burnt his skull.

One of the blowers came down and as I opened it up, inside was a Puff Adder about a foot long, this was brushed into a box and taken out into the bush.

Clive

Belt play should be about a half inch otherwise it flaps about, the bearings heating up seems to about the same as my lathe main bearings and it runs fine.

Clive

Hello Neil, had to look in my book of insects and your right, bees are Hymenoptera and Lacewing is a seperate genus. (Chrysoperla Carnea) Somehow I have got them together from somewhere.

I agree with you about the Hornets ( Vespa Crabro) but they are not the invasive Hornets expected from Europe. Very good predators but not to be encouraged around habitation. Kill the Queens that emerge in the Spring from hibernation and also when they come out to mate in the Autumn.

This year there is a very low incidence of common wasp, a few flying about and some damage to my plums on the tree. I have only caught at most 5 in my wasp trap.

Overall this year there has been a decrease in numbers of Bumble bees and Honey bees and Wasps. all down to the damp cold Spring.

When my Father was alive we would do wasp nests, him the lower ones , me, the ones in and on the roofs. Now you need a licence and insurance and the pesticide is exorbitantly expensive, no wonder they charge £80. per visit.

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 01/09/2012 09:36:37

They can be expensive for jobbing work but onece you have used them you will reach for them first.

They do last longer and seem to eat the work. The finish is better too.

Clive

Hi Will , just noticed your posting, What dia bore are you doing? that would determine the type of boring tool size that you need.

I can extend my biggest boring tool about 3" from the tool holder, I would have to look to see which size it is. It is one of the tools with interchangeable heads. Its the bored length that worries me, your boring tool should be long enough to go right through the bore.

The milling cutters seem OK and should give a good finish to the job.

You can always lap the sliding faces on a piece of glass plate using a fine abrasive, rouge is good to finish off but then it laps itself to the other face anyway.

Re the Hornets, they will over a short period reduce the hive population considerably. The Hornets kill the bees and return to their nest to feed the larva and then more will follow.

The bees do have a defence and that is 'Balling', they bundle the hornet in a ball of bees and its temperature rises rapidly and it dies. But, bees die doing it.

One answer is to make the entrance just a small hole which is easily defended but this leaves bees at risk as they come into land and that is where the Hornets operate.

Another is a sheet of glass over the entarnce, the bees find their way past either side but a visiting Hornet will bounce off the glass.

We will have to see what happens if they do get over here, until then i will not worry.

Clive

Look on Amazon on the page for Tap Wrenches, there is a tap wrench on the same design as WITTE that has a ratchet drive bothways and a fixed position and has two jaws to cover your tap size.

Cost, £5.99.

Clive

The best form of defence is attack ! The modern Infantry now train in that method.

Accuracy of an assault rifle is not in question as the ballistics of the round dictate its application. Blasting off into the blue is not recommended and from my own experience does not happen as a target is indicated and firepower applied.

The military .308 is a very good round and will reach out to 4 to 500 mtrs with accuracy and the .223 ( the current mil. round) has a 9" rise and fall over 300 meters. What is in question is the terminal effect of the rounds, the .308 will stop a man and the .223 will in fact go through him but will incapacitate him. The idea is that it takes 3 more men to look after one injured man.

In preference I would choose the .308 and has always been my round of choice and I have fired a lot of different calibres.

The Kalashnikov round is also 7.62 but has different ballistics and terminal effects, it still kills and is very effective but in untrained hands is innacurate. The bullet has a steel core encased in lead and cupro nickel, this causes tumbling on impact.

The current sniper round is the Norma .338 and has enormous impact at extended ranges, hence the long range kills being quoted of up to 1800mtrs. Here, at those distances aiming off is needed and a spotter is always employed to give accurate info. to the shooter.

Clive