Member postings for Clive Hartland

Hi Malc, Yes, I have done my ML10 using the bearings supplied by ArC.

The main problem is that you have to machine the end plate of the top slide and if its the lathe that you are doing then you have no top slide to work with.

How I got round this was to swop the end cap off my Vertical slide and do that one and then just do the swop onto the lathe when complete.

It does work very well but be careful not to tighten the spindle too much when adjusting.

It does smooth out the movement and I am pleased with the result.

Clive

The two main types of Stainless steel used by the likes of us are 303 and 316 they both machine OK but you need higher speeds and fine cuts.I usually allow 1/100 of a mm for each 10mm of diameter for clearance and it seems to work OK.I bore/ream and then turn to fit the bore as its a ready made gauge.Beware of burrs on s/steel, dress off with a stone.

Clive

The Angular measurement:- MILS is of japanese origin and as stated is 6400Mils to a 360 Deg. circle. Any errors are very small and ignored.

Then at 1000 Mtrs 1 MIL will subtend 1 Mtr and so on, at 2000 Mtrs it will subtend 2 Mtrs.

10000mtrs it will subtend 10Mtrs.

Then graticules are marked in Mils and it is very easy in the Horizontal plane to see how far off a fall of shot is and use that to make angular corrections.

It makes a very good range estimate for the ranging of fall of shot on artillery and is now standard in the British army.

Hand Compasses are also marked in Mils.

Clive

It would seem they are quite high quality and I wonder if some one who has a home smelter could use them and cast big lumps out of them.

Clive

By the time I come to change my discs theres not much left worth salvaging!

Have often wondered what use they are as to anything useful but mostly just scrap.

Clive

I used an ML10 for my 31/2" 9F. I just about managed the various bits that matter. anything larger I would put it on the faceplate. That is for smoke box to boiler rings.

Managed a Worden Tool and Cutter grinder on it as well!

Why stop at 3 1/2"? I would go at least an 8" throw if I could but like a lot of people space is at a premium.

Clive

I have always found the small canisters in the open markets, there is usually a chap who sells roll-up machines and papers and other assorted smoking apparatus. He will also advertise watch batteries etc.

Usually pay a £1.00 for a can.

Clive

call the SAS, they will do it with a shaped frame charge! Boom!

Clive

I remember reading somewhere that the glue used on the Mosquito was a form of Epoxy resin (Araldite)

It is possible to get Epoxy resins that do not go hard/brittle. These are used on glass components that sit in metal holders, prisms in mounts and glass windows in bodies.

Another form is used in boat building so that the wood can flex, this from an Americam Boat Building magazine.

So it would seem that Epoxy resin would be the answer.

Clive

Thank you lads, it answers all my questions. I use various chemicals for my bee keeping, Thymol and Oxalic acid. This for parasite treatment.

Clive

Having read about the Citric acid being used for cleaniing up Brass and Copper I bought some Citric Acid Monohydrate from the chemist, it cost £1.02 for 50gr.

What i want to know is the mix rate with water. An initial try with 1 level teaspoon into a third of a jam jar of hot water cleaned up a couple of small components immediately.

Also is it stable and can it be kept for later use?

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 27/04/2012 17:15:59

Will, look through REEVES2000 website and they have a good selection of packing materiel for glands and pistons.

Clive

I made my 9f with cast iron cylinders and stainless steel piston valves.

No ground rod as I turned them to fit the reamed and then lapped bores and the fit is good to my standard.

Choose your type of S/steel carefully as some will machine well and another will make junk of the item and the tool.

The main cylinder piston is bronze and with a groove for packing with woven square section PTFE when I can find it.

The glands I use rolled up PTFE tape.

Clive

Lots of lads at the Army College got into trouble and had to attend 'Jankers', Bugle blows and a mad scamper to get in squad and one lad limps to the squad. RD Cpl shouts , 'Whats wrong with you?'

Lad replies, 'I dropped a tappet clearance on my foot'. RD Cpl replies, 'OK you are excused duty'

Lad duly limps back around corner of building and bursts into laughter.

I have also sent lads to the NAAFI to buy 'Beasing rings'. Beasing was the term for using boot polish to shine up the toecaps on the army boots.

Has anyone been sent for a , 'Long wait' ?

Clive.

Mercury can be 'Cleaned' with Nitric acid, not sure of dilution as its been some 53 years since I last did it!

Clive

brass will harden on its own over time, annealing allows you to shape and easily cut the brass but later it will return to a more harder state.

There is to my knowledge no known method of hardening brass though I am sure someone will come up with a method.

brass and copper will withstand use better in an annealed state and as it returns to a hard condition it will crack, I have seen evidence of pipes that subject to vibration that have cracked. It is a part of service to remove copper or brass pipes on working machines and anneal them.

Phosphor Bronze can be hardened to a degree by heating and quenching.

In the past copper pipes were used to transfer fuel on IC and CI engines and the vibration would harden the pipes. Failures could mean fuel under high pressure spraying all over.

That is why fuel pipes were made in a loop and not straight!

Nowadays plastic piping is used on low pressure and steel on high pressure.

Brake piping comes to mind and fuel return pipes on diesels.

Clive

A Profile is a precis of information about yourself including such things as age, location, hobbies and perhaps marital status.

This Forum is open to a large number of people all over the world and there are people who would like your detail for their on purposes.

Think about Face Book and some of the ramiications of personal details and the telling of tales on that platform.

Another piece of information that might make your ears prick up is that Google goes through all these sites with Bots and picks up details and it is then recorded in Google.

Type your name into Google and see if any of your posts from this Forum appear under your name in Google! You will be surprised.

Clive

When melting lead, the lead is composed of various metals and includes silver and antimony and various other elements. As it melts it stratifies and unless you stir it you get various qualities of metal as you go further down the melted lead in the pot.

Lead smelting raw lead from imports has a fair amount of silver in it and this is tapped off in the smelting and gives the smelters a fair profit.

Enough to have 24 hour high security at the smelting plant!

Silver is now fetching a high price, dont worry, you will never get enough to make you rich!

Clive

Notice the dinky lantern chuck used to polish the screw ends, I did not see any quenching of the screws when blueing?

The quality of blueing and lustre is dependant on the surface finish of the metal, a nice example of the term, 'Finesse'

Clive

When smelting lead the clarifying agent is Beeswax.

When the lead is molten a small knob of beeswax thrown into the pot and stirred in will bring all the dross to the surface where it can be spooned off. The lead pot should then be stirred occasionally as you wait to cast your moulds.

Th size of the beeswax knob should be about the size of a hazel nut, the dross is possibly poisonous and should be discarded accordingly.

Lead acid batteries, the lead plates have arsenic in them to keep them hard so do not use lead acid battery plates.

Printers type is good for high detail casting as it has Antimony in it.

Some wheel wieghts are a composition of resin and lead so should be discarded.

Precision moulds (Bullet moulds and other metal moulds) should be at the same temperature as the lead when casting.

Crayon the insides of metal moulds with a very soft lead pencil which helps to stop sticking.

melted lead can be cast into ingots for storage by casting into the 'Frog' of a house brick. Make sure the brick is completely dry as any moisture will cause a lead explosion.

You do not want to be blinded by the splatter so eye protection is needed. casting should be done in a well ventilated place as the fumes from the beeswax and the lead can be nasty.

Clive