Member postings for Brian G

Those prices are frightening, the more so because they are before VAT.

I will agree that Wera are expensive but not THAT expensive!

I looked at a couple of them and for the T-handle driver set, RS are £168.80 with VAT and CPC £64.78. Similarly for the 1/4 Hex ratchet screwdriver RS are £185.15 with VAT and Amazon £85.51.

I assume that like Cromwell Tools, their prices are set high so the trade discounts look good?

Brian G

You could try Macc Models maccmodels.co.uk Ron. They offer steam oil on German eBay (1 Liter Dampföl. Live Dampfzylinder Öl) so evidently don't have a problem shipping out of the UK.

Brian G

Edit:  Re-reading your comment about customs, as you have the advantage of being within the EU, why not search in German where you may find an EU supplier?

Edited By Brian G on 01/10/2023 11:25:51

I'm from the south as well, and pronounce it "ji" as in gin, gibbet and gibibyte and not "gi" as in gibbon and gigabyte.

Brian G

I freely admit to getting very confused with threads, but looking at Tracy Tools website wondered whether 3/16 x 32 UNS would do the job?

Brian G

It might be worth measuring other dimensions if there is a concern that US threads may be used. If the rest of the product is metric, the thread is more likely to be BSP / G, the "metric" standard.

Brian G

I got one for a colleague who wanted Christmas lights in his porch and didn't have a power socket there. My dad said they were really popular before the war when electricity was billed by the socket or light fitting, not by a meter (once he wired up a house and was told not to put a light fitting in the front bedroom as there was a lamp-post outside giving free light).

Does anybody still have the kind with a pull-cord to change outlets? I remember one in my bedroom as a child with an incandescent bulb in one side and a neon night light in the other.

Brian G

Personally I will leave the clip on, it may be awkward but it will stop it rolling off the bench. I was pleased to find it had a carbide tip, making it even more of a bargain, so I ordered another for my son.

Brian G

The Lewin locomotive "Erith" had outside Stephensons operating through a rocker, but I'm not sure inspiration is quite the word for it. **LINK**

This photo of the RHDR locomotive "The Bug" might be more useful as it shows the valve gear layout very clearly **LINK**

Brian G

I assume there must be something special to justify a price three times that of a Blake indicator and nearly twenty times that of generic ones? As it is used in the same way I cannot see it speeding up the operation enough to save much cost.

**LINK**

Brian G

I just saw this listing on eBay. Vintage Engineering Surface Plate Work Bench with hammer 12”

I've heard what was shouted at a student who left the chuck key in, but I'm not sure what would have happened to anybody who took a hammer NEAR a surface plate.

Or have you seen something worse?

Brian G

It was the difference between the Zoro/Cromwell prices in the light of Michael's initial comment about price variation that prompted my comment. To be fair one listing was for the steel and the other the Carbide version of the scriber, but having said that, the difference is more than the price of a replacement carbide tip.

I don't know if things have changed, but although I used them a lot when buying for the factory, I stopped using Cromwell's local branch for personal items some years ago when I found they charged more for counter sales than their catalogue price (yet another price variation).

Brian G

Thanks Michael, just ordered one. At 09:21 there is still one left.

Brian G

Edit:  In case anybody doesn't know, Zoro and Cromwell are both part of the same firm, Cromwell retail prices are often much higher but they offer large trade discounts (not much use to most of us though).  Sometimes however the same item is cheaper on the Cromwell site so it is worth checking both before ordering.  BG

Edited By Brian G on 18/08/2023 09:27:46

With a greenhouse you could grow the "Custard Apple" Annona Reticulata.

Brian G

The back bumper, strut towers, waterpump thermostat location and inlet manifold look like it is a MkII Zodiac to me.

Brian G

Edit: Why did I think thermostat and type waterpump?

Edited By Brian G on 07/08/2023 13:15:21

The power to the LNB goes through the cable and may be at one of two voltages (13 or 18v), the supplied voltage selecting the polarization of the LNB. That is why you cannot just split the signal from a single LNB to two receivers as one may be tuned to a channel with horizontal polarization and the other vertical.

Brian G

A quick and dirty method of checking the balance is to use printer paper. First weigh a few sheets of paper to confirm the gsm (an A4 sheet is 0.06237 m2, so 10 sheets of 80gsm should weigh 49.9g, easily compared with 50cc of distilled water, and if the weight is different you can calculate the gsm for your paper).

Taking 80gsm as an example, a 50mm square should weigh 0.2g a 25mm square 0.05g, and a 10mm square 0.008g so using these you can confirm both the accuracy and resolution of the balance.

(I have had this nagging on my mind since yesterday, finally I remembered using this during A-Levels half a century ago but cannot remember the purpose. Could it have been measuring electrostatic attraction?).

Brian G

It looks like one of these axial cam engines from 1938 turned inside out.

For fans of golden age science fiction, try "The Moon is Hell" by John W Campbell.  Many years since I read it, but IIRC the astronauts stranded on the moon build a wobble plate engine from parts of their spacecraft.  Pre-www it was several years after reading it that I learnt what this was.

Brian G

Edited By Brian G on 11/07/2023 15:06:15

Stepped piston two strokes also offered a conventional bottom end whilst avoiding the complication of a separate charge compressor. Bernard Hooper Engineering

Brian G

Will Pozi do?

eBay Link to 6BA x 1/4 Pozi CSK

Brian G

Edit: Nick beat me to it

Edited By Brian G on 26/05/2023 18:36:08

First question that comes to mind is whether the diameters are in the same 33/34 ratio?

Brian G