Member postings for Brian G

You cannot beat nature. Invent something idiot proof and the world will invent a better idiot.

Brian G

Simple answer might be download a trial of a different package, AutoCAD, DraftSight and 4MCAD all have very similar interfaces and all respond to AutoCADs typed commands, and between them would get you three months free usage, plenty of time to get the nameplate done.

Disclaimer, I used to use AutoCAD at work and as a student, switched to DraftSight free and when that went to subscription bought a lifetime licence for 4MCAD, so I am biased to these three.

Brian G

It rather depends on whose level it is, Zoro/Kennedy have vials for Moore and Wright Link to Zoro and CES mention vials for their DIY level, but don't list them on their site. If you have a Starrett 98 series, it might be worth contacting Starrett UK?

Brian G

It isn't just the processor and TPM you have to be concerned about. Due to the shortage of graphics cards, when I built my PC last year I re-used an older graphics card. Since moving to Windows 11, my PC kept freezing, and upon investigation I found that AMD had not issued Windows 11 drivers for my R9 280, and it seems to have been causing a leak in the system RAM, although oddly this didn't start until more than a month after upgrading.

My processor is an Intel "F" type, so I was fortunate to be able to pull an even older (but still supported) NVidia card from a machine running SLI, so I can still use the computer whilst waiting for my pre-ordered replacement to arrive. Others might not have spare PCs lying around. One lesson I have taken to heart however is that it would have been worth spending the extra £20 on a processor with on-board graphics, even though I had no intention to use it.

Brian G

"The First Rebreather" by Big Big Train is about the recovery of the flooded Severn Tunnel in 1880. Not a song for the claustrophobic.

Brian G

Edit: Link to song and lyrics

Edited By Brian G on 24/02/2022 09:33:11

Thanks Martin, David. The original appears to be normal round laid Tufnol bar, not made from flat. I also believe Tufnol is the way to go, one failure in 70 years (from accidental damage) shows it works, and it keeps things original.

Brian

Hi

My son needs to replace the threaded hollow bolt that acts as the insulator for the contact that makes a light come on in the cab of a full-size Planet diesel loco. There are two of these contacts in the locomotive gearbox, one for forward, one for reverse. The bolt is just under 3 inches long and has an external thread of 7/8" BSF and an internal bore threaded 1/2" BSF.

The original part appears to be tufnol, but he wondered if acetal might be used instead? We can buy either material but are unsure which would perform best. Any ideas?

Brian G

Why not just use a standard composite + stereo AV cable (like these from Kenable) between the L, R & Video jacks on both devices?

Brian G

Edit:  Unless there is a lot of electrical interference or you are using a high-end home cinema system I would just go for the cheapest cable with the three red white and yellow phono plugs and not waste money on oxygen free copper, gold plating and other gimmicks/features that separate audiophiles from their money.  (Believe it or not Currys even sell Toslink (fibre-optic) cables with gold plated connectors - and people buy them!)

Edited By Brian G on 25/01/2022 11:50:04

It seems this technology can be divisive, with some people liking the convenience and others hating the potential risk to their privacy, but for some of us these tools are life-changing. Personally I am willing to put up with all of Alexa's annoying habits just to be able to turn on a light, phone somebody, start my PC or answer the front door whilst I am paralysed (except of course when I am unable to speak, but fortunately that is not too often).

I am however dreading the day Max, our most talkative parrot, says "Alexa" as he has already forced me to give up speech to text software.

Brian G

G1MRA publish the code adopted by themselves and a number of other organisations on the public part of their website. The code does not cover a butane/propane mix above 60/40 and requires an initial hydraulic test at 400 psi even if the tank is marked "butane only" (the maximum mix for which the tank is designed must be indelibly marked on the tank ).

G1MRA website

Brian G

Edited By Brian G on 10/01/2022 18:00:40

Looking Taig's website, their step pulley sets are less expensive than I imagined. If these are available from Peatol, reversing one of your existing pulleys and inserting a new one on an overhung countershaft seems the simplest answer, as machining new pulleys on the lathe would run straight into the original problem.

A Google search for "Taig Countershaft" brings up a few designs. (Assuming that your current setup looks like this picture on the Taig website).

Brian G

Up until now, renewing insurance with the same provider has been severely punished, as they put up the rates for existing customers in order to offer lower rates to new customers thought comparison sites. Theoretically (I'll wait and see how it pans out in practice) it may not be as necessary to change insurers at every renewal as they must now offer existing customers the same prices as new.

Ripping off loyal customers isn't a new thing. More than 25 years ago I found that my father-in-law's building society had a practice of changing the name of their high interest account on a regular basis, and transferring existing customers to a basic account at a much lower rate.

Brian G

What about a Tempo Disc ? We bought one after reading an earlier thread on workshop humidity.

It is a £30 data logger rather than a display, but can be accessed at any time via bluetooth, with the logs showing on an android/IOS app as a graph showing humidity, temperature and dew point over time, Nice and compact, a bit bigger than a 50p coin and runs on a 2032 button cell.

They are made in the UK and if you are serious about wanting a really accurate hygrometer they will test against a standard and issue a calibration certificate for an extra fee. If you want to fix it in place, the silicone hangers were out of stock when we got ours, so I downloaded an STL from Thingiverse and printed one.

Brian G

To measure the radius in the same way as the gauge Bill described you could use a square without a notch in the corner and try putting different thicknesses of wire in the corner of the square to find the largest that doesn't make the square rock against the test piece, then draw it up in a large scale (or in CAD) to determine the radius. The catch is that for radii between 0.1mm and 0.5mm you would need to source a selection of wires between 0.0344mm and 0.176mm.

Sorry about the rotten drawing, I have only just switched to 4M CAD and haven't worked out how to add diameter to the dimensioning toolbar (or how to dimension manually)

Brian G

Hi William

I keep wondering about turning my old Meccano steam engine into some kind of bush tram as I have a soft spot for this sort of thing team_locomotive_of_Robert_T.Watson,_Charming_Creek,_West_Coast,_NZ.jpg">Charming Creek Tramway

Incidentally Dream Steam near Maidstone sell a lot of Mamod/MSS loco spares. As I understand it, when Malins went under, MSS bought the railway tooling whilst the new Mamod company continued with the stationary and road engines, then later went on to bring out a new range of locomotives.

Brian G

There isn't enough depth in most phones for a decent zoom lens and sensors are relatively cheap, so my phone has separate cameras for wide-angle, standard and short telephoto. It is I suppose equivalent to the three lens turret on a 1960s cine camera. It works surprisingly well despite the small sensor size and lack of optical stabilisation.

Brian G

Hi Martin

Your photo shows the 1/2" collar in place, so it should extend to the full 8" as you unscrew the thimble. I was lucky enough to get a 124D set for about 10% of the list price when Amazon's prices dropped in 2019 but doubt I will ever measure a 32 inch bore

Brian G

My fear with a digital micrometer is the same as with a digital calliper, accidentally coming out of "Abs" mode and not noticing. To try and avoid this I set the "Inc" zero well away from the zero point which hopefully would make this error obvious.

Brian G

Be careful of the Rob Roy drawings Derek, the earliest ones only show a clack bush on one side of the boiler. Hopefully more recent drawings include the second bush for the hand pump.

Brian G

I suspect we would be in a far better position to answer Martin's question if some effort went into material and process traceability. Until the "carbon footprint" of products and services is shown (and taxed?) at the point of sale, reducing Britain's CO2 emissions is probably futile if the reduction only comes from offshoring the most polluting processes.

Brian G