Member postings for Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, all,

It seems nowadays to be commonly thought that the more RCDs and/or RCBOs you throw into an electrical installation, the safer you will be.

You might be safer from electrocution but you could easily die of frustration! My point is that nobody (except the IEE Regs, sorry, BS7671) ever seems to mention discrimination.

It's important that, if you get a fault, the protective device that trips should be the one closest to the fault. The installation design should avoid/minimise nuisance tripping that takes out good circuits along with the faulty one.

If the structure of your wiring 'tree' has several RCDs and/or RCBOs in cascade, all of the same fault current & trip time rating, it's unpredictable which one will trip first. Read the catalogues of the popular suppliers and see how often/rarely there is any mention of those parameters!

While I'm at it, I'll chuck in this one too - if all your domestic installation is 'protected' by a single main RCD and, while you're on holiday, a spider commits hari kiri in some remote junction box, you're going to experience an awful pong when you return home and open the freezer door! IMHO there are some appliances whose character and situation are such that RCD 'protection' is OTT - a sound CPC should be enough!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Neil,

Your post has reminded me of someone on the wireless (I believe some people call it the 'radio' nowadays) several years ago arguing that the names chosen by car companies for their models, e.g. Hillman 'Avenger', encouraged aggressive driving and was bad for road safety.

He argued that motor cars should be called names like the Morris 'Maggot' or the Austin 'Woodworm' to make our roads gentler and safer places.

I'm really surprised and disappointed his proposal didn't catch on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 09/10/2014 13:32:04

Hi there, Murray,

When I was using Windows XP, I found that trying to rotate photos using the right click method always failed with a message that there wasn't enough RAM. I downloaded Microsoft Photo Editor from somewhere and that never failed me.

I've recently 'progressed' to Windows 7 and I'm still using Microsoft Photo Editor and it still does the biz.

Whether it would work with Windows 8 and/or whence I downloaded it, I cannot say.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, JohnF,

I apologise for horning-in on your thread. I did enjoy watching the video, it's very spectacular.

MichaelG, yes, on the focus block of a Leitz Ortholux! Thank you for your advice - I'll send you a PM some time soon.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Oh, CTS!!!!

Oh, microscopes!!!!!!!!

Oh, helical racks & pinions!!!!!!

Oh, Lomo & Leitz!!!!!

Oh, congealed ancient grease!!!!!!!

Oh, woe is me!!!!!!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, Peter,

I'd say, considering the likely operating temperature, you need a thermo-setting plastic rather than a thermo-plastic plastic!!

My suggestion would be a fabric-based grade of Tufnol (aka SRBF) machined from thick sheet rather than from rod.

Years ago, a candidate might have been Ferrobestos but I guess that's a No-No material these days!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Please cut me some slack, John, my shed has double glazing! Two-off units, each 4' 6" wide by 2' 6" high.

Two house moves ago, I was helping a builder friend instal some uPVC double glazing. (It was to replace some aluminium double glazed units that had been installed in the wooden surrounds previously occupied by the original Critall single glazed frames. The wooden surrounds had subsequently gone 'carroty' .)

'Hey, Roger', says I, 'What happens to these ali-framed units then?'. 'Down the tip!' says Roger. Well, what would you have said next???

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Advice when I couldn't do what he always seemed to do easily: 'You just have to hold your mouth right'.

Definition of Preventative maintenance: 'Taking the equipment to pieces every 2000 hours to see why it's still working'!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there,

When I started work in the defence electronics industry, 1954-ish, the practice as I remember it was initially BSF above 1/4" and B.A. below.

Beeston Myfords seem to have followed substantially the same practice.

Once NATO became an influence, the larger threads changed to UNF which was a sort of mollified ANF (to mollify the European NATO nations). And, where the design required a coarser thread, UNC (mollified ANC).

It all got a bit messy when the UK metricated.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there,

In 1955 in the Trainee Model Shop at EMI's factory in Feltham, Middlesex, there was a row of six ML7 lathes, on Myford stands, each with a label saying 'Ministry of Supply'.

It was the 'Trainee Model Shop' so were we temporary inmates 'Trainee Model Engineers'?

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, CotswoldPhil,

Oilite bearings are sintered bronze - the sintering gives them a porous structure which is (ideally) vacuum filled with oil.

The makers' 'how to' literature, as far as I can remember, said that reaming to size after assembly is a no-no because the reamer 'smears' the bronze, closing up the pores and impeding, if not totally preventing, the oil reaching the bore. Presumably, the same no-no applies to boring?

The specified fitting method is to insert using a stepped mandrel whose section in the bush has the right diameter to control the finished bore.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, all,

I have a Seagate 1 TB external drive that I use for back-up. The software that came on the drive is a real nanny so I ditched that and now use the free version of Acronis.

I did also try Windows own back-up but I didn't like it - can't remember why now.

I find Acronis easy to use, if a bit slow but I should also say that I've not tried to restore from it yet.

I think it's important to disconnect the back-up drive except when you're actually backing up or restoring - that way, if you do happen to pick up a nasty from an infected web-site, it'll only get at your internal drives. This would be particularly important if the nasty happened to be Cryptolocker or one of its variants! SWMBO recommends getting Cryptoprevent from Majorgeeks (it's free).

I also have an ancient Mac G4 Quicksilver.  The external drive I use for backing up from that is Firewire rather than USB - it's much quicker!  Without switching it on, I can't remember the back-up software I use on the Mac (senior moment!).

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 02/09/2014 16:36:33

Hi there, Richard,

I'm glad you found it useful. I'm especially glad for you that the splines are in good condition - best to keep them well lubricated.

I suggest that you take particular note of what the assembly instructions say about not over-tightening the clamp bolt - I have two 'head-stocks' (for want of a better term) for mine and one of them has weld where the results of such over-tightening had caused a crack.

You'll find when you slacken that bolt that local gravity increases and the head-stock develops a strong desire to descend the whole way down the column! That's why I fitted mine with the plastic clamp-rings - the upper one defines the head-stock vertical position.

I'm having a mega-tidy at present; when I'm done with that, maybe I'll take some photos of my machine.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 30/08/2014 16:39:48

Hi there, all,

I've tweaked the gamma on the Tauco parts list to improve its readability. (Three cheers for MS Photo Editor! ) I've up-loaded this latest version to my album.

It'd be nice to get some confirmation that other folks can read it.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, Richard,

I've up-loaded the Tauco spares list to my album but it seems to have gone up as a microdot!

I hope that you can read it and that it helps.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, again,

An after-thought: when I was setting my Tauco to work, I turned up a couple of plastic rings bored to fit over the column and with a shallow groove on the outer surface. These are split and tightened onto the column with a Jubilee clip. One sits beneath the main casting as a safety measure and the other sits below the table knee bracket. I find this helps a lot when raising or lowering the table.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, Richard,

The main spindle has a spline groove down most of its length, it might be two grooves, diametrically disposed, I can't remember. Then, inside the stepped pulley there's a rather odd-shaped bobbin sort of 'gizmo' that fits round the spindle - this has male spline(s) in its bore that engage with the spindle groove(s) to provide the sliding drive. This 'gizmo' is (on my Tauco) made of zinc-based die-casting alloy. When I got mine, the male splines had worn paper-thin and hadn't much life left.

After lots of research (no Internet in early 1970s) I found that Wilkinsons in Edinburgh had Tauco spares and supplied me with a replacement 'gizmo'. I did Google Wilkinsons a year or so ago and they were then still in business; I don't know if they still have any stock of Tauco spares.

Unless the 'gizmo' in your machine has healthy splines, I fear it is junk, unless you can procure a replacement or home-brew some substitute. So I suggest your first priority should be to strip off the stepped pulley and eye-ball what that reveals!

I believe that the Tauco drills came over to the UK from the USA during 1939-1945 WW2 as Marshall Aid or Lend-Lease. Mine has given very satisfactory service and one or two other members on this forum have them.

I made my own control box containing a MEMDOL single phase direct on-line starter and a forward-off-reverse switch; the box is bracketed off the motor mounting plate. I expect the starter in your photo is similarly mounted.

If you PM me with your email address, I may be able to find a .pdf of the illustrated parts list (aka 'exploded diagram' ).

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly.

You don't lose it - your room thermostat transfers it and the cost to your gas bill!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, Brian,

Do you want the gauge to actually fit to the boiler, i.e. 'model-size', or to use as an item of test gear?

If the latter, a 'full-size' gauge would do.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hi there, John,

I gather from your mention of the oil cup that your lathe is a Super Seven rather than an ML7. The QC gearbox is the same for both machines except for a spacer strip on(I believe) early Super Sevens.

John F. has dealt with removing the lead-screw.

The QC gearbox is secured to the lathe bed by three screws. The upper two are 1/4" BSF cap-heads (maybe M6 if your machine is a recent one). They are best accessed after removing the top cover. IMHO, I guess you COULD get at them through the front of the gearbox but you'd need an extra long Allen key, a torch and four hands! (The more so when you come to refit the box to the lathe.)

The lower one is a 1/4" BSF slotted mushroom head, accessed by removing the plug on the front of the gearbox.

I suggest that you drain the oil from the box if you haven't done so already.

If you go onto the Myford web-site, chose 'Super Seven', then 'Spares', then 'QC Gearbox', then scroll right to the bottom of the page and click on 'Click for bigger picture' (in red letters). That will bring up a large .pdf version of the illustrated parts list (aka 'exploded diagram' ) - I'm sure you'll find that useful. (It's down-loadable. Ditto for all the other lathe sub-assemblies!)

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 05/08/2014 22:29:34