Member postings for Greensands

In the absence of a T&C grinder I could set up a small grinding arrangement on the top slide using a Dremel. If this becomes an option at what angle should the top slide be set over to achieve the taper lead?

I happen to have three 3/16"x40 plug taps which are all very well but perhaps one more than I really need. What I would like is a taper version of the same thread, achieved perhaps by grinding the end of one of the plugs to give a leading taper which would then make life a lot easier. Initial thoughts are to put one of the plug taps into a hand held pin vice and offer it up to the grinding wheel but before doing so I have wondered if anyone may be able to suggest better ways of doing this.

Can someone please explain the significance of the integral filter unit found incorporated in some vga cables used for connecting a PC to a display monitor? The reason for asking the is that I have an old PC system running W98 which gives a perfectly good display when connected using a plain 1.5m vga cable but when replaced with a 2m cable incorporating a filter unit the display rapidily becomes unstable.

I need to buy a replacement cable of 3m length for the new set up but should this new cable be a plain cable as before or are there other factors to be considered?

Have now been able to get the microswitch circuit working as required, Not sure what the original problem was as all that was required is to wire the microswitch across the On-Off-On Mom switch and bring it out to the front panel via a 3.5mm jack plug as seen in the photo. Net result is that the RT is now activated through 60 degrees at the end of each pass along the X-Dirn to complete the Hex cut

I have made up the Carl Wilson's Arduino controlled indexer as described in MEW249 and have been using it for machining Hex bar stock on my 3-axis stepper motor controlled milling machine. So far, so good but I would like to be able to fit a microswitch on the X axis of the mill in order to auto advance the Arduino by the required 60 degrees in place of (or in parallel with) manual activation of the On-Off-On Mom switch provided by Carl. .Can anyone suggest how this might be done as early tests have not proved to be successful.

Dennis - I have read that the battery loife on a number of models can be quite short. How do you find your camera compares in this respect?

As it was not a Stephenson designed bridge I cannot see why Smiles would have included the colour print in his book.of the engineers

I have just been reading Samuel Smiles "The Lives of George and Robert Stephenson", published by The Folio Society, 1975 which has as a back end paper a colour plate of the Victoria Bridge. Now this is obviously not the R.Stephenson Victoria Bridge built across the St Lawrence River in Montreal, Canada as this was built as a single track tubular structure based upon the design for the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits. However, the question remains, if not the Victoria Bridge, Montreal then which one is it? The book is a thoroughly good read and can be highly recommended to all those interested in the early development of railways.

Hi Dave - Just tried out rotating the screw by means of a mandrel mounted handle whilst running the Dremel which has given a burr free end face with easy acceptance of the test nut. Problem solved I would have said. Thanks for the tip.

Hi - Something has been attacking the plant life in my garden rooting up newly planted bulbs and the like and I would like to find out who the guilty party might be. Can anyone suggest a good/medium quality I/R nature camera which might be suitable for the job? Don't wish to spend silly money, something around £50 to £60 perhaps. All suggestions most welcomed

The screw in the chuck remains stationary, the Dremel being run at high speed to provide the necessary torque without stalling the motor.

I am using a Dremel 38mm EZ SpeedClic cut-off wheel to shorten 8BA steel screws to size but the leading edge is throwing up a burr preventing an easy running fit onto the test nut. The problem can be overcome by running the screw into an 8BA die but I have never had to to do this when using a piercing saw as the resulting cut face is always clean and free to accept the test nut. Am I using the wrong type of cut-off blade or is there something else I should be aware of? The srew is being firmly held in a dedicated chuck with zero wobble.

If it is just the one book then it has to the Sparey. It will tell you all you need to know.

My workshop telephone is one of a BT quin-set, the remaining four handsets being dotted around the house. The workshop handset is in the garage located some 10-12 metres from the base unit and although reception is just about adequate for short exchanges "teas ready" for example but falls off rapidly if you move away from the cradle. Not sure whether a Wi-Fi signal booster is relevant in this instance as I may have simply misunderstood the article, making the assumption that the problem being discussed related to a domestic telephone system.

.Hi - The article by Stub Mandrel in the current issue of MEW No.317 page 27, discusses how to improve a weak telephone connection from house to workshop by use of a signal booster or network extender. I suffer from this problem but am not sure in what form a signal booster or network extender would take. Could someone please explain exactly what might be required to help resolve the problem and perhaps recommend some suitable hardware.

In the process of making up a batch of 10BA screws I have discovered that in order to avoid the screws from being lost in the swarf it is quite effective to capture it using an old toothbrush. Nothing new under the sun of course but it works for me and it avoids meddlesome fingers near a rotating chuck.

Being brought up Woking, Surrey, I have vivid memories of standing on Woking station and watching the station staff uncouple the down ex Waterloo 8-Car electric units into two 4-Car sets, one for forward travel to Alton, the second unit bound for Portsmouth Harbour. The uncoupling was accompanied by the sound of rushing air, the sound of which always comes to mind when releasing air from my workshop compressor. The process was repeated for the up journey where the two units were recombined back to an 8-car unit with the brake pipes being re coupled for the return trip to Waterloo. Anyone else have similar memories of train operations in the 50-60s? Train travel was so much more interesting in those days but then I am a MOG....

.Hi Gerard - To avoid ruffling any feathers I will send you a pm to answer your query.

The post was made in the interests of being able to develop my wokkshop CAM procedures whilst enjoying a few days away from home.

.Hi - I know that this may be somewhat off topic but from past experience I know that there will be members on the forum who may be able to help me on this one. I would like to be able to use my Android phone to display some computer code using an 80 character line length in place of the 40 character line as set at present. Can anyone please advise me on how this can be done.