Metal thefts

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

Although, i”ve never been a customer may I offer my commiserations to Philip and Jacquie Owen of Blackgates Engineering following the partial destruction of one of the walls to their property allowing a small thief to enter and pass valuable castings to his/her accomplices outside (as reported in today’s Sunday Times). I think we shall all understand if they are absent from the Ally Pally show and. at the same time, wish them every possible good fortune for the future.

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

Blackgates targeted

[David HaynesParticipant @davidhaynes53962]

This is a very low but, sadly, common action. My commiserations to a firm who I have always found very helpful. I suppose if castings are disappearing, there is more of a likelihood they will appear intact on the market, making recovery and appropriate prosecutions possible. Sadly though, some of the thieves are so thick (?) they do not simply put them on EBay as ‘valuable castings’.

Dave

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Blackgates are a lovely company and have purchased from them over many years and am very sad to hear this. could the police please post on this forum a list of castings that were stolen though I do not think they will go on ebay but like all of the rest of the cast iron stolen in this country will go for scrap. It is time that everyone got together and stopped scrap dealers accepting these materials without proper sales reciepts and documentation. Dream On….

 

My young friend at Blackgates who helped me carry a very large amount of metal to my car at a show up north one year please push the police to publish this on all forums.

 

Bob

[Diane CarneyModerator @dianecarney30678]

I am going to take the unusual step of posting a piece of text that will appear in a future editorial. This is it :-

 

Metal theft

The Government has finally conceded that action is needed. The crime has already affected the energy, telecoms and railway sector, has closed hospitals and resulted in death. It is now affecting the model making sector; Jackie Owen of Blackgates, who have recently suffered another major theft of castings, will be joining her MP at a meeting in Parliament on 8th February with the Crime Prevention Minister, Lord Henley, to demand that he brings in a change to the law now governing the scrap metal industry. You can support the Bill petition by going to

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/21165

 

If you feel strongly about this please have a look at the petition and consider signing it.

 

Jackie’s meeting is to do with putting pressure on to bring forward the legislation.

 

Diane

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Defense company – Qinetque has developed a hi-tec system to prevent oil pipe damage/theft of railway signal cable and lots more apps. It involves sending a laser beam down the cable and reflecting it back to a remote box of tricks that analyse vibrations in the beam and where those vibrations took place. It will mean that anyone walking along near the track or digging up cable, say in Darlington area will be detected by an operator in London who can then alert local railway police.

The second reading of a bill takes place next Friday, relating to contrlolling the scrap metal trade – registrations/recording ID of casual suppliers/stopping cash transactions.

All in the Sunday papers today!

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Only problem I can see with this is that some of the diddies have become respectable enough to buy scrap yards.

So the people responsible for filling in the forms and policing the system will also be related to the tykes bringing the gear in.

 

End of the day it’s down to plod to oversee all this but will they ?

 

I might help a bit with the casual theft but organised theft will carry on.

One of my customers a crack testing company who do a lot of work for RR had a truck driven thru the gates of the factory on a Sunday morning whilst they were working.

Three burly guys with balaclava on and big steel bars, not iron,only the media report iron bars.

 

They they threatened the staff into the canteen blocked the door and loaded 17 large titanium turbine rotors onto the truck and scarpered.

1/4 of a mil worth of turbine blades, you don’t squash these or cut them up with a hacksaw so who’s liable to buy these ?

 

I don’t believe for one minute that it was spur of the moment, they knew the layout and I dare say had a buyer waiting, will the new law stop this ?

 

John S

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by John Stevenson on 16/01/2012 00:35:06:

I might help a bit with the casual theft

Freudian slip, John?

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

No Sid I think I got it right

Yes on reflection read IT for I

I’m one of the few lucky ones that have full access to two local yards, only because I do the odd jobs for them. I wouldn’t dream of taking anything away without asking or paying.

The opportunity to have free access is too valuable and anyway they are most reasonable.

 

John S.

 

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Diane

Thank you for that I hope that everyone reading this doese the same

 

Bob

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

Early December last year the local supermarket was having its power supply re-organised. This meant isolating the high tension supply at the main substation. 8 hours later they tried to switch it back on, but someone had removed the overhead cables from the pylons. These were replaced next day, but the transformer in the local substation had ‘vanished’. They are due to replace the smaller stand by transformer in February. I wonder what else will go this time.

The local police said that they think the cables were in Serbia before anyone knew they had gone.

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Well I signed the petition – but I reckon that it needs quite a few more signatures, because it was only at the 5000-odd stage when I last looked.

 

We’ve been hit by copper theft around here several times – mainly causing trouble with the phone network. BT are attempting to replace most trunk systems with fibre-optic cable, and by all accounts are financing this by the sale of the copper cable they’re removing. That is if they get there first…

 

I have a copy of an extremely gruesome photograph of what happens to people if they try to remove the copper bus-bars from working substations. I won’t publish it here, because a lot of people would find it rather offensive, I think. Shame photos like this don’t get more outings though – because it might actually put a few ‘citizens’ off trying to do this.

[The Merry MillerParticipant @themerrymiller]

It’s strange that you never hear of scrap metal merchants being robbed, no doubt it will happen one day.

 

Len. P.

 

[Ian AbbottParticipant @ianabbott31222]

“…It involves sending a laser beam down the cable…”

 

How about 500 volts?

 

And.

 

“…a crack testing company…”

 

Any vacancies?

 

Sorry

Ian

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by The Merry Miller on 16/01/2012 11:10:33:

It’s strange that you never hear of scrap metal merchants being robbed, no doubt it will happen one day.

 

Len. P.

 

 

 

 

Happens all the while.

 

John S.

[Joseph RamonParticipant @josephramon28170]

I saw a sandwich board by the side of the road the other day, professionally done, for a nearby scrappy: prices for lead, copper, brass and cable.

 

‘Incitement’ – although I wish I could buy brass at their prices!

 

Joey

 

 

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Spoke to Jacquie Owen of Blackgates Engineering. They will be there at Ally Pally.

Ketan

[Keith Wardill 1Participant @keithwardill1]

Re the laser break-in detection system – I have seen such a system in use to protect a secure compound at an oil refinery in Sakhalin (NE Russia) – this was about 5 years ago. This involves projecting a laser along a fibre cable which is strung around whatever is protected. The received signal is calibrated at installation, and any disturbance to the cable modulates this signal, and can be detected. The location of the disturbance is simply a matter of timing when the disturbance happens relative to a transmitted reference pulse. It was not entirely successful – gates were a problem (can’t break the cable loop, so it has to be buried under the ground at this point, and passing trucks caused enough vibration to trigger it), and any disturbance can cause detection. – if the cable is attached to a fence, and the wind blows – it goes off – like these confounded trembler ‘car alarms’). It was generally left switched off.

 

If Quinetique is ‘developing’ this system, or their own version of it, I hope they do a better job, because the one I saw was pretty useless (and very, very expensive – oil companies pay ‘a lot’ of money for what they want.).

 

My sympathy to Blackgates, but I suspect nothing much will change, I am afraid.

[the artfull-codgerParticipant @theartfull-codger]

It’s a shame that all you seem to hear on the news regarding scrap thefts is about large companies/public buildings etc,but equally upsetting is the ”small man in the street” like you or I, last year I was cleaned out of £2,000 worth of gear, moulding boxes,lathe chucks,material etc,the ignorant ”scrapmen” probably only got about £50 for the lot.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

local bell works had a full churches worth stolen from their works..would have needed two TWO lorries and the use of the works crane…..funny, residential properties 100 yards away.
Bells delivered that day….makes you wonder….

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Regarding the cable that picks up resonance, I worked in a building that had this on the wall and it would go off and I would have to answer the call.

Eventually I worked out it was helicopters that were flying over and the beat of the rotors set it off.

It always coincided with the racing at Silverstone and the helicopters flew straight over the building.

Also had kids running sticks down the corrugated wall! Needless to say i had it de-activated and PIR’s fitted.

 

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 05/02/2012 21:46:12

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