Posted by blowlamp on 13/05/2011 23:49:15:
Incoming flak!
I’m sure the first blokes that used a lathe of some sort got slated by their peers for missing out on the pleasure of bringing their work to the round by applying a hand-made abrasive device to its surface, whilst supporting it in the crook of a branch of an English Oak………………………………….
Funny you should say that Martin,
Quite a few years ago I broke down in a remote part of Rural France while on a family caravan holiday. Late in the day and France was closed for Le Weekend. There were no mobile phones in those distant, primitive days, but my two young children and my wife were getting distressed. The nearby Phone box was a newly converted card only one, there was no sign of life anywhere nor traffic passing.
I discovered that the problem was caused by a broken pin in the gear change linkage, it had sheared and half had disappeared, the other half jammed in place.
I sat there cursing the fact that I had left the Boxford CNC lathe on the bench at school together with the materials stock. Didn’t matter much as I’d forgotten the generator as well. However that depressing thought was soon cast out when I remembered the immortal advice on the front of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy – “DON’T PANIC” – and I decided to act to get the circus back on the road as the stocks of food didn’t run to a family of four for weekend by the roadside.
First I investigated my simple toolbox and found an 8″ flat file and a broken hacksaw blade in a pad saw handle somewhere near the bottom. Looking for some suitable materials I spied an old fashioned winder type can opener – the type with one flat handle and one made from round bar. What more could I need? Damn, I’d forgotten the bench vice – how I regretted bolting it down in my garage.
Fortunately in the (French) oak tree nearby there was a crack and I was able to wedge the can opener in there with the round bar handle sticking out. I managed to file that into a taper pin about 2″ long having sawn off the ball on the end. I kept trying the handle until it seemed that I could use it to knock out and replace the remains of the broken pin. I then cut it to length using my Oak tree vice and to my joy it worked perfectly and the taper acted to hold the pin in place. We were back on the road and Dad was the hero, priceless and not a credit card in sight. (In fact the pin was still in place and behaving when I sold the car 2 years later. The remains of the opener are probably still in that tree today and will be grown over, much to the chagrin – and perhaps bemusement – of some future sawyer trying to convert the timber.)
Actually the amusing bit was that I got soaked in a typically torrential French summer storm, so I stripped off my wet clothes and completed most of the work wearing only my swimming trunks and a pair of flip flops in the pouring rain, it must have been a strange sight!
Moral – “Ingenuity tops technology”? Nah! the real moral is to always to keep a CNC lathe, together with a generator and materials stock handy. Or don’t leave home.
Regards
Terry
Edited By Terryd on 15/05/2011 12:29:30