What did you do today (2015)

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Muzzer on 18/03/2015 21:25:05:

"managed to limp home without cooking the engine.."

Does the alternator belt actually drive the fan? How old is your Nissan? Didn't know here were still belt driven fans on the roads….

I think it drives the waterpump and the fan belt is seperate.. but it's dark out there. 200sx s13 – 20 years old. Engine temps were pretty high..

And, no it's not the original belt. Only about a year old

[Jesse Hancock 1Participant @jessehancock1]

The bell punch and live centre I ordered arrived today so I gave them both a twirl. I love the Bell punch as it takes any guess work out of centre punching on round bar and is quick and easy to use.

I then set up a piece of Meehanite using the bell punch and setting it on the new live centre. The live centre is a 100% improvement on the old static centre. However I may have spotted an Achilles heal as there is a gap at the business end which could easily allow dust (particularly Meehanite dust) into the bearing.

I grubbed around in the kitchen and turned up a plastic spray starch cap which I fitted galosher like or rubber over-shoe to encase the live centre. I bored a hole in the end leaving a tight fit on the sharp end of the centre and presto one dust cover.

Well chuffed I am too.

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

pgk pgk – That's not Appletons Estate rum you are talking about is it? Colour half way between clear and dark? I would need NO excuse to open that!

Lovely stuff, haven't drunk it since the late 1960's as I only ever saw it for sale on the ships I sailed on then.

Where did you get it from?

Chris

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

It's the ordinary Appleton's rum as opposed to some of the fancier one's they do. But yes it's the honey coloured Jamaican rum – non of that burned sugar dark stuff. I have a 'slight headache this am'

It was a chance find in an Offie in Oswestry last week. Otherwise the closest easy find is Mount Gay which is from a different carribean island. I used to go to Jamaica a lot when i was working and could afford holidays. And non of that sitting around in all-exclusive hotels. It was land, rent a car and go see more of the island. I miss jerk pork and fresh naseberries.

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Blimey! that stuff can get expensive see **LINK**

Bob

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by pgk pgk on 19/03/2015 06:05:59:

. Otherwise the closest easy find is Mount Gay which is from a different carribean island.

Mount Gay…….. Now that's a blast from the past. The Frangipani Yacht Club in Bequia springs to mind. And other incidents.

graham.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Bob Brown 1 on 19/03/2015 07:18:01:

Blimey! that stuff can get expensive see **LINK**

Bob

That;s a tad out of my swigging price range. £15 for the basic stuff. Or if you really want to go daft then Wray and Nephews Overproof rum.. genuinely the only stuff I've spilled that took varnish off. A good competitor for 160 proof tequila if you're young enough to be stupid.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Aha. Yes, good point about the water pump! The first thing to go would probably be the head / head gasket, so good thing you seem to have got away with it.

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Used to get the occasional 'sippers' on board the Minesweepers based at HMS Tamar (Hong Kong – I used to repair their landlines). So where rum is concerned, I developed a taste for Pussers fairly early in life…wonderful stuff in moderation – lethal otherwise.

Fortunately – my (ex-matelot) mate still keeps a bottle handy – so I usually get given a sip (and very occasionally even a 'gulp'  when I go down to visit him !

IanT

Edited By IanT on 19/03/2015 10:31:23

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Muzzer on 19/03/2015 10:28:25:

Aha. Yes, good point about the water pump! The first thing to go would probably be the head / head gasket, so good thing you seem to have got away with it.

RAC man just been looking at it..but it does have a misfire too, now. Hopefully just a coil 'cos I'm no mechanic and the poor old thing has limited justification for huge expenses. At the same time it's the only car I've owned that's comfy for my tall size. Why I've kept it all these years. They offered to get a transporter out to carry it to a garage but then decided to go get a belt and fit it and see if they can find a coil to try. Or at least get it going well enough for me to drive to 'local' garage (7miles)…

I hate car shopping – nothing fits me until it's silly money. The wife has to go away next week with her car so I might just be shopping via tractor – got a good basket on the front, though

As to pale rums.. almost like a good scotch. Worth trying if you haven't.

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

We used have "4 Bells" available (MN) at less than a £1.00 a bottle duty free, pleasant enough.

On one ship, a chemical carrier we ship 25,000 tons of 99.9% pure drinking alcohol from US to Yugoslavia to spike their wine with, some found it's way into the ships bar but not to be drunk neat as that would kill you as alcohol is a poison. I had a bet for a bottle with the C/E that I could machine a new pump shaft on the ships lathe to the tolerances need to run a couple of bearings, seals and rotor, proved him wrong. I think the lathe came out of the shipyard when the ship was built as it was not the best bit of kit but you make allowances for backlash etc.

Bob

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

If you like a drop of rum, this mob make a nice drop. Genuine Aussie stuff, good enough to lubricate any tonsotorial slideway.

**LINK**

Do not attempt to operate machinery after sampling.

So today I attempted to educate a lovely bunch of oldies about the dangers of scammers (volunteer work).

Here in Oz we have a lovely govt website which is a handy reference to warn the elderly pensioners about the lowlife scum who try to take advantage of people.

**LINK**

Do you have anything like this in the UK?

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 19/03/2015 11:02:21

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

There are UK websites re frauds.. like this police one **LINK** but not really advertised well.

One classic simple fraud when i applied for addition to the data protection register was that my info was somehow used to send a letter from a company that will register on your behalf for an additional fee. It arrived 2 days before the official government form applied for and many folk get conned into paying that extra. Big holes in the governments own online security is hardly an advert.

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

IanT – Aaaaah, yes, 'sippers'! On S&R helos, we were entitled to a shot for each crew member each time we went 'wet' winching. Although one was supposed to drink 'sippers' on the spot , we couldn't, so it was totted up and issued every couple of months or so. Nothing like the standard commercial stuff and on a cold winter's morning it turned a cuppa into near nectar!

Rgds

Bill

Edited By Cornish Jack on 19/03/2015 11:37:27

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

IanP,

Common and garden DIN plugs, so nothing as fancy as those LEMOS.

The one I did do, for the FeedRodMotor RemoteControl box, had some of the pins come loose as they softened the plastic insulator whilst soldering, but that one is plug it in and forget.

The four DIN plugs connecting the scales to the DIY TouchDRO box, however, need to be solid as the unit will be switched between three machines to start with.

A resistance solder unit should work I would think.

Geoff – Another off day, so not much done.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

It's finished! From it I learnt the following:

1. I need to be more accurate with my machining.

2. I learnt how to use a rotary table to cut gears.

3. I can now crack nuts with a home made sledgehammer.

4. I need better ear defenders. It IS noisy in operation – but it does work as designed and I doubt it will get a great deal of use, but hey, I enjoyed the exercise and that's one of the main purposes for me pursuing this hobby.

Compare with Version 1.

John H.

P.S. During the design process, I came across a useful little program called GearDXF by Forest Moon Productions.  It helps with gear design and outputs a dxf file of your chosen gear.

Edited By John Hinkley on 19/03/2015 19:18:13

[Alex CollinsParticipant @alexcollins55045]

After fitting the clutch to my Myford ML7-R Lathe earlier in the week, I decided I need to put it to good use.
I'm going to (attempt) to make the IDRIS that's just started as a feature in ME.
Metal ordered to make the boiler.
Here goes…

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

i had a very pleasant afternoon in the garden in lovely weather testing a batch of injectors.

my 3.5"g LINDA did the necessary as her pipework for the injector under the right hand side of the cab is easily accessible.

wish i could reproduce here the lovely smell of proper welsh steam coal i was burning!

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 19/03/2015 22:14:23

Edited By julian atkins on 19/03/2015 22:14:53

Edited By julian atkins on 19/03/2015 22:15:37

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John Hinkley on 19/03/2015 19:04:51:

P.S. During the design process, I came across a useful little program called GearDXF by Forest Moon Productions. It helps with gear design and outputs a dxf file of your chosen gear.

.

John,

Finished job looks very tidy

And thanks for finding GearDXF … That definitely looks worth a try.

MichaelG.

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

Yes – 4 Bells rum, remember that too on the boats. Had one second mate who used to unsolder the seam on a coke can, fill the can with rum and resolder. It got past customs but only he would drink it! That was when cans of coke were made using tin not allie like now

When we were out in the Carribean/Central America we used to drink Appleton's Estate and coke. Fill a pint glass with crushed ice, fill to show half way with rum, top up with coke. Sounds lethal but it's not, the amount of ice dilutes the rum sufficiently, plus in that region you were always dripping with sweat, so a very nice cooling drink with no hangovers, but you did get through a lot of rum and coke in an evening even though it was heavily laced with ice!

Chris

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Rum and coke used to be my favorite drink. I got carried away one weekend and drank a lot of the stuff, made me very unwell. I haven't touched coke since.

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Went to the rifle range to test some .22 ammo sorted for effective length with my newly designed gauge.

It measures to the driving band and even 'top-shelf' ammo shows up to + or – 0.06mm variation in length (odd few even larger variations). This might explain the odd 'flier' when everything seemed to be lined up nicely.

I am trying to eliminate the variables for my target shooting, that just leaves the biggest variable – Me!

The results were quite interesting and repeatable, so I might be into something here.

(Test rifle Anschutz 1411, 32x scope, pillar bedded, wind 0-1kph L-R)

Here's a few piccies.

The red targets are 2.5in diameter

* Danny M *

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Use a hole punch – Its quicker!

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Speedy Builder5 on 20/03/2015 07:04:55:

Use a hole punch – Its quicker!

Possibly, but that would require no skill.

graham.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Eclipse 20 March 2015

Scattered cloud here, but a welding mask is proving ideal for watching the eclipse progress.

use a full shade screen, not arc welding googles.

Neil

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