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Post by bobpendleton on Feb 9, 2015 18:31:35 GMT
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Post by bobpendleton on Feb 5, 2015 10:21:01 GMT
I wonder how many of us actually do work in Imperial in the fractional sense anyway.Mike I recall a statement by someone in the decimalisation era saying that as a designer he would always favour fractions for finding 'the middle' - half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and so on. Pretty soon he'd be down to thous but I guess he was thinking room sizes, furniture design etc. - B
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 18, 2015 10:05:39 GMT
(Regarding Joan's comment about the translation) Sorry, folk, that was somewhat off-topic. Just to wrap it up for good, the phone's 'translation' is nowhere near as good as the version she was referring to. B
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 18, 2015 9:35:16 GMT
This is the link to company I refer to it in Girona: www.matall.cat/eng/index.php (bad web site translation to English, as usual in my country) "My postillion has been struck by lightning" (see Wiki for some elucidation). Apart from schoolboy French over 60 years ago my language skills are pretty well 'nil'. However, I was somewhat surprised to receive on my mobile phone yesterday an offer of a free app play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en_GBwhich claims to translate on the fly from a photograph, text, voice or handwriting. Just as a test, I have taken a snap of my laptop screen of Joan's recent post, processed it to Catalan in the phone and got the following result: Es basa en un disseny que vaig trobar fa uns dies, però no puc recordar on i no sóc capaç de trobar de nou, de manera que l recrear. La frenada és "equilibrada" en totes les rodes, això significa que la mateixa força s'aplica a cada roda independentment del desgast del bloc de fre individual. A més, no hi ha necessitat d'ajustos de mida vareta perquè la força de frenada ja està dividida automàticament a totes les rodes en tot moment. Aquest disseny (asimètrica) només utilitza tres palanques a diferència de molts més requerit en dissenys simètrics, però l'efecte sobre les rodes és exactament el mateix Les palanques de la divisió de la força de frenada estan pintades en taronja. I have no idea how accurate this translation is - Joan? - but am hugely impressed that it works at all. Road signs? instruction leaflets? Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 10, 2015 8:44:43 GMT
Hi Pete. I guess I will need to travel to the UK to eventually see a real steam train in standard gauge. Hi Joan! And when you come be sure to book a good long stay. Our preserved railways and mainline steam excursions will fill your time, not to mention the model engineering societies with their exhibitions and running days. Special bonus: if you drop me a note before your visit I'll send you my MECH badge to ensure INSTANT RECOGNITION (or it would but it is actually rather inconspicuous) You will surely get a great welcome from the members of this forum and should you have any interest in classic bikes and cars then you'll need to stay somewhat longer. bp
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 8, 2015 15:25:04 GMT
Anyone remember the Laithwaite Christmas lectures - must have inspired a whole generation of engineers in one go ! Thanks for that... and we can watch again www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watchBob
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Lbsc
Dec 14, 2014 14:44:17 GMT
Post by bobpendleton on Dec 14, 2014 14:44:17 GMT
There is every chance that without LBSC's huge legacy we would not be building small engines, the Myford might never have come, and this forum would too esoteric for most. He was firmly on the side of the tyro' Don. "Huge legacy" - a Christmas Cracker from Curly...? I have acquired from that place (item 251733794328) a blueprint of LBSC's 'Cracker'. It did not sell, despite my helpful(?) advice to the seller and when it reappeared on a 'buy it now' basis it seemed a good idea to save it for the nation, so to speak, or anyway the fraternity - not forgetting the sorority for sisters Jo and Joan. It so happens that I also have the issues of 1938 English Mechanics which contain the 'instructions'. These are not included in the offer but I am able and willing to copy and hopefully reproduce the article as a PDF document. Is any member interested in adding these, free of any charge, to a personal or club archive? I cannot think that anyone here would actually want to build one (it involves rescuing a beaten up clockwork toy and fitting a simple steam engine) then please drop me a PM with both e-mail and snailmail addresses. Merry Christmas all, Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Dec 12, 2014 14:41:33 GMT
Sorry! Got lost among the quotes within quotes and have, I hope, deleted my meaningless reply. What I was trying to do was to suggest googling "gas lift kitchen/bar stools. They won't lift you while seated but you can raise the seat while you take part of your weight with your feet. Maybe they don't go high enough for your purpose but they're a great help when working at a limited range of heights. Alternatively, where several people use the seat, each can find the height that suits him best. Just a thought. Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on May 13, 2014 11:06:42 GMT
I have a quantity of various model engineering magazines spanning the last 20 years or so which are now taking up much valued space in the workshop. Darren I'm in a somewhat similar position to Darren. It's not just the space but also the stark realisation that I'll never re-read them all. If anyone is interested in taking a substantial quantity of Model Engineer, earliest issue around 1100 (1920's) and/or English Mechanics around the same era (with several LBSC designs), please PM me and we can discuss ways and means. I'm UK based, in Somerset, but willing to consider meeting part way to minimise carriage costs. No money involved, just like to find someone else to enjoy them. Bob (if interested, please allow me time to retrieve and sort them from various hidey holes!)
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Post by bobpendleton on Mar 17, 2014 6:12:51 GMT
Not so much Tools and Tooling more being able to see what you are doing. .... with good old fashioned light bulbs becoming harder to get hold of Andrew You might look at www.bltdirect.com/incandescent-light-bulbs No doubt there are others who can still supply - but maybe not for long. The short answer is 'get 'em while you can'. In our line of activity I daresay we may be lucky in that 'rough service' bulbs (for trailing inspection lights etc.) seem rather easier to get. hold of. FWIW, I suspect that those higher wattage bulbs of the ordinary kind still available do not last as long as they used to. Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Feb 27, 2014 19:43:01 GMT
Until recently I ran the 2013 free edition of AVG on a PC running Windows XP... Interesting thread for which my thanks. I needed a replacement for my XP equipped machine and imagined Windows 8 would now be the only solution. Alerted by Members' comments here I decided to look around for Windows 7 on a new machine - not as easy to find as one might think but they can be found - and am much encouraged by the first couple of hours' experience. Glad to see too that programs from older versions are catered for so no need to worry too much about losing familiar favourites. Heck, I'm still happily using Pagemaker, still my preferred program for formatting text, on even older Windows versions. Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 20, 2014 17:23:49 GMT
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Post by bobpendleton on Aug 21, 2013 3:58:41 GMT
Good evening all Could some suggest where I might purchase a dial indicator with a rear type plunger ? Or if some one has one to sell I would be interested Regards Alan Hi, Alan Maybe Toolbox at Colyton, Devon can help? One has just appeared on their 'recent arrivals' page www.thetoolbox.org.uk/late_arrivals/metalworking.htmlBob
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 25, 2013 12:08:57 GMT
...suggest either a source or method of making real glass windows? diameter 1.5" thickness as near to 1/16" or 1.5mm as possible. ...any suggestions and help will be gratefully received. cheers, julian May not be relevant (and I can't tell you how to cut 'em) but I do have a fair supply of 2" x 2" glass, unused, from the days when I made my own colour slides for projection. Just let me know and we'll find a way to get them to you. In case there's a rush please mention the sort of quantity you can use. Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Apr 9, 2012 5:28:04 GMT
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Post by bobpendleton on Apr 8, 2012 19:30:27 GMT
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Post by bobpendleton on Jan 3, 2012 14:17:18 GMT
Hello, Can someone tell me the the year/month when LBSC serialized his 3 1/2 " gauge Webb compound Jeanie Deans in the Model Engineer. Thanks, Mike Brian Hollingsworth, LBSC His Life and Locomotives p71, has two photos of Jeanie. His caption to one of them says 'No construction serial was published but drawings were made available'. He adds: 'Jeanie stayed with Curly; after he died she went to Reggie Hanks at Oxford from whose house she was stolen'. - Bob
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Post by bobpendleton on Aug 3, 2011 19:46:28 GMT
My latest wheeze is to run my workshop by solar power. OK so it only works when the sun shines ... Jo I am now experimenting with PV panels charging my old car battery to power a few 12v LED downlighters. In my case 'only works when the sun shines' is not altogether true since the panels are light driven and produce some power even on dull days. And since the LEDs draw very little power, I can have the lights on when it is dark outside. There's more to be gained, I feel, by repositioning the panels and it is at least theoretically possible to use the battery to drive an inverter. Work in progress! - but there's an answer in there somewhere (I think).
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Post by bobpendleton on Jul 1, 2011 12:14:47 GMT
I believe the offer may be resticted to those buying a new or rebuilt machine. Myford are offering 25% off spares at the moment if that sways you at all............ My own cabinet is bolted to the floor with plate washers of varying thicknesses to level. I can't see any evidence of this on Myford's web site at the moment... is this advertised somewhere? I need a few bits n bobs for my rebuild.
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Post by bobpendleton on Jun 25, 2011 10:13:27 GMT
Thank you, Joe; sorry all, I should have checked the archive. The Amolco is a more recent acquisition or I'd have noticed the thread at the time. Bob
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