Stuff you have fixed today

[My Old Landy]

I was given a height gauge as it was seized with some light corrosion and leaked batteries. An hour this afternoon with some WD40 and scotchbrite and a fine stone, it all came back to life
It was nice to see the display agreed with my other implements of imperial loveliness I zeroed on a .050" block then used an .800" one as a test piece.

 

[cardiffrob]

Here's the engine we ran last week after a rebuild. Only just ticking over with no fuel going in so quite safe (so long as you don't stick yer fingers in the blades)

 

[qwakers]

The video is private, if you want to make it available by link only, you need to make it unlisted.

 

[DennisCA]

I laminated a strip of brass shimstock to the underside of the front ways. On my lathe there's a tab holding the saddle down to the ways. I guess over the decades this has gotten worn because the saddle could be lifted quite a bit compared to farther away from the headstock where it's been used less. It's probably wear from both above and below, but I am not ready yet for tackling scraping of the ways so this is the best I can do. Glued on the strip of brass where the slop was worst or about 2/3rds of the total length.

I scraped the brass a little for oil retention.

Also that's my new chuck mounted and tuned in by tapping it and tighetning the bolts, undersized register. It's within a hundreth of a mm now.

 

[awemawson]

A leaking check valve on my JCB 3CX. It was leaking when I got the machine, gradually got worse, and I was told internal parts for that particular valve were no longer available. However I sourced an (expensive) good used part that was ok for about 6 months then started leaking catastrophically. But this time I had the old valve I'd swapped out to dismantle and examine. Searching on the official JCB parts site just for 'check valve' found, along with a load of dissimilar valves, a 'rebuild kit' that looked identical. Stated to fit a whole load of machines but NOT JCB 3CX ! It arrived today, was identical, is fitted and works.

Rather than remove the whole assembly which is pretty hemmed in, I replaced the bits 'in situ' and got away with it !

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Just finished our new shower install a couple of days ago and have had a drip from one of the two shower heads.

I took the diverter valve apart today to see what was in there.

This is the diverter valve cartridge, and this bit of brass swarf was the cause of the problem.

Cleaned it up and put it back together and now no leak.

 

[GRW]

Today (& yesterday when I started the folly) - I decided I really must "beef up" the security on my wee workshop/toolshed/bike store thingy.
I've got strong doors, but the lock was this....

Even though I live in West Wales and we have less crime than some - there are still plenty of Scuzzballs on the rob, so....
All I had was some offcuts of angle and bits of scrap, and not much idea how I could go about it - but figured the practice with the welder wouldn't go amiss.
Anyway, absolutely AGES of faffing, head scratching and looking at lumps of scrap, I eventually produced this monstrosity

There is a length of rectangular box section as the sliding bar (you can just see the black short lever attached underneath) with a Tang on it which when thrown closed overlays with another tang inside the LH box, where you can pass through a padlock.

I doubt I've made it all that genuinely Thief resistant (trying to make a box shroud that shields the lock but which lets you actually get at the lock at all - proved a challenge for one with limited materials and next-to-no fabrication experience)... but it does at least look pretty beefy compared to the old hasp lock

 

[RichardM]

^^^^^^ Paint it brown so it doesn't stand out so much?

 

[GRW]

^^^^^^ Paint it brown so it doesn't stand out so much?

It's silver...simply cos that was the metal paint I had in the shed.
Yep, brown would disguise it / blend it in - on the other hand if it's easily seen would it prove to be a deterrent

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I got this storm lamp for spares.

But it turns out to be a Chalwyn British Storm Lantern.

Dull stuff to 99.9% to most. But investigations showed they are collectedable.
The blue you see is not original.

A quick test showed it was fuel tight and was in working order.

During the clean up the supporting arm was found to be repaired. There is a stamp near it.
A Capital C and the date 4/1959.
The blue was hiding a black coat of paint..

Modern paint stripper found it hard to remove. So I removed the rust and flaky paint.

A few coats of paint, in the sun it did not take long to dry.

Yes I have re painted the missed part.

 

[Melvyn Best]

It's silver...simply cos that was the metal paint I had in the shed.
Yep, brown would disguise it / blend it in - on the other hand if it's easily seen would it prove to be a deterrent

I was once told by a crime prevention officer to not make security too obvious as it makes it clear to the scumbags that there is something of value in whatever it protects

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This Mamod came my way the other day. Almost original, just missing a "Meths" burner.

It was stiff to turn over, but it did move.

This engine caused a bit of a "Debate".
Some wanted to strip and fully restore it. But did not want to pay out to replace the hard to find and mucj money original stickers.
Some wanted to leave it as it was, as it was all original. But got upset when others wanted to run it.
Then there was the sober ones who wanted to clean it up, preserve it and run it.

Old, age suitable burners I have.

This is the firt hot run. The piston was stiff, as it was caked in brasso, lime scale and old oil.

I removed the con rod and cleaned the cylinder.
The pipes were roded clear of lime scale with a bit of Mig wire.
The boiler was filled with hot water and citric acid.

The steel was rubed with warm citric acid, then washed with hot water. Then a clear heat resistance coat applied.


For a small engine, the power is very good.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This fix was puly as a test for my home made French polish.

As you can see it is in poor condition.

Worse was found inside.

Some one had applied a sticker to the bare wood. The modern glue seeps in and is a pain to remove.

The taps are sharp, the dies are mixed up but they are all there and are matched.

On the reverse are the sizes.

The Shellec flakes are mixed with clear Meths. Untill they disolve. The colour is depenandant on the shellec not the amount you use. You can get clear shellec, what I will be planning to use on a future metal restoration..

The Tap wrench has fixed four holes to take the taps. One tap was found to be bent. I had a suitable spare and it was replaced.
The glue from the sticker was removed by laying on a meths soaked rag. Then a fe layers of cotton rags. Then a warm iron applied to draw the glue out. Then a few coats of sanding sealer.

The clip is an odd one, as it is a push down onto the pin, not a flip up one.

Today I will apply a few coats of wax.

Will I make my own french polish again?

Yes, Is it worth the time and effort?
No.

Was it enjoyable?
Yes.

 

[RichardM]

It's silver...simply cos that was the metal paint I had in the shed.
Yep, brown would disguise it / blend it in - on the other hand if it's easily seen would it prove to be a deterrent

I was thinking it's highlighting there's something interesting it there.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Post Office Letter scales.

Nice tide, complete project.

I knew there was some goverment stamps and marks on the 3 weights, the scale and the base.

Turns out they are APS scales for the British Army.
APS is the Army Post office. With a lot of help from the Post office museum the history of the scales was worked out.

Mass made to be sent to the regiments in all threaters of war.
WW1 vintage, the date stamps give it away. They are not issued to a set unit, but to an attachment of the APS in the thearter of conflict. The Ivory bearning are missing., as they were nvere fitted in war production units.
There should be 4 weights, not 3.

The single hole is another clue it is war stock. As the others would of had holes drilled for the weights. The one hole made production cheeper. The base is also "odd". As it is made from an off cut of hard wood and not to a set design.

I had a odd weight that fitted the pattern, but it's serial number is not matched. The museum said that is not an issue as they hold good records of the weight sets serial numbers.

The Clear polish I made has not shown up very well in the image. The finish on the frame makes it look dull. It looks the frame was drawn filled to finish it. The weighs did clean up well.

The issue is now, at a latter date the letter plate was replaced with a latter one. It is the only part not to have a WD stamp on it.

 

[roblane65]

It's silver...simply cos that was the metal paint I had in the shed.
Yep, brown would disguise it / blend it in - on the other hand if it's easily seen would it prove to be a deterrent

Not always the the case discreet is often better as big obvious security can often just make them more determined to be in as you " obviously " have something you want to protect , and you'll just make them look for another point of entry
bit of of a double edged sword so to speak

 

[awemawson]

On the coin boxes for the driers in my (long sold) launderette I put hasp and staple locking with the cheapest padlock. What wasn't apparent was the original circular pin lock was under the hasp along with a microswitch that triggered an extremely loud klaxon alarm

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

View attachment 349389

This Mamod came my way the other day. Almost original, just missing a "Meths" burner.

It was stiff to turn over, but it did move.

This engine caused a bit of a "Debate".
Some wanted to strip and fully restore it. But did not want to pay out to replace the hard to find and mucj money original stickers.
Some wanted to leave it as it was, as it was all original. But got upset when others wanted to run it.
Then there was the sober ones who wanted to clean it up, preserve it and run it.

View attachment 349390

Old, age suitable burners I have.

This is the firt hot run. The piston was stiff, as it was caked in brasso, lime scale and old oil.

I removed the con rod and cleaned the cylinder.
The pipes were roded clear of lime scale with a bit of Mig wire.
The boiler was filled with hot water and citric acid.


View attachment 349391

The steel was rubed with warm citric acid, then washed with hot water. Then a clear heat resistance coat applied.


For a small engine, the power is very good.

When I was about 10 my cousin had one of these, one day we decided to make the piston act like a cannon, so disconnected it from the flywheel.

We thought the pressure would build and fire the piston out. What we didn't realise that we had effectively closed off the steam valve from the boiler. After about 20 minutes of heating the boiler eventually exploded showering is with boiling water. I guess the pressure relief valve was stuck closed as the end of the boiler blew off.

Ahh, the good old days......

 

[nickk]

Installed a 2nd leisure battery,anticipating those hot french days with the fridge buzzing.

 

[bricol]

Installed a 2nd leisure battery,anticipating those hot french days with the fridge buzzing.

I think we might have different interpretations of "installed"