Messin' about with machines..

[graham-xrf]

Looks great!

Thanks.
You should know that the end effect is a bit like having only one wheel on the car refurbished and powder-coated, and given a new tyre!

 

[darkzero]

Thanks.
You should know that the end effect is a bit like having only one wheel on the car refurbished and powder-coated, and given a new tyre!

Well of you had 2 new wheels, put them on the same side & only drive on the farthest lane so no one can see the other side. Same goes for painted surfaces, apply the 5ft rule. If it looks good from 5ft it's good enough & don't allow anyone to get closer than 5ft to see it.

 

[graham-xrf]

Well of you had 2 new wheels, put them on the same side & only drive on the farthest lane so no one can see the other side. Same goes for painted surfaces, apply the 5ft rule. If it looks good from 5ft it's good enough & don't allow anyone to get closer than 5ft to see it.

Hee Hee - that's good, but too late for me here. I already posted pictures based roughly on about the 5 inch rule!

 

[darkzero]

Hee Hee - that's good, but too late for me here. I already posted pictures based roughly on about the 5 inch rule!

Haha, I'll promise to squint whenever I look at the pics.

But seriously, they look good without squinting!

 

[graham-xrf]

Getting up to a little more messing about, and I happen to spot something on the so far unloved back gear guard.



OK - so somebody painted Ministry of Defence "Grey" right over the brass asset label.
We apply some of the last of the Nitomors I am trying to use up. It claims "dichloromethane-free", but whatever replaced that active ingredient does not work as well, and is possibly a worse substance to get a whiff of. I suspect something benzyl, because of the way it rapidly makes the chest go wheezy. Even for this little dab, the mask with the carbon granules filters has to be used.



Well hello! What have we here? Some historical evidence. The place this kit did duty is only about 20 miles from me. They were meticulous about recording their assets.



R.A.E. stands for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, which was based at Farnborough in Hampshire, and they had a second site RAE Bedford. In 1988, it was renamed "Royal Aerospace Establishment". In 1991, it merged with other agencies to become "Defence Research Agency". It has had a couple of changes since, but I know the site, and I have worked there. It's the same place where Frank Whittle ran up his jet engine, but failed to inspire the military men.



I suspect this South Bend 9A was used there from1948 to perhaps around 1970's. I don't know how long these departments kept their kit. Maybe it was moved around and re-deployed a bit.

Like the tailstock wheel - don't expect ever to see it in this condition again!

 

[middle.road]

Here's my attempt at adding to the fine humor of this thread.

That's not 'Ministry of Defence "Grey"' it's Mid-Century Office Desk 'Grey'.

What might even be a tad funnier is that when I went to look for an image to include here, is the asking price(s) for these ugly old beasts.
This one popped up on Etsy for $1200.00 and another one was listed for €630.00
Say what?! Really?!
If they're really going for that kind of money I wish I had a storage container full of them.

 

[graham-xrf]

That's not 'Ministry of Defence "Grey"' it's Mid-Century Office Desk 'Grey'.

Yep - truly from the bad old days. They had office acreage set out with modesty panel desks in a grid array, each with a typewriter, or a Hollerith 80-character hand chad puncher thing, populated mostly by women who aimed to contrive an escape as soon as possible. And an office hierarchy that was sad at the best of times!

There came a point where the machines became electric, needing many amperes at 5.0volts, and even Niagra felt the strain.

For the Ministry of Defence (UK) , it was a forced amalgamation which did not establish easily because of the competing interests of Army, Navy and Air Force. The universal paint choice was the same as in U.S.A. If it moved, you salute it. If not, and it's made of metal, then "Battleship Grey". All else gets a whitewash!

Some of the RAL colour codes have names - like "Aircraft Grey". I suppose the intent was to set a theme in some manner psycho-lloggical !

 

[middle.road]

I have one very thin stack of blank Hollerith cards left out of two boxes.
Better than index cards for note taking.
I remember my dad bringing home the 'punched' ones from the office. Us kids did all sorts of things with them.

 

[graham-xrf]

When I am "messing about with machines", I am somehow indulging a strange deep thing that just makes one "feel better", even as we make powerful stuff spin, and we cut through steel, and we mess with definitely nasty chemicals, and get stuff way more than red-hot, and make things of precision beauty. And ... we have to fix up our own machines!

Becoming so informed that you completely know what you are doing, and you understand the problem is not enough!
(A bit like Sheldon Cooper theoretically "learning to swim" without actually engaging with the wet stuff).
I already know a whole lot about what to do to fix up various parts of my machine. It does not compensate for that I be a bit behind in the practiced skills. This is not going to stop me trying!

I tend to post the results of my forays into machinitus - or should that be messinaboutitus - even the mistaaikes!

Amid all that, here we can hang out and talk about almost anything, and feel OK, even among guys with awesome skills who already know you just messed up something simple. @DavidR8 already pointed out how this site has that quality. I value it more than most can know!

 

[graham-xrf]

It was working - until you messed with it!
Back to the El Cheapo Chinese measure thingies that arrived between paint can handling while doing the tailstock wheel earlier.



I had been reading about the "variable" quality, so i thought to take a look.
When the end knurl that usually tightens them to lock is unscrewed all the way, out drops the little rod that presses on the moving bits.

Sure enough. What the man said on his YT rant was so. The ends of the rods had been sheared off as if from a hefty side-cutter. It does not show clearly in the picture, but it looked crude. The quality ones, we are told, have nicely rounded and polished ends. Not so hard - let's modify them a little.



There we go! A bit of a spin on a old file, and we wring a last gasp out of the leftover bits of abrasive paper, one of which competed in the "good lathe color" stakes. Should be fine!

Ahh .. but look. Where are the two smallest gauges? Why are they not in the plastic wallet?
Er.. Ok then. That is because they are recaptured into a plastic zip-bag after a Herculean effort to get them back together.

Those darn things have SPRINGS in them, all ready to launch any parts of the insides to who-knows where?
It happens swiftly. A sudden little event, and if you are lucky, you hear enough of a little tinkle to know which side of the room to start searching - except for springs. Unlike those in my car suspension, these launch and land silently!


I also have to contend with the space-time warp discontinuity portal (Star Trek Technobabble) that lurks somewhere on the left floor region near my foot. Anything that lands there is simply never seen again. Dropped self-tapping screws see service in another dimension!

So how did we end up with TWO in that state?
Oh - that's easy. You start with the smallest, and some bits get launched - you know - compression potential energy , and all that. One has no idea how the bits go together again, nor even if all the bits have been found!

The solution is to take apart the next size up, to use as an example reference. This trick works. The bits are found.
By now, I suppose we all see the flaw in the otherwise good plan!