Member postings for mike barrett 1

from the DVLA site it is taxed (exempt) till 2023 so still aorund!

Vehicle make

AUSTIN

Date of first registration

September 1934

Year of manufacture

1934

Cylinder capacity

747 cc

CO₂ emissions

Not available

Fuel type

PETROL

Euro status

Not available

Real Driving Emissions (RDE)

Not available

Export marker

No

Vehicle status

Taxed

Vehicle colour

BLUE

Vehicle type approval

Not available

Wheelplan

2 AXLE RIGID BODY

Revenue weight

Not available

Date of last V5C (logbook) issued

15 February 2016

I will have another look at it. Although I have brought a new one I would like to fix the old one or understand whats broken.

Mike

did take the head out and cleaned everything. Couldnt check the LED as I think there are IR. Might try again using a IR receiver and a scope.
Would still like to repair it.

Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway is worth a visit.
Powered by a stream that fills the top train tank, when its full, brakes realesed and down the hill it goes.
At the bottom of the hill the water is discharged and the top train is filled and the process repeated.

Run by water from a stream, brilliant.

Mike

I have had a reply from RST Europe. No manual or spares for the original forks (no surprising) but they did send me a pdf showing all the parts in the original folks.
There was a boss at the bottom of the spring that was bolted with an bolt into the bottom of the tube.
None of that is left as the bottom half of the spring has turned to rust. But at least it explains why it fell apart! Will try to clean out all the rust from inside the forks to see it I can find the bottom threaded hole!
I would still like to repair the originals forks

Glad others are keeping old bikes running, but not planning on doing any off roading!

Mike

I have a 1990's Raleigh bike which has RST suspension fronts forks. The forks have fallen apart (inside springs rusted away) and I dont think I can repair them,
I want to replace then but cant anything similar. The steering shaft from the forks is140mm long and have a threaded end to retain the top bearing and are 38.6mm (1 1/8" diameter. The handle bars use a quill fitting inside the shaft.

Most forks are now plain with a clamp to hold the bearing. I cant find a threaded shaft version that is only 140mm long so was wondering if I could buy a plain version and then cut the shaft down to size and cut a thread on it.

The question is what thread is used on the shaft and where can I buy a die for it?
Any suggestions welcome. I am trying to keep as much of bike original if possible.

Thanks Mike

Robert

Too easy and yes I have done that but was interested if anyone here had built one.

mike

my wife is doing a lot of wool spinning using a traditional spinning wheel.

I suggested it need an electric motor to drive it rather than a treadle foot driven one so she has given me the challenge to build one!
There are some quite neat features on a spinning wheel, the spool seems to be driven by friction between the main shaft and the spool, there is a brake (sprung loaded belt around the spool. All this changes how much spin you put on the wool and the rate of uptake on the spool.

So before I get stuck in to build one has anyone else every built an electric spinning wheel.

Thanks

mike

I think you are right (I too recently brought a cheap CNC router to play with) it needs to be change and embrace new technology ie 3D printing, CNC machining etc. There was nothing there for those users.

My wife is a keen knitter and the knitting shows are booming. We went to Wool Week in Shetland and there were people from all round the world coming to a week of woolly stuff. By the end of the week most accommodation was already booked for 2020! All the weeks courses and shows were fully booked months in advance.

The other problem is the age of the visitors, look around they are all a bit old. Its the same in the classic car world the average age if going up and not enough young people coming. The classic car world has other problems including anti car feeling/interest..

BTW I really liked the little display of the welder in the engine shed (Chelmsford eng society?) someone had used a coloured LED to represent arc welding, with the colour changing from white as the arc was struck to red as the job cooled down. Not really engineering but very clever.

mike

yes everything is changing....

I have run Triumph classic cars for ~35 years (Herald, Dolly, Stag, TR6 Gt6....etc) been going to classic car shows and over the years the number of parts dealers has gone to almost nothing. Part of it is that a lot of stuff is sold on Ebay and online and its no longer worth the traders going to shows...
I feel the same might be happening with the Model Engineering exhibitions, I hope not....
I have always enjoyed the London show but disappointed by the show. Will try the Doncaster show later this year. For me it more than the show but a chance to meet friends and have a catch up.

Mike

I have been for the last 4 years and always enjoyed the show. But this year I found it very disappointing, a lot of the regular companies and stalls missing and I think fewer engineering clubs. Very quiet compared to last year, I left after about 90 mins.

I wonder what has changed? has the cost of being there gone up (Ally Pally or the exhibition company) that has put companies off?

Real shame as I have always enjoyed this show.... Probably wont go next year.
Interested what other think...

Mike

(in Cambridge)