Member postings for Roderick Jenkins

I've been very happy with a 1byeone doorbell. Many options available, we have a plug in unit as the main house doorbell and a battery repeater in the workshop. Other wireless bells we have had have been plagued by spurious rings from random wireless pickup but the 1byeone is immune.

Rod

I finished the level today:

I was fortune to have in my collection a thin brass tube that was a nice snug fit over the thicker tube into which the vial is mounted with the traditional plaster of paris.

Not sure what I'll do with it now - probably put it in a drawer and forget about it.

Stay well,

Rod

I do . Nice work.

Rod

Is it "Model Engineering - a guide to model workshop practice"? If so I have a facsimile reprint and can let you have jpegs of the index.

HTH,

Rod

Those were certainly my thoughts.  I should have made it clear that it is the travel on my X axis that is stiff at the ends. 

The info that you sent me shows a lot of superfluous machining on the casting but, being from College Engineering Supplies, I guess it was originally intended more as a machining exercise for a student. I'll be going my own way

Rod

Edited By Roderick Jenkins on 14/01/2021 22:47:56

Nigel,

I think that's a good analysis. The casting is pretty much at the limit of the travel on my X axis and is stiff at both ends.

Cheers,

Rod

I've put the wood away and, to get myself back into the swing of machining metal, I thought I'd spend a couple of days making the precision level whose base casting has been hanging around in the workshop for the last thirty years. The only recent purchase was the vial from Amazon.

Has a slight hump in the middle after milling which I don't really understand.

An hour or so scraping has left it flat enough

Stay well,

Rod

As Bill say, it's the excess deaths that give us the best picture:

Not all excess deaths are necessarily directly attributable to Covid 19, could be as a result of delayed medical attention but still a result of the pandemic.

Stay well,

Rod

Just tried looking at the MEW archive in Firefox. Clicked on a an older issue and it asked me if I wanted to run Flash. Clicked yes and it took me to an Adobe site that said, amongst other stuff, this:

"Since Adobe will no longer be supporting Flash Player after 31 December 2020 and Adobe will block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning 12 January 2021, Adobe strongly recommends all users immediately uninstall Flash Player to help protect their systems."

That seems to that. As I only have a digital subscription to enable access to the back numbers then that's a revenue stream that MTM will be losing from me .

Rod

Well, here we are, the first entry of 2021:

I've brought my musical instrument making bang up to date (well, middle of the 20th Century anyway). Steel strung guitar, Alpine spruce front, Indian rosewood back and sides and Pau abalone inlay. This is the first time I've installed metal frets on an instrument. I've had 2 goes and still not really happy but I'll see how it settles down, still some action tweaking to do. Sounds quite loud and bassy.

No more woody stuff in the pipeline, its back to engine building. Promise.

Stay well,

Rod

300 only came through the door this morning here in Dorset so I think we probably need to understand that the Post are having difficulties at the moment.

Stay well,

Rod

Amazing! How did you know? I'm writing it now. Shall I send it to ME or MEW?

Best wishes,

Rod

Oh dear, time to 'fess up to another unfinished project

Started a very long time ago, based on instruments described in Cocks and Bryan. The various ferrules were made from nickel silver sheet - annealed and rolled round a former then bound with a couple of pieces of iron wire to keep the edges together while silver soldering. The ferrules were then rammed back on a mandrel for polishing.

The ferrules looked fine when new but over time the silver solder discolours, leaving a dark line.

I think a thin coat of nickel plating will sort that out. These drones are ebony and the "ivory" fittings are some sort of plastic sold as a substitute back in the '80s. I have a length of African Blackwood waiting to be made into a 7 key chanter and I've amassed a collection of old EPNS cutlery for converting into keys. Perhaps I'll actually get round to finishing the set some time.

Anyway, welcome Calum and I look forward to reading about your progress.

Stay well,

Rod

Once again this forum demonstrates its friendship and helpfulness.

Thanks Howard, for the really useful information.

Happy New Year everyone,

Rod

Howard,

Thank you for your offer, PM sent.

Cheers,

Rod

Hi Folks,

Does any body have a picture of a completed CES level please. I have had the c.i. casting for the last 30 odd years and thought I might have ago at machining it. I could probably buy the drawings from CES but a picture will be sufficient to see if it differs from a standard M&W or Starrett machinists level.

Cheers,

Rod

Chris,

That's the one. Thank you very much. It seems to be rather tender so presumably not much planted in the UK.

My faith in the forum is confirmed

Stay well,

Rod

I know we have a very broad range of interests apart from engineering on this unique forum so I'm confident somebody in the collective can identify this shrub which was in our garden when we moved in 2 years ago:

The foliage is soft and feathery. It usually start flowering after Christmas. The flowers start off white and become pink over time. It seems to be thriving in sandy soil, not far from the sea in Dorset. Can't find it in any of our reference books.

Cheers,

Rod

My solution to the problem was a set of these:

**LINK**

Harris 100% natural bristle brushes.

Rod

My Lidl one is fine

Rod