The Night Mail

[jamie92208]

Good morning. Useful stuff about lathes. I think my Unimst is a 3. Definitely all metal. The milling head attaches to the lathe bed.

 

Some years ago, when researching for a model of the WW1 H M S Conqueror I came across a photo of theclathe that the shipysrd had for making prop shafts. It had a bed, 128 feet long.  That would struggle to fit in my shed.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

Ian,

 

The X0 Mill, as you will have seen from the picture is very small, and has a circular column which allows the whole motor to be moved up and down prior to setting up.

 

It has a digital Z axis readout which is resettable.

 

It has a JT1 spindle taper and I replaced the 3 jaw chuck (6 mm capacity), with a Collett holder to take ER11 colletts.

 

The Z axis travel is 45 mm.

 

Z axis is controlled by  a lever for coarse feed and a clutch which allows a wheel operated fine feed to be engaged/disengaged

 

I bought a small X-Y table to fit to the base; this has 8 mm T slots.

 

The travel is:

 

X axis 130 mm

Y axis 70 mm

 

Hope this is of use.

 

As an aside, I use two sizes of collet in the workshop.

 

The ER 11 as mentioned above, and ER 25 for the larger mill and lathe.

 

The jury is out on whether I get an ER 25 collet holder for the XO lathe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tomparryharry]

Thanks Richard. I've spent a couple of hours looking at the bench lathes & milers, and I realised I'm kidding myself. The shed project is ongoing,  A good neighbour has donated several hundred paviour blocks, and Mrs Smith wants me to plumb in a new pedestal sink she's just bought.... Any thoughts of machine work will have to wait.

 

Oy, yoy yoy.....

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

Thanks Richard. I've spent a couple of hours looking at the bench lathes & milers, and I realised I'm kidding myself. The shed project is ongoing,  A good neighbour has donated several hundred paviour blocks, and Mrs Smith wants me to plumb in a new pedestal sink she's just bought.... Any thoughts of machine work will have to wait.

 

Oy, yoy yoy.....

Ian,

 

Don't do my usual trick of getting side tracked by other projects.

 

Get the shed finished and the paviours laid.  But my advice would be to get the sink plumbed in asap, otherwise you will suddenly go off air to be found in the future neatly laid out under the block paviours, or best case scenario, living in the shed!

[tomparryharry]

58 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Ian,

 

Don't do my usual trick of getting side tracked by other projects.

 

Get the shed finished and the paviours laid.  But my advice would be to get the sink plumbed in asap, otherwise you will suddenly go off air to be found in the future neatly laid out under the block paviours, or best case scenario, living in the shed!

 

Thank you.  I've just done 2 hours on the barrow, and the paviours  have now taken temporary residence in Smith Towers.  Whilst doing this, another near neighbour drew nigh:- " Ian, if you need any more, there's a couple hundred around the back of my garage..." Once rested, I'll get on with the new sink. Layout, first fix & waste, mark out & install. The waste on this job is 32mm push-fit waste. I hate push-fit waste, so a quick trip to the bin will ensue. 

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

hundred paviour blocks

Depending on how big they are you might be able to fit a lathe/mill under them!

[tomparryharry]

Planned subterfuge.  My nearest neighbour is re-modelling his patio, and a very nice job. The ( his ) upgrade allowed me to have these little paviours, which are 'used'.  Being second hand, the laying of these gives an instant patina of age. "Just like they've always been there".

 

Or.. Weathering on 12"-1' scale...

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

I hate push-fit waste

When I rebuilt the en-suite, the soil pipe fell apart. When I checked the builder had used solvent on push fitting bits and some bits that should have had solvent were loose and just pushed. I managed to get to the DIY store just before it closed on a Friday evening to get replacement parts. Apparently a few other houses down the road were similarly built. The main bathroom was fine. 
The new shower tray was installed on a bed of cement but I have a little trapdoor in the garage roof to access the trap. Our garage is half in the house and half out so at least if it leaks only my trains will get wet. 

[jamie92208]

Oh we are having fun with plumbing today.  As you may havecread on another thread the shower Inused dumped it's waste into it's plinth yesterday which then seeped all over the bathroom floor.  It's impossible to access the trap without dismantling it all.  It is now nearly dismantled. I can't finish the job as the idiot who installed it didn't fit any isolation valves in the water supply.  I'll get some end caps tomorrow. He also built thecplinth out of chipoard covered in tiles to get the waste outlet high enough to connect up to an existing pipe. The chipboard has rotted under the shower so therevis no chance of just mending the leak in the trap. My plan is to remove it completely, demolish the plinth the install a free standing shower enclosure and a pump to get the waste into the existing pipe.  If this is done right, when we have the whole bathroom remodelled in about a years time the new shower can be moved to a better position.  Oh deep joy. However all us not list as the DIY place of choice us near a major railway station, what a coincidence.

 

Jamie

[Florence Locomotive Works]

I was scrolling through my videos of test sessions for my Mogul on my phone, and found the second video of it. This rather atmospheric photo was the end result of the search. It's dark out as I began the test far to late in the afternoon, so a lighter was used to let the camera see.

 

Douglas

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

He also built thecplinth out of chipoard covered in tiles

Chipboard, you don’t know how lucky you were to have chipboard!

Seriously one of the reasons I decided to replace the en-suite shower was due to leaks noticeable by stains on the garage ceiling. Some people in the road had their showers fall through the floor. So I removed  the  plinth cover and it was obvious that much of the cardboard between the metal supports and the tray had disintegrated. Who on earth would use cardboard? The chipboard floor under the shower was so soggy I ripped out the floor and replaced it. In those days I could do things like that.  Nowadays I would rely on a recommendation from neighbours who are builders. 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

In those days I could do things like that.  Nowadays I would rely on a recommendation from neighbours who are builders. 

I am in the same boat, and realised that contracting work out that previously I could /would have done myself was the only way forward.

 

At the beginning of this week, we had the final load of slabs delivered and laid in the veg plot.  It was done in just over the day.  something that would have taken me at least a week.

 

Unfortunately, the grandchildren arrived at lunchtime and it appears impossible to get a contractor in for the entertainment they appear to require.  They are still sculling around as I speak:  Too excited to get to bed, which in all honesty is not unexpected.  much work has been done laying and lifting the wooden railway.

 

I can hear the Penderyn calling from afar.

 

I might need another bottle before the week is out.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Florence Locomotive Works]

First fire of the season hath been liteth, as it is (for our friends in Europe) 6 degrees out and raining. Same for most of the week. 
 

Douglas

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Dave Hunt]

Today started with me being comprehensively f***** about by the Telford & Shrewsbury NHS Trust again - full details on ERs but too lengthy to go into it all again here. Then this afternoon I got on with making the coaling stage for my MPD layout and in a short time will be dragging the Penderyn bottle out of the cupboard and reducing its content level somewhat. That's all for now as Horace the cat is demanding attention, which involves walking all over the keyboard.

 

Have a quiet night everyone, particularly Bill (unless you're in the antipodes, in which case have a nice day).

 

Dave

[bbishop]

37 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Today started with me being comprehensively f***** about by the Telford & Shrewsbury NHS Trust again - full details on ERs but too lengthy to go into it all again here. Then this afternoon I got on with making the coaling stage for my MPD layout and in a short time will be dragging the Penderyn bottle out of the cupboard and reducing its content level somewhat. That's all for now as Horace the cat is demanding attention, which involves walking all over the keyboard.

 

Have a quiet night everyone, particularly Bill (unless you're in the antipodes, in which case have a nice day).

 

Dave

And one part of the NHS is more than capable of bu99ering another part, as today's exploits testify.  Sorry, no names no packdrill.  Bill

[Dave Hunt]

I'm getting seriously worried that living so close to Wales as well as being in the zone of local influence of a well-known Welsh pachyderm of this parish is having a deleterious effect and I am in dire danger of being taken over. Not only did I find myself supporting the men in red on Saturday (even though I was sadly let down) but tonight I found myself drinking Penderyn yet again and eating a Welsh cake - and thoroughly enjoying both. Should I seek help before it is too late?

 

Dai Dave

[Happy Hippo]

4 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I'm getting seriously worried that living so close to Wales as well as being in the zone of local influence of a well-known Welsh pachyderm of this parish is having a deleterious effect and I am in dire danger of being taken over. Not only did I find myself supporting the men in red on Saturday (even though I was sadly let down) but tonight I found myself drinking Penderyn yet again and eating a Welsh cake - and thoroughly enjoying both. Should I seek help before it is too late?

 

Dai Dave

Don't fight it Dave, you'll be unconsciously subsumed into the Penderyn culture and  in time might even grow to like Bara Brith as well as Welsh cakes.

 

Just think of the joy of terrorising your neighbours with close harmony singing and being able to recite the complete Mabinogion to your grandchildren.

 

Only worry when you look out at a flock of sheep and start recognising the pretty ones.

[chrisf]

There is nothing wrong with eating Welsh cakes!  Nothing at all.  I should make them more often but the bakestone on which they  are best made, being an offcut of tramp steamer, is a bit heavy to lift on and off the stove.   I do have a Le Creuset frying pan but it's not the same.  One of the year's more disappointing cancellations, and heaven knows there have been enough of them, was the AGM of the Welsh Railways Research Circle in Rhiwderin.  Forget the cut and thrust of lively debate: the best reason for attending is arguably the availability of Mrs Warrington's Welsh cakes.

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I'm getting seriously worried that living so close to Wales as well as being in the zone of local influence of a well-known Welsh pachyderm of this parish is having a deleterious effect and I am in dire danger of being taken over. Not only did I find myself supporting the men in red on Saturday (even though I was sadly let down) but tonight I found myself drinking Penderyn yet again and eating a Welsh cake - and thoroughly enjoying both. Should I seek help before it is too late?

 

Dai Dave

Very definitely seek help Dave, you really need to get worried when you get a sudden urge to build models of green engines with copper rings round their chimneys. And as to the sheep problem, never wear your wellies when near a ewe.

 

Jamie

Edited October 27, 2020 by jamie92208

[TheQ]

9 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

Unfortunately, the grandchildren arrived at lunchtime and it appears impossible to get a contractor in for the entertainment they appear to require.  

 

 

 

[bbishop]

Dave,  there are ways that you can avoid pornography.  The obvious one for you is the vicinity of Three Cocks Junction.  Then there is the North Wales coast line, on which my grandfather was a driver.  Then there is most of the Principality before 1923.  Bill

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Dave,  there are ways that you can avoid pornography.  The obvious one for you is the vicinity of Three Cocks Junction.  Then there is the North Wales coast line, on which my grandfather was a driver.  Then there is most of the Principality before 1923.  Bill

Just to help him along:

 

http://www.taffvale.wales/

 

 

[tomparryharry]

Over on the smaller scale, both Taff Vale Models, London Road and Jidenco cover a lot of Welsh stock.  I have a few London Road models stowed away myself. The North & West is always a rich hunting ground,  I had reason to visit Gobowen once, and thought it's a interesting place.    

[bbishop]

There is a report in the Grauniad of a former paratrooper dropping 40 metres from a helicopter into the sea without a parachute.  He survived the initial impact with the water but then a free falling hippo landed on him.....  Bill

[tomparryharry]

I've taken some push-fit waste, and deposited into File 13. I'm typing this with a mugga, awaiting the waste to harden off.  I don't mind plumbing, but it doesn't fill me with euphoria any more. One of the hardest parts is remembering how silly things like rod-activated traps (plug-holes ) work. A severe dose of looking-at ensued, and I'll get it done today.