The Night Mail

[Hroth]

34 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

The very first thing drilled into us over and over again was NEVER LEAVE A CHUCK KEY IN A CHUCK!

 

To this very day if I see a lathe quietly sitting there with a key in the chuck I feel distinctly uneasy.  Such was the power of the message embedded by Robbie Stancombe, the turning instructor 50 years ago.   

 

I bet @polybear agrees!

 

 

 

 

And, take your tie off in the workshop!

 

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

And, take your tie off in the workshop!

 

Or at the very least wear a V-neck tank top...

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

And, take your tie off in the workshop!

 

 

What's a Tie?

[woodenhead]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

What's a Tie?

The thing you wear around your neck to a funeral.

 

If you wear one to the workshop then you'll possibly be attending your own funeral next.

[Canal Digger]

I've probably told this story here before ...

First day in Metalwork in Secondary School,  me never seen a lathe before, we were all lined up alphabetical  order and shown how to use a tailstock mounted centre drill to make a hole in a piece of round steel bar, what could go wrong? Teacher watched first few intently, however my surname  starts with  W so by the time it was my turn he had left us to it. So I duly loaded workpiece  in to chuck, slid tailstock up, switched on and wound drill forward. However without cutting metal the drill turned a nice shade of blue and the tip broke off, I knew enough to switch off etc, by which time teacher reappeared. Previous boy (not my best friend !) had knocked the Reverse Lever. Of course this was my  fault  and my name  was blackened from then on

[Dave Hunt]

1 minute ago, woodenhead said:

The thing you wear around your neck to a funeral.

A friend of mine was a teacher at Oakham school and had to wear a tie every day. On the day he retired he went home, threw the tie he was wearing into the bin and said, I’m never wearing one of those things again.” And he didn’t, even at his own funeral.

 

Dave

[PupCam]

45 minutes ago, polybear said:

Is that a rather young Puppers by any chance?

 

Indeed it isn't.  

 

A mere whipper-snapper from a later intake.   If I think long enough I might even remember his name or I could ask one of my former colleagues on Faceache.  

 

IIRC the other "Geezer" popped in around 1977 so I suspect that is the date of the photograph.

 

Now, why did I come up stairs?

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by PupCam

[woodenhead]

4 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

A friend of mine was a teacher at Oakham school and had to wear a tie every day. On the day he retired he went home, threw the tie he was wearing into the bin and said, I’m never wearing one of those things again.” And he didn’t, even at his own funeral.

 

Dave

I've workshirts I never wear despite being a full time employee, ties that never get tied unless it is a wedding or a funeral and I have holiday shirts for when I go on a sunshine holiday.

 

My wardrobe is full of clothes I don't need 😄

[woodenhead]

11 minutes ago, Canal Digger said:

I've probably told this story here before ...

First day in Metalwork in Secondary School,  me never seen a lathe before, we were all lined up alphabetical  order and shown how to use a tailstock mounted centre drill to make a hole in a piece of round steel bar, what could go wrong? Teacher watched first few intently, however my surname  starts with  W so by the time it was my turn he had left us to it. So I duly loaded workpiece  in to chuck, slid tailstock up, switched on and wound drill forward. However without cutting metal the drill turned a nice shade of blue and the tip broke off, I knew enough to switch off etc, by which time teacher reappeared. Previous boy (not my best friend !) had knocked the Reverse Lever. Of course this was my  fault  and my name  was blackened from then on

Blue is better than red though.

[New Haven Neil]

I have an ear that looks like a jigsaw because of the guy behind me left a chuck key in - on a BIG lathe, 12 inch swing.  Knocked me out for a few seconds, went down like a sack of taties, lot of blood, hospital, stitched back together....and he was a mate!  Well, was.....

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

I have an ear that looks like a jigsaw because of the guy behind me left a chuck key in - on a BIG lathe, 12 inch swing.  Knocked me out for a few seconds, went down like a sack of taties, lot of blood, hospital, stitched back together....and he was a mate!  Well, was.....

 

A work buddy once witnessed an apprentoid that should've known better start a big lathe in reverse - the (big) chuck hadn't been locked and it rapidly wound itself off the spindle, bounce off the lathe bed and probably ten feet into the air, still spinning at a vast rate of knots.

The apprentoid then proceeded to shout " I've got it, I've got it!!" as he positioned himself underneath, ready to catch it......

Fortunately buddy dragged him clear just in time - the chuck took a big lump out of the machine shop floor as it landed.

[Danemouth]

Talking of ties I worked on an office for all 48 years of my working life and wore a suit and tie every day.  I liked to look smart and as a manager for much of that time it was expected of me. When I retired 11 years ago I thought no more ties - looked in my wardrobe at the over 30 ties - that got thinned down to half a dozen and other than the funerals black tie I can count on one hand the number of times I have worn a tie since retirement 😀

 

Dave

[TheQ]

hmm the list,

Yep I've worked on Il Dottore's favourite washer.. But not on the one in the Radar Museum cafe.. Someone last week lifted the lid before the cycle was over.. they had a lot of mopping up to do.... once they had dried themselves, the high pressure pumps don't stop instantly. it was noticeable a great amount of Stainless industrial catering equipment is made in Italy.

 

My first Secondary School, taught lathe work both Metal and wood...  sadly the later two didn't..

 

Ties, I wear one Every Friday, it's the RAF Tie overlaid By the Fist and Sparks emblem of the Electronics and Telegraphy trades.

otherwise I wear ties to Sailing club events.. though I have around 30 or more other ties , they almost all mean something, Falklands, Marconi Radar, Yeoman Class association, ADV radar, Green goddess, etc.

 

What's a Wardrobe? I think that's something I built for swmbo, or actually I built for the two of us, 14ft long , two rails of clothing high.. somehow All I have now is about 3ft of  one rail that's mine..  After a major sort out most of my stuff, is boxed in large plastic boxes.

 

It's going to be some years before I wear out all the RAF, Saudi BAE, UK field service white, shirts I've got. I buy one polo shirt per year, that's that years 3 Rivers Race Shirt...

 

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

I have been thinning out my clothing.  

 

On the last run to the charity shop, I took in some shirts and trousers that had never been worn.

 

Apparently Jill is trying to persuade Dave to get rid of  all the sheepskin flying gear he was issued with when he was flying  ornithopters.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

And how's your life been without that knowledge.

I still have the knowledge,  the first calculator I bought was an electronic rather than mechanical. I never acquired a lathe. 

[PupCam]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Apparently Jill is trying to persuade Dave to get rid of  all the sheepskin flying gear he was issued with when he was flying  ornithopters.

 

I suggest that a far better idea would be to get hold of a nice Tiger Moth and put that sheepskin flying gear to good use.    Been a cracking day for it these last few days!

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

That's a bit much isn't it hitting your much beloved with a sledge hammer. Just out of curiosity how's the road pin doing.

Road pin installation was very successful. Plants are now supported nicely. Your get a pack of   road pins suggestion a while ago has provided us with many garden solutions. What surprised me is just how much garden centres charge for rust effect road pins. 
Tony

[New Haven Neil]

Ah, ties!  Every day at school, in the Merch, in the NHS, in the Youth Justice job...every stinking day. I had a large selection of smart, serious or seriously p!ss taking ones, now just half a dozen that seldom get dusted off.   I had to keep a serious/smart one at work in case of suddenly having to appear in Court with one of our young charmers, wouldn't be good to go with a mickey taking one and get done for contempt.

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

Indeed it isn't.  

 

A mere whipper-snapper from a later intake.   If I think long enough I might even remember his name or I could ask one of my former colleagues on Faceache.  

 

IIRC the other "Geezer" popped in around 1977 so I suspect that is the date of the photograph.

 

Now, why did I come up stairs?

 

May well have been a Silver Jubilee event in 77.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

13 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Ah, ties!  Every day at school, in the Merch, in the NHS, in the Youth Justice job...every stinking day. I had a large selection of smart, serious or seriously p!ss taking ones, now just half a dozen that seldom get dusted off.   I had to keep a serious/smart one at work in case of suddenly having to appear in Court with one of our young charmers, wouldn't be good to go with a mickey taking one and get done for contempt.

 

Bear (and I suspect Puppers) has one that, if worn at work "Could be career limiting" (yes, really - the very grown-ups went into print on that little issue as it seriously, seriously p1ssed them off).  Did Bear (and many others) take any notice?  Nottachance.  Probably explains rather a lot as regards A Certain Bear's career progression**.

 

(**Or lack of....).

[Mike Bellamy]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

flying  ornithopters.

 

Thanks to Google and Wikipedia . . . .  An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies (or not) by flapping its wings.

 

 

3 hours ago, Danemouth said:

Talking of ties I worked on an office for all 48 years of my working life and wore a suit and tie every day. 

. . . . . . funerals black tie

 

With me it was 25 years whilst working for Lloyds and to start with when I worked in the offices at the University. However it soon became clear that I was in a minority and so I left the jacket at home unless I was in a meeting that included the Uni Executive but even then many didn't bother. I recall the Head of the Law School wore a black t-shirt and black jeans every single day - presumably he changed into clean clothes every now and again. When we had a staff social after work, someone said it would be "smart casual" and one young lady in the office explained to me that it meant that I didn't have to wear my tie !

 

Talking of ties, I refuse to wear a black tie and white shirt at a funeral as I don't want to be mistaken for one of the undertakers.

.

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Apparently Jill is trying to persuade Dave to get rid of  all the sheepskin flying gear he was issued with when he was flying  ornithopters.

I don’t have any sheepskin left but I do have a couple of flying suits that serve now as gardening or general fettling gear as they are quick and easy to don and doff and have lots of pockets. I also managed to get a couple for Jill in the extra small size so we match when carrying out mucky jobs. I did at one time have a black tankie’s suit that I got when I was 3RTR’s Air Liaison Officer but it became so oil and grease impregnated that it was a fire hazard so it had to go - I was afraid that if I got too near a soldering iron I’d spontaneously combust.

 

And I deny that I ever flew ornithopters. The closest I came to waggle or flappy wings was flying Tornado F3s when you could go from arms outstretched to lawn dart.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

I suggest that a far better idea would be to get hold of a nice Tiger Moth and put that sheepskin flying gear to good use.    Been a cracking day for it these last few days!

Have you seen the price of a sheepskin leather flying jacket recently? The Tiger Moth would probably be cheaper!

 

Dave 

[bbishop]

I spent today ballasting.  Not my favourite occupation!  If you are tempted to see Blindheim in print, it will appear in the November Continental Magazine.  And in the flesh?  Well come to Warley!

 

By the by, I've been accessing RMWeb via the handy.  I'm happy to read but don't particularly enjoy typing in that machine.  Bill

[MrWolf]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

The book I have is, IIRC, The Book Of The Unimat 3 by Laidlaw Dickson.

 

If you have the milling attachment I think it is worth trying to get an extra motor as it saves a lot of faffing about changing over from lathe to milling machine. I did have one but a ‘friend’ ‘borrowed’ it some years ago and I haven’t seen it since; must try to get another one.

 

Dave

 

My great uncle had a Unimat, bought secondhand to do the jobs his Great War surplus Tyzack was too hefty for. 

That came with a milling attachment and he made up a bracket to power it independently from an old cine projector motor.

My Colchester came without a motor and I managed to find a single phase Brook 4 pole twin choke motor from a compressor that has plenty of grunt. The lights used to pulse at our old house until it wound itself up to speed!