Arthur

We were just thinking of moving to a more temperate climate, you know, cooler and wetter. Saudi Arabia looks promising.

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Thanks Rob, that’s much appreciated.

Yes, I hoped the book conveyed that you can get the feel for a large industrial complex in a surprisingly small space.

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It’s not only useful for finding odd bits you might struggle to find elsewhere, it’s also useful for finding things you never knew existed in the first place. There is such a vast array of items for sale that a vague search term for a tool, a fitting, a gadget, will often turn up some hitherto unknown solution. I’ve bought a good few useful items that way.

I buy a lot, not just modelling stuff, through eBay. For some things I’m probably looking for a used item, other times I’m looking for something new, auction or BIN, either way works for me.

Edit; And being rural, I don’t have to drive 30 miles into a big town to find and get things.

However there is a point that in defence as in certain other things there is a tendency for British people to revel in self flagellation at the (lets be honest, not infrequent) klangers dropped by our own defence industry whilst simultaneously imagining the same isn't just as true for other defence programs around the world.

Ain’t that the truth. Something I came across earlier in the year.

https://global.handelsblatt.com/companies/thyssenkrupp-blocked-warship-tender-893609

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It is a small sample but to have ranked in the bottom two for eight consecutive years does not say much for WHS.

WHS and Boots owned half shares in Do It All which was eventually sold to the ill fated Focus DIY chain.

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A Which survey published today puts Homebase/Bunnings as the 5th. worst High Street shop. The story is mainly about WHS being the worst but the best and worst five are listed at the end of the article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-44274654

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Dammit, I bought a sheet of MDF in Homebase Chepstow last week, £14 quid.

Had I waited I could have bought the entire store chain, a hot dog on the way home and still had change.

It’s all in the timing.

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Now let’s be fair, they're often busy handling serious offences and chasing major villains;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-43961019

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This is a growing problem which we need to face with compassion.

I am setting up a charity for the rehoming of unloved and unwanted plastic bank notes.

Should you have any please send them to me and I shall give them the love they so desperately need.

So touched am I by their plight that I am not setting a limit on the number I accept.

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Used Scalelink wheels a good few times without any problems. Just as with Markits, I always check that the square hole is ‘clean’ i.e. no flash.

Appearance wise they are a little clunkier than Markits and the plastic centres not so robust but you pays your money and makes your choice, they are considerably cheaper.

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Interesting thread. I’ve got an old minicraft drill on my workbench, but really need a battery powered drill for use on my layout. I was thinking of getting a Dremel. Is that a good choice?

As your only drill, no. They’re heavy and a bit unwieldy and there’ll be times it’s just a bit awkward for some tasks.

However, as a second drill, one that’s readily moved around, they’re very good. Accurate, plenty of power and they hold power for a decent length of time. Probably best for scenic and structural modelling than very accurate drilling of small holes in kits etc.

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A harrowing experience for sure.

The essence of this question is;

Does the medical profession know something about an ‘illness’ brought back from Russia, an illness a GP is able to diagnose from the symptoms and knowledge of a recent trip to Russia, and yet one which is not then specifically disclosed to the patient?

Unless the entire staff of the NHS are keeping this a secret from the rest of us, then the answer is no.

However, in the light of recent events, it is understandable that it raises a concern.

I would be asking my doctor a very specific and direct question, ‘what was the link between the visit to Russia and the illness, why was it relevant to the diagnosis? And expecting a clear answer.

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Nice clip of a Barclay at 45 secs in.

British Film Noir, Tread Soflty Stranger (1958). Filmed in Rotherham, the works featured is Parkgate Iron and Steel, by then part of the Tube Investments Group.

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Just heard on Radio 4 news that Sandy Toksvig Had tweeted this,

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Thanks Simon, your clarification is appreciated.

Before his TV fame, so back in the 50’s and early 60’s, he and many other comedians who would go on to become household names, worked the northern club circuit. My parents saw him many times at Patricroft Working Men’s Club.

They always said he was by far the best and funniest of the bunch.

One of those comedians who was just naturally funny, you couldn’t help but warm to him.

RIP Ken.

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You could probably have stopped there.

To which point, the only response is, “Fair enough. Each to their own.”

I appreciate your explanation of why you don’t like them, but in explaining your point of view, you do run the risk that readers will re-interpret your point of view as a personal attack on them, their friends, or the concept you dislike.

Sadly, based on recent personal experience, extending this courtesy to the reader base means that a few will decide your views are offensive, and that you should quite possibly be burned at the stake. If you attempt to explain yourself further, you will be accused of protesting too much, or of prolonging the debate.

 

My issue with NCB’s post was simply his assertions that this was some proselytising thread raising the Cameo concept above all whilst diminishing the value of others.

Leave it to the constructors to decide how to present their models; don't go down the road of hailing a particular approach as being "good", and by implication other possible approaches "bad".......

 

 

 .....But to promote peepholes as generally desirable I think is mistaken. Too precious.

I have no issue with his critiquing of the concept, outlining why he does not like idea, offering suggestions for consideration.

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What!!? Too precious??

Nobody anywhere is presenting nor claiming that the Cameo concept, the peephole view if you will, is better than any other concept or design, nor implying that other approaches are bad.

Nobody is promoting Cameos as being particularly desirable over any other form of layout presentation.

It is simply one form of layout presentation described in a book to which the publishers have linked a competition.

If it’s not for you, fine, move on, nothing for you to see here.

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I too use an aging Minicraft 12v drill and also a cordless Dremel. The latter is heavy but I find it useful for various tasks.

I don’t have a Proxxon drill but I do have a couple of other Proxxon products and would recommend them, well made, quality products.

I’m just wondering about the quest for torque leading you towards a 240v drill.

How much torque do you want, expect to be able, to apply to a No. 76 drill bit for example?

I think you might find a 240v drill snapping them whilst with a 12v you’ll just stall it or trigger the overload. Maybe something to think about.

Either way, Proxxon seem to make quality tools.

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One of these is blast furnace (iron)slag, the other basic oxygen converter (steel) slag.

There is little visual difference.

Iron slag is produced during a process of chemical reduction, steel slag in an oxidising process. However, both have similar chemical compositions.

Both contain around 45 % limestone (it being the flux in both processes) silicates and magnesium oxide such that, typically, they are around 65% the same.

Iron slag has sulphur picked up from the smelting fuel, coke.

Steel slag contains iron oxide and phosphorous oxides. Phosphorous is present in most ores and is not removed in the blast furnace. It must be eliminated from steel and it’s presence caused Henry Bessemer a lot of problems.

Slags can have different appearances but the biggest determining factors are how the slag is cooled and what processing it has undergone.

Has it been dry or water cooled, how quickly was it cooled, has it been aerated or foamed, blown into fibre strands, has it just been tipped, was it tipped as a liquid or a solid and how long has it been weathering for? Has it been crushed and graded?

All of these factors have a much greater influence on the appearance of slag than whether it originated in an iron or steel making furnace.

OK as this is about the best as well as worst, in my opinion, the best new stuff on TV in the recent past by an absolute MILE, has to be 'Inside no 9'. Intelligent scripts, imaginative storylines, and twists you can't see coming. I think they're an absolute delight as well as being amazing, thought provoking and sometimes terrifying. Oh, and that Christmas special a couple of years back from the same stable, 'The Beast of Christmas', was the only stand out program that year amid the usual dross. I do hope they get some recognition for their clear and obvious talent.

Yeah, a brilliantly imaginative and creative series.

The two standout episodes for me were ‘The Beast of Christmas’ for the way they captured those 70’s TV drama production values, just spot on, and The Harrowing. The young house sitter told not to go upstairs whatever she hears and she certainly comes to wish she had heeded that instruction, an ending as horrific as the very best horror movie.

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Cut Andrew some slack.

You don’t know him, nor why he phrases his posts the way he does,

It is not intentional rudeness.

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I'm still looking for a definitive account of this. Which coalfields produced the best coal for which purpose? For instance, where did the best coal for gas production come from? I realise the question is complicated by individual coalfields or even collieries producing a variety grades of coal.

 

As you say, it is not simple in that most coalfields produced a range of coals and even individual pits produced different types from the different seams they worked. That isn’t to say that they all produced all types. There was, for example, a lot of coking coal from the Durham fields, conversely none from Kent nor the Scottish fields.

The end users often blended coal too, e.g. coke for blast furnaces was generally produced from a pre-determined blend of specific coals. For example, the Lancashire Steel Corp. at Irlam took in coking coals from Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and blended them on site in a 40% 40% 20% mix.

Somewhere I’ve got some details of what was produced from the pits in the Forest of Dean and from some of the Lancashire pits, I’ll see if I can locate them.

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It’s used in steelmaking furnaces too and in quite a number of other industrial/chemical process’.

As you say, limestone is not exactly rare on this country and is widely spread.

I can only think of two reasons for moving it any distance. There are different forms of limestone, it’s a generic term, so it might have some special quality making it particularly suitable for it’s intended use. I don’t know enough about it to make any suggestions.

Or a commercial link, companies having some mutually beneficial arrangement which made shipping it a distance worthwhile.

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David, there were a number of both iron and steel making plants in the Swansea Valley at that time which would have consumed limestone.

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