Lister Junior main bearings

Sadly all too true. I had a batch of Fowler valves made against firm orders a few years back. Given that the originals are made of cheese there are a lot of very moth eaten ones around. Mine are made of stainless steel with chromed stems and should last for ever.

Even so, a number of people defaulted on the deal and I still have a number of them left on the shelf. I sold a couple to an individual at Stoke Row Rally this year, who promptly paid me with a dud cheque and seems reluctant to answer my letter.

I would be wary about getting a batch of anything made again.......

Regards

Philip T-E

What a small, mean-minded thing to do, to pay with a dud cheque. It cannot have been a large amount either.

Take a leaf from my local shop who prominently displays bounced cheques next to the till. Strangely, they are never there long! Attaching it to your display might have a salutary effect at the next event ..............

Regards,

Kim Siddorn,

Based on my experience with gravity casting for the Wolseley mains, I would not expect good mould conformity by this method. Even with a smooth sided silicone rubber mould, the resultant whitemetal casting surface is distinctly lacking in smoothness due to shrinkage - I think pressure casting is needed to achieve that fine surface finish we see on diecast items.

I can attest also to the high overheads associated with small batch production. The cost of the pattern and silicone rubber for the Wolseley bearings was over 40 pounds. When deciding how much to charge for finished bearings, I worked on the basis of recovering the cost over about 20 units and charging about 10 pounds per hour for machining time

- so far I have sold 4, so I don't think I will ever be "quids in". I do however have aWD2 running sweetly and that was my prime objective.

It is interesting that although I have only sold 4 bearings, purchasers seem to be happy with the product, however I have had loads of enquiries which never turn into orders, and one bloke told me I was profiteering and wanted a finished bearing (approx. 1h machining time) for little more than the cost of the whitemetal in the casting.

I also looked at the Lister drawing and could not see an easy way to make a copy starting from a gravity casting - its an interesting problem.

In message , Peter A Forbes writes

Hmmm, nice to see that I am not the only one baulking at the costs!

I can also confirm theat the "want it for nothing" brigade are alive and well in all hobbies and walks of life...

We seem to be going into a world where everyone (or almost) seems to want more and more for less and less.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

Sadly, things like that spoil it for all of us. Public shaming could be the only cure !

A friend of ours has had a large number of patterns made for 2 of his engines, he would have had them made just for himself anyway, but if anyone else wants castings it gives him a little money back to cover the costs. He refuses to advertise though for this very reason, as he says, if people find out through word of mouth that?s fine as its usually a better way to sell.

Regards

Chris Bedo Kent UK

Perhaps Peter could check the drawing? On reflection I can't see why these should not be cast as plain top-hat cylinders, machined inside and out and then a keyway cut in the bearing to allow a separate parallel key to be used. IIRC there is more than enough wall-thickness to enable this approach. If that works then a simple mould would allow them to be made on demand. regards Roland

That was the approach we looked at, but machined from the solid in the first instance.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

Phew! 1kg of w-m turnings for each bearing. That would be expensive :-) If you let me have a copy of the drawing I'll give it a go when I get a minute. regards Roland

Gentlemen,

Is it me or was I told that these could not be easily made, now all of a sudden Roland is having a go. Whats changed then or as I have just said is it me? Surely casting a top hat tube would not be difficult or expensive to reduce machining. I think I will crawl back into my hole :-((

Martin P

You haven't seen the drawing yet ... :-))

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

I'll get a set of photocopies done when we get a minute.

I don't know if the originals are solid white metal or brass with a white metal lining. I'll dig the pair out that we have and do some exploratory tests to see.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

Peter, mine are solid white metal, unless some other metal is completely buried.

That is probably correct Arthur, I was just mentioning the possibilities rather than actual.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

He has now - I sent a copy of mine

In message , Peter A Forbes writes

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John, I assume you meant Roland as I "in thread order" have not received a drawing from you. Even though I would like to see one if possible.

Martin P

he did mean me. I note that the finished weight of an A bearing is 26ozs. At that cost plus time I'd do them for myself but can't see anyone paying an even vaguely economic (or hobby for that matter) rate for machining time. IMHO - a very deceased quacker ! ttfn Roland

I'll get a copy over to you when we both get back from our show travels.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

We had some contributions from an american who had bought a lister replica and found the castings and major components of good quality but poor finish (someone cited a cam follower that did not rotate). Perhaps the indian firm inherited more dies and moulds than the engines they now manufacture.