Not a lot of traffic here this week. I've been office bound and had a couple of school visits, but aside from spending a few hours cleaning up the Pultra lathe to sell on E-bay, I've not been in the workshop much.
What are YOU busy with? Just a few words here and there keep us all involved. ;o))
regards,
Kim Siddorn.
In message , Kim Siddorn writes
I seem to be putting in a regular 13-hour day 7 days a week on the day job at the moment. I haven't managed a day in the shed since last year :-( The day job? All I can say is that I am beginning to loathe computers... On the engine front, I finally managed to acquire a small
3-phase alternator (I'd been looking for a couple of years) and need to go to Devon to fetch a CS 3/1 before much longer. Now all I need is the time to make a couple of trolleys.Regards
Pete
Too busy!
Hoping to get a quiet weekend after a few busy ones, mostly work-related but there has been a lot of activity on the machine tool front as well.
The Beaver turret mill is still awaiting collection due to bad weather, we don't want to drag it back on the trailer in snow and salt-laden weather, the smaller of the Adcock & Shipley machines, the one with the small 'M' Bridgeport head has had to go to make space, and I didn't need to advertise it either...
We've moved out some of the engines we sold recently, so covered floor space is gradually becoming less of a problem. I will probably sell the 5/1 engine bitza which we have here, it is a collection of parts that make up a complete engine, but wasn't complete when we got it some years ago. That will probably go on ebay.
Space up at the farm is being increased so that we can move out a lot of the stuff we have here, including some of the company component stock, then we hope to be able to move the machinery in properly and get it all running.
Been to Blackpool this week on a delivery run, but that's about all that is of note....
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:
Just not trying hard enough, that leaves 11 hours of spare time!! :-))
About the same here, although we have had time to get some stuff sorted out for selling.
Less said the better!
Sounds interesting, tell us more?
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:
I've been working on a new cooling tank stand for the Petter lighting plant, having decided that a remotely mounted tank would be a good idea. When that's finished, I want to take the big Amanco No.3 pump off its trolley for a spot of minor maintenance. Oh, and I ought to think about getting some new, higher quality bearings for my pillar drill I hope the weather does improve, I've been booked to give three slide shows in March :-)
Regards
Philip T-E
"Kim Siddorn" wrote (snip):-
Barely ventured into the garage since getting the Scott PAB nominally running a couple of months ago. Weather doesn't help but to be honest, when I survey my meagre collection of half completed junk the total value of which would barely cover a Crossley cylinder oiler, I begin to see the gulf between a dilettante tinkerer such as myself and the 'proper' engine enthusiasts who contribute so much to the preservation movement. I marvel at the energy and enthusiasm which others seem to have, tackling major rebuilds of huge lumps of iron and then hauling them round the countryside to put on a show which most members of the public, if they notice it at all, seem to view with the sort of bemused curiosity usually reserved for documentary films about the culture and habits of the Nbongo tribe.
In message , Peter A Forbes writes (quoting Pete Scales)
Well, the alternator was an eBay win, thanks to a heads-up from Arthur. It's a 5KVA Conyers 2-pole (x 3) machine with a rather nice multiplication gearbox made by Godfreys, Brinchley (don't know whether that's Godfreys of... or Godfreys and...). The gearbox has a 1:6 input splined for a standard tractor PTO and a 1:2 input with a plain 30mm shaft and a reduced 28.5mm section with keyway. The ensemble is mounted on a channel frame with industrial castors. It looks like just the thing to drive with the CS 12/2 with the appropriate pulleys etc.. If it works well, then I may have a 5KVA Transwave converter to dispose of. I am probably still going to look out for a slightly larger alternator though, maybe in the 10 - 15KVA range.
The CS 3/1 was courtesy of Roland's recent posting here and was bought pretty much 'sight unseen' from Devon at the beginning of the month. I must make an effort to go and get it as soon as I can. I now have a
3/1, a 5/1, a 6/1, a 6/1 Start-o-Matic and a 12/2 - I could use a 10/2 to fill the gap :-) The trip to Devon will depend largely on the weather and the good offices of the vendor, but I may well be going empty with trailer this weekend if I can take anything South for anyone?Pics at
Regards
Pete
Hmmmm...
There is no 'gulf' really, we all contribute something in some way or other. If you take the time that you have spent on various research efforts, and others with their websites, plus there are the 'fringe' activities that I mentioned in my other post about varied interests, then it would be surprising indeed if anything at all got sorted out!
Not a lot at present on the SE front. Our first outing will be Sodbury. The Petter S type is still not yet running, although it does now have a home made starting dog. Other things are still getting in the way.. namely 14 tons of old scrap!
On the roller front, 2551's boiler is away for work, so we have been making a new tender. Its now mostly bolted up, just awaiting hot riveting. Photo below:
Regards
Chris Bedo Kent UK
snipped-for-privacy@tiscali.co.uk
Kim asked...What are YOU busy with?
Who, me?
Work (making plastic film capacitors) keeps me occupied 9-5ish weekdays, farm work keeps me busy at weekends, I feed the sheep in the morning before work, so evenings are my hobby time.
Unfiortunately, I've spent most of the week running around in the evenings and spent little time in the workshop. On Monday evening I did the best part of very little apart from TV and PC, as I was knackered following a weekend spent hauling logs from the top of the mountain to the bottom, then spent a day on the tractor sawbench cutting a lot of them up (all part of a cunning plan to have dry firewood next Winter).
Tuesday evening picked up a couple of tons of nuts for the ewes, who were threatening industrial action without extra grub....
Wednesday evening picked up a parts engine. Grabbed an hour in the workshop, continuing the strip of the 10/2.
Thursday evening picked up 1000 hedge plants for the new hedge we're planting on the plateau. Bloody rabbits have played havoc with last year's planting. I can almost smell the cordite..... Also popped in to see a rather overworked friend who was kind enough to show me his engine collection.
Tonight, maybe a little tinkering and later I've got a date with a couple of bottles of Shropshire lad :-).
Tomorrow off to pick up a new ram from Derbyshire, to replace the sod I was sold as top grade scrapie resistant, but wasn't...
Sunday I've got to vaccinate our ewe flock as lambing beckons.
Tempus Fugit, Arthur G
Are you self employed? In which case it's your own fault.
If employed it's illegal under the Working Time Directive. The hours restriction can be opted out of for *some* categories of job (I don't think computing is one of the jobs...). Rest time, ie. minimum breaks between duty periods and days off can't be opted out of, ever.
Yeah...
Come into the real world, Dave :-))
In message , Prepair Ltd writes
Like he said :-)
If it's a choice between 13-hour days or the dole and bankruptcy court, guess what?
I can think of a few other things that are illegal too, like doing 90 on British roads - we never do that, do we?
TTFN
Pete
Gentlemen,
Maybe its because I've not been about a lot of late, thats why its been quiet. :-))
Mart> Not a lot of traffic here this week. I've been office bound and had a
*If* you are an employee that level of weork is not legal and to be honest it's about time the UK employed work force stopped doing stupid hours and got a private life...
Yes, I have done those sort of hours in the past but there is *much* more to life than eating, sleeping and working.
Nope, I don't think my motor will go that fast. B-) I cruise at 60, thats where it feels and sounds happiest.
As it's a Stationary Engine newsgroup and not Political I'll say no more, but to add that the new minimum wage comes in next October, with the TUC howling for yet more increases, so who is going to pay for that? We pay above the minimum wage, but not everyone can, especially when you cannot get anything like the quality of people to do the work, and most firms, including ours, are reluctant to take on new employees as they are ridiculously difficult to get rid of, and get full benefits after 13 weeks, including 4 weeks paid holidays!!
Employment Law is great when it is based on commonsense, but like so many other things in life, we are getting to the point of being totally uncompetitive because we pay ourselves too much and don't work hard enough (with exceptions) while other countries are more than happy to take the employment away from us.
You may be well-meaning in your posts, Dave, but it does not reflect the true world at all, and when we run out of jobs in the UK, someone, somewhere will have to pay for the unemployment benefit and all the associated costs.
Peter
-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk
Dave,
I'm not an employer like him but I have to agree with what Peter Forbes has to say. In my working life I have been made redundant four times and as I get older, over fifty, it becomes harder to find work. I now have a job where I am appreciated and paid well for doing it plus other little extras that the boss gives me. In return I work Monday to Friday away from home all the hours it takes to do the job. fortunately the nature of the job does not allow weekend work but we still have to finish the work load no choice. Its a fact of life that those who work work harder than ever and if that is required for me to support my family I will do it. Sorry to the rest of you but I had to get it off my chest.
Martin P
Liquorice wrote:
In message , Dave Liquorice writes
Legislators may make all the rules they wish - if they don't suit the rank and file then they'll be ignored.
May I also refer you to
In sum, I will be unemployed if I don't work and put in the hours the job requires. This won't be because my boss fires me, it will be because the firm folds. If it were just me, then I might be inclined to say "To hell with it!", but I have a wife and three children to feed, clothe and house.
Agreed - but *only* if you can afford it.
TTFN
Pete
hiya.
peter can you contact me of NG, use email displayed
thanks, Martyn
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