White-metal

Tarn, It goes underground before the cove as it has worn though the limestone. It then reappears at the bottom of the cove

The message from "Trev" contains these words:

The water at the foot of the Cove comes (mainly) from some sinks on the moor to the west of the Cove. The water from the Tarn rises (logically) at Aire Head Springs, a few hundred yards south of the Cove, the two watercourses cross somewhere underground (although there is some intermingling of the waters).

An incredibly spectacular formation.

White metal is predominantly tin.

It used to be standard for engine bearings but as cars got more powerful it wasn't strong enough so other materials came in.

Kevin

And steam locomotive bearings. For its day it was actually quite good because the friction heated it locally and made it liquid in contact with the axle. If it overheated the whole thing melted and splashed out.

Over here in the states engine bearings were "babbit" metal. May or may not be the same thing.

I remember in the '50s it was really easy to drop the oil pan on a Chevrolet 6 and replace the crankshaft bearings.

David Jackson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk:

And as another aside if you visit at the right time of the year you can pull some of the best tasting fresh watercress straight out of the stream and munch away.

"Christopher A. Lee" wrote

| >It used to be standard for engine bearings but as cars got more | >powerful it wasn't strong enough so other materials came in. | | And steam locomotive bearings. For its day it was actually quite good | because the friction heated it locally and made it liquid in contact | with the axle. If it overheated the whole thing melted and splashed | out.

I suppose I'm missing something here due to lack of knowledge - but why was this good?

Ivor

Presumably it was better than the alternative failure mode of the bearing seizing up solid, possibly causing major problems with connecting rods. When my father started his apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in the 1930s, one of the most common jobs was scraping down white-metal bearings prior to fitting the shafts to them- it wasn't just the railways that used white-metal bearings, but all branches of industry. One very common problem when fitting bearings to car engines was that people wouldn't align the holes in them to the corresponding holes in the con-rods- con rods were often 'handed', so that there'd be a left-handed one next to a right-handed one. (I once dismantled an Austin Somerset engine to find that it had three right hand and one left hand con-rod, and abrasions on the inside of the sump..) Brian

The advantage of white metal is that it will conform to any irregularities in the the shaft running in it, tapered, barrelled, worn. It will run with low lubrication, up to a point and even if it does run dry the material melts locally and does no damage. With modern copper/lead and aluminium/tin bearings you get partial siezure that can be corrected by regrinding or you get a total disaster with the crankshaft in three pieces. I've seen tractor and lorry crankshafts as thick as your arm in three pieces.

Kevin

There are many alloys labelled "white metal". The basic formula is zinc, aluminium, and copper. Other metals may be added for specific qualities, such as luster, machinability, etc.

Try Wikipedia for more information.

HTH

Perhaps if they hadn't been drinking the wine they wouldn't have got pregnant?

(kim)

You could flush the toilet first thing in the morning instead. If you're my age you'll have to do that anyway :o)

(kim)

I found some watercress growing behind the fridge once but somehow I wasn't tempted.

(kim)

Yes, they taught us that at school. Some people put dye in the tarn to verify it was the same water that came out of the cove. The water has created caverns behind the cove. However, it doesn't become a river until it emerges from the cove, so technically that is the source.

They used lead pots and pans as well as lead additives because lead is the sweetest thing known to man as it was a basic part of their recipes I imagine they ate more than they drank slightly leaded water..... :/ think caligula, nero and so on .... Beowulf

They needed to keep the lead in their pencils...

ISTR that lead poisoning has the opposite effect.... Brian