- Thread starter qwakers
- Start date
GraemeVW
Member
- Messages
- 1,663
- Location
- Chesterfield
The calibration?
I used the lathe bed. It's flat, I butted it up against the saddle and set it flush with the edge of the bed. That way I could make sure it was in the same place each time I rotated it.
Arc Tourist
Member
- Messages
- 5,026
- Location
- Wales
I helped my neighbour sort out his (wood) chop saw from Lidl today. It wasn't cutting perfectly square or plumb, so with a precision square and a little trial and error adjusting the fence & the vertical stop bolt, it took all of ten minutes to get it cutting correctly.
Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,149
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
I've been using a cheap Lidl/Aldi strimmer - it was new 3 years ago and does the job apart from once I replaced the self-destruct recoil starter..
Last year I picked up a proper commercial type "It was working great last time we used it - now we can't get it started and we're moving house so we're selling it cheap". Hmmm
Sparks were good but the piston and cylinder were scrap. A full rebuild kit was ordered with seals, gaskets, barrel & piston.
Fitting just the barrel & piston has it running nice so I have seals & gaskets in stock if I ever need them.
It's a whole lot more powerful than the one I've been using, comparing them shows a big difference between 30cc DIY type against 42cc commercial type.
My Alfa 145 is acting up so I thought I'd have a break from fault-finding the misfire and work on the seat as it's always been far too high.
I lived with it for more than a year before removing the seat to see why the height adjustment wasn't working - turns out it was working but very stiff. I could put the seat up higher which was the last thing I wanted to do, but it wouldn't go any lower.
Advice on the forums was to remove the seat, strip it all coverings and foam to expose the fixings then remove the (detachable) height adjusting kit, then refit the seat.
Driving position is now great and I can see a lot more of the road ahead, before the top of the screen was limiting my view.
Note the height of the seat adjuster above the sill
Much lower with the height adjusting gubbins removed.
Good progress but it doesn't help with my 2 main projects - finding the cause of the Alfa misfire or putting new floors in my other car.
Last year I picked up a proper commercial type "It was working great last time we used it - now we can't get it started and we're moving house so we're selling it cheap". Hmmm
Sparks were good but the piston and cylinder were scrap. A full rebuild kit was ordered with seals, gaskets, barrel & piston.
Fitting just the barrel & piston has it running nice so I have seals & gaskets in stock if I ever need them.
It's a whole lot more powerful than the one I've been using, comparing them shows a big difference between 30cc DIY type against 42cc commercial type.
My Alfa 145 is acting up so I thought I'd have a break from fault-finding the misfire and work on the seat as it's always been far too high.
I lived with it for more than a year before removing the seat to see why the height adjustment wasn't working - turns out it was working but very stiff. I could put the seat up higher which was the last thing I wanted to do, but it wouldn't go any lower.
Advice on the forums was to remove the seat, strip it all coverings and foam to expose the fixings then remove the (detachable) height adjusting kit, then refit the seat.
Driving position is now great and I can see a lot more of the road ahead, before the top of the screen was limiting my view.
Note the height of the seat adjuster above the sill
Much lower with the height adjusting gubbins removed.
Good progress but it doesn't help with my 2 main projects - finding the cause of the Alfa misfire or putting new floors in my other car.
I've finished faffing with this Tauco drill. Still scruffy but useable now.
Before as purchased:
After:
New quill spring fitted. Switch and mounting plate added. Cable gland fitted to the motor and switch. Cleaned up most of the bare metal with a brass wheel. The top of the column has been mullered by previous owners so the body won't come off the top. I think it could do with a new pulley bearing but they are only available in the US. They retail at 60 odd dollars before shipping and customs. Will just have to live with it. I reused the cable which is chunky 2.5mm square, hence the large loop from the motor to the switch. The switch makes it look like an Aldi Special Buy, but I couldn't find anything period and cheap.
Before as purchased:
After:
New quill spring fitted. Switch and mounting plate added. Cable gland fitted to the motor and switch. Cleaned up most of the bare metal with a brass wheel. The top of the column has been mullered by previous owners so the body won't come off the top. I think it could do with a new pulley bearing but they are only available in the US. They retail at 60 odd dollars before shipping and customs. Will just have to live with it. I reused the cable which is chunky 2.5mm square, hence the large loop from the motor to the switch. The switch makes it look like an Aldi Special Buy, but I couldn't find anything period and cheap.
blackolive (Ste)
Member
- Messages
- 1,346
- Location
- Chorley
“On tonights episode of the repair shop, steve and stella probably destroy a pair of £3 russian binoculars attempting to clean the prisms 
blackolive (Ste)
Member
- Messages
- 1,346
- Location
- Chorley
Ive left the prisms in. I do have a book on how they were collimated. Manahed to clean them, there were a few spots of fungal growth . Theyre good quality fully coated not sure when they were madeCan you re-collimate binoculars yourself? I'd always imagined it was something that needed special kit, maybe lasers and an optical bench.
blackolive (Ste)
Member
- Messages
- 1,346
- Location
- Chorley
The patient survived. Much cleaner optics 
Farside
Badly Welded Man
- Messages
- 6,284
- Location
- Ireland
Made at the KOMZ plant (thats the logo), possibly in 1965 - the Soviets had a habit of the first two numbers of the serial being the year, but it's not always the case.
MattF
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 17,891
- Location
- South Yorkshire
Function tops form every time. Nice to have both, but the latter isn't necessity.
Arc Tourist
Member
- Messages
- 5,026
- Location
- Wales
I have the same type of tommy bar handle on my old Rockwell press. Adding a golf ball to it and the chuck key handle makes it more user friendly.
I bought a job lot of binos on ebay a while ago for £18 if I recall, amongst them a good pair of Bausch &Lomb. They were all good, gave one each to the grandkids, one in the motorhome etc.The patient survived. Much cleaner optics
View attachment 409220 View attachment 409221 View attachment 409222
Blobber
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 3,380
- Location
- lincolnshire
Was there not room to bring the cables out the back of the box?
It’s a go-no go type portable appliance test kit.
The threads on the cable glands are very short. I drilled a hole in the back of the mounting plate and box to do this but the plate is four or five mm and there was no thread poking through the box to secure with the nut.
I'm not a fan of the loop sticking out of the side but it is high up and well to the rear of everything.
Edit.
I could have made a large clearance hole in the back so the 5mm plate wouldn't be an issue. I do get terrible tunnel vision when I'm working.
I will look through my boxes of electrical treasures for some thinner, more compliant cable that I can route better.
I'm not a fan of the loop sticking out of the side but it is high up and well to the rear of everything.
Edit.
I could have made a large clearance hole in the back so the 5mm plate wouldn't be an issue. I do get terrible tunnel vision when I'm working.
I will look through my boxes of electrical treasures for some thinner, more compliant cable that I can route better.
Last edited:
Blobber
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 3,380
- Location
- lincolnshire
Next time you could use 20mm conduit couplers with 20mm bushes, you can get long pattern bushes if youre going through thick stuff, the glands would just screw into the couplers
slim_boy_fat
Member
- Messages
- 29,508
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
I finally got round to making half of a clip on my illuminated mag glass, after the original bit decided to identify as a 'pingfeckit' and disappeared in the cave never to be seen again.
Milled a replacement [circled in the pic] and it works a treat again - well....for the moment at least.
Milled a replacement [circled in the pic] and it works a treat again - well....for the moment at least.
