Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for any thing else published.
Drivers of commercial-motor vehic.es and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, are invited to send short contributions on any subject which is likely to prove of interest to our readers, Work. shop tips and smart repair.s. ; long and successful runs ; interesting
photographs : all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to its—no matter liw short, or how written, or how worded. We will " knock it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, beforo publication. The absence of a sketch does noi disqualify for a prise. TV hen writing use one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of boner fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
Bottling a Ray of Light.
The sender of the following communication has been Awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[800] " H.Tl." (Cheshire) writes :—" In the issue of your paper of the 15th September, a correspondent of yours described at considerable length an ingenious tail-light alarm [Letter No. 762.—En.]. Now, I quite agree that this appliance has much to commend it from the point of view of ingenuity, and I have no doubt but that it would prove to be useful under most circumstances, but 1 contend that it is complicated and extremely liable to get out of order through vibration and the possibility of collecting dirt and dust. [This device was an electric-contact arrangement depending on the expansion of mercury, due to the heating of the interior of the ]amp.—ED.] " I do not think that C.T.,' your correspondent, did a wise thing when he fitted a delicate device like this to a steam lorry. It. might have given excellent results if it had been fitted to a pleasure-car, where the vibration is reduced to a minimum, and where the conditions for such a refinement are available. Another criticism I would make of this idea is that, suppose, for instance, the taillamp had been burning for three or four hours, and that it then suddenly went out—perhaps in a very busy thoroughfare, I think that the air inside the lamp would be very hot and would be sufficient to keep the mercury at one level for a considerable time after the extinction.
" In this connection I venture to send to you a sketch of a simple device which acts as an automatic and perfectly-reliable tell-tale for the driver in connection with that constant source of anxiety, his tail-lamp. The outstanding feature of my design. I think vim will admit, is its simplicity_ It costs hut a trifle to make imp, but it is nevertheless quite effective. It will he seen from this sketch [We have had this redrawn.—E.] that it is °unnecessary to provide two small mirrors on suitable bracket.
and a suitable length of 1-in, tube with a few clips to carry it. The mirrors must be at suitable angles, so that a beam of light may be reflected through the tube on to the front mirror. It will, of course, be contended by some of your readers, that the tube is quite useless for the purpose of directing the beam of light; its provision, of course, is merely to insure that no accidental interruption. can be made between the two mirrors; nothing can be placed there by accident or by design that would lead tts an interruption of the mirrors' true reflection."
Some "Gadgets," [801] " R.S.T." (Newcastle) writes :—" I submit the following short contribution for the ' 1). and M.' pages of THE COMMERCIAt MOTOR. While I was recently examining. an engine, I was struck by the mangled appearance of some of the more-inaccessible nuts, which had apparently been tightened in position by means of a hammer and chisel, and this, of course, is a method which goes against the grain Rith all good mechanics, and as some of these. nuts were extremely awkward to get at, I devised a little. tool, which is shown in one of the sketches attached herewith. [We have had this redrawn.—En.] This consists of ri sort of false nut, with double the usual number of corners and an outside edge much in the shape of a cam. I made it of a good piece of mild steel, and subsequently case-hardened it. This tool slips over the awkward nut and the toe of it may be hammered to any extent by means of a punch of suitable length. The nut may be either• tightened or loosened according to the way in which the tool has been put on to it. The double hexagonal hole allows a fresh grip to be obtained after every twelfth of a turn.
" Another device, which I also illustrate, is for use when turning new valves or skimming-up old ones; it is of a. very-simple pattern the Long taper shank fits in the chuck ; the valve head is readily held in the hollow tapered end, much in the same manner as a conical clutch acts. The clutch may be removed or replaced without stopping. the lathe. I generally fit a sleeve on to the cotter end of an old valve. the sleeve itself being provided with the nevessary centre."
I will conclude with a few notes with regard to injei tors. Lots of the trouble that is experienced on the road a kit the ordinary common forms of injectors is doe to the fact that drivers do not pay enough attention to the keeping of the feed-water clean and free from grit, unste, weeds, etc. Another point is that the suction-pipe is frequently not air-tight, so that the injector may draw
Air. If the water supply to the boiler should become irregular from such a cause, this will result in rapid heating of the pipcs, and of the injector. owing to the steam's blowing back. The tubes, nozzles and cones should be kept quite clean and free from scale, which may be removed by soaking the parts in benzine. Very-great care should is taken never to alter the size of, or to damage in_ any way, any of the jets or threads whenever an injector is taken apart for cleaning. If any difficulty is found in getting them apart, they will yield quite well, as a. rule, if a little heat be applied. When re-fitting, all the valves should be tight and the glands well packed. White lead shoald be used for jointing."
Why the "D. and M." Pages are Popular.
The care with which we " knock into shape those contributions for the " D. and .M." pages, which ue consider suitable for publication, has resulted, during the past two years, in a steady increase in the number and a marked improvement in the utility of the " drivers' letters which reach the Editor. All the letters which we publish are from genuine originals. We do not vary our regulations.
and the '' D. and page is a regular fenUire hich is now of interest to a large body of readers who are neither drivers nor mechanics. Numbers of owners have -expressed their appreciation of the means afforded by the "U, and M." pages, of realizing the driver's ;Lnd mechanie's points of view. With few exceptions. we do no find it necessary to criticize those contributions which we select as suitable for publication. Those that are unsuitable go into the waste-paper basket. We consider this to be a more-useful course than to publish an admittedlyuseless contrilmtion, followed by a long apology fur its contents. The result of our bonus competition, which (-cases to-day (Lit, December). will promptly be made kook% n in an early issue. As a moderate example of the troeble, which we find it pays to take, we reproduce below a sample letter from a correspondent practically as we received it. It is also reproduced after it has been " knocked into shape." This is not in any way intended as a reflection on the style of this or of many other similar contributions, but it is inserted with a. view to reassuring many of those men who, we are frequently informed, are afraid to attempt to put their ideas on paper. Such readers of these pages should rest assured that a contribution has to be nmeh-less intelligible than the one which we reproduce helow, if it is to be passed over as unreadable."
Simple but Effective Methods.
.802] " D.D." (London) writes: '' I submit for your consideration a small collection of tips which may interest some of the readers of the ' D. and M.' page.
I reeently had to bend some copper tube of small diameter; the material was rather thin, and the bore was too small for it to he tilled conveniently with lead or resin. I therefore obtained a piece of hard wood of the same thickness as the diameter of the tube and cut it so that it was shaped on one edge to the curve to which I wanted to bend the pipe. I. squeezed the wood between the jaws of the vine, and so was able to pull the pipe into the exact shape I wanted. I_See sketch _4.--En.] "I also include a. sketch of a useful reinforced gauge glass that I have employed. This is not my idea, but that of Mr. Webb, the late L. and N.W.R. engineer. iSketa B.] " My last sketch illustrates a method I adopt for facilitating the cutting-off of tube lengths. I find it is always difficult to cut the ends straight by guesswork. This I overcome by means of a piece of paper, which I cut with straight edges and paste round the tube. When the two edzes meet. astraight guide will also be marked round the tube.—