WAYS AND MEANS.
Page 61
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Useful Contributions From Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
Trouble with Spring Bolts.
AN unusual trouble seems to have happened to one of our readers, " A.W.," of Dewsbury. Re was driving a Z-type Karrier, when something gave way with a jerk and the wagon stopped. An examination proved that the overhead wOrm bad tilted over to Such an angle that it had torn out the bolts from the flexible coupling of the propeller shaft. He suggests that the cause of the accident may be a warning to others.
The springs of this vehicle are held to the axle, as shown, by bolts passing through the anchor plates and down through the long bosses near the axle, the nuts being at the bottom. Being a careful driver, he had periodically inspected these nuts and had found them always tight. A further inspection showed that the bolts had broken at the places shown In the sketch. It would seem that one bolt had broken, thus throwing all the. strain on the remaining three, with the result that one by one they all had given out until the axle tilted over as described. .
It Wasqound on dismantling that the lower part of each bolt was rusted in the bass, so when the nuts were tried with a spanner they appeared to be bolding the spring down as they were intended to do, but in reality the tension was only due to their being rusted in their bosses. We have in many eases found that bolts of this kind are rusted in this manner, and think that the matter should be attended to by designers when getting out new models.
It is such little points as these in design attention to which does much to ensure the increasing sale of any make of vehicle.
A. Get-you-horne Device for • Peerless Lorries.
wE are told by " W.G.M.," of Horn
sey, N., that he has found that the rod which controls the advance and retard of the magneto of the Peerless lorry will at times cut itself through near the ball and socket elbow, and that then the rod may drop on the road and be lost. Having had this annoying little accident happen, he tells us how he managed to improvise a means for controlling the magneto while on the road.
He fitted a spring from the cambox to some convenient part of the chassis (almost any kind of sming would de, even a rubber band), so that the arm was always pulled downwards, as shown. To the arms of the eambox he also fitted a wire with a loop at its end so that he could slip it Over a woodscrew he fixed to his dash. If more than one position of the c.arobox be desired, more than one woodscrevr can be employed. By this, simple means he was able to continue his journey in comfort.
To Prevent the Loss of Radiator Caps. THE cap of a radiator is a thing that is very easily lost, as a driver's attention may be called to some other part of his vehicle after filling up with
water, and be may forget to replace the cap ;. or it may, in some cases, work loose through vibration. A correspondent, " G.W.K.," of Halifax, sends us a simple suggestion for a means for pre venting the loss of such caps. He drills a hole in the centre of the cap, and inserts an eye which he rivets or secures by soldering. To this he
attaches a suitable length of brass chain, and at the other end of this chain he forms a cross-bar of brass wire of such a shape that he can just manage to get it into the filler hole, but .so formed that it will catch on the under side of the aperture, and so prevent the loss of the cap.
It seems strange that such suggestions should come from the users of vehiCles, as one would have thought that some means for preventing the loss of such a part would have been provided by either the maker of the radiator or the maker of the vehicle.
Hardening and Tempering Tools.
THERE is a good deal of mystery sur
rounding the hardening Itini,tempering of steel tools for cutting metal, but " F.W.G.," of Finchley, tells' us that there is no real reason for this mystery, and that those men who are supposed to possess some superhuman power of hardening tools so that they will stand up to their work are men who have grasped the one and only secret about the whole matter. He says, "There is nothing difficult about hardening; the one and only thing to observe is that the steel is never made too hot." Again, he says, "Many of the failures one so often sees where a man of limited experience hardens, or re-hardens, a tool, are due to heating the article in too bright a light, as it is impossible to judge the heat of anything unless the forge is in a dark place. A forge out in the open with the sunlight on it is the worst place one can have for heating tools, either for forging them or hardening them. The safest plan is to heat the article to the lowest possible red, and then quench it, then try it with a file, and if not hard heat it again to a very slightly brighter red. There is no harm done by missing the hardening the first time."
The water for quenching should be cold and free from any trace of soap. Salt may be added to the water with advantage. If the steel be, of poor quality it will never make anything but a poor tool no matter how well it may be treated. For motor repair work the very best cold chisel can be made from an old high-speed reamer simply ground to the shape of a chisel and without forging or re-hardening, care being taken not to overheat while grinding.
High-speed steel can be detected from carbon steel by grinding it on an emery wheel, as its sparks will be a dull rod and will die away, whilst the sparks from carbon steel will be white and will burst into little stars. Old hacksaw blades make the best flat springs. After annealing and forming them to the required shape simply heat them to a dull red and throw them on a stone floor to cool; they will require no tempering.
Old files will make useful lathe tools anti special screwdrivers, but it is as well to grind off all the chisel cuts before hardening, as they are likely to cause cracks. It is just as essential to avoid overheating while annealing or forging, as when hardening, as tool steel once overheated is spoilt for ever.