Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 22
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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 winch is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Workshop tips and smart repairs ; long and successful runs,' interesting
photographs : all ore suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will " knock it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before publication. The absence of a sketch ilw.s not disqualify for a prise. When se,ritillg use one side of the paper only and niennon your employer's name as a ,:,niarant.e of bona fides. iVeither your 07:'n nor your employer's name wit be disclosed. Payment will be made imme diately alter publication Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMM ERCIAL Mat-OR, 7-15, hosebeu Avenue, London, E.G.
Don't Hit It With a Hammer.
The sender of the following communication has born awarded the IN. prize this week.
[SW] " S.C." (Glasgow) writes :—" If, when studs are fixed in their places in the engine or other parts, they happen to become accidentally bent—a not unusual accident—the mechanic or fitter has a happy knack, as a rule, of attempting to bring them back to their normal condition by a few healthy blows from a hand-hammer. If he be a careful man, he takes the trouble to protect the threads by means of a nut screwed some way down the stud.
" We sometimes make use, in our shops, of a method of straightening bent studs, which is a great deal more satisfactory than that suggested above. It only means a little more care. and I think that the dodge should appeal
to many of your readers of the D. and M.' columns, It is very effective, though simply contrived. The sketch which I send you [We have had this redrawn.—Eu.:1 illustrates the method quite clearly. It shows a stud in position which has become bent ; over this stud is slipped a nut of a size larger than that of the thread. The thread of this nut should be drilled out. A short length of smalldiameter steel tube will do quite well in place of this nut, as it is only used for packing. On top of this is placed a washer, and then a nut which fits the thread of the stud. Under the loose nut at the bottom, to one side of it, and as far as possible clear of the thread. is a small metal wedge. It will readily be seen that with such a
contraption ' as that suggested, a bent stud may be pulled up with considerable accuracy to a straight position, simply by screwing down the top nut and by suitable arrangement of the little bit of packing at the bottom. The contrivance is effective even for the stoutest studs, and by its means they can be straightened, where the use of a hammer would be both clumsy and ineffective." When Taper Pins Stick.
[804] " Alucturzie" (Exeter) writes:—" I am sending an example of a small and handy tool which I have found of very-considerable use on the engines of the chassis with which I have to deal [We have had a sketch prepared from the original. --ED.]. There is nothing very remarkable about this little appliance, and I am aware that it has been used by others ; but it is quite possible that many of my fellow-readers will be glad to have this reminder of its utility. I made this little clamp for the special purpose of removing ' obstinate ' taper pins from shafts or spindles which were likely to be bent it they were in any way roughly handled. I found it particularly useful for removing the taper pins on the trip rods of the low-tension magneto gear of a certain engine. These trip rods are divided about the centre and are then held together by a sleeve of about 2 in. length; four 3-16-in, taper pins are then employed to 8Rellte the whole together. Very often it is extremely difficult to remove one or all of these taper pins without the use of a hammer or some similar rough-and-ready method. The difficulty in this particular case was aggravated by the fact that the pins were in a most-awkward position, and they frequently bad to be removed owing to the fact that the vertical spring which fits underneath the sleeve has the unfortunate habit of frequently breaking. "I made this little tool out of a piece of flat iron 1 in. wide and in. thick. One end is formed as a claw, so that it may surround the large end of the taper pin, and the other end takes a Fin. setscrew about 1 in. long. The end of this setscrew I find it useful to make hollow, so, that it fits over the end of the taper pin and thus keeps in position. This tool should be kept in the kit box ; it will be found to be useful for a variety of other purposes.
than that I have described."