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From Drivers and Mechanics.

14th March 1912, Page 22
14th March 1912
Page 22
Page 22, 14th March 1912 — From Drivers and Mechanics.
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY is paid for the best communication received, and one penny a line of ten words for anything else published, with an allowance for photographs.

Workshop tips and smart refrains long and successful runs; interesting photographs; all are suitable subjects. We will knock your letters into shake and will prepare sketches, where necessary, before Publication. The absence of a sketch does not disqualify for a prize. When wilting, use one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will he made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor. THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, Rosebery A venue, London, E.G.

__s t. Annual Bonuses are g'veri to the most successful contributors

Castings for Patches in Awkward Corners.

[1011] " F.C.F." (Slough) writes.--" Perhaps the following method of making a pattern may prove of sufficient interest to you to secure its insertion in the 'D. and M.' page of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. When a patch of peculiar shape to fit in an awkwardlysituated position is required, the method here outlined proves extremely useful, as it obviates the necessity of making templates. It is, I think, also more accurate, and sometimes saves fitters a great amount of tedious work. I have tried it on several occasions, and each time. with success. "Supposing that •a patch has to be fitted in some awkward corner, the procedure is as follows. A piece of gutta-percha. should be procured, large enough to make up into the required pattern. This should then be placed in very hot water until it is quite soft. and pliable. When in this condition it should be pressed hard on to the place which is to be fitted with a patch, and allowed to remain until it has cooled down sufficiently to be quite hard, which will be in quite a short time. When the impression has been taken, the outside of the gutta-percha should be trimmed up to the required shape and form, and any little taper intended to allow for the withdrawal of the pattern from the sand should be put on. The pattern can then be sent to the foundry, and the casting will fit into place quite, snugly, with the. least possible amount of filing and chipping."

A Duplex Shut-off Made from Chain and Pipe.

The sender of the following communication has been awarded the Ws. prize this week.

[10121 "Komi " (Willesden Green) writes :—" I think that the adaptor here described will be useful for your D. and M.' page, as it is handy for quickly shutting off water and steam cocks when the gauge-glass bursts. Many devices, have been tried, without a very great amount of success, to do this automatically. Tt is, I can assure you, a very unpleasant thing to be in I he cab of a steam tractor when a gauge-glass bursts. Handles which the driver thinks he can put his hand on without trouble in pitch darkness, seem to have moved to some on get-at-able part of the cab, and it is quite on the cards that while groping in the steamfilled atmosphere a badly-lacerated hand will be caused.

"The adaptor which I have in mind should be made from a piece of iron or brass tubing, large enough in the bore to slide over the water gauge-cock bundle, and long enough to stand well above the steam-cock handle. At. the top end the tube should be flattened for a length of about 1 in., and a small hole, any in. in diameter, should be drilled in this flattened part, in which a small S hook can he inserted. A similar arrangement should be provided in the steam-cock handle, as near to the end as possible. These two Shooks should then be coupled together by means of a chaina No. 14 Triumph chain serves excellently for this purpose. The correct length of the chain must be decided by experiment, as of course it will vary in almost every case. The right position of the levers when the chain is taut may be judged from the sketch I send you. [We have had this re-drawn.-En.] When the gauge-glass bursts, and this appliance has been fitted, it is merely necessary to pull some one part of the long tube to shut off both the water and the steamcocks immediately. A small 13-clip can be fitted at the top end of the tuoe to clip over the steam-cock lever. This is useful to keep the tube in position at all times when it is not in use. The device is quite inexpensive, and does not call for very skilled workmanship."

When the Van Slews Round.

[1013] " H.F." (Bury) writes :—" I have recently come across several motorvans on which only one of the rear wheels was fitted with a non-skid band. When they attempted to start on a hill, particularly when the roads were greasy, the wheel not fitted with a non-skid revolved without securing a. grip, thus, of course, preventing any forward progress being made. I tried a little trick, which I think was justified by results, although varying opinions have been expressed on the matter by drivers of lily acquaintance. I lightly applied the hand-brake. on the wheel not fitted with the anti-skidding device. This retarded the wheel, and gave it a chance to secure a grip. The wheel which was fitted with a non-skid then got a good bite of the road surface, and did most of the work while going up the hill." •

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Locations: Bury, Slough, London

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