Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 19
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TN 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 trcutors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shots, are invited to send short coatributions on any subject .which is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Woi• shop tips and smart repairs ; long and successful runs ; interesting photographs : all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter la no 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 does not disqualify for a prize. When writing 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 ;tame =U be disclosed, Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, Te
CoNtmssciAL Mows, 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
Mud-hole Doors and Other Things.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week,.
927J " R. S. T. " (Newcastle-on-Tyne) writes :— " I have frequently had occasion to use a small tool of which I have sent you a sketch [We have had this redrawn,—ED.], Its special use is for the setting of work or vice jaws on a milling table, and it is also useful for securing the accurate alignment of a part on which machining has to be effected that shall be parallel to the line of travel of the table, as, for instance, when a finished strip has to be grooved correctly. The form of construction of this little gauge is quite evident from the sketch, and I need only mention the method of its use. The part which is marked A is clamped between the collars on the cutter spindle of the milling machine, and it is clamped in such a way that the edges marked B,B are gripped securely. The instrument should be held so that the face on which the needle is situated is uppermost, and the whole thing should be slanted at a convenient angle to the horizontal, say about 45 degrees. When in use, either of the points C,C should be gently pressed against the part which it is desired to gauge, and the needle should be held lightly by the fingers, while the table is run backwards and forwards. Any inaccuracy of setting will
then be quickly notified by a movement of the needle from the zero mark. Although this little tool is of somewhat-crude construction, I can assure your readers that very accurate results are obtainable with it, and it is a useful addition to a toolbox.
" Perhaps I may add, with your permission, a few lines with regard to our old friend, or rather enemy, the mud door. A great deal of leakage and consequent annoyance is caused by experimenting with patent jointing materials for mud doors, instead of
going to the usual root of the trouble, viz., bad faces. When a door becomes, as it must eventually do, a chronic dribbler, the proper plan to follow is to mark the door in such a position that it can only be placed a certain way in one particular hole. Now take a fish-belly or half-round file, and bend up about one inch of its business end at an angle of about 45 degrees. With this tool, clean up the inside faces of the hole, and put a small radius on the inside edge, till all is smooth and even to the touch. The door should now be thoroughly cleaned of all dirt and scale, and it should be fitted into the hole after the latter's face has been coated with red marking. The high spots will now be evident as soon as the nut is slacked off and the door removed. These high places should be filed off, and then the door tried on again and nipped up with its dog and nut. This process should be repeated until the marking shows practically all round, and the door settles down without any rock. The door and face should now be wiped clean and finally jointed up with an asbestos ring that has been liberally coated on the boilerplate side with Belleville grease (vaseline and black lead). This will prevent its sticking to the boiler, and enable it to be used two or three times. I can guarantee the efficacy of this treatment, as it has never failed me out of the many times that I have had trouble with mud hole doors."
34d. a Mile.
[928] " VAN DRIVER" (Bootle) writes :—" Re Lancastrian's ' letter in a recent issue of THE ComMeal, Moron, It may perhaps interest him to be in possession of the following facts. I have lately been driving a 10 h.p. box van with six up and three to five cwt. of goods. I have plain — 760 by 100 mm. tires on the back wheels, and 760 by 90 mm. on the front wheels. The tire bill came out at just under id. per mile, and I got 2,400 miles out of the back tires, and 4,000 miles out of each of the front ones. I was driving in a very bad district, and most of my journeys were done off the main roads in the South-west of England. For petrol, oil, grease, rags, and garage I was allowed 2d. per mile, and I easily kept within that limit, although I was charged retail price for petrol, the company having the benefit of the rebate and the difference between contract and retail prices. Lancastrian's ' needs would be fully met by a, car of this power with a four-seated body, the back seats being used for samples or extra passengers as required. Such a car gives good results on tires, and averaaes about 15 miles per gallon consumption.. I should think it could be easily run at aid. per mile, or less if the mileage were higher. The cost of the car was 1250. and it can do 25 miles per hour."