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 covnercial-motor vehic es and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops. are invited to send short contributions on any subject watch is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Workshop 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 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 does not disqualify for a prize. IVIren writing use one side of the paper onto and mention your employer's /34/FIC as a guarant:e of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosd. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE Com sicactat. NiOTOR, 7-15, kosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
In Reply to Yours."
" W.C.B."—Thanks for cutting from " G.W.R. Magazine." N.C."—The air-throttle arrangement is not novel the description of the jet device we may use.
" P. illAcI."—Your description of the coupling is not quite clear. Are you able to send a more-clearly-drawn sketch'!
" H.B."—The method of repair to the reversing link is of so obvious a nature that we are unable to make use of it. Wu shall probably use your further communication.
" H.M."—The crane attachment seems to take up too much room on the chassis according to your sketch. Have you seen it fitted? Other letters of yours are under consideration.
A Useful Valve Gauge.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
"(i.S.C. (Slough) writes:" Anyone who has
had the job of fitting a set of new valves to a petrol engine will realize the difficulty experienced in getting them cut off to the correct length. If the engine is not fitted with adjustable tappets. it usually happens that the valves are either cut off too short (causing a lass of efficiency) or arc left a little too long. In either case they have to be removed, filed, and retried several times, causing a loss of time .)n each valve.
" In the course of my work, I have a large amount of alve fitting to do. in order to get over the difficulty of getting the correct length for any valve with certainty and speed, I made the gauge which is shown in the rough sketch attached. [We have had this redrawn.—En.] I have now oeen using this gauge for some two years, and I would not be without it for anything.
" The sketch practically explains itself. The body piece is turned up from any odd hit of steel, one end to the size and shape of a flat-seated valve, the other end to the size and shape of a conical-seated valve. In the middle a boss is left for the setscrew which is used to lock the gauging rod, which corresponds to the valve stem.
" To use th-t gauge, it is necessary to drop it into the engine in place of the valve. The stem may then be set to whatever length is required. When this has been done, it is a simple matter to compare the valve which is being made with the gauge and to cut off the stem to the exact length necessary. The dummy valve-piece must, of course, correspond in diameter to that of the valves of the engines which are being fitted. Where a number of the same type is in use, the one gauge does the lot...
Tips That Make For Economy.
Ecosonisx " (Keighley) writes :—" I send you herewith a few hints which may help some of my fellowdrivers to reduce the working expenses of their steam wagons and tractors. Some of these tips may seem quite small items, but it is the little things which count, and, when these are reckoned up at the end of a year. it is surprising the difference there is to be found in the general accounts.
" I have very often seen the stems of old tube-brushes thrown on to the scrap heap. Evidently, it has not been thought worth while to do anything with them. It is not. perhaps. generally known that these stems can always be refitted at about one-third of the cost of new brushes. Instead of having these refitted with fibre, should strongly advise brass wire or strip, as the cleaners eau then be used while the engine is under steam, without the risk of their getting burnt.
" Cylinder oil may very well be used which has been mixed with plumbago in the following proportions : twothirds of cylinder oil and one-third of plumbago. Such a lubricant lasts longer, and the gland packings, the steam-chest and valve faces, the cylinder walls and the piston rings keep good faces for a longer period, owing to the fact that the blank-lead adheres to the surfaces.
"Some drivers do their ' clinkering ' in a very unintelligent way Frequently, when they're finished, it will be found thi, more cinders than clinker have been dis
eaided. I believe that, if drivers would take the trouble to collect the cinders, a great saving would be effected.
" All drivers who are worth their salt like to see their brass and copper fittings shine, and, very often, to effect this, a young fortune is spent on emery sheets and on patent polishing paste. Three tins of such stuff, at 3d. per tin, is an average weekly consumption; this amounts to £1 19s. per annum. My polishing costs me half-a-crown a year, and the paste which I use is made as follows. Mix together one pint of lard oil and 2 oz. of oxalic mid, and then pour in one pint of ammonia until a thick paste is formed; it is then ready for use. This mixture does not ,-orrode the metal.
"All greasy waste should he saved ; old worn-out suction hose, old brasses and other forms of scrap all have market value. One employer, that I know, allows his men 5 per cent. on all sales of such scrap, and they always have a good annual supper out of the proceeds!
" It is a useful thing, when engine oil has been used sufficiently and is too dirty for further service, to mix a gallon of it with 4 lb. of tallow and 2 lb. of ',lumbago. These should all be boiled together; they make a splendid greasB for chains and gearing. Dirty oil should never be thrown away. Most refiners will quote a price for it. " A little contrivance, which I use in place of a lamp, to shine on to the water gauge, consists of a looking-glass, which is so fitted to the tender that, when the firebox door is opened for a second, the glass reflects the glare.
A Neat Plug for a Tube Plate.
L676] " Loco " (Cardiff) writes :—" Sonic time ago I had the loco-type boiler of a steam-wagon to repair. It had been badly burned on several occasions. and one plate was very thin, especially round the end of one tube. which had ev;dently been leaking very badly for sonic time. This had caused the plate to corrode to such an extent
that it was now impossible to expand the tube sufficiently in order to make the joint steam-tight. As this particular boiler had a large number of tithes, I thought. that the best course to pursue was to sacrifice this tube altogether. I, therefore, removed the tube and fitted, into the holes in the two tuhe-plates, a couple of expand
ing plugs it a special design of my own. I send you, under separate cover, a couple of plugs, so that you may see how they are made. A bit of copper tube, whose outside diameter just fits the hole in the plate, is cut off to a. length of about. in. Through this tuhe, there passes a special bolt, which is coned at one end and has a square at. the other end. A suitable nut, if screwed down on to this bolt, will pull the coned end up into the copper tube and will thus expand it so any degree of tightness."