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Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.

18th May 1911, Page 25
18th May 1911
Page 25
Page 25, 18th May 1911 — 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 commercial-motor vehic'es and tra:tors, and mechanics and foreseen of garages or shops, are invited to send short co-mtrisitions on any se'sfect whtch is likely to Prove of interest to or readers. Work. shop 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 h no short, or how wrilen, or how worded. We will " knock it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before puP)lication. The a!ssence of a sketch d ..es not disqualify for a prize. When writing ace one s de of the paper only and nmen 'ion your employer's Name/is a guar-ante of boon fides. Neither your own nor

your empllyer's name be disclosed. Pavement will be made imme

diately after publicatiw:. Address your letters to The. Editor, THE COMNI ERCIAL Macon, 7,75, Roseoery Avenue, London, E.C.

The Treatment of; White Metal.

[8751 " TOBY " (Cardiff) writes :--" The following tip may be useful to my fellow workmen, amongst whose duties may occasionally be numbered the remetalling of bearings with Babbitt, or with any other anti-friction metal of that class.

" I have noted from experiment that if the white metal be heated to such a temperature that it resembles table salt, it can then be moulded into any &sired shape, and if, when it is in that semi-molten condition, it be beaten into shape with a small hard wooden mallet, its wearing surface will be considerably improved. This change I put down to the closing of the molecules and to the removal of possible blow holes. A bearing that is coated with metal that has been treated in this way will show a silvery-white colour instead of a blue tint, when it has been machined,"

An Exhaust Whistle.

1876]".T.K." (Cornwall) write:"I read in a recent issue of the ' CM.' [Letter No. 862, 20th April.—En.] a communication from W.W.H.' He describes a method of making an exhaust. whistle by using an old oil-cup. I feel sure that he got this idea from another depot of the company with which he says he is employed ; for at that depot about two years ago I and another driver, who is now in Devonshire, made, fitted and put into service a device of exactly the same pattern. As, however, this arrangement was necessarily out of action when the vehicle to which it was fitted was running downhill with the engine stopped— a practice that I always observed —I found it best to keep the horn in good loud-sounding condition, and, like the motor fire-engines which were mentioned in ' One 'Hears,' I kept it ready for duty at an instant's notice."

Using the Feed Pump for Testing.

The sender of the fotlowing communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.

18771 " (Nantwich) writes :—" I submit. for your consideration two sketches, one of a checkvalve made of very-simple material and the other of a special form of lever by which the boiler-feed pump may be used for testing purposes by hand. [We have had these sketches redrawn.—En.] " With regard to the check-valve, I first of all procured an ordinary reducing T-piece, on which there were two "I in.-gas and one in.-gas ends. I screwed a brass nipple into the smaller end of the T-piece, and the former was faced up on its inside end in order to form a valve face. The nipple was of sufficient length for a union, or whatever kind of coupling may be required to be screwed on to it at its outer end. I got hold of a brass valve of the ordinary wing type, which happened to he of the right size, and I fitted this to suit the seating that I had thus made. I next turned a brass plug to fit in the opposite end of the T-piece, and this plug was made of such a length that, when it was screwed home, it just allowed the valve sufficient lift. A flange could have been screwed on to any of the ends of this Tpiece if it had been found necessary. I then had a very-good boiler check-valve, which could be used either in conjunction with a pump or with an injector.

" The other sketch is of a lever of simple design ; this will enable the ordinary feed-pump to be employed for the testing of a boiler. The lever is about a yard long and is straight throughout, with the exception of a jaw that is formed about 6 in. away from its lower end. This jaw is drilled to take a pin, and there is another hole for a similar purpose right at the lower end of the lever. The method of use is as follows.

"The pump rod is uncoupled from the ram, and the former is lifted up high enough for it to he engaged with the jaw in the lever. The pump ram is fastened by means of a pin to the lower end of the lever ; it will then be seen that the end of the lever may be used for working the pump by using the pump rod as a fulcrum. It is then an easy matter to pump up the pressure for testing purposes."

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