For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Page 21
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A PRIZE OF TEN SHILLINGSis awarded each week to The sender of The best letter which w e publish on this page ; all others are paid for at the rate of a penny a line, with an allowance for photographs. All notes are edited before being z.nublished, Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith. Address, D., M. and F., "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, .E.C. 1.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, the 3rd August, light your lamps at 9.14 in London, 10.14 in Edinburgh, 9.34 in Newcastle, 9.33 in Liverpool, 9.25 in Birmingham, 9.24 in Bristol, and 10.17 in Dublin.
Extra Coal Storage on a Steamer.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[1883] " A.W." (Dewsbury) writes : —" It is not always convenient to take in extra fuel when on long journeys, although in the ordinary case, it frequently becomes necessary to do so. I have seen, from time to time, in your " P.M. and F." pages, suggestions for the storage of extra coal, and it occurs to me that the following, which is a description of a method which I adopted myself some years ago, and which I still use, may help others of your readers out of a difficulty. For my purpose I utilise the top of the cab, putting a rail round it similar to that which one frequently sees on the top of a taxicab, making it, of course, much stronger. I first of all had. turned four pillars, each 6 in. high, and flanged and screwed at the bottom ends, so that they could be fitted into suitable holes in the top of the cab and nutted up underneath. They were drilled at the top to take in. steel piping, and were so disposed that this piping, when in place, formed a rail 6 ins, from the edge of the canopy all round. In the floor of the canopy (or roof of the cab) near the back, I cut a hole just large enough to. take the mouth of a. sack. To the under side of this hole
I fitted a canvas shoot, long enough to reach down to the coal bunkers. A couple of straps were attached to the underside of the canopy, so that the shuts, when not .in use, could be rolled up and strapped neatly, being thus out of the way. A good joint was made between canvas and roof so as to help to keep out the rain, though this was, of course, supplemented by a well-fitting wooden cover to the hole. This fitting, besides giving us extra accommodation for coal, also preyed to be very useful as a laboursaving device. The coal had only to be lifted up to the canopy once and when required was tipped down the canvas shoot, instead of, as would otherwise have been the case, having to be lifted down from the canopy and then lifted up again to tip into the bunker. In the beginning I had some fear, owing to the close proximity of the sacks to the chimney of the wagon, that we ran a risk of fire as a result of red-hot cinders from the chimney. However, we had always a good spark arrester inside the chimney, and never had any trouble from this cause.
"The idea of using the top of the canopy for coal storage is a good one. It has, however, one pretty obvious drawback—the coal has to be lifted a long way. So the next thing I did was to fit a pulley block in the roof of the garage. So equipped, it was an easy matter for one man to haul up the sacks, while the other lifted them off the rope and laid them on to the roof. When loaded up we simply tied the rope from the pulley block up out of harm's way, and so that it was always ready for instant use. A lot of lifting and so on was saved by this method. The wagon was kept clean, and there was no interference with useful loading space. Reference 'to the rough sketch herewith---(We have had this re-drawn.—Ed.) —will assist in explaining how this little improvement was effected."
Belt Clips and Twist Drills.,
[1884] " Toby " (Cardiff) writes :—" I send, for your examination, a specimen of belt lacing (a drawing of this has been made,„ and is reproduced herewith.
En.). A length of IS or 20 gauge mild steel wire is coiled round a bolt about half-inch diameter, the pitch of the coils being about a quarter of an inch. This should be made up to a length of two or three feet, to be cut off as required. When piecing up a belt, a portion of the coiled‘wire is taken, equal in length to the width of the belt to be joined. Both ends of the belt are pierced by a row of holes about a quarter of an inch apart, to accommodate the fastening. The two ends are laid together as shown in the first sketch (that is to say, slightly overlapping one another), and the wire is then threaded through. Hammering the wire out flat will pull the two ends of the belt into line and complete the join.
"Just now, when tools of all kinds are so difficult to get, I have no doubt that any hints as to how to make shift will be useful to your readers. " Pei:haps the most difficult tool to obtain is a small twist drill. I have found that these can very easily and economically be manufactured from ordinary round cast-steel bar. This material should first be hammered flat and then twisted while hot. The drills thus made should then be ground true to diameter and afterwards trimmed up on the point. I have several drills of this •kind,"?and they have all given satisfaction. Drills of this kind are a great improvement upon the ordinary hand-made D-bit, as it is called, particularly when a deep hole has to be drilled, or when it is desired to drill through a jig."