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Kom Drivers &Mechanics TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY is paid for the

23rd April 1914, Page 24
23rd April 1914
Page 24
Page 25
Page 24, 23rd April 1914 — Kom Drivers &Mechanics TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY is paid for the
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best corntnunication received, and one penny a line of ten words for anything else published, with an allowance for photographs.

Send us an account of any sPeeial incident of your work or exficrience. If suitable, we will edit your ?IOUS, supply a sketch When required, and pay you far everything published. Mention your emPloyer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith. Address to The Editor, THE CONErIERGLAL MOTOR, Rosebery Avenve, London, E.C.

Light Up Your Lamps At 8.6, Thursday ; 8.7, Friday ; 8.9, Saturday ; 8.13, Monday ; 8.14, Tuesday ; 8.16, Wednesday.

A Rear Light Indicator.

[1478] " H.B.S." (Cheshire) writes :—" I am sending you particulars and a sketch [We have had this redrawn.—En.] of a device which I believe ha s not

already been published in any paper. It has saved a great deal of trouble; and for this reason believe it will be welcomed by many drivers. The idea is to provide a means by which it is possible to tell whether the rear light is burning correctly.

"To do this on the particular wagon which I drive —a Foden, by the way—I attached a mirror to the right-hand standard of the cab. The mirror is similar to that used on a motorcycle, and is about 3) ins. in diameter.

"Near the rear lamp I fitted another reflector, in such a inarinEr that the light from the lamp, shining on to it, is reflected back on to the first mirror. Both being adjustable, it is quite a simple matter to arrange this. In the day time the mirror on the cab an be used for enabling the driver ta see overtaking traffic, and thus it serves a double purpose."

How to Reface the Clutch with Woven Material.

[1479] " (Edinburgh) writes :—" I noted with interest the letter (No. 1447) by FN. on the fixing of clutch linings. This is of particular interest to me, as I have to fit a very large number of them. F.N.' gives his method of attaching fibre linings, but as I happen to have had much experience in the fitting of those of the woven-fabric. type, perhaps some of the readers of your 'D. and M.' pages may be interested in my particular method.

"In the first place I make sure that the rivet holes in the clutch cone are suitably placed. There should be four holes about 1i in. apart and ?; in. from the edge of the cone, these being niaced in the form of a square for fixing the ends of the lining. The rest of the holes in the cone are staggered and drilled about 5 in. apart.

E2 "If possible, the fabric should be procured of the correct breadth and thickness for the particular cone to be faced, because if the woven edge be cut it has a tendency to fray. It should be of such a length that, when the ends are correctly butted together, the smallest diameter of the clutch-cone should just be akle to enter the ring of lining at the opposite side to the butt joint.

" I have found that it is advisable to warm the lining by holding it near a fire, as by doing this it becomes quite pliable. If it be put into hot water, as in the case of fibre, it is caused to shrink, and will then expand again when dry. The result is that when fitt-.11 to the cone, it quickly becomes slack, and thus makes gear changing very difficult.

" The lining should then be bent to the same shape as the discarded piece, the ends securely riveted to the face of the cone, and the rest of it pressed on by means of a bench vice.

"After fitting, should it show any slackness, which is very unlikely if the lining has been tightly pressed on in the firet instance, cut out two of the rivets and shorten the lining by about I in, riveting this end again and pressing the ring on as before. All that then remains, to be done is to put in the rest of the rivets. It will be found that the holes can be easily made, when the lining is in place, by means of a taper pin punch of about 4in. diameter at its point. The holes should be countersunk, and I find that the best tool for doing this is a twist drill fixed into a. file handle.

'The best rivets for use with. this material a-re made of aluminium and have countersunk he-ads. The heads should be sunk about 1-1.6 in. below the level of the material. On no account must the lining be turned in the lathe, as this has a tendency to unravel the fabric."

Make Your Own Lead Hammers.

[1480] " G.W.E." (Thornton Heath) writes :—" In looking through previous '1). and M.' pages, I have come to the conclusion that many contributors are inclined to advocate the use of jigs and other special devices for jobs that could be managed quite well, with the hammer. I quite agree that if, for example, a gudgeon pin refuses to budge after a reasonable amount of persuasion, it is time to adopt special

measures, but by all means try the lead-hammer ifilst ; if used with care there is very little danger of damaging pven the most delicate parts, and a great of unnetessary trouble may be saved by its use.

" Steel-headed hammers are, of course, unsuitable for many jobs, and those of copper become hardened with continual use. In the of dinary way, lead hammers have a very short life and the moulding of them is a somewhat difficult job,

I enclose a sketch [We have had this redrawn.— ED.] of a mould which I had made a short time ago,

in order to simplify the casting of the heads. It

consists of two east-iron halves hinged together, and one half is provided with swivel-bolts for clamping purposes, these latter engaging in slots oe the opposite half of the mould. The bar or tube widci is to form the shalt of the hammer is clamped in between the two halves, suitable recesses being left in them for this purpose. A hole is provided at the top of the mould to allow fer pouring the metal.

" An important point in making the, pattern for the mould is to provide a lip to the two halves, in order to prevent the leakage of metal occurring along the joint Whilst the hammer is being cast. When in use, it Li advisable to rub a small quantity or blacklead over the surface of the mould, as this keeps the Molten metal from sticking.

" in order to leek the head in position on the shaft, one or more holes should be drilled through that portion which projects into the head, so that the

metal flows through the holes And forms an efficient fastening. The, operation or this device is so simple

that any labourer should be able to Manage the job q wile easily, thus saving the fitter quite an appreciable amount of time. Many other methods of casting 1:?ad hammer-heads of which I know recjoira very careful attention."

A Jig for Drilling Gudgeon-pin Holes in Pistons.

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

0181] "D.W.B." (Netherhayen) In making pistons for the engines of motor vehicles, it is of cony-e most essential, tor the sake of interchangeability, that for any particular size of engine the. pistons should all be machined absolutely alike, and any spares which may have to bo made after the engine has left the works must also conform to this condition.

"I am sending you a description and a sketch [We have had this redrawn.—En. J of a very simple and useful jig for dealing with the operation of drilling the gudgeon-pin holes in pistons. By the aid of it, pistons can be quickly and accurately drilled, and the holes will all be correctly located.

'• The body of the jig consists of a east-iron block with open side and one open end. The closed end is recessed to receive, the outside diarneler oh the piston skirt. While it is in the lathe. for recessing, the base is bored and ecrewed it, receive the threaded portion of a rectangular block, which is machined to such a size as to fit closely between the two gudgeonpin bosses inside the piston.

" The sides of the jig are bored and fitted with hardened steel bushes, which accurately centre and

guide the drill. The open end of the casting is fitted with a cross bar, which is pivoted by means of a setscrew, and it is slotted at the other end to engage another setscrew. At its centre it is drilled and tapped to receive a clamping screw, which bears against the head of the piston and holds it firmly in position.

" The method of operation is quite simple. The hinged bar is turned round, thus allowing the piston to be placed in the recess at the base of the jig, with its bosses fitting on the rectangular block. The bar is now swung into position, and the clamping screw tightened up against the piston head. " I have found this jig greatly reduces the time previously required for doing the drilling, it is also very simple to operate, and soon repays the maker for his trouble."

Appreciation of a Commercar.

1.1.182.1 " (Ramsey) writes I have often read with great interest the experienees of the drivers of various makes of commercial ve1M-tles, and

possibly my experiences with a Commercar may in turn be of interest to them.

" The machine belongs to the Hornscy Gas Co., and I have been driving it for nearly two years with

out a single breakdown. It has done a full day's work every day with the exceptions of Sundays and Bank Holidays, and a nortion of a day during which iiew tires were being fitted. "The speedometer recorde nearly 12,000 miles, and this in spite of the fact that some hundreds of miles were not registered owing to the driving belt's breaking and not being replaced for some time because of the difficuity of obtaining another.

" My woes lies in some of the most hilly districts round London, such as Highgate, Muswell Hill, etc., and considering the extra wear on the vehicle entailed by such conditions, the total lack of breakdowns shows how sturdily it mustbe constructed."

Turning Piston-rings from a Cast-iron Plate.

[1483'j "G.M.J." (Norwood) writes :—" A short time ago I was ordered to make a new set of piston rings. Unfortunately I had no cast-iron sleeves from lvhich. I could turn them. However, after looking about among my stock, I round a piece of cast-iron plate which was sufficiently thick for the purpose. From this I cut a number of discs each thiek enough to make two rings. "After turning and boring them in the usual manner. I fitted up a wooden mandrel just large enough to allow the rings to be driven on ; to afford the proper eccentricity I cut off both ends of the mandrel and screwed these back into position a few hundredths of an inch out of centre. It was then quite easy to finish the rings eccentric.

" After fitting, the rings proved quite satisfactory."

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People: Thornton Heath
Locations: Edinburgh, London

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