Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 19
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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 vehicles and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garaees or shops, are invited to send short contributions on any subject which 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. When writing iise one side of the paper only and mention your eninloyer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own tikr your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will be made imam. diately afer publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOIOR, 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
On page :31:52 of this issue, drivers will be interested te note the particulars of vacancies in Spain.
We Acknowledge Receipt.
Selected from a, number of communications intended for these columns, and which we are unable to acknowledge individually, we have letters from the following correspondents under consideration, with a view to publication : " TORT " (Cardiff), " ER," (Sparkbrook), " (Stockport, " J.A." (trmston), " G.W." (Stacksteads). "W.T." (York), "C.H.E." (Hemel Hempstead), "Verax(Derby), and " P.P." (Eughien).
A Home-made Lathe Carrier.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[637] " C.13." (Strood) sends us a description of the ingenious way in which he contrived a lathe carrier out of a steam-pipe T-piece.—" I am a regular reader of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, and must admit that I find many of the tips given on the drivers' page to be very useful to
me. In return I hope that the one I suggest to you now will benefit my fellow readers.
" Last week there was a valve on the engine of the machine which I am driving that wanted skimming up.
I always consider it is a driver's place to do as many repairs as he possibly can, both for his own sake and for that of his employefs, and I, of course, tried to do this small job myself. We had a small wood-turner's lathe in the shop, but there was no chuck or carrier, so I had to contrive one in order to do the job, and this is how I got over it. I found a il-inch T-piece, and with a hacksaw
cut off the two horizontal ends. I then tipped the remaining arm of this T-piece with a i-inch Whitworth tap, and, with a -s-inch set-screw inserted therein, I was then able to push this simple little fitting on to the stem of the valve, and to use it as a currier. In this way I made quite a good job of skimming up the valve. I certainly made this temporary carrier a great deal quicker than I could have gone and bought one, and it cost me less.
" It is a certain fact that if every driver of a commercial-motor vehicle knew what he was about he would ne0 that he had a copy of your journal regularly every week, and the first page he would turn to would be that devoted to drivers' and mechanics' contributions."
Accumulator Upkeep.
[638] " Jay GEE" (Ipswich) writes to us as follows: " In your issue for 2nd December, you published a letter, to which you awarded the weekly prize, with reference to the repair and maintenance of accumulators and their plates. ' N.C.,' the writer, gave directions as to the snaking of a cement for use on leaky celluloid cases. I do not think it is worth while making up a special cement. All accessory merchants sell suitable stuff in small shilling bottlers. A very sound repair can be made with Chatterton compound or marine glue. With regard to this writer's suggestion as to reforming pasted plates in thloride of lime, this is quite new to me. They are usually ' formed ' in dilute acid (H, 804) by alternate charging and discharging ; the charging current each time being in the reverse direction. It is sufficient for ordinary purposes if the pasted plate be put back into the acid and charged up as usual."
A Plaint about Boilers.
[639] " W.S." (Hull) asks us to insert the following letter in the " D. and M." columns of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.—" I am a regular reader of your valuable paper, and take a great interest in your drivers' column especially. I should like to offer a few words of complaint about the poor construction of the boilers on some of the steam wagons with which I have had to do. A great many of these are, in my opinion, too small and possess insufficient, steam space. This latter fault is one which I find with the wagon I am driving now. In this case, if the gauge glass is just over half full, the engine begins to prime, and, thereafter, to run heavily. As the boiler is so far away from the engine, a rare lot of condensation takes place. Another wagon, which is run by a neighbour of ours, and which I have an opportunity of watching, uses only a little over half the fuel that we use. Another complaint I make about my machine is that the tubes are no near to the fire-hole door. I find it almost impossible to fire up without letting in the cold air, which drives up against the tubes and very soon causes them to leak. We are using a stone and a half of fuel per mile, and this, I consider, is a great deal too much."