For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Page 27
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TEN SHILLINGS is paid to.the sender of aiiy letter which we vublish on this page, and an EXTRA FIVE SHILLINGS to the sender of the one solaich we select s being the best • each week. All notes are edited before being published. Mention ,your. employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith, Address, -0., AL and F., "The • Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, Loitdon, E.G. 1.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, January 8th, light your lamps at 4.28 in London„4.26 in Edinburgh, 4.26 in Newcastle, 4.41 in Liverpool, 4.41 in Birmingham, • 4.48 in Bristol, and 4.24 in Dublin.
An Improvised Bench Drill.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the extra payment of 5s. this week.
[2,173] " (Thrapston) writes; :—" A useful
and efficient bench drill can easily be made by the mechanic in his spare time from ordinary gas piping. I have had such an one in use for a. long tune now ; the a.ocompanying sketch illustrates the design. The parts. required are two 1 in. 'gas tees, one 1 in. gas
elbow, a few lengths of inch gas piping, a short piece of f in. gas piping, and a piece of in. bar.
"A long piece of 1 in.. gas piping of convenient length to suit the user's requirements serves as the standard. It is screwed upwards from the bottom for the-greater part of its length, so as to accommodate the tee. On its top end the elbow is fitted. This takes another short length of piping, at the end of which is fitted the other tee. Another piece of gas piping about 7 ins. long, and threaded full length, is fitted into this tee so that it stands vertically. To the top of this piece a hand wheel is fitted, so that-it may he utilized to put pressure on the drill and to feed
it in to its work. A piece of in. gas piping is trimmed up, so that it will drive into this inch piping and serve as a bush far the in. spindle of the drill. The spindle is fitted at the top with a handle as shown and, at the bottom, with.a collat....with a square socket to receive the drills. For a table, a short length of pipe is screwed into the branch of the firstnamed tee and is flattened out at its end. By screwing the tee up and down the pillar the height af the table can be adjusted, When fixed, it should be locked into position by means of a lock-nut below it. .Minor details such as a. washer and split pin to prevent the spindle from dropping down its bush and the method of fixing the handle on to the spindle will, no doubt, suggest themselves to rea.ders of this page who have all had mechanical experience of some kind!'
Unusual Magneto Trouble.
[2,174] " W.A.I." (Bromley) writes ; When on a
long journey recently my engine suddenly started misfiring, subsequently stopping altogether.. I diagnosed Magneto trouble at once, and eventually traced it to the distributor, and, on examination, found that the two screws which held the distributor 'wheel in position, had come right out of their holes and dropped intothe tray. I put them back again, closed up the magneto, and started off. After another two miles of running, however, the saine trouble started again, and I. came to the conclusion that I should have to de something more effective than merely replacing the screws in holes which were too big for them. I went through my bag of spares, but could not find a Screw which would serve as replacements. Eventually I put the screws in as tightly as possible, and filled up the hales with sealing wax, which prevented them from coming loose again."
A Novel Petrol Pipe Repair.
[2,175] " W.J.D." (Herne Hill) writes :—" A broken petrol feed pipe is a common occurrence and -is usually. easily remedied. I had a little experience. the other day, however, which was a little bit out of the common and which called for the exercise of some ingenuity before I got going again. This particular breakage occurred When I was about three miles from anywhere. • 'To make matters Worse, the pipe broke close to the union under the4carburetter_ I had a piece of rubber' tubing on board, but, unfortunately, altheugh it would pass nicely Over thermain body of the pipe, its bore was not large enough to allow me to stretch it over the stem of the union. Every attempt to do so merely resulted in the rubber splitting, Eventually, I cut a length of about 11 in. from the spout of a small oil feeder, which; being tapered, I was able to 'drive tightlyi ,nSide, the stem of the union, leaving about three-quarters of an inch projecting. The rubber tubing wound., over this quite nicely, and I was able to bind it all up with string and get home comfortably with this makeshift. The inter• vention of the spout did, it is true, restrict the flow of petrol a little, but, beyond an occasional pop back into the carburetter, this 'did not cause any trouble.
"I have since, of.eourse, had a new length of piping fitted, a-nd this is properlY secured with a dip so 'as to stop the pipe from jazzing about."