AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.

6th January 1920, Page 25
6th January 1920
Page 25
Page 25, 6th January 1920 — For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A PRIZE OP TEN SHILLINGS is atharded each week to the sender of the best letter which we 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 published. Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith. Address, D., M. and P., "The Commercial Motor,' 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, PLC. 1.

Lamps Alight.

On Saturday, January 10th, light your lamps at 439 in London, 4.28 in Edinburgh, 4.28 in Newcastle, 4.41 in Liverpool, 4.41 in Birmingham, 4.49 in Bristol, and 5.24 in Dublin.

A Holder for Countersunk Screws.

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

[2,044] " S.C." (Luton) writes:—" Everyone knows how difficult it is to handle or hold countersunk headed screws. When the thread needs a little attention, either running down, or freeing from burrs, it becomes a question as to how to fix the screw in

the vice so as to hold it firmly without damaging either the head or the thread. A frequently adopted tip is to hold the dies in the vice and pass the screw through it, using the screwdriver as a tool for the purpose. This method is not very satisfactory, however, as it is almost impossible to gauge the effect of the closure of the vice upon the dies. Various methods of holding the screw have 'been advocated from time to time in, the columns of your D.M. and F.' page, but I think the method shown in the accompanying sketch (which we have had redrawn.— En.] is novel. Fig. 1 chews the complete jig, whilst Figs. in and. lb show its two component parts.

"A block of mild steel, measuring one inch by one inch by three and a half inches, serves as the base. The upper face of the block must be planed or shaped down, leaving a thin rib or ridge along the centre one-sixteenth of an inch deep, and wide enough to engage the slots in the heads of the screws. It should taper a little from bottom upwards so as to ensure its entering the slots of all sizes of screw. The lid is made from a piec_e of quarter-inch plate, three and a half inches long by one inch wide. A slot must be cut along the centre of one side of this to fit over the ridge on the base plate, and just deen enough to ensure the faces of lid and block making good contact.

"In the lid must be drilled holes to accommodate the various sizes of set screw with which the operator anticipates. he will have .frequently to deal. The countersink must be in the underside of the lid, sothat when a screw is placed in position in the lid and the lid fitted on the base, the ridge in the baseplate will engage the slot in the screw. The lid is fastened to the base by three-sixteenths countersunk screws suitably, disposed. "It is essential that, when the jig is in use, the lid fits squarely on the base, and that the two surfaces are in contact throughout."

Steam Wagon Tips.•

[2,045] "J.E.J." (Wandsworth) writes :—" The following two tips in connection with the overhaul of steam wagons will doubtless be of interest. One relates to the expanding of boiler tubes, the other has to do with the stopping of leaky stays.

" When the tubes in the upper corners of the tube plate of aboiler have to be expanded, and it is only human nature to imagine that those are the ones whichseem to need it most frequently, the job is a most: tiring one, as the tommy-bar of the expander has to• be continually changed from hole to hole ; there is no opportunity for a good swing. Now I have got over thisdifficulty by making a hexagon tip for the expander, drilled to receive a taper pin which registers with one of the tommy holes. I simply fit this tip into place when dealing with the inaccessible holes, and use a ratchet spanner on the hexagon portion. In this way I 'am able to go straight ahead with the expanding, and do not need to remove the spanner from the expander until the work on any tube is completed. "When a stayis found Lobe leaking badly, a good job can be made of the repair by drilling a taper hole in the stay and driving a taper pin tightly into the

• hole. The effect is to expand the stay, and I have never found this method to fail of sealing the worst of leaking stays."


comments powered by Disqus