Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 23
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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 garages 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 dies not disqualify for a prize. When writing use one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to "I he Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
Instead of Callipers.
The smiler of the following communication hos been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
F.W." (Basingstoke) writes:" I enclose a sketch of a gauge [We have had this redrawn.—En.). I have found this contrivance a great deal more bandy than the ordinary callipers. The IT-piece I made from Fin. round steel; I left the ends round and hammered out the curved part fiat. One of the ends is fitted with a short set-screw, whilst the other carries the long adjustable plunger. This is a good fit in the body of the tool and yet can be readily moved in and out. A simple coil :spring, as shown in the sketch, serves to retain it in position. I find this gauge very handy for lathe work, and on the vice. It is easier to manipulate, in my opinion, than the ordinary home-made calliper. The particular tool. which I have sketched for you, was the first shot I had had at it, and its proportions are therefore a bit clumsy. I shouli be inclined to make the next one out of a bit of flat steel, with the ends jumped up to take the plunger and the set-screw: the handle portion should then have the deep section of the metal in its proper position."
Turning our Tips to Account.
[760] " H.T." (Cheltenham) writes: " I have been a regular reader of your journal since it was shown to me by a friend in Gloucester about 18 months ago. As I bavo frequently been glad to turn to account some of the tips which you give regularly, I now want to ' do my little bit,' and return the compliment. I see, in the C.M.' for 18th August, that E.O.M.' (Prolms, Cornwall) has had some trouble with the check valve of his injector. I have had a similar bother on my -machine. I had no suitable tool with me that I could use to touch
up the valve-seating with ; the valve itself is a ball like
that of ' 1 tried a piece of wood and emery powder, but it was no good. Next I tried a snap-headed bolt., _and, although this improved the seat a bit, it did not make a good job of it. I began to think I should have to let it go as it was—blowing a little all the while, but one day I thought I would have a shot at the seating again, but this time with an old spare wing valve I had by nie; my idea was to use it upside down. At first I found that it wouldn't go through the hole at the top of the valve-box, so I had to file it down until it would enter. I made a square, to get a wrench of some sort on to it. by cutting away parts of the wings, which were now uppermost, it must be remembered. I found that 1 couldn't turn it with an ordinary brace, as the whole valve was no great distance below the main frame. Then remembered my CM..' and a tip in it from A.L.' (Notting Hill) about a fiddle-how and drill [Letter No. 654, 3rd February, 1910.—En.], so I set to work and made one. A piece of brass tube, a cotton reel, a stfck, a piece of gut and the knob of a curtain pole were the materials. 1 hammered the tube square at one end so that it would go on to the square that I had made on the valve. I then fixed up my bow and soon made a good job of the seating, after a. few turns. I used a pinch of ground glass; it is much finer and does not scratch so much as emery powder. There was not a sign of a leak after that."
Gland Packing Procedure.
L7611 " A.K." (Royston) writes:—" With reference to a letter from 'T.D.' (Canning Town) lo. 741.—En.], re the packing of glands, I am rather at a loss to know what he means by his statement that so many drivers adopt foolish methods. I do not agree that a wellpacked gland requires attention every other day. He says that the driver who packs his glands once a week, and who expects them to keep tight without other adjustments, is always doomed to disappointment. I do not agree with your correspondent at. all, and I have been in charge of a steam wagon for 16 months—tbe machine is the only one which my employers possess. I do not pack the glands once a week or even once a month, and 'yet I find I get good results. During the whole of the above period, my wagon has regularly worked five days a week; the H.P. piston glands have only been packed once, that of the H.P. slide-valve spindle only three times, the L.P. piston gland once and the L.P. slide-valve spindle twice. When I have freshly packed a gland. I watch it carefully for the next three or four days, and I screw it up gradually until the packing settles into its proper position. I then carefully measure to see the gland is screwed up quite square and has no wind ' on it. I finally lock the nuts carefully, and I get no no more trouble. I always see that all the rods are well oiled, of course."