Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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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 sutject whzeh is likely to trove 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 puldication. The absence of a sketch does m,t disqualify for a prize. When writing use one side of the paper only and men 'con 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 The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL Moroi?, 7-75, kosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
A Simple Way To Turn Ball-ended Levers.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 1Us. prize this week.
[720] " H.H.S." (Luton) writes:—" While I was working in a garage a little while ago, I had a few ball joints to finish. These had been left in the rough, and it was necessary for me to turn them up in some way or other. As the garage was only a small one, and there was no lathe in it, I had to try to devise some other method of turning the balls. I had a shot at filing them., but could not get them anything like round. All your readers will agree that this was a very-diffieult job to undertake. To cut a long story short, I eventually contrived a simple
little hand cutter, with which I was aide to turn up the ball ends on the levers quite nicely: in fact, quite as well as if I had done them in the lathe. I got two pieces of
flat steel 4 in. long by in. wide by 5-16th in. thick. Surde of the balls that I had to tackle were in. and sonic were 5-16th in., and I wanted one tool to do the lot. I first of all screwed two short. lengths of 5-10th in. round steel into the middle of the flat plates, in order to form a sort of handle to each of them. I then clamped the two plates together, and drilled a ,4; in. hole through the two at one end, and, at the other end. I made a 5-16th in. hole in the same way. I nit drilled, endwise. into these, two holes with a in. comitersink. A couple of + in. studs, screwed into one of the plates and an easy fit in the other, were fitted with thumb nuts, mot Iwo guides, in the shape of 5-32 in. taper pins. completed eie rig. I then took the clamp away, and, withdrawing f'ie studs and pegs, I hardened the two plates throughout. T found that the sides of the holes. upon which I was relying to do the cutting, were a bit dull, so I rubbed the faces of the plates, which were to lie upon each other.
on an oil stone, and this gave me a fine sharp cutting edge. I was able to put a ball lever in between the steel strips, with the neck sticking out of the countersunk holes which I have mentioned, and, after gripping the lever in the vice, I found I was able to turn the tool round aml round, and so to cut a perfectly-shaped ball. The feel of course. was put on by means of wing nuts. I found it convenient in some cases to put a small piece of packing in the side with which I was not cutting, so as to keep the edges parallel."
Written Before the Parade.
[721] " (Southend-on-Sea) writes.—" As a steam-wagon driver. I feel interested in the parade which is being held next Saturday, but I regret that I shall be many miles away when it happens. The same thing ocvurred last year. Unfortunately, many of us must be away out of London when these gatherings take place, so naturally we do not get a chance of a prize. At present am i at Weedon, in Northamptonshire. on my way to Coventry, and during the last parade I was at Burton-onTrent. Previous to that, I was away in Norfolk. This all seems very-hard lines. I get all over the country with a heavy steam lorry and trailer, and all I can say is that driving in London seems quite a pleasure compared with the long country runs down dark narrow roads which we country drivers frequently have to undertake. We often have a job to find water, and have all sorts of troubles that the London driver does not appreciate. I do not think it is fair to give a man a prize who has not done any long journeys. I do my own tubing and all my repairs. I have also had seven years of London driving, and have never bad an accident. Anyhow, I wish the motor parade every success."
[Although we sympathize with our correspondent, and regret that the routine of his work has not so far permitted him to take part in the annual parade of commercial motor vehicles, we must remind him that he is incorrect in his suggestion that prizes are only given for London driving. Many of the high mileages, which stand to the credit of the competitors in these parades, have been compiled on roads which are not within the Metropolitan area. We hope circumstances will permit him to enter for the parade of 1911.—ED.]
For That Inaccessible Nut.
[722] " 11.H." (Bedford) erites:—" I send you a sketch of a simple little tool which I made for myself, and which I have found very useful indeed to enable me to tighten up castle nuts which are sometimes in very-inaccessible positions. Very often they are put in a corner where there is no space round them, and to tighten them up with an ordinary spanner is quite out of the question. Added to this, there is very often not sufficient head room to enable the ordinary claw or box spanner to be employed. Unfortunately, in such cases as this, many men fall hack on a punch or a chisel. That, of course, is a barbarous method, and frequently, when a man is driven to use means like this, he does not trouble to tighten up the nut sufficiently, but relies on the split pin to hold, it, and frequently leaves it quite loose. I make this special form of handy nut driver so that it can be used on two sizes of nuts, and I arrange the two each to fit nuts of the two sizes with which I have most frequently to deal. It is simply a piece of good steel about 10 in. long, in. wide and 3-16ths in. thick. Both ends are bent round, and are so shaped as to fit into the slots on an ordinary castle nut. The clearance is made so that the working end will clear the stud or bolt itself. The end should be ground slightly taper, so as to enter the slots conveniently. As castle nuts have six slots, it will be found that this tool can be worked into all sorts of inaccessible positions, and the nuts can thus be tightened up properly before the split pins are put in. Fitters will find this very useful where they constantly have to work on the same model of chassis of which each machine has the same troublesome nuts. You can then make this little driver to suit the particular circumstances so far as size of nut and length of tool are concerned. The ends should be hardened to a light straw colour when the tool is finished."
About Soapstones and Other Things.
[723] " ." (warn...tow) writes :—" The following tips may be at some use to your readers. On machines which use low-tension ignition with soapstone insulators, I find, in common with most fitters to whom this type of ignition is familiar, that soapstone is a most-unreliable fitting. The stones are very rarely round, end, as a ride. are not the correct taper, and it is in consequence of these faults that so many crack immediately they are put in, or at any rate as soon as they are heated at all. I invariably grind them in, and I find that, if this be carefully done, a soapstone, which is sound to commence with, will last as well as any other sort of insulator. and a good deal better than some that I know. In order to grind in a soapstone, I mount it on a small screwed spindle, as shown in the sketch. [We have had this redrawn.—ED.] If the job is being done on the road, or away from a shop. I generally fix a file handle on to the end of this little fitting. and, if I can get hold of a belly brace. I use that instead, as being very much quicker.
" I am surprised to find how often fitters do not provide themselves with suitable steel wedges and drifts, as these are most useful, and should find a place in any fitter's tool box. Personally, where I often have to drive tight wheels off shafts, and to do many similar jobs, I find that I could not get on without a short sturdy wedge, which has a gap on its narrow end to allow it to be slipped over a shaft. If this be used with care, it will be found that no magneto wheel, for instance, will require more than a sharp tap to dislodge it. " I find that quite a lot of men grind in a valve without making any attempt to lift it from the seating. This does not make a. good job, and, although the method I
adopt is a. very-usual one, perhaps some of your readers can do with a further reminder of it. I put a suitable spring under the head of the valve, and this reaches down to a washer on the top of the valve guide inside the cylinder. I then. use a screwdriver fitted in an American brace, and get to work on the valve in the ordinary way. The advantage of the spring is, that directly the pressure is released on the brace, the valve will rise from the face. If this method be adopted, it will be found that grooves will not form on the faces, but that perfectly-smooth surfaces will result."
The Shortcomings of Lamps.
[724] " T.D." (Canning Town) writes :—" I should like to answer letter No. 712 which appeared in your issue of the 26th May. My experience of the police has been the same as ' F.D.'s,' both when I wanted help, and when I have needed some little preferential treatment in thick traffic. I, personally, have found that, when the ordinary police constable is spoken to in a decent manner, he is always willing to help the driver of a motor wagon. I used to have frequent trouble with the lamps fitted to my wagon, as they were of very-flimsy pattern; they seemed to have been made without any regard to the work which they were called upon to do. It was certainly very annoying to find, when von went to light up, that a door was missing from one, and the bottom was missing from another. The bottom. of course, always contained the reservoir and burner. I got so tired of this, that eventually I got a set of lamps from Messrs. J. Cowdy and Co., of Queen Street, London. These had springs fitted between the lamps and the sockets which had to go on the lamp brackets—much after the style of many cycle lamps. This arrangement absorbed the worst of the vibration, and prevented the lamps from being shaken to bits. With the ordinary pattern of lamp I find that it is difficidt to light up in windy weather, and, as they are generally bolted pretty firmly on to the brackets, it is a nuisance to have to take the lamp off and put it into a sheltered spot when lighting it. I have got over this trouble by having a small sliding door made in the blank side of the lamp, so that I can light up with a taper or match in the same way that the ordinary cycle lamp is lighted. The great fault with the ordinary door of a motor lamp is that the hinges are much too weak and get strained, thus allowing the door to hang down and to leave a gap at the top, through which the wind blows on to the burner."
Get these Lists.
It will assist many drivers and mechanics to give occasional advice as to where odds and ends may be obtained if they pPoride themselves with the latest lists of Brown Bros., Ltd , of 22-34, Great Eastern Street, E.C., and of W. R. ll'illcoxe.Co., Ltd., of 23, Southwark Street, London, S.E., or ask their employers to get them.