Night Train

It got me wondering, at what point does it then make sense to just have one great big motor instead of a lot of little ones?

Oh well, scrub that idea then. Thanks for the advice.

Cheers, thanks for that. I just don't have enough need to justify getting a TIG set and all the associated kit. I was figuring on cheap just to put the occasional bit of weld on to some sheet rather then the occasional pop rivet on folded corners, that sort of thing. Not looking for structural quality or strength. The other option might be, if the aluminium welding turns out to be a non starter and a complete waste of time, is to have mild steel in the spool to reach the parts the normal torch can't reach across the workshop just to tack parts before taken them to the welding bench. That way I might not feel that I have wasted the money!

I have a Cebora Boxer 155 mig welder and I want to add a spool gun for welding aluminium. I have found this one on Ebay at 24v http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200580067069&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT and also this one at 12v http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160552031179&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT. I know both are cheap but any advice on them would be helpful. What I had in mind was to wire in the spool gun and a second small gas bottle via an electric valve so that at the flick of a switch (with contactors and so on) and the right gas bottle turned on I can switch from the mild steel set up on the welder to aluminium on the spool gun. Would you think this would a) work, and b) be ok to do as a modification? I will need to check the voltage of the existing set up for the motor and valve switching. Thank you

From what I can see in the videos of all the ones I've looked at the engine is a generator set and the blade is on an electric motor. I think that would be the only way of having an effective swivel. I can see what you are trying to do now, with the bevel box, so it swivels on the drive shaft axis. Here is a cheaper way to do this. Get two bevel boxes from the same type of motorbike and join the driveshafts to each other. Put the blade on the output of one box and teh engine on the other. You then get 1:1 and the blade and engine are on the same axis but off set so you can swivel the blade. If you add UJs on the drive shaft you can then move the engine about to get good clearance. How about two of these? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YAMAHA-XZ550-XZ-550-BEVEL-BOX-DRIVE-SHAFT-TRANSMISSION-/180207489629?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item29f534125d

This might be a bit heavy but it is also cheaper. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bevel-Box-Military-Vehicle-/250778677887?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item3a6392f27f

How are you doing this? Surely in a bandsaw the motor can be axial to the drive wheel and just off set with a belt drive. I'm not knocking your idea, just can't see where the angle drive comes in. Have you got an image or video of what you are trying to do? Might make it easier to come up with suggestions for the gearbox. This is waht I see as a Woodmizer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL6AWnMDL7A I first thought you were making something like the Peterson mill. The swing head is shown from 3.25 but even then a straight motor drive would do.

A shaft drive motorbike will sometimes have two bevel boxes. The one on the rear wheel is around 3:1 and the one on the gearbox is around 1:1. How about a grass topper gearbox? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LSM-4-5-6ft-Grass-Topper-Gear-box-L-Shape-/140505060772?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item20b6c115a4 I have a load of logs that could do with being planked. I was thinking of making a chainsaw mill but the amount of waste wouldn't be worth it. I usually just saw to a size I can fit on my band saw for planking for the time being.

I would recommend David_Llama4x4 for brake lines. Really nice chap to deal with. He supplied the brake lines for my electric tractor project. http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=53228&st=0&p=475624&fromsearch=1entry475624

You'd think that would be the obvious reason that should never have happened. Both Land Rover and the Cherry Picker manufacturer should be aware of this as an installation issue. There should have been provison for it to be mounted on three 'flexible' mounts allowing the Cherry Picker to have a stable frame on legs and the Land Rover chassis space to flex. Basic 1st year City and Guilds Motor Vehicle Tech knowledge if IIRC from nearly 30 years ago.

Surely you mean Kraft! But it is only to indicate the fitting on the end. The one I uesd to have was 4" diameter tube with enormous rings on the end and came off a Scammell sized recover truck.

The ones I've seen have a long J shaped hook at the tail end that can be pulled tight into a notch at the end of the tow bar with a ratchet strap. Here's the MachineMart version. http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/tb-2-towing-bar http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/tb-2s-towing-bar-with-spring-damper Also it depends on what it is you want to tow as to what the end need to be like.

Looks like front engine to me. Alvin's TR7 was rear engine, the bonnet line would be much too low for the V8 and an axle underneath.

I quite like the green Jag, it looks right as a conversion. The E type is just a shell sitting on top of a chassis, it could be any shell on top of a chassis. I think that is one of the things that makes Alvin Smith's Strange Rover work, it looks like it could be a proper version of the vehicle.

If it were me I would use the crane to lift one end at a time to slip some pipe rollers underneath it. Then I would lay a wooden roadway over the gravel to the trailer and then use the crane there to lift onto the trailer. If the crane won't roll on the gravel then it can be carried out there and then the trailer backed under the load. For the Bridgeport I would use the old fashioned 'jack and pack' to get it to trailer height. Anyway, that's the way I would do it but I'm a glutton for 'prehistoric' working methods.

Could it be lifted with a large engine crane and moved on rollers?

That would be a lovely vehicle to get back on the road. I wouldn't say no to it if I had the money.

We were out in York at the weekend and I zoomed in on a model shop window. She points to a model of a 101 decorating a railway layout and says 'One of them would be nice.' She also fancies having a steam engine to play with...

Another for the ratchet type crimpers. I have two sets, one for the usual sizes of red, blue and yellow crimps and another for the non insulated type. I've had them for about 25 years. I also have an 16 ton hydraulic crimper for those winch cables with dies for 16mm to 300mm http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180485179833&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I would have said I have a good condition Toyota MR2 mk2 that is mostly striped out for weight and would need a 'more fun' engine in it, a small safety fuel tank and a radiator to get a simple, cheap track day car. However, given your mate's lack of car know how there is no point going for anything worth going for as if it goes wrong, breaks or needs improving then he is going to be a bit useless. How about a Series 2/3 SWB with a V8? Lead him away from the black top to the bottomless brown squishy stuff.

I'm one for swapping motors, and contactor switch, to single phase but that is mainly because I still have some motors in stock. However, were that not the case I would be considering a good converter on the basis that I could then use it on other 3ph machinery. I am still considering that option anyway as I keep ignoring afordable 3ph machines when shopping.

You are not wrong there. I will probably modify the clamps at some point. I bought this one because I wasn't sure how much use I would have for it nor if they were as good as they sounded. This was cheap enough to take a chance at to give me an idea if I would upgrade it or not. Blades aren't that cheap so I may get a better saw instead of a new blade. Te one I have is only a little 205mm blade so a small cut. I did manage to cut 5" round pipe by pushing through behind the blade and then rotating the pipe as I slid the cutting head back into it without plunging.

I bought one of these recently at B&Q as it was only £99 (though with my luck it is cheaper now) and have been using it in my workshop. The blade is a different bore to wood saws and the saw runs slower then a wood saw. You will need one of these too as it throws hot metal chops back into your face and hair, and it is bleeding noisy.

How about something attached to the garage doors so that when the doors were rattled it accidently fell onto the ignition coil of your truck, cos the bonnet was open, and at the same time shorted the ignition circuit accidently sending a high tension jolt to the garage door? That would be accidental and it would take some unfortunate chain of event to be established for it to happen in all but the most unlikely of circumstances, officer. I did once have a fire extinguisher attached to my garage door. It was one of those with the hose for running under the bonnet of a car. When the gate was rattled hard enough the old perished hose broke and squirted halon gas in the direction of the rattle.

I should get an engine crane one of these days but most of my stuff is just in the range that I can lift manually, up to 100kg. For heavier stuff I have scaffolding and chain hoists but it is a pain to set up and takes planning especially if there is vehicle that needs moving about under it. I am in the process of figuring out how to install a small overhead hoist in the basement workshop, only for that 100-200kg range but I want the hoist to be mobile a short way under load. I managed to pick up one of those budget 100kg 240v electric hoists from Maplins on sale. It should be easy enough to rig that up on a length of Unistrut for the lighter lifts and then use a chain hoist for the heavier stuff. I still have an electrohydraulic crane that needs mounting to something, probably the trailer if not the back of the electric tractor.