Minesweeper

I think that it will all be quite straight forward for you. When I did ours in Exeter, the first question was - "Have you got a letter? (verification from MVT in our case)" and with a "yes" answer to that there was no problem. Was given the V55 and was told to "go over there to a desk and fill it in but a lot of it you will not be able to fill in so just leave it blank". When I did hand it in with lots of blank spaces, it was scarcely given a second glance. Tony

Is there a connection with the sea?

Tim is contacting you direct, Ian - and thanks very much once again! Tony

Hi Ian! That is a very kind and generous offer - I will come back to you later by way of a PM if I may! Tony

Well, Ian - should you ever decide to move one or two on, then please think of us! Tony

Yes, it is eccentric - I cannot explain it - but better brains than mine will! Tony

What a wonderful find! Tony

Never tried that one! Tony

Good luck, Ian! Remember cleanliness is essential - get any oxidation off the bits to be joined first of all and do not touch the joining areas with your fingers again after you have cleaned them - grease from your fingers can upset the apple cart - make sure that you have "bright" metal. Silver solder "flashes over" very easily so anywhere the flux goes around your joint, the silver solder will run. So enough flux - but try to keep it on the areas to be joined. Practice on a couple of bits of scrap first of all - you want the solder to run by getting it hot enough from the work piece rather than melting it in the flame! Tony

I guess that Steve will not have picked this one up yet, Barry - so perhaps I can have a go and he can come in later when he reads it! All of our silver soldering and brazing experience really stems from our Model Engineering activities - and the construction of miniature steam locomotives in particular, and especially their copper boilers and boiler fittings. So much we have learned from reading and picking the brains of others who have had the experience and where we have learned from our own mistakes!. We have only ever used propane as a source of heat - the copper boiler on our narrow gauge loco was heated sufficiently - out of doors - with three propane torches on it which did the job admirably. We are about two thirds through with the construction of a similar size copper boiler for a narrow gauge Koppel - about 6 or 7 inches in boiler diameter with a loco type firebox - when it was put aside in favour of the lorries - I hope to pick it up again one day! This was heated up with just one big propane torch but it was well bricked up to conserve the heat and that worked - although now I think we were brave to take that on with just the one torch! The professionals seem to use oxy-acetylene but we are not so equipped and have never used that. Our favourite silver solder has been Easyflo No2- cleanliness and de-greasing of the items to be put together and a suitable flux is essential for a sound joint. I still have a reasonable stock of the original Easyflo No 2 which had cadmium included in it which seemed to aid easy use of it - but cadmium has now been banned from inclusion in this and the equivalent silver solder now is cadmium free. It is made by Johnson Matthey and they provide a flux suitable for use with it which comes in powder form and has to be mixed into a cream consistency before use. Just mix up sufficient for your immediate use. The problem that can be encountered with multiple heatings of the same item is that there is a danger of earlier silver soldered joints on the same item melting and coming apart again - various silver solders are available with different melting points and it has been advocated that if you are doing multiple heatings of the same item so that you can attach other bits to it, then you use a silver solder with the highest melting temperature first of all so that for subsequent heatings, you do not have to take the temperature quite so high to get the silver solder to "flash over". I understand that the melting temperature of Easyflo No 2 is higher on a second heating of the same joint so you do have a small safety margin there. However, I find that with a bit of care, the same solder - Easyflo No.2 can still be used for subsequent brazing on the same item - but make sure that any earlier silver soldered joints on that object are well fluxed up again. This is what I did on the two small assemblies for the Governor weights and pivot - when those two assemblies were put together, they were in such close proximity that there was certainly a danger of the earlier silver soldered joints coming apart again! We have used this same method on brass, bronzes, copper and steel and have had no problems. We have found it to be a great method of attaching bits! I am sure that others reading this will have had more experience than us and I shall be pleased to read any other contributions and have the benefit of their experience! Tony

Yes - we have thought of that one and Steve has been doing some calculations to take that into account. I am not sure how far he has reached with it and no doubt he will come into comment! Tony

Retired Bank Manager! Never wanted to work in a Bank - wanted to be a Marine Engineer but failed medical 58 years ago because of poor eyesight when standards then were obviously higher than they are nowadays! Spectacles now are not an obstacle. Ended up working in a Bank through default as I did not know what else to do - my exam qualifications were not too special! It worked for me as apart from National Service, stayed with the same employer all my working life! Had the best days in banking before the whole banking culture changed.

Thanks, Mike - it would be quite interesting to hear what experts have to say about it - but we are quite resolved now to making a pattern and casting a new one. We understand that old aluminium castings - this one is about 95 years old - were generally made in a poor quality aluminium which does not weld well, even when it is clean and this one being porous has soaked up a lot of "muck" over the years which makes it even more difficult. On top of that, there is sign of wear through "belt rub" so it really has seen better days. Nevertheless, we always want to learn and will be most interested in having an opinion from the professionals! Tony

Sorry Barry - I didn't answer this one earlier - it was TIG Pigeon! Tony

Steve can reply properly to you, Norman - but don't forget that this is a fixed head engine and you are looking at the bottoms of the blocks! Tony

Thanks for all the kind wishes for Christmas and the New Year from everybody - which are very warmly reciprocated! Tony

Thanks Richard! Interesting find. Tony

Well done, Dan! You are certainly going for it! Tony

Obviously a vast and fascinating subject - and I guess that most of us know very little about it. I hope that all the records of it are safe for the benefit of future generations. Tony

Thanks Rod - most interesting! I am not familiar with the abbreviations "DAP" and "DSC" - can you elaborate for me please? Tony

The export of the two "Thornys" in the middle of the Great War to Australia really is quite interesting! Australians took a significant part during the conflict - but I always assumed that any motor vehicles supplied to them were probably given to them when they reached "over here". It would seem unlikely that the lorries would be sent to Australia and then brought back here again! So were these two - and only two in this consignment - sent over perhaps for training or familiarisation purposes - so that Australian forces knew what to expect when they reached Europe? The sort of question that Roy Larkin might be able to answer - if the answer is not available from one of our Australian friends! Tony

Great minds think alike! Steve has just come up with the same conclusion. The Yoke is of zinc and is low temperature stuff - so yes, it was cast in, in situ! As was the other steel part with the "eyes" in it to hold the spring ends! Tony

That one is on my mind at the moment, too! The only way that the "Roller" could have been put in is by "springing" the yoke and the material that it is made of certainly does not lend itself to that! Perhaps that is the reason for the cracks in the original? We shall not have that problem with the replacement fabrication as the Roller can be inserted before final brazing of that part. I have also been thinking of the weight of the replacement in operation if it is made of a different material. You may have read that Steve favours "steel" but I was more inclined to go for "bronze" - something for us to discuss when we get together over Christmas! My initial thoughts are that it will make little difference - but we shall see! Tony