andypugh

You are correct: "The original Jubilee Clip was invented by Commander Lumley Robinson of the British Royal Navy, who was granted the first patent for the device by the London Patent Office in 1921[citation needed] while operating as a sole trader." But they could easily have been fitted soon after the war as an in-service repair.

You might not appreciate how _much_ effort. I would rather he was working on his truck. But, it might be worth asking the moderators / others with raw database access if there is way to script the changes.

So rather than taunting me with what an idiot I am, and showing off how clever you are, why don’t you explain the problem that I am too dumb to see?

The spring is placed inside the tube to keep it circular, then wound out afterwards. It works with 15mm and 22mm routinely. Why wouldn't it work with 35mm?

Makers of brass instruments apparently use soapy ice: https://youtu.be/8NAaRQUTp9g?t=3m18s Plumbers would use a bending spring: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Internal-Pipe-Bending-Spring-10mm-15mm-22mm-28mm-Tube-Bender-Plumbing/232601166166?hash=item36281c2156:m:mnHtEuP4Pq_282rt49UhyTA But I can't see one bigger than 28mm. Though I suppose you could make one with a suitable mandrel and some steel wire (wouldn't even need to be spring wire, but would be better as square. I have never tried sand as a filler, but I have tried sugar, with no luck at all. I have heard of using lead or Woods Metal. I think that you would need to use a lot o force in that case. I have a cheap eBay hydraulic bender that came with a set of cast formers. You can get the formers separately or about £10 less than for the complete tool (so might as well buy the tool or the "free" hydraulic cylinder. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Pieces-Cast-Dies-Formers-1-2-21-3mm-2-60-3mm-For-Pipe-Benders-12-Tons-New/222336535165?hash=item33c44a4a7d:g:RDwAAOSw2-BZcqSF But there is no 1 3/8 former in there. It is possible that you have under-estimated the wall thickness of the part on the other lorry. Thick-wall tube is far easier to bend without buckling. Get some 1 3/8 solid copper bar and drill a 1/2" hole down the middle :-)

;-) Your monkey is getting good results. Ice seems like a poor choice for hot bending. I have an eBay hydraulic bender. It can't do exhaust pipe tube, it just collapses. For exhausts you need internal support. I have tried sugar, with no success (the internet claims success) Commercial exhaust benders use internal balls to keep the tube round. Its clever and too complex to put in this margin.

I am uncomfortable setting myself up as some kind of expert here, I doubt that I have much more experience at welding and brazing than you do. But brazing is generally done with the torch in one hand and the filler rod in the other. It is entirely possible that the problem is that you don't have goggles or an adjustable helmet. Or that you are not watching what the pool of molten metal is doing, and which of the parts is it wetting / fusing to. Brazing is a 2-handed job. You seem convinced that you are a poor welder. Stop that. Some really very stupid people are good welders and it isn't a dynamic skill like ball games. You just have to watch what the metal is doing and react to / influence that. You might want "welding specs" (serious suggestion, my welding mask has a slot or lenses and its a _huge_ help. If your eyes are more than 12" away from the weld pool you probably can't see enough. (note for Observers: This is "peer" advice. I am not a welder.)

Or monkeys (Mandrill bending)

I think that if you were wanting coupons of braze to run then you haven't quite embraced the nature of bronze welding. It is much more like gas welding than silver soldering. You heat the area with a flame and dab with the rod and/or flux. It is easiest with oxygen-acetylene but I did once do a 3-man bike frame (no lugs) with a carbon arc torch. It's about heating the metal on both sides of the weld to the point that the metal wets, and then adding enough filler rod incrementally to get the fillet you want. It might be that you were scuppered by an insufficiently focussed, insufficiently fierce flame.

I believe that our 1916 fire engine should have linoleum pyramidal matting in the places that it currently has pyramidal aluminium, and possibly on the top of the body too. So that would basically be any horizontal lat surface on the wooden body, especially anywhere that people would stand or walk.

Have you driven a WW1 vehicle? Not crabbing would be unauthentic.

Not directly relevant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplex_Safety_Glass But, perhaps it would be useful to know what the inner layer was made of at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminated_glass In the history section says that cellulose nitrate was used in the first safety glass, to that is another suggestion that Celluloid is the likely material. Also interesting, but not particularly illuminating is https://simanaitissays.com/2013/04/09/isinglass-curtains/

Thanks for the link. I was misremembering. The phrase I recall was indeed “isinglass curtains”. Interestingly the Wikipedia page on isinglass begins with “ for the material used in window sheets see “mica”” FWIW RS still sell mica sheets. It’s still a useful material where you need a high temperature insulator.

As Steve mentioned, there was also celluloid (cellulose nitrate) which was in common use for film stock. I have a vague recollection of hearing a mention of celluloid curtains on horse drawn hackney carriages. (But all those words are hopeless google search terms)

Another option would be wire spark erosion. It is a fair bit more expensive, but can do much deeper cuts and has no significant kerf. I was going to suggest profiling with WSE twice, once at right-angles to the crank axis to get the waist, then the actual profile. However that would still require post-machining to make the round things round, so is probably not worth the bother. This is clearly on a much smaller scale, but there might be some useful ideas for conrod machining. http://www.f1-2000.co.uk/index.php?f=conrods

Perhaps Santa can bring you one of these? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232271498856 I have found mine to be perfectly adequate.

I don't think anyone has ever had much luck TIG welding 19-teens Dennis castings. Which is why I was thinking that MIG might work better.

Yes, you need a spool-gun or a push-pull feeder. It might be hard to justify the expense. Looking at the welds, what gas were you using? That soot suggests to me that you were using CO2 or Argoshield? I am pretty sure it needs to be pure Argon.

I had the same problem with my 3D printed patterns. Now that you know, it would be easy to leave a hole to glue a bit of dowel in to.

Thinking about it, I have read a couple of books on clockmaking myself, and seem to recall something about "white springs" and "blue springs". My research was entirely on what would be termed "white springs" and I think that, on reflection, the "blue spring" technology you are using is correct both for the springs you are using and the age of the vehicle. I suggest that you ignore me in future :-)

I wouldn't expect that to work, as thin spring steel typically gets it properties from the cold work rather than heat treatment. If you find that there is a problem, then try again cold-forming the springs. (If I have a speciality, this is it, I did postdoctoral research on spring steel materials for retraction springs. I even had my own rolling mill to work with)

Are you planning on another layer of metal-sprayed aluminium to hide the screws?

The "box" brackets seem like a rather crazy design. (Harder to make, need a core, not as strong) so did they have another function? Were poles passed down inside them for some purpose, perhaps?

I wonder if aluminium MIG wire would have worked for filling the pits? (The risk is a bit higher than either of the techniques you tried)

What a lovely thing, and the steering wheel is on the convenient side for UK use too. It's not cheap though, is it?