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RAF Leyland workshop lorry


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  • 1 month later...

We've had another find. Not as magnificent as the forge, but useful nonetheless. 

A Drummond lathe, dismantled, for spares or repair, on our favourite online auction site. It has yielded this:

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(in the words of a certain entertainer "can you tell what it is yet?")

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Platform for the electric motor to sit on, also the hand-wheel for the end of the upper lead screw. For this I needed to make a flat key and a stepped collar to control the end float of the lead screw.

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There was also a drive plate for turning between centres. So that's a few more things scratched off the list. 

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Very nice indeed, superb find.

Absolutely lethal and I'm sure they claimed a few fingers in their day! Can you imagine what the HSE would say now🤣.

where I used to work the owner of the buildings had a flat belt drive drill and lathe. I was the only person brave enough to use them!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Thanks for spotting these. I couldn't view the Facebook example - I'm not on Facebook. The eBay Drummond is a 7" lathe so too big for the workshop. But a rare beast, it has to be said. 

If you spot a Luke and Spencer grinder or any of the other equipment that populates the Duxford example, please let us know.

Doc

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  • 5 months later...

 A quick update on the forge. A few repairs have been undertaken: two of the feet were rusted off so new ones have been bent and welded on. The blower assembly was worn, resulting in the fan grating on the volute housing. To fix this, a new dead shaft was made to accommodate the wear in the fan bearing. After reassembly, all is behaving itself again.

All parts have been wire brushed and painted with two coats of blackboard paint. The hope is that, given time, rust will start to come through in some places, making the forge look less "new".

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  • 2 weeks later...

Back east again this weekend.

The forge was missing a 1/2" Whitworth left-hand threaded nut to lock the crank handle onto its shaft. I considered making one but don't have the necessary tap; neither did our favourite online auction site. They did, however have a nut. Expensive, but considerably cheaper than a new tap.

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The weather was unseasonably warm and dry this weekend, so we dropped the back of the lorry and stowed the forge. First we lifted it as high as the scissor-lift truck would go before rolling it over the edge into the body. Then back onto its feet and into position.

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The "long" feet look odd but they are discernable in the Leyland works photographs. They happen to be the ones that were rusted off so we're not sure the exact length. One thing that's for sure is that the forge is inclined to topple over if they are short like the front two. When stowed for transport, the forge, like everything else was screwed down.

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On 10/5/2022 at 3:19 PM, General Dogsbody said:

Brilliant restoration. Saw the one at Duxford at the weekend. Are there any dimensions/plans available for this?

I'm not aware of any original plans or drawings having survived.

I have a 3d cad model of the basic frame. It's dimensionally accurate, especially in detailing the carpentry joints. Everything else was reproduced "on the fly" by copying what was there. 

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If you would like to use this as the starting point to create a more detailed model, that can be arranged. Its modeled in Solidworks but I can export STEP or IGS if that's any use.

 

Doc

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On 9/28/2021 at 10:20 PM, andypugh said:

A YouTube video of an upcoming clearance auction seems to have a drill similar to that from the mobile workshop:

 

https://youtu.be/ojGfR-A_FW4?t=748

 

The post drill is by the "silver manufacturing co"

 

I bought it together with a beam drill, an early Cunliffe & Croom lineshaft driven slotter and a lineshaft driven Plano-mill by Wm Muir 

 

Edited by flandersflyer
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  • 6 months later...

Elsewhere, this has been a weekend of heavy lifting. In lieu of a 4 cylinder 8kW Austinlite generator, this 2 cylinder set has been acquired and is in the process of restoration. One of the two cylinders was badly scaled up; this one has a burnt exhaust valve seat and broken valve guide so is away being fixed. With a long weekend, a break in the weather and the neighbour's forklift available, it was time to lift the set into place in the workshop.

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One of the two wooden pillars had to be removed first.

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Then the set was lifted into place, supported on blocks.

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Then by taking the weight first at one end, then the other, we were able to remove the blocks, lowering the set to its final position.

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  • 3 weeks later...

In a break from tradition I'm not on a speeding train; I'm writing this from the comfort of my armchair. This is the culmination of many weekends work, punctuated by the need for some vital pieces of tooling and waiting for them to be delivered by our favourite online retailer. Most recent in this category were a 1/16" slitting saw and a 12.5mm reamer.

Anyway, enough of this rambling...

With the 4 jaw chuck fitted to the lathe it was time to start turning brass

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Next, transferred to the milling machine to drill the various holes

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After drilling and reaming the holes, it was time for the slitting saw.

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Next, a quick paraffin wash to remove swarf and cutting compound, then the fun bit: assembly.

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Now: don't they look lovely!

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3 hours ago, super6 said:

For fuse wire?

How held/wired up?

Indeed.

Fuse wire passes through the tubular tufnol body, loops round the brass screws (that also clamp the brass connectors to the fuse body) and is retained by the knurled terminal nuts.

Doc.

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  • 5 months later...

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