Golborne Vintage Radio

Hi,

You really are so kind David and what praise.

Like you; I too try to encourage others to have a go at various projects and to try out new ideas and techniques.

Many of the techniques and methods I use have been learnt the hard way and in this respect I still look upon myself as a novice. The more I learn I feel the less I know. I think it is the challenge and not knowing how to do things which keeps me fully interested. Once I've restored something or learnt a new trick or technique I want to try even harder and drive myself forward.

I don't have a magic solution in achieving my successes in fact much of the time it is extremely hard going especially as most of my projects have not been covered before let alone been covered in depth. As you know David I'm a mechanical engineer so being associated with electrics or electronics is quite alien to me and I have to work extra hard just to try to understand the terminology of a subject that so many on this forum can take for granted.

Yes I find my way around a chassis and have even just completed my first ever TV restoration but with the TV chassis I was given top class guidance from VRF members for which I'm truly grateful. I'm not scared of looking stupid in public or in front of the world; I even ask all the silly questions that others would like to ask but are afraid to do so. By taking this approach I quickly learn; once I grasp the basics then I can self teach and research as required.

I love to tackle hopeless projects and if I should ever fail it wouldn't trouble me in the least because up to failing I would be learning so much which otherwise I would have missed had I not attempted the project. I do have considerable patience and determination and it is these two attributes which ensure I succeed; it's not skill because I need to learn how to do the work from scratch by trial and error; I make many mistakes but I like to add these mistakes as I write up my stories.

Take for example the router comb jointing jig. This is an easy project involving only basic woodworking skills and tools but it is most interesting as there are so many variables as to what I have kicking around in the garage or workshop. It takes a bit of thought pulling all the bits together; sorting out how to mount the router and how to make the jig stable to be safe and convenient in use. Do I make it from metal and if so do I weld or bolt; if I make it from wood do I nail (yuk) or screw. What size do I need it to be; what thickness can I get away with for the actual table taking into account the average length of a router cutter and the actual depth of the router plunge. Too thick a table and the cutter won't engage the work. How do I arrange the switching. Once the jig is set up then I need to run a number of test samples in order to attain a perfectly fitting joint. Once the comb joints are cut can I take this further? Perhaps I can adapt for dovetails? I'm always willing to learn and try new ideas and techniques out; it tires me out and on difficult projects I lose a lot of sleep but this is how I like to work.

I've found that if a project is winding me up and driving me around the bend if I stick with it I will eventually succeed and as this works for me I'm sure others if they would only try to tackle projects and stick with them they too would succeed.

I hope this doesn't appear to be a lecture but it is a way of life for me and I just don't know when to quit or walk away from a project that is testing my patience to the limit.

Kind regards, Col.

For many years I've been planning to build a router table which would form the basis of a comb jointer. I have a scrap router - just a cheap B&Q one - with a faulty power switch, so ideal for mounting in a table along with a NVR switch. It's only 1/4", but for an initial experiment (a proof of concept), I'm sure it will be fine. I've several wood-working books that are very inspiring - it seems to me that the secret to routing is in the jig making - that applies to many other wood-work power tools, of course.

I'm self-taught when it comes to wood-work, but happily there is so much out there on the internet. http://woodgears.ca/ has been one of my favourite sites for about 10 years now, and I just wish I had all that space and nice timber to play with! Be warned - a visit to that site is not going to be brief!

Colin, I haven't forgotten about those photos you sent me a while back, and I will get them uploaded soon. The last month has been rather busy, and there's no sign of any let-up soon. I fully intend to write up my recent DIY endeavours - once the new boiler has been installed (brrrr!)

Thanks for the continued inspiration,

Mark

A cheapo router would be fine for a comb-joint jig Mark, as you're routing thin wood side-grain on, with a 1/4" bit. Each slot takes only a jiffy to produce and puts little load on the router. (I've seen pics of your DIY malarkey - pumps and sumps, and land drains in basements and the like. No wonder you're 'rather busy', and of course, you do have the small matter of a day job to perform!).

A Golborne Forum member - a chum of mine - lost his way and strayed onto another forum where he asked for advice about kits and designs for a signal tracer/injector. I know that a couple of GF members have guided him back onto the right track, and he phoned me earlier today to say that he's ordered the Vellman kit.

As its several months since this thread was posted, I thought it might be worthwhile bumping it, in case newer forum members haven't seen it and might find it useful.

Although I made an external RF probe, there's no reason why the components in that probe could not be incorportated along with the kit PCB inside a project box, and an RF input socket be fitted. Similarly, the 0.1uF cap in the AF probe - included as a precaution to protect the PCB should the probe be indvertently applied to an HT point in a set - could be included inside the project case at the AF input socket. Should the RF probe components be placed at an RF input socket, then the AF probe as it stands could be used for the RF/AF inputs and the injector output.

Hope that helps any prospective contructors.

It's true of course that a kit isn't the only way to go - such things as PC speaker/amps which can often be found at car boot sales and charity shops for a pound or two make excellent signal tracers with a suitable probe, and a simple multivibrator using a couple of transistors or an IC could be made as a signal injector. But the Vellman kit isn't expensive, can be had from ESR Electronics the next day, and built in half an hour.

Pays your money, takes your choice!

I must say, this piece of test kit has served me well, blindingly brilliant.

cheers Mark