19-07-2012, 07:15 PM
Thanks for your very kind comments guys!
Knobs, dials, backs and speaker fabric - damaged or missing - are the story of our lives! I posted a thread some time back on repairs to the polystyrene knobs on a 'Fenman 1' which have a long fragile sleeve and are held on with a clip. They're notorious for crumbling away. I turned down the knobs so that only the front discs were left, and made new shanks from transparent acrylic, and glued the knob discs onto the new shanks to which I fitted grub screws instead of a spring clip. The initial attempt wasn't successful as the acrylic shanks cracked when the grub screws were tightened, so I added a sleeve of aluminium tube.
The lathe I use was one that was given to me by a friend. It was just a rusting heap of bits and lay under the workbench neglected for several years till I mentioned it to Colin. At that time, the make of lathe, it's origins, age and original purpose were a mystery to me. It was only when I mentioned it to Colin that he told me it was probably 100 years old and was a watchmakers' lathe by a German firm called Lorch Scmidt. Colin encouraged me to clean it up and get it into working order, since which time it's proved very useful for all sorts of little jobs I'd never imagined.
It came with a box of collets, which I hadn't really known the pupose of, but Colin put me wise and made a rather splendid brass nameplate for the collet box. I've mentioned this on the forum before, but another mention may not be amiss if it encourages others to acquire and use a little lathe. I'm never going to be into big stuff, and most of what we're likely to want to do can be done on a model makers' lathe.
Knobs, dials, backs and speaker fabric - damaged or missing - are the story of our lives! I posted a thread some time back on repairs to the polystyrene knobs on a 'Fenman 1' which have a long fragile sleeve and are held on with a clip. They're notorious for crumbling away. I turned down the knobs so that only the front discs were left, and made new shanks from transparent acrylic, and glued the knob discs onto the new shanks to which I fitted grub screws instead of a spring clip. The initial attempt wasn't successful as the acrylic shanks cracked when the grub screws were tightened, so I added a sleeve of aluminium tube.
The lathe I use was one that was given to me by a friend. It was just a rusting heap of bits and lay under the workbench neglected for several years till I mentioned it to Colin. At that time, the make of lathe, it's origins, age and original purpose were a mystery to me. It was only when I mentioned it to Colin that he told me it was probably 100 years old and was a watchmakers' lathe by a German firm called Lorch Scmidt. Colin encouraged me to clean it up and get it into working order, since which time it's proved very useful for all sorts of little jobs I'd never imagined.
It came with a box of collets, which I hadn't really known the pupose of, but Colin put me wise and made a rather splendid brass nameplate for the collet box. I've mentioned this on the forum before, but another mention may not be amiss if it encourages others to acquire and use a little lathe. I'm never going to be into big stuff, and most of what we're likely to want to do can be done on a model makers' lathe.
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
