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Hi Jenny, The definition of a shotgun is a smooth bore weapon with a barrel not less than 24 inches in length and needs a shotgun certificate and if made must go through proof at either London or Birmingham proof houses. If the barrel is shorter than 24 inches it becomes a firearm and has to...

Oh boy, many a true word. Many years ago I was setting up a Herbert 2D capstan lathe where I worked as a tool maker / machine setter and general dogs body for an old boy who lost his legs through a smoking related desease . The material I was setting the machine up with was 3/4" hex bar held in...

Hi Jenny, Sorry to hear of your problems, the arthritus in my hands is nothing to your pain. I've got to get rid of a load of tools simply to make room for more tooling. I still sell, service and repair air compressors and my clients, knowing that I work with model engines, keep offering me...

Could be an old "farm engine". There were a lot of them around in the '20's and '30's to drive things like milking machines. No casting marks or names on them. Bought by the local blacksmith as a set of castings and machined up with his machine tools in the local forge. I aquired an exposed...

Pin the corners back with a staple gun ? Just joking. I use the scalpel myself and then splash Hydrogen Peroxide on the cut, 3-5%. Works.

I am a compressed air engineer. I sell air compressors, air systems on workshops and factories and I am consulted on how to use compressed air safely. I have to tell my clients about the danger of compressed air. DON'T, DON'T, DON'T ever blow yourself down with compressed air. A number of things...

I sold it for £199 because that was what it was worth when I was 22 years old. I'm now 70. Believe me, I have always regretted it and one day, if I win the lottery, I will get another one. Or a Morgan Plus 8, that would do as well.

Sold my 1949 Vincent series C Rapide for £199, always regretted it.

Last Sunday I did a boot sale and finally got rid of all my imperial mikes. It was only when my wife asked me if I had anything in my workshop that I wanted to get rid of that I realised that the mikes hadn't been touched for well over 6 years, and then only to dust round them. Surprisingly, the...

With all this talk about the toxicity of coolants I think we might be more concerned about the micro fibres that we are breathing in from our synthetic clothing. With the enormous amount of waste plastic around these we, as engineers, must be able to find a way of turning it back into oil and...

All this talk about misting coolant onto the component that is being machined, has anyone thought about breathing in this material. ? I supply, service and repair industrial air compressors and one of the greatest problems I have is the oil / air cooler radiators getting clogged up with the...

I have amassed a fairly comprehensive home workshop over the years starting off with a Harrison 10" lathe with a taper turning attachment on the back of the bed. I think it must have come over from the States as part of a Lease Lend package from WW1. The wear was terrible and in the end I sold...

I have no idea of the current price as I bought my little tin well over 20 years ago. Mind you, it's still ok.

In the UK the oil based blue for finding high spots was and still is known as "Micrometer Blue" and comes in a small round tin about 2" diameter. As an engineering apprentice we found that if the blue was put on the handle of the college instructors bench vise he could get it all over his white...

It's amazing what you can pick up at the local scrap metal yard. I bought a Cincinnati dividing head for £10.00. Had a lot of backlash in the spindle but the scrap dealer didn't know that there is an adjustment screw inside the unit and it's working like new. Fitted a 3 jaw chuck and it's worth...

To all my Brothers, I'm a Past Master of a craft Lodge in the UK and a current Master of a Mark lodge. Also a member of the Dorset Masonic Bikers Association. I have a collection of model engineering books by "Tubal Cain" and at the moment have a Stuart Turner Major beam engine and a 1" Maclaren...

Dnalot, Where can I get a set of drawings for the Gatling Gun ? I made my own Long Range pistols for competition shooting and ended up with 7x Bisley Grand Master medals and 2x world records for my troubles. My wonderful government then took our hand guns away saying that we weren't safe to...

Hi Jenny, I did my apprenticship with Vickers and BAC as an Aircraft Toolmaker. It taught me a great deal about what can go wrong. After I left I got a job with a small engineering company in a little village in the New Forest called Burley. Whilst setting up a Herbert 2D capstan lathe with a...

Now we come to the difference between "Horse Power", Brake Horse Power and Nominal Horse Power. Nominal Horse Power was introduced by the makers of traction engines when Farmers or Hauliers wanted to know how much work could the new fangled machines do compared to a horse. An "Alchin" or a...

I am pretty cirtain that NSK supply bearings in both metric and imperial. I'm afraid that i'm an old fart who still thinks in imperial and is too old to change.