Mister Mad Mower

My dad used to run 3 lengths of copper wire to the heads and twist them to make pike lure traces of all things . . He would sit with a 1950's converted red table fan that had a wooden block clamped to the shaft with a plywood face plate with sand paper glued to it ( DIY sander ) and shape cork Araldited onto tin plate blanks , then cut celluloid for the fins and set them into the finnished cork at angles so they spun the lure in the water .The spoke threader was put to good use even when he had no spokes to alter .He used to own a bike shop nr Stanley , Durham in the late 50's early 60's and i suppose he brought it with him when the family moved south . Never thought to ask him as it was always there .

Unfortunatly it will be situated within easy reach for her as she actually wanted it , as i recently fitted a new - old cast iron fire place with tile side panels and she wanted it as an ornament to go with the fire companion set i got her , the poker on that is the thing of many a B&W who dunit film .With it's cast pocker with a long sharp spike comming out from it . mmmm thinking about it i think i will cancel my life insurance , just to put her off any idea's she maybe having .

No problem Ian , it was nice to see some one else had one as well . Though i do not know if yours has been retrofitted with the die carrier or if it was a factory upgrade to make usage easier maybe ! .

Best thing you could have done - remove the legs , the one i had , if picked up by the front handle to roll it around used to have a mind of it's own .Either trying to flop to one side or more often than not it would try to up end itself , I had to roll it with the stand feet almost toughing the ground . It cut ok though , Looking at how you have fabricated your new stand , You could easily add a tube under the saws bed with a bolt welded to it loose fixed through the bed .This would enable say a 6 foot length of tube with "A" frame style supports at their extrematies to be inserted at each side of the saw as work supports .The addition of a couple of 6" lengths of tube over the support tubes with simple "T" section support plates welded to them would make a propper job of it .The sliding tube supports could have simple holes and locking pins to enable for quick length changes .And of course due to the bolt through the saw bed , mitre cuts would be easier on long lengths as the swiveling allowed by the bolt enables the support to be turned to the deired angle and still create a solid structure .

The current model has the full stereophonic subwoofer augmented surround sound with corner tweeters . I had the acoustic deadening retro fitted to myself OUCH , her hearings still set to max as she's just come in to see what i was laughing at and prodded me in the ribs after reading the posts .

Nice , I owned a JAP ( light metalic blue colour ) whacker around 25 years ago , it took 2 to lift it with a struggle as the base was a cast iron block around 24" x 12" x 3"( opposite way to modern machines ) which was machined out in the front section to act as the silencer , sold it to a lad who wanted the engine to drive the propulsion fan on a hover craft of all things ! .

Sounds a bit like my wife , but when i place a sheet of plywood on the kitchen table she takes notice as she knows somethings entering her domain that should'nt be there . This is more of a long dark winters night problem as i rationalise that why heat a workshop when we are already heating the house ! . But the usual " Why " crops up when i say i am off to pick something new up . Usually followed by the " I thought you were taking me out shopping " as though i had taken notice of her asking me to do so 3 day's previously ? .Usually asked whilst i am taking something apart and methodically remembering where every nut and bolt came from ..... But this winter i shall remember to sit with my back to a wall - so i can see the iron coming . Either that or fit a radiator to the Wolseley Wd header tank to heat the workshop for free whilst running a little genny off the pulley for light , now theres and idea in the making .

More than probably is deadly in a womans hands ! But at least we can iron out our differences with regards to engines Just hope it's not my head being ironed ......

I got them off the well known auction site , they were a tad expensive at £15 for 10 3.5mm rods , but the price of a new casing soon offsets the cost of the rods . And i have managed to repare 3 water pumps , the TY and used my last rod last weekend welding an Ally foot bar back on a pushchair . All in all they have opend up a whole new area of welding for me . Of note is tthat i did not preheat the casings as the process is that fast the heat stays localised . And when you do a blob of weld , i scrape the rods tip on a house brick to remove the flux bulid up .( a little white clump falls right off the tip ) allowing you to strike an ark without scraping along the jobs break line as i found this left spatter and black holes in the ally casings . Goto the auction site and search for " Aluminium welding rods " and scroll through all the Tig rods finding all the suppliers of the flux coated stick rods to find the size / quantity you require . And remember that all you may know about using steel rods goes out the window with Aluminium , as they burn so fast all you need to do is drop your hand towards the job as the rod shortens , simply laying the run of weld along the break line . edit - Forgot i had none left so have just purchased a 12 pack of Harris 26 rods for £19 , so the price has gone up a little but you now get an extra 2 rods .

I own a few electric welders , Migs with and without gas , an Oxford oil filled monster and several stick welders .Last year i purchased a Chinese electronic inverter Tig / Stick welder . A 200 amp model of the all electronic variety ( no heavy coils inside ) . So i decided to give ally welding a go , something i had always avoided like the plague . And to my suprise found it to be easy ! . As the rod arks up i have to simply lay the rod down the break , none of this weaving side to side or making an " e " movement as with the steel rods . A 12" rod is gone in 5 or 6 seconds it's that fast a process . The welder set at 160 amps with a negative torch polarity works really well on water pump casings of around 1/4" wall thickness . After a few water pump housing repares for people i dared try it on a 1974 Yamaha TY80 side casing of only 2.5mm thickness at 120 amps. Plus a plate had to be welded in along the top of the casing where the chain had broke the whole thing away . The inside aint pretty as i added extra blobs to stop vibration cracking and just left them , but the amount of ally laid down allows for a good reshaping back to origonal profile on the outside . The main break was right along the curve where the casing drops to the chain guard , heavily splitered and bashed . But it looks good now . I hold my hands upto not getting on with Tig welding at all , but this new welder has enabled me to ally weld at last . Fast and easy , just remember to clean the break up good and give it a wire brushing with a stainless brush to remove all the grime then blast it clean with carb cleaner to make sure it's clean .

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " . So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool . My hopes were high but not for long . The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned . "Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so ..... But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .

Thanks for that Stormin ,I will have a look in different mags . I was thinking of crew cab van with an extra 2 seats in the back ( 7 of us ) to leave a little room for the engine on a little trolley .And be able to tow the trailer tent .But then i thought of a showmans vehicle and how as such 2 trailers can be towed ( living caravan and ride / exhibit ) .Just an idea that i though would save me getting another vehicle just for going to shows with . I already have a 1994 VW LT35 pickup 12' x 7' back with a Lucas 150kg swing lift fitted , and did contemplate a dismountable living box for the back , but the lack of seats prevents this idea .But iff i end up with a crew cab / mini bus the swing lift is going in the back to save pushing the engine up and down ramps .

Hi , new to the site but have attended several shows over the years as a day visitor , but have only 2 weeks ago obtained my first what i would call " Showable " stationary engine .A 1947 Wolseley WD1/11 .( common as muck but cheap as chips ) Bought a Wolseley 500 mower the other night and the chap i got it off has only 50 engines now ? and goes to as many shows as he can each year . The subject of insurance raised it's head and he recons he pays £3.50 a year ? . Is this a club discounted scheme or is it an individuals price ? Has anyone any experiance of buying such insurance ? . Do i have to be a club member to get into shows with the old Wolseley ? . Where do i find out months in advance of any upcoming shows so i can book a place ? Has anyone ever registered their car / van as a showmans vehicle so they can tow 2 trailers ? Iff so was it a ball ache or straight forward ? . Again , how and where can an individual get showmans insurance ( may have to ask a traveller at a fair about this one ) . And anything else i cannot think of please ....

Almost forgot , bought 2 new 4.10 / 3.50 x 6 knobbly quad tyres for her today .Only £18 delivered so am looking forward to them comming as the old girls rubber is perished . Had looked at the invalid scooter tyres but they are 4 times the price of the quad tyres .

The 500 is in good condition for it's age with even the tensioner working along with the throttle cable , I have a modern Hayter Harrier with roller drive that the engine looks like a straight drop in and run job .Looking forward to next years cutting season and having some fun with it .Had a look on an auction site and found Bomford yellow , looks about right for the old Wolseley , but i do like the non commercial red and white in Rotosythebens piccy , so who knows i may go with the origonal yellow or end up with a retro looking red and white .

Here's a couple of photo's of the triple head dies for cutting / rolling the threads on the spokes , just so you know what they look like . Note the split collet so different diameter spokes can be threaded , and the angled lead in on the dies . Where the one in the articles lead images seems to be for a single size interchangable die ! .

Just picked one up 2 days ago for £20 , looks in good solid condition but the engines siezed and been mucked around with .But on the upside , due to it being a belt drive to the chain drive it looks like one of my Hayter Harrier engines will go straight onto it as the Hayter roller drive looks to be a similar size of drive pulley . And as i buy to use , not just have to look at as it were i like the more solid built machines of yesteryear . So off to be shot blasted ( good having a nephew with a big paint shop ) and a couple of coats of new yellow enamel should have it looking new again .

My son bought a phone from abroad and it ended up in the Netherlands , he got a message saying it had been sent onto England so we both sat watching http://www.heathrow-london.co.uk/airport/live-air-traffic-radar the only DHL plane that had taken off in the Netherlands as it came across and over Kent . So we actully were watching the radar track of the delivery plane bringing it to him . But it still took another 2 days to arrive at the door ? . But at the other end of the scale we have been given tracking numbers from Chinese companies that when entered into the carriers system simply does not exist ? . With me emailing a carrier once and asking where my delivery was , turned out they did not even have it ? . But i understand the dilema of distance buying , especially as with a recent purchase , the buyer shows a Sigma APO lens which should have 5 APO elements in the lens groiup and a normal DG 70-300 with a single APO element arrives , his excuse was that he didint relise he had uploaded an image of a different lens , and because the DG has an APO element he did advertise the lens correctly ? .So i am stuck with a crappy lens and still relying on my old Tamron 75-300 for now . And i did win an old diesel greens roller once ( tricycle style ) as i had a job for it , as it went cheap i was imediatly informed that it had fallen off a fork lift and had broken in half , I informed him that it did not matter and i still wanted it as i was going to remove the front steering roller any way , he then replied that he had now put it in a skip ? and i was given a refund .....Another item was a Hilti nail gun , a 50 mile trip to pick it up ended with the seller no where to be seen and me being informed he may have gone out walking ? A 2 hour wait ended with me simply going home , but another case of the auction price being too low for the seller as he started it off at £9 and no one else bid . So i have had my fair share of time wasting sellers along the way .

I stopped selling altogether , I used to make and sell cut vinyl signs and stickers but gave up .The feed back was always good it was just the competitors emailing for silly things .One claimed to be a taxi company that wanted 6 taxi sets of graphics .Not a problem .This went on for 2 weeks with the customer accepting the designs then emailing an hour latter with alterations based upon colour or additional wording .In the end i asked my nephew down in Margate to check the company out for me ( He designed and now fits a taxi tracking system) so knows most taxi companies personally ) .Yep , the company did not exist .Just another competitor mucking about and wasting my time . But i hold my hands upto emailing sellers with silly questions myself , as i sometimes need a thing for a thing that i cannot buy new . I have just rebuilt a 1974 Yamaha TY80 for one of my boys and needed a kickstart shaft , pay £100 for a TY or look around .An RD80 one came up for sale so after 3 emails asking for shaft diameter and length , then teeth number on the sprocket , then angle of the stop tab i was happy it would fit and bought it .And it fitted so i saved £80 and got what i was after . But after many years of buying i found that if i emailed all the info in a single message , usually the seller would not reply with all i had asked . And i always try to collect as when i arrive i have a natter and usually come away with other bits and bobs the seller didnt even think of selling . Just 2 days ago i bought a Wolseley 500 rough cut mower after i made a best offer , when i arrived at the sellers home we talked for an hour then it transpired he was the son of an old friend who i had not seen since he was 10 , 15 mins latter and i came away with the mower and a Wolseley WD11 for a tenner and a set of cast sack barrow wheels and axle with the forged lift plate for another tenner . Buy i always try my best to ascertain suitability before making an offer or buying anything . And recently i have been plaqued by non arrival little bits and bobs , seemed to have statrted after the privatisation of Royal Mail .WIth the odd ones turning up after an extra week or more ! .The latest were 4 battery packs for 18650 batteries , the seller was adament he had sent them so i waited an extra 2 weeks and they eventuallu turned up . Which i feel was a case of selling before the stock was available to sell more than a missing item , as it seems to be a more prevalant way of selling new items nowadays .Take your money then order the items from a warehouse then send them to you after 4 or 5 weeks .

Funny place Beamish , miss the turn off and your in " No Place " !

Nephew owns a large sprayshop / blasting company ( you can drive a 40' hgv into the spray booth ) He restored a TK a few years ago , he still has the origonal army cab roof rack sitting on top of one of his containers as the owner did not require it for the Tk as it was for haulage work .

You can also switch the polarity and replace the steel plate with a copper pipe or zinc sheet or old brass ornament to coat your items ( electroplate ) . A good cheat is to make up copper pipes then zinc plate them to give an origonal steel pipe look . Steel nuts and bolts with a zinc coat first then a copper / brass coat gives you a real finnishing touch at a fraction of the cost of buying solid brass / copper fixings . Especially usefull when high torque loads would strip out a brass or copper nut threads . You can go micro for individual letters etc on casings by running stainless welding rod / wire into a cotton bug / swab and applying liquid electroplating solution of the metal of choice onto the single letters etc instead of painting them .Though this method requires only around 3v or the plating can burn / blacken . The zinc coat should be polished to a shine before applying copper / brass as this gives a much better finnish . And of course , any washing rinsing should be done with new deionised water to eleviate any chemical / metals contamination from tap water . And do this in a ventilated room or better still out doors as the fumes can kill . And should you decide to coat chrome plated tools etc , then the chrome has to be removed back to the nickle plate under it .A weak solution of caustic soda and a swab set up for removal sees the chrome come right off , then Brass or copper plate will stick to the tools etc without the need for a zinc sub base . Imagine a rack of brass look spanners set up at a rally . With of course complimentary brass / copper work on your pride and joy , polished and glinting in the sun . But all there is to it is to remember that the polarity matters . That is to say the metal always travels to the negative - terminal , so to remove metal / rust attach your part to the + terminal . To add metal / electroplate , attach it to the - terminal . But the question is , do batteries run backward ? .

Spoke threader , i have the same machine which was my fathers , though the one i have is origonal black / rust in colour .

Then i reccomend a nice blue vinyl wrap then the owners can make a flag

Went to pick up a Wolseley 500 mower yesterday and picked up another Wolseley WD1 / 11 ( EN 12171 ) and a nice pair of cast wheels and axle off the same guy . The head / hopper was rusted on solid and my little blowlamp kept going out due to the depth of the tank to head killing the flame . The easy solution was to turn the Wolseley into a BBQ . I covered the bottom of the tank with ASDA wood pellet cat litter and let it run it's course latter -30 mins latter and off it came with a gentle pry with a 18" crowbar . Never tried this before ( using cat litter ) but have on occasion put a little petrol in cylinders and let it burn to free up stuck pistons . Tip for the cat litter wood pellets - Dry them out in the sun / oven otherwise they do not burn correctly and can be smokey and try to keep the water ways open to allow the air to feed the fire.