No32 Souvlaki & On the Subject of Necessity Being the Mother of Invention.....

Well, if anyone can suggest a better way of 'holding' scope tubes when baking on the suncorite in the oven I'm open to it! I get hell off her indoors because of the pong that lingers in the kitchen afterwards.......but some degree of transient odour is probably unavoidable.

Pretty well all of the tatty No32's that came from India have parts missing - some of them lots of parts. The Big Duke helped me with some sorely needed spares but is still in the process of getting his workshop built, so another fellow forummer got me some grat blocks for Mk3 scopes & some clicker plungers made. However, there's always something you never thought of. So, there comes a time when you just have to have a go yourself. I'm quite pleased, although I did have to make four attempts to get two usable clicker plunger retaining screws; the first worked out fine, the second fine, except I got a bit over enthusiastic with the parting off tool & so the screw lies as yet unfound somewhere in the dark recesses of my garage; the third one I got one of the dimensions wrong due to rushing after losing the second; & the fourth.........I also managed to get right.

No doubt I am making many mistakes, but I'm also learning a lot & thoroughly enjoying it.

I wound up getting a proper shop baking oven and can suspend parts with metal hooks. I use stainless steel blood hangers. They look good Rog. I've done a few scope tubes over the years but not too many.

Roger might be worth getting a mini oven to put in garage, then can setup to avoid the normal ear bashing from other half. Jerry had the same problem so bought something simple and similar to this to use in work shop Mini Oven | Portable Ovens | ALDI

Roger: Keep your eyes open at the local thrift store and pick up one of the larger toaster ovens.
They work well and once you get them set just mark the settings on the dial as the temperature markings are not that accurate.
Large toaster ovens are cheap as chips as you guys say and a large one is usually around 20 to 25 here at the local Value Village.
Same set up with rods and a frame and NOT SHMBO good baking pan.
Just take it to the garage or outside when baking.....

Thanks for the tips gents. I suppose it would definitely reduce the amount of earache I get if I get one of those ovens & use it in the garage! I'll look into whether they are available over this side of the pond as cheaply as in North America.

Brian, I use hooks for some parts too, but there isn't enough 'depth' in our oven to take a scope tube like that. Mind, I do suspend them, receivers, & various other parts in parkerising solution using hooks made from wire coat hangers cut into short lengths & the ends bent round. Works a treat!

Nice bit of lathe work Rog, yep small bits are right a pain, are you screw cutting the thread on the lathe ? or using a die nut ?

Hi Geoff,
I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never learnt how to screw cut on the lathe - I'm largely self taught & my skills are very limited. I use the chuck in the tail stock & open it enough to 'trap' the die in the die stock at 90 degrees to the job whilst bearing up against it. I then wind the three jaw chuck round by hand letting it 'draw' the die onto the job, thus cutting the thread. It's slow, but it usually works & ensures the thread is cut square. An old gunsmith showed me how to do it years ago in his garden shed workshop using his South Bend lathe that had come out of BSA Shirley at the death. I just use a little Myford ML7 in the garage.

Roger, dear o' deary me........ you are a total sucker for punishment. Those detent plunger housings are best made from a 6" length of brass bar, threaded all the way along. With me so far? Drill in, part off to AT THREADED LENGTH and same again, and again, and again until you have twenty or so..
What on earth do you want the step for the spring for? It serves no useful purpose....., the spring seats itself on the ledge, surrounding the plunger. It doesn't need an internal collar!!!!!
As for the round screwdriver slotted cap, then just machine bar to diameter and part off 50 or so circular tops. Soft solder round tops centrally to threaded inners. Simple I did one batch of 20 by leaving a small pip of material on the enner side of the top circular disc. And this little pip just sat into and closed off the open plunger hole.

As for the plungers.............

Thanks Peter. That's one of the reasons why I posted this thread - I'm always open to helpful suggestions, & someone, (you), has just told me a better way of making them! I'm with you & I'll do it that way in future. In fact, I know I'll need a few more of these components in the fullness of time, so I may run off ten or a dozen. It'll be much quicker & easier now you've suggested how.

As an aside, & I know Peter has spoken highly of them in the past, & I have always found them very good too, but I can't sing the praises of Tracy Tools, down in Dartmouth, too much. They always seem to have what you need, & when I ordered the 1/4" x 40 TPI Model Engineers die for making these screws on Friday afternoon at about 4.30pm I never dreamt a jiffy bag containing the die would land on my front door mat by 10am the next morning. Incredible service. I just don't know how they did it that quickly! If you need drills, taps, dies & so on I'd thoroughly recommend them. Their web site is easily found if you google their name.

Does anyone make a die for the double start elevation screw?