MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

That's what I think it is, here's another one but it has a hidden secret. Anyone guess what it is?

[Gloria]

Another plumb line????

[Stanley]

Yes Gloria it's a plumb bob but a bit special...

[David Whipp]

A secret baccy store in a hollow chamber.

[Stanley]

No, but getting warm!

[Bodger]

A modified tail stock "dead centre"

[Pluggy]

Its a hollow steel shell with a lead shot filling to make it heavier ?

[Stanley]

Pluggy is near enough to get the cigar! Not lead shot, even heavier, its filled with mercury, probably illegal now....

[PanBiker]

Is that bits from Stanley's shrapnel collection, prized possessions when a lad!

[Tizer]

Pluggy is near enough to get the cigar! Not lead shot, even heavier, its filled with mercury, probably illegal now....

Only about 20% heavier (13.6 v. 11.3), so it seems a bit strange when lead would do the job almost as well and is less toxic. But then we forget how much less attention used to be paid to elfin safety!

Ian may be right about the shrapnel...or has Stanley discovered oil shale in his Barlick back garden?

[Pluggy]

Its shrapnel, but its from a blown up Lancashire boiler rather than firearms.

[Stanley]

P, I have never forgiven my parents for getting rid of my shrapnel collection, burned out incendiary bomb, 25lb practice bomb and Mills grenade while I was in the army! The streets were littered with the stuff when we went to school. Most of the shrapnel from AA fire of course.
No, it's not shrapnel but hard, heavy and just for a clue, in its present state, it has set in position..... (It can be drilled and tapped)

[Gloria]

Cork??

[Stanley]

A lot harder than that Gloria but you are sort of on the right lines if you were thinking about a seal.....

[Stanley]

I don't think anyone is going to get this one. When I was rebuilding the Whitelees engine we separated the cylinder from the valve chest so I could replace the large studs that held it together. We found that the seal between the two looked like a ground cast iron face but when we looked closer it was a sealant paste that had baked hard over the years. We replaced it with ceramic fibre and Manganesite mixed into a thick paste. Nobody could christen the original sealant but I reckon it was a thick paste made of fine cast iron dust and double boiled linseed oil, the 19th century equivalent of plastic metal! Under heat and pressure it sets like cast iron. If you read the accounts of the failure of the Tay Bridge you'll find that one of the possible causes was that casting flaws in the pillars had been repaired with 'Beaumont's Egg' and I believe that this is the same stuff. Blow holes in castings were regularly filled with it and when painted it was undetectable. Our substitute seems to have worked, no reports of any leaks. We didn't give the new studs their final tightening until we had baked the joint by passing steam through to cylinder for about three days.
Next for shaving?

[Stanley]

All right, let's see if you have lost interest or it's just the holiday season... Try this one! (Clue, it's topical....)

[David Whipp]

Not unrelated to a watercourse you mention in another topic...

[Stanley]

Quite. Bit of a difference in pipe size!

[Stanley]

No offers?

[PanBiker]

Is it where the Bowker drain runs into Stock beck?

[Stanley]

Dead right Ian. Just below the footbridge into the park off Crow Nest Road.
Next for shaving?

[PanBiker]

It's to be hoped it continues running when they have finished terraforming the old allotments plot down Eastwood bottoms.

[Tizer]

Me next please! What's the big piece of kit this man is showing us?

[plaques]

Looks like a cement ball mill. but I can't say where its located.

[Stanley]

I thought perhaps a rotary kiln but I can't see any gradient on it.... Looks as though they have left space for an insulated covering.