DaveL59

and soon to be delivered via a direct drop from the sky, so no excavating required 😉 Just fill the hole back in and you're done...

and the debris lands on a city China rocket: Uncontrolled return to Earth raises concern - BBC News 25 tons heading back in on Sunday night, get to the bunkers folks! oops 00:24 Sunday so saturday night in fact 😊

hard to say but I've seen big Swift 20x80's go for upwards of £80 even with some minor issues. yours tho are in good condition and have the tripod carrier too as well as more aperture so >£120-150 maybe. All depends tho on if there's a target audience wanting them. Then again rarity could bump that much higher. As a total contrast... Nikon Binoculars MIKRON 7 x 15 M CF Black from Japan 4960759207715 | eBay and that's lower than I've seen them in the past, thankfully I paid a lot less for the ones I have 😉

Looking at the pic wonders if it's also worth flocking the inside of the focuser tube? Looks awfully light/silvery in the photo.

for me, these just dropped thru the letterbox fingers crossed I can fix the USM ring motor that has a failed silver trace in that big 150-600mm camera lens 🙂

I wonder if you could get something like this that is sized to fit around the centre column so it can be sat onto the leg stays? That way the hook would be free to use.

Would suspending a weight (from your bottle solution) from the hook at the end of the centre column not help to improve the tripod stability further. Otherwise a great bit of experimenting there and elastic anchoring of the objective end seems to have helped a lot to achieve more usability 🙂

we've grown a lot more since those days 😉

Having been burgled twice I'll always insure and will list high risk items like camera, lenses etc but it'll usually fall below individual item limits, well to be determined if I ever need to claim the camera body plus lens(es) if they get robbed while out and about. You can almost bet the insurer will try and say single item... hopefully will never need to test that out 🙂 Wonder how many actually take out these optional phone insurances tho, mine is covered by the home insurance so I don't see the point of paying again for it. Given the replacement cost I'd likely just get another on contract or outright purchase before an insurer would pay out anyway.

nice, a quality name at least so any issues they should send a replacement if it dulls on the first use 🙂

The set I have is V similar if not same as this one: Tap and Die Set, 110 Piece Screw Taps Tool Set, Heavy Duty Carbon Steel Tapping Tool Set, M2-M18 Screw Nut Thread Taps Dies Set with Wrench Handle : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools Not the dogs B's perhaps but enough for the use I put them to, which is occasional cleaning/clearing existing threads and the occasional new when for example re-making a binocular focus arm. They've worked just fine tho I have also bought in some of the much smaller 1.3-2.5mm for specific jobs like tapping for those teeny tiny grub screws optical gear seems to love to use. Do be aware @wookie1965 that the second set you listed says only M6x1.0 so is that the size you need or did you need 0.75 or both? If you get the metric only set you do get both thread pitches in the set. Nice they include a thread pitch gauge tho, I had to buy one separately.

surely we want a full on action video in HD or 4K? 😉

and the pilots of the Jumbo jet thought they had it hard judging the distance wheels to runway 😄

why? I'm referring to the man and a significant object being named after him despite his known history. Seems NASA maybe hasn't learned or just doesn't consider it important. I'm sure many of us watched 'Hidden Figures' and lauded the administrator who removed the segregation but it does make you wonder how much of that was Hollywood gloss vs the real story.

Yikes! £120 to cut a thread, they must've heard that for astro gear prices you take your usual fee and multiply by 60 or something 😮 Fair enough tho, I find it handy to have a set available when threads on the car, binos etc need cleaning up to chase the crud that can build up out etc.

Before you do order any, check the thread pitch on your bolt and ensure that the set you order has one that matches, or better has both thread pitches in the set. Else you'll be no further forward if the pitch doesn't match up. If you place your M6 bolt against your existing tap do the threads match?

that's odd then, if the original was M6 then the M6 tap should run through easily into the original M6 threaded hole and maybe clean up the thread tho of course any stripped ones would be cut away. Can you check what the thread pitch is too? I have 6x0.75 and 6x1.0 tap & dies, your original may be the other size compared to the tap you are using.

Should be able to, my set has one similar to the one you have but for the smaller taps only, never used it tho. Out of interest, what was the original bolt size? It may be that you're trying to tap a hole that's just a shade too small so the tap is trying to cut away more than just the material that it cuts to form the thread.

did your set not come with one like this?

might be worth asking at a local machine shop or auto-repairs place if they could run a thread in there for you? They may even do a helicoil repair if they have the right size. No idea what they'd charge but may not be much for a small part like that one. Don't ask at the local shipyard tho, they'll likely want to fix the parts together using a hot iron rivet and steam hammer 😉

ok so taking this debate a tad further, what are folks thoughts on this one: Yes, the 'Von Braun' Space Hotel Idea Is Wild. But Could We Build It by 2025? | Space I mean, really! that is not a good choice of name at all given the history the the man. Of course the US quietly extracted him from Germany after WW2 because they wanted his expertise and happily turned a blind eye to his past but to consider naming something after him? Wernher von Braun - Wikipedia Might as well name something after the leader of the party he was a member of too, no?

I'd use a hand tap rather than a drill assuming you'd have a hand drill that would take the size of the tap shank. Just work slowly and lube the tap so it can do its job. As above you might be able to run a tap 0.5-1mm oversize but be sure you can get a suitable replacement bolt in that size and that it'll fit the assembly before diving in 😉

I agree that lessons should be learned. Something that was named years/generations ago that had been built by someone who profited from, for example, slavery, yes don't change it but perhaps have some informational plaque to indicate an acknowledgement of said past. But to name something today after someone whose known past shows a discriminatory approach to others, well I'd say that obviously no lesson was learned at all. Perhaps the motivation behind current admin deciding it was OK was he either holds those same views or he hopes one day to have some great instrument named after himself...

If a larger bolt would fit then drill out to suit and re-tap to size would work. Never used helicoils myself but they are common to repair damaged threads so would be a solution too. Think you may still need to drill the existing hole out and re-tap for the coil to be fitted but at least you'd be staying to the OEM standard size bolt.

That's the thing many forget or don't realise when they make a claim, you're also then stymied if you look for an alternative quote at renewal time as you have to declare prior claims and that'll afflict the price offered. Sometimes its better to swallow the bitter pill and bear the cost yourself rather than be paying forward for several years and come out about even or worse at the end.