SPARE-TIME JOB

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30288, 14 November 1963, Page 16

SPARE-TIME JOB

Spare-tune work by one ot Its teachers has produced this valuable piefe of equipment for the Christchurch Technical College. At its last meeting, the board of governors was informed that Mr A. J Nolan, of the engineering department, had constructed a new torsion testing machine for the hydraulics and strength of materials laboratory The machine had taken more than a year to construct, but would probably have cost at least £4OO to buy, said the principal (Mr D W. Lyall). The base of the machine was taken from an abandoned printing machine, and the geared screw head was purchased separately All other parts, except for a set of scales which had been given

to the college, were made in the workshops. All measurements, including a new set of values for the converted scales, were calculated and marked out by Mr Nolan. The torsion testing machine measures tolerance of any sample of metal to twisting, which can then be compared with a standard measurement for the material. This photograph shows the machine ready to use. Tlie sample steel protrudes from the circular disc, which is market in degrees. A pointer against this disc and another against a scale at the end of an eight-inch sample length gives the degree of twist in the material, which is applied through gears by turning the wheel on the righthand side. The force applied is measured on the scales.