AJS & Matchless Owners Club

I've spent a few days trawling around local engineering companies with an arm full of spares that the spares service is in need off. However I've drawn a complete blank as there are no drawings with any technical specs or working tolerances. No drawings exist not even in the archives at Kettering as those are simply all diagrams of parts with no working info.
This is an ever increasing trend that has escalated in recent years and it doesn't bode well for our survival as a club or company.
To continue with our hobby and the survival of the club and spares as we know it I'd urge members to try and take a more active role in sourcing small engineering companies who maybe interested in producing spares from original samples. Without your help I can see the spares situation dwindling away dramatically in the not too distant future.

Rob Swift
AKA the fat President

I'm happy to scour around Devon and Cornwall to try and source engineering shops. There are a few down here tucked away. What sort of spares are you thinking of?

Bruce

oldandsmelly wrote:What sort of spares are you thinking of?

Ditto

If you give us a 'most wanted' list we can focus on local suppliers.

Regards Mick

Rob I have had the same experience, the engineering firms that could make items for us will not contemplate doing so without proper drawings with tolerances. I have said for sometime now that the first step in overcoming the spares problem is to get some of the items most urgently needed drawn up. I suggest the club advertise within the membership to see if there is anyone with drawing experience that could help out.
Ray

There was help, and many drawings have been made, may be too late now to get them. 30 years of this one persons work now going to waste. The person is now reluctant to make more drawings, unless he wants the part himself. I have saved perhaps 100 of this one persons drawings, more are archived in pre war and post war e group archives plus the archives. All this persons drawings would need a few GB's to archive them all. I did put it to a meeting, my offer to try and get them for the club to archive, a few years ago. When the person offered them to be archived when nearing his retirement. It was not taken up by the club. Perhaps on the basis most were for prewar parts ??? There were however many drawings for post war parts, also for prewar parts continued in the post war era.

Have you got a shortlist of most wanted?

The easy answer is anything on the spares service website that states No Stock is something that needs looking at. Behind the scenes there are probably parts that are currently being sourced, but really I'd ask any one who views a parts that's not available and has a good original spare contact either Roy, Gary at Kettering or myself. We can then look at funding and start a file of potential new suppliers and contacts. That'd be a great help to make the first step into rebuilding our depleting/depleted stocks of unique spares.

Ray, I agree completely regarding the drawings however dimensions are easy to add, the working tolerances and material spec is the real issue. Not one company was willing to state what material would be suitable for use if they didn't have original factory specifications.

Also the costs are going to be way higher than we've ever been used to paying in the past, nothing we have any control over.

I'll have a word with the others over the next few days and co-ordinate a plan of attack, what we don't want is several members running around to get prices on the same parts. In the meantime if members could just pop into local companies and find out exactly what their working practices are then we'll be able to start on that side of the problem. Ideally they will need to be willing to manufacture from an original piece and no drawings.

Most drawings available are quite simple, they state material, tolerance would be standard for a drawing like this. Perhaps e.g. 3/16" hole + .005 " - nil

We're looking a little bit more advanced than that Rob. For mainshafts, cams and followers etc they'd need to be exact spec's, working tolerance , material to be made from specified. They companies want far more than is generally available and won't manufacture on simple hearsay. If it was that simple we'd have no problem. I think even the Pre-war gear you have had made in the past you'd not get done nowadays.