Exhausted

Like everybody else who has curated my late father's lawnmower, the time came for me to build it a new exhaust pipe. Tradition plays as much part in the process as good engineering. Since the late 70s the exhaust pipes have been made from paint tins and wire wool wadding. You cut a hole in the bottom of the tin to match the manifold and bolt it in place. You drill holes in the lid for the gas to escape and push it into place after the tin has been fitted.

The "silencer" is poorly supported and the standard failure mode is work hardening and tearing of the paint tin near to the manifold. My father made the last "silencer" in the early 2000s and supported it by screwing it to the first stage baffle inside the tin. It has lasted more than a decade, but when this one gave up the ghost it also destroyed the first stage baffle.

Before making the new "silencer" I silver soldered the baffle back together. It's now something akin to precious-metal-crochet and the mower is probably worth stealing because of the large silver content in the exhaust system. I also added the oak block supporting the tin and the big jubilee clip.

Richard "power band" B