Member postings for Adam Mara

My grandfather purchased an existing Ironmongers shop in 1900. I have the stocklist from February 1900 lisiting all the rooms and their contents, and every room from cellars to attics were packed with goods! These including the blacksmiths shop, the tinsmiths shop and a whitesmiths shop, something I had never heard off. It appears it was a like a tinsmiths shop but doing finer work.

The company moved in 1905, but there was still a tinsmiths shop in the late 40s, I remember there being a forge, and patterns for pans hanging on the walls, and I have memories of hectic times at Christmas of the tinsmith making roasting tins. When the tinsmith retired the equipment fell into disuse, and was eventually sold off, apart from the guillotine, which is still used daily in the current business now run by his great grandsons.

A bit off thread, but my wife was a GPO telophonist in the early 60's, she was having her hair done yesterday when the young hairdresser asked what she did before she was married. My wife replied ' a telephonist' .... whats that? asked the hairdresser! How times have changed.

Well, it looks like what I have always called a stilson pipe wrench in my years as an ironmonger! I found a '450mm heavy duty pipe wrench' on Banggood for GBP £20,54 including postage, maybe worth a look?

One option is ti use Ebay Classified adverts, it operates outside the normal Ebay system. I used it very succesfuly to sell my deceased cousins expensive ride on mower . It only cost £10 to place the advert and no further fees were involved, we insisted on cash payment to be really safe! Might be worth having a look.

The Enviroment Agency have some massive pumps, used locally at the recent flooding in Wainfleet. Pretty sure it was reported they had 6 running, and 6 in reserve, and they were brought in from all around the country. Trouble is it takes a few days get pumps in and running. A search on Google Images for 'Wainfleet Pumps' gives some idea of the size of them!

Have a look here!

**LINK**

I came across it while researching repainting our workshop floor, the existing paint (make unknown!) has worn well, but it is a tamped finish concrete, not floated.

Couple of Ospreys flew over South Lincs, heading north west, noisy blighters! More used to the BBMF planes and Typhoons disturbing my afternoon snooze!

Plenty in Lincolnshire at the moment, at home we had 108mm last week.

I had whooping cough in the 70's when I was in my forties, took the doctors ages to sort it out, and I was off work for 2 or 3 months, and I agree, not a pleasant experience. Took me 2 or 3 years to get my health back to normal.

Some idea of the machinery would help, locally we can hire 'Man and Van'. If you drive you can hire pickups or flatbeds with cranes to make lifting easier. When my son bought a clapped out TR6 we just hired a car trailer with winch and towed it behind my car as I had a towball on it.

Yesterday, in urgent need of a 10.1mm drill bit, I ordered one from Tracy along with a few other drills and taps. The acknowledgement was timed at 14.05, arrived this morning in rural Lincolnshire at 8.40 am! Well done to Tracy Tools and Royal Mail!

PC has gone mad! Along with the House of Lords peers deciding pensioners don't deserve free TV licence, free bus travel and the winter fuel payment. Whilst they get £305 a day attendance allowance, free travel and a subsidised restaurant!

Sawdust works even better! I usually find that after 4 or 5 years when there is a management instruction to decorate, any less than 1/2 full tins are pretty solid!

Have a lok at 'JAGETRADE Garden Tools -50~110 °c DC 12v Digital LED Thermometer Car Temperature Monitor Panel Meter Blu' it may be the answer if you don't want to log results. I have a couple of similar Inkbird units that have proved very reliable.

Somewhere in the 60's or 70's, Drapers were selling bulk job lots of assorted surplus taps, a vast assotment right up to 1/2" BSP, many were by made American manufactures. Needless to say my cousin and I, who were running the family ironmongery business, got first pick, the customers got the leftovers!

I would check you updates record in settings, I had 2 updates on the 13th, if thats any help. Never had an email though, usually automatic, slightly worrying!

Gardening is my main love, and a lot of things I make on my lathe and mill are for my irrigation systems. There are various options, including drippers and sprinklers. In the greenhouse I tend to use trays with capillary matting in them, with a timer switching a solenoid valve to gravity feed water from a raised water butt. Pots are checked with a moisture meter, and the valve timing adjusted to suit.

Loads of BSW machine screws at work, at least 25 years old ex B&Q! PM me if don't have any luck, I will be going into work on Monday to collect the rent, and can pinch a few and post them to you!

Just a word of warning! My eldest daughter has a Victorian house with a large cellar, last year there was a cloudburst locally and the drains could not cope, leading to a flooded cellar, ruining the freezer, fortunately my son in law's extensive wine collection was not at affected!

I am 80 in October and this morning i got my annual state pension increase letter, I am informed that I will get an extra 25p a week when I reach 80. If I save it for a year I might be able to buy a bottle of second rate champagne to celebrate!