What did you do Today 2018

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

No bleeper Ian but I am feeling more sure now all is well

Mick

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Memories of 'The Gut' in Malta from the 50s. One of the more 'exotic' lady performers was 'The Sparrow' with a remarkable line in beer dispensing!! We used to transit through Luqa airfield and getting into town was something of an 'act of faith' The bus driver would move off from the main gate and then knock it out of gear and coast most of the rest of the way! The profusion of St Cristopher ornaments on the windscreen obviously served their purpose!

rgds

Bill

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

How well I remember the Empire Ken docking in Valletta Harbour before sailing on for Limassol. It was late February 1957, and we had four hours ashore.

For some reason, which wasn’t obvious (to me) at first, Strait Street was the place to visit. As a very naive 21 year old, I had never heard such bad language coming from one of the woman standing in a doorway. She must have been all of 60.

In fits of laughter perhaps from the shock, we (about ten RAF GWMs) turned and hurried back to the safety of the ship.

Edited By Sam Stones on 12/04/2018 02:30:08

[Raymond Sanderson 2Participant @raymondsanderson2]

Got another bench together. I've to got get rid of some stuff seriously.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Well… yesterday. More lubricator unions for the Polish tank engine. Yet another design, with a brass collar to be soldered to 3/8 pipe rather than a cone or olive.

Ah well, keeps me off the streets…

[Trevor Crossman 1Participant @trevorcrossman1]

Posted by Cornish Jack on 11/04/2018 23:56:19:

Memories of 'The Gut' in Malta from the 50s. One of the more 'exotic' lady performers was 'The Sparrow' with a remarkable line in beer dispensing!! We used to transit through Luqa airfield and getting into town was something of an 'act of faith' The bus driver would move off from the main gate and then knock it out of gear and coast most of the rest of the way! The profusion of St Cristopher ornaments on the windscreen obviously served their purpose!

rgds

Bill

That remarkable beer dispenser was still 'working' in the mid 60's, though I definitely never got my glass filled that way!!

Trevor

[Steve Skelton 1Participant @steveskelton1]

Malta is an incredible island, especially Valetta and surrounds. Went there a couple of years ago to visit all the places my Dad tells stories about. He was based there in WW2 and was on one of the convoys that was decimated – his ship the "Troilus" got through unscathed and he lived a charmed life working for RAF signals in the "proper" tunnels (the ones beneath the battery by Baraka Gardens not the Lascaris ones which were dug much later for the invasion of Sicily). He went on to work for GCHQ.

He was billeted in The British Hotel on the top floor – when we went there we had the exact same room (redecorated since he was there fortunately) – the same family still own it. Dad has not gone into the details of his visits to Strait St though. It is now more upmarket with lots of chic bistros etc.

The architecture is mostly unchanged in large areas of the town and is well worth a visit.

A remarkable place.

Steve

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Hi Folks,

Pond pump all connected and working fine, my thanks gents for the help, I have learn't something new,never too old 🤔

Regards Mick

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

Ian, just because it is new doesn't mean it can't be faulty – though in this case Mick's pump fortunately was a good one.

Got a new oven control thermostat from Rayburn. Fitted it and found it was controlling about 40 deg.C low – the cooker needed to be on max to get the oven hot enough to cook. Memsahib not best pleased, so say the least. Phoned Rayburn Technical who after hearing the tale of woe said no, it wasn't adjustable – all it needed to be so was a suitably placed little adjustable grub screw – so it was faulty and needed changing. So replacement thermostat hopefully arriving today, fingers crossed!

Mike, we (i.e. me and the lads off the ship I was on) did enjoy the trip down The Gut, but it was an experience of the more basic kind – bit like the Reeperbahn and round about there in Hamburg in some ways. Glad the pump worked and all is good.

Chris (ex-MN engineer)

[Nick CliffeParticipant @nickcliffe94153]

I recently bought a Sealey SM27 lathe and was looking around the web to see what other people are doing with their lathes. I found a YouTube video showing one guy actually friction welding two metal rods together using a lathe! if it is of interest to anyone here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gahrN1tNDkM

Best wishes,

Nick

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Ian, just because it is new doesn't mean it can't be faulty – though in this case Mick's pump fortunately was a good one.

On a percentage basis (as well as what we knew about this pump) I think its highly unlikely that a new manufactured product would have a dead short between its two wires. Its not impossible of course, but the defect rate for millions of consumer electronic and electrical goods is incredibly low. Nowadays we buy something, open the box, and it just works.

Ian P

I have no idea what happened to the formatting of the quote bit!

Edited By Ian P on 12/04/2018 10:57:43

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

One year we had a male pheasant living in our garden (before we got the dogs). I put a large mirror on the path where it strutted up and down all day. They clearly have memories like gold fish, as befits birds with brains the size of peanut. It would never cease to be surprised and outraged by the sight of a rival on its turf and would attack the mirror viciously for several minutes before realising this was a fight it wasn't going to win. Then come back round an hour or so later to be similarly outraged. Hours of fun. These days it would end up brown bread in short notice.

Murray

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Muzzer on 12/04/2018 13:18:53:

One year we had a male pheasant living in our garden.

…

Murray

I think he's moved to Staffs and is sitting on our hedge.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Posted by Mick Henshall on 11/04/2018 19:26:55:

Forgot to mention Neil pump flows 1500 litres per hour rated 25 watts

Mick

Impeller pump or positive displacement? Important as an impellor pump will only pump that amount at zero head and likely nothing at a few metres head – think here of washing machine scavenge pumps. Easy to throttle downas long as flow is greater than the minimum to avoid overheating.

A positive displacement pump would likely scare the hell out of the newts unless you have a bypass line fitted.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

It would be most unusual to see a positive displacement pump with the characteristics and use stated.

Put a coat of primer on the welding trolley I've been making, now need to choose what colour it'll end up. I quite like the colour of the red oxide primer, so might see what I can find in a red or even brown paint for it.

Diagnosed the cause of the occasional drips of rusty water that'd been coming out of the central heating boiler over the last few days. Due to a lack of maintenance, condensate had eaten through the aluminium secondary heat exchanger housing. If I'd got some ally rods, I might have tried TIGing a patch over it, but ordered a replacement instead. It's only 25 years old, but the condensate is pretty corrosive.

Note to self, the boiler really needs stripping down to its component parts during its annual clean and service.

[Perko7Participant @perko7]

Spent most of the day at the club working bee, concreting an extension to the passenger loading/unloading area, concreting in some posts for future lights and signs, and digging for footings for a bridge replacement, followed by a club committee meeting.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Down at the Men's Shed Terry arrived with a huge 6ft dia coil of plastic duct that will carry our electricity supply. It took a whole army at the depot to coil it that small as it prefers to be straight. Installation is delayed because the builder of the housing estate off which our electricity will come sold a bit of land that it has to cross to someone they can't remember who so we can't get the wayleave to dig a few feet of trench. Put up the meter cabinet ready for them. As the ground had dried a bit we then heaved a potato sorter across about 200 yards of field to be nearer the shed for its eventual restoration. Bought a doughnut at Lidl on the way home. oh ok, I bought 2 actually.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Bazyle on 14/04/2018 17:35:37:

Down at the Men's Shed Terry arrived with a huge 6ft dia coil of plastic duct that will carry our electricity supply. It took a whole army at the depot to coil it that small as it prefers to be straight. Installation is delayed because the builder of the housing estate off which our electricity will come sold a bit of land that it has to cross to someone they can't remember who so we can't get the wayleave to dig a few feet of trench. Put up the meter cabinet ready for them. As the ground had dried a bit we then heaved a potato sorter across about 200 yards of field to be nearer the shed for its eventual restoration. Bought a doughnut at Lidl on the way home. oh ok, I bought 2 actually.

Are you close to a land registry office?

Neil

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

Went to a craft fair today to sell kit pens. Today was as slow as every other fair in the last year-18 months. People want to hang onto their dosh. The only pen I sold was the nicest of the lot, made from the same material as many exquisite blue Conway Stewart fountain pens. The guy I bought the blanks from bought up the stock at the CS liquidation sale a few years ago and is selling it off to pen makers. The stuff goes for about £10,000 a tonne at the prices he's selling it at. Shame acrylics are well nigh impossible to cast at home.

Regards

Richard.

[Simon CollierParticipant @simoncollier74340]

I don’t think people write by hand anymore. The only time I write these days is taking notes at club meetings as secretary, when I use a fountain pen. Parker Duofold. Otherwise everything is keys on phone or computer.

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

Of those who stop at my stall, about 50% say they remember using fountain pens and how nice they were, about 25% consider ones for presents and the remainder consider them for themselves. The materials available are very attractive, and kit pens do look flashy and relatively posh. I really want to sell custom fountain pens, where only the nib & feed is bought in, but taking 15-20 hours work for a one-off is not viable to sell. Going into production, even ona small scale would cut the unit time by a lot, but it bores me rigid doing the same thing time after time.

While people do not write a lot, there is still a certain cachet associated with using a fountain pen, and they feel so good to use if the nib is correctly tuned. Personally I always use one, having a pens dating back to c1915 in fairly regular use, and a box on my bedside locker of 25 inked up pens, from which I choose 2-3 every day. I regret to say, my little collection probably exceeds 200, of which Parker pens form at least 50%.

Regards

Richard.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

I have used a fountain pen for years but I chucked the Parker ones as they all leaked badly. Modern ones are not as good as the older Parkers. I have had my current Sheaffer (which cost me circa £ 70-80-00 & is excellent) for about 6 years & sits by my armchair.

It is odd that when I was working, a couple of juniors commented that it added to an air of authority. I think it was possibly because fountain pens in the modern office is something of a rareity

[BWParticipant @bw]

Posted by richardandtracy on 14/04/2018 21:14:47:

………(snip) …….. Shame acrylics are well nigh impossible to cast at home.

Regards

Richard.

This forum might be of interest. http://www.woodworkforums.com/f204

I've never had a go myself but always meant to.

Bill

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

Posted by BW on 15/04/2018 11:40:02:

Posted by richardandtracy on 14/04/2018 21:14:47:

………(snip) …….. Shame acrylics are well nigh impossible to cast at home.

Regards

Richard.

This forum might be of interest. http://www.woodworkforums.com/f204

I've never had a go myself but always meant to.

 

Bill

 

 

I had a look, but all acrylics seem to be cast outside the UK. I think one of the monomers is covered by the psychoactive substances regulations. It also needs to be cast in a pressure pot to crush bubbles. Polyester is very brittle, polyurethane is too soft to polish up adequately, and epoxy seems to discolour over time.

Regards

Richard.

 

Edited By richardandtracy on 15/04/2018 12:20:45

[David TaylorParticipant @davidtaylor63402]

I opened the gate so someone else could do something. The first piece of real work was done on my workshop today, cutting one end off the existing slab to move it away from the fence line a bit and hopefully this afternoon will see the other side of the slab excavated to extend it in that direction.

I also started reading Tormach manuals in anticipation of getting an 1100, 4ths axis, and Rapid Turn in about 3 months. Can't wait! That's the justification for the new workshop – I'm not paying that much for a machine and sticking it in a steel shed. Pretty shocked at the price actually, for what is really a hobby machine. Also a bit scared by the comments on CNC Zone about the lack of quality of some units – oil holes not drilled through etc. I hope I don't get a dog. I'm an old assembly language programmer so the primitiveness of G code shouldn't be too much of a shock.

[Author]

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