What did you do today (2015)

A 5Kg bucket of tyre soap, two inner tubes and a couple of rim tapes arrived today. I got the old back tyre off my 1927 Humber motorcycle that has been on the bike for well over 10 years. It still had plenty of tread left on it but the wall was showing a nasty crack extending for 50% of the tyre diameter, it has not really shown any signs of wear over the last 10 years. The tyre was as hard as the hobbs so much so that I reckon it would hold most of the weight of the bike and rider without air in it.

Later today I will prepare myself for the wrestling match that is involved between me the new inner tube, tyre and rim. I hate changing tyres on old bikes, they are always so tight on the rim and it is so easy to nip a tube, hence the two tubes and rim tapes-just in case.

... and where was the catwalk that should of been there.. more than 3 days off work... reportable injury.. elfin safety have to be informed...

' I was rescued by the boatman that was on constant standby for such an instance '

was there never any risk assessment done ? it seems that this set up is a known risk & an accident waiting to happen at any time ... oh dear me! HSE could have a field day here... see link..

**LINK**

Oooops.. sorry, slipped into Tech. I.O.S.H mode.. the main things are, have a few wee totties of an evening, rest up, enjoy your armchair ME role, & have a complete & rapid recovery.

George

p.s. do you get to keep the lead boot.. might come in handy in the workshop for somefink ?.. .

Hi mechman48, The catwalk is a permanent structure for access for maintenance, this was only in use for access to the job in hand. The job in hand had all the risk assessments, method statements ect. that were required and we all had to read and sign various documents to acknowledge that we agreed and understood all safety issues ect., the boatman was part of this because of it being fast flowing water during incoming and outgoing tides and the work was taking place on scaffolding over this water. The incident was reported immediately and an investigation is in progress. I can not comment on the catwalk that should have been there as it was nothing to do with the company who I was working for this will be for the investigation in progress.

I think they will have to cut the lead boot off rendering it US and will only be allowed to depose of it according to the rules.

Bob the same sort of statement I got from my son-in-law.

Neil, luckily the tide had only been going out for a short period so there was deep water to fall into, had it have been much shallower there would have been a few obstacles that could potentially have given more serious injury.

Thanks for all speedy recovery comments.

Regards Nick.

Nicholas,

Are you wearing a plaster cast or one of these,

Been in this for nearly six months, walking is very difficult as I cant bend my ankle, I've got several fractured metatarsel bones in the foot, should have special shoes in a month.

Martin P

Edited By martin perman on 14/02/2015 14:26:51

Edited By martin perman on 14/02/2015 14:27:28

Finally got round to adding a wider jaw to the bandsaw. I used a bit cut from an old barn door hinge. This was 1/4" to small on the jaw height so I have milled elongated slots in the casting to allow the new jaw to be adjusted up or down.

I expected the ancient hinge to be wrought iron and machine nicely - not so - it was 'orrid stuff.

Rik

Let me ruin your day, Rik.

If you unscrew the jaw plate from the fixed jaw (it doesn't actually do anything useful except reduce the capacity of the saw by 5mm) you can fix it to the moving jaw instead.

Bingo! problem solved for the effort of drilling and tapping two holes

Must submit this as a readers' tip one day!

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 14/02/2015 16:23:47

It's alright Neil you have not ruined my day because I'd already contemplated doing that but rejected the idea as on my vice the removable part on the fixed jaw is so thin - barely 1/8" thick. With a short piece to saw I'd need a jack/chock at the other end and that would almost certainly bend the thin plate when the jaws were tightened.

Good try though but IMHO your suggestion is not a "proper" job.

Rik

Mine is about 5mm thick, and my screw jack goes through the original fixed jaw and a hole in the plate.

Neil

They said I was mad!

They said it couldn't be done!

So I did it!

Did what?

Drilling holes through a PCB using a £39 15-year-old Clarke 5-speed pillar drill, using a no. 74 drill.

Neil

You used a PCB drill of course?

Clive

As its my Birthday very soon I treated myself to a new PCP air rifle, a Walther Rotax RM8, lovely thing and I fitted a scope and as luck would have it was able to sight in, in a gap in the weather.

It groups easily a half inch and I could have done much better if it was not so cold. It seems my replacing the piston seal and breech seal on the old one has done nothing as it shoots all over and never in the same place twice so I will retire it.

I need now to buy a Stirrup type pump to recharge the bottle when needed. I bought some pellets, £8.00 a tin for 500, want my head testing but the shoot nice so cannot complain. Watch out critters, this last few days we have been inundated with Squirrels.

Clive

Whilst it's a bit off track, like most of my stories, here it is anyway.

In 1965 I had the misfortune to break my leg. Off work for ten months. Right from the beginning I borrowed Mums, Dads, Brothers, Grandmothers library cards. I used to make a weekly trip to Southampton library, able to borrow 15 books per week. It was probably the best thing I did. Although carrying 15 books home in a (borrowed!) grip, whilst on crutches with a leg that could not bear any weight was a challenge. Yes, most weeks I read all 15!!

Best of luck guys, stay calm.

cheers

Bill

I found this rather strange looking hybrid, when searching for a particular set of lathe tools:

I won't make any claims for it's efficacy or quality, but I must say I'm surprised it hasn't appeared in the UK yet!

Hi Martin P, mine is a plaster cast, now decorated today by my nearly 3 year old granddaughter, so as to help it get better.

Regards Nick.

Don't have any bronze suitable, so will see how long the silver steel lasts.

They are easy to make.

Thinking out loud - drill holes axially then cross for lubrication?

Making things more complicated as usual

Geoff - Finish it today with luck

I like your attitude Neil!

"They" the experts said I couldn't fit 6J rims on my 105E, and that lowering the car by 2" wouldn't work.

Well, I did both without a problem, but had to hack a lump off of the tops of the rear bump stops.

The car looked GOOD, and always attracted attention.

Geoff - Ignorence IS bliss on occasion.

Neil,

Where did you find the grinder ?

Paul.

Just been into the Workshop to turn heating on and found I had forgotten to turn the oil radiator type off when I finished at 2120h on Saturday.

It has red 'ON' indication lights to boot, so no excuse. Cannot think of one.

Geoff - It's 15°C in there.

finally finished milling the spokes for the 2" minnie build,the radius on the ends and done,                     Buying  them from blackgates crossed my mind on the 10th one .

Edited By mal webber on 16/02/2015 22:46:42

Edited By mal webber on 16/02/2015 22:47:14

Should have emailed a DXF file up to the nearest laser cutters, then gone for another coffee after a 'hard' day