Keeping busy

With all of the isolation that we are meant to observe what will you be doing to keep yourselves entertained.

If this continues at least I will have veg as I have just planted loads of seeds for the veg patch. But I get the feeling that security wire cameras will be needed. The garden needs sorting out so that is another pastime to keep me occupied.

I have a small metalworking project to make if I can order and have delivered the correct metal for the job, as well as plenty of wood for my woodturning hobby

What will you all be doing.

As poor health limits my workshop time, I decided to start a project that can be split between the workshop and the house. Some of you may have seen a model spitfire advertised on TV that will cost £1200.00, and take 2 years to build. The TV model is very poorly animated using small plastic rods and as soon as my wife saw it, she said, I am sure you could do better than that. Gauntlet having been thrown down, I bought a plastic model kit that I can build in the house, and I can devise an animation mechanism and build it in the workshop when health permits.

Dek.

Cooking, cleaning, shopping. We have had to stop our twice weekly cleaning lady coming and my wife's physiotherapist isn't allowed to work at present

Designing a support for my mobile while video-phoning the kids on CAD.

Russell

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Just got that feeling that a box set of Ray Mears or Bear Grylls will make good watching for what is to come.

Come Dancing won't do us a lot of good.

I have never had enough time to do all the things I want to do! - every day something else gets added to the mental list. Medical reasons caused early retirement (at 61), so me and the missus bought some land, built a house and have never stopped since (53rd wedding anniversary last year). I haven't even had chance to go hang-gliding yet. I genuinely have trouble understanding how people can claim they are bored - whatever that means.

I am more worried that when I finally kick the bucket, no-one will ever be able to work out what half the things I was working on are for - but then I suppose they won't care anyway - I guess I would go with Hopper in another thread on this forum - people are more important.

I'm converting my lathe to 3 phase with a VFD, plenty of reading and restoring a couple of Stationary engines.

Martin P

I have a couple of LED strip-lights to fit in the shed and also very recently bought a resin 3D printer, my first.

Take care all.
Ed.

I havnt dared move away from my PLA printer as ive read that the resin ones are very difficult to master---SO please keep us informed on how it handles and please post some results, warts and all!

Hi Fizzy,

I'll try to add a couple of photos to a seperate thread later tonight. I've done a couple of prints so far, with warts unfortunately! from models I've drawn up in Fusion 360...but ok as a first attempt I think.

I have enough on going old motorcycle related work to still have plenty in three months time. Times like this I reap the benefit of stocking materiel in full bar lengths.

I have just started to rebuild a Matchless 650 been in a shed since 69, it is rotten but it will give me plenty to do, only downside there was Bantam stuck to it so I had to buy the two, oh well.

Colin

Fizzy,

There are now many more filament types than PLA.

I’ve only used PLA, so far, but they can now supply carbon fibre reinforced filaments. Next filament to try will be ABS I think - and then maybe a flexible type.

I reckon FDM printers will be around for a while but these resin machines are becoming as cheap as the FDMs - but the choice of materials looks to be rather limited (and quite expensive?).

Am going through my thousands of 35mm slides, and discarding those without family members.

The scrap slides are then stripped so the frame plastics can go for recycling, but the film has to go to landfill.

Sad to ditch so many memories, but it will save our daughter from the job in, hopefully, many years to come

Might get out the bike and pump up the tyres so that I can go out and find some long lost muscles!.

Then to the shop to :

Make a holder so that Blacksmiths Drills can be sharpened on the Worden First job is to find some metal that will suit!

Continue work on making a small dividing head to fit onto the mini lathe.

Evenings will probably be occupied, eventually, by watching the programmes on the video recorder. Never had the time before!

Howard

When disposing of old photos bear in mind that they might be of interest to historians etc. An incidental picture of your wife in a street 50 years ago might shoe a shop now demolished of interest to the people in th eblock of flats that replaced it.

Rather puzzled by all the talk of not having things to do etc. About 8 million people in the UK and half the people on this forum are already retired so what is so different from last month? Not able to go out to a coffee shop or restaurant - who can afford to do that anyway? If you do buy £2.50 coffee every day just think what lathe you could have bought if you had saved it.

I did that a while ago when sorting my Mum's estate..bought a cheap scanner to digitise them and load on the PC (essentially just takes a backlit pic). Not too bad as far as results. If I can find where i stuck it and I still have the software you'ld be welcome for the postage (assuming I combine it with a needed shopping trip where there's a post service).

pgk

Hi, well I'm always busy with something, except for the times when I'm not.

Regards Nick.

Today tried scanning a couple of slides of fellow club members onto the PC

The nscanner is supposeed tom, be compatible mwith XP, Vista and mWindows 7 Not W7 Professional, it ain'ti

But the old XP machine is happy. Scan, send to memory stick Move stick to W7 machine, insert into E mail and send!

Is this what they call progress? or planned obsolescence.

Howard

Things at Argos to pick up. Not keeping busy as Argos is shut & they got my stuff.

Steve.

Reinforcing my lathe bench with some 40mm angle. Heavy work lugging that steel around, angle grinding, etc. An hour or two was enough to pull me up. Don't know how I used to do it 12 hours a day, 10 stories up a power station under construction.

I think little engines with a 20mm bore and stroke are more my class of work these days. Heaviest thing to lift then is my cup of tea. Will be glad to get the Myford finally set up on a decent bench and get back to the lightweight stuff.