Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Do you want to post a copy of the Parable of the Inspector of the Bolts up there?

http://www.ltssac.org/articles/inspector.htm

 

Not quite as good as that bet when we were restoring the horse tram I needed quite a few large Whitworth coachbolts.   WE were given a lot but I ended up needing a couple of dozen 1/2"  by 12" Cup Square Hex thingy's.   A large well know supplier in Sheffield was contacted, sent an order with the specification 1/2" BSW thread on it.   A couple of weeks later they arrived but when we tried to use them, the nuts wouldn't tighten and in fact rattled nicely down the thread. On measuring them, they'd been manufactured from 12mm rod.   I phoned the company who immediately denied that they had made an error as they were an internationally known and quality assured manufacturer of fasteners.   The errant bolts were returned and they rather sheepishly admitted that they had made an error and that my spec had been correct.   2 weeks later a sack with 2 dozen more arrived and were spot on.   Apparently they had had to sub the job out to a small one man band somewhere in Sheffield.   The bonus for us is that they needed to be 24" long for the forging process so I told them to leave them at that length.  We then just cut them to length and threaded them at our convenience.

 

Jamie

[45156]

Morning All

 

Electrics - best left alone by amateurs.  When we moved in here, the horrors just kept on coming - cooker was fed off the downstairs ring main.  Sockets had been spurred off the ring main from God knows where, and the spa bath was wired into a ring main by the simple expedient of putting in a joint box to the ring, and taking the flexes to the motors off it - no isolators at all, and fused to an MCB rated at 30 amps.  Electrician on first inspection disconnected this with many sharp intakes of breath, and then after his assessement said that the original wiring to the house was OK, but there were so many modifications to it that it would be quicker and cheaper to have a complete rewire, which he did for about 2500 quid. 

 

Generic greetings are, as ever, on offer to the ailing and the celebrating.

 

Back tomorrow (?)

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[jamie92208]

Good morning all from a sunny corner of this good earth that is still by hook or by crook 100 miles from the nearest Ikea.   

 

Yesterday went well with the third mortice finished in one large piece of timber and the 2nd large piece of timber, (3.4m by 150mm by 75mm) marked up.   A pallet with the new log chopper arrived and the driver very helpfully he.lped pull it up to the top of the shed on the pallet truck then spent some time looking at the layout.   A nice walk round the fields and village then followed.

 

Part two of the BBC4 series on the Yorkshire Ripper was then watched.   The enquiry was the background to eight of my first 9 years of service and all of Beth's service. Beth actually met and talked to one of the surviving victims and was a scene guard at two of the scenes as she worked Chapeltown. I will reserve judgement on the programme till I've seen part 3. 

 

We will be off to a friends shortly for morning coffee and chat then this afternoon I will finally get the large Kist out of the garage.   I might even wield a mallet and chisel and make some more mortices.

 

Dave, I'm glad that the results came back clear but wish you luck with the gnashers.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Nice and sunny here and it should be a mainly fine day with just the chance of a shower or two later on.

I've woken up with a backache, not sure why but if it persists then painkillers of some description may be needed. I'll try some light exercise first though to see if that'll loosen me up. Still haven't got under the layout to start dismantling the boards so back permitting that could be on the cards today.

Tonight we going out for a meal at our friends.  I won't need to book a cab as it only involves a 10 second journey from our front door to their front door. If things run to course there will be lots of food followed by more  food interspersed with food and copious amounts of various falling down liquids. This may cause my late arrival here tomorrow,

Have a good one, fairly certain I will.

Bob.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Just a quick hello before I'm off to dispose of some modelling tokens at Brentwood.

[AndyB]

Morning all,

So, yesterday's plan for diy didn't quite come to fruitiion. 

My plan consisted of:

1. 07:30 meeting with double glazing surveyor chappie. Done.

2. School run.

3. Work at home till lunchtime. 

4. DIY 

5. School run and dentist with eldest. 

6. Pub.

The slight fly in the ointment was spotting a work email just as I was about to close down the computer. An hour later normality had been restored but the DIY time had evaporated. 

Then whilst in the dentist my phone started buzzing like a demented beehive. Quick check of the works emails found out why that was and it was back into harness. 

Item 6 was on time, on cost and on quality.  

[lightengine]

I just plug appropriate shaped plugs into appropriate shaped sockets. All electrical of course. 

Sunny day here in sunny Teignmouth, after a lovely day yesterday.

 

[lightengine]

What would be the best (simple) way to join 2 boards together and make track joining easy for a gran and her 9 year old grandson?

Its a basic roundy roundy with only 2 track connections. It has to be separated to store.

 

Co incidentally my cousin who is the gran, takes her grandson to the model railway shows local to Bletchley.  She says the guys behind the stalls and displays are always very helpful. 

[81C]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all,

 If things run to course there will be lots of food followed by more  food interspersed with food and copious amounts of various falling down liquids. This may cause my late arrival here tomorrow,

Have a good one, fairly certain I will.

Bob.

You be careful Mr. BOB or you could ended with the label a Gluttonous P!sshead 

The sofa's have been delivered by a couple of young lads not knowing what to do, between us we got the things through the front door and into the lounge I had a play with the recliners 

which Her won't touch as she would end up folded in half with her leg round her neck.

I will be cooking a pork carrot and ginger Stir Fry tonight, the girls will be attending tomorrow for the grand opening Chez Bobs Al Fresco dinner room for all things grilled the BBQ took

hours to clean it's still not perfect but the flames will kill off any germs I was tempted to do bacon for the sandwiches today but the bacon is solid as a rock having just been recovered from

the freezer I'll have to make do with a ham & cheese salad wrap.

It's the Grand Prix this week end I can't say I missed not watching the last one but BAH-rain as the idiot commentator Edwards calls it might be a good one according to the practice sessions

the jury is out on that one and I might sneak a hour or so cleaning the track on the large layout and give some of these Christmas presents an airing (running in session)

 

                                                                                                                       Enjoy your day must dash  Ray Blanc 

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by 81C

[AndyB]

52 minutes ago, lightengine said:

What would be the best (simple) way to join 2 boards together and make track joining easy for a gran and her 9 year old grandson?

Its a basic roundy roundy with only 2 track connections. It has to be separated to store.

 

Co incidentally my cousin who is the gran, takes her grandson to the model railway shows local to Bletchley.  She says the guys behind the stalls and displays are always very helpful. 

 

Awl together now....that's very brave of you!  But I don't mind taking one for the team.  

 

Dowels to align. And a tension catch on each side? Failing that. 2 bolts through the frame? 

Edited March 30, 2019 by AndyB

[PeterBB]

40 minutes ago, AndyB said:

 

Awl together now....that's very brave of you!  But I don't mind taking one for the team.  

 

Dowels to align. And a tension catch on each side? Failing that. 2 bolts through the frame? 

All three - bolts help to keep the tension and minute adjustments.

 

This one came up within seconds

Edited March 30, 2019 by PeterBB
Great increase in RMweb speed response to the post!

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Just got out of bed, I must have needed the sleep! As a consequence, not a lot will be done today, we have Vickie, Ian and the kids dropping by just after lunch, so no point in doing any sort of DIY. So my plan is to measure up in the large cellar room for lights, sockets and plasterboard. I also hope to do a cutting plan for the plasterboard too. 

 

Back later

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, AndyB said:

 

Awl together now....that's very brave of you!  But I don't mind taking one for the team.  

 

Dowels to align. And a tension catch on each side? Failing that. 2 bolts through the frame? 

As above, I use 10mm bolts in 12mm holes to join with the dowels doing the alignment.   However make sure you put either some PCB strip under the rail ends, or I use solid brass 1 " no 8 wood screws under where the rail ends go.   Then lay the track over the joint, solder the rail to the screws and then and ONLY then cut the rail.   It might well help if the boards were hinged and I would be happy to send you some lovely flat ladder hinges that I used on Long Preston. They get bolted onto the sides of the boards and make them easy to erect,   You can even fit some castors to the board ends for ease of transport/storage.

 

PM me if you want some more info, I ma aware of the Awl.

 

Jamie

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all.

 

Bricklayng underway but enjoying a break from laying a couple of courses at low level to straighten my back and have some hot dogs.  Visit to Tesco for supplies found the car park jammed solid but the shop not too busy - yes, it's footie and jhockey day at the sports ground next door.

 

The Good Doctor is at a Swimathon at the Olympic Pool or whatever it is now called and the lad has gone to Middlesborough (honest) to watch a footie match and consume the local ale.  I'm off to do some pointing (I hope teh mix will still be good)

[TheQ]

Interestingly the editor needs clearing every time on this android tablet.  Of a message posted several days ago... 

 

Afternoon Awl, 

Now lying in some pain having built the door in 2 hours and then spending 3hours installing it.  The problem being If there was an angle they could use in building the garage they did. The top of one of the door pillars is 2inches further out than the bottom.  So the door hit the ground when it opened, various cut outs and padding out required.

 

Just had a cheese toastie, the only good use for some cheese I made the mistake of buying. Protein cheese just 3% fat instead of the 30% of normal cheddar.  Don't just don't,  it's awful tasteless rubber. It can just about be eaten in a toastie, provided you butter the toast first and give it a lift with something mild like English mustard... 

 

Last night,  when I left for the MRC,  three tractors were starting ploughing harrowing and planting. 

When I got back around 10pm they were parking up behind our garden, today they've been harrowing in all directions

And the planter tractor has just started.. 

 

Coffee has been drunk,  eyelid inspection beckons... 

 

 

[newbryford]

3 hours ago, AndyB said:

 

Awl together now....that's very brave of you!  But I don't mind taking one for the team.  

 

Dowels to align. And a tension catch on each side? Failing that. 2 bolts through the frame? 

 

I believe [*] these are very good......

 

Cheers,

Mick

[*] There's no "believe" about them. Incredibly easy to fit - and yes, I do have a vested interest.........................

 

 

 

 

 

[Barry O]

been a busy bee...

Lawns..mowed (her indoors brought some petrol home for the mower..bugggrrrrittt!)

All locos (6) have sound fitted . The last one involved attacking metal with a saw to fit a speaker..

Off out later so I need to have a shower...

 

TTFN

Baz

[lightengine]

4 hours ago, AndyB said:

 

Awl together now....that's very brave of you!  But I don't mind taking one for the team.  

 

Dowels to align. And a tension catch on each side? Failing that. 2 bolts through the frame? 

Arghhhhh Andy, my cuz is almost 70 and probably has never seen a dowel.  This set up will be 2 boards laying on a table or the floor and being stood against the garage wall or slid under a bed.

Gaffa tape springs to mind

 

Thanks to all for the replies but all would be a bit technical for my cuz.  Imagine your dear old ageing maiden aunt and 2 bits of board of an unknown nature.  

Edited March 30, 2019 by lightengine
Additional intormation

[Barry O]

Had a bottle of this beer with fresh crab sandwiches for lunch yesterday. ..nice!

[shortliner]

7 hours ago, lightengine said:

What would be the best (simple) way to join 2 boards together and make track joining easy for a gran and her 9 year old grandson?

Its a basic roundy roundy with only 2 track connections. It has to be separated to store.

 

Co incidentally my cousin who is the gran, takes her grandson to the model railway shows local to Bletchley.  She says the guys behind the stalls and displays are always very helpful. 

Okay - #1 Silly question - are you building the boards or is somebody doing it for her? #2 Is the lad having small locos - and if a small-ish loco is being obtained - have you seen this -  

it will fit on a table - give him some experience, and store easily without anything needing to fold or join together - if it has a plug in controller life should be simple

Edited March 30, 2019 by shortliner

[The Stationmaster]

The Good Doctor did 1600 metres and got a medal - actually everybody got a medal but it looked good so there.   I must admit I wasn't quite sure why Baz mowed her indoors but then I saw the bracket.  Fortunately Mrs Stationmaster doesn't know anything about buying petrol for mowers or strimmers and I doubt she'd fancy walking up the hill from our local over-priced purveyor of such liquids carrying a can of the stuff so I'm reasonably safe, possibly.

 

Incidentally not sure if I mentioned it but the lad is standing in the upcoming local council elections (for the Residents Group - they're apolitical).  It will be amusing to hear what might happen when he goes on the stump, something along these lines perhaps -  'Are you the bloke who keeps writing to the local 'paper?'  'No, that's my dad.'    Oh do you agree with him?  I'd vote for him // never vote for him as long as ....  (delete as applicable).  Could be most amusing.

[Tony_S]

I thought we had canvassers for the local elections but it was JW missionaries. It was a polite invitation to attend something at Easter. I politely declined and we had a nice chat about the weather as it was warm and sunny.

The ice bucket wasn’t needed last night as no one wanted a drink requiring ice. 

Tony

 

[grandadbob]

Pleasant afternoon spent watching an English rugby team demolishing a Scottish one.

Also managed to free up the first layout board although I had to resort to cutting  track and power bus and using a mallet and chisel as after undoing the bolts that were holding it to the other boards it was stuck fast with glue from track ballasting. Got there in the end but doubt if I'll be able to salvage the track.

Now just waiting for The Boss to finish getting ready to go out.

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

 

Also managed to free up the first layout board although I had to resort to cutting  track and power bus and using a mallet and chisel as after undoing the bolts that were holding it to the other boards it was stuck fast with glue from track ballasting.

 

And no blood was spilled?

[Ian Abel]

Afternoon any/all...

 

Returning from JFK yesterday wasn't the cake-walk expected, instead was a mammoth flustercuck!!

Weather "OK", plane there "Check", boarding early "check", so my bum in seat 30 minutes before ETD.

Right on pushback time captain announces "...we're ready to go, just need some paperwork signed off by engineering..." - NEVER a good announcement.

Proceeds to say it may take 10-15 minutes... Ominous...

 

After many announcements regularly, over the new TWO PLUS HOURS, all he knows is "... needs signing..." and "...they say it'll only be another 10 minutes..."

At pretty much exactly two hours after our scheduled departure, they finally close the main door, and announce "be a couple of minutes before we push back...", it then took the TWENTY MINUTES to find a ground crew to push us back - at this point I guess they had all gone to dinner, it sounded like the captain was about to get out and push it back himself, he wasn't at all a happy camper, certainly couldn't blame him!

Suffice to say that, plus a 3 hour flight, resulted in my arse being very sore, and everyone on the plane quite ready to get off. 

 

Today - surveyed the post-winter outdoor needs, requires fixing some downspouts around the house and obtaining some fencing items to repair a small gap between the garage and side fence to make the back garden again escape proof for the various dogs in the family

Resulted in a trip to both Home Depot (B&Q equivalent??) and then Costco "as it's next door, so we might as well...", the fun never ends

 

Later we're over to friends for dinner.

Maybe get around to opening the "Lord Nelson" tomorrow.

 

-2 and sunny this morning/today 4 for the high