Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

I have heard people refer to any coins as shrapnel.  

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Son has just been telling me of a customer's installation of a gas hob he condemned.

• DIY job
• Owner had coupled hob to gas supply with hose meant for taps.
• Should have been stainless armoured.
• And it leaked.
• So he used gaffer tape.
• He ensures that he takes photos of the "before".

 

 

 

I was of a mind to use shrink sleeving, with the two ends shrunk down onto the pipework using bath sealant to make everything nice n' gas tight.  Would your son sign it off for me please?

[petethemole]

5 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I have heard people refer to any coins as shrapnel.  

 

I do, usually qualified as "Fine British Shrapnel".

 

I am about to drill holes in the bathroom tiles to fit a shower thingy, a task I've been putting off.  I said I'd do it today while SWMBO was out so she couldn't divert me to help with something or look for something.  So out she goes, I get the drill out, find the masonry bits, start to mark out.... and the phone goes, will I look for something that isn't in the lock-up....  I found it, in plain view.  She'd been looking for it last night and must have passed it a dozen times.  Not small, either.  I suppose I'd better get on.

[tigerburnie]

You are also forgetting the Ton..............................................................................which is a measurement of speed on a motor bike, as in doing a ton = 100mph or going for a ton up, which was just driving daftly fast on small roads.

[Joseph_Pestell]

3 minutes ago, petethemole said:

 

I do, usually qualified as "Fine British Shrapnel".

 

I am about to drill holes in the bathroom tiles to fit a shower thingy, a task I've been putting off.  I said I'd do it today while SWMBO was out so she couldn't divert me to help with something or look for something.  So out she goes, I get the drill out, find the masonry bits, start to mark out.... and the phone goes, will I look for something that isn't in the lock-up....  I found it, in plain view.  She'd been looking for it last night and must have passed it a dozen times.  Not small, either.  I suppose I'd better get on.

 

There are special bits for drilling into tiles. Ordinary masonry bits will often break a tile or at least splinter the glazing.

[polybear]

Bear had a fun day lifting a section of laminate floor and floorboards in the bedroom modelling room.  Fortunately it wasn't the pig of a job it could've been, though it has taken a fair chunk of the day - much of this was taken up with moving cupboards, workbenches, general dross etc etc.  Cutting thru' a floor board saved unscrewing and shifting a second cupboard and lifting even more laminate floor, though of course I then had to cut and screw a batten to the side of the joist in preparation for refitting the floorboard - the batten will support the newly cut end of the board. 

Tomorrow will commence with draining the heating system down so I can remove the horrid pipework and have hours of fun playing pipework origami with some new tubing - fortunately it appears that a friend has a plumber's pipe bending tool so hopefully this should make life easier.

Since the floorboards are up directly below an existing double wall socket I will probably take the opportunity to add a second socket to the ring main adjacent to the existing one.  This was prompted by my mate from next door (who came round to assist me with the 'umpin and dumpin' of cabinets - both suitably masked, naturally) who happened to make the comment "you got enough plugs in that socket??" (sarcastic b'stard).  In my defence, all were very low current jobbies, suitably fused - not half a dozen leccy fires.  Still, a second double socket will tidy things up no end, make life simpler, and be a lot more "acceptable".  As if I didn't have enough to do already....

[TheQ]

56 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I have heard people refer to any coins as shrapnel.  

In my youff shrapnel referred to copper coinage,  but these days appears to refer to all coinage. 

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, petethemole said:

I am about to drill holes in the bathroom tiles to fit a shower thingy, a task I've been putting off.  I said I'd do it today while SWMBO was out so she couldn't divert me to help with something or look for something.  So out she goes, I get the drill out, find the masonry bits, start to mark out.... and the phone goes, will I look for something that isn't in the lock-up....  I found it, in plain view.  She'd been looking for it last night and must have passed it a dozen times.  Not small, either.  I suppose I'd better get on.

 

19 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

There are special bits for drilling into tiles. Ordinary masonry bits will often break a tile or at least splinter the glazing.

 

Bear's Tip of the Day:

 

Using Hammer Action is a very, very bad move....

 

Drilling thru' bit of insulating tape is a good idea - it stops the drill bit skating all over the show.  Starting with a diddy drill bit (4mm is nice) helps - I've never found a need for the special drill bits for tiles; any splintering of the glaze is usually hidden by whatever is being screwed to the tile (shower head rail?).  One last thought:  covering the bath or shower tray with lots of thick blankets etc is a good plan, cos' if you don't then something is bound to drop - bath enamel doesn't like that.  Ask me how I know.....

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I have heard people refer to any coins as shrapnel.  

Far simpler in French - they call it monnaie.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

I was of a mind to use shrink sleeving, with the two ends shrunk down onto the pipework using bath sealant to make everything nice n' gas tight.  Would your son sign it off for me please?

Sorry, no.

 

He'd call Cadent to cut you off.

[Coombe Barton]

1 minute ago, Coombe Barton said:

He'd call Cadent to cut you off.

... which, with the tools they use, may be a little painful

[petethemole]

Task successfully accomplished.  I had been advised by the tiler and watched a couple of videos, so was careful not use hammer action until I was through the tiles into the blocks (prewar concrete, not modern).  Now for a cider and a mince pie (nights are drawing in, soon be....).  

[Tony_S]

I can remember my Dad showing me how to drill holes in bottles, probably when turning bottles into table lamp bases was trendy. Last time I cut holes in tiles they were square holes. I used a Dremel tile kit. 

[Coombe Barton]

I was always told that you should wait to drill holes in tiles until the late evening.

Then you could have a night on the ...

 

 

 

I'll get me coat.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon/evening from Estuary-Land. Nothing done in the way of drilling today. Firstly I couldn't find the drill bits. They turned out to be under my nose all the time. The reason was that they are contained in a machined aluminium case, almost identical to the one containing my Dremel. I must have passed it by a few times assuming it was the Dremel, only when I spotted the Dremel I realised my mistake.  So I went to get my drill only to find that the battery needed charging . The battery is on charge now and the bits are where I know where to find them.

[BSW01]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have heard people refer to any coins as shrapnel.  

In Liverpool they use the term 

SLUMMY 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Sorry, no.

 

He'd call Cadent to cut you off.

 

Yet another cutting edge idea shot down in flames

 

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... which, with the tools they use, may be a little painful

 

On second thoughts, I've had an even better idea....

[Sir TophamHatt]

Check me out!

 

 

In reality:

• I forgot to isolate each side of the circuit with black tubing so now have faff about with tape.
  
• The wires to the lights in the roof are too long and stiff. I cut them down but clearly not enough. Although all subsequent versions won't be affected by this.
  
• The wires to the pick ups are far too long.
  
• The wires to the pickups are going through the slot where the body attaches to the chassis (I was trying to be neat). I may have to drill a special hole in the bogie.

 

But not bad for a first try!

Only 19 more to go.

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Sir TophamHatt

[Coombe Barton]

.. and Pavlovian reaction to jingling dog collar ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/lighten-our-darkness/

[brianusa]

14 hours ago, chrisf said:

Of course there is a need for caution, not least because even after nearly seven months of  living with the wretched thing we do not know quite what it will do next, but surely we do not need to walk on eggshells or have it rammed down our throats morning, noon and night?  Perhaps the word 'overkill' is unfortunate but it may not be quite the best way of getting the nation on side

 

Whenever we leave the house we take a mask.  Whether we put it on depends on the circs; if I drive I tend to keep it off  and let my good wife complete the errand fully masked or if I run the errand it stays off until I'm out of the car. We recently had friends over for lunch on our side deck, they like us are cautious but not to the extreme.  We dutifully demasked to eat and were probably tardy in their replacement, but we all survived as we had confidence in their attitude to the covid and of their previous self isolating, as they did in our case.  A little common sense in place of fear plays large in a lot of subjects pandemics included.

     Brian.

[tigerburnie]

Evening all, some moving of things on wheels on parallel bits of metal occurred today along with the erection(stop sniggering at the back laddie) of lights in the yard and on the station, if only I knew what I did with the 9 volt power supply, in that safe place................................ also some telegraph poles too, need another signal now.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

 

Baz

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Didnt quite work out as I’d planned. We did walk to Fox Valley but before we set off SWMBO made me a corned beef sandwich ‘just in case’. In the end the sarnie was needed as the cafe was full and SWMBO and Mil couldn’t wait so off we went Costa Coffee. Pah  as Baz would say.

On the way home we passed a friend’s house and he came out and we had a chat for 10minutes. He’s a very keen plastic modeller and talked aeroplane kits while SWMBO and Mil spoke to his SWMBO. 
Surprisingly we didn’t get wet even though the weather forecast predicted we’d arrive home like drowned rats. 
Did a bit on the Vat return before tea which was a tasteless pizza made from cardboard I believe. I won’t be getting one of those again. 
Had a bit of shed time but gave up as I felt a GDB was on the horizon.

That about it so goodnight,

Robert

[Simon G]

Evening all,

 

A mixed day today.  On the positive side, I can now say that I am due to become a Grandfather at the end of March.  Son and daughter in law told us three weeks back when staying with us, but we were sworn to secrecy until other relatives had been visited and told.  Mrs G are I are absolutely delighted and looking forward to it.

 

On the negative side, I seem to have pulled a muscle, possibly one of the gluteal ones.  It was OK first thing today, but really stiffened up during the morning to such an extent that I could hardly walk at lunchtime.  An afternoon’s rest, plus max strength ibuprofen has improved it a bit, but it is still stiff and uncomfortable.  Hopefully a good nights sleep will help.  It was a pity, as it was a lovely day here today.  I did manage a bit of tidying up around the garden in the morning.  My afternoon rest involved watching some excellent rugby between Saracens and Bath.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all