How are you filling in your day in lockdown?

[onetrack]

OME, I feel the need to assist you here, with something that actually works - and it'll be free, from my stocks of "useful goodies", that are on hand.

I have a boxful of these things, below, that I picked up at auction. PM me your address details, and I'll send you one, gratis, so you can have a real sandblasting gun. 

And because it will be free, it will add nothing to your build costs.  However, it will probably take around 8 or 9 days to reach you via, A.P. - seeing as we live about 3500kms apart.

 

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/s335

[old man emu]

13 hours ago, onetrack said:

OME, I feel the need to assist you here,

Onetrack,

Thank you for your generous offer. That looks like a nice solid hand piece. If you don't mind, I'll ask you to hold that thought until I get some testing done with my DIY gun. The reason is that the cabinet is flat-bottomed, so there is nowhere for a media dump as there is in commercial small blasters. That means that initially, your gun would not have a place for the pick-up hose. As I write this, I came up with a possibility - I could put the medium into a small container, like a 4 litre ice cream container and have the feed tube inserted into that. That would take some fettling to see if it would work.

 

So, with your offer still on the table, I'd like to see if my simple tool works. Of course, I'd love to have a 'for real' gun to use out in the open on larger pieces, so don't ditch that gun of yours yet.

 OME

[Litespeed]

Still living the life Aquatic and loving it.

 

Still in Port Stephens and it's a awesome place for the virus isolation. The Walrus has had a scrape and paint on the slip and is feeling slick and much happier on the cruise. Still yet to repaint the top sides but as the slip is fully booked for a while.

 

Sadly the crabs are either migrating or not as hungry with buggerall in the pots.

 

But the big news is I bought a 23ft yacht as a stop gap to buying a live aboard. It is a old 40-50 year old racing class cum weekender. With styling like a flat top wooden sloop. But with a huge sail area for its size and weight. Fast and single handed is the idea. 

 

It's a Hood 23 which was a top racing boat in the 60-80s and was replaced by the 29ers as a class. Ugly by modern standards but simple and easy to sail in all conditions. Originally a open racing yacht enclosed and it shows with the low flat deck, great for pygmies. But you don't mind when it's easy to move forward.

 

Delicate eyes should be wary this beasty cost a whole $1 but it sails great and is cozy. This is not a show pony but something only it's designer or a yachts can love.

 

It might be ugly but it is the fastest mono hull here in lemon tree passage and all the old blokes oh and ah at her, with tales of racing and touring at speed past. They still race them against modern yachts locally at soldiers point. The prospect of flogging very expensive new boats and Pitt St captain's holds a special challenge in a ancient $1 boat.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

She may be a little rough around the edges, but the fishing rod off the back and those waters are bringing on a dose of the envies....  👌

 

[willedoo]

Thanks for the update Litespeed; good on you, it sounds great. Personally, I don't see the Hood as ugly. I might be old fashioned but I can see it has it's own functional beauty.

 

As far as flogging very expensive new boats, when it happens you will get great satisfaction from it. Many years ago I sometimes crewed for a mate in the local yacht club's mid week social races. Like a lot of clubs, it was inhabited by a large contingent of silvertails and their associated wannabe hangers on. They had all the flash boats and flash clothes and were basically that chattering class full of shite. Anyway, the old mate was a bit rough around the edges as was his 27' banged up old trailer sailor. The toffs used to hate him because he used to flog the pants off them. When he'd get far enough ahead of the no.2 runner, he would go about and do a complete circle around them. As he was passing them for the second time heading in the finish line direction, he would sail past them with his foot on the tiller and wearing a silly hat and playing his ukulele. They hated him. The reason he beat them was because he knew how to sail and race as opposed to the silvertails who only knew how to spend money and surround themselves with brainless, bludging wannabees. Beating those dickheads was a lot of fun.

[nomadpete]

Litespeed, I almost bought a Hood 23 a year ago. Fine sailboat. Still a great weekend sailer as long as you don't want to stand up in the cabin.

 

In my case I got cold feet due to the problem of soft decks on such vessels.

No matter. I'm sure you'll love her. An nothing is as sweet as leaving flash expensive vessels (skippered by self appointed experts) in your wake!

Good onya!

Enjoy.

 

BTW, you don't have to do a BFR to be allowed the pleasure of sailing!

Edited July 1, 2020 by nomadpete

[Litespeed]

Yep, no BFR infact no licence needed at all.

 

Funny you need a licence for a dingy with more than 5 HP but a big yacht or my brother's 12 tonne Walrus and 12 passengers- even outside in the ocean and none needed.

 

Not that I am complaining.

 

Mine has soft decks but not critical at the moment. Sails fine and motors on a 15 HP outboard.

 

Has a 3 way fridge so cold 🍺. That many fish around, you just hang a line out the side and they jump on the hook.

 

Funny having a $1 boat surrounded by mega dollar wedding cakes and marlin murderers.

 

Will have a beer for you poor buggers. ⛵🍻

[old man emu]

Well, it's OK for some to lounge about, playing with boats, drowning worms and lubricating the neck, but some of us must plod on.

 

I found an old 12V downlight system that I've had for ages. Just the thing for providing strong illumination in the sandblasting cabinet. I hope SWMBO doesn't notice that I nicked a cake rack from the kitchen.

 

           

[Litespeed]

Careful, if she finds out it might be the doghouse for a while.

 

I know, it's a tough life on the water, but someone has to suffer it.

[old man emu]

Ha! She hasn't needed a cake rack since she had a bun in the oven over thirty years ago.

[Marty_d]

On 02/07/2020 at 5:58 PM, old man emu said:

Ha! She hasn't needed a cake rack since she had a bun in the oven over thirty years ago.

Still trying to work that one out.  Brings tears to the eyes.

 

[old man emu]

Well, the sandblasting cabinet is finally finished. I worked out how to get the openings of the gloves over the plastic surrounds and secure them with a band. Turns out the procedure is like fitting a piston and rings into a cylinder, except that the ring compressor goes around the outside of the cylinder. (You have to have experience with single cylinder engines to understand that.)

 

While it was re-arranging the mess in my garden shed, I found some aluminium mesh that I had scrounged from a building site. I think it is supposed to be used in rainwater gutters to keep leaves out. I was able to make a screen to replace the cake rack I had originally used. I was able to sneak the cake rack back into the kitchen without SWMBO being any the wiser.

 

Now I just have to scrounge a small amount of medium to test that everything works before I go out and invest in a full bag of media. The next trick will be to work out what I am going to sandblast with it. At least when I have a need for a sand blaster, I'll have one.

 

For other projects, I've just got to test my conversion of an ATX computer power supply to a bench top power supply (12V, 5V, 3.3V, -12V, -5V). Then screw the cover to the chassis. I found a watchmaker with knowledge of cuckoo clocks who might be able help me identify what each of the rods does. That just leaves the motorcycle transported trailer as a workshop job. For nightwork I've still got three books and a listing of WWll Australian Army motorcycle ID numbers to complete.

 

Second Wave? Bring it on. I won't have nothing to do.

[old man emu]

You know that things are getting to breaking point when you think that spending half an hour with a triangular file dressing the jaws of a pair of pliers is a worthwhile use of your time.

 

[Subria]

I'm happy that this time the idiots who make these draconian laws accept rec flyng in S3...... Phew! I feel for those locked in jailer Dan's 5K prison!

[old man emu]

I got sidetracked. We had the grandson with us during the school holidays, so I decided to refurbish the doors under the bar-b-que. I got the young fellow to sand the doors back with a mouse sander. That took a couple of days because it's not wise to try to keep a kid at the one thing for hours on end. Eventually that was done and he was able to put on the first coat of paint while I cleaned up the hinges and pad bolts and gave them a coat of paint. By then the holidays were over, so I put on the second coat and the hardware and refitted the doors. They look good.

 

Then my eye fell onto the garden bench seat whose joints were as loose as a goose. I pulled it apart and sanded it all down. I restained most of it, but used the same paint that I used on the doors to add some contrast. Then I glued and screwed it back together and added a steel bar under the middle of the seat to stop the planks from sagging. That's finished now.

 

Next job is to fit a wood-working vice to my workbench, then gt back to attacking the outstanding items on the To Do list. I hope this restricted movement thing lasts a while longer. I've still got the front garden flower beds to replant.

[Old Koreelah]

22 minutes ago, old man emu said:

... I got the young fellow to sand the doors back with a mouse sander. That took a couple of days because it's not wise to try to keep a kid at the one thing for hours on end. Eventually that was done and he was able to put on the first coat of paint while I cleaned up the hinges and pad bolts and gave them a coat of paint. By then the holidays were over...

OME never underestimate the importance to the young bloke of that little job. When my kid was a teenager she decided to restore an ancient desk and chair I had bought decades before. It was totally trashed because I'd used it for a workbench while fibreglassing...

After weeks of work, assisted by her grandad, she had the desk and chair like new and now, another generation later, they still hold pride of place in her new home.

[old man emu]

You've got to get their hands off digital controllers and onto tools as soon as you can.

[Subria]

59 minutes ago, old man emu said:

You've got to get their hands off digital controllers and onto tools as soon as you can.

Good luck with that! A lot of kids are inherently lazy these days! Spoon fed everything!

Remember the days/times when we didn't have enuf money to buy anything other than the essentials? My old man showed me lots of stuff in the woodshed, tools and other stuff to build with, spent many hours cutting shaping bits of wood to resemble planes/cars/ships. Pulled dads old Victa apart so many times he stopped giving my a sever belting for it after a while!

I have several nephews who couldn't turn a screwdriver!

[old man emu]

The shame of it is that is  it is us who have given our kids and grandkids everything they ask for, as soon as they asked for it. Is it our way of redressing our childhood situation when our parents could not give us every new toy that appeared on the stage?

[onetrack]

My old Italian neighbour, Barney (89) asked me if I could sharpen his lawn clippers (2 pairs) this morning. Now Barney is a great gardener, vegie grower and lawnkeeper - but tools are wasted on him.

He says, "I tried to sharpen them, but I'm no good at this!" (he's got a 150mm bench grinder). Boy, he wasn't wrong there. He ground the back off one blade so far (the wrong edge), I had to run a bead of weld along it this afternoon, to rebuild it!!

So, I spent a good hour or more on straightening, sharpening, lubing them, and generally making sure they're like new, to keep him happy. I bring them home and tell the Missus the story, and she looks at me, and says,

"Why didn't you just go to Bunnings and get a couple of new ones for $20??" Female logic, it can't be beaten. I try to tell her Barney will spend nothing on new equipment, it's made to be repaired!! But she just shakes her head.

I'll take them over to him in the morning, and naturally, he'll try to pay me $20 just for sharpening them! 

Edited August 13, 2020 by onetrack

[Jerry_Atrick]

We bought our current pad (an Old Rectory) about a 1.75 years ago, now. To say it is a project is an understatement, and the 1.75 acres of gardens it is on hasn't been tended to for at least a decade - if not more. Some of the laurel is about 30' tall.. and a fir type hedge at the front of the house has taken at least two car spaces. So, I decided today was the day to prune (aka butcher) that hedge. Well, I have a Stihl multi-tool with a pruning chain saw, a Ryobi Chain saw and a Zubat hand pruning saw... The Ryobi was a cheapie and the engine (or something) started smoking... the Stihl was better, but a pruning saw is not really geared to lop 5" limbs.. The Zubat made (relatively) light work of it.. Took about 3 hours, and I found out there were two of the farned hedges/trees. But I now have an extra 2 car parking spots and the hedge still blocks the neighbours view. The amount of brambles/blackberries bushes was intense... and of course, there were two birds nests, so I didn't lop those and surrounding limbs...

 

I thought about pullin apart the Ryobi as I could probably have a good shot at working out the problem and fixing it.. But, like your wife, I will probably cast it to a corner for it never to see the light of day again.. and buy a decent one instead... Maybe a Husquie or a Stihl.. Or maybe I will just borrow one..

 

Laurel, tommorow!

 

And then... an air rifle... Rabbits are decimating the place.. You think the foxes would sort it out..

Edited August 13, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[Subria]

I fix most things I can. Never bought a new car in my life, buy cheap ones and repair as nesesary, must have saved myself a squillions $$$$ over 50 years👍 Built a few houses myself, more savings, I hate throwing things away!

We live in a disposable society and once us old farts are gone it will be normal to just dispose and buy new!

[red750]

Apart from doing the cooking, washing the dishes, hangng out the laundry, bringing in the laundry, folding the laundry and taking care of the dog, my day is spent sitting on the side of my bed on the laptop, reading the posts here and on Rec Fying, reading and sending emails, reading farcebook and creating Showcase profiles. Occasionally I go outside between rain showers to mow the lawn, trim the hedge, clean up the fallen camelia flowers, etc. I have had ti withdraw to the bedroom because my son has been forced to work from home due to Stage 4, and his 'home office' has taken over my computer desk and  all available power points to operate his laptop, two large monitors, NBN modem, wi=fi modem and telephone headset It's alrady getting a bit tedious, and it's only week one of six. No TV during his work hours, everything must be kept quiet, Here is a photo of his work setup.

 

[Old Koreelah]

56 minutes ago, red750 said:

...No TV during his work hours, everything must be kept quiet..

You're not Robinson Crusoe there, Red.

This pandemic is making wholesale changes to our way of life; lots of people are adapting fast.

My grandies have quickly learned to keep the noise down when dad is working from home.

[red750]

I got in trouble yesterday. I was watching a video sent on an email, and didn't plug in the headphones. Quickly tod to tone it down -- and I didn't think I had it that loud.