What have you fettled today?

[PaulR]

Re-cabled the lairy Mapei-liveried Colnago Dream, fitted some slightly deeper drop brakes and scarlet bar tape and changed the stem and bars for a more period-correct ITM outfit.  Somehow I seem to have fluked it into perfect adjustment, as a quick ride around the block had the gears changing sweetly.

I've often been surprised to see people commuting on such bikes, but this one would be ideal for those rare days when I can skip mudguards!

[ElyDave]

changed the shifters on the Orbea, the borked front and a 10-speed rear to replace the 9-speed.  9 Speed was OK, but a bit tatty and a pair was reasonably economical vs just the front.

Whilst I was at it, re-cabled and re-bar taped, changing from the original grey outers and black bar tape to red to match the highlights on the frame.

First time doing the bar tape, no real problems bu I could have been a bit neater on the first one.  Second was better.

Cables still need adjusting, and I forgot to buy a ten-speed chain.

[Kim]

Asterisk dialplan.  Things have progressed by several major versions since I last had to get intimate with the stuff, but it's still a syntactic bucket of spiders.  Sort of thing that makes PHP look like fun.  Eew.

[Andrew Br]

I managed to finish today's late shift early enough to get home in time for MOtD (go Leicester !) and I multi-tasked by watching the games whilst fitting my new, from Germany, Schwalbe S-One tubeless tyre with a tube onto a Velocity Blunt rim.
F*ck me it was difficult (not the multi-tasking, that was OK but the fitting).
In the absence of a 3rd hand, I used cable ties to try to keep the tyre on the rim. In the end, I needed 4 of them; 2 to get the first bead over the rim  and the next 2 to get the other bead on  ...........
I also used the full leverage of a long Topeak tyre lever to get the final bit of tyre over the rim.
When I began pumping the tyre up, I wasn't optimistic; surely with all that levering, I'd punctured the tube.
Luckily I hadn't, although there were some interesting "pops" as the pressure increased. I stopped at 8 Bar.
The purpose of this exercise is to try to stretch the tyre a little so that it will be easier to eventually fit "tubelessly" to the intended Velocity Aleron rim.

FWIW:-
Damn, that's a sexy looking tyre.
It measures 32mm on the Blunt at 8 Bar.

[matthew]

yesterday, dad and I, replaced 7 thermostatic valves on the central heating and fitted a filter on the heating return line. Unfortunately it took about 4 hours for the system to drain and the best part of four hours to refill.

The next task is to dose in the cleaning fluid for a week or so, then drain and refill the system twice to remove the cleaning fluid.

[Kim]

yesterday, dad and I, replaced 7 thermostatic valves on the central heating and fitted a filter on the heating return line. Unfortunately it took about 4 hours for the system to drain and the best part of four hours to refill.

4 hours?  Do you live at Sizewell B?

[matthew]

No, my parents house is just a 40 year old building with stainless steel pipework due to the copper cartel. Therefore the pipework is furred up and not draining properly.

[Aidan]

Front rack, light bracket, rear rack, bottlecage and mudguards

[Dibdib]

Remolished the key safe next to my front door, seeing as nobody bothered to tell me what the combination was and the neighbours didn't know either.

A few "instructional" YouTube videos later, I was mildly disappointed (but mostly relieved, considering) to find there wasn't a spare key inside. At lesst now I've changed the code to something I'll remember.

[spesh]

Fettled a jig that I had originally made for making guided cuts with a jigsaw that I had recently purchased, so that it could be used with my circular saw instead*. It'll allow me to make right-angle cross cuts across furniture board up to 35cm in width, and even has a remountable shelf to support the saw at the start of the cut.

* Took the jigsaw back because the wretched thing couldn't cut straight, even when using a guiding straight edge. I'm inclined to think that the shift to pendulum action saws with tool-free blade mounting is a retrograde step...

[Kim]

Took the jigsaw back because the wretched thing couldn't cut straight, even when using a guiding straight edge. I'm inclined to think that the shift to pendulum action saws with tool-free blade mounting is a retrograde step...

Hmm.  I thought I was just hopeless with a jigsaw.

[spesh]

Took the jigsaw back because the wretched thing couldn't cut straight, even when using a guiding straight edge. I'm inclined to think that the shift to pendulum action saws with tool-free blade mounting is a retrograde step...

Hmm.  I thought I was just hopeless with a jigsaw.

In my experience, I've found that jigsaws are perfectly okay for cutting thin material such as laminate floor planks (where the cut ends will be hidden under the scotia strips or skirting board). or for thin plywood, but anything thicker and you have to take it so slowly that you might as well be using a hand saw, unless the straightness of the cut is not too critical. I think the problem is that it's a thin blade that's only clamped at one end, unlike on a scroll saw or a band saw, where the blade is kept under tension. Of course, hand saws are only held at one end as well, but even flush-cut pull saws have much deeper blades, so will keep a straighter cut.

[Kim]

Which is the point where a circular saw makes your life a whole lot less tedious, even when you include the time taken to pick sawdust out of your ears.  I seem to be surprisingly good with one of those.  Probably because they terrify me.

[tiermat]

In other fettling news, I have had to fix the Bluetooth on my car, AGAIN. Looks like it survives about 40 hours of audio before giving up. Bloody Windows CE.

Also managed to fettle two Pis into a firewall and a file server. Then painted the bathroom with it's first coat of emulsion, to seal the new plaster. Would have done more but we can't agree on the colour!

[Jurek]

Which is the point where a circular saw makes your life a whole lot less tedious, even when you include the time taken to pick sawdust out of your ears.  I seem to be surprisingly good with one of those.  Probably because they terrify me.

Ear defenders will keep the sawdust out of your ears. Given a decent circ saw, it won't stop all the lights dimming in your postcode when you switch it on.

[Kim]

Which is the point where a circular saw makes your life a whole lot less tedious, even when you include the time taken to pick sawdust out of your ears.  I seem to be surprisingly good with one of those.  Probably because they terrify me.

Ear defenders will keep the sawdust out of your ears.

Good thinking.  Cuts down your victims' screaming, too.

Given a decent circ saw, it won't stop all the lights dimming in your postcode when you switch it on.

Mine's flattery powered (mainly on the basis that I already had the drill and a couple of decent flatteries).  One less cable to saw through.

[Jurek]

.......
Good thinking.  Cuts down your victims' screaming, too..........

 

[mcshroom]

Had another go at the tourer's rear wheel today. Didn't get much further so I've switched the tyre and cassette to an old wheel for now and ordered a bag of spoke nipples to do a complete replacement.

Also did a bit of rust removal from some of the fixings with tin foil.

[Feanor]

I've just washed half of Aberdeenshire's finest mud off the commuter bike.
It has had a couple of weeks riding without a wash on account of it being so cold and horrible outside, I couldn't face going out and mucking about with water and stuff.

I'm damp and cold now.

[jsabine]

Took the jigsaw back because the wretched thing couldn't cut straight, even when using a guiding straight edge. I'm inclined to think that the shift to pendulum action saws with tool-free blade mounting is a retrograde step...

Hmm.  I thought I was just hopeless with a jigsaw.

I think the uk.d-i-y consensus is that it's not worth bothering with jigsaws under about a hundred quid, or however much the round-bodied Bosch ones start at.

Certainly my nice battery DeWalt one is a world apart from the cheapies I've tried and given up on in the past.

[mcshroom]

Cheap jig saws do a job. I've laid two laminate floors with mine. I relied on the edges being hidden however, and the less said about trying to trim a door with it (using a guide) the better

[Polar Bear]

After much persistence I have managed to get my basic but reliable 1TB Buffalo Linkstation up and running again.   

The problem was that I could not remember the userid and password set a couple of years back.     

[Kim]

Cheap jig saws do a job.

They're good at making quick and dirty holes in chipboard so you can pass the plug for the washing machine through or peer at the gas meter without moving all the camping stuff.

I also replaced a section of the kitchen floor in our Sheffield house using one (had to trim the boards lengthwise to match the width of the disintegrated ones) without too much drama.  A circular saw would have been better, obviously, but at that point my priority was the cheapest power tool that would cut floorboards easily.  I think it cost me about 15 quid.

[Mr Larrington]

After much persistence I have managed to get my basic but reliable 1TB Buffalo Linkstation up and running again.   

The problem was that I could not remember the userid and password set a couple of years back.     

All that bobbins now lives in a text file in Dropbox...

[Wombat]

Front rack, light bracket, rear rack, bottlecage and mudguards

Oh, "little moment"...  sigh