What have you fettled today?

[Ashaman42]

On, err, Sunday I think it was I disassembled and cut down (in terms of length) a desk shelf. Using my brand new circular saw! It was exactly the same length as my desk and that's no good, I wanted to stick my two monitors on it but it's not big enough front to back for the PC tower and I don't want that back on the floor.

So I cut it down which also meant drilling new holes for the cam-lock fitting that holds the side upright to the back piece. Alas my spade bits in the big box of drill bits I got for Christmas years ago gave me choice of 13mm which is too small and 16mm which is too big, decided to risk it with the 16mm as that gives me a bit of leeway for not getting the holes in exactly the right place. Especially when cutting and drilling chipboard.

I got the length just about right, and reassembled the shelf and put away the tools. On the carpet it seemed fine but on the desk it's not quite square/parallel which gave a slight wobble. Luckily I have some sticky back foam which I was going to apply anyway to stop it sliding about. Lovely. Put it on and get the monitors setup. Bugger, not just a bit but far too high. But of course the tools are all put away at this point.

So today, once my new bar clamps had arrived I lugged everything back down out of the spare room and set myself up in the garden again for more woodwork. Cut the sides/legs down by ~3" and we're all good. I even got noth sides vaguely the same size.

Despite learning on Sunday that omitting the vacuum attachment on the circular saw (because I'm outside and don't have to worry about making a mess) just results in getting a jet of sawdust pointed right at me I was still too lazy to take the extra couple minutes today. Next time I will just get Henry out!

[robgul]

On, err, Sunday I think it was I disassembled and cut down (in terms of length) a desk shelf. Using my brand new circular saw! It was exactly the same length as my desk and that's no good, I wanted to stick my two monitors on it but it's not big enough front to back for the PC tower and I don't want that back on the floor.

So I cut it down which also meant drilling new holes for the cam-lock fitting that holds the side upright to the back piece. Alas my spade bits in the big box of drill bits I got for Christmas years ago gave me choice of 13mm which is too small and 16mm which is too big, decided to risk it with the 16mm as that gives me a bit of leeway for not getting the holes in exactly the right place. Especially when cutting and drilling chipboard.

I got the length just about right, and reassembled the shelf and put away the tools. On the carpet it seemed fine but on the desk it's not quite square/parallel which gave a slight wobble. Luckily I have some sticky back foam which I was going to apply anyway to stop it sliding about. Lovely. Put it on and get the monitors setup. Bugger, not just a bit but far too high. But of course the tools are all put away at this point.

So today, once my new bar clamps had arrived I lugged everything back down out of the spare room and set myself up in the garden again for more woodwork. Cut the sides/legs down by ~3" and we're all good. I even got noth sides vaguely the same size.

Despite learning on Sunday that omitting the vacuum attachment on the circular saw (because I'm outside and don't have to worry about making a mess) just results in getting a jet of sawdust pointed right at me I was still too lazy to take the extra couple minutes today. Next time I will just get Henry out!

Spade bits? - dreadful things, get some Forstner bits for much neater holes

[Ashaman42]

Have used them at work, much nicer. The spade bits are what I had to hand though.

Worked surprisingly well considering it's chipboard, expected far more breakout and wandering.

[trundle]

Popped a 11-36 10sp cassette on the Elan. Clearance is good with the B screw most of the way in.

Shimano don't recommend more than a 32 with the triple r5700 - but it has clearance, and I'm not a chain crosser which means I'm not going to exceed the total cogs in practice.

The 36 is just for the 30 ring when I'm knackered and want to climb a steep hill below 200W, not 250W.

[robgul]

Popped a 11-36 10sp cassette on the Elan. Clearance is good with the B screw most of the way in.

Shimano don't recommend more than a 32 with the triple r5700 - but it has clearance, and I'm not a chain crosser which means I'm not going to exceed the total cogs in practice.

The 36 is just for the 30 ring when I'm knackered and want to climb a steep hill below 200W, not 250W.

Add at least 1, usually 2 to what Mr Shimano says in his tech-blurb for mech/cassette relationships

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

De-installed the ancient gas cooker and disposed of it.  Luckily we have a passing scrappie with a pickup and I left it beside the road.  It was bloody heavy.

When the scrappie truck arrived the driver leapt out and inspected it.  He was a small guy and I was thinking he might need a hand.  But no, as I watched, the passenger door opened and a guy built like two or three peter crouches in one got out, and without a word, picked it up and hurled it into the back without dropping the tailgate.  I had a job shifting it with a sack barrow. 

[trundle]

Add at least 1, usually 2 to what Mr Shimano says in his tech-blurb for mech/cassette relationships

Agreed - in this case, I am 2 beyond even that. But it has clearance, and the mech is happy for all the combinations of gears I actually use on a triple. If I were a habitual chain crosser - this would not be a good idea.

[robgul]

Add at least 1, usually 2 to what Mr Shimano says in his tech-blurb for mech/cassette relationships

Agreed - in this case, I am 2 beyond even that. But it has clearance, and the mech is happy for all the combinations of gears I actually use on a triple. If I were a habitual chain crosser - this would not be a good idea.

... and don't forget the old MTB trick to put the B screw in from the other side to gain the thickness of the screw-head

[Ashaman42]

Using some aluminium strip I found in the shed, an old broken handlebar basket mount, a Rixen&Kaul/Basil adapter plate, some bolts from the odds and sods box, a bit of chrome tube and several layers of innertube I have made a mount that lets me use an insulated handlebar bag on the Carrera Subway1 to carry a couple beers and a sandwich when I don't want to take a full size pannier. And it has a light mount to stick a secondary front light on as the main dynamo light is slightly obscured by the bag.

[zigzag]

installed new tyres (pro one), fresh sealant and scraped dried up sealant and mud from the inner side of rear mudguard.

[CommuteTooFar]

I finished the defetteling of the blown down fence.

[Tim Hall]

Out on a ride with friends of various ages, we were coming back through East Grinstead.

Coming the other way were a couple of youths, pushing their bikes and looking a bit forlorn. Glancing at the handlebars of on of the bikes showed they were Not Right, having slipped from the tender grasp of the stem. I asked if they were OK and they confirmed they were not and did we have a <mimes twiddling a tool>. I indeed did have a <mimes twiddling a tool> in the shape of misc allen keys.

It was a quill stem with a single bolt squeezing shut the pinchy bit. I tightened it up, hoping hard that I didn't shear it off, as I gave it three white knuckles of torque - the splines on the bars didn't look brilliant.

Then I also noticed the head set was loose, so I tightened it as best I could by hand and told them what to do to get it fixed properly when they got home.  They were very grateful and ever so polite.

They fared a bit better than the young lad I encountered a couple of weeks ago on the Downs Link, peering at his wonky looking Boardman MTB. He'd almost correctly diagnosed a bolt was missing, such that the rear suspension wasn't attached to the frame on one side. He hadn't noticed, until I pointed it out, that the lug the bolt went through had sheared off.  I couldn't fix that one but made sure he was safe (only a mile to walk and his keepers knew where he was)

Oh, and two miles into today's ride, one of our number had a crank part company from the BB spindle. The nut (rather than bolt) was AWOL. Arse. I carry misc nuts, screws, washers and bolts but not a spindle nut. That was nearly a show stopper. Another member of the team set off back to scout the ground for it, something I didn't hold much hope of success. She'd gone all of 10m when she spied it on the deck. Hurrah. Deployed the crank extractor and lots of torque and all was well.     
 

[Ashaman42]

Using the offcuts from my earlier shelf shortening I made a plate for my bench vice so it can be used on my knock off Workmate.

It ain't pretty, and being chipboard it ain't robust but then again nor is the workmate.

It's gotta be better that sitting the vice on floor and trying to hold it in place with one foot.

[Feanor]

Bit of routine maintenance after today's ride...
My workstand is one of those that clamps the forks, so it's a front-wheel-off job.

Upon removing the front wheel, I notice a suspicious bulge on the sidewall.
Closer inspection reveals it's a full-depth cut, about 3mm long, with the inner tube visible and beginning to prolapse.
The cut was not yet big enough to allow the tube to escape and asplode.
Conti GP5000.

The tyre was replaced sharpish.
I'd been doing some fast descents earlier: I reckon I was this >< close to an explosive front wheel blowout!
Glad I caught it when I did.

[Hot Flatus]

Put the lighter carbon disc wheels on the oct-may commuter (it's a di2 hydrodisc race bike, so pretty nice for a commuter) which meant swapping cassette, swapping 160 to 140mm disc adaptor on front, centring calipers, then refilling tyres with sealant, new cores, then inflate.

[robgul]

Broke my new SDS drill's virginity with holes through several walls to get cabling from the house through conduits to the low voltage garden lights - excellent, like a knife through butter - although a bit on the heavy side.

[Wobbly John]

Amongst other things, Tent fettling today.

I recently bought a secondhand 3 man tent as grandsons want to do more camping this year - a Jack Wolfskin Tundra III  - a tunnel tent in a kharki/desert colour (£30). 
 
I washed the bottom of the groundsheet and dried it before erecting the tent, and re-proofed it with Fabsil (from a 5 litre tin 3/4 full that someone was giving away free) 

I noticed a small area spotted with black mould - this turned out to be where the internal pocket was and the inner not being clipped to the outer by a couple of points at that end probably was the cause it got wet in the first place. I treated it by spraying with diluted Miltons, brushing then swabbing with a wet sponge.

It will hang in the garage tonight to make sure it's dried off before I try to pack it down into it's bag again tomorrow. 

[De Sisti]

Repainted front doorstep.

[fd3]

New (to us) Isla 20, from neighbours down the road.  Cleaned (as mudguard free - the horror - double horror when I found out how much 20" mudguards cost), chain and gears cleaned, then had to sort out the gears as they were running 0-6 on a 7 speed.  I think a previous owner tried to change the limit screws without releasing cable tension.
What shocked me was the lack of swearing and everything doing what it was supposed to.

[Mrs Pingu]

Had a noisy crank y'day so took the cranks off and removed the BB and gave it all a clean and a lube.

Then filled in some more holes in skirtings and stuck some peeling wallpaper back down.

[Tim Hall]

Tinkered with a JSON file on my Kodi setup. I can now listen to Her Majesty's BBC again.. Hurrah.

Mind you, who knew commas were so important?

[tiermat]

Tinkered with a JSON file on my Kodi setup. I can now listen to Her Majesty's BBC again.. Hurrah.

Mind you, who knew commas were so important?

And spacing.

Bane of my working life are json and yaml files, in equal amounts.

Even using lining doesn't always help.

[T42]

A batch of chocolate chip cookies, seeing but as what the best ones are 12km away and under our 10km lockdown I'm not allowed to ride there.

[Chris S]

I brought the Red Tandem in from the garage for Examination. We've never ridden it - not once, since we bought it. It's been earmarked as a potential for an upcoming event¹.

¹ Involving one of us².

² Not me.

[MattH]

Fitted a tow bar to the camper. One of those worrying jobs, as it bolts on to the chassis in the same place as the rear suspension leaf springs - so if they hadn't come out, or had sheared, that's a world of pain. The impact driver and some heat applied to a couple of the bolts got them out fine.
Then found that the rear towing eye was slightly misaligned when it was built, which fouled one of the bar mounts (it should have just slotted through the towing eye). As the eye is completely blocked by the tow bar anyway, that was an angle grinder job to remove it - at an awkward angle underneath. All fitted nicely now, just needs the electrics wiring in and we'll be able to put the bike rack on it.