Author Topic: What have you fettled today?  (Read 2134108 times)

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15775 on: 11 April, 2021, 01:45:29 pm »
My old Specialized cycling shoes are at least six years old.  The boa fastener on the right one had frayed.

 I went on to the BOA website looking for spares, and saw the warranty free replacement/repair link.  Brilliant service from them.  I filled in the form, uploaded a photo, and a set of four now fasteners arrived three days later. 

I've now replaced the worn one, shoe is (not quite) as good as new.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15776 on: 11 April, 2021, 03:09:09 pm »
Assembled the new pressure washer that Mrs A insisted we needed.  The upside is that I see it can be used to clean bicycles.

With care on bikes - don't spray into the bearings - spray along the length of the bike frame rather than from the side, and keep the pressure low/spray arc wide.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15777 on: 11 April, 2021, 04:49:32 pm »
Upgraded the security in Mother's back garden.
I cannot tell you the details of what I did.
Were I to do so, I'd have to kill you.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15778 on: 11 April, 2021, 05:51:13 pm »
Too cold to paint again, so I had another go at filling some dinks in the vestibule skirting boards. Swept up the crap left lying around outside after the works to replace our entrance platform.
Used lots of polyfilla to fill in the big cracks in our bedroom walls prior to them being papered (which reminds me I need to prod the decorating co. as they've gone onto silent running.)
Had a second go at stripping the gack off my carbon steel crepe pan (that was my exercise for the day, fitbit reckons I've done >8000 steps without me going anywhere). Seasoned it.
Now I've got pizzas to fettle so I dare say I'll be ready for a snooze after that.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15779 on: 11 April, 2021, 06:13:03 pm »
Upgraded the security in Mother's back garden.
I cannot tell you the details of what I did.
Were I to do so, I'd have to kill you.




Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15780 on: 11 April, 2021, 06:25:24 pm »
 ;D
She already has a couple of those.
Just beyond the shark-filled moat.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15781 on: 11 April, 2021, 07:08:20 pm »
Finished wiring the electrics for the camper's new tow bar that I put on last weekend. That means we can now put the bike rack on so we can abandon the camper on campsites and go exploring, or tow the motorbike trailer if we are going to stay overnight for British Cycling events rather than run two vehicles there.

Then dug the old 1990s mountain bikes out of the garage and fettled them back into running order. Mine was just give it a clean and oil the chain, on MrsH's both shifters had failed. They are the old original Shimano 7 speed trigger shifters, the metal ones before they went to the newer plastic "C Deck" style that become standard on low-mid range MTBs. I'd guess her bike is about 1994 - it's a fully rigid Saracen Ruff Trax, that she won in a competition at her work. On both, the lower (pull cable) lever will work for moving one ring on the front or two sprockets on the rear, but whilst they spring back the ratchet mechanism isn't working so they can't be pressed again and pull more (the upper ratchet does work) That mechanism appears to be hidden in the depths of the shifters and spraying with GT85 didn't free it off. I'm assuming it's just old grease gone hard. For the moment I've pulled those off and replaced with the newer ones off an old kids mountain bike that I've been gradually using as a parts donor, but it'll be nice if I can get the original ones back in working order so I'll do a proper strip down of them at some point.

So we now have two working old MTBs that we can use as hack bikes whilst away, and not cry too much if they get nicked (unlike our road bikes).

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15782 on: 12 April, 2021, 04:20:07 pm »
Spring cleaned Trek, new tyre on rear.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15783 on: 12 April, 2021, 04:38:38 pm »
Fitted a Rotor* chain catcher to my PlanetX carbon machine - had to do a bit of filing on the catcher as the inner plate of the front mech (Ultegra) fouled the adjustable bit.   Now sorted, test run tomorrow . . . . although I've yet to un-ship the chain on the bike it's better safe than sorry with the risk of chewing up the carbon on the BB shell if the chain did come off.

* it's red so should improve my speed  ;D

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15784 on: 12 April, 2021, 09:08:40 pm »
Not today but recently fettled some delaminating 10mm plywood by using  modelling needle syringes to inject wood glue between the delaminating sheets and clamping overnight. Very pleased with the result.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15785 on: 14 April, 2021, 09:09:25 pm »
Not me, but I finally got the stove company back to fettle this mess:
IMG_1829 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Into:
IMG_1833 by The Pingus, on Flickr

I wish I'd had it done years ago now rather than waiting til I want to sell this place, haha.
Now I need to find some grey paint for the log store they wouldn't tile...
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15786 on: 14 April, 2021, 09:43:57 pm »
I got a LH ball cup out of a nice old alloy SA hub shell.  This is not easy when it is not built into a wheel but it is possible.  You screw a RH ball ring in and, because the LH cup is left-threaded, you can use two large spanners and percussive encouragement until the LH cup unscrews for the first time since 1955.

Then you use a hammer and punch to remove the (by now rather tight) RH ball ring.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15787 on: 14 April, 2021, 10:48:11 pm »
Took delivery of 4m of blackout curtain lining material from John Lewis. (White in colour)
Cut all 4m down from 135cm in width to 101cm.
Removed old blackout material from the blinds in the bedroom - after 18 years in an east facing window, it was no longer blacking out.
Cut the new material to size, hemmed it and applied it to all four blinds.

Remembered to create a 5p sized hole in the blackout material of one of the blinds.
This effectively makes the bedroom into a pinhole camera/camera obscura, projecting an image of the roofline which faces the window as well as clouds and passing aircraft onto the wall above the headboard.
It also means that I can check what the weather is doing, without having to get up and open the blinds.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15788 on: 14 April, 2021, 11:52:04 pm »
Remembered to create a 5p sized hole in the blackout material of one of the blinds.
This effectively makes the bedroom into a pinhole camera/camera obscura, projecting an image of the roofline which faces the window as well as clouds and passing aircraft onto the wall above the headboard.
Oh kudos. Very cool.
The Tile Collector

Kim

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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15789 on: 15 April, 2021, 11:52:00 am »
The badly-fitted curtains in our bedroom[1] in Sheffield used to do a good line in projecting an image of the street below onto our bedroom ceiling.  Hadn't thought to do it deliberately.   :thumbsup:


[1] The one that had shoddy plasterwork in the shape of a T-rex.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15790 on: 15 April, 2021, 01:34:48 pm »
My daughter's bank account. Again.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15791 on: 15 April, 2021, 05:03:50 pm »
The Moulton TSR (ex-slope) has had another rejig and is now running a medium-ratio SA 3-speed giving a 56.5" normal gear, 66" high gear and 48.5" low gear.

Advantages: the chain can't come off, the three gears are just right for 99.9% of riding, it runs silkily and silently (apart from the SA ticking in the top two gears), it looks neater than a derailleur and it's probably a little more efficient, especially in normal gear.

Disadvantages: it isn't going to climb mountains and it will run out of gears if chasing roadies.  There is no weight saving over a 9-speed!
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15792 on: 15 April, 2021, 10:49:22 pm »
My daughter's bank account. Again.

She'll catch you one day.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15793 on: 16 April, 2021, 06:22:15 pm »
Stripped down HK’s Trykit to get some modifications done. I’ll replace the freehub bearings and rear axle bearings when it comes back.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15794 on: 16 April, 2021, 06:43:13 pm »
Replaced the smallest ring on the tourer. It’s years old and although steel, it was worn enough to cause chain suck with a new chain. Next I might look at replacing the whole transmission with a double chain set and 11 speed cassette if not too expensive.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15795 on: 16 April, 2021, 07:50:49 pm »
MrsC told me the lower hinge on the door of our office room was coming off, so I fettled it back with some broken matchstick to pack out the holes.
Can't help wondering, even with one of those light honeycomb type doors, whether the screws shouldn't be a bit bigger than 12mm long and less than matchstick size across.
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15796 on: 16 April, 2021, 08:07:35 pm »
MrsC told me the lower hinge on the door of our office room was coming off, so I fettled it back with some broken matchstick to pack out the holes.
Can't help wondering, even with one of those light honeycomb type doors, whether the screws shouldn't be a bit bigger than 12mm long and less than matchstick size across.
Sounds woefully under-hinged to me.
The spec you've given may be ok for a small, lightweight cupboard/cabinet door.
I tend to measure the thickness of the frame, and more or less match the screw length to that.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15797 on: 16 April, 2021, 08:55:08 pm »
Next doors Dutch bike (5speed SA hub, chain case, rack, all the usual)

Officially I was just fixing a puncture but the project got a bad case of mission creep, I found myself replacing front wheel cones and bearings (two goes) so I could get repeatable results on the wheel truing jig.

The fitted the two new tyres (there was a reason she kept getting punctures despite the innertube full of gloop)

Then fixing the innertube, testing everything and returning.

All this was mission creep from my end as the owner is lovely, and pays in CAKE

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15798 on: 17 April, 2021, 10:11:37 am »
Strip and re-grease Shimano 105 pedal axles. Never been motivated enough to do it before, but a rhythmic click-of-doom spurred me into action. Any grease that was in there from n years ago (where n is large and the year of manufacture) had been replaced with black water-like gunge. Counted out the ball bearings, counted them all back in again. Click-of-doom is gone.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #15799 on: 17 April, 2021, 10:59:49 am »
Following the stove post above, yesterday I painted that wall and the adjoining one, put some slate oil on the hearth and painted the stove. Then I even had time for a bike ride (to check if the previous weeks BB fettling was ok) and a late lunch in the sun before picking the cats up from borstal.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.