What have you fettled today?

[orienteer]

For some reason Mrs O decided to iron something on the bedroom floor. The iron fell over. The carpet is red, artificial fibre (gave up on wool carpets after feeding too many moths), resulting in a dark grey, iron-shaped patch.

Still have some carpet offcuts from when it was laid two or three years ago, so I cut out the damaged area and used it as a template to make a new patch and stick it in place with some carpet tape. Slightly obvious as the original carpet has already faded a little from sunlight, but much better than a dark grey bald patch.

[robgul]

Garden table and bench from new scaffold boards . . .  lots of sanding with my new belt sander     - but see div thread 

[Ham]

My folder needed a new rear tyre and tube. Tyre because it was well worn (castor brake helps there) and tube as I suspected the valve, and the poor thing had been patched a lot over the years.

I replaced the Marathon Racer with a Marathon, as that was all my LBS had. Things started inauspiciously, as the tyre needed levers and welly to get the first bead over. I thought - uh oh, here we go.

As you can see, the second bead was a liiiiiiitle tight.



But, as you can also see, the BFO Park Tools metal levers are what I haz. A firm hand was required but it went on in seconds from there.

[Kim]

For some reason Mrs O decided to iron something on the bedroom floor. The iron fell over. The carpet is red, artificial fibre (gave up on wool carpets after feeding too many moths), resulting in a dark grey, iron-shaped patch.

This sort of thing (special mention to the burnt patch on the back of barakta's Interview Jacket), combined with general lack of arsedness and preferring my RCDs un-tripped is the reasoning behind my no-ironing policy.

[TimO]

On my commuting bike, I need to replace the seat-clamp, because I want to use one with attachments point to mount the rear rack on. At the moment I'm using p-clips, but those have a very limited lifetime and one of the current pair has just broken, so the other one probably will very shortly too.

Of course, the seat-post has seized, and after some abuse trying to unseize it, the bit that the seat clamp attaches to is coming out of the post itself, although the post was just starting to move! I think this means that this seat-post is toast, but I have to find some way to remove it that doesn't rely on force being exerted through the seat itself.

Mole-grips around the seat-post currently aren't moving the post at all. Hopefully leaving it overnight, the WD40 I've sprayed around it may loosen thing up a bit, although obviously it's difficult for that to get into the gap. I'm wondering how I can apply some more leverage to the mole-grips.

[hatler]

I always swear by Plus Gas ahead of WD40 as a release agent.

[MattH]

If the post is toast, drill a hole straight through it and put a bar or screwdriver through the hole.

[TimO]

I always swear by Plus Gas ahead of WD40 as a release agent.

Yes, but unfortunately WD40 is all that was at hand. I've already got some Plus Gas ordered.

If the post is toast, drill a hole straight through it and put a bar or screwdriver through the hole.

The mole-grips are actually gripping it adequately, I just can't turn it, there's insufficient leverage. I need to hunt around for something that I can either use to provide more leverage, directly on the mole-grips or via a drilled hole.

I started preparing the spare bike to use instead, and thought that all I needed to do was pump the tyres up ... however, once I'd swapped the fittings for cameras and lights across, with a few gotchas, I found that the free-hub was very free, the pawls were not engaging and it happily spins in either direction. ...

It's definitely one of those day 

[MattH]

I found that the free-hub was very free, the pawls were not engaging and it happily spins in either direction. ...

No problem. Take off the pedals and ride it like a dandy horse. Bonus points for either full hipster or Victorian garb to complete the image.

[TimO]

I found that the free-hub was very free, the pawls were not engaging and it happily spins in either direction. ...

No problem. Take off the pedals and ride it like a dandy horse. Bonus points for either full hipster or Victorian garb to complete the image.

 

This bike has straight handlebars, so isn't really optimal for the hipster fakenger look.

Some years ago, when I broke a chain without a chain-tool handy, I had to do that for a mile or two. It turns out that bikes accelerate really slowly under their own momentum when going downhill. It's surprising how much even a little input via pedals or feet on the ground accelerates you!

Next trick, I need to find a lock-ring removal tool to swap out the free-hub. I'm fairly sure I have at least 4 different variants of that, but couldn't actually find a single one last-night! 

[Kim]

If the post is toast, drill a hole straight through it and put a bar or screwdriver through the hole.

The mole-grips are actually gripping it adequately, I just can't turn it, there's insufficient leverage. I need to hunt around for something that I can either use to provide more leverage, directly on the mole-grips or via a drilled hole.

I believe the canonical solution is to clamp the seatpost in a bench vise and use the bike frame as a lever.

[robgul]

If the post is toast, drill a hole straight through it and put a bar or screwdriver through the hole.

The mole-grips are actually gripping it adequately, I just can't turn it, there's insufficient leverage. I need to hunt around for something that I can either use to provide more leverage, directly on the mole-grips or via a drilled hole.

I believe the canonical solution is to clamp the seatpost in a bench vise and use the bike frame as a lever.

I'm servicing a customer's bike today - just about to take out the seat post . . .  ??WTF there's no seatbolt !  Presumably totally seized, and has been for some time.  Bike is just a gnat's short of being condemmed . . .

[TimO]

If the post is toast, drill a hole straight through it and put a bar or screwdriver through the hole.

The mole-grips are actually gripping it adequately, I just can't turn it, there's insufficient leverage. I need to hunt around for something that I can either use to provide more leverage, directly on the mole-grips or via a drilled hole.

I believe the canonical solution is to clamp the seatpost in a bench vise and use the bike frame as a lever.

Which would work, if I had a large bench vice bolted to a bench, which unfortunately I don't.

(Actually, there's one at work, but I'd have to cycle 20km without a saddle, which would be uncomfortable at best! I think I'll leave that for when all else fails).

For added shits and giggles, the freehub that was freely freewheeling in both directions last night, has now seized up entirely, so is clearly a very polarised part and believes in all or nothing. 

[Tim Hall]

Next trick, I need to find a lock-ring removal tool to swap out the free-hub. I'm fairly sure I have at least 4 different variants of that, but couldn't actually find a single one last-night! 

You know that Tardis like pannier you used to bring on the FNRttC?  They'll be in there.

[eckagain]

 Depending on how much you value your frame, this could be the very chap for you: https://theseatpostman.com/
About £80 plus carriage. He managed to remove my carbon seatpost seized in a carbon frame. My own fault, I'd neglected it for about five years. The post was toast, the frame totally undamaged.

[TimO]

You know that Tardis like pannier you used to bring on the FNRttC?  They'll be in there.

I checked, and no.

I managed to drift it off, which was fairly quick and easy.

[TimO]

Depending on how much you value your frame, this could be the very chap for you: https://theseatpostman.com/
About £80 plus carriage. He managed to remove my carbon seatpost seized in a carbon frame. My own fault, I'd neglected it for about five years. The post was toast, the frame totally undamaged.

It's actually a very cheap and cheerful track frame that I use as a commuter, modified as a single-speed with mudguards and a rear-rack.

Ultimately it's sort-out-able, with the ultimate solutions involving hacksawing it out from the inside or dissolving it with sodium hydroxide. Those are rather 'aggressive' and can be problematic, so I'd prefer brute force at this point.

I'm a little amused that there's enough demand for a (small) company to specialise in just this one task.

[Mrs Pingu]

Everything else might have ground to a halt but at least I finished this wee upcycling project
2022-05-11_06-45-23 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Mr Larrington]

Is that the new Scotland-N. Ireland bridge as promised by Bloody Stupid Johnson?

[Kim]

Is that the new Scotland-N. Ireland bridge as promised by Bloody Stupid Johnson?

Looks like it was delivered on time and within budget, so it's safe to say it's not.

[Feanor]

Everything else might have ground to a halt but at least I finished this wee upcycling project
2022-05-11_06-45-23 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Apple orgies for being a bit obscure clique (which I don't think even you ever knew, never mind the rest of the forum), but that has a certain Woodend chic about it.

[Mrs Pingu]

As in Woodend curries, Woodend I assume? 

[T42]

Turned the eCow rubber side up and removed the BFO motor wheel so that I could inspect the stays for cracks.  The chain was slipping when I put a hefty load on it last time I was out so I of course suspected the worst. The wheel was so difficult to pop even after I remembered to deflate the tyre that I already knew all would be well, but with the wheel out I could really put some force on the stays, which flexed no more than they were meant to.  The welds all look fine too. 

Took the opportunity to clean up milady's underparts, put the wheel back, adjusted the gears: ready to go.

[rogerzilla]

Rebuilt the TSR fork (with modification to protect the painted ends from abrasion) and got it back on its wheels. All easy bits left to do now.  The rebuilt fork is far smoother.  It has new shell bearings, stainless shim washers glued to the dropouts, and the leading links are assembled completely dry as per the instructions.  New bobbin and wiper seal inside the steerer.

The long M16 threaded rod and nuts I bought to fit F-frame headsets was needed here too.  Normal headset presses are too short, but using an M16 rod means the Cyclus stepped adaptors exactly slip over it and can still be used on the cups.

[robgul]

Garden table and bench from new scaffold boards . . .  lots of sanding with my new belt sander     - but see div thread 

Completed and in position (had to get the chap next door to help move the table top, it's heavy) - and it's BIG 2.4 x 1.1m



- just the one bench, there'll be chairs along the other side and ends.