Author Topic: What have you fettled today?  (Read 2134312 times)

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13825 on: 24 May, 2019, 10:41:21 am »
Expecting a parts delivery today, so will head out to the shed at some point to thinbk about sequencing the partial dismantling of a Cruzbike, I may wield a spanner, but no guarantee


EDIT - got as far as fiddling about with the racks, now swapped between that and the Giant to give easier pannier on/off on the Giant which will be more used as the run-about and give adequate clearance for disc brakes on the CB (shh, don't tell the wife)
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13826 on: 24 May, 2019, 01:10:25 pm »
re-taped tubeless wheels with the new wider tape and installed my last set of new gp4000s2 (with latex inner tubes) which i want to use up before switching back to tubeless again.
with the tubeless tyres off i've added the repair patches on the inside on top of the sealed puncture holes.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13827 on: 25 May, 2019, 09:10:04 am »
Yesterday, the mighty El Prez and I took out our massive old 300L water heater, manhandled it into his trailer and carted it off to the dump, then bought & installed a nice new 200L wall-mount unit. Total cost was under 300€, whereas getting the old one done by a plumber cost ~10,000 frs 20-ish years ago - 1500 €.

Stiff, sore & knackered this morning, had to get up at 6:30 to have a dog at the vet's by 8:15.  Dead in the water now.

I now need to take a bolster and my 1.5 kg hammer to the crumbling brick plinth the old one* was standing on.

* cue Nyarlathotep
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13828 on: 25 May, 2019, 11:13:41 am »
Bit of panel beating of damaged stainless colander. Pleased with myself.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13829 on: 25 May, 2019, 03:38:16 pm »
Last weekend I fitted a new Jagwire 'slick stainless steel' inner cable for the rear mech following the failure of the existing cable.

The existing cable was a teflon coated not-cheap one I picked up in the US years ago.

The difference really is extraordinary. New cable needs about half the force of the old cable.

Very gratifying (especially so since I bulk bought a hundred of the Jagwire cables).

Only problem now is that the rest of the family want them fitted to all their bikes.
Rust never sleeps

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13830 on: 25 May, 2019, 08:06:54 pm »
A fettlicious day.

Started by getting my Metrea commuter back into shape, addressing the contaminated pads. I've decided that the recurrence of the problem was the previous dealer not swapping the disc, there is no sign of hydraulic seepage. So, new pads and disc and the durn thing stops.

Fettled some more of my patent pending vegetable netting supports (ally uprights and mild steel widths-wise)

Fettled the garden irrigation system(s) back into life

Fettled a replacement for the car's luggage compartment cover that Mrs Ham broke ("No sir, that ikkle bit of plastic is not replaceable, the whole unit will cost you £710" ) from a billet of aluminium

Fettled a beer bottle open.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13831 on: 25 May, 2019, 08:38:09 pm »
More a case of unfettling today, on arriving home with the shopping pulled out the veg drawer in the fridge and a wheel snapped off.

Then in 45 mins i dismantled the front end of the Cruzbike, lots of photos as I did so to assist in reassembly with the new parts.  It will be recabled as well of course, so they all came out.  All removed parts retained, just in case.  It's looking quite sad without a front end.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13832 on: 25 May, 2019, 09:32:15 pm »
Replaced the motor in a cordless strimmer.
Hung a display cabinet in little miss hatler's bedroom.
Installed two under-shelf strip lights for the workbench in the garage.
Seven pizzas for various hungry gluttons.
One fabulous (though I say it myself) loaf of hatler's famous five-seeder bread.

Time for a glass of wine.
Rust never sleeps

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13833 on: 26 May, 2019, 10:05:59 am »
This could have been in the Grumble thread, but I'm feeling charitable.

Stripped the outer gearbox cover (for the 2nd time in a week) off my 73 Triumph Tiger 750 now that I've got the new gearchange parts that I identified were needed after the first strip down.  The gearchange is horrible - a box full of neutrals and it's a bit hit-and-miss as to which gear you get.  1st to 2nd always ends up in 3rd, so you have to go 1st -3rd - 2nd if you want 2nd. 

It's a bit of a bug*er getting the cover off as getting off the rh footrest involves accessing a near-inaccessible big nut - but having done this before and worked out what configuration of spanner was needed ((7/16 Whit since you ask) I found a short, flat ring spanner on Fleabay.  It fits perfectly and saves about 10 minutes). 

So, gearbox drained (again), cover off, bits dismantled.  Drove the gearchange shaft out of the selector mechanism ready to fit a new bit onto the shaft.  Bug*er.  The keyed hole in the new part is smaller than the shaft.  Then I noticed that a previous owner (PO), aka The Gorilla (who'd also welded the two halves of each exhaust pipe together rather than buy the clamp) had fitted a 4sp mechanism to the 5 spd gearbox, and the 4 spd shaft is bigger than the 5 spd would be.  Bummer. The fitting of the 4spd mechanism is a well-known bodge by lazy owners who can't be arsed to do the job properly.

Consulted the parts book.  No listing for the 5 spd shaft, just the complete mechanism, and yet I could buy the bit that goes on the shaft on its own, so how come they don't list the shaft on its own?  They are two separate components of one assembly.  I can get the 4 spd shaft, no problem, but the 5 spd isn't listed by anyone that I can find.

So, reassembled the whole lot again.

Will have to ring the suppliers on Tuesday to see if I can get the 5 spd shaft, otherwise it's a complete assembly, and that's a good bit more expensive than the 2 components would be.  The suppliers have several tonnes of Triumph parts in stock that they haven't even got around to cataloging a couple of decades after they aquired them from defunct Meriden Triumph motorcycle dealers, so think I'm in with a good chance.

On reflection, should have been a Grumble.





ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13834 on: 26 May, 2019, 10:55:34 am »
Completed the main assembly of the front end of the cruzbike. Boom, fork and chainstay.

Strangely, despite being told it was the right one, the chainstay is shorter than the original, which will lead to slightly lower feet for the same boom extension and possibly slightly higher handlebars due to the triangulation.  Hopefully I can get it sorted without adverse effects on the handling.

The fork is also different at the top end, with a much shorter steerer, resulting a handful of spare spacers.  That should of course have the opposite effect of lowering the handlebars.  See above.

The seat pan matches in size and shape, but has several of the holes missing for mounting.  Photos taken to send back to the manufacturer's.  It's also scratched in several places.

I've decided to go disc brake on this, so will be ordering some today, rear wheel will come from the M5 until that is sold, then re-hub another one.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13835 on: 26 May, 2019, 11:13:42 am »
As I was awake early, and bored (Mrs T is in France and TLD is being a typical Sunday morning teenager), I have:

a) painted the lounge ceiling
ii) fillered the nail holes in the picture rail
3) painted said picture rail
.) touched up the paint under the picture rail, which is suffering from drips of various paints from picture rail and above.

Next up is to start, and complete this week, the fourth wall which is going to be a different colour to the rest.

Should have it done just in time for the curtain poles arriving, but before the curtains arrive.
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13836 on: 26 May, 2019, 09:49:15 pm »
Rewired the trains...soldered the supply to the track to get rid of the minging power clip, and replaced the crappy Hornby controllers with a Gaugemaster DS, which has inertia effect and does proper slow running.  Still DC (DCC costs a fortune and most of this s/h stuff is virtually impossible to convert anyway).  I'll do a cab ride video if you like - a helmet cam sits nicely on a wagon.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13837 on: 26 May, 2019, 09:55:17 pm »
Replaced dead batteries in several taillights and a GPS during this weekend's 400. Need to rearrange a couple of on-bike toolkits so that a small Phillips head bit is included on the multitools, along with the right tyre levers.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13838 on: 26 May, 2019, 10:05:01 pm »
Fettled a new temp controller switch into the oven today.
Replaced a bust hinge on a wardrobe door.
Definitely in Mrs hatler's good books at the moment.
Rust never sleeps

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13839 on: 26 May, 2019, 10:47:15 pm »
Yesterday, looked at several bikes then to my 'friends' rockhopper.  Used the jet wash to try and clean the bike, inbetween attacking the bike with various degreasers (Even screwfix no nonsense degreaser) to try and remove the strange rust coloured grease coating the moving bits and the derailiers and cranks. 

Then started to strip various hubs and regrease them. Some old mailliard hubs were in better condition than the specialised shimano sealed hubs, the ball bearings in the shimano hubs are worn and need replacing...or am being lazy and regreasing and reassembling. Have been regreasing them with marine wheel bearing grease. 

On one front hub that has 10 ball bearings instead of 11, so seems to run roughly.  Scary thing is when I last regreased them could have sworn there were 11.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13840 on: 27 May, 2019, 07:44:50 am »
Serviced a friend's touring machine prior to our upcoming French tour next week - bottom bracket bearings were as rough as the proverbial badger's arse ... despite being an expensive Hope unit, original from when the bike was built and not that old.   

A little surprised to find that the bearings were the most basic Enduros which cost just £4.99 each - I would have expected something better, at least stainless steel from Hope.

Rest of the bike was fine with the exception of the brake pads which were very much on borrowed time with just about 1mm of rubber (replaceable) proud of the metal shoes.

Rob

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13841 on: 27 May, 2019, 03:48:15 pm »
Epoxied the hairline cracks in my Petzl head torch.  Hopefully I caught it in time.

(I think I must have dropped it on a hard surface at some point.)

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13842 on: 27 May, 2019, 06:25:33 pm »
Replaced the front tube on HK's Moulton, found that the new IceTools Pincer tyre levers break but the new Lezyne Power Lever XL tyre levers don't. Emailed Rose Bikes about the problem.
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/icetoolz-pincers-tyre-lever-set-2-in-1-2679450
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Power-Lever-XL-Tyre-Levers_72539.htm

Adjusted the rear hub on HK's Roberts and cleaned some corrosion off the mudguard taillight contacts.

Fitted an Ultremo DD rear tyre from the garage stockpile to my Frezoni, replacing an aged Michelin Pro Endurance. Retaped the bars.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13843 on: 27 May, 2019, 07:39:27 pm »
Painted the kitchen ceiling (it was a wet bank holiday, so I thought I'd be cliched). Neck hurts now - I hate painting ceilings.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13844 on: 27 May, 2019, 08:25:16 pm »
Made three plates from 4mm aluminium sheet to enable an Ortlieb Saddlebag 2 (the 4ltr hi viz) to fit a Brooks saddle on 3 of my bikes.

The plate bolts to the rails and allows the bag mounting plate to be bolted on and positioned further back and allow the strap to attach to the seatpost.    Now organised with 3 Brooks saddles on 3 bikes all able to take the one bag that has a standard set of tubes (all bikes will take same size) + tools etc ... and some medical kit I have to carry at all times.

... I shall have 3 Carradice under-saddle bags for sale in du course :-)

Rob

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13845 on: 27 May, 2019, 08:37:18 pm »
A day that seems to have promised much, but ended up delivering little.

Cruzbike rebuild continues
Cut gear outers to length using the old ones as a pattern
Fixed new bar end shifters and brake levers to the bars
Refitted front and rear mechs and aligned front.
Degreased and re-lubed chain
Played musical casettes - took rear wheel off M5, removed 11sp casette took 12-32 casette off the roadbike rear sheel, which had been previousl shared with cruzbike; decided i didn't like the look of that, so left it in a tub of degreaser; fitted 11-25 onto roadbike with touring rings and re-fitted the wheel. 
Changed the disc on the wheel that came off the M5 for a new one - the old one and 11sp casette will go back on it when I sell it, and I'll then need a new drive wheel with disc hub.  Ran out of time to mount a disc on the dyno hub.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13846 on: 29 May, 2019, 06:05:31 pm »
Dismantled the Kirby[1] in search of the rattling noise emanating from the rear wheels.  This wasn't shot bearings, as I suspected, but the drive not fully disengaging when in neutral, apparently due to wear on something called a Bracket Cam Assembly.  Which I promptly broke, thereby solving the problem (it's now stuck in drive, so no more rattle).   :facepalm:

The good news is that spare parts are readily available, and this isn't a particularly expensive one, though you do get stung on shipping from USAnia.  I bulked up the order with a spare fan (which is looking a bit tatty) and main drive belt.

There's something to be said for appliances that are designed to be serviced.  Everything comes apart easily if you unscrew things in the right order, and not a self-tapper in sight.   :thumbsup:



[1] Usual disclaimer:  It's a good product, but their sales methods are a scam.  Only buy one second hand.

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13847 on: 29 May, 2019, 06:14:32 pm »
Are kirbys better than a henry?

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13848 on: 29 May, 2019, 06:18:06 pm »
Are kirbys better than a henry?

That's an "are recumbents better than uprights?" type question.

Henry seems to be the business for sucking up dust, but if you've got endless human hair to deal with, nothing beats an upright with a belt-driven roller that's easily stripped down and unclogged.  Dyson need not apply.

The flaw in the Kirby approach is weight.  It's a beast, hence the driven wheels.  Barakta and I have an agreement whereby I'm allowed a ludicrously overengineered vacuum cleaner, as long as I do all the hoovering.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13849 on: 29 May, 2019, 07:01:23 pm »
Disc brakes onto the Cruzbike. 

Need cables to complete the installation, will swim and head into town tomorrow lunchtime, or if this rain continues, swim into town.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens