Author Topic: What have you fettled today?  (Read 2134228 times)

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13500 on: 30 December, 2018, 02:58:03 pm »
If it's off the frame, hot air gun and long nose pliers are your friend...
Oh, that's a good idea

Realised we don't have a hot air gun.  :facepalm:
Pingu reminded me that we do have a gas hob though.
Big plug of plasticky grue duly hoicked out, job's a good un  :thumbsup:
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13501 on: 30 December, 2018, 04:01:31 pm »
I did think about attempting to fettle the garage so I can get in there and fettle other things. But the enormity of the job convinced me to have another cup of tea.
It’s going to,have to be done though because pre Christmas house tidying resulted in a lot of stuff being pushed in there without any organisation or further thought and as a result I’m not sure I could currently close the door with me on the inside due to the stacks right by the door. And the garage contains most of my tools and supplies so nothing else is going to get done until I’ve got sensible access again.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13502 on: 30 December, 2018, 04:31:10 pm »
Commenced re-fettl;ing my garage/workshop having moved one of the benches to the new shed my wife has just bought for the allotment (the shed also needs some security fettling)

With a bit of a clear-out I can feel a list of cycling items coming up for sale . . .  watch this space.

Rob

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13503 on: 30 December, 2018, 08:19:49 pm »
Converted the Bob Griffin back to a singlespeed.  It made a poor fixie as the BB was too low.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Adam

  • It'll soon be summer
    • Charity ride Durness to Dover 18-25th June 2011
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13504 on: 30 December, 2018, 09:16:06 pm »
A couple of years ago, I cracked the rim on the SRAM Dualdrive rear wheel on my Circe Helios, due to carrying too much weight on it.  At the time I just put a conventional rear wheel onto it, but as part of doing a Cytech exam a few months ago, I'd finally got around to building up a replacement.

So today was the day to finally get around to re-fitting it onto the Circe.

Test ride tomorrow.

I don't rush things!
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13505 on: 31 December, 2018, 10:16:23 am »
I did think about attempting to fettle the garage so I can get in there and fettle other things. But the enormity of the job convinced me to have another cup of tea.
It’s going to,have to be done though because pre Christmas house tidying resulted in a lot of stuff being pushed in there without any organisation or further thought and as a result I’m not sure I could currently close the door with me on the inside due to the stacks right by the door. And the garage contains most of my tools and supplies so nothing else is going to get done until I’ve got sensible access again.
I had that problem a couple of years ago. The garage content became chaotic so that I couldn't get to anything, and stuff retrieved by clambering over piles of crap simply became too difficult to put away, and got placed on top of the existing piles of crap. My bench was over two feet deep in tools and stuff and crap. (Principal problem was all the boxes of stuff retrieved from my late father's house.)

It took a period of enforced idleness (redundancy) to sort it out. I reckoned it would take two months. It took four. An emotional roller coaster as I picked through each of my father's boxes' contents.
Rust never sleeps

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13506 on: 31 December, 2018, 10:29:43 am »
I'm trying to put off gluing the tubs onto the sprint rims, which has the reputation of being a disgustingly smelly and messy job.  I suppose I really ought to get on with it.  The tyres will go onto the rims easily (they've been sitting on them "dry" for months and have been inflated to 180psi a few times) but they need to be properly centred before the last coat of glue goes off completely.  I have both Vittoria Mastik One and Mastik Pro, but the Pro stuff (water-based) has mixed reviews so I'll probably use Mastik One.

EDIT: rims roughened and cleaned with meths, base tape of tyres washed and now drying.  First coat of glue next.  Vittoria reckon one coat on the base tape and two on the rim - fit tyres when second rim coat is tacky but base tape coat is dry.  I've also seen a recommendation to leave an inch or so without glue opposite the valve, since this makes it a lot easier to get the tyres off when you need to.  Then centre, inflate to stupid pressure (they'll take 200psi, but my track pump won't) and allow to dry for 3 days.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13507 on: 31 December, 2018, 01:00:26 pm »
Don't leave unglued sections of tyres. Rolling resistance increases more than you'd think. Carry a plastic tyre lever to pry a well-glued tub off.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13508 on: 31 December, 2018, 02:29:01 pm »
OK - will do.  I could have used shellac* for least rolling resistance, since these are intended for track use, but that's a whole other world of pain.

First coats on and I guess they will take about an hour to dry.  Not too smelly or messy, just slightly awkward as the stuff dries so fast (I'm using a plastic glue spreader and squeezing out a bit at a time onto a plastic tray from the glue tube).   Some people don't glue the base tape if it's rubberised (this one is) but I suppose a coating of glue helps it stick back on if the tyre ends up being used as an on-road spare.

*are there any vegan track cyclists, and how do they cope?
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13509 on: 31 December, 2018, 02:36:04 pm »
I've used shellac on track tubs but most folk use road glue or 3M FasTac. Mastic is better than a lot of older formulations, so some of the old advice is unnecessarily hard work.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

diapsaon0

  • Advena ego sum in terra
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13510 on: 31 December, 2018, 05:01:35 pm »
Didn't exactly fettle it myself - bought a nice Carradice front bag for my Brommie in SJSC.  They kindly fitted the block and bag in the shop for me.
Advena ego sum in Terra

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13511 on: 31 December, 2018, 05:03:58 pm »
I found my first penknife at the back of a draw. My Dad gave me it when I was a kid in the early 70s. It's a Mercator K55K Panther he picked up when he was in the army and posted to Germany in the early 60s, a bit of a classic that they have been making for over 150 years. Pressed steel body so the whole thing was a tad rusty. Took it into the garage and after a good seeing to on the wire wheel then the buffer and going through the grades of whet and dry on the blade and its looking smashing again.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13512 on: 01 January, 2019, 07:36:04 pm »
Attacked a concrete floor with an underpowered cordless drill in a moderately-succesful attempt to secure a wobbly wheelbender.

Also fettling-by-proxy: Stuck a note on my friend's e-bike battery reminding them to pump up the tyres (with appropriate recommended pressures), which they'll hopefully find before they next use it.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13513 on: 01 January, 2019, 07:36:57 pm »
Replaced the front pads on HK's Kinesis, along with a mudguard eyebolt.

Found the lost spare Campag BB for my fixed commuter a couple of days after fitting a replacement BB. Maybe I'll be able to find and fit this BB next time.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

mcshroom

  • Mushroom
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13514 on: 01 January, 2019, 10:29:52 pm »
Fitted the Schwalbe Winters to the Claud Butler hack bike. It looks like tomorrow morning's commute could be sub-zero. Happy New Year! ::-)
Climbs like a sprinter, sprints like a climber!

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13515 on: 01 January, 2019, 11:24:56 pm »
Did a service on the VW 2.5TDI T5 today. The placement of the oil filter shows that Germans do sometimes have a sense of humour. 32mm socket on a UJ and a couple of extension bars with the power steering reservoir and half the air box removed was all it took to replace a regular service item.

Over the Christmas period I've spent a lot of time working on powered vehicles - for the first time in over two years every one of our motorised conveyances is MOTd/taxed/insured and in good working order.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13516 on: 02 January, 2019, 09:46:21 am »
I used to do a lot of that in the 70s when we had a Citroën Dyane, all of it without a garage and once under an improvised plastic tent in the snow. Never did develop a taste for it, though.

Anyway, this morning I have banged a few frets into a guitar neck that previously had a boring pentatonic scale, and replaced a missing wire on the back of a piezo pickup. Need a new project now.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13517 on: 02 January, 2019, 03:01:08 pm »
Nice. When I get some time I want to do some luthier work myself. I love gentle, attention to detail type work. In similar vein I've just been eyeing up some mahogany to make a keyboard housing. Far nicer and more tactile than plastic or aluminium.

With vehicle work I enjoy doing it and (especially on the bikes) would prefer to do it myself so I know exactly what state they are in. Of the 4 wheeled variety only my son's ovlov estate would fit in the garage - except it won't, due to MrsH's glass workshop at one end and a dozen or so pushbikes plus three motorbikes that get in the way. So we wait for a nice day or rig a tarp to work on the car, pickup  and cripwagon, whilst the two wheelers of every variety can be done undercover in the warm and dry.

Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13518 on: 02 January, 2019, 03:29:31 pm »
Cleaned lots of Wales' finest sheep droppings from the winter bike, and a bit less crap from the summer bike (hey, it's been double figures so it's summer bike weather!). Cleaning bikes is the worst thing about winter cycling, and definitely the hardest bit of the Festive 500. :sick:

Also polished the seatpost on my new-old Dave Quinn, which was much more satisfying. It had many scratches, but is now lovely and shiny. I need a new tube of Autosol now, though!

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13519 on: 02 January, 2019, 04:29:34 pm »
Nice. When I get some time I want to do some luthier work myself. I love gentle, attention to detail type work. In similar vein I've just been eyeing up some mahogany to make a keyboard housing. Far nicer and more tactile than plastic or aluminium.

With vehicle work I enjoy doing it and (especially on the bikes) would prefer to do it myself so I know exactly what state they are in. Of the 4 wheeled variety only my son's ovlov estate would fit in the garage - except it won't, due to MrsH's glass workshop at one end and a dozen or so pushbikes plus three motorbikes that get in the way. So we wait for a nice day or rig a tarp to work on the car, pickup  and cripwagon, whilst the two wheelers of every variety can be done undercover in the warm and dry.

I have quite a bit of old mahogany in the form of a 1959ish dining-table & matching (of course) coffee table.  MrsT's folks had them made in Uganda by taking a G-Plan catalogue to a Chinese carpenter and asking "how much"? Cost them half nothing. The wood's mostly ¾ inch thick - not enough for bodies but fine for necks & fretboards.

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

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13520 on: 02 January, 2019, 04:35:53 pm »
I have been fettling a traditional joiners tool chest out of Honduran mahogany reclaimed from 99p eBay tabletops.

'Tis wonderful stuff, with a blood red colour. I shall furnish the hive with a photo when done.



Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13521 on: 02 January, 2019, 05:06:06 pm »
I have been fettling a traditional joiners tool chest out of Honduran mahogany reclaimed from 99p eBay tabletops.

'Tis wonderful stuff, with a blood red colour. I shall furnish the hive with a photo when done.
'Sounds like that is worth looking forward to.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13522 on: 02 January, 2019, 08:32:53 pm »
Fitted a Maglite Solitare with a replacement LED and did the same with a couple of Neveready bike lights. They are all actually worth using now (for an unrealistic cost). Just waiting for a few 3xAA to D converters to turn up and the Nevereadies can be used on a historic road bike (HK knows the tricks to keep them from being kamikaze).
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13523 on: 03 January, 2019, 09:29:27 am »
IIRC it was always the switches that went on those things - bobby-dodgers. Maybe a bit better than 1950s Sturmey dyno lights, though: I once rode into the back of a parked truck with one of those.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: What have you fettled today?
« Reply #13524 on: 05 January, 2019, 10:12:10 pm »
I tried filing out the hole in the brake-bridge mounting bracket on my rear mudguard. I'd tested it with a magnet previously and finding it non-magnetic, had assumed it must be aluminium, even though it certainly looked like stainless steel. Of course, I hadn't allowed for 'austenitism' (is that a word?) making stainless non-magnetic. I think I might have gained most of a millimetre.  ::-) However, I do seem to have put it back on straighter than it came off, so that's a gain.  :thumbsup:
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.