What have you fettled today?

[T42]

Put the tuning heads back onto the bass I fixed and re-strung it. First time I've strung a bass - the strings look as if you could hang curtains from them. Tuning is stable for the moment.  Had a quick plunk,  reminiscent of a bedspring in a cheap hotel but it works, which ain't bad after 10+ years in the loft.

It's now sitting on a sofa to see what happens with changes in humidity/°C.  If it goes pdoyngg cronk in the course of the next day or two we'll know that, contrary to what the makers say, Titebond glue isn't stronger than the wood.

The tuner capstans, however, poke up through sleeves that have to be hammered into the holes in the headstock.  The split went through one of these and grazed another, and I was able to hammer them back in with no problems. Impressive.

[Polar Bear]

mllePB's Thorn Audax Mk 3.

New chainrings, chain, cassette, jockey wheels and gear inner wires.  Also put new rubber on and new bar grips.

When removing the old gear cables both had started to fray at the shifter end.   Recent experience tells me that I shouldn't leave any gear wires more than three years in future.  IMO quality has deteriorated in recent years as once upon a time an inner would last a decade and be replaced purely on a cautionary basis.

[mcshroom]

I've just added a cateye light mount to my bagman using plastic p-clips. It looks like it should be stable enough to hold a rear light up, though now I know it works I might buy some metal clips for a more robust design.

[Jayjay]

The slowly oxidising fixings on Saphira trike's cranks and chainrings. Replaced with stainless.

Stainless bits by John Jackson, on Flickr
(plus several lawns and the laundry. And a door lock block.)

[Feanor]

A wee platform for the colour printer to sit on.

I had to fill the tray with paper, but because it was sitting on carpet, the tray does not pull out easily.
Then, once it's out, it doesn't go back in easily.
Today, it wouldn't go in properly at all, and caused paper jams.

So I finally molished a piece of plywood of the correct size, stood up on a couple of battens lifting the whole thing off the floor by 50mm or so.

[Polar Bear]

mllePB's Thorn Audax Mk 3.

New chainrings, chain, cassette, jockey wheels and gear inner wires.  Also put new rubber on and new bar grips.

When removing the old gear cables both had started to fray at the shifter end.   Recent experience tells me that I shouldn't leave any gear wires more than three years in future.  IMO quality has deteriorated in recent years as once upon a time an inner would last a decade and be replaced purely on a cautionary basis.

70k today and not a single issue.   Chuffed with that.   

[TimO]

I just replaced the chainring, chain, freewheel, mudguards, brake pads, cables and fittings for the rack on my commuting bike.  The frame, wheels, brakes and rack all got cleaned in the process.

I didn't significantly touch the handlebars yet, although I do have some replacement handlebars, bar tape and brake levers.  When the replacement light mount and some spare time becomes available, that will be changed too.


I've got shiny new p-clips on the rack, after finding one was broken last weekend.  The drive train looks as shiny and clean as it is ever likely to.  Don't expect that to last.

I cycled it 3.3km around the block a few times, and almost nothing rattled.  Once I'd tightened up a slack bolt, nothing rattled.

Tomorrows commute will test it properly, although I'll have four Allen keys and two spanners in my pocket, just in case!

[Kim]

Finished a fettle from Friday morning:



One of those excellent^[1] TS-100 portable soldering irons, running from a Makita power tool battery.  (Via a USB charging adaptor modded to provide a (fused!) battery voltage output, and some posh silicone cable.)  May contain Sugru or traces of Sugru.

This is a far more satisfactory solution for awkward wiring jobs than a gas-powered iron.


_{[1] It's tiny.  It runs from 12-24VDC (making it compatible with most laptop PSUs).  It's got a decent amount of power.  It's thermostatic.  It's programmable.  It's open source.}

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not fettling, but tidying up my spares & tools box.    How many sets of mudguard stays ?   4 bike computers, I've not used one  in years        What are these plastic brackets for ?    How many tubes that need patching      I can feel a large binbag being filled.

Yeah... It seems so wasteful to throw them away but at the same time not worth patching them, especially when you have four holes in one tube.

[orienteer]

A friend's Moulton TSR lost the nut off the rear suspension pivot bolt last week, so I obtained a new nut from Moulton and fitted it today. One of the "ears" for the bolt was bent so I straightened it, adjusted the gears after having to temporarily disconnect the cable, and lubricated the chain and other moving parts.

I then removed the rear triangle from my ATB tandem and greased the pivot bolt on that, after noticing it was wasn't pivoting smoothly. In the process I removed the rear rack support strut to take measurements; a German ATB owner was looking for a spare strut, and I suggested it would be relatively simple to fabricate one from tubing.

[Mrs Pingu]

Took up the slack on my brake cables (didn't appreciate the levers close to bars i got to on downhills yesterday). Also nipped up the BB a bit as there was some clunking yesterday.

[phantasmagoriana]

Decided to change my brake pads. Took the holders off the brakes, then managed to round off 2 of the tiny allen bolts holding them in. Gave up. Guess I'll have to ride a different bike tomorrow, then.

[Torslanda]

Decided to change my brake pads. Took the holders off the brakes, then managed to round off 2 of the tiny allen bolts holding them in. Gave up. Guess I'll have to ride a different bike tomorrow, then.

Easy fettle. Good quality pliers with a recessed jaw and grip the outside of the screw, turn the pad holder not the pliers.

Obtain Aztec replacements as they come complete with the bolts . . .

[TimO]

Decided to change my brake pads. Took the holders off the brakes, then managed to round off 2 of the tiny allen bolts holding them in. ...

I've also found these allen bolts to be very annoyingly easy to round off.  On my commuter, I need to change front brake pads at least every couple of months, and find that I round these off, as often as I don't.  You seem to have to use a very hard Allen key, with nice sharp corners, to have a chance of getting them out easily.  The ones I use, similar to Torslanda's, come with new grub screws, and I generally put a new set in with the new pads, since they probably won't survive a second use. 

[Mrs Pingu]

On my commuter, I need to change front brake pads at least every couple of months

Holy moly, is your commute in the alps?

[Gattopardo]

London grunge.

So today I fully stripped the Special cnc.  Removed the cranks and cut all the cables.  So going to need some new outers for the gear and brakes...Should I match the white ones that are on there now?

Stripped the mountain bike down to clean and service...

[Si S]

A Brooks swallow and a longer stem onto the commuter, I have an inkling I may regret both of these.

[Feanor]

Gah!  Circuit Breaker on one of the lighting circuits popped this evening. And wouldn't re-set.
Turn off all lights, still won't re-set. Hmm. Not a simple short on one of the fittings.

Disconnect wiring from the 6A RCBO, and apply Megger on 500v range.
Severe Phase-Earth fault on the wiring side which doesn't show on a simple Fluke LV ohm-meter.
Bollocks.

Go around all the switches disconnecting the loop-through till I finally isolate the fault to one run of cable.
It's in the ceiling void above the kitchen, totally inaccessible.
And no, the fault is not at either end, that would be too helpful.
A temporary external cable run fixes the problem, but is removed as Domestically Un-acceptable
Still, I now have lights up as far as that switch.

A mid-span fault! That's unusual!
Meeces, perhaps?
I'll find out once I've cut access hatches in the plasterboard and pulled in a replacement.

[TimO]

On my commuter, I need to change front brake pads at least every couple of months

Holy moly, is your commute in the alps?

Like Gattopardo said, dirty London roads, especially when they're a bit wet, makes quite a good polishing compound.  That's also over 1000 miles of cycling, with a traffic light every 1/5th of a mile, and I'd estimate about 1/3rd of them red.  So, I'm using the brakes at traffic lights 1700 times, and obviously there are other occasions when they need to be engaged.

It soon wears pads down, faster in the winter, and slower in the summer, but I think it is around a new set of pads every couple of months on average.

[David Martin]

I have been making a D20 to teach amino acids to students. It is starting to come together quite nicely.



The pieces were designed using joinery and then assembled using temporary wire twists to hold it together. It is currently having the glue set before I remove the tags and then add more glue, then sand and fill and sand and paint.

It's not quite as smooth and blemish free as I would like, but not bad.
Starting to look shiny by David Martin, on Flickr

Some more sanding to happen.

[Jakob]

So, that 15 min job of replacing my old BB bearings on my BMX, turned out to be a half-day affair.
 Sheared an allen key trying to get the crank off.  Went to the workshop, picked up a beefier one and got the nut on the other side off. This BB/crank never saw any grease when originally assembled!!
-Could not get the bearing to budge at all. Even with a bigger hammer and I just started damaging my tools. Ok, I got a selection of bikeshops near me. Never actually visited the closest one despite only being 1/2 block away, so went down there.
Super polished, clean, etc..and yeah, they could book me in towards the end of the week.
Next shop, I've used before and it's good.  They've done minor fixes on my wifes bike for free before and I usually use them for getting parts for her bike.  It's no so clean and the guys in the shop all got dirty hands, etc, ie a proper bike shop. They can fit it in this afternoon, no problem and will give me a call. I get home and pretty much straight away get a call to let me know it's ready. $15 for the labour. They ask me if I want to keep the old parts and I say no, as I have a brand new one and the bearings on the old one are pretty bad.
I get home again, start assembling and then realise that the sleeve on the new BB is longer than the old one. I could cut it, but would I be able to cut it straight enough? Probably not, so I walk up to the bikeshop again and get the old sleeve back!.
Finally get everything assembled, after 3 hours of faffing about!!.
Next up is the rear hub, which will probably be a similar adventure. BMX rear hubs got built-in casettes and while all the ball bearings should be replaceable, the pawls in the casette might not be, as the manufacturer doesn't sell those. (They want you to buy new, fancier hubs).

[Feanor]

Gah!  Circuit Breaker on one of the lighting circuits popped this evening. And wouldn't re-set.
#include tale_of_woe

Having isolated the leakage to a single cable run ( <0.03 Meg Ohm @ 500V ), I did purchase a reel of 1.5 T+E today, with the intention of cutting access hatches in the ceiling plasterboard to pull it through.

Before I start work, I megged it again.
It's up to about 150 Meg, rising to 300 Meg as I hold the button.
This has all the symptoms of something getting wet, and drying out.

I experimentally re-connect stuff, and the leakage is low enough to not trip the RCD.
So I've decided not to do the invasive stuff for now, I'll live with it working as-is.

So how can a single cable run in the centre of the building get wet?
Ah, now I think about it, there used to be a bulkhead light outside on the soffit board.
Following building work about 10 years back, the light is no more.
But what happened to the wiring?
The electrician was a cowboy.
I bet the cable run in question goes out to the soffits, and is chock-blocked with a shoddy wrap of insulating tape, and then continues back inside.
I suspect it's gotten grottier and grottier over the years, and the recent rain has finally tripped the RCD.
I'm now 99.9% certain this is the problem.

I'll leave it until it trips out again, then I'll chop it out and pull in a direct run of fresh T+E.

[Tim Hall]

A work in progress: I'm visiting my sister in Sydney and am taking a day off from visiting $Stuff, so am currently freeing up rusted chains, applying almost suitable lubricant, adjusting brakes and pumping* tyres on three bikes, belonging to her, BiL and 1st= Favourite Niece.  I am rather impressed by the selection of tools my sister has accumulated.


*pumping is a tad difficult owing to the pump being MIA. 

[Si S]

A shorter stem onto the commuter

[tiermat]

Multiple items off my todo list, still lots more to do, before next Friday. I hate moving house!