SHED MATTERS 2

Post by **David Whipp** » 10 Jul 2016, 08:05

Congratulations on the successful running Stanley!

(And sympathy for the withdrawal symptoms...)

Post by **Stanley** » 10 Jul 2016, 08:44

Don't worry David, part of the goody delivery when Mick comes will be a set of castings for another cylinder I think.

I've been tidying up this morning....

The first thing to do was clean up the exhaust pipes which I marked yesterday when I had to use the grips on them to get them off. So I popped them in Mrs Harrison and took a skim off them, plenty of meat in them so no problem there.

Then I addressed the studs on the steam chest lid. P will be glad to see I have made them all the same length and tidied the heads up.

At the same time I made sure all the gland nuts were tight.

I declared both engines finished because Mick and John will have to fit the mahogany bases and if they want to do 'pretty' on them they can do. My contract was for two working engines! I finished off by having a good clean up of Mrs Harrison and the shed floor. Next week will be taken up with preparing for Keele and looking after myself....

Post by **Stanley** » 11 Jul 2016, 04:48

Today will be a quiet day. A bit of tidying up may be the height of it! The question is, what next?

Post by **Stanley** » 11 Jul 2016, 07:32

This is about the height of it today. A clean shed, both surface plates cleaned and oiled and a clean tablecloth. I'm going to be very lazy and pass the time on by reading...... Have a nice day!

micktoon · Post by **micktoon** » 11 Jul 2016, 13:32

Hi Stanley, as everyone else is quite rightly commenting they look fantastic. They really are a credit to you, your enineering skills and refusal to retire to your rocking chair

not to mention generosity in doing them for others.
We are really grateful and they will be treasured items with pride of place that's for sure. Enjoy your well deserved rest and get your self into tip condition for your trip.
Thanks again Mick

Post by **Stanley** » 12 Jul 2016, 04:10

It's a pleasure. I am looking forward now to the Royal Visit after I get back from Keele..... Good luck with the casting......

Post by **Stanley** » 13 Jul 2016, 06:11

I shall be off the radar until Monday the 25th of July when I get back from teaching at Keele. Sorry kids but I am going to enjoy myself......

micktoon · Post by **micktoon** » 13 Jul 2016, 23:04

Nowt to be sorry about Stanley , I hope you have a ball on your trip, you deserve it

I am going to Masham steam rally at the weekend with John so no casting then but we are onto it so no worries.
Enjoy your trip away .
Cheers Mick.

Post by **Stanley** » 14 Jul 2016, 03:34

Post by **Stanley** » 17 Jul 2016, 05:46

News from Sarah this morning that Mick and John have left home and are at the Masham Steam Rally..... I hope they aren't up to mischief and have remembered they have some casting to do!

Post by **Stanley** » 23 Jul 2016, 07:04

I am back in the hutch so normal service will be resumed when I have got the backlog of other tasks done.
The message for Mick and John is that I am ready for a visit at their convenience, the engines are ready for handing over!

micktoon · Post by **micktoon** » 24 Jul 2016, 09:07

Hi Stanley, hope you have enjoyed your week away and had some good laughs during it. The summer has arrived up North

I am seeing John this afternoon so will see what the plan is. Hope you will be putting your feet up and having a relaxing day with Jack.
Cheers Mick

Post by **Stanley** » 24 Jul 2016, 14:17

All that and more Mick. I'm looking forward to seeing you now and remember, apart from anything else I OWE YOU MONEY! Looking forward to seeing you.

Post by **Stanley** » 25 Jul 2016, 08:25

I class this as shed matters because I had to use the shop vac and other facilities. I learned a long time ago that the time to deal with stove and boiler maintenance is during the summer! I have seen too many big firms wait until the heating season and then find they had a need for urgent maintenance so this morning I attacked the Morso stove in the front room. I wanted to clean the flue, the fire-bed and the ash pit so I brought Henry, the shop vac, into the front room and pulled the stove apart. When it comes time to light the stove in the back end I want it ready to go. All went well until I took the grate and its surround outside to chip the clinker off them....

The grate surround gave no problems but while I was chipping the circular grate it came from together as my kids used to say. A clean break. First thought was OK, I'll weld it back together, but there is nothing worse than old burnt cast iron if you are welding so I decided to abandon it, went on the web and ordered a new one. Sod's Law says that if I welded it it will fall to pieces during the heating season.
I'll clean up in the front room, put the stove back together except for the grate and wait until the new one arrives, plenty of time! I'll black-lead the stove as well while I have the dust sheet down. Not what I wanted to happen but it proves my point about doing the job before Autumn. I shall go into winter confident that the stove is OK.

Post by **Stanley** » 26 Jul 2016, 05:57

Time I went into the shed, if only for a potter! I will soon find something to do and get back into the flow......

Post by **chinatyke** » 26 Jul 2016, 15:07

My "shed work" for the day:

Last week we had a visitor staying with us for a few days. One morning he got up and said there was a problem in his bedroom. It has been 36-40C during the day and about 33C at night so he left the air-con on for most of the night. Unfortunately the drain hose had become blocked, they get slime in them especially when they are used intermittently, and the water overflowed onto a tall bookcase unit. Not his fault, it had just gone unnoticed with being a spare bedroom. I left the bookcase to dry out and tackled it today.

The bookcase is made from that cheap compressed sawdust board with a thin paper type veneer. It swells to double it size and never returns to the correct size. The lower third was cupboards with solid doors and the upper two thirds are bookshelves with glass doors. It was definitely damaged beyond repair in parts, cheaper to renew than to rebuild. But, if I could just saw off the damaged cupboards at the bottom and turn the thing head over heels I could have a book case with glass doors without the cupboards. Easy peasy. If Stanley can make things in brass I can do it in sawdust!

I thought through the plan, measured and marked it ready for cutting using the shelves as guides, checked it for being square and off we go with the power saw. The thing scares me to death, but ZIP! ZIP! ZIP! Whizzed through it with no problem, all square and straight cuts. Tried to refit a glass door and I'd used the wrong shelf as the guide, the door was now 10" too long. Oops! The air was blue.

PLAN B: Always have a plan B, especially when you're gormless like me. Put the glass doors in the treasure chest stock pile for another project and refit the smaller solid doors. Now it is half cupboards with solid doors and two open bookshelves. Looks OK and at least it isn't a write off for now. Waste not, want not...

Just checked on my house contents spreadsheet and the written down value is £3.02. Was it worth the effort? Might revalue it to £5.

It's all about precision on this page! Is it Gloria* who says Measure with a micrometer, mark with a pencil, cut with an axe...

* Apologies, that should be Julie in Norfolk, my mistake.

Post by **Stanley** » 27 Jul 2016, 04:00

Lovely to get other people's Shed Posts! This isn't a private topic!
We've all had them China, funnily enough, although I know I have had my share I seem to have blanked them out.....

The stove is blackleaded and polished, waiting for the new grate.....

Didn't get in the shed yesterday, LPA arrangements and cooking got in the way..... Priorities!

Post by **chinatyke** » 27 Jul 2016, 04:36

It didn't turn out too bad, still a useful item.

Post by **David Whipp** » 27 Jul 2016, 07:00

China, I admire your frugality!

(Not quite up to Stanley Standards, but not far off...)

Post by **Stanley** » 27 Jul 2016, 07:09

I don't know about that David, my standards aren't always the highest. I go for utility rather and looks!

Post by **Stanley** » 28 Jul 2016, 05:22

Other matters got in the way and apart from a good inspection and some tidying up this was as far as I got!

One thing I did do was a bit of digging for the next project.... Have a look on the web for the Fieldhouse Winding Engine. An unusual design and I can make the cylinder from John fit into it. I quite like the idea of this because it is entirely different..... (LINK)

Post by **Stanley** » 28 Jul 2016, 07:54

A good start, the new glass Kev got for me.....

As you can see I hadn't touched the door during the annual clean on the grounds that the glass was delicate and I didn't want to disturb it. First IA was a good wire brushing and a blow off with compressed air. That compressor was a good investment!

I had it in my head that I was going to slacken the screws that retain the clips but soon realised this was a no-no as the heads were burned and the screws solid so I carefully tapped the clips round on their pegs until they were out of the way. The asbestos seal was in one piece so I decided not to try to improve it. The products of combustion will soon seal any gaps....

It was easy to slide the glass under the top clips and knock the bottom ones back into position. The glass is a bit loose but I'd rather that than too tight as it will have room to expand and contract if it wants to. The air leak isn't serious and will soon get bunged up with soot.

The door back in place. It shuts OK on its seal so I have not interfered with that. While I had it off I freed the screw on the top air inlet for over-fire air. Then I went on line and ordered another spare glass. Belt and braces Stanley!

Post by **Stanley** » 29 Jul 2016, 14:06

It's been a busy day. Six pairs of underpants modified, the new stove door glass delivered and put in stock and the new grate delivered and fitted.

All this and the shopping as well.

I got a copy of Cherry's Engines. If you know nothing about Cherry Hill, the best model engineer in the world, have a look at THIS. She is alive and well and working on her 19th model.

micktoon · Post by **micktoon** » 02 Aug 2016, 23:55

Hi Stanley, I hope all is well as its gone quiet ? I ended up going to the Cumbria steam gathering with John at the weekend. Real good display of all manner of steam related items as well as various classic , cars , bikes and commercials, oh plus tractors too.
Cheers Mickt

Post by **David Whipp** » 03 Aug 2016, 06:39

Stanley hasn't been well since before the weekend Mick. Susan, Stanley's daughter who lives locally,is keeping an eye on him. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

OneGuyFromBarlick

SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2

Re: SHED MATTERS 2