Stuff you have fixed today

[Barking Mat]

Some amateur tig welding, not the prettiest, but fit for purpose.

Reinforcing boat stainless balconies, as clients give them a battering, initially I try to straighten them out, reweld hairline cracks, then I add bits of 5 mm stainless bar I've bent and trimmed to size, like this.

By mid afternoon, I was getting a bit better, by the end of the week, I might be okish.

 

[DAPPH]

Be prepared for that stickyness to return. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow....you know the rest

I have a couple of dial gauges that are the same. I stripped and flushed them out with solvent until no dirt or oil (apparently) remans. Satisfied with a job well done I put them away for a month and guess what? Yep, sticky action again.

Nowadays if I want to use those ones for clocking in some rough gear or maybe dialling in the taper on my grinder I just shove a quick blast of brake cleaner up the stem and work it a couple of times. They work OK then at least long enough for me to do the job then I put them away again until next time.

Seem to remember from my apprenticeship days 55 yrs ago the instrument techs and watch repairers used equal parts of 3 in one oil and white spirit to lube up instruments & watch jewels , meters after using Carbon tetrachloride or trichoethylene ( sp?) to do a couple of hours of a soaking degrease before light pressure spraying the part with clean degreaser to remove dissolved, jellified sludge. the warm air blow drying it , then a re lube with tiny amount of diluted 3 in 1 oil solution off a needle point on the gears & jewels , leaving the rest of things dry unless there is a friction point that needed attention .
I've often wondered if clean light silicone oil will do , . it seems OK on my electric haircutting shears & the underside of my rolling road's belt .

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Nice Bristol blue Oil lamp.
The wick gear is a know weak point on this style, be fore I spend any money on them I always fit a new wick to test.

The other issue is getting 1 1/2" diameter chimney to suit the burner. This one is marked 1.5". It is in fact a 1/1/8" unit.

New wick, a TYA DIY adapter to make it fit and we have a working lamp?


No. The old wick is insdie the gear unit, oh bum.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Fixed my thermal boots up for walking on ice again this season. Just added a few screws at the optimum spots to keep my ar** from sliding on the ground.

 

[droopsnoot]

Fixed my thermal boots up for walking on ice again this season. Just added a few screws at the optimum spots to keep my ar** from sliding on the ground.

I could have done with some of those last night - went A over T on a very slippery bit of pavement on the way to (to, not from) the pub. Fortunately they had Abbot on, so that helped a bit. My finger has largely healed up, and now my arm hurts a bit instead. Still, could have been worse.

 

[Arc Tourist]

I've gone A over T before. A few screws helped tremendously. When the screw (+) heads get bugered up, its a simple matter to remove them with pliers. Just remember to take your boots off before coming in if you have wooden floors.

 

[Barking Mat]

Long story short, this was a fortnight ago, mid afternoon, before we disposed of the debris.

This way the end of today, a comprise between verticalness and walls.

Getting toward being finished.

 

[Blue Chips]

I’m restoring more of the antique hardware for our old house in Alna, ME. The closet next to the fireplace in one of the front parlors had a small, handmade skeleton-key lock, which was surface-mounted on the inside of the door. After stripping the paint from the door and lock, I removed the lock and took it apart to see if it could be salvaged.

The four mounting screws were badly rusted, so I scrounged around in my bins and found four replacement screws of the correct size that weren’t too rusty. Fortunately, the two odd little screws (shown in the fourth photo below) that held the lock parts together were still good, albeit a bit rusty. Someone had apparently tried to take the lock apart at some time in the past, as there was a mark from what looks like a hacksaw blade...probably from trying to clear out a slot in a screw head.

The key was missing, but I found a key at a local antique shop that looked like it might work. It had a hollow barrel that just fit over the pin, and the bit was about the right size.

It’s a simple lock, made of some kind of sheet iron/steel. It’s obviously hand-made, since all of the parts, surfaces, holes, etc., are a bit irregular/crude and show marks from hand tools…and the staking is irregular as well. Judging from those characteristics, as well as having all of the same paint layers as the door, I suspect that it's probably original to the house, in which case it would be over 200 years old.

I gave the parts a light grit blasting and reassembled the lock to check the key operation.

The key was a good fit overall, and one of the slots in the key’s bit just happened to line up with the single ward in the lock. The bit was the right size as well, but turning the key would not extend the bolt quite all the way out to snap in place like it should. There was some wear on the ‘talon’ profile of the bolt (I think 'talon' is the right term, but I'm not sure), which was causing this, but I was able to fix it by welding some new metal onto the bolt and using a Dremel tool to reshape the talon profile (see photo). The key works perfectly now. I used gun bluing and oil to give the lock an authentic-looking patina. I'll spray some dry-film lubricant into the lock later.

The lock is now ready to reinstall, but that will have to wait until I make a few minor repairs to the door.

 

[Arc Tourist]

I’m restoring more of the antique hardware for our old house in Alna, ME. The closet next to the fireplace in one of the front parlors had a small, handmade skeleton-key lock, which was surface-mounted on the inside of the door. After stripping the paint from the door and lock, I removed the lock and took it apart to see if it could be salvaged.

The four mounting screws were badly rusted, so I scrounged around in my bins and found four replacement screws of the correct size that weren’t too rusty. Fortunately, the two odd little screws (shown in the fourth photo below) that held the lock parts together were still good, albeit a bit rusty. Someone had apparently tried to take the lock apart at some time in the past, as there was a mark from what looks like a hacksaw blade...probably from trying to clear out a slot in a screw head.

View attachment 381757

View attachment 381758

The key was missing, but I found a key at a local antique shop that looked like it might work. It had a hollow barrel that just fit over the pin, and the bit was about the right size.

View attachment 381756

It’s a simple lock, made of some kind of sheet iron/steel. It’s obviously hand-made, since all of the parts, surfaces, holes, etc., are a bit irregular/crude and show marks from hand tools…and the staking is irregular as well. Judging from those characteristics, as well as having all of the same paint layers as the door, I suspect that it's probably original to the house, in which case it would be over 200 years old.

I gave the parts a light grit blasting and reassembled the lock to check the key operation.

View attachment 381755

The key was a good fit overall, and one of the slots in the key’s bit just happened to line up with the single ward in the lock. The bit was the right size as well, but turning the key would not extend the bolt quite all the way out to snap in place like it should. There was some wear on the ‘talon’ profile of the bolt (I think 'talon' is the right term, but I'm not sure), which was causing this, but I was able to fix it by welding some new metal onto the bolt and using a Dremel tool to reshape the talon profile (see photo). The key works perfectly now. I used gun bluing and oil to give the lock an authentic-looking patina. I'll spray some dry-film lubricant into the lock later.

View attachment 381751

View attachment 381759

View attachment 381753

View attachment 381752

The lock is now ready to reinstall, but that will have to wait until I make a few minor repairs to the door.

That's a great looking restoration !

 

[Blue Chips]

That's a great looking restoration !

Thanks. It's amazing what is often lurking under layers of rust, paint, and grime. Here's a little cast-iron escutcheon before and after bead blasting:

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Thanks. It's amazing what is often lurking under layers of rust, paint, and grime. Here's a little escutcheon before and after bead blasting:

View attachment 381854

Those locks and furniture love Bering dipped in hot caustic then hot water.

They come up a treat.

Tallow was the old way of lubrication.

 

[Blue Chips]

Those locks and furniture love Bering dipped in hot caustic then hot water.

I agree. A caustic soda bath works wonders. I once worked for a small, family-run firm that rebuilt electric motors, generators, transformers, etc., and if I recall correctly, hot caustic soda was one of their go-to measures for cleaning motor and generator frames prior to rewinding.

Tallow sounds like a good suggestion for these old skeleton key locks.

 

[Hitch]

Fitted a few new bits in this big machine, new guards to the side of the belt, the paddle stirrer I made just before Christmas, upper splash guards (not pictured) and some new spray lances for cleaning inside.
Spent too many weekends scrabbling about inside that thing.

 

[Dcal]

Today I fixed a mates Transit.
Mot fail for rot and a rush job.

NS rear chassis leg above the axle was nicely swollen with rust jacking.

Cut the whole lot out but left a lip because the van is a wellfair unit and I didn't want to strip everythimg out.
I left the lip to the top of the chassis to stop too much heat getting to the floor. Still worth watching as it's very easy to light these things up

The chassis is double skinned 2mm thick steel in this area and my folder isn't fit for 2mm.
So I used my "Red Nck" press brake to fold it.



Bit of a faff but worked ok. I should really make a frame for it.

Bump stop bolts on here as well, so I needed to make a gusset to stiffen it up and hold the captive nut.

Let the repair piece into the chassis and welded it up
The lip was a bit thin in places but I got reasonable welds, not pretty but stronger what's left of the chassis.

I cleaned it up and gave it a lick of spray galv but didn't take a photo
It will get proper treatment after it get through the test.
A squirt of ACF 50 should keep it on the road for a year or two which is the aim.

 

[indy4x]

@Dcal liking the earth tag

 

[bourbon]

I was working over the weekend so I missed the Repair cafe. apparently there were 56 items to be looked at!! one of them needs welding so I am told, so one of the guys bought it home and we will do it this weekend.

 

[Dcal]

@Dcal liking the earth tag

Stainless as well.

 

[JOEPRO]

I'm embarrassed to say I've been working from a single double socket in my garage for many years. Extension leads needed for everything.

So I finally went and got 6x more double metal clad sockets and the trunking and just finished it tonight. I'll not know myself now!!

They are dotted around the garage to suit existing tools etc and if I need to charge a laptop when working on a car / battery maintainers etc

 

[Mick Annick]

I'm embarrassed to say I've been working from a single double socket in my garage for many years. Extension leads needed for everything.

So I finally went and got 6x more double metal clad sockets and the trunking and just finished it tonight. I'll not know myself now!!

They are dotted around the garage to suit existing tools etc and if I need to charge a laptop when working on a car / battery maintainers etc

When I refurbed my workshop a few years I had 20 double sockets installed, it’s still not enough

 

[Barking Mat]

Been having some 'fun' with the front axle of works boat trailer, after two needle bearing cages failed in October, we fixed the problem quickly to get the last boat home safely, and during this fix, identified the problem.

The axle, was not attached to the frame, the M10 bolts holding it in place, just weren't there, so as you cornered the entire axle slid left and right, only a couple of cm's, but enough to cause rubbing.

So experimentally I've made packing washers out of old cutting boards, to keep the wheels and the grease in place, it's an experiment, if it works I'll order some 3 or 5 mm sheets of PTFE.

That big vertical bolt got trimmed as the tyre profiles are different. (Above, in the middle).

The axle withdrawn again, to cut it off.

All reassembled and packed out with spacers, and new grease nipples all round.