what did santa bring?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by jaCK Hobson on 26/12/2016 11:36:27:

Spoilt: Flir tg130

No use for it. Just an amazing toy. Almost as good was the ever-spinning top (for about 1/100th of the price).

That does look fun

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Ian Prudente on 25/12/2016 23:22:04:

All I wanted was one of those fancy spinning tops that spinfinity do, but after my oh saw the price she thought it would be better to get me a lathe to make my own !!

Excellent result

Neil

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Sprouts Cook for about twenty minutes Drizzle with mint sauce Loveley

Roy

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

What a waste of good mint sauce…………..!!!

Chris

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Sprouts of old had a strong taste. The ones grown now seem to be way milder. I used to hate them but quite like them now and grow plenty as an easy winter veg.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Posted by Ajohnw on 26/12/2016 12:08:13:

some chocolate that will last rather a long time –

what? they produce 2cwt bars now? chocolate.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by Bazyle on 26/12/2016 17:02:02:

Posted by Ajohnw on 26/12/2016 12:08:13:

some chocolate that will last rather a long time –

what? they produce 2cwt bars now? chocolate.

The prize bar is about a5 sized 1/2" thick solid slab of dark fruit and nut. No break lines either and I keep breaking too large a piece off it. Then there are few more normal bars plus dark chocolate coated brazil nuts. One of my favourites. Then some more to share with the family.

John

–

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 26/12/2016 12:12:03:

Posted by peak4 on 25/12/2016 22:41:29:

Posted by fizzy on 25/12/2016 20:39:39:

The early present of Chinese DRO fully fitted and a Haynes manual on Rocket for me. I do like the idea of no Brussels, hate the sodding things!

I was never keen on them boiled, but; halved and fried with shallots and pomegranate seeds, with a drop of white wine, pepper and nutmeg, shed a whole different light on greens.

A percentage of folks are very sensitive to a chemical produced when sprouts and cabbage are well cooked.

Which seems to include me. My sister in law and niece try to make my annual sprout as tasty as possible. This was this year's offering:

Covered in marzipan, enrobed in chocolate and topped with a glacé cherry.

Happy new year,

Rod

[Brian OldfordParticipant @brianoldford70365]

SWMBO treated me to a Graduated Saddle Handwheel Dial for my Myford. It looks an extremely well made piece of kit. Further update when I fit it.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

After spending Christmas eve and day laid up with illness I manage to take my wife for her Boxing birthday lunch in our village pub where she gave me an envelope full of beer tokens to help in the purchase, hopefully tomorrow, of a Canon DSLR and Telephoto lens.

Yesterday I also found out how caring a pet can be, as originally arranged my wife daughter and son in law went to my brothers for the day which left me with our cat for company, after a bad night of not sleeping I sat in my chair occasionally dosing but at one point I fell asleep when after a while I realised I was being poked and prodded and found our cat was trying to get a response from me by trying to get under my right hand and flicking my ear, when I opened my eyes he stopped. Later I pretended to sleep and after a while he started poking me again, he wouldnt leave me all day and today now I felt much better he hasn't come near me, its as if he new I wasnt well.

Martin P

p.s. I love sprouts

 

Edited By martin perman on 26/12/2016 19:48:11

Edited By martin perman on 26/12/2016 19:49:57

[Ian WelfordParticipant @ianwelford58739]

6l ultrasonic cleaner, few books, enormous quantities of Jaffa cakes.

Just recomissioned me mystro wood lathe, thanks to Transwave for all the assistance with this one

Happy Boxing day one and all- Martin glad you're making progress. Got a head cold and can't taste anything – dog hasn't left my side for 2 days . Very Loyal.

Ian

[GaryMParticipant @garym]

I've not posted much since finishing my Stuart S50 in 2014, but two weeks ago I got given the engine below. Some of you will recognise it as a grasshopper engine to the Sydney Owen design from ME in the 1960's. It was made by an ex-workmate years ago and I think he lost interest before completely finishing it. When he retired, he left it behind in the workshop at my place of work. He said he'd had enough of metal working. I ran it on compressed air just to see how it would run before dismantling it as much as possible with the intention of cleaning it up. Some parts are either press-fitted or assembled with loctite so I've left these alone. There should be an outer bearing support for the crankshaft and a drive pulley which I might try and finish. How's that for a Christmas present?

GaryM

Video of it running here:

**LINK**

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Should make a nice little project to complete. Castings are still available should you need any to finishit off but I should think that as most of the big lumps are there anything else could be fabricated or cut from solid.

J

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Posted by martin perman on 26/12/2016 19:46:45:

Yesterday I also found out how caring a pet can be, as originally arranged my wife daughter and son in law went to my brothers for the day which left me with our cat for company, after a bad night of not sleeping I sat in my chair occasionally dosing but at one point I fell asleep when after a while I realised I was being poked and prodded and found our cat was trying to get a response from me by trying to get under my right hand and flicking my ear, when I opened my eyes he stopped. Later I pretended to sleep and after a while he started poking me again, he wouldnt leave me all day and today now I felt much better he hasn't come near me, its as if he new I wasnt well.

Martin P

p.s. I love sprouts

A cat, caring? .

Sounds more like in your unwell state you forgot to feed it! .

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

David,

Normally I would agree with you but Cheeky is the exception to the rule, he is known locally as a dog in a cat skin, if I go for a walk in the village he tags along behind, he comes willingly to call, he goes for rides in my van, my wife is a blue card holder and very unstable on her feet, one afternoon she was in the rear garden and our neighbours boxer got into our garden and started running round her and jumping up at her, my wife screamed at it to go away and at that moment Cheeky appeared at speed and threw himself at the dog forcing it away from her and has protected her again when another dog was causing my wife some grief,he knows when its feeding time but rarely forces the issue, he just waits his turn.

Martin P

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Martin

That does sound like a dog in a cat skin! .

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

I don't know why you chaps make such a fuss about building model locomotives. Santa brought me a kit:

Only thing is I'm a bit worried about getting the boiler past an Inspector. It's made of steel.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 28/12/2016 17:25:17

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Just finished building the Lego Caterham 7 620R (present from other half). Now have a total of three model 7's to keep real one company.

On the subject of caring cats, all our three cats varying in age from 2 1/2 up to 18 know when someone is not well. They will find the bed with the ill person and keep them company till they feel better.

Colin

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

Speaking of Lego…my family clubbed together to buy me the Lego Mindstorms eV3 set. I'm having a lot of fun with it. My three Boys had the earlier Mindstorms sets when they were young, and the sets are still here, but when I decided to have a play last winter I found that the leads had all died of old age, the insulation falls off them. So now I have a new set with brand new leads, and if I want to I can also use all the parts from the older sets.

John

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

I was given an Arduino Uno, a digital clock display and a DS3231 RTC by my son. I am now trying to work out how to hook the lot together, set the time on the RTC and then use it to trigger events each second, minute, hour and day..

James.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by fizzy on 25/12/2016 20:39:39:

The early present of Chinese DRO fully fitted and a Haynes manual on Rocket for me. I do like the idea of no Brussels, hate the sodding things!

Hi, the main thing about sprouts is to not over cook them or keep them in a hot plate, they need to be eaten soon after they are cooked to have the best taste. Recent studies seem to show that they help to reduce the risk of dementia and are overall good for the brain. I like them if they are cooked correctly, but very sour if keep hot or over cooked. Oh! and a lot nicer after a good frost on them apparently.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 30/12/2016 10:04:35

[Clive IndiaParticipant @cliveindia]

Posted by Nicholas Farr on 30/12/2016 10:01:59

Hi, the main thing about sprouts is to not over cook them or keep them in a hot plate, they need to be eaten soon after they are cooked to have the best taste. Recent studies seem to show that they help to reduce the risk of dementia and are overall good for the brain. I like them if they are cooked correctly, but very sour if keep hot or over cooked. Oh! and a lot nicer after a good frost on them apparently. Regards Nick.

I think you make statements as though it is fact – when it is just your opinion e.g. cooked correctly is how you think they should be.

For me – I like them cooked – I think there is more than enough half-cooked veg by trendy chefs in restaurants. Yes, I think they do improve after a frost.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

My nephews bought me an Arduino 4 wheel drive kit for xmas. It's stretching my brain because there are no instructions!

There's an Arduino, micro-servo, acoustic range finder, Bluetooth receiver, Bluetooth transmitter, 4 optical sensors, motor driver board, battery box, 4 motors, chassis plates, wheels and miscellaneous hardware. All I have to do is build the chassis, wire everything together correctly, and program the Arduino,

To add spice, I haven't been able to identify the motor control board and it has 55 connectors.

Believe it or not I am making progress decoding this puzzle. If this is what modern yoof do when playing with technology, I'm impressed. Them kids must be quite smart!

Dave

[Andy HoldawayParticipant @andyholdaway]

This may help –

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

,Hi All,

As I have already demonstrated my total lack of knowledge of things electrical with my power feed disaster on my mill I hardly dare even ask this but here goes!

Everywhere I look I see these Arduino thingies! Can somebody please tell me, simply please, what they are?

They seem to be capable of doing everything from making toast to powering nuclear submarines….

L know I am almost certainly not going to understand the answers but what the hell!

Cheers, Martin and Happy New Year to all here!

[Author]

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