What did you do today? (2013)

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Attempted to close kitchen door on RH index finger when in was in the hinge side door jam!

Good leverage + finger in jam = howl in pain!

Took a second for the pain to register, then it was a case of hopping around swearing at everything in sight including myself.

An application of Zambuk soon had the pain under control and the blood blister disappearing.

Strangely, when the heel of my LH palm made contact with a spinning circular saw blade, there was no pain whatsoever, just a tearing sensation and "Oh f*ck!", whereas the injections prior to having stitches made me flinch.

Geoff – Finger nearly back to normal thanks to Zambuk.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Geoff…attempted? …sounds like you succeeded

[john kennedy 1Participant @johnkennedy1]

Zambuk, never heard of it but sounds good stuff. Tried to take my thumb off with a Stanley yesterday (you would think at 62 I would know better) Went for the superglue and got the top off with one hand… Hard as rock ! made do with a plaster to pull it together. In the shower this morning the plaster came off and what a baby I was, just a small line on the back of my thumb. Amazing how much better it looks without all the blood .

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Jason,

If I HAD managed to close the door, I wouldn't have been in a good mood, or able to write about my stupidity so soon afterwards

Reminds me of the time a shipmate did the same to me, closing a bulkhead door on my LH fingers, but those doors don't have sharp corners, so only slightly painful.

jk1,

Zam-buk is a green ointment for mior minor wounds, scalds, burns etc. and available on-line. (Disclaimer)

Prooved its efficacy today, and appears to ease arthritis as well.

Geoff – Finger back to normal

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi

Thanks for the heads up re Zam Buk. I used to swear by it, then it seemed to disappear from the shops and I thought that it had either been withdrawn or just fallen by the wayside.

While not strictly 'TODAY' we recently went to Quarrybank Mill near Manchester. It was a brilliant day out and the people there were really keen to talk about and run many of the machines there. The water wheel is quite something and is, according to the information, the most powerful wheel in Europe that is still working. Highly recommended.

Martin W

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by OuBallie on 08/08/2013 14:23:51:

Zam-buk is a green ointment for mior minor wounds, scalds, burns etc. and available on-line. (Disclaimer)

.

Geoff,

That's great news !!

We ran out of Zam Buk several years ago, and failed to find stock.

Another excellent one is [or was] Lion Ointment.

… I presumed that the EU had done-for both of them.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 08/08/2013 17:25:32

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Zambuk…meythlsalictate. …… I think…

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

My Dad used to swear by Yellow Basilicon for everything from splinters to major amputations. A flat, round tin in green and cream, I think. Mum used to curse the stuff! She (and I) was for the hack it out with a needle approach.

Neil

[HobbyNutParticipant @hobbynut]

I drew these up and cut them from 1/4" brass.

May have to do them again, as I dont like the shape…..

[HasBeanParticipant @hasbean]

Nothing spectacular but I finally got around to sorting out my ER16 chuck;

and cobbled together a rudimentary coolant system;

so I feel that I've at least achieved something today

Paul

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Went to Elvington to watch large scale model aircraft flying the full size Vulcan was to do a extended flypass but had to be aborted due to fuel problems.

Then back to the workshop to make a batch of gudgeon pins and finish the new cylinder liner.

Next week at Elvington motorcycle speed attempts will test run the steamer with the 200mph plus bike lads and lasses with possable 400mph Bonneville contenders in attendance to see if the repairs are any good for the Midlland area hydro championships.

No rest for the wicked.

Paul

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Paul,

If I could do 'cobbled together' and 'rudimentary' in your fashion, I would be over the moon.

Geoff – Jealous me? No – trying to hide the green tinge on face.

[BubbleParticipant @bubble]

Hello All

Well last night rather than today.

Logged on to the ISS webcam **LINK** and the map of its current location **LINK** , watched it overfly Cuba, Eastern USA seaboard and the blue Atlantic, pass into earth-shadow on the ground (but the space station still in the sunlight), then when the tracker indicated that it was over the south tip of Ireland went outside and watched it, high in the sky, disappear into darkness.

All in about 15 minutes! Magic!

Jim

[DoddyParticipant @doddy]

Turned the handle on my rotary table the wrong way ! Making a Fly Wheel for the OBG Beam, wanted 6 spokes but end up with 3! As soon as I moved the handle I knew I'd gone wrong ~ Could of made the spokes thinner but as it was my first attempt used it as practice, and knew I needed to made it in brass Much better

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Oh I don't know – I rather like the three spoked version!

Norman

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The first pair of flywheels that I made were 3 spoke, they were for a horizontal solinoid motor, based on an idea of my then 9 year old nephew. I had built a beam engine with a single acting solinoid, and Antony thought it would be better if it was double acting. I'd never seen anything about that type of motor until then, I wrote an article for ME, and then found lots of these motors built over a hundred years or more. Ian S C

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Sorted out storage for the chucks.

Just swiveled the wine rack 90° to make space.

What a mess though, should either the crane and/or the pulley system decide to misbehave, or the rope slip through my hand at that spot.

Geoff – Time to dismantle the saddle

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

6:00 am yesterday, I was underneath a LDV campervan, adjusting the steering box. Drove car to Lichfield station and left it nearby. Wife brought me home.

Drove campervan to Barnstaple. Hours of delays on M5.

Caught train from Barnstaple back to Lichfield with (literally) one minute to go, but made up an hour by getting early connections.

Got to car at 11:05 – battery flat as a pancake.

Got home at five to two this morning, because AA's subbies sent the recovery van to Stoke on Trent not Lichfield…

Neil – eating a late breakfast!

[NJHParticipant @njh]

I commiserate Neil but there wouldn't be hours of delays on the M5 if it wasn't for all you lot coming down here and clogging it up!

(I live about 30 min from Exeter – and, being in a bit of a hurry, made the mistake one summer Saturday of returning from a trip there via the A30 rather than using my usual route. Something over 1 1/2 hours I recall!)

Norman – relaxing in the Devon sun. (Well it is SUNday)

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Great woe! I was running a bath about started minutes ago, ready for a good soak and a long read… and I dropped the latest ME down the toilet!

Shame on Me! Sackcloth and Ashes! Drummed out of the Model Engineering Fraternity only to haunt its ghostly fringes leafing though lesser publications like 'Routing Today', 'Which Pressure Washer' and 'Widget Collector'. The nearest I will ever be allowed to get to Model Engnneering will now be to look longingly at the boxes ARTF chuck gliders in the post office.

I can't even read the online archive version – the cable on the computer doesn't reach the bathroom

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Went down the scrap yard today to look for a decent sized coolant tank, big enough to drown two of those H&S twonks.

Hunting thru the pile and spotted a big rotary table, got the grab to haul it out and nice British made 12" table but it's had a decent clout and broke the handle off and bent the worm shaft.

Drag it on the scales and it weighed over at £6.00 pure scrap so being generous I gave him a fiver for it.

Took it back home and stripped it and very decent inside, obviously been used but no wear to speak of. Worm shaft was only bent at the end bit where the dial fitted so chopped that off, made a new coupling and bunged a type 24 stepper on it.

Jobs a good up, cleaned a bit of the table up but got shouted in for tea. Go well with the new Bligeport.

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Spent the last 3 days on the BSMEE stand teaching young people how to use a lathe.

[Ian BalesParticipant @ianbales66163]

Today I shall be offering violence to some 3/16 copper rivets. Yesterday I faffed around with them, having sorted the correct length and annealed around 80 of them to fix the spokes of my 3" Fowler to the rims. Yesterday I discovered that I've forgotten how to hit straight with a hammer, either that or the rivets are softer one side than the other (will send one away for analysis). Today will be trying another method, bigger hammer and strong language, never failed in the early 70s when I was an apprentice. Might need a bucket of Zam-Buk to plunge my thumb into occasionally. My old favourite, Tiger Balm is no longer efficacious as they removed the "active ingredient" from it many years ago.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Springbok on 20/08/2013 06:30:51:

Spent the last 3 days on the BSMEE stand teaching young people how to use a lathe.

Well done!  I've just spent some time teaching a 70 year old to use a lathe.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 20/08/2013 07:53:04

[StovepipeParticipant @stovepipe]

Well done both of you for giving up your time.

Dennis

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