What did you do today (2015)

[SkelParticipant @skel]

Today me and Weeble went to a farm auction.

We bought.

an old steamtrain type sack barrow with the best cast iron wheels you have ever seen.

1 tonne of wood.

a backpack type weed sprayer with side pump handle.

an awesome scythe and sickle.

some plastic trays for all the apples from our tree.

Then came home and had fun with the chainsaw, cleared out the hay shed and put a coat of paint on my lathe,

had some snap and took my new scythe out and went grim reapering..

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Boiler Bri on 31/10/2015 20:14:20:

Had a walk on the Cob an Porthmadog and watched the 11am to Caernarfon set off. Quite nostalgic with the cooler temperatures and the steam ever evident.

It's nice there as you say, very atmospheric. Here's a pic I took a couple of years ago, I think they've added some more track at the station since then.

Must go back!

Rod

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

if it doesn't move – paint it. well at least it hides the rust.

BAAAOSw~bFWNitI”>http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-DIVIDING-HEADS-FOR-ENGINEERING-/221929026379?hash=item33ac00334b:gBAAAOSw~bFWNitI

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/11/2015 21:47:12:

if it doesn't move – paint it. well at least it hides the rust.

BAAAOSw~bFWNitI

I wonder which one doesn't work?

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Today, I finished off some Tee Nuts for the Tormach Mill. Having been on The workshop last week in the USA I was keen to get into the workshop, load up Path Pilot and play. I am really impressed with the simplicity of the Conversational programming that Path Pilot offers and I can now see why people raved about it when it first came out. I was reluctant to load it until I had been on the workshop but to be honest I was having enough problems with Mach 3 and didn't want to complicate life.

Anyway I loaded some video onto You Tube for you to view., here it is.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Just watched an excellent documentary on NetFlix:

American Experience: The Poisoner's Handbook

… About Norris & Gettler, who effectively invented forensic chemistry.

MichaelG.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

May I recommend the book: **LINK**

I read it on holiday back in the spring, despite some strange looks from my wife!

Rod

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Yes, Rod … and thanks

Deborah Blum features prominently throughout the documentary [which is based on her book]

MichaelG.

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

Congratulations Clive, enjoy!! When I retired in 2008, after 20 years at the same place, I completed an online leaving interview and my direct boss, and his boss were away somewhere. So I said "cheers" to my friends and left. Best thing I ever did.

Anyway, what did I do today?? After far too long, I have almost finished the pair of Sugden Specials that have been in progress for several years. I'm building two, the first has been assembled as far as I can, just need to shorten the skirt of the piston by a gnats, so it will rotate through bottom dead centre. Then it's just a matter of providing a little more clearance for the conrod, again, just a gnats.

Today I will make the gudgeon pin for the second motor, and see what that requires in the way of fitting.

The newly fitted taper roller bearings in my Sieg C3 are working a treat!!

cheers

Bill

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Got bored so built another Tee Dee sideport. The red tank was intended for diesel fuel, but as the piston/liner fit was not as snug #1, decided to leave it as a glow engine and made a new delrin tank (glow fuel would melt the red plastic [ex-screwdriver handle] tank).

Put it on the stand and it fired up first go – beaut!

* Danny M *

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

The Aldi step drills are on offer again, £6.99 for the three, HSS, they work fine, and have the sizes stamped down the edge.
**LINK**

Edited By john carruthers on 04/11/2015 13:58:52

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I saw those. Don't seem to be quite as well finished as the sets I have, but I may be mistaken. Very nearly bought another set simply because of the price.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Looks like we are in the middle of a mini-energy crisis :-0

Main cause is the wind hasn't been blowing so generation is 10% down…

Neil

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Only 10% down, I thought the big fans only supplied approx. 2% of the power?

Clive

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Your right see **LINK** nuclear just sits fairly constant at around 16%, France is interesting 80% nuclear. Do not look at installed capacity as the actual generated figure is about 20 to 25% of that over a year, every one is sold on "will supply x homes" when in reality it's never that figure. Green? what about the carbon foot print to make wind turbines and maintenance.

 

Bob

Edited By Bob Brown 1 on 04/11/2015 17:50:47

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

I am sure the alternative energy figures will continue to improve in % terms, as we close down more coal fired power stations!!

Anybody see the the article about the environmental problems lithium extraction for use in batteries was causing? That was in one of the Sunday papers a couple of years ago.

Smileys have stopped working again.

Edited By V8Eng on 04/11/2015 19:13:18

Edited By V8Eng on 04/11/2015 19:16:38

[Phil WhitleyParticipant @philwhitley94135]

Here we are chaps, you can watch the UK power grid as it actually happens!

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

updates every 4 minutes, and a real eye opener.

Sorry, wind can and does provide a lot more than 2%, for the first time last October we had the day when wind was actually producing more power than nuclear. Nuclear actually contributes around 16% of the base load, and the theoretical maximum our nuclear industry can generate is only 24%. as I look at the above site just now, coal and nuclear put together are only generating slightly more than CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) which is producing 46%. There is a lot of rubbish talked about wind turbines, and it is mainly distributed by the nuclear industry…………..Don't fall for it!

Phil

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Since about last Saturday Wind Generation has been pretty much on the baseline.

Not at all convinced that it is mainly the Nuclear industry feeding us nonsense.

Edited By V8Eng on 04/11/2015 20:10:07

Edited By V8Eng on 04/11/2015 20:10:49

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

That's the same link I put up, one day does not a summer make.

It is well understood that renewables only work up to a point, when there is little wind and at night you still have to have power generation in place to take up the slack. Until such time there is an effective way to store energy renewables are not an effective solution. We will be relying on fossil fuels and nuclear for some time to come.

Bob

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Now that this thread is safely in Tea Room, I feel I can ask:

Can someone please explain why Fossil Fuels are NOT considered 'renewable'

… Surely it's only a matter of looking on the right timescale

• My car produces Carbon Dioxide
• Trees consume Carbon Dioxide
• Trees grow, and die
• Time passes < etc. >
• Gas, Oil, and Coal form

You get the idea … Too much short-termism these days !!

MichaelG.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

And as for hydrogen powered cars producing no pollution, where do they imagine the hydrogen comes from? Most of it is made by reacting methane with steam, so you start with water and methane, convert it to carbon dioxide and hydrogen and then burn the hydrogen to get water. That's supposed to be better than just burning the methane to get water and carbon dioxide.

There is however one way of making the whole thing work, use wind power to generate electricity which you then use to make hydrogen by electrolysis of water. At least you can store hydrogen (not easily but possible), and if the wind hasn't blown for a bit you can run your car off petrol.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Just stop people breeding like rabbits. We could cut energy consumption by 100% in just 110 years if everyone were neutered.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Bazyle on 04/11/2015 22:25:15:

Just stop people breeding like rabbits. We could cut energy consumption by 100% in just 110 years if everyone were neutered.

.

If everyone were neutered … the Human Race would die out completely.

That may be good for Mother Earth, but …

[ Edit: I presume that's what you meant. ]

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/11/2015 22:51:58

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

The so-called 'renewable energy', is all very well and I have used it myself in the form of a wind generator on the boat I had and a solar panel on the campingcar I now have, BUT, they only generated 12 V dc and were used to charge up 12v batteries.

The trouble with mains voltage wind gennies is the cost and energy used to build them, their relatively short operational life (quoted at about 25 years), the fact that they spoil beautiful countryside views and are not very bird friendly, plus when the wind doesn't blow they generate nothing, in fact use electricity to keep them turning very slowly over, and when the wind blows a gale they are braked otherwise they overspeed and burst into flames or self destruct or other not very useful outcomes. So not very consistent or efficient producers but expensive ones. Solar 'farms' which seem to be springing up all over the place are less intrusive, but now you can't grow crops or graze cattle in those fields so we have less to eat, but when the sun shines we can switch the lights on, whoopy, but you still need the coal and gas and nuclear power stations for when the night time comes as 240v battery banks don't exist for the solar panels to charge up during the sunlight hours, so they are not consistent either.

Call me a cynic if you like, but…………

Chris

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

I think it's a mistake to make the blades on windmills from non-renewable fibreglass composite. If they were wood, at least when they overspeed or self destruct we could burn the blades as firewood.

Seriously though, wind turbine service life is rather short for their huge relative cost. They are in my opinion a political tool to appease the 'green' faction but are not practical as a primary energy source. JD

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