Gardening

[Jasonb]

Could it have just been sparking across a broken live or neutral, that would explain why you needed to jiggle the cables and would not be a short so fuse would stay intact.

The bonsai have kept me out of the workshop over the last few weekends but I have now got all the ones that needed repotting done. I like them best at this time of year just as the leaves have opened and larch needles come out. Last pic shows Jo why it is hard for me to get some of the trees into the greenhouse to repot when the weather is bad, as the soil is 75% granite grit it must weight over 50kg and another 15 or so for the pot.

[Bluechip]

Could it have just been sparking across a broken live or neutral, that would explain why you needed to jiggle the cables and would not be a short so fuse would stay intact

Piccy looks as if there is molten copper so more likely a s / cct.
Cables often rupture just after the strain relief because they are wound up too tight after use ... Yes. I do too    I noticed a split in the insulation on my 4" angle grinder cable a few weeks ago and had to re-do the connection.

I SHOULD KNOW BETTER !!!!!

But then I'm but a poor sinner .... 

Dave

[Steamer5]

Hi Jason,
 Very nice looking trees! Whats the average age?

Cheers Kerrin

[Jasonb]

I've had most of what's there for 28-30 years and they would have been 10-15 years old when bought so 40-45 years old.

[Steamer5]

Thanks Jason,
I tried a couple of times......killed them with kindness! Luckily, or not for the trees, they were only very young

Cheers Kerrin

[bent]

Let me preface: I'm not a gardener.  Too many years spent growing up on a small family farm, where if you weren't working on some other chore (Dad, can I help you in the shop?), you were on hands and knees weeding the garden.  Bleah.  When the missus is gardening, I'd rather be in the garage, working on the latest spinny thing...

  But SWMBO complained that her hanging pot hooks, i.e. bent "shepherd's crooks" from 1/2" iron rod, were too flimsy to hold her new strawberry pots.  She wants them off the ground, so the slugs can't get at them.  But the pots weigh too much, and the rod wants to buckle and tip, and the soil is too soft from the April rains, to keep the things standing.

Well, that sounded like an engineering challenge, and what red-blooded metalsmith would ignore same?

Pics below:

#1 shows the before (well, the un-modified one, left alone to continue holding up a lightweight windchime)
#2 shows the double-hooked variety, modified by welding it inside a bit of 3/4" steel pipe to stiffen up the vertical rod, and a foot leg welded on the tippy axis to help it prop against the soft soil, and the whole kit shoved into the ground alongside the patio which supports in the off-axis. 
#3 shows the weakest one (thinner rod, maybe 3/8"?), modified to stand alone with a double-cross base of 1.5x3/4 in. rectangular tube leftover from the milling machine base, and the remainder of the 3/4" pipe to stiffen the vertical standard. 

So, a honey-do "gardening" task completed, but I got to spend time with the TIG welder .  Pretty cool   

We'll see if any lasting brownie points were tallied up. Astute observers will note a post-welding beverage aside the freshly painted hook in the last photo, shout out to Mr. Jameson and Co.

Now the slate is cleared, maybe I'll get back to my latest engine project.

[Jo]

I bet she appreciated those 


Between my trusty bandsaw and the electric chain saw the Pear tree has been rescued from under the heap of branches. The branches are now in the wood store which is already three layers deep in the bay 


So the choice:  or play with the chopper  or both 

Jo

[bent]

Pear wood - ever use those chunks to make a slab for model/craft work?  Supposedly a pretty good wood, with fine pores and reasonably tight grain.

Reminds me, I need to figure out a good mallet for knocking the drawbar down on the mini mill (my deadblow hammer is too big, and the other hammers might ding the drawbar nut), so maybe I'll whip out a light bronze/brass hammer head and whittle an alder tree branch for a handle.  Or go buy a smaller deadblow...

[zeeprogrammer]

Reminds me, I need to figure out a good mallet for knocking the drawbar down on the mini mill (my deadblow hammer is too big, and the other hammers might ding the drawbar nut), so maybe I'll whip out a light bronze/brass hammer head and whittle an alder tree branch for a handle.  Or go buy a smaller deadblow...

I made one from the "Home Machinist's Handbook". Brass head with knurled aluminum handle. Might have been my 1st if not 2nd ever project. Worked well for the mini and works well for my new mill.

[crueby]

Pear wood - ever use those chunks to make a slab for model/craft work?  Supposedly a pretty good wood, with fine pores and reasonably tight grain.

Reminds me, I need to figure out a good mallet for knocking the drawbar down on the mini mill (my deadblow hammer is too big, and the other hammers might ding the drawbar nut), so maybe I'll whip out a light bronze/brass hammer head and whittle an alder tree branch for a handle.  Or go buy a smaller deadblow...

Pear and lemon are both great for ship models, my favorite picks. Very tight grain, crisp edges.

[Jo]

What a woose    I hardly tickled it and thirst  has won out 

Jo

[Bluechip]

Is it just me or has everybody got Michael Palin singing 'I'm a Lumberjack and I'm O.K.' running through their head .....  ???   

Dave

[zeeprogrammer]

Had I your shed and wood...it'd probably be destroyed within a year by termites.

I was doing a little reading about termites and the UK. Sounds like a rare problem but has started increasing since the 90's?

When we renovated our house last year...we discovered them in the garage as well as in part of the basement. Thankfully, insufficient damage to force repairs but still costly to take of.

Is it just me or has everybody got Michael Palin singing 'I'm a Lumberjack and I'm O.K.' running through their head .....  ???   

Dave  It was just you. Now it's not.

[Jasonb]

Don't you mean a Lumberjill?

Isn't it about time you treated yourself to a small hydraulic splitter Jo before you split yourself?

[Jo]

Isn't it about time you treated yourself to a small hydraulic splitter Jo before you split yourself?

I was told they are not a lot of good 

And I enjoy taking my frustrations from work out with an Axe 

Jo