The sheer joy of repairing something.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Originally Posted by Station X

Sail maker's palm?

Never seen one of those! Good suggestion, thanks Graham, but possibly rather more hefty than I need. I'm just after a large conventional metal thimble that will fit comfortably on my (increasingly arthritic) middle fingertip. Nothing seems to be readily available.

[paulsherwin]

I suppose it depends on how big your fingers are, but I've never had any problem using a standard modern metal thimble from a cheap sewing kit. The older brass ones are indeed smaller though.

You do need something fairly substantial for leatherworking. Maybe a cobblers' or saddlers' supplier would have something? Most of the stitchers in those fields are male.

[dave walsh]

Now, now, Tanuki is a modernist and probaly as affected by parental influences as everyone else, just in a different way. A minimum of two views is the basis of democracy after all. For once I'm really not being ironic and it's good to have the other point of view which, demonstrably, is much more common than ours within the proletariat. Do I agree with him well probaly not..... On the other hand I do sometimes long for a pristine, problem free living space. The clincher for me, is that I don't want to finish up totally dependant [just in case] on others for a really simple fix. Sadly, this may well turn out to be the future for most of us and it is really great when something works again!

These days, it seems that most people can do more or less nothing! A six pack, a body wax and some tattoos
won't get the boiler sorted. I tend to repair things as an alternative to having to go out and waste time looking for a possible solution/alternative. It is satisfying though, to put a good look together and get away with it whether that's your clothing or your tech equipment. I sorted a garden trowel today by hammering back the ferrell. A piece of the handle split off so I glued it and re-inforced that with red gaffer tape. Result, it works again and I can actually find it. Green garden tools-so easy to spot!

My extremely limited sewing skills started with tapering jeans. Then John Mayall the bluesman made it clear that he made his unobtainable US gear himself [ie leather fringe jacket/guitar straps etc]. My jeans go on forever thanks to Evostick, patches and a few stitches. When old enough and freshly washed they pass as fashion items. In the sixties and later, it was shaming Now you buy them pre-ripped!

Dave W

[mark_in_manc]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

A six pack, a body wax and some tattoos
won't get the boiler sorted.

I'd like to transcribe that into Latin and use it beneath a made-up family crest - what do you think?

I want my kids to grow up understanding that with a bit of application they can live rewarding lives on whatever little money they end up with. We just had a lovely weekend away in a tent that came from the skip at work. My mate whose family we went with, had his shoes held together with duct tape.

Kids work this stuff out quite young. I found loads of abandoned kit at the end of a music festival (great place to score 'new' camping gear) including a clean, hi-spec sleeping bag with a broken zip. Youngest (aged about 6) - 'That must have been thrown away by 'cool people''. Me - 'what do you mean?'. Her - 'Cool people - who don't have pliers'.

[The Philpott]

On an approximate mental tot-up I think that the shed at the bottom of the garden has actually paid for itself in 4 years in terms of repairs. It's a bit pretentious to call it a workshop but given a bench and bench vice, filing cabinet and 'fridge (and crucially, a chair) it's hovering somewhere between the two states of being. (A 'shed/shack thread' with pictures, now there's an idea.) I have just been given a Record Imp vice, and that really is good- it handles all the little stuff that the 4 inch vice can't- and it's demountable.

Latest tweak to decrease faff time- all the jeweller's loupes are black regardless of magnification- so the variations all got a ring of colour code touch-up paint around the outside. Considering a couple of holes half way up as they always steam up sooner or later.

The best repairs happen when someone says 'you won't be able to repair that'.
The hinge screws I fitted to the kitchen cupboard were marginal on length, so I had blunted the ends.. which then meant they managed to smash themselves through the outer formica. 'You won't be able to mend that'

Crucially we had matching cupboard paint in stock, so it was just a case of digging out the craters and making them concave, car body filler, then painting over.

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by mark_in_manc

I'd like to transcribe that into Latin and use it beneath a made-up family crest - what do you think?

What a great quote, Dave, and brilliant idea, Mark

[Refugee]

Originally Posted by The Philpott

The hinge screws I fitted to the kitchen cupboard were marginal on length, so I had blunted the ends.. which then meant they managed to smash themselves through the outer formica. 'You won't be able to mend that'

Crucially we had matching cupboard paint in stock, so it was just a case of digging out the craters and making them concave, car body filler, then painting over.

When I run out of shorter screws I run a full length one in as far as safe and then use another that has been ground down to a shorter length so they it do not punch through.

Google translate gives...
A sex canes, et corpus tattoos et non adepto in cera boiler coetibus territorialibus.

[emeritus]

I only did Latin for 2 years at school, but one thing I do remember is that the Latin for "six" is "sex"!

[paulsherwin]

Google has failed to translate 'boiler'. 'Hypocaust' is likely to be the nearest equivalent as far as I know with my almost nonexistent Latin. (I think it's failed to translate 'tattoo' too, but we need a proper classicist to suggest that one as I have no idea.)

[GrimJosef]

I think the Romans had tattoos, or at least were aware of them on barbarians, so they probably had a word for them too.

Cheers,

GJ

[dave walsh]

While I'm typing a response the world at one R4 is on this very same topic NOW-Linda with a broken TV!
Dave

It was about the new repair centres!

[dave walsh]

Isn't Hypocaust the word for Roman central heating ie tunnels for warm air under the floor? Seems close enough! Well I appreciate the warm words from Marc and others-fame at "least" Having seen his self repaired house and excellent young daughters [lively/creative like my own grandaughters] I'm glad to have produced a slogan for him [especially done in Latin...thanks Merlin]. I'm not prejudiced against those I describe [though I could have mentioned theatrical beards] it's just that I'm not confident they would be much use in a crisis! The best value in a quote on a t-shirt or whatever is that people always ask what it means and the look on their faces when it, perhaps, describes them
A family crest over the front door would really suit your house Marc. Just add the date and "author DW".
Re the Philpot shed see Rob's Chorley radio auction [3rd June] in Clubs, Groups and Societies. He really did tow a derelict shed from Devon to Cornwall ressucitate and do it up. I'm sure it's still going!

My son runs festivals and Shambala regularly wins awards for 95% re-cycling. They pioneered having volunteers pedalling around the site in sort of home made go-carts [or "bogies" as we called them in in Lancashire] collecting material for re-cycling. Despite this, the amount of stuff left behind by "conservationist newagers" at the end, is truly shocking, as described by Marc. Ironically, because of the sheer volume, it's very hard to shift it quickly or economically in an eco-friendly way but I believe they are trying to resolve that problem. Other non eco events will be much less concerned.

This is my second "media" response over the weekend as I believe the Guardian may be interested in my views on the new tabloid version and it's over reliance on sports [ie football] coverage plus a "yoof" emphasis for people who don't read newspapers Even Radio3 will "kick off " an Opera these days. Unfortunately I can't repair this problem with a pair of pliers.

Dave

[Tractionist]

Hmmmm ...... I thought that the Roman/Latin for central heating etc. was 'Caldarium'?

Nevertheless ..... you have given me a new word/noun with which to christen my latest squeeze!

I understand that loads of perfect wellington boots are left behind at Glastonbury too ..... ye gads - if they are surplus to requirements here .... who would want them [surely not the Africans/Third World'ers]?

But seriously .... I happen to know that the B52 is still [purposefully] populated with Hi Vac miniatures ... why - because they will withstand nuclear ionisation bursts more robustly than anything relying upon solid-state/quantum mechanic components!

P.S. When I lived in Lancashire we called soapboxes/bogies ..... "Trashers"!

[dave walsh]

Not heard trashers before but local variations are very possible. Maybe it's trashers because the wood and pram wheels came out of the trash or that's what you do to rival racers? It's much more sedate at Shambala.

Re the Tents/boots/ etc, yes you would think disposal might be easy and welcomed but apparently not. There are many charity shops in Rammy and I take a few books in sometimes but all the premises are relatively small storage wise so 23 bags of them was a no go! I managed to send them to a church book sale in the end though.

Dave

[ms660]

Trackers where I lived.

Lawrence.

[mark_in_manc]

Dave points up another reason why, in my mind, fixing things is good. Welly boots are not remotely as fungible (hey, get me) as cash is - because that is what money was invented for. So whenever I get the chance to repair something instead of using up fungible cash, I do.

When I was younger and money was more short, the saved cash was handy for the mortgage (welly boots being excluded as a repayment method). These days I feel that sending welly boots to Africa can be pretty inefficient, whereas sending cash (as far as one can be confident it will be well-spent) is almost free, and GBP go a long way when they get there. That's what my charity sell-ups on here are about, and contribute towards.

(The non-fungibility problem then resides with me. It's a good job I am flexible as regards my sources of entertainment, which currently include a vibrating concrete consolidation poker and a pair of USSR night vision binoculars (19kV power pack - I might write about it on here). It's starting to sound like I need to seek out more 'alternative' web fora ).

[boxdoctor]

More creating than mending...
I'm just building an S.L.A. battery charger from an old , redunat C.B. power supply for a recently acquired spare , nearly new, car battery I have been given.
A friend questioned the point of this, saying that I could buy one for a modest price, and put my time to occupying myself in more "enjoyable" ways.
I told him that I enjoyed the actual work involved, and that I would be re-using an nice metal cabinet, and a rather decent transformer, both of which would otherwise probably end up in the skip when I'm gone.
Also I had made it myself !
Incidentally, recently I had to shew the lad next door (aged 25-ish) how properly to saw a plank of wood. He had not got a clue. (At least he had the sense and humility to ask when he found he was not getting anywhere with his method.) Tony

[dave walsh]

You reinforced my point there BD! I'm sure your neighbour will have really benefited from the advice. Young chaps are in a bind if they can't really admit their limitations-some react quite aggressively because they feel inadequate-you are not "respecting" them but generally help is accepted with relief. You are bridging the insidious "generation gap" that is currently being promoted.

I think it's sometimes even harder for young women [also men] because there is still a gender expectation around cooking/sewing/cleaning skills. It's hard to admit this so fast food is a saviour in more than one way. I eat it myself but can also make a meal out of very little eg soup! I recall the Hugh F W program, some time ago, where he found, rather shockingly, women [and men] throwing away most of a cooked chicken because they simply didn't know what to do with the rest.

I think this might explain the ridiculous obsession in this country with watching cookery programs that strive for perfection rather than learning to make something cheaply of a lower standard that you just eat.

Further to my "sixpack" motto I should admit that I don't actually fix boilers [there have been some good write ups on this recently here]. Call it a lack of confidence, plus its a relatively modern one here on the coast. I can have a go at the sundries eg failed electric motors in flow valves. I taught myself a bit of plumbing when I got fed up of waiting for someone to come and install a radiator. Once you've soldered up piping or used compression fittings and given it all a polish with wire wool though..you don't want to cover it up

Dave

Dave

[emeritus]

Re large thimbles, would a 15mm or 22mm end feed copper pipe cap fit your finger?
For sewing leather, instead of using a thimble, I sometimes push the needle through using a small pair of pliers or miniature self-locking pliers, initially gripping close to the point of entry to avoid bending the needle until the point has gone through.