New Year Projects

We have relatives presently staying.

I have an interesting Court battle on my plate, and intend to use Common Law for redress.

After that, I intend to take on an Insurance Company and a Bank.

I shall try to be kind and helpful to all I meet, both on CR4 and elsewhere.

Wind generators are a good idea, especially for New Zealand, we are a windy country, but my neighbours would complain if I built a tall whirligig in the back yard.

The stream which used to run through the property dried up, after the City Council drove more large-bore artesian wells a mile or two away - so that's my mini-hydro project down the proverbial plug-hole.

Coal-burners became outlawed, and I now have one to remove, along with a chimney and accoutrements, after last year I installed a closed wood-stove.

There's always something to do, but when I have the time, I don't have the funds, and vice versa.

So....I often sit here, read a mixture of problems posed by others, and stop myself getting Alzheimer's Disease, by a mixture of lateral and logical thinking to give answers, some of which may never be read by the original question asker

I intend to try and have fun in 2008.

I hope to put up one of these notices in my workshop, to comply with local OSH Regulations:

Kind Regards....

What abut photovoltaic arrays of some sort for your power issues? Could keep them down low facing (hmmmm down under- opposite of California) North(?), or NE? Butter and honey combined help your body to create lecithin and that is a big thing needed to feed your gray matter and keep it healthy.

GODSPEED & Happy New Years

in approximate order of priority:

Take down Christmas lights.

Clean out the garage.

De-weed and sod backyard.

Finish painting the exterior of the house.

Replace the garbage disposal.

Do some landscaping in the front yard.

Patch the fence.

Design and build a new bed.

Remodel the master bedroom.

Remodel the master bath.

Design and build next year's Christmas light project.

Wow! What did you do this year?

Remodeled one bath room

designed and built a Christmas light project (see workbench creations)

designed and built new wood trim and lamps on the garage

painted the garage and started on the house

painted light bulbs

pressure washed the deck

participated in a couple of art gallery shows

faux-finished a dinning room and entry way (not mine)

did some decorative painting (grape vines) in the kitchen

installed a new microwave

patched a hole in the roof

...seems like there was more...

Never mind! I'm impressed.

Retile 2 bathrooms, repaint the garage floor (after I remove the old acid etching), finish the trim on the new kitchen cabinets, finish room transitions from installation of hardwood flooring. Pant, pant, pant. Fix the drivers side door of my car (have to crawl over from passengers side if locked), fix the antenna on my wife's car, and replace missing/broken tiles on the roof.

Simple! Be done in a jiffy!

Why does your wifes car have tile on the roof?

Its to stop the rain getting in CR3 !!!

I suggest at least 10 inches of EPS for your roof. R-50 is a fine start.

So far the majority seem to be laying tiles.

Note to self: Perhaps purchase shares in Tile Supplier, November next year....

I purchased 4 knife grinding machines at an auction along with a bunch of other equipment. My goal is to get everything operational and, who knows maybe even making a profit.

Hello garyceng,

I'm keeping well clear of you, while you are learning to use those machines

Kind Regards....

If these machines make that much spark I will certainly be in trouble because that will mean they are out of coolant and burning up knife blades. These are not sharpening machines but are built for manufacturing of knives. Check out www.caswellknives.com. I did all the CNC machining including some of the scales and scale texturing on the Caswell folding knife with the Pat. Pending retractable clip. We have several more projects in the works with Caswell Knives as well as some of our own. It should be a fun year.

I have salvaged two discarded flanges of 1300mm dia 60mm thick from which I hope to make a pressbrake and a metalworker. They had been cut up using water jet which requires almost no machining afterwards on most faces.

With some luck the pressbrake might be finished by April and my target date for the metalworker is Dec 2008.

Yesterday I bought a secondhand grader cylinder that I want to cut up for the metalworker, which should give me 30 ton working force with a gear pump.

In between I want to make a small die filing machine from an electric motor salvaged from old switchgear.

I really need a surface grinder, might look into making one if I find the right parts.

Except for all the other things that are going to need fixing I think I have 2008 cut out for me.

You stupid squirrel...I just never bother logging off!

PS I've marked that as 'Good Answer' <tee hee>

I gave that a "Good Answer" too, it was worth it

Kind Regards....

I had to give that guest my vote too!

cr3 (no relation)

I have a new USB turntable and plan on reminiscing while transferring a few thousand songs from vinyl to CD, should take most of the year.

I also plan on finishing my scale F6F Hellcat and hopefully doing a maiden flight with it.

Maybe I'll get to spend more time cruising on my Ducati also (instead of riding the lawnmower around in circles)

Hey Hellcat, how well does that USB turntable work? I was looking into buying one of those myself... Is it worth it? Does the vinyl need to be free of ALL dirt in order to get a good recording or is there a filter system in the software that will help clean up the recording?

You can clean the vinyl physically first to get a head start, and this site has some tips ;

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/fluids.html

For conversion methods , check out this;

http://www.discostyle.com/discohunt8.html

I'm almost certain there is software to eliminate clicks/hiss etc, but can't recall any I've heard of. A decent USB turntable will include such software.

I've been thinking about this topic too, so will be interested to hear further input (sorry, bad pun incidental !). There is a lot of stuff if you google it. Good luck in your project. It may be time-consuming, but eventually your vinyl will degrade. My manic vinyl collecting brother used to immediately record new acquisitions onto tape (this was back in the 70s). There is still a lot of rare stuff that can only be found on vinyl, so it's worth figuring out how to do this.

Audacity is a good free down loadable software, if you cannot find it, let me know.

Nice one Andy. I'd heard the name but couldn't recall it.

I also plan on finishing my scale F6F Hellcat and hopefully doing a maiden flight with it.

R/C? Have you seen this B52? I know, old vid, but still impressive! Check out the one for the B29 as well!

My projects for the new year:

Finish the kitchen renovation....

Went from this-

to this, so far-

and this-

for more on what i've been doing for two years here, go here.

Nice post charlie. Looks like you installed a new window (?). I think one of the worst aspects of renovation is trying to live in a place while doing stuff. Constantly moving tool kit etc and trying to keep dust at bay.

When I get more time I'll check out your web page.

Thanks! those windows are almost completely original to the house, built c. 1903.

I had to rebuild the upper sash on the one above the sink, so it looks slightly different from the others....couldn't find a router bit to match the shape.

I like the bead board for the panels!

Yeah the Ducati is nice, but you can always drink a good cold beer on the 'ol lawnmower......

Just Sayin'

indeed, mmm beer...

Nothing glamorous

At the house I want to improve security system (Rather big need in SA)

I must do a new driver for the Isel's that has been converted to Galil cards. My trusted Pascal 7 just fell off the bus and now I also have to learn Delphi.net. (Not so easy for an old man).

In law I will try and ensure good new law and try and change absurd existing newish law (the government turned out law by the dozens (400/y) since 1994 and they are up for revision). Common law is not so common anymore and common sense has been aborted long ago.

The project I bought a PIC for in 2005 will be high on the list if only I can remember what it is. (I cant find the PIC either.)

In no certain order:

#1 Stay away from the Tiger Exhibit at the San Francisco zoo

#2 Cert as a welder at work so I will be an electrician/welder

#3 Spend more time enjoying my kids 2 & 11

#4 Look into buying a house that I can fix up and post pics for you guys from around the world to see (Charlie, did you get rid of that knob and tube wiring in your house?)

#5 Try and learn how to slow down and smell the proverbial roses in order to enjoy life more often.

#6 Get back in shape.

#7 Who knows? Too many things I can think at this time.

What about kids #1, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 &10? Won't they get jealous?

But Seriously 3 & 5 are so important, you have my respect. I'm working at #5 still (the kids are in their thirties now... no grandkids yet , dunno what youngsters get up to now....)

Del

Re: #4... Got most of it gone. Ran out of romex. Anyone else remember buying 250ft for <35usd/250ft?

Side note: Have daughter home for Christmas, and she's clearing out her room!! Have several bags of unused items at the curb for trash pick-up, with more to follow.

She's added an item to my list of things to do this year. Wants me to do the closet that she's been balking (Cait is the original "no changes!" kid).

Re: #6.......Round IS a shape!!

Yes, I know round is a shape, just not the shape that I want to be in at this point and time; especially, with my 2 year old boy running like a track star and my inability to folow him because of my shin splints (they start groaning if I think of running - even a 100 lbs ago) Happy New Years to All

RE: #1 ...and leave your slingshots at home.

????? I haven't heard any news about this in a couple of days, did they use something like this to get the 4 legged killing machine all riled up? It sucks that now a high priced lawyer is stepping in the behalf of the guys at fault and is saber waving about the zoo being at fault. Granted, the retaining wall wasn't at the height that it should have been but how long had the tiger lived in the enclsure until these clowns came along and ended up dead or mauled?????????

They definately taunted her. And in addition to causing the death of a "friend", the sc*m bags hire a sleazey attorney seeking financial gain.

A sewer line is coming thru my town and we're required to hook up. Since I have a backhoe, I'm elected to connect 6 properties. ( Too many relatives close by )

In the late 60's HO slot cars were the rage...conceived in England! An American company Aurora, picked up on them and brought them to the states. I played them by the hour.

Well, I'm back into them again, grabbing cars and track off of eBay and its still almost as much fun as when I was a kid, but I tell my wife it's for entertainment of my grandson hehe... I'm building a BIG layout in my spare bedroom.

What exactly is a "sniccus" ?

Hello ba/el,

Moderate and basic research shows the following:

"Jeg tror du tager fejl. Efter nøje analyse mener jeg at det beskrevne
geologiske fænomen er et spor efter den sydskånske kæmpesnegl (Sniccus
Australoscaniensis).

Torsten"

Refer (look at bottom of the page please) :

http://groups.google.se/group/se.transport.jarnvag/tree/browse_frm/month/2004-06?_done=%2Fgroup%2Fse.transport.jarnvag%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fmonth%2F2004-06%3F&

Translated loosely from the Latin, Australoscaniensis is some sort of Southern Hemisphere dog.

Sniccus is the art of kickery, so that involves kicking the dog.

There is no fee for this advice.

Hope that assists you, Kind Regards....

Hi Sparkstation,

As always, your commentary is as amusing as it is illuminating. Thank you muchly.

Hmmm...

Last year I replaced the living room lights, the one at the back of the house, the one in the bathroom and the one in the master bedroom. This year, I'll probably be replacing them again sooner or later.

'Thinking of LED lamps but they're expensive and not bright enough.

I've got a small house, just 36m² of floor space. It is unclear where the living room ends and the dining area starts. The kitchen is jostling for space along with the dining table. The refrigerator is actually closer to the living room than the kitchen.

I need to have an extension built at the back of the house for a proper kitchen. That's going to be expensive too and I'm not bright enough to do it myself.

I've got two daughters (13 and 4 years old) and a son (9 years). All three share a room. 'Need another one.

I'm thinking of converting the car port into the master bedroom so that my wife and I can vacate our present room and let our son have it. It's going to be expensive and the old masters bedroom will lose all its windows and won't be bright at all.

It's going to be an expensive year and not bright from where I sit.

I need to change my outlook. At least that won't cost a thing and things could brighten up then.

Hmmmm..... OK -

• Replace the defunct extractor fan in the kitchen.
• Replace three life-expired windows around the house.
• Build some brick structures on the patio to support a timber pagoda, before
• overlaying a decorative flagstone surface to the pre-existing cast concrete structure that forms the foundation for the patio, and
• adding some discreet low-energy outside lighting for use on summer evenings.
• Constructing a garden tools bunker, which
• clears out the garage so that car(s) can use it.
• Replacing a timber pedestrian gate, which has suffered from wasps boring into it.
• Restoring and developing an EM gauge model railway of some vintage and repute into a new format.
• Add a light and a switch, before
• re-plastering the main bedrooom and
• replacing the creaking floor with a stiffer structure.

Life is never dull!

My first project came early. A plumbing issue Christmas Weekend forced me to completely remove and replace the floor, subfloor, vanity and waste pipe in the 1/2 bath. (got rid of the hardwood and installed tile) I'm hoping '08 will be more voluntary projects. I plan to create a small wine cellar in the basement, overseed the lawn, possibly expand the master bedroom closet. And of course, lots of Beer-B-Que