what jobs are we getting done due to lockdown - no necessarily bike related

Radical Brad

Garage Hacker!
Staff member
Joined
Mar 13, 1999
Messages
6,078
Location
Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, Canada
Managed to frame out my new "Nerd Cave" this weekend.
Put a woodstove in a 16 x 25 foot section of the basement not used and started building shelves.
I am an absolute neat freak, so everything in totes, and on shelves...

5532

Thanks to the Yard Mule, collecting wood is so easy that we now heat 100% with it.
No more propane as a backup. Glued some bricks and made a simple base...

5528

My workbench is 4 feet wide and 12 feet long, also with abundant shelving.
3/4" plywood frame and plan to so oak trim and arborite sometime later to make it look nice.
Drop ceiling is 9 feet tall, and the room has two large windows (4 foot by 3 foot), so it's nice and bright.

5530

Will be doing rubber floor that looks like hardwood. Did that in another room, and it's great stuff.
My helper testing the network drops...

5531

Nice to get organized as we edge closer to the impending full lockdown.
I will be living in the hospitals doing IT work though, so getting this done was timely.

Brad
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
The weathervane I am making to go on the "soon to be re-roofed" conservatory is coming along quite well.

The NSEW directional arms, swinging arrow (roller bearing smooth) and central axis rod are all done.
We are just decorating the Dragon that will sit on top of the whole shebang.

It is a Welsh dragon (only type I could find on the web) and we don't care about his nationality or language.
He is very heavy and is made of 5mm plate steel.
He has been nicknamed "Daffyd" and here he is after my artistic director (SWMBO, closely related to dragons I think) has been tarting him up.

 

Twinkle

Super Moderator
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
3,634
Location
Peacehaven nr Brighton, Sussex ,UK
Hi folks , been quiet up here, but lots of jobs in progress, the double garage is up and has 12 off 72 led 12 lighting installed running off a 12 car battery charged by a solar panel and charge regulator . Bench built and now its time for the veg to be planted .
Danny's former tadpole is complete and awaiting the better , non welsh weather to brighten up our weeks . Managed to get out on the trikes for a local ride around the tin mine and lime kilns .
The welsh dragons have hatched this year and don't make ideal domesticated pets as they seem to set fire to their bedding .

Next job is reducing 10 pallets to fire wood and spreading a ton of top soil on the garden, followed by a mot on the car.

All is well both of us had our 1st covid vaccination and signed on finally with a new doctors surgery.
Take care everyone , using my mobile phone for communication is not the ideal situation.
It claims to be a smart phone but all in all l think its pretty stupid .

Later's folk .
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
The Weathervane is finished.

Temporary shaft to assemble all the parts on to have a "look-see" ;)
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Conservatory re-work has started.
...day 1 is over.
Conservatory demolished. Windows moved round. Ready for timberworks to start tomorrow.
It has been an eye-opener. The poor quality workmanship of the original :(



 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
Wow that's a start .....

Paul
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Wow that's a start .....

Paul
The original installation of the frame & glass onto the brick-built based was 3 days with 2 blokes. Teardown is always easier than put up, but I think we have done well today.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
So at the end of day 2 of the great conservatory re-work we are re-assembled as stud walling and ready for the external sheeting to be applied tomorrow and to start on the roof. Tom & I have worked really hard (and I really feel it too!)
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
Dan

nice !

paul
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
Wow! I'm impressed with all that has been happening elsewhere. Timely as well as I am gathering the materials for installing a hoist/trolley in my shop.
The StreetRunner is not only testing my upper limits of manhood, but it's getting bulky as well.

Pictures to follow of my progress.
I just received the trolley today.

Haven't finished the design of the beam as yet. Trying to save money and still make it safe and adequate.
The existing beam (2 x 12) in the shop spans 32 feet.
So I want to reinforce it and make the track at the same time.

My other 'keep busy' projects have included making two new, 1 hour movies, to be shown at our first camp out in April.
Everyone has been vaccinated so hoping for less stress.
Got the 5th wheel trailer all checked out and everything still works. Because of COVID, it hasn't been used but once n the last year.

Also been watching our local Bald eagles, Jackie (mom), Shadow (dad) care for their eggs.
Been watching live every day. So interesting.

Their first egg hatched but didn't survive. This second egg doesn't seem like it will make it either.
It should have started to hatch about 4-5 days ago.

More when there's pictures.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Well, today's "progress"(?) on the conservatory has not been stellar, just a lot of hard work with 2 steps forwards and one step back.
We have found many issues with the original elements of the base conservatory that are causing us problems.

  • Out of square
  • Not vertical.
  • Twisted frames/door.
  • Timber that has been cut from the cut/bowed/corkscrewed trees in foreign parts and then towed to the UK behind a submarine.
It has been a very trying and frustrating day and both Tom and I have had our "wood-butchery" skills and patience severely tested. ;)
But, we are progressing.


 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
....cold and breezy today but no rain :)
The conservatory re-build continues and today we managed to get the timber roof structure basically completed.
We will hopefully put the OSB3 boards on tomorrow and as a minimum drape the rubber roof over the top to keep the rain out.
Here is a picture of the roof as it has progressed (so far).


 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
Dan

Fingers crossed for this evening , I think Scotland is taking one for the team overnight !

UK 5 day weather forecast

Headline:

Fine and dry.

This Evening and Tonight:

Dry for most with long clear spells. Turning chilly, with a frost for parts of the north and west. Cloudier across eastern England and also northern Scotland, where are few spots of rain are possible.

Friday:

Dry with plenty of sunshine for most, though patchy cloud affecting eastern parts. Feeling warm in the sunshine, especially in the west, but a chilly breeze in the east.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

Fine Saturday after the clearance of fog and frost. A band of rain will then sweeps south Sunday, clearing Monday. Much colder air, with hail and snow showers, follows.

Paul
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
.... That day 5 of the Conservatory re-work is completed and a "lid" is on and I am not too worried about changes in the weather unless they are extremely severe.
Gosh...I am rather exhausted. We used a lot of ingenuity to get the 8 x 4 OSB roofing sheets on the roof with just the 2 of us ;) Very good use of mechanical advantage, and some webbing straps.
We restart as a "team" on Wednesday. :)

 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
We restart as a "team" on Wednesday. :)
That's a joke right ?

I am sure you will have this finished before Wednesday ........

I'll get my coat ......

Paul
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
That's a joke right ?

I am sure you will have this finished before Wednesday ........

I'll get my coat ......

Paul
TBH, I am destroyed by the level of activity we have been through this week. I suspect I shall only restore the glazing into the windows to keep more of the weather out.
 
Top