Wilmac bandsaw restoration.

[pwdrive]

Don't post the lyrics.

Lawrence.

[pwdrive]

At least it's not the Goldwatch Blues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHg__kkXKY4

Lawrence.

[Radio Fixer]

Stainless steel frames, even if available, is not a good idea Colin. Much stainless is now poor quality ...

What might interest you are modern powder coated aluminium.

http://www.i-d-systems.co.uk/windows/aluminium-windows

Here's one nearer you:

http://www.kingfisherwindows.co.uk/windo...um-windows

This was recommended by the architect who did the plans for the new utility room ext. He said he specifies it for all his industrial jobs and has it in his house. You can have any colour you want and another advantage is that the frames are a lot slimmer. It has all the thermal breaks between inside and out and U values as good or better, so he told us, than UPVC. Downside is its more expensive but he said not to bad if you shop around and told us of the local place that did his.

But I'm sure plastic will do us and money saved can go towards some more travels.

Just done a bit of looking:

   

This is from Everest and they give a lifetime guarantee for discolouration for UPVC and 25 years for ali, so must be very confident.

Gary

[Refugee]

I would look at the strong wind as an asset to blasting the paint off the band saw castings.
Pick a moment when there is a brake in the cloud and hit it out on the drive.
The high wind will take the fall out well away and leave you no mess to clear up and it will be so widely spread that nobody will complain.

[Radio Fixer]

It's an idea Refugee but I wouldn't chance it myself. Of paramount importance to us is getting on with our neighbours. We don't make great friends of them but go out of our way to be polite and do them small favours as they do for us. We let them know of any plans that might upset them and normally once people are in the picture there are never any problems. I simple wouldn't chance any grit blowing onto their property.

Gary

[Joe]

Too right, Gary.

I'm very lucky in that regard as my neighbours don't bother me over bits of saw-dust and I don't bother them when they splash my windows when pressure-washing their conservatory.

If I was blasting anything I'd ensure that I did it well away from the boundaries and hope that the waste would soon wash into the soil. In current circumstances I don't think I'd have long to wait.

- Joe

[Retired]

Hi,

Oh dear Lawrence I hope I didn't depress you too much with my tale of woe but on the positive side I think I could possibly make the violin? Have you been down the wood yet Lawrence to check for storm damage?

Two fingers is my lot Gary when it comes to typing but I have a pair of laser fingers so am pretty quick; what takes up a lot of time is checking spelling because no way do I miss-key this amount and the spelling checker is no great shakes either. I'm certainly up against it but I don't think through choice although I do my best to complete projects whatever is thrown at me.

Retaining old tiles whilst installing a new kitchen Gary; I can understand your reasoning and it makes sense to save work if possible but rather than use a multi-tool to strip tiles why not bring in the big toy in the shape of an SDS with wide chisel installed; yes it will rattle your home but the tiles will throw in the towel just at the sight of an SDS like my big Titan. Kitchens and bathrooms are always a nightmare to work in because constant access is required; joking apart Gary good luck with your home refurbishment; whichever way you go it will hurt your pocket. Yes springtime is just around the corner and although the weather is currently deeply depressing I actually enjoy just this time of the year when everything is rock bottom; the only way is up so I'm being positive and I love springtime when everything including myself bursts into life with lots of fresh energy to tap into.

Thanks Gary for adding the links which I will have a look at shortly; stainless steel windows was tongue in cheek but regarding stainless steel it depends on the specification; just look at the stainless fastenings sold by Screwfix; two grades are sold. Aluminium might be OK but I would wonder what was happening on the inside of the extrusions regarding moisture being trapped setting up corrosion?

Whilst visiting David recently Bron and I were very impressed indeed by David's brand new German double glazing this being top quality and David has kindly let us have the suppliers details; if we do decide to go plastic I'm sure we would use the same company as David; not only are the units spot on but the installation went perfectly and we could not tell the new units had only just been installed; I'm still undecided but it's generating interest and all the time I'm gathering different views on the subject.

Thanks for the Proclaimers video Joe and also thanks for your Donovan video Lawrence; if I wasn't already depressed what a reminder from Donovan; "work for 50 years". It's getting a lot worse because now people are having to work longer than 50 years in fact it would save paying pensions at all if we were terminated at our last day of work?

Nice one Refugee; yes I see what you mean and given the high wind if I was uphill from it I wouldn't even need to wear a respirator or hood whilst blasting. Blasting with soda isn't bad because the soda washes to nothing unlike the hard blasting media which lasts forever?

Generally our neighbours are good so I'm sensitive in that I don't wish to offend and try my best to treat our neighbours the way we would like to be treated ourselves. It's dried up considerably but the high wind remains otherwise I would have been trying out my brand new toy?

It's a very cold wind today but I'm quite cheerful; yes it happens about twice a year? After posting this morning I wandered into the garage armed with a mug of tea; put on the Christmas carol CD then set about assembling the soda blaster. I pulled the air/water separator out of the box and this appears straightforward to install. Next I assembled the blaster which was easy taking about 15 minutes and not requiring instructions; the big bore hose was tight but by placing the blaster on the floor I got a good grip and forced it on tightening the clamp.

I was correct in that these blasters are not manufactured in Oxenhope at all but are imported then possibly the guy I bought from modifies the blaster adding new gun etc? Out of interest I'll browse the web to see if similar sand blasters are available; I'm pretty sure I saw one at Rufforth a couple of months ago and think it only cost around £80 being brand new; this being a sand blaster only; at the time I only glanced at it? This also applies to the air/water separator; I'm sure these are dirt cheap at Rufforth but for the £20 I paid it still wasn't expensive. The hard media bags are identified so possibly browsing the web the medium could possible be bought cheaper especially by the pallet as Big Al mentioned previously.

The plus side though for me is that I've got a fully working well sorted soda blaster with blasting medium and separator for not a great deal of money so I'm happy with the purchase but the proof of the pudding is the blasting? The pictures below show what I got for the £230 and all brand new with only a few minutes assembly needed.

Out of interest many years ago I paid about a tenner (£10) for one of those grit blasters looking very much like a quart paint spray gun for use with a compressor; after five minutes it was scrapped as absolutely useless; compressor working flat out and no effect at all on the rust I was trying to remove; a fool and his money?

I managed to wash the car and put it away for Christmas but I felt frozen in the wind then our immediate neighbour (Carole) asked us round for a drink (tea) and a natter which we accepted. Whilst their Carole asked Bron if she had ever used a "bead loom"; no but Colin will have a look at it for you; now I know how a bead loom works and also found there is lots of information on the subject on YouTube so Carole has a new toy to play with over Christmas. If everything was so easy to sort out life would be boring; much better to suffer?

Put a ring round today's date because Col is happy and in good spirits.

I think Christmas is near so time knock off.

Kind regards, Col.

                                       

[pwdrive]

Nah...I'm cheered up again now Col. No, not been to the woods yet, got enough firewood for the minute, will visit as and when.

Lawrence.

[Radio Fixer]

No tiles are great Colin. Beautifully done if I say so myself. So not coming off. It would have been a complete re-plaster job! As well as another week and mess and dust beyond belief. I have a weeks work afterwards cleaning all the radios as it.

I work on the window wall first, from the window, as I like the same L pieces at the corners to be exactly the same size. Symmetry is what I want and the same for door frames. For plain walls then the pieces at each end, in the corner, have to be identical in size. Oh! and as near as possible with floor and ceiling. This can be done in two ways: either put a tile across the exact centre line or one either side of it and work out from there 'cos you don't want any silly 1/2" pieces. Of course I use a batten, spirit levelled everywhere. And for corners I use the correct inset colour plastic moulding. So the tiles stay and the multi-tool is very good.

Now, don't want to get a lot of flack (Hey! its Christmas, although for me everyday is and for most 70 + guys) but I bought a mains powered one as well. If the Aldi one had had two batteries I wouldn't have bothered... but I kept running out of steam and couldn't be bothered to wait for charge.

So bought the Erbauer from Screwfix, pretty cheap at £59 odd. David said its only 250W against the Aldi at 300W but its about like sprinters and milers. It actually feels like it has more guts and cuts through things easier. I don't mind having both, small job, grab the battery, big job, grab the mains powered. Same with drills.

So tomorrow is the Day and I will be expected to spend time with my good lady watching stuff on the tele. How long will I last before I find an excuse to slide away and do something physical. Radio is coming along ...but no mention of radio... must be an excuse that will work

Enjoy! Gary

[Retired]

Hi,

You'll save a lot of hassle Gary by not removing tiles because as you say it's not a nice job then of course comes the re-plastering and the plaster would need to dry before adding new tiles; anyone can spend lots of money but if you are happy with the tiles you currently have I don't blame you for retaining them; good decision. I too like to take a lot of care in getting things central this especially so whilst veneering.

Erbauer power tools are good value for money and for home workshop use should give years of excellent service; I check out Screwfix because Screwfix keep doing big discounts and I recently bought a very nice Erbauer jigsaw saving a lot of money. Regarding battery or mains power tools then it's a matter of pay your money and take your choice; we are all different in our needs when it comes to tooling or there wouldn't be such a vast choice of tooling available.

You've got the best excuse in the world Gary to avoid watching TV today and in fact most days; there's nothing on worth watching and later today I'll let Bron select a downloaded movie and we'll watch this in peace because surely by now everyone in the country must have a DFS sofa?

Good luck down the wood Lawrence; it's been grim down south with the weather so you'll have your fingers crossed?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181196343418

I spotted the above brand new 3hp compressors on eBay so rather than play around trying to buy a second hand bigger compressor thought these to be an absolute bargain so I've just bought one. Hopefully this will power my new soda blaster better than my current 2hp compressor. Once the new compressor arrives I'll sell two of the compressors I already own; I'm seriously upgrading my workshop and have bought lots of new kit; 2014 will see more kit bought?

Kind regards, Col.