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Timbo
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Posts posted by Timbo
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The firklemeister is back and with a new kind of firkling, firkydoodling! Firkydoodling is firkling 'on paper' designing future firkling projects which leads to further episodes of firkling. The basic requirements for firkydoodling are something to draw with, I prefer an HB pencil, and something to draw on, traditionally a fag packet or in my case an opened out fag paper booklet but you can use paper...if you must.
So what have I been firkydoodling and firkling I know you are desperate to ask? Tool storage mostly. Following yet another spectacular fall out I the shed, it was decided by far higher powers that I had too many tools and machines in the shed and my organization was abysmal leaving no thought for trip hazards and space to actually work.
I started woodworking with basic, cheap tools. As I've become more proficient I've been upgrading my tooling. In some instances this has meant I have duplicates and sometimes triplicates of tools that I no longer use. Therefore, during the latest firkle friends and family have become the recipients of the excess tools I had loafing about the place.
I'm not as lucky as Alan to have a full set of Stanley planes, but I have invested in cheaper, but better quality than store brand, planes from Faithful. This meant I had a spare No 4 plane and a No 60 block plane going spare. These were passed on to my brother in law Watson. I also had an electric plane which I just couldn't get on with at all. I passed this along to my friend Russ who is always popping round to 'borrow a plane'. I was pleased to see the other day that Russ was putting the plane to good use finishing the 'pub' he is building in his back garden.
So the first spot of firkydoodling was a couple of holsters to hold my No 6 foreplane and No 5 plane on the wall of my 'workshop' above my bench. I added shelves for my Duplex plane, the No 60 ½ block plane, my No 4 plane and my Veritas spokeshave. Not the neatest of jobs, I made use of all the little offcuts of plywood I had loafing and the vast quantities of dowels I have in drawers, but it works!
Next spot of firkydoodling was to make a home for my chisels and mallets. I decided on a 'knife block' arrangement so that the blades of my always sharp chisels were buried away from my clumsy hands. The wider two inch chisels at one end made a handy spot to house my wooden mallet so that chisels and mallet were all contained in one unit.
Next up was a simple hanger/holder for my files. Again a simple affair, just a block of wood with dowels to hold the larger files and a hole to pop my small rat tail file into. So far I wasn't putting any thought into my workspace, just making homes for my tools and fastening them to the wall out of the way. Screwdrivers were next on the list, a home for my orbital sander and sandpaper and somewhere to hang my Japanese saws. Slowly but surely I'm finding space for everything and getting shut of things I don't use, have never used or will never use.
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6 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:
Irony at its best
Iron Bridge?
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Reading the news this morning has offered me a new descriptor for a large number of boats creating wash. 'A Trump Parade'!
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One of the things that my passion for the Norfolk Broads kindled is an interest in birds...water birds. Being a country boy and working in the field of landscape management, I do pay attention to what is going on in the landscape around me. Anyone that knows me will know that when I get interested in something I tend to start poking around in both the countryside and any research data I can lay my hands on. It's called going the full 'Timbo'. A bit like going completely 'bursar' but may involve getting dragged out of ditches and mounds of paper.
The lack of duck and waterbirds in general, not just around The Broads but in sites around Lincolnshire too, was something I've noticed more and more over the past ten years. There has also been a quite radical shift in the make up of the wildfowl and waterbird populations. Species once numerous seem to have been replaced with others once considered a rarity.
Figures on bird populations and trends supplied by the RSPB, as usual, were contradictory the correlation between their latest fund raising and building projects blatantly obvious. Their data contribution to the official figures of the UK Government also skewed the 'official national' counts and trends. All of these figure were in stark contrast to what I was witnessing first hand in the field. There was a greater correlation between my first hand observations and the records of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
BTO records show that Mallard numbers, particularly, are down by 30% over the last twenty-five years and 12% over the last ten years. Coots are down 7% over the last twenty-five years and drastic reduction of 20% over the last ten years. Moorhen were not recorded long term but there has been a 26% reduction over the last ten years and my favourite bird the Great Crested Grebe has seen a 3% drop in numbers over twenty-five years and 15% drop over the last ten years. Even the humble lapwing has seen a significant drop in numbers of 34% over twenty-five years and 20% over ten years. Swan numbers are up with the exception of the Bewick, goose numbers are up. Meanwhile the 'poster boys' of the bird world have seen numbers grow. For example Avocet numbers are up 324% over twenty-five years and are up 24% over the last ten and of course predator numbers are escalating. Something is going on without a doubt!
My own conclusions are that the decline in populations is indeed 'man made', but not necessarily how many would imagine. I put it down to three occurrences.
Climate
Many of our wetland species are migratory and the recorded changes in climate correlate directly to the location of wintering migratory birds. To put it simply, it ain't cold enough at home to warrant the birds flying somewhere warmer. The birds are staying put in their winter breeding locations.
Predator Numbers
There is a dramatic increase in the number of predator species. Not just otter and other mammals but also birds. Owls, hawks and harriers are prolific. On any given day I can count over ten buzzards circling above my shed. It's like being in some damned cowboy film some days!Altered Behaviour
The idiotic campaign to stop feeding bread to ducks, financed by a bird feed manufacturer, so that people buy 'duck food' has altered the behaviour of the most numerous of mammals, the human. With the aid of social media, this marketing claptrap has taken such a hold that organizations such as the Canal and River Trust advocate this gubbage despite wildfowl protection organizations and the Veterinary Surgeon General refuting it. People are not feeding 'the ducks' any more. The last time Gracie was on The Broads she was feeding bread to the ducks and the inevitable 'you shouldn't be feeding bread to ducks' wazzock surfaced to spoil the occasion. Children present, I limited yet expanded my response from my usual two words to 'if I want your opinion I will give it to you'.
If you wish to see wildfowl and waterbirds in anywhere near the numbers that we used to, don't go looking in the relief channels and overflows. I wouldn't waste time on the nature reserves. I would, however visit the one or two spots where people are specifically feeding the birds. There's a chap in Stalham that feeds by the bucket, and there are mallard and coot in numbers. Better still, start feeding the ducks again yourself.-
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3 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
Remember in "The Navy Lark"?
"Everybody down!"
'Left hand down a bit'.
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Dear Microsoft.
'Your edition of Windows 10 is no longer valid and requires update to receive new improved benefits.' your message read. Well, something along those lines. My laptop then froze until I installed your update. So I installed the interminable update to your clunky, unwieldy, slow and shambolic operating system for the thumb-typer. The minutes and then the hours dragged by while a laptop that was once speedy, accurate and organized with windows seven tried to gulp down the 'benefits' you promised. I missed online meetings scheduled for weeks. I lost documents I was unable to save due to your damned interference. It's now the following day and finally your update has finished. So what were these wonderful benefits you promised? Ah, I see. You've tried to make my PC like an Apple. Why? There's a reason why serious computer users don't use Apple machines, their tech is ten years out of date! So these wonderful benefits include a clunky, unwieldy, slow and shambolic operating system with features of a system from ten years ago and in addition you have erased all the fixes I had to make to your idiotic operating system in order to make it work in the first place. Thanks a bunch! You're just determined to force me to go all beardy-weirdy and start running LINUX!
And then it gets worse. You messed up your own update, so you forced my laptop to update yet again! So now that my machine has rebooted for the millionth time in the last twenty-four hours I now have a machine that is clunky, unwieldy, slow and has a shambolic operating system with features of a system from ten years ago, with all the fixes I had to make to your idiotic operating system erased and that now attempts to record and report my every keystroke to your headquarters. I've got news for you set of twonks, it ain't happening. LINUX here we come, and if that fails...I will write on the wall at Reedham and get Wussername to pass on my missives!
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7 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:
This might well be Jayfire's chosen brand!
No, but it is mine! I was lucky enough to inherit my great grandfather's fishing tackle. He was one of the first professional match anglers. After the Great War his injuries were so severe he was unable to work and instead earned a living competing in angling matches and placing side bets on the outcome. As a schoolboy, it was my father's responsibility to escort the old boy to angling matches and tourneys, carrying his tackle, all over Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and down to Norfolk as the old boy's war wounds meant he was unable to carry his own equipment.
Much of his fishing tackle was either made specifically for him (his rods are hand made split cane made by Archer & Son Doncaster and balanced to his disability), home made to his design (floats, idle backs or rod rests, ledger weights, swing tips etc) or were given to him to endorse, as was the case with his fishing reels.
Even though he was a Yorkshireman, he was an exponent of the Nottingham method of angling, very fine lines and free running reels. I still favour my great grandfather's centrepin reels which were presented to him by Allcocks over any other type of reel. Although I have his 1890's Nottingham Mahogany, Walnut and brass reel, his original 1920's Coxon Aerial both in working order, it is his 1930's Allcock three inch wide drum Aerial that I use the most. I think I must have spent more time as a kid 'dry' or practise casting in the back field than I did actually fishing. Consequently, I can drop light tackle accurately some forty to fifty yards away. My other reel of choice is also a bit of antique these days. It's my Dad's 1970's Abu Garci 540 Mk1. A beautiful reel and now that I'm 'lame handed' like my great grandfather, the closed faced reel is something I really appreciate in windy conditions, although a 3lb line is the maximum it will take. -
4 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:
And I expect JM and Vaughan will verify, it's been a bad road all the way back to at least the fifties since I was young.
Isn't there a stone tablet in Norwich museum depicting you three lining up for a chariot race?
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Water is very clear on the upper stretches of the Ant, Malcolm. A fair amount of weed, long slender type we call water soldiers in our neck of the woods. There are also stretches of waterlily too. The Wayford end holds a good head of golden rudd, nice bream, some quite large perch and I have pulled out a brace of river tench downstream of the bridge. The flow is quite gentle and although shallow there are some deep holes here and there up to eight feet or so.
The bridge marks the boundary between territory of two otter romps or families. Early morning will see one romp cavort in the pool upstream of the bridge between the bridge and the houseboats. The other romp hunt the margins of the port bank downstream of the bridge. There's the odd squabble when the romps get territorial. -
Having collected the wheelbarrow tray from Ben Gunn, I was ready for the next stage but a couple of days in bed nursing a monumental headache was what actually occurred. Still, one day the rain stopped and the sun came out and I felt well enough to crack on.
Cleaning up the tray, wheel, stays, legs and and handles was the next step. The wheel was the easiest part of the job. A good soak in some soapy water followed by a good scrub with a dish pad. The wheel was then dried off and given a good coating of matt dashboard cleaner and then given a buffing. Finally a couple of coats of tyre shine.
All the metal parts were given a good rub down with a wire brush. Any sharp edges were taken away with a file and the surface cleaned with spirits and left to dry. I masked off the handles and then applied a couple of coats of grey primer.
Spray painting is one of those weird skills I accumulated partly as an archaeologist and partly through holiday work in between terms and digs. Running repairs to JCB's and tractors, fitting side plates and front linkages, MIG welding and spray painting in the field, occasionally with some crackpot shooting at you, and all part and parcel of a classical education.
I normally like to use a yellow high build primer if I'm going to be painting anything in red or orange, but as I didn't have any...several coats of standard grey rubbed down in between coats would have to do.
For colours I plumped for Oxford Green for the handles, stays and feet and a bright red for the tray. It took a couple of days to get everything painted. I got two coats on and left it overnight before applying another couple of coats. I then left everything for twenty-four hours to cure properly.
Once the paint had cured it was time to reassemble the wheelbarrow. The wheel went in first. I took the time to file the head of the axle bolt and the locking nut so that they would better fit my metric spanners instead of the Chinese bike spanner. I drilled out new washers to replace the old ones which were really corroded as well as new washers for the handles and to attach the tray. For the tray I used new coach bolts as these were shiny and locked the tray in position much better. I suspect the original design had been for coach bolts.
With everything put back together again, I touched up the odd area of paintwork that I'd managed to scratch while assembling everything.
Today Arlo took his 'new' wheel barrow out for a test run in the orchard to collect 'happles' and pears, despite the rain. He deemed the restoration a success and collected quite a few windfalls.
So, the jobs a 'good un' onto the next!-
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Headache? Tense, nervous headache? Throw in neck ache, chest pain, dysphasia, pain up the arm, difficulty breathing and exhaustion and I was not having a good time. Over the past week I must have spent eight hours in bed for every hour I was awake and mobile. Even when I was out of bed my get up and go had not so much 'got up and gone' as fled the scene of the crime without leaving a forwarding address. I was not up to using things like table saws. I wasn't safe using things like table saws, so the restoration of Arlo's wheelbarrow was something I could tackle a bit at a time in relative safety.
First things first, taking the wheelbarrow apart. No, let's get this right. First things first, a search of the internet. You don't have to spend a lot of time firkling to realise that no matter the object, tool or material, some jobsworth with a flat hat and a clipboard will have given specific names to an object or tool. Engineering types will feign ignorance or snigger if you use terms other than those dictated by the flat hatted in antiquity. The internet is not a guarantee you will get the correct terminology. Sometimes the transatlantic baseball hatted jobsworths decide to rename the object, tool or material in their perpetual battle to understand the rudiments of the English language. After all, it's only been two hundred and forty four years. It's 'rebate' not 'rabbet'....'reeee bate'!
Second things second, the dismantling of the wheelbarrow. I did this with the aid of Ben Gunn. Spanners, sockets and adjustable spanners have been added to my list of 'tools I need to buy more of'. We separated the 'tray' from the 'legs', 'handles', 'wheel' and 'tray braces' using various grips. Ben Gunn had volunteered to knock out the dents in the tray with his collection of hammers, anvils and wooden blocks. I loaded the rest of the barrow into the car under Arlo's stern gaze.
"You broke my wheel barrow!"
It was a couple of days later when I felt well enough to spend an hour further stripping down the handles, braces and the taking the wheel from the axle. Reaching for my metric spanners I soon realised that I didn't have one that fitted. I didn't have an imperial spanner that fitted either. I took a wire brush to the bolt that served as the axle as I could just make out numbers and letters cast into the bolt head. 9/16W it said. Now, my Daddy was a marine and agricultural engineer and I knows all about Whitworths. I takes two in a white coffee. But...the various nuts and bolts were not Whitworths either. They were Chinese copies of Whitworth nuts and bolts. As luck would have it, I have a Chinese bike spanner stuffed in a draw. The spanner came with Uncle Albert's walker thing but never fitted the fixings on that. It did, sort of, fit the axle bolt.
Finally everything was dismantled but the axle bolt interrupted my train of thought.
'Excuse me' said the bolt 'but can you tell me the difference between the old place where they keep the omnibuses and a lobster with breast implants?'.
'I'm afraid I don't know.' I told the fixing convinced something was wrong with it.
'Well one is a rusty bus station and the other is a busty crustacean!' quipped the bolt.
Suddenly I realized why the bolt's jokes were a bit obscure. It had a metal disorder, it was as rusty as it's jokes, and I needed a good lie down.
I scooped up the axle bolt, spacers and washers and gave them a quick scrub with a wire brush to get rid of the big flakes of rust then popped them in a jam jar. I topped the jar up with white vinegar and salt, put on the lid and popped the jar on the window sill. After a day bubbling away in the jar I had a murky brown solution and some clean bits of metal. A rinse in fresh water, a quick scrub with a wire wheel and I could move onto the next bit of the restoration.
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And so the seasons turn and very soon Gracie and Arlo with be returning to school and starting nursery respectively. This means that Gracie will stay with us for two nights and we will take her to school (I walk past her school twice a day as it backs onto the woods where I walk the hounds) and Arlo will be with us for just one day as he starts nursery this year.
The seasons turn indeed and it is now 'happle' season. Arlo found last year, when he was just a year old, that he thoroughly enjoyed collecting 'happles' from great granddad's orchard. Armed with a little bucket he would wander between the trees collecting windfalls. To Arlo, it was the best thing ever and something he remembered and even though there were no windfalls to collect he would totter down to the orchard to look for 'happles'. Now that he is a BIG two, he is still fascinated by collecting 'happles'. He can now distinguish between maggot ridden 'crappy happles' and 'good eating happles'.'Crappy happles' get thrown to the 'monster (A pile of chippings created when the huge conifers were felled have enough 'give' underfoot to feel as though they may be alive. Some judicious sculpting by a Timbo and a Gracie and there is a monster at the bottom of the garden that eats happles!), good happles were put in a bucket.
Our friend Wendy passed down a toy wheelbarrow for Arlo to collect his happles in. Arlo, Grandma and I gave it a test down the orchard and Arlo found it to be 'fantastic 'mazin' for happles'. Grandma found it needed 'doing up' and the rusty bits removed. Time for a firkle and restore the wheel barrow!
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15 hours ago, YnysMon said:
I don’t like taking the tablets
I have to admit that I'm not overly fond of the medication. I find the position of Chairman far more enjoyable when accompanied by all the pretty colours and the occasional flying elephant.
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Off topic I know, but we did tell Gracie that Dave @JanetAnne was a pirate. After a few minutes cogitation and weighing him up, Gracie decided that he couldn't be a real pirate as he didn't have a parrot. Her face was a picture when she saw him at the Beccles Wooden Boat Show complete with a parrot. Of course I told her that pirates have wooden legs and the way to test is to hit their toes with something heavy. So if you spot JanetAnne hopping around it's probably Gracie...testing!
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1 minute ago, MauriceMynah said:
Nope, I didn't see it coming. :-)
I think we mixed up our halves of brain MM, I've spent a week sampling local beers and trying to get my replacement phone to work. Have you been doing woodwork and walking beagles by any chance?
Not caught up with the news Vaughan, are you and yours still safe? -
Edp
in Broads Chat
Not to worry...I use a spoof headline generator and found it to be more accurate and entertaining!
Man Found Having Tea Party With Moose Again.
And Other Headlines
by Uncle AlbertLocal Headlines
Man Found Having Tea Party With Moose Again.
Old Boat Likely To Win Village Show
Local Man Wins Cauliflower Growing Contest For the Third Time
Woman With Grubby Tattoo Arrested for 37th Time
Viral Photo of Moose Had Been Photoshopped
Local man Set to Fly Out and Help With Tidal Wave Relief Effort
Man Buys Knickers For Low Income Local Family
National Headlines
Moose Catches Train Across Country
Man Jailed For Threatening Wife With Old Boat
New Variety of Cauliflower Set to Revolutionise Our Eating Habits
Man With Grubby Tattoo Suspected of Art Theft
Small Tidal Wave Forcast in Northern Regions
Pink Knickers Are the Latest Big Trend Says Top Fashion Designer
International Headlines
Pink Moose Escapes From Florida Zoo
Norfolk Broads Voted Nicest Place to Live in the World
The World's Biggest Cauliflower Measuring Over 1m
Grubby Tattoos Banned in North Korea
Tidal Wave Causes Devastation
Knickers Linked to Global Health Scare
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Welcome and deep joy and enjoyed annagrammers all contemplale and thinky, sat here two-square on the botty while others all off and boaty did keep spirit uppermost and joyful. Right, time to walk the woofitandyappers and then a drinklage of beerage all tilty elbow and soscrile distantage.
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I've been reading the thread with interest. What would members think to be suitable and relevant guidelines or regulations that could be introduced to protect paddle boarders on The Broads and still give them access to enjoy them? How would a suitable addition to the byelaws read?
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On 04/08/2020 at 20:22, Koolwabbit said:
Off subject slightly, during lock down I have been watching utube vlogs on the canals. My question is , a canal wide enough for two craft but only one towpath. How did the boats ,before motorised, cross ?
Nigel
Now then Nigel we are firmly in Uncle Albert's domain here and I asked him the same question years ago. Here's what I can remember of his explanation.
The 'snatch' (tow rope) between the 'oss' (horse) or 'hanimals' (donkeys or mules used in pairs) and the towing post on the 'oss boat' (canal vessel towed by a horse) is made of cotton so would sink to the bottom of the cut (canal) when slack. So one 'oss' would slow up, the 'snatch' would sink allowing the other 'oss boat' to float over the 'snatch' while the 'oss would step over the snatch. Once they had passed then the 'oss would 'take up the slack'.-
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23 minutes ago, floydraser said:
Where did you learn that, from a Tom & Jerry cartoon?
Sadly, no. It was the IP CCTV Forum for IP Video, network cameras & CCTV software. But I did get some of my other, more painful, security measures from the cat and the mouse and they were by far the best subjects to study when I was learning to apply forces in character animation.
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I leave Mr Skinny Legs (guess who watches too much Peppa Pig these days) where he is on account of him eating all the bugs that do bite. Especially in sheds...where he serves the purpose of deterring spider frit other halves intent on investigating the contents of said shed.
Living with a family of spider frit is challenging. I'm slowly but surely training them as they realise that their blind panic and shouts of 'hit it with the paper' means that I belt them around the head with the paper and not the spider. Than goodness for grandson Arlo who not only likes spiders but goes actively hunting for them.
I do have a running battle with one spider who insists on spinning a web across the front of the security camera every night. I've tried all of the various concoctions to deter him until I found the only deterrent that does work. Avoiding the glass lens I smear the case of the camera in a thin layer of Vaseline. Mr Skinny Legs is unable to attach his web so moves on.-
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8 minutes ago, SteveP said:
"Two bilge pumps" that's got me thinking now(not before time), is this common practice for private boats? How do you stop them both coming on at once?
On Royal Tudor they are connected to flotation switches and each pump is positioned in a different section of the bilge. The shape of the bilge means one pump is higher than the other so there has to be a lot of water in the bilge for them both to turn on. Each pump is also independently switched at the helm and each pump can be individually switched between automatic and manual pumping.
We also carry a good old fashioned stirrup pump and a bucket should modern tekelknowledgy start playing silly B's!-
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The Big Firkle 2020
in The Broadscot Lounge
Posted
Ah you see, here I am limited for space. For my sins and ailments I live in a mobility adapted ground floor flat and I have to share the back garden with my upstairs neighbours. When I first moved here the previous upstairs neighbour (I christened her Widow Twankey and it stuck) decided that the concrete wheelchair ramp right outside my bedroom window was an ideal place to put her 'summerhouse'. The ensuing wrangles over her shed and the housing association making new rules to support her meant that when they realized she was a few tokens short of a rubber dog mat and she moved to pastures new...I had a whole raft of letters proclaiming the right to put a shed on the ramp within a set dimension. Unfortunately I can't expand the shed. I can put a sun screen off the front of it though...but lifting big timbers is a bit beyond me at present.
Ah but then...I has them new fangled teefs so's I can take em' out and give it a good gumming!
A bump cap will not be necessary...due to lack of space, when I do fall over I'm usually to be found wedged in an upright position. Ellie has been making plans. Apparently she's going to bury me with the dog leads in my coffin. So no escape from the rigours of dog walking even when I snuff it!