Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Grumblebums Corner

[rmalkow2]

Well done making the sewing drawers and repurposing one thing into another more useful.

 

[xtremek]

What they said, nice rework.

 

[shortykorte]

Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[xtremek]

Merry Christmas

 

[hewey]

Nice work on the drawers, and Merry Christmas mate.

 

[Terrick down Under]

merry Christmas and a safe new year

 

[drivesitfar]

GB: good to see you are getting things done as your weather looks awesome. one reminder is to make sure you wear a good mask (not a little painter's mask) cause cutting melamine or mdf or processed wood the dust is toxic.

here's to a great 2020

 

[Grumblebum]

GB,
You do good work!

Thanks Jon

Drawer came out great. Will have to put the Zack Rabbit on the Christmas list. Yes, only $79 but I guess shipping stuff in a westerly direction is more expensive than shipping them easterly. Lol.

Thanks Shorty, yep the dollar conversion is a stinger getting anything sent here from the US currently.

Well done making the sewing drawers and repurposing one thing into another more useful.

Cheers Bob, wifie was very happy with them.

What they said, nice rework.

Thanks Kirk

Nice work on the drawers, and Merry Christmas mate.

Cheers Hewey - How did you go in the heat yesterday out your way ?

merry Christmas and a safe new year

Thanks Terrick. Hope you are keeping well.

GB: good to see you are getting things done as your weather looks awesome. one reminder is to make sure you wear a good mask (not a little painter's mask) cause cutting melamine or mdf or processed wood the dust is toxic.

here's to a great 2020

Thanks Drives, unfortunately we are having some pretty extreme weather here currently. Even on the coast here everything is brown and dried out. Desperate for some rain.

I always use appropriate dusk mask when cutting on the saws exactly for that reason

All, hope everyone has had a safe and new year. Not a lot to report otherwise. Have been trying to get on top of the current garage mess. I managed to sneak in one day last weekend, but still need another good day I think to get on top of it.

Here are some random happenings...

Managed to snap this shot last night of the moon with a break in the bushfire smoke. It had a very eerie ominous red glow to it.

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And as we've had seldom sun out over the last few weeks the solar/battery system in the back of the truck has strugged to keep up, so I've just had to go and plug in the power charger to get it topped up again. Normally it would charge when driving but I cycled to work a few days last week so the truck has been sitting idle.

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We visited Melboune for a long weekend get away back in August, and one of the places we visited was the Lego centre in Chadstone. It's definitely an awesome place to check out if you have kids, we spent most of a day there.

In the shop on the way out we all picked a momento kit, so I selected Lego City 60181.

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Another little rabbit hole I've ventured into is horology. I've recently got new batteries into all our watches, new straps on some, and now tinking with some repairs that required some tooling. Picked up these basic kits at the local electonics outlet.

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I grabbed one of my dad's old Lorus watches to fixup too. He said this had had a crystal replaced at somepoint but he handed it to me full of dust and dirt, I found that there was a gap in the top of the crystal just letting all the **** in. I was going to replace the crystal and gasket myself, however after pricing up the tools and parts (which was not a lot in USD) by the time I added in shipping and currency conversion it was getting a bit pricey - so I've just removed the movement and sent this one off to have a new crystal installed. Hope to get it back soon so I can get it running again.

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For this year our theme was pre-loved/used, so instead of buying new gifts we selected from thrift stores etc. I received a woodworking book and found this cool outdoor chair and footstool that has gone onto the project list.

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That's about it for now. Time for something to eat and a bit of QST.

Cheers GB

 

[xtremek]

I hope everything is ok, fire wise. Legos are always cool, and your book looks interesting, full of cool projects.

 

[drivesitfar]

GB: I hope you and your family and friends are avoiding those awful fires and i'm sending prayers that hopefully will send you all some rain soon down under.

I know the wildlife might not never recover cause my son in law said something like 480 million critters have died so far besides humans that I heard is up around 50 or so.

take care!!

 

[bj383ss]

Hope you are safe GB. Love that you picked up another hobby. One can never have to many. That is a great Lego set. I bought 2 myself. I love the lumberjack minfig.

Bret

 

[Guster]

Happy new year and stay safe GB!

Hoping you guys get the much needed rain and enough to halt the fires.

 

[Coolabah]

Hope you are safe GB. Love that you picked up another hobby. One can never have to many. That is a great Lego set. I bought 2 myself. I love the lumberjack minfig.

Bret

Well... I just have to say it... I am amazed he has the time for it !!

GB : I also like timepieces and have quite a few watches. Google Nicholas Hacko , haven't looked too closely at price comparisons but lots of interesting tools to buy locally.

cheers,
Greg

 

[rmalkow2]

Taking time to make time. A worthy thing to learn. Hope you have fun with such a detailed hobby. Very cool.

 

[hewey]

Hey mate, I love the preloved Christmas theme, great idea.

if you're in to watches, make sure you check out the mid century moto mecca thread, Gregor has been sharing some of his watch work and like everything he does its mind blowing

 

[Grumblebum]

I hope everything is ok, fire wise. Legos are always cool, and your book looks interesting, full of cool projects.

Thanks Kirk, it's been a very weird few months. We are still burning in lots of places. Have just had a couple of clear days finally where I am, but I think it will be short lived.

GB: I hope you and your family and friends are avoiding those awful fires and i'm sending prayers that hopefully will send you all some rain soon down under.

I know the wildlife might not never recover cause my son in law said something like 480 million critters have died so far besides humans that I heard is up around 50 or so.

take care!!

Thanks Drives, we need some rain. I'm on the coast and we've had nothing more than a few small showers that barely wet the ground. I have 6200 litres of water tank capacity here at home that we use for gardens, toilets etc and they are all empty.

To be honest I have not tuned into any news. I've only followed the website of the Rural Fire Service for updates. But yes I dare say there are going to be many critters wiped out. At the rate of spread of the fires there would be no escape.

Hope you are safe GB. Love that you picked up another hobby. One can never have to many. That is a great Lego set. I bought 2 myself. I love the lumberjack minfig.

Bret

Thanks Bret, I need to get a better photo of the lego, I was trying to get one with my old Nikon DSLR but couldn't get it right after a handful of shots. So much cool lego out these days, my son is reaping those rewards. Even my daughter is into the lego Friends sets and wifie has started getting a couple of the interactive Hidden Side sets.

Happy new year and stay safe GB!

Hoping you guys get the much needed rain and enough to halt the fires.

Happy new year to you and yours as well Guster, yeah it's a very surreal time. Need some of the wet stuff.

Well... I just have to say it... I am amazed he has the time for it !!

GB : I also like timepieces and have quite a few watches. Google Nicholas Hacko , haven't looked too closely at price comparisons but lots of interesting tools to buy locally.

cheers,
Greg

Thanks Greg, I will look into that. I'm touting it as a smaller hobby that won't take up much room. I don't have anything mechanical at this stage only quartz movements. Sort of got into it after replacing batteries in all my old ones. I'd like to get a crystal press.

I've spent more than a good chunk of time on the watch u seek site in recent months working my way around the many threads. So many lovely picture threads to peruse. I'd love to see what you have.

How are you going for with the fires in your part of town ?

Taking time to make time. A worthy thing to learn. Hope you have fun with such a detailed hobby. Very cool.

Thanks RM, something that doesn't take up a bunch of non-existant garage space or get me covered in grime I'd like to get to the point where I can do crystal replacements and general repairs to start with.

Hey mate, I love the preloved Christmas theme, great idea.

if you're in to watches, make sure you check out the mid century moto mecca thread, Gregor has been sharing some of his watch work and like everything he does its mind blowing

Hi Hewey, yep it was a great idea, we also got Wifie a pair of old Italian made taylor scissors for her sewing kit.

Yes I'm a fly on the wall on Gregor's thread, such a talented guy. I sort of was going down the rabbit hole then he posted his watch repair post - learnt a bit from that post.

All, I have 6 days off over the next two weeks now before the kids start their new school year. I worked through so now it's my turn. Not sure how much I'll get done, was hoping for a few days camping but there isn't really anywhere to go in the current environment.

Take care and thanks for dropping by.

GB.

 

[Coolabah]

Rod- thanks for asking- all good , Narooma dodged a predicted bushfire bullet a week ago, unlike a lot of my mates further north

Thanks


Thanks Greg, I will look into that. I'm touting it as a smaller hobby that won't take up much room. I don't have anything mechanical at this stage only quartz movements. Sort of got into it after replacing batteries in all my old ones. I'd like to get a crystal press.

I've spent more than a good chunk of time on the watch u seek site in recent months working my way around the many threads. So many lovely picture threads to peruse. I'd love to see what you have.

How are you going for with the fires in your part of town ?


GB.

 

[Grumblebum]

The steel star pickets on the front fence at my parents place have corroded out at the base (they've lasted around 22 years, so not too bad I guess).

Anyway the upgrade was heavier duty galvanized ones, but we needed a widget to install them.

Dad made use of an old hammer point and welded on a length of SHS (square hollow section). Then we just hammered them in. Only had to use a normal hammer point to loosen up one rocky spot which wasn't bad out of 35 odd pickets I think we did.

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The old ones will get cut off at the base once the mesh is hanging on the new run and they'll have another life staking large trees at my BIL's nursery.

Cheers GB

 

[drivesitfar]

GB: great work replacing that old steel fence and I would have thought the old steel posts would have lasted longer than 20 years. that's some machine to install those posts and i'm guessing even though you only had one that wasn't easy that the ground was/is pretty hard and it would have been a pain doing them by hand.

i've heard that you and your Aussie brothers have had some rain so I hope the air quality has improved and maybe the fires are under control, but I don't watch much world news so just sending prayers and some luck.

cheers

 

[Terrick down Under]

I love the star-picket driver.

 

[xtremek]

Can you ship that driver over here? I have a few fence posts I need to put in.

 

[Grumblebum]

GB: great work replacing that old steel fence and I would have thought the old steel posts would have lasted longer than 20 years. that's some machine to install those posts and i'm guessing even though you only had one that wasn't easy that the ground was/is pretty hard and it would have been a pain doing them by hand.

i've heard that you and your Aussie brothers have had some rain so I hope the air quality has improved and maybe the fires are under control, but I don't watch much world news so just sending prayers and some luck.

Hi Drives, yes the ground is pretty hard, mostly sandstone. We had the hammer on an old small excavator.

Yes we have had some rain over the last week (a couple of inches), I had planned a post on it but then my weather receiver unit lost connection to the sender bit and reset to 0.0 Actually as soon as we had the last picket installed we had a massive thunder storm come over and dumped over 1/2" in about 20 mins.

It was over 44 here today (111F) with strong winds, and there are some emergency warnings active, actually one for down Coolabah's way currently.

More rain forecast over the next couple of days, but I'll believe it when it's actually raining.

I love the star-picket driver.

Hi Terrick, Just had to start them off with the sledge hammer and then line up the shaft over it. Do a front and side eyeball level and give dad the go signal Much much easier.

Can you ship that driver over here? I have a few fence posts I need to put in.

Lol kirk, yep I'll get right on it

Thanks for checking in.

GB

 

[Grumblebum]

Yesterday I received the watch back that I'd sent off to have a new crystal installed, so started re-assembly last night.

I had a good boo boo when I cleaned up the dirt and dust from the dial, made the mistake of using an alcohol based cleaner which proceeded to cause the clear coat that I didn't realize it had to come off. ******. Never figured I would have to look up youtube first to clean a watch dial but I guess I should have

Unless you look right at it you can't really tell, but I've ordered a replacement aftermarket dial anyway. This watch is only a beater, but has been a good practice piece.

A bit disappointed as it's actually a really nice dial.

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The other fun bit was getting the push on rear case back together. I don't have a case press and nothing I tried would work, so ended up with a couple of large sockets in the vise (I did say it is a beater, so don't do this on a *good* piece) and back on it went!

The blue painters tape was just to hold the position of the case back as there is a little notch where it sits over the stem.

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I cleaned up the bracelet and got it all together and wore it today.

Cheers GB

 

[shortykorte]

I like your watch press tools. I assume metric. Lol.
Would the sockets would be a good thing to 3D print?


Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[TwoBytes]

That watch stuff is pretty cool GB, and thanks for the tip to check out Sakurama's thread, I've now wasted many many hours there over the last two weeks!

 

[xtremek]

That is a pretty nice looking watch

 

[Grumblebum]

I like your watch press tools. I assume metric. Lol.
Would the sockets would be a good thing to 3D print?

Shorty, that is a great idea, I'll look into that. Yep metric it was, the imperial was on the other side of the draw lol.

That watch stuff is pretty cool GB, and thanks for the tip to check out Sakurama's thread, I've now wasted many many hours there over the last two weeks!

Lol, TB yeah it's edge of the seat reading at the moment to see if Gregor gets his bike build done in time. I don't think it's wasted time, he's a very clever fella and documents very well.

I got into the watch thing by virtue of looking for a good watch for the kids. They kept asking about fitbits and **** which I wasn't keen on as I don't want them tracking steps and rubbish at that age - they just need to be kids and run around like kids. That led me onto Casio G-Shocks and we all got them for our birthdays this year. I think the G-Shock Mudman G9000 is great for boys as it's water, mud and beat up resistant so my 8 yr old son got one of them. Wifie and daughter got Baby-G's and I picked up a GA800.

All that reading got me into fixing up all the batteries in my old watches and some of the cheap things the kids had acquired. Then you get into NATO watch straps and start collecting tools to do your own repairs (or just use sockets lol). Currently I'm browsing the affordable watch forum on watchuseek (lot's of pictures there) and there is also a good blog at thetimebum.com which is a good read to learn a bit too.

There you go - you are now enabled.

That is a pretty nice looking watch

Thanks XTK, pity I buggered the dial a bit. I was looking for a parts watch on ebay with no luck for that model last night, but ended up with a used impulse buy that jumped out at me.

So yesterday a large dust storm/cloud came over from the west, and this morning the cars looked like this

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Had to hose them off (using recently topped up tank rain water) then a random thunder storm appeared (couldn't see it due to high smoke cloud). So a bit of a weird start to the day, the rain was welcome however.

Thanks for reading. Cheers GB.

 

[TwoBytes]

Lol, TB yeah it's edge of the seat reading at the moment to see if Gregor gets his bike build done in time. I don't think it's wasted time, he's a very clever fella and documents very well.

"Wasted" was definitely a poor choice of words! I'm absolutely loving Gregor's thread.

I'm sure I read a lot of it years ago, but I must have culled it from my subscribed list in one of my "I'm spending way to much time on GJ" moments.

I read some of his watch posts, then decided to go back and read the whole lot from the beginning.

I'm (back) up to page 33 of 175, so I've still got quite a few more hours to "invest" yet.

I got into the watch thing by virtue of looking for a good watch for the kids. They kept asking about fitbits and **** which I wasn't keen on as I don't want them tracking steps and rubbish at that age - they just need to be kids and run around like kids. That led me onto Casio G-Shocks and we all got them for our birthdays this year. I think the G-Shock Mudman G9000 is great for boys as it's water, mud and beat up resistant so my 8 yr old son got one of them. Wifie and daughter got Baby-G's and I picked up a GA800.

All that reading got me into fixing up all the batteries in my old watches and some of the cheap things the kids had acquired. Then you get into NATO watch straps and start collecting tools to do your own repairs (or just use sockets lol). Currently I'm browsing the affordable watch forum on watchuseek (lot's of pictures there) and there is also a good blog at thetimebum.com which is a good read to learn a bit too.

There you go - you are now enabled.

Awesome, thanks, that's just what I need!

I already have quite a few watches. A fairly nice old Seiko (Pepsi diver skx007), multiple Garmin GPS things (a bike computer, an older Forerunner 235 and a newer Fenix 5) for riding and hiking, a couple of Skagens, a Citizen EcoDrive and a TW Steel (Valentino Rossi edition).

The kids have both had a range of cheap watches, to prove that they'll look after them before I get them anything decent. So far the "looking after" bit has been a bit hit and miss!

Acquiring tools to service them seems like a slippery slope.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

One on my all time favorite lines from a song is, "Cool kids never have the time."

I don't wear watches anymore. I've broken or scratched too many to count so I just don't wear one anymore. I actually do like watches, but I know even a $40 watch has a very limited life span on my wrist.

 

[Grumblebum]

"Wasted" was definitely a poor choice of words! I'm absolutely loving Gregor's thread.

I'm sure I read a lot of it years ago, but I must have culled it from my subscribed list in one of my "I'm spending way to much time on GJ" moments.

I read some of his watch posts, then decided to go back and read the whole lot from the beginning.

I'm (back) up to page 33 of 175, so I've still got quite a few more hours to "invest" yet.

Awesome, thanks, that's just what I need!

I already have quite a few watches. A fairly nice old Seiko (Pepsi diver skx007), multiple Garmin GPS things (a bike computer, an older Forerunner 235 and a newer Fenix 5) for riding and hiking, a couple of Skagens, a Citizen EcoDrive and a TW Steel (Valentino Rossi edition).

The kids have both had a range of cheap watches, to prove that they'll look after them before I get them anything decent. So far the "looking after" bit has been a bit hit and miss!

Acquiring tools to service them seems like a slippery slope.

Lol, TB I'm strugging to stay up with what's on my subscribed list as well with the side rabbit holes lately.

Seems you don't need any help from me with enablement

One on my all time favorite lines from a song is, "Cool kids never have the time."

I don't wear watches anymore. I've broken or scratched too many to count so I just don't wear one anymore. I actually do like watches, but I know even a $40 watch has a very limited life span on my wrist.

BMF, Yeah I went a long time as well without a watch, or at most just an old apple watch on occasion. Now I'm changing for day and evening and wear the apple when cycling etc.

All, managed to cut the lawn yesterday afternoon as it had stopped raining long enough to dry out a bit during the day - although it was still very moist.

This is the backyard after about 1.5 weeks since last mown. Amazing what 8+ inches of rain does. Rain started again overnight and is supposed to be consistent over the next week so it won't be long before it needs doing again. Need to sharpen the mower blades too.

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Thanks for stopping by.

GB

 

[xtremek]

Should we send a life jacket?

 

[Grumblebum]

Should we send a life jacket?

It would appear that the additional inches of rain forecast never arrived so I think we are good kirk. Need to mow again in the morning though .

Thanks for stopping by.

GB

 

[drivesitfar]

GB: sounds like all our well wishes to send you and your country some rain worked, but it sure didn't stop raining here. it's the middle of winter here and i've been mowing our lawn in between all the rain cause it's 40's to 50's and everything is growing.

I'm guessing all the fires are out finally?

glad to see you posting again.

cheers

 

[patlun]

i have been reading your thread while commuting (by train) for a couple of weeks. Entertaining and educating. I have put away some of your solutions for future reference.

That picture of the mower reminds me that the mowing season will start in a couple of months, I can wait. On the other hand green grass is more beautiful than this thing called snow.

 

[dlcwent]

Hi Rod, it's been a while. I'm going to try and get caught up on all I missed over my absence. Love the watch press.

 

[Grumblebum]

GB: sounds like all our well wishes to send you and your country some rain worked, but it sure didn't stop raining here. it's the middle of winter here and i've been mowing our lawn in between all the rain cause it's 40's to 50's and everything is growing.

I'm guessing all the fires are out finally?

glad to see you posting again.

cheers

Hi Drives, sorry for the yet again tardy reply. I believe the fires are sorted. Drought-Fires-Rain-Virus. We are all taking a beating currently. Hope you are keeping well, spring time for you now I think ?

i have been reading your thread while commuting (by train) for a couple of weeks. Entertaining and educating. I have put away some of your solutions for future reference.

That picture of the mower reminds me that the mowing season will start in a couple of months, I can wait. On the other hand green grass is more beautiful than this thing called snow.

Thanks Patlun for following along, I've been keeping busy and taking photos but just lacking any more steam to do much posting once we get the kids to bed. No snow for us Autumn time now, which I do enjoy as it's cooler and more conducive to outdoor projects.

Hi Rod, it's been a while. I'm going to try and get caught up on all I missed over my absence. Love the watch press.

Hi Dan, I did see you pop up again. Sorry you have not been well. I have a replacement dial for that watch that I need to install now too if it is the correct size

The last few weeks have been tag teaming office & work-from-home time with wifie. I'm finding home schooling the kids very challenging. Have lots of projects to get on with and some changes at work mean I'll have some more time (maybe a day or two a week) once the kids finally get back to school which I hope is sooner rather than later.

Hope all are taking care, I'll get some updates posted now that I can walk in my garage again (mostly)

Cheers GB

 

[Grumblebum]

A little job today while sitting with the young bloke supervising school work.

I've had these dot-paper notebooks for a while and use them as my garage sketch books. The covers on them just deteriorate and flake bits everywhere so I went old school with the brown paper and new school with clear contact.

Much better :thumbsup:

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GB.

 

[Grumblebum]

Another little job from mid March.

The gas struts on the Camry bonnet had passed their prime and I had been using a broom to hold it open when needed which was a bit dodgy. Found some new ones for about $20 on the bay and they fit perfect!

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GB.

 

[Grumblebum]

Picked up this workshop stool with adjustable height during the week on sale at the autoparts box store. Had my son assemble it and happy days for the more frequent work-from-home scenario that we are in.

I've shuffled a few things around and need to finish off some clean up before pics.

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GB.

 

[shortykorte]

I haven’t seen the grocery bag book covers in forever. They were great for doodling on. Thanks for the tip and memory.


Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal