Thread: What did you learn today?

Could've been worse, a neighbours cat gets in and leave a deposit in the wood shavings..
Kryn

Shock horror that your missus gets into the shed and takes your best chisel to use as a screw driver.

Bad enough that she got into the shed. That will teach you for leaving the shed keys in your overall's pocket while you are down the pub.

Ken

In my other life I had a couple of collectable cars and a couple of Rotties. Where ever I went in the yard or shed so did the dogs. One of them had a particular habit. If I was working on one of the cars and had taken a wheel off, the dog would pinch a couple of wheel nuts if I forgot and left them on the floor. Its no problem for a 60kg Rottie to completely hide 2 or 3 wheel nuts in his mouth. Then he'd sneak out and drop them in the yard somewhere.
That was the only thing of value he would touch. Rags were fair game though.
I miss those boys.
bollie7

Went to the sawmilling yard today to try out the modified band saw mill bearings but one of the bearing spacers turned out to be a 1mm too long so the blade rubs the back rim of that roller. That meant a trip home to bung the spacer on the lathe. By then it was 2pm so I decided it stay home and do a few things around the shed.

One thing I have been meaning to do for ages is take my inorganic chemicals out of the wooden cupboard they are in and put them in a metal cupboard. The main problem is oxidising agents like nitric and sulphuric acids can start a fire if the containers leak onto wood. At the mens shed they recently had a clean out and I scored a Metalux 2 door steel cabinet. Yes it will eventually rust but at least it won't catch fire.

First I had to clean up the area around SWMBO workbench so I could get at the cupboard. Fortunately I had enough room where I could drag the original cupboard out of the way - insert Metalux cupboard into the old space and transfer old cupboard content direct to new cupboard.

I had just finished transferring most of the stuff when one of the 3 shelves - the one containing the acids collapsed. Most stuff (HCl, H₃PO₄, Acetic, Citric, Tannic, Oxalic, etc) is in plastic containers which is fine but the Nitric and a couple of others are in Glass. I watched in horror as they tumbled out of the shelves and got ready to RUN.

Fortunately the glass containers seemed to land on the plastic ones and nothing broke. I then looked at he metal clips holding in the shelves and realised that those on the collapsed shelf were not sitting correctly in their little slots.

All good now.

I few years back I had a near new 3/8 drive Repco brand socket set... One day one of the extensions went missing... Could not be found anywhere..

Some time later I was cleaning out the coolant sump on the lathe, and found the extension..... It got posted through one of the lifting holes by someone with little fingers that belonged to my brother..

Originally Posted by BobL

....

I had just finished transferring most of the stuff when one of the 3 shelves - the one containing the acids collapsed. Most stuff (HCl, H₃PO₄, Acetic, Citric, Tannic, Oxalic, etc) is in plastic containers which is fine but the Nitric and a couple of others are in Glass. I watched in horror as they tumbled out of the shelves and got ready to RUN.

Fortunately the glass containers seemed to land on the plastic ones and nothing broke. I then looked at he metal clips holding in the shelves and realised that those on the collapsed shelf were not sitting correctly in their little slots.

All good now.

That is a collection .. especially the Nitric ..

Remember nitric when a year 10 or was it 11 student thought a few drops in a pencil case would be fun. Teacher and lab staff went ballistic and noone in that class would ever be in any doubt about the potential destructive nature of Nitric Acid .. or the risk of playing with the stuff.

Glad all stayed sealed. Thanks for the warning about shelves.

I needed a 36mm long piece of 100mm diam bar to turn up a custom pulley.
I was going to use a piece of rusty/pitted bar that I had laying around the back of the shed but I happened to drive close by a Bohler Uddeholm dealer this morning so I popped in and picked up a lovely clean 250 mm long piece for $50.
It's been a years since I turned a nice clean piece of BMS and I'd forgotten how nice it is to turn.
No more steel for me - life's too short.

Is there meant to be an F there Bob? $200 a meter for BMS seems a lot, but you are in mining country. And if it did the job its all good.

Stuart

Bohler's Steel Store has cranked up the minimum cash sale to 50 bucks. Bob may have been able to obtain more bar than he did. I have learned that you need to ask how much steel can you get for the 50.

Bob.

Originally Posted by Stustoys

Is there meant to be an F there Bob? $200 a meter for BMS seems a lot, but you are in mining country. And if it did the job its all good.

Stuart

But then it was 100mm diameter and there was probably a cutting fee as well.. Compared to prices we pay here I thought it pretty reasonable... I wonder how it compares to Melbourne or Sydney prices..

Originally Posted by .RC.

But then it was 100mm diameter and there was probably a cutting fee as well.. Compared to prices we pay here I thought it pretty reasonable... I wonder how it compares to Melbourne or Sydney prices..

I'm blaming my tablet. Sorry gents, some how got it in my head it was 36 dia. $200 a meter for 100mm is much more like it. I even had my glasses on!
The price distracted me from what I was really asking which was if was free machining steel as much of the BMS I have used wasn't great machining wise(but then it didn't come from bohler and I don't really know what it is, other that 'BMS'. Maybe I need to shop at bohler more often but I was just getting into it and they close their local branch.

Stuart

Originally Posted by Stustoys

I'm blaming my tablet.

Stuart

Drugs are bad Stuart...

Originally Posted by .RC.

Drugs are bad Stuart...

not always...some off us need them to stay alive

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Bohler's Steel Store has cranked up the minimum cash sale to 50 bucks. Bob may have been able to obtain more bar than he did. I have learned that you need to ask how much steel can you get for the 50.

Bob.

Err - - - - - I did that.

Yes its free machining (well the salesman called it "machining mild steel")- sorry I should have said that

I do still get the feeling it's mining prices around here even though the boom has well and truly gorn.

I visited H&F recently just after their sale the salesmen serving me told me the sale figures for WA was a big fizzer so I told him you'll have to drop the prices a bit more and he looked at me like I was an idiot.

Last year I paid $75/m for 75mm diam crappy black bar at a regular steel merchant.