Craig Sawyers

The small semi-detached house (ie a common wall with a neighbour) that I was born and bred in was bought by my grandfather in 1925. Any modifications my dad did himself. The only bathroom modification was removing the high level cast iron toilet cistern and replacing it with a low level one and new pan in about 1965. The original was working just fine, other than needing a combination flush - one quick pull followed by a slightly longer one. After my Dad died and my Mum came and lived locally to us (300 miles South), the new owners did extensive mods, with extensions to the side and rear. Google Earth shows that it is a pale shadow of what it was. Bigger for sure, but with big excrescences sticking out the sides. But it still has a common wall with a neighbour. When Granddad bought it, the house backed on to a large area of fields, something that was still there when I was born. Then the inevitable happened - the fields were sold to developers, and from about 1960 was filled with houses.

I've had it written into my will that my ashes are to be taken up attached to a meteorological balloon and scattered at the edge of space at more than 100k feet. So if at some time younger people get a speck of dust in your eye, maybe it's me.

We've just had our utility room done with Quick-Step, this shade https://www.quick-step.co.uk/en-gb/vinyl/alpha-vinyl-small-planks/avsp40030_canyon-oak-grey-with-saw-cuts . I've kept the spare boards! I've authorized the same outfit to continue the same shade into the hallway. That is currently in darkish wood, also Quick-Step, which has been down for more than ten years, and has really stood the test of time. The same shade as the utility room will really make it much lighter. But we're having full commercial grade put down in the hall, which in a domestic environment is guaranteed for 25 years. By which time we'll be 90 - and either living in a care home or pushing up daisies.

Yup - that is why I asked the question if it was solid wood or like Quick-Step. I must admit I hadn't realised that was a UK brand name. But they have deep pockets because they sponsor a world class pro cycling team ( https://www.deceuninck-quickstep.com/en ) I'll digress into cycling for a moment. One of that team's riders, Fabio Jakobsen, has won two of the sprint finish stages in this year's Vuelta Espana. What is even more impressive is that in Spring last year he was forced into the barriers by another cyclist in a sprint finish in the Tour of Poland. The barriers collapsed (they are not supposed to do that), and he hit his face on the barrier metalwork at nearly 50mph. The only reason he did not hit the finish gantry, which would have been certain death, is that an official was in the way, who had quite bad injuries having been hit at speed by Jakobsen. They had to reconstruct his face, with bone grafts to repair his upper and lower jaw and palate, and replace ten teeth. Cracked skull. In an induced coma for a long time. But in spite of all that he has come back to sprinting at world class level 18 months later. His face is a bit lop sided is all you can see.

If this is solid wood, and not laminate (ie like QuickStep), I can't think of an alternative to using an industrial belt sander and taking it down to remove the stain entirely. And start all over. Steve - any alternative you can think of?

I think I know who that was. And it is not someone on this list or associated with it. I mentioned the 2sk208-GR to him by email, and he told me he had previously bought 3,000 of them, before I even mailed him. By the way, TI have just introduced a low-noise n-channel JFET, the JFE150 (0.8nV/root Hz, and 1/f corner at 10Hz) https://www.ti.com/product/JFE150 . Apparently this is just the first in a series they are planning, with n-channel monolithic duals (apparently imminent), and possible p-channel versions. They are quite serious about the audio market, with a superb and growing portfolio of audio op-amps. Unlike On-Semi; don't start me on that soap box....

That is good news! Our ancient 18 year old has got to the stage that she is losing teeth - a bit like ancient humans. That sort of thing seems to completely un-faze animals. They have a bewildering ability to just get on with life.

Taken from https://aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf

RIP the ridiculously funny Sean Lock, a British comedian, aged a very young 58 from cancer. This is "carrot in a box"

FWIW I use these https://www.te.com/commerce/DocumentDelivery/DDEController?Action=showdoc&DocId=Data+Sheet1-1773878-3_Alcoswitch_AntiVandal0517pdfEnglishENG_DS_1-1773878-3_Alcoswitch_AntiVandal_0517.pdf2213775-3 The style I use is at the top of the second page.

The Nobel prizewinner, the late and very great physicist Richard P Feynman, used to go to the local strip club with topless waitresses, drink orange juice and do theoretical physics on scraps of paper. He'd then just pile beermats and scraps of paper with maths on them in his cupboard. After he died there was a major effort to curate everything and try to piece together what on earth Feynman was working on at the strip club.

I use one of these https://baratza.com/grinder/vario/ Actually mine is a Mahlkoenig, but it seems they have discontinued it. https://www.mahlkoenig.de/products/vario-home . The 54mm ceramic burrs last for an eternity. Hundreds of coarse and fine settings. I set the fine about half way, and the coarse at 4 for Aeropress and 7 for French press when using Hoffman. An old friend used his on the very fine setting for use in his espresso machine. Every now and then I take the burrs out, and wash them to get rid of old coffee deposits, then brush out the housing with a small brush. Put the burrs back in - job done. Maybe once every 3 months if I remember to do it. Typical US supplier https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/baratza-vario-burr-grinder-with-metal-portaholder which seems to be in your price range - just!

I use illuminated latching anti-vandal switches on all my gear. The interesting thing is that although the LED connections have a + and a - moulded in, the LED is bidirectional, and illuminates equally whichever way it is connected. At least with the ones I use. Blue LED of course. I also set the current on all front panel LEDs to be very low, so they don't intrude when listening in the dark.

My shop at the moment is 18.5C (65F) and 67% humidity on the meter I leave in there. But it is only 8:20 am here. I used to have a dehumidifier, and the bucket used to fill up daily - but it had no real effect one way or the other on the not-really-a-problem rust. Since it was just cluttering up my already small shop, I just got rid of it. It is so compact that in order to put long planks through the bandsaw, I have to open the garage door, and put height-adjustable roller supports outside. Needs must and all that.

Ah - OK. I've only ever changed planes at O'Hare, and haven't poked my head outside. Sounds like I missed an experience! Yeah - sounds like you need aircon in there. A dehumidifier is usually a waste of time unless it is industrial grade.

My shop is in the garage, with very poor sealing around the up and over door (and hence a battle with spiders!). But curiously, even given that the UK is permanently wet, I have no problems with rust. But I am rather paranoid about wiping tools (hand and machine) with either rust preventative or Camellia Oil.

Absolutely zero Steve. I made the mistake of watching a US guy on a remote channel maybe 10 years or more ago, and it started with "First set up your spindle moulder...". Yeah, like we've all got one of those in our home shop. The main inspiration is DVD's and You Tube channels of David Charlesworth https://www.davidcharlesworth.co.uk/ and Rob Cosman - mainly users of hand tools, and usually sponsored by Lie Nielsen etc. And of course the books of Krenov, the Zen master of fine furniture making. I used to be a real follower of David Savage, who alas went to cancer https://finefurnituremaker.com/news-blog/david-binnington-savage-1949-2019/ , and learnt to hammer veneer in hide glue and French polish by practicing his super instructional DVDs. They seem to have stopped selling their entire range of DVDs alas.

You are a cycling animal, Nate! There is no way I could live at those power levels.

Battery Park Beach, 1977. Totally surreal.

It isn't just our guy either. There have been three other athletes have failed performance drugs tests at the Tokyo Olympics. And there is discussion underway to remove weightlifting entirely for Paris because of years of systemic performance drug use. And it goes right back. There was a short period when Chinese distance runners were cleaning up and setting unheard of records. The coach put it down to herbal tea. Yeah. And then they all retired in their mid 20's. And even further back, there was a Czech woman runner called Kratochvilova https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarmila_Kratochvílová who I swear looked like a bloke. God knows what she was given by her coach, but her 800 metre record has stood since 1983 - the best women runners in the world have not got within a second of her time in the intervening 38 years. The other drug fuelled (allegedly) woman at the same time from East Germany was Marita Koch, who's 400m world record still stands. So in a real sense it has ever been thus. As soon as a drug can be tested for, new wonder dope comes along which cannot be found. All that is before we even think of drug fueled cycling. And it wasn't just Lance Armstrong - they were all at it. And in the early days of the Tour de France they used to take puffs of ether to numb the pain, and strychnine - or anything going to help on 400km stages on dirt roads. Chloroform was also used, and horse dope. Then they got onto Amphetamines. The British rider Tom Simpson died on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour though amphetamines and dehydration. His last words were "Put me back on my bike".

Finished coat rack, with wall fixings hidden underneath the outside hangers

The first runner in our silver medal GB 4x100m sprint team, Ujah, has tested positive for two banned performance enhancement substances. The whole team loses their silver medals, and forfeits any other benefits such as appearance money. That will be a lifetime ban for the fucker - and that is absolutely right. The question I want to be asked, is what did GB sport, and the British Olympic Association fail to do? Surely they test athletes on a regular basis as part of the selection process? I am so fucking angry. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/58205602

We're kind of lucky in that regard. The smart systems at Barclaycard Visa spot potentially fraudulent activity within seconds, and either phone or text you to confirm a number of transactions. I gave one Visa lady pause for thought when she called to verify transactions. There is a company that sells high end navigation gear called Shaven Raspberry https://shavenraspberry.com/ . Of course with a name like that it could be anything, and the Visa lady clearly thought the worst "and a transaction for X from, er, Shaven, er, er" "Raspberry" I said. The relief when she got onto asking the next transaction was obvious!

The Veritas (and Lie Nielsen) shooting planes are superb bits of kit - but not cheap for sure! But no half way decent manual hand tool (or machine tool) is cheap. Lie Nielsen's production has ground to a virtual standstill though as a result of Covid. They have started some manufacture again, but have left off manufacturing their lower sales volume products - like the scraping planes and shooting plane. In my early days of woodworking I made the mistake of buying Record planes - and the soles were like bananas. I tried in vain to flatten them, hours of work - and then they would move again! At least Clifton, Veritas and Lie Nielsen planes are already flat to high tolerance and stay flat. The other great planes are the Chinese Quangsheng. Their hand planes are all bedrock design. I have some of their block planes, basically identical knock off of Lie Nielsen ones but half the price - but they are also great. Thick A2 or equivalent Chinese grade blades that hold a superb edge. I'm looking forward to a shooting plane from them!

Forgot to mention - one of the key things to getting shavings that thin are (1) An excellent plane - I use Clifton hand planes, patterned on the old bedrock design where you can change the mouth without removing the blade. And (2) An excellent blade. I use Ron Hock blades and chip breakers. These take a razor edge, and keep it for much longer than a regular plane blade. I can't remember whether I chose high carbon or A2. Given how long they hold an edge I think they are A2. https://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/acatalog/HAND-PLANES.html http://www.hocktools.com/products/bp.html although I see that, like so many things now, quite a few are out of stock.