My neighbour owns a Mitsubishi Starion which he's doing up as a drift car. Part of this work involves stripping the interior of useless things like sound-proofing and passenger seats, and he was going to take this to the tip. He let me have it for nothing, since it was useless to him and also covered in primer overspray from when he'd been doing some bodywork. I cleaned up as much of the paint off the leather as I could and gave it a thorough oiling as it was quite dry. It sat in my garage for a while.
This picture was taken before I started cleaning. You can see that the leather is quite discoloured.
A couple of months later, the company that rents the office next to my employer's office moved out and chucked everything they didn't want in a huge skip/container in the car park. I spent a few lunchbreaks climbing around in there taking things that looked useful/interesting - including two office chairs with bases which looked like they might be suitable for my hybrid chair project. The bases came home and I found that the mounting holes didn't line up at all with the mounting holes on the car seat. So they sat in the garage for a few more months.
My wife had mentioned the project to her friend Andy, who's a bit of a tinkerer. He offered to take the car seat and see if he could clean the rest of the paint off the leather. I loaded the seat into Hayley's car one night before she headed off to work. She snuck down in the morning and put one of the office seat bases in the car and got Andy to make up a subframe to allow the two to be fixed together.
On the day before my birthday, she came home from work and called me out to the car to help her lift out the cleaned car seat. When I opened the boot I saw a completed chair! All the controls still work - the gas lift works (though needs encouragement to go back up due to the heavy seat), both the base and the seat have their own recline mechanisms, the headrest and the bolsters are adjustable.
The seat still looks a bit green here. Over time it has gone back to black.
Big thanks to Andy for welding the subframe! Awesome birthday present!!
This picture was taken before I started cleaning. You can see that the leather is quite discoloured.
A couple of months later, the company that rents the office next to my employer's office moved out and chucked everything they didn't want in a huge skip/container in the car park. I spent a few lunchbreaks climbing around in there taking things that looked useful/interesting - including two office chairs with bases which looked like they might be suitable for my hybrid chair project. The bases came home and I found that the mounting holes didn't line up at all with the mounting holes on the car seat. So they sat in the garage for a few more months.
My wife had mentioned the project to her friend Andy, who's a bit of a tinkerer. He offered to take the car seat and see if he could clean the rest of the paint off the leather. I loaded the seat into Hayley's car one night before she headed off to work. She snuck down in the morning and put one of the office seat bases in the car and got Andy to make up a subframe to allow the two to be fixed together.
On the day before my birthday, she came home from work and called me out to the car to help her lift out the cleaned car seat. When I opened the boot I saw a completed chair! All the controls still work - the gas lift works (though needs encouragement to go back up due to the heavy seat), both the base and the seat have their own recline mechanisms, the headrest and the bolsters are adjustable.
The seat still looks a bit green here. Over time it has gone back to black.
Big thanks to Andy for welding the subframe! Awesome birthday present!!
I acquired a faulty TFT monitor from the place where I work. The screen itself worked fine, but the backlight wouldn't stay on for more than a couple of seconds. I figured it would be a dodgy capacitor and got straight into the job, taking the back off and having a good look around.
Visually, it was fine; no leaking or bulging caps or anything. So I fired it up to see if I could spot any problems. No, still nothing. Maybe it's overheating? I know, I'll touch the heatsinks and see how warm they are!
Bad idea.
After I had recovered, I measured 160V to ground on one of the heatsinks. Ouch. So my tip here is don't assume, like I did, that heatsinks will always have zero voltage on them.
Having read other peoples' experiences with similar monitor faults, it seems that they're almost always caused by a bad cap. The best thing to do is replace all the caps regardless of what they look like. I ended up giving this to someone else, who also couldn't get it working. Oh well.
Every time I have to leave something in our meter cupboard for a Freecycler, or when the postman leaves a package in there, it annoys me that there's no flat surface to rest stuff on. Using some scrap 5mm plywood and a random length of wood I found in the shed, I now have a nice little shelf.
OK, the batons are a bit wonky but look at those nice round corners! I even glued a strip of waste ply to the front edge so there's a lip to stop stuff slipping off.
OK, the batons are a bit wonky but look at those nice round corners! I even glued a strip of waste ply to the front edge so there's a lip to stop stuff slipping off.
Yes, we have an artwork overflow problem!
A nice easy one here. We bought a spice carousel several years ago and always kept it on the worktop. Being on the worktop, it got a lot of light, especially in the summer when the sun would shine directly on it in the late afternoon. This led to our herbs and spices getting manky. Obvious solution: put it somewhere dark, like in a cupboard. Problem: it doesn't fit. Yet.
The shelves in our cupboards are adjustable, but the pre-drilled holes for the shelf supports are spaced quite far apart. I emptied the cupboard, and took the opportunity to give it a good clean. Then I measured up and marked and drilled new holes to allow just enough height for the carousel. Put it all back together and voilà.
The battery in my wife's 2004 Mazda 6 died and had to be replaced. As a result, the radio insisted that we enter the security code before it could be used again. Problem: we didn't have the code. After a few guesses (0000, 1234, etc) it locked us out. I visited the dealership and was told that they would have to hook up some dedicated equipment and call Mazda to get it re-activated, and that it would cost about £50. This sounded like bullshit to me, so I went away and spent a while searching the various Mazda forums. Eventually I found this thread over at Mazdaforum.com. In case the forum post disappears, here are the steps with a couple of additional steps from forum member Steve G6:
1) After you see ERR on the screen, turn the ignition off and back to ACC
2) Press each of these buttons one at a time: preset 6, AM, Auto M, Seek ^ (up).
3) Input this number: 4989.
4) Press and hold Auto M and Preset 6 together.
5) The word 'GOOD' will appear on the screen indicated that the radio will work.
6) Turn the ignition off and then back to ACC
7) Reprogram new antitheft code into radio as per instruction manual.
Easy when you know how!
1) After you see ERR on the screen, turn the ignition off and back to ACC
2) Press each of these buttons one at a time: preset 6, AM, Auto M, Seek ^ (up).
3) Input this number: 4989.
4) Press and hold Auto M and Preset 6 together.
5) The word 'GOOD' will appear on the screen indicated that the radio will work.
6) Turn the ignition off and then back to ACC
7) Reprogram new antitheft code into radio as per instruction manual.
Easy when you know how!
This is a faulty MI-7 electro-mechanical timer from a Dualit 20245 toaster that my mother in law was going to throw away. The timer kept sticking, so the heating elements wouldn't turn off. If you weren't there to keep a close eye on it, your toast would be burnt to a crisp!
I had a look online and found that a replacement timer from Dualit was approx £50, whereas I could get the same part on eBay for £15. Since a new 20245 toaster costs about £120, it's definitely worth repairing!
Doing the actual replacement was fairly straightforward. Turn the unit upside down and unscrew the feet and any other screws in order to remove the bottom panel.
Make a note of which wire goes to which terminal on the back of the timer. Remove the connectors from the four terminals.
Pull off the timer knob to access the screws holding the timer onto the case. Undo the screws. Take it out.
Reassembly is the reverse of removal, but make sure you get the wires right.
It turned out that the replacement timer I bought had a slightly different design and the pins were labelled differently. I emailed Dualit customer support and they sent me PDF documents for both models of timer. Here they are:
dualit_mi-7.pdf
dualit_mi-2.pdf
I matched up the wires and got it all put back together. The other difference I found was that I needed to use machine screws instead of the original self-tappers, since the screw holes on the new timer are in metal instead of plastic.
I cleaned it up and sold it about eighteen months ago. As far as I know, it's still toasting.
This is a parabolic reflector designed to enhance the directionality of a wi-fi router or access point antenna, and to increase the signal strength in that particular direction. It's cheap and easy to make, and involves cutting and glueing, which is always fun.
My router is in the corner of my house, and there's no point illuminating my street with my wi-fi signal since I'm not using it out there. This reflector will bounce all of that signal back into my house and increase the reception. The link (below) where I got the template says it will increase gain by about 9dBi, which is pretty decent. I never got round to doing a before/after measurement, but there was a noticeable improvement. In rooms on the far side of the house where signal had been patchy before, it is now much more reliable.
The antenna on the right with the reflector is set to cover the ground floor. The antenna on the left is aimed at the area where my wife uses her laptop in the bedroom upstairs. There isn't enough space for a reflector there, but the signal is good enough without.
Here is the link where you can download the template and make your own.
My router is in the corner of my house, and there's no point illuminating my street with my wi-fi signal since I'm not using it out there. This reflector will bounce all of that signal back into my house and increase the reception. The link (below) where I got the template says it will increase gain by about 9dBi, which is pretty decent. I never got round to doing a before/after measurement, but there was a noticeable improvement. In rooms on the far side of the house where signal had been patchy before, it is now much more reliable.
The antenna on the right with the reflector is set to cover the ground floor. The antenna on the left is aimed at the area where my wife uses her laptop in the bedroom upstairs. There isn't enough space for a reflector there, but the signal is good enough without.
Here is the link where you can download the template and make your own.
The pull-starter on my lawn mower is attached to the engine cover, the engine cover is bolted directly to the aluminium engine block in various places. When you pull the cord to start the engine, the engine cover pulls upwards on two bolts at the front. One of the bolts was missing already, and the other mounting point eventually snapped off, making the whole thing quite wobbly and very hard to start. With my wife in the background telling me to just buy a new mower, I broke out the socket set and got to work.
Four bolts around the starter mechanism and it just lifts off. This reveals the top of the crankshaft which has the blade attached to the other end and spins clockwise when the engine is running:
This is the pull cord assembly:
When there's tension on the cord, a little tooth pops out:
This tooth engages with the protrusions at the top of the crank:
Because there are now no bolts holding the front of the cover down, the whole thing lifts up when you pull the cord and the tooth fails to engage with the top of the crank. Here's where the mouting point broke off from the engine block:
I had read that Araldite (two-part cyanoacrylate epoxy adhesive, if you don't know the brand name) can be used to bodge broken aluminium engine blocks, so I used it to stick this piece back on, and found a replacement for the other missing bolt. It seems to be holding fast, and the mower is much easier to start.
Side note - if you ever break part of an aluminium engine block, take a moment to admire the crystalline structure.
Four bolts around the starter mechanism and it just lifts off. This reveals the top of the crankshaft which has the blade attached to the other end and spins clockwise when the engine is running:
This is the pull cord assembly:
When there's tension on the cord, a little tooth pops out:
This tooth engages with the protrusions at the top of the crank:
Because there are now no bolts holding the front of the cover down, the whole thing lifts up when you pull the cord and the tooth fails to engage with the top of the crank. Here's where the mouting point broke off from the engine block:
I had read that Araldite (two-part cyanoacrylate epoxy adhesive, if you don't know the brand name) can be used to bodge broken aluminium engine blocks, so I used it to stick this piece back on, and found a replacement for the other missing bolt. It seems to be holding fast, and the mower is much easier to start.
Side note - if you ever break part of an aluminium engine block, take a moment to admire the crystalline structure.
One of our neighbours moved to a new house, and needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff. She didn't have a car so asked me if I could help take some of it down to the tip. I suggested that I stick it all in my garage and try to find homes for the various things first. That's how I ended up with a coffee table, cupboard, suitcase, two venetian blinds, two DVD players, surround sound speaker system, freeview TV tuner, folding highchair, baby play mat, plastic baby bath, metal candelabra, two large metal candlesticks, two IKEA Storm lamps, and a pair of dissassembled under-bed storage drawers. My wife sighed when she saw what I'd taken on, bless her.
Everything found new homes via Freecycle except for the cupboard - which is still in my garage, holding some of my other stuff - and the drawers - which I thought might be useful.
We had acquired a sideboard for our kitchen via Freecycle a while before, and I decided to modify one of the drawers to go under the sideboard. It had to be made narrower and shallower to fit, so I measured, marked and cut the side and front/back boards. The base is made up of small sheets of hardboard, which also had to be cut down.
There are some holes drilled in the base of the front/back panels where I guess some rods would go to support the base of the drawer. There wasn't any suitable dowel to hand but I did have some scraps of wood which I used to make some braces. They're not pretty, but they do the job (and they're invisible when the drawer is right way up).
The cut edges of the boards were much paler than the faces, so I used some wood stain to try to mask it. The colour's not quite right, but it's much less obvious than it was.
Some of the original casters were damaged but between the two drawer "kits" I was able to put together a set of four casters.
So there you go, the finished article:
Everything found new homes via Freecycle except for the cupboard - which is still in my garage, holding some of my other stuff - and the drawers - which I thought might be useful.
We had acquired a sideboard for our kitchen via Freecycle a while before, and I decided to modify one of the drawers to go under the sideboard. It had to be made narrower and shallower to fit, so I measured, marked and cut the side and front/back boards. The base is made up of small sheets of hardboard, which also had to be cut down.
There are some holes drilled in the base of the front/back panels where I guess some rods would go to support the base of the drawer. There wasn't any suitable dowel to hand but I did have some scraps of wood which I used to make some braces. They're not pretty, but they do the job (and they're invisible when the drawer is right way up).
The cut edges of the boards were much paler than the faces, so I used some wood stain to try to mask it. The colour's not quite right, but it's much less obvious than it was.
Some of the original casters were damaged but between the two drawer "kits" I was able to put together a set of four casters.
So there you go, the finished article:
When we moved into our house, the cupboard under the sink in the kitchen didn't have a shelf inside. We decided to keep our cleaning equipment and supplies in there and, after a while, we accumulated so much stuff that it started to overflow into other cupboards. Around this time, the supermarket near where I worked was being refurbished and they were throwing out a load of stuff, including most of a kitchen. I grabbed a few pieces of useful-looking wood and brought them home. One of them was a cupboard shelf that was exactly the right size for our cupboard.
Being under the sink, there are pipes and things in the way. My friend Rich kindly lent me his jigsaw so I could do some fancy cutting. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures before or during the process, so you'll have to make do with the "after" shots:
The trickiest part was taking the cupboard apart so that I could put the shelf in. I had to remove the strut in the middle, which had screws at the bottom:
and at the top:
I then had to remove the board in front of the sink, and the drawer (though luckily not the drawer runners). It fit first time (a rarity for me) and the extra space was quickly filled up:
Being under the sink, there are pipes and things in the way. My friend Rich kindly lent me his jigsaw so I could do some fancy cutting. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures before or during the process, so you'll have to make do with the "after" shots:
The trickiest part was taking the cupboard apart so that I could put the shelf in. I had to remove the strut in the middle, which had screws at the bottom:
and at the top:
I then had to remove the board in front of the sink, and the drawer (though luckily not the drawer runners). It fit first time (a rarity for me) and the extra space was quickly filled up:
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