There’s some stuff I’ve done recently that I had the foresight to photograph but never got around to posting.

Here a quick taster of a couple-

Making a Giant enter Key for the Launch of the Chesterfield Post.

 His Worship The Mayor Cllr Keith Morgan, Toby Perkins MP and Karen Johnson, Editor-In-Chief of the Chesterfield Post, press the ‘Enter’ button to officially launch the website

(The Chesterfield Post is an on-line “local newspaper” . It’s a great source for local news and fantastic place for local business in the Chesterfield area to advertise. Take a look at The Chesterfield Post.)

It’s been a while since I made models out of foam. This job took me back to my old polytechnic days as an industrial designer 25ish years ago.

From a block of insulation foam to a key for the local MP and Mayor to push. Ask me about this, leave me a comment and I get around to adding the detail sooner rather than latter.

Giant Enter Key for launch of the chesterfield post

Fixing Our Ideal Isar Boiler.

What a pile of poorley designed near junk this boiler has turned out to be. Virtually every component that could be cost reduced below a reasonable working standard has been.

Apart from regular flame failures it does a least work now with out any leaks.

I though this was worth recording as it involve a bit a redesign and modification that saved me fair bit of money.

The Manifold Block modifed with a copper tube by passing the degraded plastic

The plastic manifold that attaches to the hot water heat exchanger had degraded and cracked. This simple solution puts a copper pipe straight through the manifold right upto the seal on heat exchanger. Result. But the flame failure problem is starting to get anoying especially at shower time so its still on the list.

UPDATE – The control board has gone again. So time to bite the bullet and get a new boiler. I’ve managed to keep it running  for a good few years at minimal cost but now I’ve given up. It’s not worth the time, money and hassle anymore.

This is dragging on to the point of embarrassment. I really have to pull my finger out, one last push and the job will be done.

At the moment the living room is full of sashes and frames, painted ready for final fitting. I just always seem to find a excuse to be doing something else. So maybe tonight I’ll crack on?

Taking up the front room, 5 sliding sash windows

Actually getting the windows in will be a fantastic achievement the culmination of many years research, designing and a good many hours building. I need to keep my eyes on the prize and actually finish the job.

Then there will be nothing holding me back from finishing the plans I’ve been promising for so long. I have been doing a bit and have broken the back of the illustrations. I’ve got loads of photos of all the various stages, processes and details. I’ve even planned out the various chapters and contents. It all needs pulling together and writing. IT WILL HAPPEN!

It’s getting close to being ready for the MSVA . This has been occupying my evenings for some time know. Ever since I finished the woodworking on the widows, maybe to the detriment of everything on the to do list. However it’s been keeping me sane and is my relaxation of an evening so I can’t knock it.

And besides I will win that £20 bet.

I will be covering the design and build of this cx500 motorcycle trike, not in great detail but hopefully answering a lot of questions I’ve had to grapple with along the way. Frame, tube bending, suspension, making mud guards, modify seat bases, re wiring, exhaust baffles, MSVA requirements etc.

For now a picture or two will have to do.

Trike with all the main components made ready (almost) for the first trials

Trike with suspension, rear view

We’ve said all along that we need a plan for what we are going to do in the woods. We have rough ideas but need to firm them out and work out how different aspect will interact.

I have lots of ideas about the forestry and silvaculture aspects, timber sales will come in to this eventually so I need a long term management plan. This has to take into account what will happen to habitats and other plant species. So a good starting point will be know what we have in there.

So far I’ve drawn up a map, what I intend is for this to be marked up, in multiple layers with every thing we have in there. Ranging from the trees, bushes, shrubs, ground cover, plants, mosses, lichens and fungie, topography, ground conditions, mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.

First part of surveying. Showing the group of pine at the top left

It’s quite a project but I have started, so far I’ve measured and counted and plotted the scotts pine. Next on the list is larch and I must admit it’s quite a daunting prospect. It needs to be done though as I know the most of larches have served their nursary purpose. Now they need extracting so the hardwoods have got more space to thicken up.

To speed the process up, I could do with more bodies and brains on the job. So can I get the kids interested in helping out. Rather than just casual observing, is some methodical recording going to be possible?

The woodland is long term thing it will be fascinating to see how things change over time. This starting survey will eventually become a grand  historical reference. I’m hoping our children and grandchildren will view it this way, that’s what I mean by long term.

I’ll go into the construction of this in more detail on the web site so here I’ll just mention a few of my thoughts about it.

 First why a gate?

Well we want to indicate that the woods are private. It’ll not stop people getting in but hopefully they might think twice before coming in and disturbing anything. We are thinking carefully about the wildlife and habitats, and hope any visitors invited or univited will do the same.

 We also have a responsibility for maintaining a stockproof fence along that boundary. The current owner of the adjoining field however doesn’t have current plans for keeping stock in there so I feel I can take my time over resurrecting the fence.

Green woodworking gate from bridge to field

 Why Green Woodworking?

Green Woodworking is all about using timber fresh from the tree, unseasoned. I’ve reading about it as a child and been fasinated by what can made using simple hand tools ever since. Building the gate has been my first real forray into building up these skills.

Being self taught and experimenting I can’t claim that the gate is perfectly traditional. I know that using cleft timber is more common, however I’ve not got a froe yet. So that particular skill will to wait, it’s on the list.   

Green Woodworking 5 Bar Gate

 So it’s might not be totally traditional but my goal was to make a gate in the woods from the woods, stick to principle of not bringing to the wood anything that isn’t necessary. The gate itself has no screws, bolts or nails holding it together, just four pegged mortice and tenon joints.

pegged mortice and tenon joint in Green woodworking gate

 It’s now ready for hanging and I will cheat at this point as I’ve not figured out how to make wooden hinges. I might also leave it a bit to dry out, at the moment it is very heavy and might put a bit too much stress on the gate posts.

Rustic bridge timber construction to the woodland

The tape measure says it will, but the dog leg require will be an interesting manouver.

It’s certainly a rustic construction. Rough but hopefully extremely practical. It’s made from either dead or leaning larch cut down for safety reasons. The boards are logs sawn in half.

It’s been a good learning exercise. Felling, using the chain saw, sharpening the chainsaw, notching with axes, moving heavy timbers through the woods. So there’s some to write about!

After completing the actual timber part it needed ramps at either end. For this I gathered some stone from around the woods. I didn’t want to pinch stone from any of the dry stone walls as a some point I want try some rebuilding. So I searched around and found a couple outcrops sticking out the escarpment. I gathered what I needed from the loose stones that had fallen away. Next time I need any, I might have to start quarrying and I have a notion I might not be the first. I think a wheel borrow might also be a good idea.

With the stones I built a small wall so the timber away from the earth and can ventilate any damp. The main trusses are also on pad stones to avoid any premature rotting.

The ramps are built up with clay dug from the bottom of the ditch next to the bridge. Digging down we came across the water table that has since dropped but hopefully the pit will provide another habitat of standing water over the winter and early spring.

It also provided a popular habitat for some extremely mucky children. They had a great time digging and modeling with the clay.

 Well I have been neglecting my blogging and updates to the idostuff website for a long time. It’s not that I haven’t been doing stuff, quite the contrary. I’ve been doing loads and always had plenty of excuses not to write anything up.

Excuses are always close at hand, excuses are easy, excuses are what we use as justification for not doing what we know we should. I could write down all the excuses and then go through them one at a time, arguing with myself. I’m sure if I did with a rational, detached head I could mark them all down as being LAME. There can only be one real reason, I HAVE NOT SET MY MIND TO THE TASK.

I have recognised the trap I had fallen in to. So here’s me decapitated, being rational for a change and making a start a start. It’s nice day and I’ve sat out side with the lap top, out of my office for a change of environment. I’m away from my diary with the it’s lists of things I could be filling my time with. This is going to be cathartic, my mind is on the task

There’s plenty for me to write up, I might be a bit sketchy for know and fill in the detail if I think it needs it. What can I cover?

• In the woods – Bridge building, Green woodworking making a gate, Surveying, Formulating a plan.
• Windows – Yes there is progress, How are the plans are coming along?
• Trike – My escape to the Garage, Overview. 
• Little jobs – I bet someone will be interested in how to make an oversized enter key! Or how to fix a troublesome combi boiler! Or or or or
• The front door – with it’s stained glass
• How the Idostuff site is doing

That should keep me going for while, even if I am resisting the temptation to add all the detail.

The main Article is the iDoStuff site  – Cutting Weight Pockets for Sliding Sash Windows, Double Hung Windows. So have a gander over there .

I’m really interested to hear what you think about Sash pocket cutting with a chisel?

or – How do you go about it?  Hand saw, Power saw, Cut out and make the cover from a new piece?

or – If you have different designs.  Is there a better design out there

Leave me your comments below. Thanks

P.S. If your wondering where I’m up to with the plans…..

I’m getting closer – 5 now ready for painting

It’s a while since I wrote about our experience with our wood burning stove.  It seems topical at the moment as our normally moderate winter has taken an unexpected arctic turn.  Last night we went below minus 10 and for the first time in ages we got ice on the inside of our windows.

However during the day the 8kw wood burning stove is keeping us warm enough and stopping the gas central heating from switching on.  First thing in the morning the heating does come on but that’s down to us not wanting to get up early in a cold house.

So it’s doing what we want but it’s taking a lot of fuel. It won’t help that at moment most of what we are burning is larch, hardwoods would be more efficient.  Having said that it is “free” wood if I don’t count the felling, cutting and splitting, transporting and stacking that I have to do.

With the two feet of snow we’ve had, It was quite job refilling the stack by the back door from the big stock in my storage area.

digging through to the log pile, stove fuel

We’re still of the opinion “it’s worth it” . Hard work but effective and satisfying especially in this weather when I can sit in front of it, toasting my toes and sipping a JD.

It certainly is a cold snap we’re having at the moment, this morning the kitchen sink would not drain.  This freezing problem could happen to bath drain pipes, basin waste pipes, shower waste pipes, washing machine drain pipes and in extreme circumstances toilet soil pipes and stacks.

This trick also works for condensate drain pipes from combi boilers, white or grey 20mm plastic pipe that comes through the wall behind the boiler and leads to a drain.

The freezing occurs where the pipe is outside as it runs to the soil stack or drain.

Sink/ bath/ basin waste pipe where it enters the soil stack

It took some thinking about to come up with a quick fix, this is it

Wrap some towels around the pipe, the thicker, most layers the better. Then pour very hot water water over the towels so they are soaked.  BE CAREFUL OF SPLASHES AND SPILLS.

Pipe wrapped in towels with hot water pored over

When the towels have cooled, apply another soaking.  This was enough to open up our 32mm waste pipe so the sink drained.

Then run hot water from the tap for 10 mins to melt out any ice that’s left.

As a preventative measure I could now lag the pipe but I think the most important thing will be to make sure that no  taps are dripping.

DONT turn your computer of just yet. Try the solution and let me know how you get on. (Comments and Replies below)

Let everyone know. Please feel free to drop a link to this article via facebook, twitter etc.

And thanks to The Cheaterfield Post for suggesting I add this to my blog.