What did you do today?

[Cenedd]

Mark: this may seem an odd question but what is your bench top in those pics, how thick is it and where did you get it please? Reason I ask is that I've been having trouble with my slatted wooden bench top being a bit flexible for my lathe and i was thinking of topping it with a sheet of something like 6mm thick steel. Trouble is that at 7ft by 3ft it would have been around £200 just for the top. Is it just a case of 'if you want one that's how much it costs' or is there a different material, different source or I'm spec'ing too thick?

[Dave C]

Mark: this may seem an odd question but what is your bench top in those pics, how thick is it and where did you get it please? Reason I ask is that I've been having trouble with my slatted wooden bench top being a bit flexible for my lathe and i was thinking of topping it with a sheet of something like 6mm thick steel. Trouble is that at 7ft by 3ft it would have been around £200 just for the top. Is it just a case of 'if you want one that's how much it costs' or is there a different material, different source or I'm spec'ing too thick?

You may want to check with local companies that make kitchen and bath counter tops. They may have a miss cut piece that will make a fine bench top.

[MrFluffy]

Today I had to cut the water supply to my shop as there's a small leak underground somewhere after checking after getting a letter from the water company telling us our consumption was higher than normal. I know the branch the weep is on, its loosing about 1/8th gallon/hr, but I'll dig up the suspect joint and alter the plumbing in the week for now I've just isolated it.

That aside, My wife said that today was football on the tv, so that was my cue to disappear in the shed and avoid it.
I was playing with the balancer again, and I got the wheel close, but the balancer arbor wasn't as true as I wanted it to be. I'd made the arbor up as a machined cone, and used some hydraulic shaft as the spindle, but somewhere between mating the two, the surface was running out 0.005" and I decided it was creating a slight heavy spot. So I set it up in the lathe in a 4 jaw + steady so the taper ran concentric, and then centre drilled the ends in two setups.
Then off to the grinder, set it up in a sinus centre table setup I have, and used a O ring and the cordless drill to drive it, with very tiny DOC (0.0003") per pass so nothing bad happened then swapped the shaft round and ground the second end in too. I will use this setup again, but I'll add a way to drive it that won't side load the shaft up with the drive from the belt and spring load the centre somehow as I kept it slackish and just applied hand pressure. Now finally happy with the arbor.

[Cenedd]

You realise that it's supposed to be you saying"Yay, football!" and your wife sighing I a world-weary way, right? That said, I'm with you 100%!

Went to a BrewDog bar in Tower Hill, London for my birthday. Back home by 7pm as I have a 6 year old son....but let's just say that there shall be no operationing of machinery - heavy, or otherwise. A good time was had by all - even my 6 year old who declared "Brew Dog!" when we rounded the corner.....start 'em young, eh?!

[J Tiers]

You realise that it's supposed to be you saying"Yay, football!" and your wife sighing I a world-weary way, right? That said, I'm with you 100%!

.....

A great deal more fun to play than to watch...... If you are playing, there's a lot going on. If you watch, not so much.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Spent all day cleaning up our hobby room. I have three 4x8 foot and one 4x6 foot table for building R/C planes, or Helis, or R/C cars, or anything I or the kids want to build. The hobby room also has some slot machines, vintage video games, pool table, weights, treadmill, etc.

Here are a couple of large panoramic views after I finished cleaning and vacuuming.

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_room1.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_room2.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_room3.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_room4.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_room5.jpg

Small panos:

[thaiguzzi]

Re the post above and available space,
sickened with jealousy...

[dave_r]

why jealous? He barely has any stuff...

[Cenedd]

why jealous? He barely has any stuff...

Nah, that's not lack of stuff.... that's just a tidy shop. Probably why, like me, you don't recognise it!
I'm jealous of the space too - he's not had to ceiling-mount anything due to having filled all the floor and wall space already!

[grim_d]

His 'hobby' space appears to occupy about the same space as my entire house.

I hate the UK and our tiny expensive dwellings.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

why jealous? He barely has any stuff...

I try and keep the main area uncluttered. I store the clutter in other rooms. One spare room (25'x15') has 4 rows of 24" deep shelves with walking isles to store stuff. Large panos

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_roomb1.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_roomb2.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_roomb3.jpg

http://www.bbssystem.com/pictures/hobby_roomb4.jpg

Small panos

[danlb]

Yeah, I'm envious of all the empty space. That's one of the luxuries you get with a huge house. The down side? More places to put that clutter when not in use.

[10KPete]

And I thought I had too much stuff.... not by half I don't!

Pete

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Yeah, I'm envious of all the empty space. That's one of the luxuries you get with a huge house. The down side? More places to put that clutter when not in use.

It's also very easy to loose items. Even kids. Playing hide and seek is exhausting.

[10KPete]

It's also very easy to loose items. Even kids. Playing hide and seek is exhausting.

Yep.

Pete