2015-10-10 Assorted Toys

Some items to play with in various ways. First up a silly plastic dartboard, safety first!

Next some devices for sliding around on the solid phase of water. The little one handle butt pad things were new in the packing and are small enough to leave in the car in winter for the off chance of serendipitous sledding.

2015-09-26 Cast Iron Bench

A pretty beat up cast iron bench with weird welded plates under the legs. We have friends who need something like this so we fixed it up. A few of the original pine planks were broken so we made some new ones out of scraps we had. New stainless hardware, some cleaning up and oiling and ready to go. Mouseover for the before and after.

Somebody asked, so I will answer here. We drilled through the planks to mount the diagonal braces and center strip because previously there were short thick wood screws in there. For the reused planks, wood screws were not going to hold if just put back in. Far better to drill through and use some nice fender washers on number 10 stainless screws. That is why you see line of shiny bolt heads in the cleaned up pic.

For similar reasons we replaced the carriage bolts with button head cap screws. The old wood was probably not going to grab the square shoulders enough in the old holes, it is pretty soft pine, made softer by age and damaged a little by having play in the bench and the extraction of the old rusty carriage bolts.

2015-09-19 Stainless Food Trays

Yet more stainless steel food preparation trays. These ones deeper versions. Both were dinged up and a little dirty. One is now less dinged (note the hammer in side of picture) and clean enough for food usage. The other is too dinged (we judge) and will be used in the basement for other substances for which cleanliness and crevices are less critical.

2015-09-19 Primate Memoir

Pretty sure this was a on a to-read list at some point, certainly is now we have a nice free copy of it. A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. Book is in perfect condition, either unread or read by somebody very careful.

Update: Read it, was great. Maybe we should start a series garbage book reviews. We have commented on the quality of certain other items.

2015-09-16 Fogacci Pot

A Fogacci steamer warmer pot thingy. We are not really sure what to do with it, but the list price is substantial in it's home market.

2015-09-12 Fuji Bike

A random Fuji Sports 10 road bike. Steels wheels a little spotty but otherwise a pretty nice classic from it's time. Large frame, new tires, needed brakes tightening to be ridable.

2015-09-12 Books

A couple of books, including something that really seems worth reading, Inside Central Aisa by Hiro. Not Hiro Protagonist, Dilip Hiro.

The Gospel of Judas, no not the actual Coptic codex, but the initial book about it. Somewhat interesting reading.

2015-09-02 Le Creuset Lid

A Le Creuset Dutch Oven and lid. The pot itself had cracked interior enamel, boo-hoo, but the lid is nice and useful. Available to anybody who might need it for a medium sized cast iron skillet.

2015-08-28 Specialized Hybrid

We got two random Specialized Crossroads hybrids. The picture shows a franken-Specialized, taking the good parts from both to make one nice bike. The leftover parts may be resurrected as a super junky station bike, or may go onto shelves for a future needful bike. We will see.

2015-08-21 Burley Bike Trailer

A fine Burley bike trailer useful for transporting small offspring. When acquired it was quite dirty but as you can see it cleaned up nicely. We were insufficiently foresighted to provide for a before and after comparison. Already rehomed to appreciative new owners thanks to the list of craig.