I appreciate that this is nowt to really do with owt else ... or perhaps it is?

I wanted a brake caliper mounting plate but I don't have (a) easy access to a mill or (b) the funds at hand to pay to have someone make me one on their mill. The obvious solution was to break out the saw and files and make one - and this is the point. Sometimes it's nice to set aside the tech and the potential ease it provides and instead, do something the long way. Granted, it's much more tiring and time consuming but it's also much more rewarding and perhaps that should be something to aim for once in a while?

Possibly all a bit random for a Friday but there you go. Anyway here's the plate, just needs a final tidy then I'll polish it.

Nice job, .

Reminds me of the neighbour to the family farm. The trigger/release mechanism on his shotgun broke, usual farmer type, it was probably made in the mid 19th century, so he went to the nearest gunsmiths to get it mended. Unfortunately the weapon had no proof mark so they were unable to work on it. "Al right" he said, "I'll make my own!"

And he did. He sourced whatever metal was required and set to with saws, drills and files and built/rebuilt the whole mechanism. I can't remember how long it took him, probably a while as he was one of those: one pass of the file then match it all up types

It's good to see that there's still craftsmanship about ,instead of just putting the coordinates into a CNC/water cutter , although in the job these skills are rarely needed now I still make my apprentice learn with files( even down to sharpening my chisels) and hacksaws ,then he can progress onto the oxygen /acet bottles ,and then onto the plasma ( if he's a good boy) same goes with welding ,gas /arc then mig ,at least us old feckers have a little knowledge to pass on in this day of "just plug it in "

although in the job these skills are rarely needed now I still make my apprentice learn with files( even down to sharpening my chisels) and hacksaws ,then he can progress onto the oxygen /acet bottles ,and then onto the plasma ( if he's a good boy) same goes with welding ,gas /arc then mig ,at least us old feckers have a little knowledge to pass on in this day of "just plug it in "

At the risk of sounding like an old miserable b'stard (like that ever stopped me before), I completely agree Stu. Once 'hands - on' skills are lost then they're largely gone for good. I know many people will probably shrug and go 'so what?' but they won't be f*ckin' saying that once the zombie apocalypse comes will they?

Update - Dee's just come in and it went like this"

"What's that?"
"It's a new brake hanger for your bike"
"Did you make it?"
"Yeah"
"There's a mark on it"

To be honest mate when I read back through my post I thought s#£e the kids are right I am getting old ,forgot to add even though the apprentices still get a slap for lying when they've broke something they still want to work with me instead of younger lads,so I must have something to pass on

""What's that?"
"It's a new brake hanger for your bike"
"Did you make it?"
"Yeah"
"There's a mark on it"

Sounds like the pattern for every exchange in our household too!

In the same way as the Stu/Stu comments, same applies for "books" - you know, those things with paper leaves what open out - you don't need to plug those in either. So Stu/Stu, make sure you write your skills down to hand on rather than "creating a document" with them

(We sound like Last Of The Summer W[h]ine us three - question is, who's who eh?)

Metal? Pah!

I'm currently rebuilding our neighbour's dry* stone garden wall

*It would be dry if it wasn't for the stream running through it - makes the wet Glastonbury festivals look positively Saharan

Nice work Stu. I can see the appeal, and I bet it's also very therapeutic.

RIP wrote:""

(We sound like Last Of The Summer W[h]ine us three - question is, who's who eh?)

In old school English "bagsy" compo

Why am I not surprised . I thought that was me.

OK, I'd like the original Cyril Blamire please.

That leaves Clegg for Stu - "Happy just reading alone in his cosy home, he also finds enjoyment in some of the simpler things in life, such as Sid's skirting board and the price of beer"

Love a bit of walling Bob. 'Tis one of the things I miss about the Peak District as we've no stone worthy of a wall.

middleagedmadness wrote:It's good to see that there's still craftsmanship about ,instead of just putting the coordinates into a CNC/water cutter , although in the job these skills are rarely needed now I still make my apprentice learn with files( even down to sharpening my chisels) and hacksaws ,then he can progress onto the oxygen /acet bottles ,and then onto the plasma ( if he's a good boy) same goes with welding ,gas /arc then mig ,at least us old feckers have a little knowledge to pass on in this day of "just plug it in "

I teach engineering at secondary school, and make sure that the kids can use hand tools and braze before teaching them to use lathes, milling machines and welding. What's more surprising is that a fair few prefer the hands on approach even at that age.

Even in this age of 3d printing and laser cutting, they still take pride in hand making a prototype part :) Having said that, there's also a certain magic in seeing a CAD idea become reality.

That's good to know Paul

I do agree (I've just come in from the garage where I've been mitring tubes with a hacksaw and hand files - just summoning the willpower to go out in the rain to buy some more files from Axminster) but it's more the precision and quality of finish you can achieve with machines that pushes me down that route. There's skill required in setting up a mill or lathe correctly (perhaps less so with CNC admittedly), which I imagine would be satisfying to do properly and know you've got right, and in then knowing the part is bang on.

Having said that, that brake mount looks very tidy - much nicer than I could hope to achieve so maybe it's just a case of bad workman and tool-blaming

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Love a bit of walling Bob. 'Tis one of the things I miss about the Peak District as we've no stone worthy of a wall.

Did a bit of walling, including clawdd, when we lived near Caernarfon. Anyway here's some prior art -http://bobwightman.blogspot.com/2013/09 ... lling.html

Lovely that Bob

The last three weeks I've been rebuilding a part of our neighbour's wall. 30 metres or so.

From this:




To this:

Nice work
Like hedge-laying, there's something very therapeutic about stone walling and not a job to be rushed. Bl00dy back-breaking work though!

Wowsers. Good work!

That's what happens when I take things apart and put them back together - big pile of bits left over

Lovely job though

I'm currently making a built in wardrobe out of an oak we had felled 5 years ago. Bloody time consuming but lovely to work with.

That looks lovely that Bob... is it true that a dry stone waller, once they pick up a stone they know exactly where it wants to go and never put it down (to swap for another until its layed)...

Genius and artists all in one...

Steve, the old wall was too "thin", it was only 15" wide at the base, this is 26" wide at the base and 13" wide at the top so needed a lot more stone. The neighbour ordered five tonnes but they brought seven of those big builder's bags which hold about a tonne and a half each. Still, nice to have the choice of stone.

Shafiq - a bit of a rural myth that one. You do tend to have an idea of the stone you want but it doesn't always work out.

Oh, it took three weeks overall but there was just under two weeks' actual work due to weather and tea breaks.

Ooh, it even fits. I did have to make a 4mm spacer to pull the disc out in order that the wider than standard caliper clears the spokes but that's not important is it? What's important is, there's much more satisfaction in doing things this way than there ever could be in simply buying something. I know it isn't always possible but when it is, we should embrace the opportunity.

1:2 tea to work ratio - now that's my type of job, can I sign up please? . I expect you've been to the National Stone Museum (*) in Wirksworth, Bob. When I went they had a display of many different types of walling design which I found very interesting. I just stood there for ages looking at them with the kids badgering me to let them do some gold panning (actually they may have had a point, everyone likes gold don't they? ).

(*) only in Britain eh - love it, akin to the National Lawnmower Museum or any of our other eccentricities (**)

(**) blimey, and the obvious follow-on from that is a National Bikepacking Museum (***) isn't it!! I'll offer one of my smelly old sheepshitted sleeping bags as an opening exhibit if someone's prepared to take the project on.

(***) incorporating Tim's National Meths Stove Museum of course, and the 'Bikepacking Trail Centre Experience' hinted at in the trail centre vocab thread.