OneGuyFromBarlick

Ian, one of my favourite watches on Youtube is an Aussie plumber in Sydney who posts regularly on unblocking drains. Look for Drain Addict. He's even higher on the Yuck scale than the blackhead I found the other day!

I am quite taken on with wood turning videos. I loved the wood turning lathe at school and made quite a few things. I still have one bowl I made and another that my daugter has. I also made my mum a table lamp which I think went to my sister when mum died.

I watched a Chinese bloke the other day who was turning a large chunk of tree trunk about 8ft long by 3 to 4ft in diameter. Rudimentary tools, a tripod with castors on and a winch to manouever the work piece into place. A simple screw centre at one end and the drive at the other provided by a pulley and belt arrangement driven by a moped engine. His hand held wood turning tools were about 3 ft long. He was making ornate columns from each length and had about 4 that matched perfectly when they were stood up next to one another.

I watch them Ian and they frighten me to death when they start up unbalanced! You've reminded me of something from 'Steam Engines and Waterwheels....
"By chance I came across a lady a few years ago, Edith Elliott, who had read some of the articles I had written about Johnny and she stopped me in the street. She told me that when she was a lass she used to go and sit in Johnny’s workshop behind the house in Federation Street and watch him working on his current project. Johnny showed her how to use a lathe and the upshot was that she finished up with her own shed in the garden complete with a Myford lathe and was a wood-turning enthusiast for years until she developed a lung complaint which was exacerbated by wood dust and had to give up. She described Johnny as being very kind and thoughtful. Only a small thing but a good indicator of the character of the man."

The replacement water pipe has hit a stumbling block, the quotes to dig the trench are around £2k. Normally I would do the digging myself but the DVT has slowed me down a bit. Even with the grant from UU the cost is prohibitive, I'll stick with the lead branch supply for now. I can think of much better things to do with £2k.

How much per foot Kev?

Around £60. It's the steps down to the kitchen that have bumped it up.

Understood..... Hard luck! (Do you have to follow the old pipe? Is there a way of using an entirely different and less expensive route?) Sorry if I'm nattering Kev, I'm just trying to think of a way round it.....

That is a new route, a direct line from the kitchen to the back street. The current pipe is under the house from 3 doors down. It's the 'dashed' line from the T in Skipton Old Road (on the map) which supplies 5 properties.

Understood, a lot of the old water supplies use common pipes for a number of properties (There's one on our back street) and they can be a source of trouble.



Here's the one in East Hill when it was dug up for a burst. They only replaced about a foot of it with new pipe....

That's one of the reasons I was going to change it.

PanBiker wrote: ↑24 May 2022, 18:38 Rudimentary tools, a tripod with castors on and a winch to manoeuvre the work piece into place.

Strange what you think about and thinking about the video later, I realise that it wasn't a tripod (a bit useless with only three legs) it was a re purposed clothes rack on wheels.

Kev that's a lot of brass for digging a trench. We had a faulty stop tap at York Street back in the 70's. Water Board wanted £200 at the time to dig the hole and £30 to replace the tap. I asked how big they wanted it and I dug the hole.

It needs to be 11m long and 750mm deep Ian, the stumbling blocks are the steps down to the kitchen and the flags that are in the yard. The 25m roll of alkathene pipe is £21 and the stopcock is £26, a few years ago I would have done the job myself with a fork and shovel. Unfortunately my fat leg has slowed me down a bit. I've withdrawn my application for the grant now.

What you need is a strong lad working on a zero hours contract with a ground works gang who is open to a foreigner.

Had UU engineer out for a chat on Tuesday, we've agreed on plan b for the new water pipe. No steps to negotiate and it's easy digging under the flags, the new pipe will enter the back of the kitchen just above worktop height and I have plenty of room to build a little cupboard around it. I made a start this morning and got a reasonable amount done in just over an hour. Had to stop as it's my only day off until Thursday and shopping and things need to be done. Middle offspring is coming on Thursday to help so we should be all dug out by teatime.

That looks sensible... Is it a good time to put an outside tap in?

Already have an outside tap

Looking good Kev and looks like you have a double whammy benefit for your leg with the exercise.

It's nice to be doing something physical, just need to be careful I don't cut myself on anything. I've gone from the 30mg a day anticoagulants down to 20 so I'm still susceptible to excessive bleeding.

Had half an hour lifting flags and breaking up the sand/cement they were bedded on last night after work. Bit more digging on Thursday should see the back of it before the weekend. I have the loan of a Stihl cut off saw for the concrete slab, much easier than trying to break it up with a sledge hammer. I also have the loan of a 4in core cutter to get through the wall into the kitchen, there are still some very kind people out there

08:00 fired up ''Paddy's motorbike', 08:10 two cuts through the concrete, 08:20 'Paddy's motorbike' returned to its owner in Barlick.
It certainly woke the neighbours up

Big Kev wrote: ↑15 Jun 2022, 06:16 there are still some very kind people out there

Don't hide your light Kev you are one of them as well. You have lent me plenty of stuff in the past.

Job looks to be progressing well. I suppose it will get boring next with the core drill.

PanBiker wrote: ↑16 Jun 2022, 08:30 Job looks to be progressing well. I suppose it will get boring next with the core drill.