Onoff

Traitor! ?

Any use? https://github.com/nooploop/piejam

"Call yourself a spring? You're a miserable excuse for..." Not that sort of wind up?

Got my gate gate hardware from here before: https://www.owlett-jaton.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Door+spring+ I'd get a galvanized one before anything else, then bright zinc plated. "Black" would come last as a choice.

Gotta love a posho with too much money, over complicating things! Here's one I made earlier...like 40 years earlier. Based round a CA3140E op amp. Looks like I added a little amp at some time... What's a little hum between friends? ?

A good smear of Jet Blue Plus on a compression fitting allows you do do it up tighter, with no nasty brass on brass squeak as well as getting in the nooks and crannies of the threads so as to help make a seal. I don't use ptfe tape at all now on olive type compression fittings. I push pipe into fitting then smear round where it goes in. Then push the olive down onto the smeared seat. Another smear and do the nut up.

Where the phrase "our little secret" comes from!

It's clean, it's tidy, it's imperfect and IT LOOKS SPOT ON. ?

Presumably those two in the foreground are done with the light brown?

Thanks to @Roys the blade turned up today. Not looked anymore at the brush cutter yet. Been making the most of the weather and cutting lawns, trimming trees etc.

Mould under repair, (bloody cheap, 20 year old, free ply ?), ready for the next one.

I'm in Sevenoaks or thereabouts... No primer required with Bedec Barn Paint... Got a mate lives in Nutfield...I went to Esher once, felt very out of place!

Is that a tile spacer or are you just pleased to see me?

Too late! ? The small/same ratio mix came out alright imo: I'll try an orbital sander for the next one.

@vk2003 whereabouts are you? I've satin black Bedec barn paint here. Could sort you a jam jar full to try if you were local 'ish. Not a thing I would post. My mate has Battleship Grey or maybe Forest Green. Oddly he doesn't rate the stuff. Painted his already painted palisade wooden fence and reckons it accelerated it's demise! I'll say again I think it's brilliant and he's wrong. 3 coats of satin black on bare, new scaffold boards I made my gate from. Gates fitted in 2014. This taken last year. Never painted since.

The finished surface has a few pinholes close up. I'm a tad concerned, over time, of those being a bit of a "key" for frost action. I was going to just install this atop the brick pillar and paint with Thompson's Water Seal. Veering now towards filling those imperfections and just painting with a decent, black masonry paint. On the basis the paint will fill the pinholes. Also, if it does flake off it won't look too bad as the substrate is the dyed grey colour anyway. For a first attempt I'm pretty happy with that. OMG is it heavy though! Guessing a dry'ish mortar bed to lay this on? Off now to mix up a small quantity, measured on the scales, for filling, to the same proportions as the big mix. Not a chance it'll match! ? Then I'll jet wash, clean and reassemble the mould ready for No.2.

Rolled the first cap stone out onto a pallet, protecting the edge with an old towel: Two edges have imperfections: For a first attempt I'm pretty happy with that.

Yep. Only black and white is available in satin in the barn paint.

Bedec Barn Paint for me. Coverage on bare wood is magic.

Thanks for that. PM me your PayPal address so I can cover the postage at least if you would please.

Laugh! ? Could be a bit more straightforward than I thought...although the battery adapters appear to slide in fine..... THE CONTACTS DON'T REACH! ??? It only slides about this far: Subtle differences between the chainsaw and brush cutter where the battery connects. Brush cutter top, chain saw bottom: So... Enough for tonight, ? o'clock.

OfWoof, woof! ? So far it appears to be a pup! Putting the batteries on and nothing so in we go... The blade locking plastic thing is well worn. It works OK to put a blade on but won't pick properly to take one off. I guess 3D print one or make from ali/steel. It's clearly seen some use. Strip down / meter time. Motor is stamped "64-25DC36V" All the jammed vegetation removed from the head around the motor...tbh it didn't stop it turning. Tried again, nowt.

I was recently given a whole load of plastic concrete moulds. No immediate use for them...but they were free! Typically none the size I wanted for atop the gate hence making the bespoke mould. With some leftover mix from doing the first cap stone I did then fill one of these moulds up. It is at least indicative of what the cap stone might come out like. Thinking once on to treat it with a liquid waterproofer / rain repellent like Thompson's Waterseal. Might help keep its colour too.

Good the Makita / Einhell battery adapters we 3D printed here fit a treat:

The"returns" brush cutter turned up. It appears to have seen light use but oddly comes complete with the blade, strimmer head and box spanner, something I didn't expect from reading the ad... Of course I've yet to power it up and see what happens...if anything. The one thing that is missing is the body harness/strap to support it as you use it (surprisingly heavy). Pretty certain I can do something with a spare, out of date full body harness, some D shackles and karabiners etc. Just waiting for the Makita batteries to charge up. Best I go find the chainsaw and see if the battery adapters fit! @Roys looks like I have blade after all. Will still happily take that other one off your hands though! ?