e-clip installed on a metal shaft for my home gym, leg extension. Photo01 by Don Tai
My metal needs are quite simple and one-off. I needed to cut a single slot into a metal rod to insert an e-clip. This DIY slot cutter is quite simple, using 2 ball bearing drawer hinges, some scrap wood I had in my garage, and my rotary cutting tool. The slots it cuts are acceptable for an amateur like myself. It works.
Strength training weight stack pin with an additional ring, photo 1 by Don Tai
This is a strength training machine weight stack pin from a city gym that needed some alterations. I enlarged the hole on the handle to add a ring. The steel of the ring was from a garage door spring, so is high strength steel. I then bent the ring to allow the pin head to be threaded, bent the ring back into alignment, and then welded it shut. I used SMAW 6013 at 40 amps, but should have used 70amps.
The ring is 1/4″ 6mm thick and is not easily bent. I cut the garage door spring lengthwise, resulting in many rings, but they are slightly twisted. These then need to be bent into alignment. My welding is a work in progress, meaning I need a lot of improvement. Welding rings is interesting because you cannot get an angle grinder into the middle of the ring.
It is apparently very common for people who do strength training using lifting straps, to have wrist pain if not done properly. The wrist is not designed to carry your body weight. The tendons in your wrist and within your carpal tunnel can become inflamed causing tenderness and pain. I experienced this for 2 days and had a significant loss of hand strength. Thankfully with rest this has subsided.
I want to try to extend my Weider home gym so I can do some exercises a little easier. It involves designing an extension to my Weider home gym and will need some welding and fitting. I was unsure what metal can be used, so I took a trip to Metal Supermarket in Scarborough.
The store is not really a traditional retail store. There are 3 guys at a desk out front on computers and talking on the phone to customers. I suppose most customers know what they want and just call their order in, but not I. There was one guy at the back using a huge metal saw to do custom cuts.
This electric glass kettle, the Hamilton-Beach 1.7L Electric Glass kettle, has been quite reliable over the last few years. It boils water quite quickly, faster than on our gas stove, which we have to turn on the fan and vent afterwards. It is also easy to clean. After a while the kettle stopped turning on, so I had to do a couple of things to it. Here is the user manual for reference. I did not see any replaceable parts available from Hamilton-Beach.
I donated something to to Value Village (Canada) and they gave me a coupon. I had to input my purchase date and time, then do an online survey for a small discount. Unfortunately the online experience was flawed at best.
There are many different types of people that shop at Value Village, many of them over the age of 50. These people often do not carry nor rely on their smartphone for their existence. In other words, they are normal.
After 3 previous elections I thought I’d try this year’s 2022 Oct 24 City of Toronto election as a managing deputy returning officer. The experience running an election site was interesting, and despite the low turnout, busier than I had thought.
The managing deputy returning officer (MDRO) position manages a complete election site with up to 10 other election workers.These include:
I’ve always hated using hose clamps. I’d buy them from Home Depot and curse when they are installed and leak. I’d tighten them more and they’d deform and sometimes break. It did not dawn on me that, like everything else, there are different quality hose clamps than the crappy “All Gain” ones I use. This is particularly true for my compressor hose, which, over time, loosen and then leak. My compressor only needs 125psi.
Usually a tiny 0.5mm difference makes no difference, but not in this case. The CR1220 battery has the right width, but the thickness was off, making the watch act up intermittently. Unknown to me was the cause, so I wedged the battery for years. Why did not Cardinal write the battery type on the inside of the watch case? The CR1225 is just a smidge thicker, 0.5mm, which makes all the difference.
Further, the CR1225 has a 25% higher mAh rating, so should last longer.
