For reasons I won't go into, we had a key in a lock box on our sun porch, not locked around a doorknob as it should be. The other day, we found the outer plastic casing of the lock box broken on the floor, and no lock box.

So someone who had attempted a break in was out there with a key that opens multiple doors. Not a comfortable feeling. So we had all the locks re-keyed that very day, and I ran out to Lowes to get a Ring floodlight security cam.

There was a junction box right where I wanted the camera, so that was good fortune. I made sure the power was off for the sun porch, and opened the j-box. I took off the wire nuts from a line and neutral pair. Just to be sure, I qickly touched the bare live to the box. Big spark! Good thing I didn’t just try to twist a new wire into it! Turns out the basement lights have a switch on the porch by the door and that goes through that same junction box. Is that legal? Two circuits in one junction box?

Anyway, I popped the other breaker and got the security cam installed and working, but now the basement lights were out.

I saved that for the next day. 2-way light circuit had a dimmer on the other switch so that was immediately suspect. Tested it and it was blown, so a new dimmer switch fixed it. Whew!

 

It is entirely possible to have one lock "keyed" so that two different keys can unlock it. That is a common feature. Then put the special, "one-lock-only" key in the Lock Box. Then, if the lockbox is compromised, only one lock need to be changed.

 

It is entirely possible to have one lock "keyed" so that two different keys can unlock it. That is a common feature. Then put the special, "one-lock-only" key in the Lock Box. Then, if the lockbox is compromised, only one lock need to be changed.

 

Fixed a long-case clock. It has a bracket on which the pendulum hangs which is made from 2mm brass sheet soft-soldered together. The solder joint had suffered from a fatigue failure (hardly surprising as it has had a 1kg pendulum swinging from it for about 4 billion cycles in its lifetime) and the anchor could no longer clear the escapement wheel.
Resoldered it and it is now ticking away happily. Perhaps if better flux was available when it was made in 1760, it would have run 500 years before it failed.

 

WIP:



These lounges are hard: the straps are double wrapped.

 

Fixed a long-case clock. It has a bracket on which the pendulum hangs which is made from 2mm brass sheet soft-soldered together. The solder joint had suffered from a fatigue failure (hardly surprising as it has had a 1kg pendulum swinging from it for about 4 billion cycles in its lifetime) and the anchor could no longer clear the escapement wheel.
Resoldered it and it is now ticking away happily. Perhaps if better flux was available when it was made in 1760, it would have run 500 years before it failed.

Just out of curiosity: where was it manufactured?

 

Just out of curiosity: where was it manufactured?

It was made in Aberford, which is just outside Leeds, by George Goodall. This one has the same mechanism but a fancier case. My grandmother, who was born in Aberford, "acquired" it from a friend, because at 7'9" tall it was too big to go in the friend's house.

 

It is entirely possible to have one lock "keyed" so that two different keys can unlock it. That is a common feature. Then put the special, "one-lock-only" key in the Lock Box. Then, if the lockbox is compromised, only one lock need to be changed.

Thank’s for the suggestion, but we don’t need the lockbox any more. We had caregivers for my father-in law who needed to get in, but he passed away a while ago. We were using it as an emergency key if we got locked out, but have a different solution for that now.

 

WIP:

View attachment 335993

These lounges are hard: the straps are double wrapped.

you must be using an interesting technique ....

 

you must be using an interesting technique ....

 

That was a freakin' hard job. And I still have one more to do.



The dog is happy, though.

 

That was a freakin' hard job. And I still have one more to do.

View attachment 336055

The dog is happy, though.

Happy for the chair? ... or to see you do hard work?

 

Happy for the chair? ... or to see you do hard work?

He's retarded. He's happy when the sun rises in the morning. For him, it's always the first time.

 

He's retarded. He's happy when the sun rises in the morning. For him, it's always the first time.

Ah... the price to pay for happiness might be having a limited intelligence ... I don't know whether to envy him or not.

 

I would not be critical of a dog! Most of them are not human, and so they have quite different priorities.

 

I would not be critical of a dog!

Normally, neither would I.

But this one is unusually stupid. Especially for a shepherd.

 

Ion beam faraday. The head and rod are inside a vacuum chamber.



Install a inline connector so the wires don't get broken during PM's.

 

Friday and Saturday I did a "fix" that solved a problem. Not so very technical as that mechanism the goes into the vacuum chamber, but more pressing for those involved.
I finished building, then delivered and installed, a new, dry and draft-free shelter for about ten homeless cats who depend on one of my clients. With the temperature being 17 degrees F, about minus 12C, they were in danger of freezing. Not a huge technical challenge except to make it very solid and very weatherproof, and to look good enough so that a ##$&@&%!!% person who is only concerned with appearances will not destroy it.

I will post pictures when I get a chance to get some pictures of it in place. It is in use quite a few miles away so I do not get by there very often.

 

Friday and Saturday I did a "fix" that solved a problem. Not so very technical as that mechanism the goes into the vacuum chamber, but more pressing for those involved.
I finished building, then delivered and installed, a new, dry and draft-free shelter for about ten homeless cats who depend on one of my clients. With the temperature being 17 degrees F, about minus 12C, they were in danger of freezing. Not a huge technical challenge except to make it very solid and very weatherproof, and to look good enough so that a ##$&@&%!!% person who is only concerned with appearances will not destroy it.

You should post a pic ...