Other projects not R4 related

[Niels Svane]

Congratulations on finishing your PhD Niels!

Thanks man! It's so nice to be done! (and still be alive).

 

[petak]

Congrats Niels!

SO many "other" projects you have.
Hope R4 does not need to become project soon!

 

[Azazello]

The
The bricks are all different sizes so I've marked out where the bricks should go on a length of wood and letting the mortar gaps take up the difference in brick size.

My father was a brick layer, I used to do this kind of jobs with him, that means he was doing them and I was merely passing materials; so I know how things should be done but never managed to be really able to do them by myself. Unfortunately, dad passed away on february and I am still slowly restoring my house, so I'm forced to front this limit and try my best; These days I was thinking of a barbecue in the garden, and would like to build it, along with a small pizza oven, with those kind of bricks... that's why I was trying to figure out how to use them!

 

[Azazello]

In other projects: I finished my PhD in biology this April.
I'm replacing piston and barrel on my MZ ETZ 250
I'm messing around with finding parts for my Hercules W2000 wankel "gift-bike"
I'm converting my 2000sqm garden to a thing of wilderness
I'm beginning the outer restoration of my cottage from 1850 (mostly masonry and wooden beams), lots of paint, tar, and lime!
I'm tearing down and rebuilding a shed/outhouse to be a combination of: Workshop, guest room, orangerie, and more. It's going to be made in wood, but with reinforced concrete segments in the floor for my motorcycles.
I'm rebuilding my garage for direct access to the new outhouse, maybe I'll isolate the garage and throw in some windows and a gate.
My other, thatched outhouse will be remade internally with supporting beams, and then a "house inside the house" setup. This will then be a two-room guest house.

Workwise I'll continue flying drones, mapping nature, teaching and developing a new biology candidate education, now as a post-doc.

Sounds great!
I'm a biologist too!

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of jobs in the house, garden and workshop I have in my to-do list, but then I read yours and I think I don't have the right!

 

[Niels Svane]

Congrats Niels!

SO many "other" projects you have.
Hope R4 does not need to become project soon!

Thanks dude! The R4 is actually getting its rear inner wings welded as we speak, and then it's up for six more years of bumbling around Europe

 

[Niels Svane]

Sounds great!
I'm a biologist too!

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of jobs in the house, garden and workshop I have in my to-do list, but then I read yours and I think I don't have the right!

Cool! It's a nice profession Today I tested our new ROV in one of Denmarks many fjords, inspecting our transplanted eelgrass beds. Haha, the question is not how many tasks I have, it's how many I actually get done

 

[petak]

...... the question is not how many tasks I have, it's how many I actually get done

Eventually every task finishes.

 

[quatrelle87]

Hi all. Most of my time has been taken up getting my 2cv back on the road. Bought in February this year, previously sat in a barn for 6 years. She needed a full service, some floor repairs and a good clean (and a bucket load of small bits and pieces replacing). She passed her CT without any problem and is now back on the road. She needs some bodywork jobs doing - but she'll just have to wear her dents and scratches with pride for now. My 4L is obviously jealous of the attention and decided she didn't want to start. She's since been treated to some TLC

 

[malcolm]

My father was a brick layer, I used to do this kind of jobs with him, that means he was doing them and I was merely passing materials; so I know how things should be done but never managed to be really able to do them by myself. Unfortunately, dad passed away on february and I am still slowly restoring my house, so I'm forced to front this limit and try my best; These days I was thinking of a barbecue in the garden, and would like to build it, along with a small pizza oven, with those kind of bricks... that's why I was trying to figure out how to use them!

Give it a go. I bought a book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brickwork-Bricklaying-Guide-Jon-Collinson/dp/1847973752 It's really boring and I've never really read it through but it has been good at answering any questions I had.

I'm a big fan of lime mortar. I don't like cement. Lime mortar lets the bricks dry out when they get wet, and also lets them move around if you forgot the foundations. So good for an old house. It's prettier too. Big advantage for beginners is it's very forgiving and allows a much longer working time for finishing.

 

[Azazello]

Give it a go. I bought a book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brickwork-Bricklaying-Guide-Jon-Collinson/dp/1847973752 It's really boring and I've never really read it through but it has been good at answering any questions I had.

I'm a big fan of lime mortar. I don't like cement. Lime mortar lets the bricks dry out when they get wet, and also lets them move around if you forgot the foundations. So good for an old house. It's prettier too. Big advantage for beginners is it's very forgiving and allows a much longer working time for finishing.

Yep, usually concrete is for things that should link parts or stand alone, if you are "just" laying brick, building a wall or filling small holes lime mortar is the option. For small jobs I use the premixed bags, for bigger ones we used to mix it by ourselves . Still, a tiny bit of portland cement has his place in lime mortar too!

 

[edwin]

In the Uk with lots of rain, and generally wet ground and wet air, damp is a problem, and so using cement has problems. It is so strong it does not expand or contract, so we get cracks, or we have to leave expansion joints, which is a potential route through for water and structuraly weakens the wall. It also means that in lots of cases the mortar is stronger than the bricks/stones the wall is built from, and if that is the case, the bricks/stones start to corrode, crack and crumble due to frost action. Cement only came into use after the first world war when the soldiers came home after building fortifications quickly. Lime mortar is better in every way. Buildings built with it are still here after 2000 years, the pantheon, after 1000 years, our castles and cathedrals, and cement walls need repointing all the time. Its just that cement is quicker and easier for a builder to get the job done and be away with the money. Malcolms wall is a thing of beauty and sets a standard. I love it.

 

[malcolm]

True enough portland cement is banned on my site apart from under the ground and for chimney flaunching. The old wall had three big problems - the overhang at the top had been removed so lots of water could get onto the bricks; it had been cement pointed so the water couldn't get out of the bricks again; and the bricks are rubbish - I think they might have been made on site. Actually it had a fourth problem - it was pushed over by a tree.

Bricks lasted 200 years (I think all the deterioration was in the last 50 years with the bad repairs) so maybe turning them around will give them another 200 years. They'll get tile creasing with decent coping at the top and lime mortar. Should be OK until they need repointing in 100 years and hopefully they'll have figured out not to use cement to re-point 300 year old walls by then.

I've been around the rest of the house removing waterproof coatings to allow the walls to dry. Cement walls are wet and have poor insulation properties. With lime they can dry out and that makes them insulate quite well. Maybe that might get some consideration in the green revolution but I doubt it.

Modern bricks are made with the expectation they will be soaking wet all the time so cement isn't so much of an issue with them.

 

[Niels Svane]

True enough portland cement is banned on my site apart from under the ground and for chimney flaunching. The old wall had three big problems - the overhang at the top had been removed so lots of water could get onto the bricks; it had been cement pointed so the water couldn't get out of the bricks again; and the bricks are rubbish - I think they might have been made on site. Actually it had a fourth problem - it was pushed over by a tree.

Bricks lasted 200 years (I think all the deterioration was in the last 50 years with the bad repairs) so maybe turning them around will give them another 200 years. They'll get tile creasing with decent coping at the top and lime mortar. Should be OK until they need repointing in 100 years and hopefully they'll have figured out not to use cement to re-point 300 year old walls by then.

I've been around the rest of the house removing waterproof coatings to allow the walls to dry. Cement walls are wet and have poor insulation properties. With lime they can dry out and that makes them insulate quite well. Maybe that might get some consideration in the green revolution but I doubt it.

Modern bricks are made with the expectation they will be soaking wet all the time so cement isn't so much of an issue with them.

Cement and concrete in old buildings and walls is just so irritating. I have to remove cement that is put in holes in the timber and also covering the timber framing in my cottage, repair the walls with proper hydraulic lime-mortar and cover with slaked lime. Nearly all the timber has been covered in either that nasty cement or in old (and illegal) stone-coal tar, while it should be covered in proper wood-tar.

But remediating older, wrong maintenance efforts is part of the fun of owning a 170 year old house

 

[Eccles60]

My wall is growing slowly. I've been watering it :-) I thought I would be able to lay 100 bricks a day but it turns out I'm a little slower so 3000 bricks will take a while. The stretchers are from the original 200 year old wall just turned around to hide the badly spalled face. They look quite neat given their poor condition

View attachment 28373

That looks great. My late father loved brick laying and built extensions and walls and all sorts. He would have been very impressed.

 

[edwin]

Cement and concrete in old buildings and walls is just so irritating. I have to remove cement that is put in holes in the timber and also covering the timber framing in my cottage, repair the walls with proper hydraulic lime-mortar and cover with slaked lime. Nearly all the timber has been covered in either that nasty cement or in old (and illegal) stone-coal tar, while it should be covered in proper wood-tar.

But remediating older, wrong maintenance efforts is part of the fun of owning a 170 year old house

bit like a Renault 4 !

 

[petak]

Last year started "small" kids trike reconstruction project
It is small bike that i had for my third or fourth birthday from uncle. Since then many kids was driving this bike.
Some 8 or 9 kind if i can remember correctly.

After mine kids grown up this bike it was standing around garage in bad shape, really bad shape. No tires (solid that just snapped), all bushing had so much play that you could not drive it. In steering wheel, in front wheel, in rear wheels. drive was wobbly

this is it






Took it appart, and peel that old paint


Ordered some sliding bearings


And made new bushings for front and rear wheels



"chassis" is galvanized




And new seat is made from 1mm steel plate because i could not manage to weld old seat



Most difficult task was to find new solid tires for it. Dimensions are old and it is not possible to buy new solid tires in that dimensions.
Rear tires i took from old baby trolleys found at local junk jard. Front managed to buy from guy in UK that listed bunch of different solid tires old stock from 70es on ebay

 

[petak]

And final product is here




Pedals are traveling from China and i hope it wont take three mounts to arrive.

Now trike goes to daughter of that uncles granddaughter that gave me that trike.

Hope girl will enjoy driving it .

 

[laxeian]

Little project picked up to do today, really its just recommissioning this for friend, been restored but never actually ran, so good clean, adjust up, add tank details etc., basic detail an old moped, but it IS a Ducati...

 

[laxeian]

Just finished detailing/ recommissioning and wiring on this, 1967 OSSA 160GT, one of 500 originally produced.