repairing things

last month I learned: 5/8" drywall is significantly heavier and harder to cut than 1/2" drywall, they actually sell 2x2 squares of drywall that are termed "repair size" but really are ideal for working with rooms with 10 foot ceilings, almost two decades later, I still have retained muscle memory of creative mudding techniques developed from having to make nice looking art walls out of drywall scraps scavenged from construction site dumpsters

also realized the freedom of having the walls I'm working on _not_ be art gallery walls, thus the surface doesn't have to be perfectly smooth

Here is a question tangentially related to repair. The waste management people managed to break a bottle or two in the alley, so we're talking about hundreds of pieces of glass on an uneven strip of rough concrete, full of nooks and crannies. It's not my job to clean it up, but I'm sick of seeing all the broken glass, so what's the best way to get it up? I don't have a shop vac, the alley is too rough to sweep, there's too much to clean up by hand ...

is the alley public space? if so call 311?

don't they recommend using bread for picking up glass or have i imagined that? not on this scale, obv, but even though it sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

ha, yes, https://homeservicesforamerica.com/using-bread-to-pick-up-glass/

Yeah, maybe I'll just call the local government into action.

May take a while to get action---I've got some long, thick gloves, supposedly protective against thorns etc., for gardening; haven't used them yet, but also I got ads for ones to be worn when handling dogs (you know which online store all this is coming from)If some of the glass is where a barefoot person might step on it, or a critter get it in pawpads, you might try gloves, otherwise I'd leave it for the gov.

Maybe just attach slices of bread to the soles of your shoes and walk around the alley.

I saw someone essentially suggest wearing a glove wrapped in thick tape.

shop vacs are only like $30 and handy for many things, just saying

Could it get clogged, though? Maybe crunch the bigger glass with mallet or baseball bat or something first.

Crunch it w handle of a broom or rake or etc., so won't put your back out.

too rough to sweep, like, you are afraid you would get mugged for your broom if you were to attempt it? idgi?

shop vacs are only like $30 and handy for many things, just saying

― thinkmanship (sleeve), Thursday, August 11, 2022 4:17 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes, you already knew the answer Josh. Nobody wants to be their dad, but it is time.

Just bought a shop vac and I'm loving it. Today I realized that the nozzle fits onto the end of my random orbital sander's dust chute *swooooooon*

lol josh i’m not minimising your situation but i have multiple broken bottles in my surrounding streets and alleys every day and have kind of just accepted it as a normal part of living in the city. i can’t imagine what the response would be if i actually got through to someone at the council about it.

I'm pretty sure they'll clean it sooner rather than later. I'm a taxpayer, dammit! But seriously, my municipality is pretty responsive.

Anyway, xpost, I meant "too rough" as in the actual literal surface; all the glass is nestled in the cracks and stuff, so sweeping doesn't work. It has to be either picked up by hand or vacuumed. On that front, there are soooooo many shop/wet-dry vacs! Are capacity and vacuum strengths the only real variables? There seems to be a good, small Craftsman one for about $40. What would I be missing out on with that model vs. the one for, say, $100 (which is by no means the top of the line, either)?

This is the one I was eying:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-2-5-Gallon-Corded-Portable-Wet-Dry-Shop-Vacuum-Corded/5013057707

Prices seem to go up from there in line with capacity and power.

you could get some syringes and take the needles out and toss them around.. could get some more attention on it

If there were syringes strewn about they would be gone in a second, because hey, free syringes. (#jackhandey)

Are capacity and vacuum strengths the only real variables?

yes

We have a leaky tap. It's a mixer, the cartridge seems to be non standard and the easiest way to check if a new one will fit is to take the old one with me so three times now I've turned off the water via the hard to access screw whose head seems in danger of being stripped, and removed the cartridge to take to a shop, with no luck. The last time I put it back the leak stopped - for a while. Which makes me question if the cartridge is even the problem.

I need to see if i can get sand out of the telescopic lens section of my camera. Don't want to have to pay loads to get the camera repaired. Wondering if having a vacuum cleaner would make things easier since i have seen that suggested. JUst not opening when the power is switched on which has been a pain cos I have had things i would have shot since this happened.

I wonder if compressed air might be more effective than a vacuum?

I attempted to fix a leaky shower. Went outside to the curb to shut off the water and the entire "pit" under the manhole was filled with dirt. Took awhile of digging to find just the meters, much less the nozzle to shut everything down.

So I decided that the shower wasn't really leaking that much.

I swapped out my tail light assemblies a few weeks ago and it felt really good to be out there on the street taking a car apart with tools.

a while back our ancient dryer stopped heating and I revived it with a new heating element; this week it started overheating so much clothes were almost too hot to touch

I replaced the thermostat and the dryer is working at sub-combustion temperatures again

My wife and I troubleshot and fixed the thermocouple on our hot water heater together and it was GLOOOOORIOUS.

Leaky tap update: I bought a replacement valve/cartridge/gland/whatever for this tap:

https://www.bristan.com/product-files/529178/product-web-image.jpg

When I should have bought one for this tap:

https://www.bristan.com/product-files/547295/product-web-image.jpg

Obviously the parts for those taps are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, why wouldn't they be?

next stage away from legal proprietariness would be universal parts but that would take away from the profit margin wouldn't it?
Like people couldn't accidentally buy the wrong part then not return them within the given time like

I got sand in the telescopic lens bit of a pocket digital camera and can't get it to clear. Have tried compressed air so far but still not clearing.
Don't know what to do. Don't have funds to get a camera fixed and missing taking photos.

vacuum cleaner?

I've heard vacuums can be bad for electronics, because of static (?), but it might still be the best bet in this case, since you can't exactly take the lens off. Compressed air can give mixed results, since you run the risk of getting the grains further in there, but anything that potentially loosens them has got to be a good thing.

Does it still retract/extend? Is it something annoying that you can live with, or is it affecting the operation of the camera?

How do you dial the operator on that, ledge?

when the silicon nose pads fall off my glasses I have fucked up before by trying to superglue them back on again and ruining the lenses. The specsavers ones are a piece of hard plastic quite solidly fixed to the pad arms with a silicon covering which invariably fall off after a year or so of wear and tear. I bought some full moulded nose pads from e-bay for a few quid. Removed what was left of the uncomfortable specsavers one with a hot knife and fitted the replacement with some long nosed pliers. Not exactly the most amazing repair I have ever done but I'm happy because they are more comfortable on the nose than the previous ones. And I really hate going to specsavers, even they offer free repairs on their glasses - can't fucken stand the place.

my dad had an dental plate for his upper teeth - a while back it broke, and my dad decided to repair it w ~superglue~ him being an endearing combo of deeply practical & wildly impractical

of course the superglue precluded any repair the dentist/orthodontist could have made & dad had to shell out for a whole new plate instead of a repaired one :(

you have no control over superglue as well, just the gentlest most careful little squeeze and it runs everywhere. It's still very useful though, lol!

If you want to hang from a girder by a hard hat, it's aces.

i have faith in superglue to a point but not so that i’d put it anywhere near my mouth lol jeez dad

Superglue may be one of the most fear inducing substances you can buy at a retail building.

Learning cycle repair and maintenance to a great degree. Have always wanted to get some mechanical training,. Hoping that once I do have this training I can also apply principles elsewhere. Sewing Machines etc.
But when society collapses I will at least have this behind me.
Has been cutting into my reading time though.

If there's super glue around, have some debonder (Bob Smith Industries Debonder https://a.co/d/38h6pjG) on hand. I learned about it when having to use super glue in a STEM camp for 40 8th graders gave me massive anxiety

aren't they less trouble if they're all stuck together?

repairing kids by making real bonds between them?

lmao

I doubt the parents would approve though

More that they'd end up stuck to me and have to take some home 🤣

"Separating plastics parts with a razor saw is usually the best option"

Poor kids

Portable oil radiator stopped working.
Disassembled and tested continuity. The tip-over safety switch seemed to have gone.
Removed it, joined the contacts.
Radiator works.
Another safety feature, successfully disabled!

I will simply not knock it over.

if it's plugged into a circuit protected by an RCBO it'll be reet! Although I say this about all dodgy electrical appliances, perhaps one day I'll be wrong!