Metalworking in Canadian bush

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:04:45 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

That sounds like a wonderful way to spend your time during a breakdown.

You guys really lucked out.

Take a spool of bailing wire next time. Wrap it twice around the hose and twist the ends with a pair of pliers to form a perfect hose clamp which will last for a decade or more.

Why don't you guys -fly- in next year? ;)

Yeah, gloat, gloater. I'll volunteer to bring the toolbox next year...

Say, Larry. Where does one get a spool of bailing wire? Many, many years ago I worked the back end of a hay bailer or two that used wire. The wire came from a long cardboard tube and was straight as an arrow till you put it into the divider board slots and it was pressed back through the machine.

I haven't seen any new bailing wire in many years.

Best regards from Oregon Paul

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:34:06 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, co snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com quickly quoth:

I was looking for some recently and found it at the Grange Co-Op. It was "only" SIXTY BUCKS. It was, of course, a 100# spool, and, of course, they would not sell me a portion of one.

Wally World and auto parts stores still stock it.

Baling wire! Bales of hay! Bailing is what you have to do if you build a leaky boat!

:-)

Look for black iron wire at the hardware store. I have even seen spools of it in the Borg Depot stores.

Usually pretty close to the concrete tools.

Cheers Trevor Jones

When something breaks

a) you have a lot less time to fix it; b) there are a lot fewer French Canadians coming the other way; and c) there are no blueberries.

at:

Was camping at stillwater reservoir in the adirondacks a few years back- we canoed in several miles, and had one rowboat with a small motor to carry most of the supplies.

Friend went out with the rowboat, came back several hours later rowing. Engine worky, blade no spin. His only words- "Dave, McGuyver it!" Took it apart with the pliers/screwdrivers avail, sure enough, shear pin broke, of course no spare.

With a chunk of hacksaw-ish blade, scored a screwdriver shaft until it could be broken with pliers/jamming it in a rock crevice. Just the right size, just had to cut off the flat part and cut to length.

There's nothing like being able to make do, is there?

Dave

Next time, Dave, just take out the three pieces, move the middle piece (long one) to one end, and re-insert the pieces.

Then, shift only at dead idle, and take it easy on the throttle -- and you'll get home without busting a good screwdriver.

LLoyd

=========== see

I got it for my home made hot wire foam cutter for lost foam casting patterns. Is real handy for other jobs and wont rust. Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

Or look very closely inside the cover for the 3 spares mounted in a little rubber holder fastened to the block. The ones that come with every out-board.

Of course, if they were already gone, then thank goodness for ingenuity and a screwdriver!!

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.

They bail in small bales still around here - big bales for those who can tote them on a trailer but when pickup is the transport - bales it is.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net TSRA, Life; NRA LOH & Endowment Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal. NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.

co snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Safety wire is better for the application. Often stainless. Better than "mechanics wire" which is the black crap.

You have to play Dominos, cook some of the time, wash dishes some of the time and snore with the best.

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:30:13 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, F. George McDuffee quickly quoth:

Cool. I'll have to see if my local store stocks it. Stainless beats rusted black wire any day.

Years ago near MCAS Beaufort, SC, I had a piece of something kill my radiator. Since the car was old and I lived in the barracks I kept all my tools in the car.

I ended up using a 1/2" drive 1 1/4 socket to connect the upper radiator hose to the lower radiator hose using the hose clamps that were on inlet and outlet ports.

Then I removed the thermostat housing and poured some stream water in to fill the block.

Then I drove slow, stopped often as the temperature gage rose to get back to base.

Since as an E-3 at the time, I seemed to be permanently broke, I had to wait for over a week until payday when I could go to a junk yard to get a used radiator. In the meantime I drove the 2 miles from barracks to hangar w/o the radiator working just fine.

If you ever have to do something similar, put the heater on max, fan on high. It sucked in a South Carolina summer but it did get me a bit further down the road between stops.

Wes

Agreed. But it's not readilly available everywhere.

I have accumulated a large selection of different safety wires, from ten to forty thou, and IIRC one spool of fifty one thou. Some Monel, some Inconel, and some just plain old stainless of unknown origin.

Black Iron wire is cheap, available, and easy to work with, and fits the "Baling Wire" desctription better than stainless lockwire does.

I have actually used baling wire, too! We had a fair collection of sections of prefabbed bale wires for a particular baler that had long since gone for razor blades, when I was a kid. The bundles were hanging on the shop wall, and were a ready source for times that a piece of such wire was needed.

I have to imagine that it was a long hot day, standing on the baler, feeding pairs of these wire sections into the machine to make bales.

Less work than loading loose hay, though, so it must have seemed an improvement.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Gee, you want some SS wire? I might find some around here somewhere...

Floor sweepings don't count! ;-)

On Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:06:51 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

Yeah, you might at that, huh, Tawm?