A friend in Sussex is chucking out a vast amount of bar stock in various sizes which I've only just found out about. He's already weighed in over a ton of mild steel for a paltry £70 a ton at the scrappies. Drat. I'm trying to find out what's left and see if he'll keep it for a bit longer but he badly needs that room cleared.
Next stuff to go will be a ton or so of 316 stainless bar stock which is worth a lot at the scrappies but maybe more to someone on here. Also there's some Hasteloy, Inconel, Phosphor Bronze and various other stuff including EN24 and EN32 which I'm trying to get him to list out for me.
Does any of the above sound useful to anyone? Got a particular bar stock need which I can ask him about?
I've grown to quite like working with EN24 and could probably find a use for a few lengths of Phosphor Bronze and any 400 series stainless. Cast iron is always useful. Can't think of a use for EN32 though...
Can only cope with middled lengths in the Metro unless anyone else needs enough to make a Transit trip worthwhile. If so, could cut down to car sized lengths and re-distribute at the Midlands model engineering show :-)
I could find a use for EN24 and phosphor bronze and if there's any there, some cast iron would be handy. I'd be happy to arrange transport along with any others interested as I can't really move this in my car (unless they're short lengths that fit in the boot). Martin
Like many of the others, I would be interested in some EN24 in any sizes up to 3" dia, and in some 316 SS, inconel and PB.
I live in SE London, so Burgess Hill is not too far away, but I'd need to get my wife to drive me as I am currently unable to drive (lost right leg, waiting for prosthesis). On the other hand, as I won't be able to use my workshop for a few weeks, I don't mind offering space for a temporary lay-down area, so if your friend really needs to get the stuff out quickly we could use my space as a pick-up point. Would need something more than a saloon car to move that much stuff though, and I'm not in a position to do that right now...
I also have a power hacksaw if any of the pick-ups need size reducing to fit car.
If you can wait, and I can get it here (Bromley) I'll be going up to Lancashire in a few weeks - Preston/Blackpool area. Would be happy to take a few bits of the stainless in return.
Thanks for the sentiment, Peter. The rest of me is OK as far as I know apart from the other leg, as described below.
I had some gradually worsening circulation problems in my lower legs (both) over the last 10 years - turned out a couple of the arteries there had gradually blocked up. Then 8 weeks ago my right leg just packed up - the superficial femoral artery (the one that takes blood below the knee) was completely blocked. A heroic attempted double by-pass failed, leaving me with an almost dead foot - there are worse things in life than losing a leg, and that's one of them! Eventually I had to lose the right leg above the knee, but my prosthetic leg is now ready and I'm learning to walk again.
Anyone else in the group with similar problems? Would like to compare notes on how it affects workshop use.
And, for anyone else suffering from numb feet, *get it looked at - now*. I had already made moves to get my symptoms checked out, but the glacial pace of the NHS for non-emergency referrals meant my scan was scheduled for 10 days after this blew up, and in fact the day before my first op. Everyone reads a lot about DVTs, but, as the vascular registrar said to me, vein problems usually sort themselves out, but artery problems are
*serious*.
I do have to go back in for a by-pass on the left leg in a couple of months, to avoid the same thing happening to that as well. Turns out I had aneurysms in several arteries, something I inherited from my mother
- there is apparently a strong genetic element in this; aneurysms are very prone to causing blockages if left unattended.
Crikey! I'd not have guessed from your posts. My commiserations.
I haven't lost a leg, so can't give much in the way of direct experience
- but I have lost several fingers and parts of fingers, and have other damage to my hands, eg neither thumb works properly, so I can talk from experience more generally.
In a way damage to hands is perhaps worse, as it's a much more visible injury, and people stare - though not as much as at people with disfigured faces. You get used to that though, after a while you just ignore it completely unless someone, usually a child, asks.
I have never minded children asking (or even polite adults asking, it's natural to be curious about these things) - it was the reaction of adults, telling the child not to stare/be so rude/whatever, which used to annoy and sometimes embarrass me. But it doesn't seem to happen nowadays - I ignore it, to the extent that I seldom even think of it, and to a large extent people don't even notice any more.
Your attitude is more important than theirs - if you ignore it, other people will usually ignore it too.
A slight limp however is not very noticeable or unusual, and I don't think people will notice at all, or remember, after a short time.
Quite recently my sister asked me to do a job which was obviously for the ten-fingered only - she had forgotten I don't have ten fingers (despite the injuries to my hands I often get asked to pull splinters out, change plugs, and do other fiddly jobs, as I'm better than most at them - the partial lack of dexterity and touch sensation is made up for by learned good hand-eye coordination, and knowing more about hands work than most people do).
There will be some things you can never do again - for instance I can never play the Bagpipes again properly, I don't know whether that is a curse or a blessing though. I don't think you could be an Olympic runner now (except maybe in the paralympics, which you just got the initial qualification for - you have only to work on a qualifying time now :)
These impossible things however are rare indeed, and almost everything will still be possible.
More so of course if you are "determined", though I don't know whether determination or willpower (or bravery - people said I was brave, which was nice but completely untrue, even bewildering) really comes into it.
A little bravery and determination can help with the initial healing, but once the pain is gone it's mostly irrelevant - a little ingenuity is far more useful.
It's more a question of whether you sink in a cycle of self-pity and self-doubt or not - you are left with a choice, either you just try and do it, when you will almost always eventually succeed; or you feel sorry for yourself. And while you can feel sorry for yourself for a time, it gets awfully boring.
If you realise that, willpower and/or determination aren't involved any more, you just get on with things. At any rate it was that way for me, much easier than giving up ciggies. I don't think you will have a problem with this, you don't seem the type.
I don't think you will have much difficulty in a workshop either. Maybe get a stool until the stump heals and hardens, and some levers or whatnot for moving heavy things around?
I nearly went down the pub last Friday leaving my false eye in the bathroom (take it out when showering to give the socket a good wash). It seemed to be itching, and when I rubbed it it wasn't there!!!! Now that would have given them something to talk about
AWEM
ps Dave I'll have that hardness tester back soon as the workshop is now coming together
Not personal experience, but a university friend of mine had a metal leg that attached well above the knee - the engineering was a bit crude, so you could hear him coming about 200 metres away. The main problem he had was driving conventional manual gearbox cars with only one serviceable leg - he fixed this by using the choke control as a manual accelerator to good effect. Not a good solution in modern fuel injection cars though.
He had a memorable saying - "I don't get my leg over, I take it off!"
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.