Wow! Glad you didn’t forget to take anything up there. Spare drill bits may have been appropriate in case of breakage or loss. I reckon that must be a good quality cordless drill.
I was lucky on several counts this occurrence. I did make 2 trips up and down….went up the first time w/o drill or bits and w/o oil can….overly hopeful. I’ve dragged a series of extension cords up there a couple times so I could use a corded drill…the cords are a pain, but using the cordless really pushes the limits of the batteries. (It’s a Hitachi 12 volt which I chose for its compactness, and due to good experiences w/ Hitachi) A cheapy….pushed to extreme in this situation.
Halfway up, I got the heebie-jeebies and had to back my way down. After I got my nerve back, I finished watching the rest of the tutorial. I could never do that.
No nest of squirrels in there this time….piece of cake. I’ve been using sonic rodent repellers for a couple years, plugged in 24/7….seems to work. They used to nest on the middle platform, and are the cause of quite a bit of the debris you see in the video. Tough housekeeping job up there….I’ve done everything but vacuum.
And yes, mech-types, I tried putting washers outboard of that power arm, hoping that it would not creep out and gain more leverage on the bolt. Made no difference in life span of bolt. Individual bolts vary though. I’ve had some last 2 months, others almost 2 years.
Proof that the can-do spirit is alive and well in the USA (albeit possibly stronger in rural rather than urban parts). That the image of a wasteful sub-continent, lazily promulgated by journos who are simply copying other journos, could stand a little revision. I’m proud of you MikeM – recognising there is a story to tell about the nuts and bolts of life (literally in this case) and that windy abstractions can go to hell in a hand-cart.
I await with growing impatience the appearance of Bell Repair Tutorial 2 (More accurately Bell Repair Tutorial Tutorial) in which you go through the whole thing again accompanied by a camera-equipped dwarf who films you filming the procedure. A dwarf who, if he falls, will be caught and held by the mesh intended – I suppose – to keep pigeons from entering the bell chamber and contriving to get their head between bell and clapper.
Questions arise, of course, but as you know that is my trade. That’s a pretty substantial bolt and yet it apparently shears regularly. Might a thicker bolt last longer?
The beauty of film is that it needn’t necessarily tell the truth. We are not to know whether you obeyed your own instructions (“You will need…” etc, etc) or whether you actually forgot the least memorable item on your list (at a guess, the hickey with which you apply the oil) and had to re-descend the ladders before you’d actually started. Not that I’m suggesting… Perish the thought. My money says this was not the case. You’re methodical and methodical alliterates with MikeM.
Also, there was further evidence that you’ve done this before. In removing the bolt after the threaded hole had been cleared you were careful at the end to dispense with the ratchet spanner and turn the bolt with your fingers. Thereby minimising the risks of dropping the bolt and discovering that its dimensions are such that it can – with luck on its side – pass straight through the mesh.
It only remains for me to question the spelling of louvre. But that can wait for another day.
Well done. Perhaps now is not the time to tell you that certain bell towers contain only loud speakers linked to an amp down below in the warmth. That bolts rarely shear with such systems. Nah, I thought not,
And I’m not messing with finding a stronger bolt. I haven’t had to climb into the bell chamber and over the bell to the motor and controller….yet. I do not want to pass the mech. stress(or my own) to an even higher point.
I didn’t understand the rap/toney thing made in an earlier comment but thought I’d let it go. However, since it seems you’re persisting could you please explain – in words of one syllable, bearing in mind my lack of formal education.
As your blog is TONE DEAF, I made the jump to TONE, which wants one more sound to make it sing. The rap thing is just my odd mind at work. R plus TONE plus Y. R for your first name if you wish. See Q-Tip, Ice T. Your nom de plume in Works Well comes to mind here, but I can’t quite speak it.
mykwerks
Posted by Conrad on January 31, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Wow! Glad you didn’t forget to take anything up there. Spare drill bits may have been appropriate in case of breakage or loss. I reckon that must be a good quality cordless drill.
Posted by mykwerks on February 1, 2014 at 11:38 am
I was lucky on several counts this occurrence. I did make 2 trips up and down….went up the first time w/o drill or bits and w/o oil can….overly hopeful. I’ve dragged a series of extension cords up there a couple times so I could use a corded drill…the cords are a pain, but using the cordless really pushes the limits of the batteries. (It’s a Hitachi 12 volt which I chose for its compactness, and due to good experiences w/ Hitachi) A cheapy….pushed to extreme in this situation.
Posted by sofieonecrow on January 31, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Halfway up, I got the heebie-jeebies and had to back my way down. After I got my nerve back, I finished watching the rest of the tutorial. I could never do that.
I salute you!
Posted by mykwerks on February 1, 2014 at 11:42 am
No nest of squirrels in there this time….piece of cake. I’ve been using sonic rodent repellers for a couple years, plugged in 24/7….seems to work. They used to nest on the middle platform, and are the cause of quite a bit of the debris you see in the video. Tough housekeeping job up there….I’ve done everything but vacuum.
Posted by sofieonecrow on February 1, 2014 at 12:43 pm
The hardest parts to view were the shots looking down…shivers, shivers, shivers!
Posted by mykwerks on February 1, 2014 at 6:35 pm
And yes, mech-types, I tried putting washers outboard of that power arm, hoping that it would not creep out and gain more leverage on the bolt. Made no difference in life span of bolt. Individual bolts vary though. I’ve had some last 2 months, others almost 2 years.
Posted by Roderick Robinson on February 2, 2014 at 6:57 am
Proof that the can-do spirit is alive and well in the USA (albeit possibly stronger in rural rather than urban parts). That the image of a wasteful sub-continent, lazily promulgated by journos who are simply copying other journos, could stand a little revision. I’m proud of you MikeM – recognising there is a story to tell about the nuts and bolts of life (literally in this case) and that windy abstractions can go to hell in a hand-cart.
I await with growing impatience the appearance of Bell Repair Tutorial 2 (More accurately Bell Repair Tutorial Tutorial) in which you go through the whole thing again accompanied by a camera-equipped dwarf who films you filming the procedure. A dwarf who, if he falls, will be caught and held by the mesh intended – I suppose – to keep pigeons from entering the bell chamber and contriving to get their head between bell and clapper.
Questions arise, of course, but as you know that is my trade. That’s a pretty substantial bolt and yet it apparently shears regularly. Might a thicker bolt last longer?
The beauty of film is that it needn’t necessarily tell the truth. We are not to know whether you obeyed your own instructions (“You will need…” etc, etc) or whether you actually forgot the least memorable item on your list (at a guess, the hickey with which you apply the oil) and had to re-descend the ladders before you’d actually started. Not that I’m suggesting… Perish the thought. My money says this was not the case. You’re methodical and methodical alliterates with MikeM.
Also, there was further evidence that you’ve done this before. In removing the bolt after the threaded hole had been cleared you were careful at the end to dispense with the ratchet spanner and turn the bolt with your fingers. Thereby minimising the risks of dropping the bolt and discovering that its dimensions are such that it can – with luck on its side – pass straight through the mesh.
It only remains for me to question the spelling of louvre. But that can wait for another day.
Well done. Perhaps now is not the time to tell you that certain bell towers contain only loud speakers linked to an amp down below in the warmth. That bolts rarely shear with such systems. Nah, I thought not,
Posted by mykwerks on February 2, 2014 at 8:55 am
Looked up louver as soon as I typed it, Toney, and my preemptive comment about washers and leverage was wrought with only you in mind.
Posted by mykwerks on February 2, 2014 at 9:39 am
And I’m not messing with finding a stronger bolt. I haven’t had to climb into the bell chamber and over the bell to the motor and controller….yet. I do not want to pass the mech. stress(or my own) to an even higher point.
Posted by Anonymous on February 2, 2014 at 9:42 am
I didn’t understand the rap/toney thing made in an earlier comment but thought I’d let it go. However, since it seems you’re persisting could you please explain – in words of one syllable, bearing in mind my lack of formal education.
Posted by mykwerks on February 2, 2014 at 12:42 pm
RR’s blog name is TONE DEAF. Natural to call him Toney, have yet to hear complaint from him.
Posted by Roderick Robinson on February 2, 2014 at 12:02 pm
I didn’t get the hang of the rap/toney thing but since you’re persisting you’d better explain it to me. In words of one syllable, if you please.
Posted by mykwerks on February 2, 2014 at 12:55 pm
As your blog is TONE DEAF, I made the jump to TONE, which wants one more sound to make it sing. The rap thing is just my odd mind at work. R plus TONE plus Y. R for your first name if you wish. See Q-Tip, Ice T. Your nom de plume in Works Well comes to mind here, but I can’t quite speak it.