Feb. 2017

The January Meeting

the numbers to embarrass him but I’m sure Brian won’t do that again. To add insult to injury, the map is now slightly torn!

Brian and his map

Unfortunately I was not at the meeting so this newsletter has been prepared using notes and photographs supplied by Bruce Mannerow. (In fact "unfortunately" is probably not the right word because I was away in Vermont enjoying the skiing.)

What was more unfortunate was that there were only nine members present. Bad weather in the London area probably kept people from that direction away.

Continuing on the unfortunate theme, like various sports organizations we now have a club injury list: Kasey Schuilenberg came off second best when he was up a ladder doing some jobs and the ground suddenly came up and hit him. The result was a broken hip and some time in hospital. Apparently he is now back home, getting around with the help of a cane. Martin Beales had his moment of horror on his stairs when his left foot took two steps down while his right foot took none. He sat on it and the ankle could not take the strain. Anyway he seems to have had his money’s worth out of OHIP because it was X rayed and set in a cast in Newbury then there was a repeat performance when he was taken into the Hamilton Hospital. At the time of writing his broken ankle was still in plaster. We wish them both well.

Kasey’s accident reminds me of rules that came into place during my last few years at work. Most if not all companies in the valley essentially banned working from ladders because of the accidents that have occurred. Overhead work now requires use of scaffolding or one of those man-lifts. (It’s a pity these things are out of the reach of individuals cost wise because there are numerous occasions when I could have made use of one.)

Workshop Tips

Bruce gave a 5 min "hint" that was picked up from the Joe Pieczynski website. (He does not seem to know how to pronounce his name either because he just calls himself "Joe Pie".) It is about centering square stock easily in a 4 jaw chuck. The usual method is to put an indicator on one of the square stock sides and find the high point, then move the indicator off, roll the chuck 180 degrees and repeat. The jaws are adjusted and the procedure repeated on the other two sides. This is a slow process because one has to move the indicator out of the way to rotate the chuck and then move it back in and find the new high spot.

Slow way