Every Little Bit Helps . . .

A casual remark to someone the other day got me thinking about the best way to allow air in and out through the vents but not to let water (dust is another problem altogether) get through. The multiple layers and the drain from the middle to the outside are the first step. They are based on the principle that the water tends to "bump into"the screen and trickle down rather than fly straight through (unlike neutrinos). I was suggesting that some fly wire in there would be a good idea to stop mosquitoes etc. as well and would help with the breakup of the water when it occurred to me that there is an ideal material for this purpose. Common pot scouring material is perfect - it is basically countless holes held together by some non-rusting nylon - which lets lots of air through but surprisingly provides plenty of resistance to water. A quick trip to the local hardware store for a "bulk" supply and a bit of quick work with some scissors (just keep the joins away from each other) put in multiple layers up to about 25mm thick and it's all ready for a trial.


















I was amazed and delighted to find that I could blow through it almost as if it wasn't there but also spray a garden hose onto it without getting a drop through!!
And I bet the mozzies have a hard time too!!

Realising that now the only thing really stopping me from having a bit of a trial is that leaving the city without a spare tyre is really very silly I decided that I can't put it off any longer but I have to make the mounting bracket. This has been bugging me for a while as to how to make it strong enough while still being "elegant" until it occurred to me that in this case the wheel was hanging off the truck not the truck hanging off the wheel so strength wasn't really such an issue and most of it would be hidden behind the wheel so I should just get on and make something ugly and weak.
Flat bar and "angle iron" fit that bill exactly.























Weld it together with enough weld to hold the Queen Mary together



































drill holes to match the bolt pattern on the back of the truck


















and some more bigger ones to match the wheel


















and make a spare one in case I get a second spare (to be sure to be sure).


















Now the holes in the wheel are quite big to allow for the massive wheel studs necessary to hang the truck off the wheel but way to big for "visa versa". I really think that 16mm high tensile bolts will be more than adequate (after all I'll only be using stainless steel for the other side). They are also tapered each side !!!























So what I need is some washers to fill in the holes and bear on the tapered part (like a wheel nut) to support the wheel without damaging the holes.
Seeing it will all be hanging out in the weather stainless steel seemed like an obvious choice so I fired up the CNC lathe and manufactured some tapered washers to do the job. They go into the mounting plate like so























and into the wheel like so.























The beauty of being able to do this is that while the lathe is working I can go and do other little jobs that don't seem to get done otherwise.

An interesting little item is to apply some grip tape (like adhesive backed sandpaper) onto the front edge of the (as yet unfinished) steps. This suddenly became more important with the advent of winter causing a slip on the step (fortunately without damage to life and limb) and had the interesting side effect of making the steps much more user friendly at night as it's very difficult to see the edge of the step in the dark.


















Next the stove / sink combo can be properly sealed into the bench to prevent any inevitable spills seeping down into the bowels of the cupboards and putrefying.
Again lots of masking tape applied prior to silicone. The main purpose of this is that I like to put enough on to have some squeeze out so that you can see it has created a seal all the way round. The drawback of this is that it then needs cleaning up. My method is to let it squeeze out, give it a wipe all around to smooth it off letting the excess spread onto the tape and then peel off the tape immediately. All the excess is removed with the tape and there is only a thin line left around the edge. Give it a spray with some water and detergent (which prevents it sticking to you) and a last wipe smooth and it's all done, and NO MESS !!


















While silicone was to hand it seemed like a good time to do a few other bits as well.
The handbasin in the bathroom had not been properly sealed in either as I thought it was best to wait until the "drawer" front was attached and sealed as it is easier to get at this way. More tape.


















Same deal then for the basin


















This is one of those weird images where you can't tell whether it's going up or down - but I assure you it's the right way up.























I was also concerned about the door frame as the bathroom will be subject to high humidity and moisture was likely to penetrate under the frame causing it to either rot or twist.
So around the frame too









































Lastly a little job using some adhesive backed velcro used to hold the kicking boards in place. I decided to do this rather than screwing them in place as there is quite a bit of space behind them which could be used for a bit of storage of seldom used items.


















So pretty soon I'll be able to attach the spare wheel . . .
hmmmm . . . the current plan calls for using the motorbike ramp as a lifting device to get the wheel up and down so it looks like I'll have to tackle that too . . .