In Which I Travel to the East, and Meet My Guru.
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:06 am
I had a day out on the RS yesterday, due East, through the Yorkshire Dales to Ripon, which lies roughly the same distance from each coast. A fine late breakfast at Pately Bridge, £3:25, at a biker friendly cafe made a pleasant pause.
Since I retarded the timing, (which had apparently advanced itself), the bike has been really singing, with a nice relaxed tickover, and more "go" than I'm ever likely to need.
A fork oil-change has improved the cornering, I thought sae 5 would be a bit hard, but it's not, and I think there's less dive on braking, though I try to avoid sudden changes of pace.
It was warm ... with dramatic changes from bright sunshine, to a graphite sky, and rain which, as in Spain, seems to evaporate as it reaches the ground.
My destination was the home of a gentleman who works for "Tools for Self Reliance," and I was hoping to pick up a few tips on how I can fit into this complex chain of people who devote their time to collecting tools and sending them to Africa.
After an instructive chat on the patio, surrounded by an oasis of trees and grass in the middle of dense housing, he showed me round. Two lock-up garages full of every kind of hand tool I could imagine, and a neat and orderly shed, where he refurbishes the tools.
His main source is a large box at the local Recycling Centre (Dump), where people deposit tools which he collects on a weekly basis, sometimes netting as much as 4cwt. Last year he raised £3,000, besides sending the tools.
I have at least two of these facilities nearby, and the address of a helpful politician who will assist in setting up boxes for me, and pay me a fee for the scrap metal I keep out of the landfill system. So for scrap, I get paid twice !
Items which are on the "Needed" list I can refurbish myself, or take straight to my nearest centre in Leyland, 30 miles south down the M6.
Tools not on the list can be sold to provide funds for shipping etc. Since I'm now retired, (but not used to saying so yet,) I can donate my time, and my hard-working, (much) better half has undertaken to donate the diesel, so all proceeds can go to TFSR.
From my point of view, I'm less likely to be found nodding in front of the idiot box of an evening, I'll be down in the cellar, bringing old and beautiful tools back to life, and enjoying every minute -- I'll happily settle for that.
Tomorrow, 12sheds and I will take my trailer out of its storage in his garden, and go to Silverdale, where a retired tinsmith has some sheet metal forming equipment, an old oil-filled welder, and a small wood-turning lathe for us.
Lathes aren't on the list, but special arrangements are made for valuable rare items.
I'm hoping to make a few file handles on that, while finding the right future for it. Any turners here?
I'm wondering what sort of wood is best for handles destined for tropical climes where wood is food to a wide variety of insects.
It seems to me, that TFSR is the ultimate recycler of unwanted tools and equipment, with something of the "Robin Hood" element of forming links between the rich and the poor, though hopefully without the "robbing" component.
They don't just dump tools and hope for the best, but in cooperation with other charities, they start with teaching sexual health, literacy and practical matters such as forming a stable cooperative, and developing a project -- then come the crates of tools to do the job. The end result is monitored, and any lessons get learned.
Anything like it 'round your way ?
Sunbeem.
Since I retarded the timing, (which had apparently advanced itself), the bike has been really singing, with a nice relaxed tickover, and more "go" than I'm ever likely to need.
A fork oil-change has improved the cornering, I thought sae 5 would be a bit hard, but it's not, and I think there's less dive on braking, though I try to avoid sudden changes of pace.
It was warm ... with dramatic changes from bright sunshine, to a graphite sky, and rain which, as in Spain, seems to evaporate as it reaches the ground.
My destination was the home of a gentleman who works for "Tools for Self Reliance," and I was hoping to pick up a few tips on how I can fit into this complex chain of people who devote their time to collecting tools and sending them to Africa.
After an instructive chat on the patio, surrounded by an oasis of trees and grass in the middle of dense housing, he showed me round. Two lock-up garages full of every kind of hand tool I could imagine, and a neat and orderly shed, where he refurbishes the tools.
His main source is a large box at the local Recycling Centre (Dump), where people deposit tools which he collects on a weekly basis, sometimes netting as much as 4cwt. Last year he raised £3,000, besides sending the tools.
I have at least two of these facilities nearby, and the address of a helpful politician who will assist in setting up boxes for me, and pay me a fee for the scrap metal I keep out of the landfill system. So for scrap, I get paid twice !
Items which are on the "Needed" list I can refurbish myself, or take straight to my nearest centre in Leyland, 30 miles south down the M6.
Tools not on the list can be sold to provide funds for shipping etc. Since I'm now retired, (but not used to saying so yet,) I can donate my time, and my hard-working, (much) better half has undertaken to donate the diesel, so all proceeds can go to TFSR.
From my point of view, I'm less likely to be found nodding in front of the idiot box of an evening, I'll be down in the cellar, bringing old and beautiful tools back to life, and enjoying every minute -- I'll happily settle for that.
Tomorrow, 12sheds and I will take my trailer out of its storage in his garden, and go to Silverdale, where a retired tinsmith has some sheet metal forming equipment, an old oil-filled welder, and a small wood-turning lathe for us.
Lathes aren't on the list, but special arrangements are made for valuable rare items.
I'm hoping to make a few file handles on that, while finding the right future for it. Any turners here?
I'm wondering what sort of wood is best for handles destined for tropical climes where wood is food to a wide variety of insects.
It seems to me, that TFSR is the ultimate recycler of unwanted tools and equipment, with something of the "Robin Hood" element of forming links between the rich and the poor, though hopefully without the "robbing" component.
They don't just dump tools and hope for the best, but in cooperation with other charities, they start with teaching sexual health, literacy and practical matters such as forming a stable cooperative, and developing a project -- then come the crates of tools to do the job. The end result is monitored, and any lessons get learned.
Anything like it 'round your way ?
Sunbeem.
