Sunday, December 27, 2020 -- Dockweiler Beach

Noticed this on my ride back home.

Vintage VWs hanging out at one of the Dockweiler Beach Parking Lot...

 

Old Camp Stove made in Sweden -- needs the fitting/connection for a 1 lb. propane tank...

I have this old camp stove that needs the fitting for the propane tank.

This fitting on the back of the stove appears to be a 14 mm connection.

Of course, all the stuff available in the US uses English fittings.

Need to find a converter fitting and the right connection for attaching a one lb. propane camping fuel tank...

This may be a tall task...

 

Dining table bench - part 1

S bought a used dining table for her apartment.

It's a large table with two leaves & can probably seat 8 to 12 people.

The table didn't come with chairs.

So, she wants to make a bench that can be used to seat some of the people (mix of chairs and benches).

I have this slab of lumber (pretty thick) that she can use to make a solid bench.

One edge is "natural" or "live" & the other edge is straight cut.

The straight cut edge can be the inside (where people's legs go).

 

Replacing the rear cassette on the Cannondale -- part 4 -- cleaning the rear derailleur

Before installing the wheel with the replacement cassette, the derailleur needs cleaning.  There's grease, dirt and sand on everything...

The red arrow is pointing to the main spring for the derailleur.  It's almost completely coated with sand...

I used compressed air to blow off most of the sand.

The "jockey" wheels' teeth are worn and there's a ridge around the wheel.

Nearly done cleaning...

The red arrow points to a stop screw that is not sitting on the derailleur hanger tab that it's supposed to be sitting on...  Misaligned...

Adjusted the screw out and now it's on the screw stop on the derailleur hanger...

Done cleaning.

Ready for the wheel.

 

Friday, December 25, 2020 -- Christmas Day -- Manhattan Beach Pier

The bike path was crowded and so was the pier area...

 

The "strawberry" tree -- Trimming - part 1

The "strawberry" tree, before some trimming.

Trimmed some of the right hand side of the tree.

(hard to tell because of the tree in the back yard being in the picture)

The area in the green box is where the tree has been trimmed so far.

Also, a "before" trimming picture taken a few days ago.

Similar angle picture of "after" the initial trimming.

The green dotted line is about how much more I plan to trim...

 

Deserts -- after dinner...

Home made cookies...

 

Replacing the rear cassette on the Cannondale -- part 3 -- Installing the cassette on the rear wheel

Applied some grease on the new lock-ring's threads.

Using the special tool to install the lock-ring.

After installation.

Ready to go.

The skewer is very dirty and covered in sand.

This is the lever end.

Need to clean...

This is the "nut" end of the skewer assembly.

There's dirt/grease/sand on the nut and the springs.

After cleaning all the parts of the skewer.

Applied grease before installation.

 

Wednesday, December 23, 2020 -- Manhattan Beach Pier

Pretty overcast today.

The sun is hazy (the camera/picture exaggerates the brightness of the sun).

Quite a few people at the pier.

Sat at this bench across from my usual spot to take a short break before riding back home.

At the Dockweiler beach parking lot where I cross over from the bike path to the service road...

 

Bike shoe "bodge" #3 -- mechanical reinforcement

I had glued a plastic reinforcement behind the tearing part of the plastic of the top strap.

I removed the plastic & cleaned off the last adhesive I had tried, using a sharp blade.

After cleaning off the left over adhesive, I made a cardboard template for a sheet metal reinforcement.

The white material is the cardboard template.

I traced the template onto a small piece of stainless steel sheet that I already had (leftover from something I had bought years ago).

I had gone to the local hardware store to buy some small machine screws and nuts.

I wasn't sure which of two sizes that appears to be about the right size would be best.  So, I bought a dozen of each of the two sizes.

This is even smaller than the #4.

I decided to use these on the repair...

I held the sheet metal reinforcement in place using these spring clamps and drilled the holes for the screw on my drill press.

The hole is a hair undersized so the screws had to be "threaded" through the holes.

It made for a very tight fit with no slop at all.

The blue color is a protective film on the stainless steel.

I removed it once all the holes were drilled.

Decided to use 5 screws.

I drilled this one hole too close to the others so the nut was a very tight fit.

I managed to get the nut on with some "persuasion."

Done.

Will try it out later today on a ride...

My other pair of the same bike shoes, where the entire part had completely separated.

I decided to do a similar repair as the pair above.

But, since it's completely separated, I had to put a reinforcement plate on both the bottom and the top of the strap.

I made paper templates & cut the stainless steel.

The top reinforcement had to be bent in an "S-curve" to conform to the shape of the plastic and the strap.

Same hole drilling process as the other pair of shoes (also used a de-burring bit to clean up the holes after drilling).

Used six screws.

The screws on the strap material actually go through a piece of plastic that's still inside the strap.

The three screws that go through the strap are too long.

Used a thin cut-off wheel (on an air tool) to cut off the screws.

Done.

Both repairs need to last a few weeks/months.

I plan to buy some new shoes early next year...

Went for a ride.

The "bodge" #3 held up, for now.

The repair on this pair is pretty un-noticable...