Jamcleat

I made these bracelets a while back. The one in the foreground is in the style of Ashley 2979, a French Sinnet with 4 strands. The one in the background is in the style of Ashley 2976, also with 4 strands. Ashely notes that we are calling these “French Sinnet” while the French call them “Tresse Anglaise”. Ashley also notes that these sinnets are usually made with an odd number of strands, the simplest being 3. I have usually worked with an even number.

This wire is AWG 16 gauge copper electrical wire stripped of insulation. You get 3 pieces from each length of wire. Some types vary in color by strand. You will need approximately 2 times the length to be braided of each strand plus enough to hold on to.

To make 2976, start with 4 strands holding 2 strands in each hand. Take the strand that is furthest away over 2 under 1 and back around, alternating. The strands end on the same side they started.

To make 2979, start with 4 strands in one hand. Work the furthest one under/over/under and back around. Repeat.

Color is from heating with a torch while applying solder to bind the ends. Ends are then cut and filed smooth.

I made a Christmas ornament from a scrap left over from the rope wreath. I unraveled the strands and re-made the 3 strands into 3 interlocked grommets as in Ashley 2864,2865. I probably should have used a bit longer piece. Ashley recommends starting with a length 3 times the desired circumference plus 6 times around the rope. Normally, I use an overhand knot to hold the stands where they meet. With the shorter length, I cut them just long of flush and whipped the ends down.

The latest knot project is a braided rope wreath. This is based on the description in Ashley #2241.

Start with about 3 meters (10 ft) of #16 galvanized wire. Halve it and clamp the sharp ends in a vise. Insert a suitable hand-hold such as a screwdriver shaft in the bight and twist the pair until it lays flat and will hold shape. Form the twisted wire into a hoop about 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16 inches) twisting the overlapped ends together. Wrap the hoop with wadded newspaper or other wrapping to make a form. I used newspaper because I intended to remove it. The split-tube pipe insulation may also work. You want a bit of thickness,say 50 cm (2 inches), some give, and a uniform donut shape.

Follow the directions in Ashley #2241 to construct the knot. Start with 30 meters (96 feet) of 1 cm (3/8 inch) rope. Cut this in half. With the first piece, do 8 wraps, 3 times around, leaving about a little over a meter hanging. Use a clue (a cord of a different material or color) to wrap 8 wraps the other way. Get the wraps as evenly spaced as you can. Now go in parallel to the clue with the second piece of rope weaving over-under. When you get back to the beginning, take the strand under where you were over before. Take this over-under pattern around 3 times. The third time through, make sure that both of the patterns are over-under in both directions. Remove the clue.

When you complete the first level of plait, before you begin doubling, correct any errors by pulling a clue through the knot chasing the line with the error into the knot until it exits. Pull the offending line out leaving the clue. Correct the error by re-weaving Ashley #127. Then follow the clue to the exit with the corrected strand.

Now choose one end or the other of both pieces to pull back to about a 1 meter (3 feet) length. Make sure that these are from the left-hand and right-hand weaves and that they exit in the same direction. This will be the end that will form the final decoration. Pull the excess out through the knot, 6 times around for each strand. Once this is complete, you should find the other ends to be about 1 to 2 meters. Once the original layer is complete and correct, and adjusted, double the first layer in each direction. Then begin removing the excess from the knot making the long tails longer. Work from where the short tails are. Hold them exiting and trailing away from you. Draw up the body with all strands, drawing out slack in loops and rotating the excess toward the exit with the longer strands. Some strands need to go around several times to reach the exit. Finish by bringing all 4 tails to the same exit point (or as close as you can get). Seize the 4 together. Plait a 4 strand flat plait Ashley 2967 (XX in the text drawing below). When a suitable length is formed, form a bight on each side using the longer strands. Seize (verticle bar) near the end and near the central portion along with a splint of wood to hold the cross piece out.

              XX
              XX
       ⊂|=|XX|=|⊃
              XX
              XX
              XX
              XX
              XX
             ——
             ||||

Continue plaiting beneath the crossing for a suitable distance. Whip the ends of each strand. Seize the 4 strands together close by the end seizings (horizontal dash). Cut each strand just beyond the whipping. As a variant, consider drawing the ends to the middle so that the pendant cross in in the middle.

Some of our American Girl dolls are 12 years old.  With play and time, the elastic that holds the legs gives way and the leg is loose or falls off.  While my daughter is grown, my wife still sets up a seasonal table with the girls.

American Girl provides a repair service and will re-attach arms and legs for a fee.  There are doll hospitals in most large cities and individuals in smaller towns that provide doll repair.  If you wish to attempt it yourself, here is one way to do it.

Undress the doll if desired.  This will avoid soil and glue problems. When I examined the doll patient, I noted that the detached leg had a ball-joint that mated with a socket sewn into the cloth torso.  An elastic cord is retained in the ball and holds the two parts together.  The leg appears to be one piece with a hole molded in the hip-joint.  There is what could be a mold-parting-line but I theorized that it was glued or sonicly welded at assembly time. I marked a small index mark on the inside of the thigh at the line with a Sharpie and carefully cut off the top of the leg with and X-acto knife.  Similarly, I marked the torso-to-socket joint and cut the threads where the socket is stitched in.  Inside the leg there was a plastic cup loose and a piece of elastic with an eyelet squished onto it as a retainer. In the stuffing in the torso, was a similar cup and piece of elastic.  I believe that the cups are to make the elastic long enough so that it can be tensioned but still stretch far enough that the leg can be worked on. In one of the dolls, there were washers between the cup and the openings in the leg or socket.  Additional strain relief?  Smoother operation? Abrasion protection?

The elastic is heavy-duty shock cord about 4mm (1/8 inch) diameter.  I did not have any like it but had some flat dress-makers elastic about 10 mm (3/8 inch) wide.  I doubled a piece of elastic about 70 mm long (2 1/2 inches)  and slipped on an eyelet with the flange away from the bitter end, drew it close and squashed the eyelet with a pliers to make a “knot”.  I pushed the elastic through one of the cups so it came out the cup side.  Please note that the cup in the picture Fig 2 is oriented BACKWARD.  The cup should face the other way.  The through the large hole in the severed leg-top.  Next through the large hole in the socket, through the other cup and out the bottom.  Last another eyelet is slipped on.  Using another leg, estimate the tension required and pull the elastic up until the ball-to-socket tension is similar to a good joint.  Mash the second eyelet to complete the assembly.

Put a small amount of cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) on the leg top where it was cut. Carefully replace the leg top matching the index you marked before cutting.  Hold until set.  The glue I was using remained sticky where it had squeezed out after assembly.  A small amount of ammonia or a weak baking soda solution will cause this to set instantly.

Pull the leg-joint apart and to the side to give you room to work. Place the socket in the torso with the alignment correct.  Use hemostats or other small nosed clamps to hold the edge of the cloth aligned with the edge of the socket.  The original socket was machine stitched but I used a glover’s needle and an overhand stitch to rejoin the socket and torso.  A pair of pliers may be required to force the needle through the existing holes and draw it out the other side.

 

When the stiching is complete around the circumference, let the leg slip into the socket and check for fit.  Re-dress the doll and the job is done.

Update on Leg Repair:  In one of the joints I repaired, there were a couple of washers strung on the elastic, I think possibly to keep the cord centered or reduce abrasion.  They do not seem to be essential and found only in joint out of 3.  Perhaps part of the original design but later dropped.
There is also a procedure for Arm Repair.

My brother in Muncie Indiana has completed participation in a project at the Muncie Childrens Museum.   For the last year he has been a “consultant/ finish carpenter” for a Ball State Architecture design- build class(es) project. The Tot Spot child activity area for children ages 0-5 was conceived, designed, and constructed by students under the guidance of architecture professor Pamela Harwood. For David, it has been both challenging and rewarding working with the students as they designed, modified and finally built each of the 6 areas. Each area has an inspirational book, The Giving Tree, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Scuffy the Tug Boat, Oh the Places You’ll Go, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and Old McDonald as a theme. There were over 57 students involved in making it over 2 semesters and both summer sessions. Now that it is open the kids seem to love it.
Thanks to the generous donations and support of the following organizations and foundations, this project was made a reality for the Muncie Children’s Museum: The Boren Foundation, Inc., George and Frances Ball Foundation, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. and Robert A. and Beverly D. Terhune Fund.

In other news, David found out Monday that he has been designated an “Indiana Artisan”. Selection of Indiana Artisans is a juried process. You can go to www.indianaartisan.org to learn more about it.

You can see more of David Calvin’s work at his own website, Whimwood.net.

The taxpayers through the United State Department of Agriculture Agriculture Research Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory have provided a USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 24 of foods, food ingredients, and nutrition.  The current revision is 24.

If you have the Microsoft Access database software, you can download a pre-made MS Access database which presumably has the relationships and perhaps some sample queries.

If you are a Linux or Unix user, you are left to your own ingenuity to create the database.  As I transitioned from SR 23 to SR 24 I thought that I should improve my own documentation to make my life easier next time. Perhaps you will find it useful as well.

In our kitchen/breakfast space is a big Mission Style chair. My analysis of this chair is that it was home or school shop built in the early 1950′s. It has been in a flooded basement or a flood. It has been over-stressed and broken (before the flood). And repaired by someone-not-the-builder.
After a number of year of our use, some of the joints got loose and it was time to repair.
Nearby you can see the chair after repair. And tools involved.
Forensics: The front lintel had been broken before. I suspect that verticals had splayed enough to allow one of the dowels to break. Pulled back together by the repairer, a scrap of wood was nailed to prevent the splay. Long ago and far away, I learned that nailing oak (other than flooring) was futile. Similarly, the glue blocks in the corners were nailed, maybe more than once as attested by the collection of rusty bent nails in each.

I drilled holes for screws in the corner glue blocks that were loose. Put in screws and re-glued. Glued the dowels in 3 out of 4 corners.
About 3 hours and just a small number of hand tools.
Some “Antique Road Show” host of the future will tell then owner of this one, “Interesting, well made, several repairs, a pretty good chair. But not worth much”.

The 1995 Cutlass Cruiser instrument cluster lamps burned out. Actually, two of them had burned out 3 years ago. At that time, I exchanged the the two burned out lamps from the 0-55 side side of the cluster to the 55-110 side that I hardly ever use. Sometime in March, another bulb went making it impossible to see the speed at night. From the original disassembly, I remembered that it was a pain. Allow about 2 hours. Before beginning, make note of the positions of the dead lamps. It may be difficult to tell failed lamps.
For safety, disconnect the battery to disable the airbag. Avoid the yellow wires associated the airbag sensors and airbag. There are a number of screws (over 20) involved in this, so it may be useful to have piece of corrugated box to hold, organize and note the screw positions. Remove 2 screws from either side of the ALDL connector. This will allow the trim panel to be removed from the car in the next step. Remove 3 screws from the bottom surface and 2 screws from the bottom forward edge of the steering wheel trim panel. Remove and set aside.

Using a putty knife at the inboard end of the outboard air-vent airflow director, gently work each of these out. This will expose a 5/16″ screw head. Two more are located on either side of the open ashtray. and one additional one under the instrument cluster. Remove these screws. The trim panel will be retained by several spring-friction clips. Gently work the trim panel loose and set aside. Figure 2. A flexible trim ring may surround the steering column. Remove it at this time. There are 4 screws under the top surface instrument panel surround and 3 along bottom. Remove these screws and the instrument surround. There are 4 screws around the instrument cluster. One on the left is hard to reach. The upper screw behind the corner of the radio panel in Figure 2 is the right-hand side. The left-hand one is located simlarly. Two screws are on the lower edge. A wire and clip connect the panel to the steering column collar. The clip will slide off and the instrument cluster can be removed.
Along the top of the back edge there are 6 smaller bulbs. These are type PC74 lamps and illuminate the warnings. There may be an extra in the “spare” slot that you could use in a pinch to replace a warning light. There are 8 PC194 lamps to illuminate the panel. A ninth PC194 lamp is located on the bottom edge to light the transmission selector indicator quadrant. This is the only lamp the dealers computer called out and it called it as a PC195. Dealer price is $15.00. Online price is $2.00. These PC lamps twist out from the flexible printed circuit with a 1/8 counterclockwise turn. Replace any failed lamps. You can test them on the bench with a 9-volt battery and test clips. Avoid wires associated with the airbag..
Carefully re-insert the instrument cluster plugging the PC connectors into the sockets. Start the 3 easy to reach screws. Reconnect the clip to the steering column collar. Use a piece of paper towel to retain the hard-to-reach left-hand screw in the socket and start and tighten left-hand screw. Tighten the remaining screws on the cluster. You may wish to temporarily re-connect the battery to check the lamps at this point. Disconnect the battery before proceeding.
Re-install the instrument surround and tighten the screws.
Press the long trim panel into place. Start all screws. Then tighten all screws.
Re-install the trim around the steering column.
Re-install the trim panel under the steering column.
Re-insert the vent directors. Note that there is a post on the outboard side of the the socket that keys with a slot on the director.
Finally re-install the ALDL socket.
Reconnect the battery.

Quite a few years ago, my late mother got a Sunbeam Electric Frying Pan. For some reason, I was at home from school (snowday? holiday?) and watching the “Today” show. A lady who may have been Estelle Parsons or perhaps Lee Meriweather presented a recipe for Sukiyaki. I saw a chance for my mother to use her new fry pan. I took notes. I noted especially that the the last ingredient was fresh spinach. “Mom can you make this”? She did. This is what I remember from the recipe. You can compare.
This is the recipe I recall, demo’ed by the Today show hostess. Set the fry pan to medium, a bit of vegetable oil, brown thin-sliced strips of beef. Set aside. Increase heat, brown carrot strips, celery, bamboo shoots (optional). Reset to medium. Add fresh spinach. Cover wait 3-4 minutes for spinach to cook. Serve with rice. Soy sauce.
Recently there was some left over steak strips and some bell peppers. The other night I made a sukiyaki-like dish as above, but no bamboo shoots using a conventional skillet over a gas stove. Pretty tasty. Should have used the whole bag of spinach though.

The Check Engine light on my wife’s 1999 Buick Regal 3.8L came on. After resetting it came on again in a day or so. It had been changed just about a year ago. It came on whenever it was moist outside. My first look at revealed that the cover was lifted. Perhaps moisture was getting in through lifted cover. I put some Goop on it and hoped that it would settle down.
After a couple of days, the light was on again. Time for a replacement. My son did some Internet research and found that someone who had re-replaced the rebuilt unit with a “new” unit and had good results. I got the new OEM part.
Installation of the MAF is straightforward. The only hitch is as a high value part, it has security Torx screws so you are going to need that special driver.

Disconnect the battery. Carefully release the locks on the plug and pull the plug. There are water seals inside so it can be a bit stiff. Slow and steady. Then remove the screws in the corners. Remove the sensor by lifting straight out. Install the new unit. Start, then tighten the screws. Replace the plug. Reconnect the battery.

The Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor tells the engine control computer how much air is flowing into the engine. The computer uses this along with other inputs to decide mixture and other controls.

Since I bought the new unit, there was no need to return the “core” as with a rebuilt part. So What Is In There? The second picture shows the part of the MAF sensor that is in the intake duct. The air goes through the hole and by that horizontal bit. That is actually a “hot wire” sensor. Heated by a current, its resistance varies by temperature. The more air that flows by the cooler the hot wire and so its resistance comes down. You can see that under the lid there is a fairly sophisticated circuit associated with this device.