Moving shop again (again)...

[AdeV]

as I'll be spending most of my time in China for a few months" - bloody long way to go for a take away ? Don't they deliver down your way?

Looks really nice and very comfy. Where does the biccy barrel live though?

The China thing is a long story.... briefly hinted at elsewhere. I was hoping for a delivery just before Christmas, but UK Immigration put the kybosh on that, so I have to collect instead ;)

The biscuit barrel (or 205l drum, as it's more commonly mistaken for) will find a home, don't you worry! Although with luck, the homebrew beer on tap will reduce biscuit cravings due to unconsciousness 

[AdeV]

One of the things I want to do with this office is have an uninterruptable power supply on all of the computers & network gear. I got lucky and bought about £1000's worth of APC UPS on ebay for £50 a couple of years ago. The front panel is missing, but it works just fine, and will run 2 servers, all of the network gubbins, and my desktop computer, for about 4 hours before the battery goes flat.

Anyway, as anyone who's ever owned an APC UPS will know, they use a C14 female connector on the back, and a "special" C14 male to C13 female power lead (C13 = standard 3-pin kettle lead, C14 = the socket version of a kettle lead). Rather than having untidy power leads trailing around to the various points where I want uninterrupted power... I've decided to wire the wall plugs to the UPS. But one day, the UPS will need replacing (or bypassing), so how to do this in a tidy manner?

Answer: Buy a wall plate with a C13 male socket on it. Problem: They don't exist! Well, almost, one company sells such a thing, and it's clearly a 50p C13 socket screwed into a 50p blanking plate, for which they charge the tidy sum of £13. It's also only available in white, and one plug per single-gang faceplate.



I want four sockets on a single 2-gang faceplate.

So... break out CamBam, and before you know it:



These days, they do fancy dancin' "screwless" faceplates... which are just a faceplate, with another one clipped over the top. By being crafty with the machining order, I can cut the holes in both outer plate & inner plate, but only cut the screw holes in the inner plate (see what I did there  ), so I SHOULD end up with a nice satin chrome plate, with 4 C13 plugs showing, and no visible screws holding them in place 

Isn't it amazing, the lengths we'll go to to avoid actually finishing a project? 

Anyway, the upshot of that will be, I'll be able to use standard UPS leads from the unit to the wall, then that will be structured cable to the wall sockets. And if the UPS fails, I just bypass it with standard kettle leads. Hopefully, pictures tomorrow

[RobWilson]

Hi Rob,

 No need to book a hotel, we can throw a mattress on the pool table 

Now how can a bloke refuse an off like that Ade,     around June the 12th is good for me, as I am off work and the wife is away that week.     

I am pondering a trip to the Isle of Man, maybe I could combine the two, Booking.com says your pool table is available that week.   


Rob

[DMIOM]

Hi Rob,

 No need to book a hotel, we can throw a mattress on the pool table 

Now how can a bloke refuse an off like that Ade,     around June the 12th is good for me, as I am off work and the wife is away that week.     

I am pondering a trip to the Isle of Man, maybe I could combine the two, Booking.com says your pool table is available that week.   


Rob

Better still, bring Ade over to IOM with you !

       

Dave

[AdeV]

Hmmm.... very VERY tempting....

I haven't been to the IOM for years, came over a while back with the race car (we had a race at Jurby)... unforgettable memory: Our "nominated driver" (while we were getting leathered at various pubs on the front in Douglas) decided his ancient Sherpa van was ripe for a drag race with........ a horse tram! The lights went green, he nailed it, and the horse sh*t itself (poor thing). The look on the driver's face (and the horse's for that matter) were priceless....

[AdeV]

Wayhey! I finally get to stop messing about with plasterboard and wood, and do some real machining for the office!! Woo!

OK, it's only a little TINY bit of machining, but even so, it's a good excuse to make sure the old CNC machine is still working (it is  ).

So, take one shiny new blanking plate, and screw to a piece of sacrificial wood. Clip decorative plate to the top. Those clips are pretty sturdy, they'll stand up to the machining forces I'm sure:



Urgh, maybe not....



The cutter bit a little hard, the feed rate was a little high, and those "sturdy" clips got ruined. Oh well, lucky I bought 2 (just in case one got messed up...).

Second setup with some bodged up ali clamps to hold the decorative bit down, there's paper underneath to preserve the finish. Slowed the feed rate waaay down, and all went well:



A few seconds with the file had the holes cleaned right up. Then, the same ops on the actual blanking plate underneath. I'd hoped this would be  a nice flat plate, but it isn't, it's got a weird shape pressed into it. Never mind, I can just squeeze everything in where I want it. So here's the finished article - note the minor "bodge" required to one of the plugs, to fit around the shape:



Of course, if I'd actually managed to hit the centre of the plate, instead of somehow being 2.5mm off in both X & Y, then I wouldn't have had that problem. Hey ho, maybe next time. This one's going to be tucked away under a bench anyway, so it's not like it's going to be in yer face.

So, one 4-way IEC C14 male plug on a 2-gang wall plate, looking pretty tidy:







Lessons for the next one:
- Measure the actual plugs, don't go by the drawings. The plug cutouts are actually slightly oversized.
- Don't rely on clips for clamping.
- Hit the bloody middle!

There's only one remaining conundrum... do I mount it vertically or horizontally? 

[John Stevenson]

Horizontally.

The Yanks mount theirs vertically with the result the plugs always fall out.

I'm certain Capricorn One was for real.

[awemawson]

Glad the Interact survived the move 

Odd to need four individual inputs Ade - at least I hope that they are individual inputs or someone is going to have a shock 

[philf]

Odd to need four individual inputs Ade - at least I hope that they are individual inputs or someone is going to have a shock 

I thought the same but thought I must be missing something. 

Phil.

[awemawson]

Phil, I think we have our answer in Ade's post #51 

[AdeV]

It'll all be a bit more obvious in pictures... but basically the UPS has 2 banks of outputs, to get the full rated load capacity the outputs should be shared between them. Why four plugs - well, I plan to wire them as spurs rather than a ring, so I'll wire each block of wall sockets to an individual plug. It's probably overkill (I could have put just 2 plugs in and got the same effect), but what the heck. The plugs only cost 60p and the milling time is free 

Oh, Andrew - the Interact hasn't been moved yet.... I'm still in 2 workshops 

[AdeV]

The new workshop has a rat infestation  Sneaky bastards managed to slide the bait off the trap without tripping it... I've been told you can stick raisins to the traps, forcing the rat to yank at said raisin thus earning itself a broken neck. It's that or glue a piece of cheese to the damn thing!



Anyway... an explanation of the UPS/4-gang plug thingy....

By each desk, there's a block of 3 double sockets. I want these sockets to be fed from the UPS. so... the sockets will be wired up as a spur (they'll only be taking computer gear, no heavy loads), and the spur will head back to the backplate & one fo the plugs. 2 of these (2 desks), plus a pair of sockets for the network switches on their own spur, and finally however many sockets I need for the servers (4 probably, that'll cover the wireless network gear as well). Each spur goes back to its own socket.

On the back of the UPS are 8 outputs, arranged in 2 groups. Full power is only available if its split between the two groups; so 2 plugs will be connected to one group, and 2 will be connected to the other. Thus, hopefully, more-or-less balancing everything.

Here's the UPS plugged in (only got 2 proper cables at the moment, the others will turn up in due course I am sure):



The front panel got smashed when it was dropped, leaving just the control panel dangling on some cable. It's connected with, of all things, an RJ45 plug/socket; so I might just run a dedicated "network" wire around to the desk, and machine up a replacement front panel of my own design. Although that'll probably be the kiss of death for the UPS...



Around back, you can see the 8 protected outputs, and the chunky (14A) input/unprotected-outputs. Out of shot is a non-standard serial port, a USB port, and an auxiliary battery terminal. Last time I used this UPS, in my office, it would run the entire server cab (4 or 5 pizza-box servers as I recall, various networking gear etc.) for over an hour. That's plenty in my book; and it'll be under even less load this time. Batteries are readily available too, when the current ones inevitably pass on. I should even be able to boil a kettle with it.... provided I turn everything else off first!

[John Stevenson]

You are not supposed to give mice and rats cheese, it's not good for them................

[John Swift]

Hi Ade

we had a mouse problem 20 or  more years ago a
 I bought a few "little nipper " mouse traps from Rapid Hardware in liverpool
day 1 the mice didn't like the Chedder cheese
day 2 used peanuts and little bu..ers took the nuts without tripping the trap 
day 3 hot glued peanuts to trigger - success , three corpses and no more mice

so you glueing the bait to the trigger makes sence to me -
just don't catch your fingers in that rat trap - a mouse trap is bad enough

 John

[PeterE]

A short while ago I had the same problem and thought it best to set up a trap. I heard the mouse/rat but was not able to see it. So I got a rat trap of the same type as on your picture. the result was the same, bait removed without releasing the trap.

Tried again with the same result. Got angry and then tied the bait to the trigger (I used a small piece of ham and cheese) with some sewing thread. Nice knot around the empty trigger and then some turns around the bait. The idea was to make sure the little bugger was caught out by the thread and pulled the whole trap with him as he snatched the bait.

Success - one down and in this case no more to go. It also turned out I used a way too big trap as the intruder was a mouse not a rat. Could that be the reason for why the bait is snatched? The mouse is too light (-footed) to trig the trap?

/Peter

[chipenter]

Penut butter worked for us the first one the trap disapeared , so we tied the trap to a brick and covered it to stop the cats getting to it , got 6 more 1 adult the rest babys .

[RussellT]

I've caught a lot of mice over the last two years in the sail store at my sailing club.  The most unusual was catching one mouse in two traps.  It got its tail in one trap, dragged that about 8 feet to another and stuck its head in that one.

I've found cheese to be perfectly good as bait although people are often telling me I should use Mars Bar or Raisins or chocolate coated raisins.  I catch enough already without attracting more with luxury foods.  It helps if the cheese is hard and so is secure on the spike.

I have found that the famous misquote "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door" is incorrect.  Mousetraps aren't all that good and quite often the bait is taken without catching the mouse - but they are adequately good.

I like the type Ade has got because they're easy to set without risking your fingers.  However the Little Nipper and its Rat Trap version have a platform which the rat/mouse has to put it's feet on which may in theory make them more effective.  I have both the types I've shown  below but I can't say that I've noticed one being more effective than the other.

I think the easiest way to increase your success rate is to set multiple traps.

Russell

[awemawson]

An office cat is the answer.

We have a continual onslaught from rats on the farm as there is a fair amount of animal feed about. Once the cat took up residence in a Portakabin with outside access the problem reduced markedly..

[Pete W.]

What do you think of this one:

 

[Jo]

I have used numerous traps: For large infestations I like the coke can (with peanut butter on it) on a spindle that can freely spin over a deep bucket of water that is designed to test their long term swimming skills, the water being deep enough that they cannot cheat and put their toes on the bottom. But normally I am lazy I use poison: they can come, eat what they like, then can go and sleep it off else where

Long term the spinning coke can over the tank is good for a couple of weeks  Not sure what you can use for the duration of your planned honey moon 

Jo

[howsitwork?]

 for bait nutella takes some beating as they adore it. I put some in a deep bucket of water and they drown on route !

Discovered by accident as I put some old bottles in a deep bucket of water to soak labels off and over 2 days found 2 drowned rats. Now I just leave the old bottles in a deep bucket of water - it works just chuck the corpses out ever week or so.

[AdeV]

Well, now that I'm stuck back in Blighty for a while, I may as well make some more progress with the office-stroke-games room... Before I went away, I'd managed to finish off all the plasterboarding (on the inside at least), since I've come back I've fitted most of the carpet (ran out of recycled carpet tiles, damn! Some more on order due this week), fitted some laminate flooring I'd chanced across to go under the coffee machine/fridge and the entrance door. Wired up the master bank of plug sockets, cut painted & made my own skirting board (cheapskate) out of reclaimed ply, fitted two of the four flourescent  light fittings & wired them into the switch by the door. So far, everything's just plugged into a big four-way extension lead that's sitting on the roof.... but at some point I'll fit a proper consumer unit and wire it all in how it should be.

There's still a huge list of things to do, so if anyone's interested I'll post the odd update every now & then 

Cheers!
Ade.

[awemawson]

Good to hear that you are back Ade - keep those updates coming !

[AdeV]

More by luck than judgement, the lathe has actually ended up in a position where it can be used - unlike all the other machines which are hemmed in by engines, compressors, cars, benches, desks, barrels and various other junk which I seem to have accumulated.... However, whereas I previously had the lathe against a wall, this time there's stuff behind it which I really don't want soaking in cutting oil...

Hence today's little project, to fabricate up a chip guard/oil spray arrestor...

Now, I've seen some superb work done on these forums where people have made exquisitely crafted backs to their lathes, carefully made to an exact fit and painted to match the rest of the machine. This, I'm afraid, is not one of those. For starters, I was on the clock - I can only use the workshop from around 5.30pm to 8pm during the week, and by the time I've finished nattering to the various other reprobates on site, it's usually nearer 6pm than 5.30.... so what can we throw together in 2 hours?

Behold the magnificence.....

The frame is a load of junk 2x2 timber, cut to size. The "tray" and back are some surplus laminate flooring panels, nailed to the timber frame. The whole thing free-stands behind the lathe, with the lip of the tray positioned "just so" to clear the top of the existing chip tray. The funny shape is due to the necessity of clearing the taper turning attachment which overhangs the back of the bed by a good 8". Measurements were all taken with a ruler marked only in feet, so there's a little bit of +/- going on

Still, it should be functional, and at least this time there won't be a streak of oil left up the wall behind the chuck! I might even put a lid on it and hang a light there... although the weight of the light might cause the whole contraption to overbalance and fall on the operator when least expected...

Some pictures for your amusement are attached below.

[SwarfnStuff]

Hi Ade,
      I think you should invest in a little white paint so you can easily see the oily racing stripes easier.      At least you will not splatter anyone that walks behind the machine. Assuming they can navigate the (storage?) accumulation there.
John B