Our electric mitre saw went on the blink. It was sparking like crazy, and on closer examination, it had lost a copper segment from it’s commutator. It was a decent enough saw. Not quite a cheapo one, but not quite a professional one either. A search on the ‘net revealed that a new armature assembly would be over half the cost of a new saw. Beyond economic repair in other words. It would be a shame to trash a decent saw for such a small fault. So we’re trying to fix it by making a new copper segment.
TOG Moving…….A Stay of Execution
TOG’s lease on Chancery lane expires in the next few days, but since they’re not ready to tear the place down just yet, we’ve been given a minor reprieve. We can stay on month-to-month for a little while. It’s a very busy time for us at the moment, so it kinda suits us to hold on for a little bit, until we get some events out of the way. We’re still preparing for the move, so watch this space or join our mailing list / twitter feed for updates.
Metal Lathe
Late last year TOG took delivery of a new toy…. a brand new metal lathe. At about 600Kg, it’s probably the heaviest bit of equipment that we have in the space. We had some fun getting it in the door……and yes we did measure the door before we ordered it 🙂 . A bit of heaving and ho’ing with an engine crane and we soon had it up on its cabinet stands. We spent a few weeks assembling it, reviewing all the accessories and getting it all tested. We have 3 and 4 jaw chucks, live and dead centres, steady rests and a number of other tools and accessories.
We’ve had some great instruction from one of our members relatives. We’re now slowly beginning to use it. Our crafters kindly made a nice protective cover from some spare vinyl. The lathe is a great addition to our workshop . We have a brand new MIG welder on the way too, thanks to one of our regular workshop user/members. We even have a CNC Mill in our sights too….right Ed 🙂 . Drop in and have a tour of our workshop. You can see all of our tools and equipment. More pics here…..Lathe Pics
Pizza
Every pizza joint around here knows TOG. You hardly ever have to explain to them where we are. So it was high time that we made our own pizza oven in the yard.
Loads of pics here
First we had to set some cavity blocks. There’s quite a slope on TOG’s yard so the left side was about 20mm lower than the right. The left side blocks had to be raised to compensate. After the bottom 4 blocks were set, the others were simply stacked on top. Lengths of timber, painted with bitumen paint for waterproofing, were laid across the top, Now we had a suitable platform to build on.
TOG open on Sat 27th December
By Sat 27th December, after two days of Christmas festivities, hopefully you’ll be in the mood to get out and about. We’ll be opening up TOG from about 2PM until very very late. It will be open social style opening……just an excuse to come in, hang out, get some music on, call out for some food etc. If you’re around town, drop in for a break from the post Christmas shopping. The kettle will be on.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about coming in or even joining. It’s a great chance to see the space and what we’ve been up to in 2014. Whether you’re a member or visitor, its free to come in. We’ll be talking about plans and projects for 2015. Hope to see you on the 27th. The craic will be mighty.
TOG at Repair Cafe
TOG will be at Sandymount Repair Cafe this coming Saturday (27th) 2pm – 5pm  in Christchurch Hall, Sandymount.
A repair cafe is where people come together and fix all sorts of things. Experts work along side the object’s owner and take a journey together to repair things. The hope is next time you will be able to fix something yourself .
If you have something that is in need of repair and want to know how to do it, drop by on Saturday.