Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !!

[diggerjones]

My parents have a tiny 2 bedroom semi in llanberis, north Wales. Its a second home as this is where my dad was born and bred.
£3200 per year and they've stopped there probably about 6 nights in the last year

 

[Lancs Lad]

got this on this morning .... forgot to take the pic 'til it was near dark ... View attachment 23506
should help it stay put 'til I can develop the enthusiasm to replace the post .....
posty arrived lunchtime with ....

View attachment 23507View attachment 23508

Pam's been giving it her best afforts to break the repair this morning ..... and the spare'll be staying put for now

Couple of hours later Paul, our Hermes guy arrived with a package that could only be one of the two things I was awaiting arrival of .....
wasn't big enough to be the 10" diameter fan i was waiting for, for the countax .... shed it's blades late last year and in anticipation of some warmer weather (and on Angus's ( @modelman093 advice ) I'd ordered a new one .... so had to be ......View attachment 23509
made up some brackets to get it mounted on the switch box plate off the Meddings ..


View attachment 23510

and got it in place .... after i'd sorted a supply lead into it on the bench .....View attachment 23511View attachment 23512
re-cabled the motor on the bench with some 3 core and earth and got it back in its rightful place at the back of the drill ... and plumbed the new tails into the VFD, having sussed U, V & W's colours for getting the connections right ....


View attachment 23513

as previously discussed .... no cable clamping provision so I'd used some longer than necessary bolts to fix it to its mount plates and tied both cables to those .... will at least give some protection .... certainly more than provided ....
nice fir, width -wise on the mount plate but had to extend it down a bit, to pick up the lower corners ..... with some 30 x 3 flat stiffeners ...
View attachment 23514View attachment 23515
VFD works a treat .... and so does the drill..... will be very nice to just be able to walk up and switch it on for the odd holes ...... all I need to do now is try and work out the various settings and programs available on the VFD's ying tong instructions ... you know the sort I mean ..... total bloody gibberish
the read out is capable of RPM, output voltage, loading, and preset levels BTLs .... just need to translate HTF to set it all from the gobbledygook paperwork that arrived with it.
weather looks grim again tomorrow ... so might have a play then .

can't fault it for the cost and's supposed to run 3HP .... don't think the drill's lil' motor is ever gonna stress it
View attachment 23516

Sheeet that's cheap handy to know thanks

 

[V8Druid]

My parents have a tiny 2 bedroom semi in llanberis, north Wales. Its a second home as this is where my dad was born and bred.
£3200 per year and they've stopped there probably about 6 nights in the last year

jeeeezus ... an' I thought Monmouthshire was bad

 

[bobthebuilder]

jeeeezus ... an' I thought Monmouthshire was bad

second home charge is the killer,in wales there is a charge

 

[diggerjones]

second home charge is the killer,in wales there is a charge

Yes. You pay double

 

[pettsy]

Yes. You pay double

Currently paying double on my house renovation as empty over 2yrs

 

[V8Druid]

Currently paying double on my house renovation as empty over 2yrs

if it doesn't have a functional kitchen or bathroom you shouldn't be paying anything at all

 

[V8Druid]

My parents have a tiny 2 bedroom semi in llanberis, north Wales. Its a second home as this is where my dad was born and bred.
£3200 per year and they've stopped there probably about 6 nights in the last year

Yes. You pay double

missed the bit about it being a second home Dylan ...

 

[Lancs Lad]

if it doesn't have a functional kitchen or bathroom you shouldn't be paying anything at all

Nope they clobber you here now...some "no empty homes" target or something .

 

[pettsy]

if it doesn't have a functional kitchen or bathroom you shouldn't be paying anything at all

Nope they clobber you here now...some "no empty homes" target or something .

Got a 12month exemption, then paid normal for 12months (which I don’t mind tbh) Yeah, it’s to try and stop properties being left empty, but doesn’t account for somewhere undergoing major renovation

 

[Diggerdavey]

Got a 12month exemption, then paid normal for 12months (which I don’t mind tbh) Yeah, it’s to try and stop properties being left empty, but doesn’t account for somewhere undergoing major renovation

It’s the same here in Suffolk. It’s a push to occupy homes but like you say they don’t account for the fact that you may be waiting for their planning department to agree what you are able to do with the property. There should be some exemptions and only apply it to properties that people are genuinely doing nothing with.

 

[Lancs Lad]

It’s the same here in Suffolk. It’s a push to occupy homes but like you say they don’t account for the fact that you may be waiting for their planning department to agree what you are able to do with the property. There should be some exemptions and only apply it to properties that people are genuinely doing nothing with.

Yes couldn't agree more, don't start on council planning departments during covid...wtf a slug with a broken leg would be faster.

 

[GazCro]

The whole second home/holiday lets job needs a shake up tbh. Up here you pay rates on a second home yet if you holiday let it for more than 160 days a year it comes under small business rates so you pay nothing, how is that right?
I don't quite agree with the extra rates on empty places entirely. In many areas its not as if there is nowhere else available to buy its more that they are too expensive. It ain't gonna solve that at the end of the day.

 

[V8Druid]

Got a 12month exemption, then paid normal for 12months (which I don’t mind tbh) Yeah, it’s to try and stop properties being left empty, but doesn’t account for somewhere undergoing major renovation

I used to have one which I paid 100% on ..... would've been cheaper to have told 'em I was living in it and paid 75% single occupancy and then claim single here for Pam at 75% too ... just too honest ....... tell 'em you're living in there as a single occupant Boyo and claim the 25% rebate - play 'em at their own game and do the same for your missus too

 

[V8Druid]

this arrived Monday ...

10m of fuel line @90p/M as opposed to £3.50 a metre in metre bits ... should outlast my needs
got the strimmer to bits again yesterday and replaced all the burgered softy bits, that weren't so anymore ..

job did and running like a good un again ...
this is the next item on the repair list .... Countax shed its blades last year .... looks like it'll be fun to fit .....

got around to making a couple of hinge risers .....

buggered my favorite lathe tool I've had for years .... went to drop the feed out on a cut and the control lever dropped on the floor ..... massive panic dash for the clutch, but too late to save the tool from a 'dig in' .. gutted ... done some work with that.
screwed the lever back in and sought out a substitute tool .... (wish i'd kept a hell of a lot more than i did)
new drill came in handy for the grub screw holes .......

and picked said gate up two inches to stop it dragging the floor .. surface has risen a bit since these were stood up and getting those hinges out the post was gonna be soome challenge

will overcome the issue for now .....

Clara Tuesday, rooting about in the bottom of granny's walking back pack, she'd filled with pine cones on a walk in the hills that morning ... produced this ....

"What's this grand dad?"

"looks to me like it was one of these Clara "

what is it with women and bags????

 

[V8Druid]

well the Dane did it to me again today ..... same every year, first time out ... it has so many knock / lock outs and safety cut outs, the connections on 'em are a nightmare ... tried the wiggle technique on 'em all to no avail and plumped for what I reckoned'd be the best candidate to start with .. blade drive has two controls ... main and a dead man and it will not start with either of them not making circuit, (same for all the rest too), but the deadman to me was the likliest suspect .... out, cleaned, treated with contact cleaner and it'd turn over, so back in it went ........... and away went the motor.
ground was just about dry enough and as it looked like rain today, was as dry as it was likely to get for a while ......

Pam had hit some of the niggly bits with the Husqy a few days ago, but the bulk of it was in need of attack ......

fair play it's a hell of a tool and little slows it down
an hour or two with the rake .....

was too slick for my usual trick of using the Countax's sweeper ...but looked tidy enough ..... would've been too much to leave, to get round for the next sesh and 'll make the next cut so much easier

then Clara arrived ..... end of play for this afternoon .....
Granny started knitting this for Clara's mum when she was 4 IIRC .... she finished it about 3 years ago and has been awaiting a suitable wearer it'll fit

Clara loved it

can't recall whether I've said at all, previously, but Clara is going to become a BIG sister in September ...... I'm predicting a brother, from the first scan pic I've seen ...... been right with the previous three

 

[Jimoz]

Blaby district where I live have been charging 200% on empty homes for years. When you're building a newun I st!t you not the office girl comes out when your still on the scaffold asking when you're likely to be done. As soon as it's plastered they can start the clock here for council tax. Needless to say my heras fencing has earnt it's money over they years.

I see here they've even started bringing grants back to improve empty properties to be placed on rental market for housing tenants with rents capped. Up to 10k! The rent levels don't look too bad. Bit like in my grandads day he and his brother got loads of houses done up on grants. Used to buy wrecks and use them as hospital jobs for when work was slack.

're legionaires it's my understanding that with the treatment mains water has a tiny if not impossible risk of this developing here. I might be wrong @pettsy ? Just from stuff I've heard.

 

[Jimoz]

 

[V8Druid]

....I see here they've even started bringing grants back to improve empty properties to be placed on rental market for housing tenants with rents capped. Up to 10k! The rent levels don't look too bad. Bit like in my grandads day he and his brother got loads of houses done up on grants. Used to buy wrecks and use them as hospital jobs for when work was slack.
@pettsy ? Just from stuff I've heard.

the LA were offering something similar here a while back but ........
it wasn't the grant they made it out to be .... was a 2 year loan, with a £350 fee to apply, with no guarantee of success ...... take up was very limited ... license to print basically.

 

[V8Druid]

anyone got any suggestions where I can try for some 5/16" UNC SHCS bolts ..... 5" long ... only want a couple but need to be HT .... 12.9 ideally ... can't find any that length on't 'net .... other than one supplier on ebay ... from ying tong land ...... 4" is no prob.s, all over, but need a minimum of 4 3/4" .... hence the 5" search ....... got a couple on the tool post on the Harrison that're just about foo ket ..... in the socket and need to be tight
drawn a total blank ....... other than as said ^