Thorn1979

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

Not garden equipment I know, but cute nonetheless so I thought I would share this with you all too...
 
My half-sister's stepdad used to use this little treadle fretsaw as a boy. He made models with it and the model coronation coach and horses is still in their family.
 
It languished in my sister's shed after he died, and she decided to pass it on to us because she knew we'd appreciate it. It was a bit rattly though - didn't need a lot of work, just a strip, clean, a fresh coat (or 3) of dark green paint and tightening everything up. You can get tiny treadle lathes by the same manufacturer. Can you imagine this being sold as a toy nowadays?!
 
My hope eventually is to get Martin to make a little jig for it so that I can use it to cut mitres for picture framing.

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

Not garden equipment I know, but cute nonetheless so I thought I would share this with you all too...
 
My half-sister's stepdad used to use this little treadle fretsaw as a boy. He made models with it and the model coronation coach and horses is still in their family.
 
It languished in my sister's shed after he died, and she decided to pass it on to us because she knew we'd appreciate it. It was a bit rattly though - didn't need a lot of work, just a strip, clean, a fresh coat (or 3) of dark green paint and tightening everything up. You can get tiny treadle lathes by the same manufacturer. Can you imagine this being sold as a toy nowadays?!
 
My hope eventually is to get Martin to make a little jig for it so that I can use it to cut mitres for picture framing.

I know! I can't imagine this ever getting into shops nowadays. Cub Cadet, I wonder if the models my sister's dad used to make were the same ones from the magazines. I expect so. I just like the little thing, wish I could come up with a practical use for it to justify the space it takes up!

My grandma has one of these fret saws in her garage, my great uncle used to buy the Hobbies Magazines weekly and the Annuals, many of which are now in my possession as well as the model plans. He used to make model boats with it. 

Not garden equipment I know, but cute nonetheless so I thought I would share this with you all too...
 
My half-sister's stepdad used to use this little treadle fretsaw as a boy. He made models with it and the model coronation coach and horses is still in their family.
 
It languished in my sister's shed after he died, and she decided to pass it on to us because she knew we'd appreciate it. It was a bit rattly though - didn't need a lot of work, just a strip, clean, a fresh coat (or 3) of dark green paint and tightening everything up. You can get tiny treadle lathes by the same manufacturer. Can you imagine this being sold as a toy nowadays?!
 
My hope eventually is to get Martin to make a little jig for it so that I can use it to cut mitres for picture framing.

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

Not garden equipment I know, but cute nonetheless so I thought I would share this with you all too...
 
My half-sister's stepdad used to use this little treadle fretsaw as a boy. He made models with it and the model coronation coach and horses is still in their family.
 
It languished in my sister's shed after he died, and she decided to pass it on to us because she knew we'd appreciate it. It was a bit rattly though - didn't need a lot of work, just a strip, clean, a fresh coat (or 3) of dark green paint and tightening everything up. You can get tiny treadle lathes by the same manufacturer. Can you imagine this being sold as a toy nowadays?!
 
My hope eventually is to get Martin to make a little jig for it so that I can use it to cut mitres for picture framing.

It's going in here cos I don't know where else to post this
 
I have started volunteering at a local Heritage Fairground. In season I was doing one day a week, running rides and generally making a nuisance of myself. Great fun.
 
Every year they host an auction for vintage vehicles, steam engines, and assorted bits n bobs - I am sure some of you have been! We were pottering around the yard looking at auction lots and we saw this little thing languishing in a corner. We both fell for it a little bit.
 
Well, it wasn't an auction lot, but the next time I was helping, I asked if I could take it home and restore it for them. In the end they got fed up of me pestering, and now we are halfway through bringing it back to life.
 
Snags so far? Well the original motor (which was almost certainly pinched off something else - the whole thing has been cobbled together by a showman many moons ago) was 110v DC and very very slow, with its own gearbox. We have replaced it (after 5 years outside in the rain there was no saving it) but used a 240v lump, and managed to mount the gearbox - but the "new" motor is much faster. So how could we gear it down enough for the targets to slide past at a sensible rate? Well Martin had the genius idea of using mini-moto sprockets and chain.
 
The belt was rotted clean through in at least one place, so we have retained as much as we could, chopped out and replaced the mankiest bits, and sent the targets off to a mate to vapour-blast them. The rollers at either end of the belt were in bits but Martin has pegged them back together, they look amazing.
 
The angle-iron frame has been dismantled today and we are halfway through stripping it down ready to paint... I can't wait to see it all back together!

Well, just finished up a new project ready for our first show!
 
Not much wrong with it, cleaned it up, repainted and sharpened and another little Conquest lives to mow again.
 
With added WWII style "nose art"
 
We are showing our Atco Scythe, the Atco 17" Lightweight, this Conquest and the electric Ladybird, along with a couple of vintage chainsaws, at the Launceston Steam and Vintage Rally tomorrow (sat 23rd May). If you're around, come and say hello - the chap in charge of the vintage horticulture section wants to get more new exhibitors on board.
 
Alison

TBH there wasn't that much to do to it, there was surface rust but it was in pretty decent nick. All we did was sand the old paint (right back to the metal on the main cover), repaint everything (using some old red lead primer that had been knocking about for years), Martin sharpened it, and added the new roller which was just a rolling pin, we regreased everything and put it back together. The grassbag was just kinda cobbled together after looking at photos.
 
Oh and I think he made a plastic bush on the lathe, for where the handle connects on, cos it rattled.
 
I love the shape of them, and I want another - I can imagine one in grey with a big red shark-teeth mouth! Or with WW2 bomber-style artwork, a glamour girl astride a bomb Flymo..

So we've waited until this little project was complete to show it off.

 
I got bored of racing green and decided that the retro shape of the Conquest needed something more stylish... This will probably horrify the purists out there, but meh.. What do you think?

 
There's 1.5 acres here that needs mowing, and the plan was originally to give this machine away as a gift cos it's not much use here. I don't think we can bear to part with it now though!

 
The roller, by the way, was a bargain buy - it's a rolling pin. The grass-bag is made of a shower curtain, the side of an old PC tower case, and a metal bean pole.

TBH there wasn't that much to do to it, there was surface rust but it was in pretty decent nick. All we did was sand the old paint (right back to the metal on the main cover), repaint everything (using some old red lead primer that had been knocking about for years), Martin sharpened it, and added the new roller which was just a rolling pin, we regreased everything and put it back together. The grassbag was just kinda cobbled together after looking at photos.
 
Oh and I think he made a plastic bush on the lathe, for where the handle connects on, cos it rattled.
 
I love the shape of them, and I want another - I can imagine one in grey with a big red shark-teeth mouth! Or with WW2 bomber-style artwork, a glamour girl astride a bomb Flymo..

So we've waited until this little project was complete to show it off.

 
I got bored of racing green and decided that the retro shape of the Conquest needed something more stylish... This will probably horrify the purists out there, but meh.. What do you think?

 
There's 1.5 acres here that needs mowing, and the plan was originally to give this machine away as a gift cos it's not much use here. I don't think we can bear to part with it now though!

 
The roller, by the way, was a bargain buy - it's a rolling pin. The grass-bag is made of a shower curtain, the side of an old PC tower case, and a metal bean pole.

Just for you, have posted it in Off Topic

Wood burning stove made from a gas bottle.
 
This has a flue that goes out of the side of the caravan, and an air intake pipe at the base that also goes outside - complete with a flap valve for damping. It's on legs and has a flat hotplate on top, and there are baffles inside to stop the heat going straight up the flue (which, incidentally, is made from the cover of a patio heater gas bottle, which we found thrown in a hedge - free metal, thankyouverymuch!).
 
The door is a pyrex dish.
 
It's brilliant - heats the van up from freezing to "oven" in about 10 minutes (don't worry, the caravan won't go anywhere these days, it's just for fun).