Other uses for stuff and functional fixation

[Bill Dufour]

At the lab across the road and downhill from the Bevetron was the BRT. Maybe a twenty foot diameter spherical steel tank filled with flattened aluminum cans. It was a the safety dump for the liquid hydrogen in the bubble chamber. You do not want to just spill 500 gallons of liquid hydrogen on your feet and hope it does not catch on fire or asphyxiate you. The can s acted as a heat sink and radiator. It was never actually needed. I think it might have had a flame of some sort at the vent outlet. I would not be surprised if the designer had a Nobel prize or two.
BRT= Big Round Thing.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

Another lab story from my father... An experimenter needed a certain water flow rate for cooling water. He measured the water in buckets and adjusted the valve until it took the correct amount of time to fill the bucket in the sink. Then he attached the hose to the wall and drew the curve of the water's arc against the wall.
He told people when he needed the cooling flow adjust this valve so it matches this curve. Problem solved. I can not remember who the experimenter was but he had already earned a Nobel prize in physics for something else.
Bill D
Since water pressure could vary his method was better then just marking valve handle position

[Roger Feeley]

I love going to the hardware store on a quest to find something that I can make into what I need. Those little boxes are a treasure trove. Back in Kansas City area, there was a local chain called Nuts and Bolts that was a dream for me. They had two aisles of this yellow boxes.

[Roger Feeley]

Old band saw blades can be useful. A blade with six teeth per inch can be made into a accurate indexing wheel. Count out exactly 360 teeth and cut the blade. Make a wooden disc so that the blade just fits around it. Glue the blade and there you go.

so let’s see. 360 degrees / 6 teeth per inch = 60 inches
60” / pi = less than 20 inches

maybe 8 teeth/ inch..

[Bill Dufour]

I no longer see kid projects to use an old hacksaw blade to make morse code key. Wonder why?
Bill D

[Jim Koepke]

I like to cut up plastic milk containers, using the tops as funnels for everything from oil changes, to bird feed fillers.

I have also made funnels out of milk jugs. Another thing is to cut them about 2" from the bottom, drill some holes in the bottom, slice the corners, fill the bottom with dirt and plant some seeds. Slide the top back into the bottom and you have a miniature greenhouse for starting seeds or rooting cuttings.

The gallon size jugs will fit over a gallon size plastic pot for the same purpose.

I no longer see kid projects to use an old hacksaw blade to make morse code key. Wonder why?
Bill D

Is knowing morse code still required to get a First Class Radio License? Not much use for continuous wave broadcasting these days.

Quick search reveals the answer:

FCC drops Morse code requirement from amateur radio license
By TVTechnology published December 21, 2006

The FCC Dec. 15 dropped a rule that had required amateur radio operators to pass an exam demonstrating a five-word-per-minute proficiency in Morse code to qualify for a General or Amateur Extra license.

According to the commission, the change reflects revisions to international radio regulations made at the International Telecommunication Union’s 2003 World Radio Conference (WRC-03), authorizing each country to determine whether or not to require individuals to demonstrate Morse code proficiency to qualify for an amateur radio license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30MHz.

Maybe they can use old bandsaw blades to make a juice harp:

Juice Harp.jpg

jtk

[Jim Becker]

I have also made funnels out of milk jugs. A

Some folks do the same, but use them as, um....low budget urinals.

[Bill Dufour]

Don't forget the quart size oil bottles cut off the top on the bandsaw and fill them with stuff. I drain them into my oil can over night first. The autoparts stores no longer have trash cans full of them outside. I will have to ask if I can get them out of there trash.
Bill D

[Rick Potter]

Chevrons Fuel injection cleaner bottles are just right for funnels to fill your gas tank. Just cut off the bottom with a pocket knife, the neck is just long enough to get past the flapper on the gas flap. Even works on the ones with no cap.

I found this out when I had to put gas from a "Safety gas can" which had a nozzle so safe it would not pass gas. I threw it away, and made a long stem funnel by cutting the bottom off of the FI cleaner bottle I had just put in the tank. All done in the dark with a flashlight in my teeth. Now I just pour out of the jug into the funnel and have no nozzle on it.

California politicians are idiots. Gas jugs have been Californicated for years here. Many safety nozzles leak more than the old ones ever did. An old gas jug with a free flow nozzle is worth $15 at any garage sale.

[Jim Becker]

Rick you can get replacement "more traditional" fuel can spouts from Amazon and other places and they sometimes also include a vent refit for efficient flow.

[John K Jordan]

… a vent refit for efficient flow.

Do you mean those little fuel can vents with caps? I added them to all my 5-gal cans and they make using them a lot easier. Everyone who sees them in operation wants some. Drill a hole 1/64” less than 1/2” and snap one in place. I’ve been using these for years with no problems.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U7XWRS8

(prob not legal in California on fuel cans!)

I don’t use them on the 5-gal water cans I use a lot around the farm - for those I just make a small vent hole at the upper rear of the handle with my pocket knife. Smooth pouring, no more glug glug glug…

JKJ

[Rick Potter]

I tried one of those Jim. Turns out I have cans with three different sizes/threads of opening, and it fit none of them. They are not sold in stores here, I bought mine on line. I hope someday to find a nice used 2 1/2 gallon jug it fits.

I do have flow caps that fit a one gallon oil jug, but I like to keep a couple 2 1/2's around. The funnel works for me now.

[Jim Becker]

John, yes...you actually drill a sized hole to install the vent and cap in an appropriate place. That, combined with a replacement "traditional" nozzle lets the fuel flow efficiently. I have this on my gasoline container as the original that came on the can just pretty much "unusable" on my ZTR. My diesel containers have a combined nozzle/vent that actually works and a rim that sets nicely on the Big Orange Power Tool's fuel fill opening, but it takes a moment for the air to "chug" properly for good fuel flow.

[Tom M King]

I needed a mast mount for a 4" compass on a racing sailboat. No commercial mount was sold for such back then. I found it fit perfectly in a 4" ABS toilet flange, so glued a piece of black 4" ABS pipe that had been coped to fit around the mast in the toilet flange, and bolted the compass in place. A lot of competitors wanted to know where I got it, and many laughed out loud when they realized what it was.

I sold that boat long ago, but still have that compass and mount around here somewhere. If I find it, I'll take a picture.

[Tom M King]

I used to use those plastic floppy fuel can vents, but they leak after a year or so. I replaced them with these, and no leaks since. I put two in each of my 5 gallon cans for diesel.

https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Replac...ps%2C96&sr=8-6

They're just bolt in tire valves without the scrader center. You run a wire inside the mouth, and out of the new hole to slide it in place on, then screw on the nut.

There used to be a guy on ebay that sold replacement spouts with a machined aluminum piece that fit inside the screw cap ring, with good quality gas hose as a nozzle. I'm glad I bought as many as I did back then, because he has since stopped/been made to stop?? selling them.