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The Casual Chimes Creative Manuals Home
Combined Issue #6
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In This Issue:
Flivver - Tommy Sessions
Something Cooking: Worcestershire Sauce
Computer Tip: Still getting pop-ups? There is a cure, and it costs nothing.
Today's Joke
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Hi, it's Al here, welcome to another issue of the 'Wind Chimes Tuning' newsletter. It's been a while since we have had one.
Carol and I are flat out trying to get our house ready to sell, repairing fences, general maintenance etc.
We're moving back to a small country town, no traffic signals, no queues - peace and quiet.
There's something new beginning in this issue. Tommy Sessions, that wonderful guy who gives away lots of practical advice about car maintenance, has kindly allowed me to
include his articles here. If I had read one of his articles prior to our recent USA trip, we may have saved ourselves over $1000 Australian.
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Hanging the Pipes:
Some time back, I was asked how to hang each chime, by having the string passed down through the tube, and suspending it from a pin which had been positioned horizontally at the node of least vibration.
Not having ever hung the chimes in this manner, I was stumped for an answer.
While on vacation in the USA recently, I was fortunate enough to stumble across a set of Grace Note Chimes. They have the tubes hanging from a central pin. These chimes were perfectly made, and sounded beautiful. They were a work of art.
But... I still have no idea how they were assembled.
Here is a theory, and it will be a future project if I can locate some small aluminum rod that would be suitable for the cross bar.
Remember, I have not tried this, it is only an idea.
If the rod were 1/8 th inch thick - measure a length the size of the total diameter of tube.
At the center point of the short piece of rod, drill a tiny hole. This will have to be large enough to pass a thin length of wire, plus the hanging string, through it.
Drill an 1/8th hole through the tube at the node of least vibration. The short piece of rod must be a tight fit in this hole.
Push the rod through the hole in the tube so that the center hole in the rod is facing toward each end of the tube.
Solder the rod in place at each side of the tube.
Grind or file any protruding bits off.
Make a long needle from some thin wire. Make a loop or a hook on one end. This must be able to accommodate the string and pass through the hole in the rod. This will have to be determined before the rod is soldered into the tube.
Attach the string to the needle and pass it through the hole.
Pull it completely through the other end of the tube.
Pass it back through the tube to one side of the rod and pull it completely through to the other end.
Remove the needle from the string.
Tie a slip knot or a fishermans knot on the string and pull the knot down to the rod.
Done.
Another way would be to pull the string through the rod, tie several knots in the end so that it won't pull through the hole, and pull it back to the rod.
I still prefer to hang the tubes through the hole drilled at the node of least vibration with 50 pound breaking strain fishing line. It makes no difference to the tone.
An 1/8th rod may be too small, maybe 3/16th?
On the chimes that I saw, the small pin appeared to be hollow, like a tiny tube. This would be okay.
Maybe somebody who has tried this could write and tell us how and if it works? Send a note to me and I'll post it to the list... or, if you have any other hanging ideas, please let us know. - Al alwil@ozemail.com.au
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This article received a great response and a request for sketches of the idea.
View rough sketches HERE (the emphasis is on rough) J
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How to make perfectly tuned wind chimes every time:
http://www.creativemanuals.com/chimes
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Flivver
By Tommy Sessions
Tommy - I noticed that my battery has a lot of white gooie stuff on top of it. Is this good? If not, what can I do about it?
Stella - Oklahoma.
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Hi, Stella.
No, the *gooie* stuff is not good. It's corrosion.
It will cause the terminals to not make contact with the battery.
The alternator keeps the battery charged up, but when corrosion takes over the alternator can't put *juice* back into the battery--then it runs-down, so to speak, and won't crank the car.
You can take a paper towel and clean the corrosion from the terminals. Put the towel in the garbage can, soon.
Don't get any of it on your hands or clothes.
If you do get it on your hands, wash them with vinegar: you might pour some vinegar onto the spot on your clothes...this might work, but battery acid will deteriorate most materials.
You can put baking soda on the terminals of the battery and wash them off with water.
To prevent the corrosion from returning you can put some type of grease on them. I use wheel bearing grease...it works for awhile.
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Tommy Sessions has been in auto repair since 1970. He publishes
Bad Car Again Ezine for those who want to do their own
maintenance and minor repairs (if there are any *minor* repairs)
to their favorite vehicle. Contact him at:
http://www.badcaragain.com
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Something Cooking: Worcestershire Sauce - sometimes called black sauce,
Worster sauce, pronounced in some places: Wister sauce?
Here's another recipe from Al's cook book - which is still in the making.
Here's my Mum's old recipe for Worcestershire sauce.
If you mix this with tomato ketchup, it makes a great barbecue sauce: mix about a quarter to a third Worcestershire with three quarters to two thirds ketchup.
1 pint (2 lb tin) treacle
1/2 oz cloves
1/2 oz whole ginger
1/2 rounded teaspoon salt
1 oz garlic
Pinch of cayenne (pepper)
Put all together
Boil for 20 minutes
Leave to stand overnight
Strain and bottle
Good on red meats and stews.
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Computer Tip: Still getting pop-ups?
I've almost forgotten what a pop-up is, why? read on.
If you're still getting pop up ads and are fed up to the back teeth with them, have a look at this - it costs nothing - zilch.
Google tool bar. It does far more than eliminate pop-up ads. Google is the most popular and the most used search engine on the internet.
This sits on your Internet Explorer browser, and keeps working while you're surfing the net. The beauty of this is, you can squash it up so that it takes up hardly any room.
The system requirements are:
Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later
PLEASE NOTE: The pop-up blocker requires Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
http://toolbar.google.com/
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Today's Joke: A concept of marriage
The child was a typical four-year-old girl - cute, inquisitive,
bright as a new penny. When she expressed difficulty in grasping
the concept of marriage, her father decided to pull out his
wedding photo album, thinking visual images would help. One page
after another, he pointed out the bride arriving at the church,
the entrance, the wedding ceremony, the recessional, the
reception, etc.
"Now do you understand?" he asked.
"I think so," she said,
"is that when mommy came to work for us?"
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End...
Happy Wind Chiming,
Al
contact@creativemanuals.com
http://www.creativemanuals.com/chimes
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