Well the Mik Challenge is going to have to displace one of these international celebration days. Big decision…
A reported 17 Challengers for the Mik this year and by the sounds of it, it’s going to be a close one!
There’s the gun! Starting this years MIK!
…and we’re off!
Bill has gotten out the Masonite and…
…the crowd
Oh…
See you guys in the morning.
Update from Tomorrowland.
Rule #7 1. Builds will go on as long as they have to (but the contest lasts a month)
Nothing really here to see folks…
I didn’t realise you can’t have too many right angle clamps. I have had the one sitting in the bottom drawer for years. Yesterday, it was clamp a board, read LSC, clamp a board, read LSC, wash rinse and repeat.
Interesting… according to that map overlay Tasmania should get as much winter as Portland Oregon. I thought Taz was more tropical or is it a more temporate climate. You mentioned Alice Springs, I recently rewatched the old 1980s BBC Great Railway Journeys of the World episode “The Long Straight” across Australia. There’s a segment on the Ghan to Alice Springs, the old Ghan that was renown for taking forever to get anywhere. One thing that was on my bucket list was to ride the Ghan. The OLD decrepit 10mph Ghan, not the luxury cruiseliner they turned it into, oh well. Waited too long.
Vic
Tasmania is beautiful, and gets a dusting of snow. A lot of Tassie is still wilderness. We are going back in the fall. There’s a little narrow gauge railway that goes from the old mining town of Queenstown to the little port of Strahan. Queenstown still has the look of a moonscape as the land was stripped for copper and still hasn’t recovered. Strahan is lush and green. While Adelaide is said to have the same ”vibe” as Portland, Tassie kind of has that Oregon feel.
I’ve been on the Ghan and the Indian Pacific and highly recommend looking for their automobile specials; $100 dollars to take your car with you.
My Dad knew of someone who partook in riding a gandy-dancer to Alice after the “old Ghan” line was closed. It was notoriously slow and prone to washouts as it was often laid in ancient riverbed as no one had ever seen it rain at the time it was laid. It is said that the conductor on one trip had to shoot feral goats to feed the passengers and the train arrived at the station 2 weeks late. There was a running joke about it at the time.
The story is about a woman on the train who was travelling the entire route and kept on asking the conductor what time they get to Alice Springs. Every time the train stops she asks him. After a few times the conductor begins to become a bit impatient.
“What’s the hurry” the he says, “we’ll get there sometime in the next few days.” So the woman says, “A few days?? Look, I’m due to have a baby!” “Well” says the conductor “you shouldn’t have gotten on the train in this condition”
And the woman says "When I got on the train I wasn’t in this condition!"
1 Like
If I seem like I am pacing my self in the Mik, it’s because of my condition. I suffer from Acute on Chronic Clamp Deficiency Syndrome.
In the acute phase, you find yourself with out a specialty clamp that prevents you from completing simple tasks usually in tight spaces. The chronic phase in my situation usually means that I could have used a larger clamp that I don’t own.
BTW we just started getting the Homer Simpson Canyonaro clamp in Oz… quite exciting!
nope.
i’m living on the tropic of capricorn. 21° south. about 100km/80miles from the continental centerpoint in a half desert.
our (theoretical) evaporation is double our (real) rainfall.
in cold years we have up to five days with about -3°C/30°F at daybreak.
since last first of september we had about 12 days, were the temperature didn’t go over 40°C/105°F
top was 47°C/113°F
from pictures, i have seen, i think we got similar vegetation as is in the texican panhandle.
below 30°/90° its time for a vest, below 20°/70° time for a jacket.
but i never needed a snowplough on my outdoor layout.
1 Like
Bill, you can never have too many clamps or squares. I get clamps at Harbor Freight and print squares of various sizes as needed.
Bill… DO you own a “Pin Nailer”… Use it on all the joints to hold things together as they dry…
If you don’t own one… GET ONE… Nobody that has ever got one… regrets it… Its becomes a, “How Did I Ever Build Anything before I got this”!!
Dan,
I’m Jealous. I could get 3 90 degree clamps there for the price of 1 here. My closest Harbour Freight is on the other side of the International Date Line, south of San Diego, it says…
The shipping would kill me.
But you are right, I need more.
No, Dave I do not.
Are certain brands better?
Will I be buying an air compressor as well?
Korm, would you post some pictures of your region?
don’t go that way.
i got a compressor and nailer.
either its not enough what needs nailing, or the wife would not like to be awakened by the compressor, or it is during the business hours of our store…
there is always a reason, why i finally use hammer and nails - and bad words, when i hit the thumb.
but they say, that there are nailers avayable, that work using eletricity. that might be the better and cheaper option.
not now. i’m making the bookkeeping for 23 and i would have to scan old pics.
just this
and some typical i found in the net.
Rule #2: You must talk about Mik club
In the spirit of Mik-mas I am repurposing wood that was destined for tinder for the upcoming winter, for siding.
Yup,
That looks very much like Queensland Australia. We have a number of those kind of roads!
Bill, I have both an air driven pin nailer and a battery operated one like Korm mentioned and he is correct, Mama didn’t like the air compressor running in the house (long story, see Cliff’s New Shop thread for more info). Here is the cordless pin nailer I now use:
Cons: Heavy, difficult to get in tight spaces
It can be found here: Ryobi
So Dan,
Is there an advantage to a heavy battery pin nailer or would a corded version be a better option?
There were a couple of “shop” threads… Is this Cliffs thread on the new shed you’re referring to where he negotiated a land grant and right of way outside the homestead? (I also found his thread worth mentioning “shop” including weird & wonderful tools)
I’m not sure there is an advantage to the weight, but I do like the cordless feature. Nothing like getting a cord caught on a newly erected structure and pull it off into the floor just to test the glue and fasteners. Don’t ask how I know this.
The shop thread I’m referring to is the one where @Cliff_Jennings watches another guy single handedly move a 12 x 24 building into place in the dark. He did hold the flashlight for him, although not always in the right spot 
@Cliff_Jennings just yanking your chain Cliff.
Bill, do you have access to a 3D printer? If not, buy one. Probably cheaper than having a few clamps shipped across the big water 
. If you know someone with one you can get them to print all sorts of tools you can use in your modeling such as squares and clamps, yes clamps. I’ve even printed a machine that allows me to make my own version of “Taylor Tin”. Now, mine does not look as well as @Dave_Taylor version, but it works for my purposes.
BTW: this won’t be the last time you hear about a 3D printer. There’s enough of us on here now that utilize them we will constantly remind you how much you need one 