question What are your other interests?

[Admin]

Out of curiousity what other things are you guys interested in like Cars, Boats, Gardening, Technology, Jobs, Home Maintenance ?????????????????

[Flightrite]

Toy planes, gardening and of course driving planes? Cars are a waste of money?

[FlyingVizsla]

Out of curiousity what other things are you guys interested in like Cars, Boats, Gardening, Technology, Jobs, Home Maintenance ?????????????????

Mr FV is interested in engines - in planes, graders, dozers, trucks, chainsaws, motorcycles. Aircraft design, particularly early ultralights and his "Golden Age" of flight, between WWI & WWII

I'm interested in planes and flying. I also do a lot of gardening / farming. I put out a bi-monthly "Rare Fruit Club" newsletter of 20 pages with articles on unusual native & exotic fruits (growing and eating) and associated gardening information.

We have both been quiet as there has been no flying due to the lock-down. In fact we have been busier than "normal" due to the Pandemic with about 400 years work ahead of us.

[red750]

My other interests, besides this website are the Men's Shed and photography- aircraft and other subjects. Under normal circumstances I attend the Men's Shed 3 days per week, where I share a yarn and a few jokes with the other guys, about fifty in total, spread across the 3 days. I get interesting or funny videos from Facebook or Youtube which I share with the men. I also maintain a photographic register of the members. When a new member joins the Shed, I take their photo and add them to a 'rogues gallery' which is printed and put on the noticeboard. I also give a copy to the member to help them remember the name of the men who attend on their day. Sample below. I also take photos of the projects the men work on at the Shed. Unfortunately the Shed has been closed due to Covid-19 since mid February,and is likely to remain closed till October or later.

 

As for photography, my favorite subject is aircraft, and about 50% of the photos on the Showcase are my photos. I also have photos on Google Maps, Flickr, airport-data, airliners.net and Facebook. Again, the lockdown due to coronavirus has severely curtailed my ability to go out and take photos. There are links in my signature block to some of my photos on the net.

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by red750

[Old Koreelah]

... I put out a bi-monthly "Rare Fruit Club" newsletter of 20 pages with articles on unusual native & exotic fruits (growing and eating) and associated gardening information...

Sue is your newsletter online? Quite a few of us on here might like a link.

[Old Koreelah]

[ATTACH]54719[/ATTACH]

Hey Red: which one on this Rogues Gallery is you?

Edited July 16, 2020 by Old Koreelah

[red750]

How many Peter's are there?

[turboplanner]

A very handsome man; he got two of us there OK.

[FlyingVizsla]

Sue is your newsletter online? Quite a few of us on here might like a link.

Not on-line. It is our local group's newsletter which goes out to members before a meeting with lots of great information, but most importantly, the whereabouts of the next meeting and competition (fruit cooking) - we meet at members' properties. With no meetings due to the lock-down and the age of most members, I have filled the spare pages with more info. Normally half of it would be reports of the last meeting, the winning recipes, the raffle, fruit tastings, etc. It is picked up by the National body and I sometimes see my articles re-printed in other clubs' newsletters. Now, if you could convince Ian to create a "Gardening for Sub-Tropical Pilots" on the forum, I could populate it with Bunya Nuts, Bananas, Cape Gooseberries, Dragon fruit, Saba Nut, soil testing etc.

 

Sue

[pmccarthy]

Old cars, old motorbikes, and the history of mining in Australia.

[Old Koreelah]

... Normally half of it would be reports of the last meeting, the winning recipes, the raffle, fruit tastings, etc....

For some reason, your post reminded me of this other tasting contest; if you include it in your next edition you should add a cautionary note for those with poor bladder control:

 

https://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/threads/natal-curry-contest.841/

[FlyingVizsla]

Sue is your newsletter online? Quite a few of us on here might like a link.

Old K - I tried to PM a copy to you, but at 4MB the system says it is too large - it is a pdf. can't get any smaller. Sorry.

[Downunder]

My other interests wax and wane but anything military, old or new.

Played some Battlefield in the day......level 100 Colonel. ... it's never been better than BF 3.......1 and 5 not real good.. ...4 was ok.

I'm also currently obsessed with UK "Narrowboating" thanks to a video in my youtube "recommended " list.....

I hope to get over there and give it a go for a few months in a hire boat sometime.

Expensive in summer though....

Edited July 17, 2020 by Downunder

[bushcaddy105]

Restoring and exhibiting old cars, stationary engines, generating sets. Electronic control design and manufacture. Heritage native vegetation preservation and maintenance on our property. Machining and welding for family and community. Active local SES member including primary response Road Crash Rescue. And I'm supposed to be retired and avoiding Covid due to to age restrictions! To quote my maternal grandparents -" I'll wear out, not rust out." Wouldn't have it any other way.

[facthunter]

I'm interested in EVERYTHING but mainly in the survival of the Planet. It being the only one we have and I've managed to have 4 children that I care for PLUS their offspring and everybody elses in principle.. Nev

[Litespeed]

Motorbikes and fast cars, European ones- particularly the red italians.

 

Now have moved to a life aquatic for a simple healthy life...low impact on my health and the planet.

 

Sure beats the big city and covid worries.

 

Intend to sail for several years and just enjoy. Live off the seafood and grow fattish and happy. I intend to eat lots of lobsters, crabs, fish etc.

 

Always loved sea stories and time to make my own.

 

 

 

Young and dumb enough to have a go

Old and wise enough to be careful.

[Old Koreelah]

" I'll wear out, not rust out." Wouldn't have it any other way.

Definitely great advice, Bushy!

 

I have a short concentration span, flitting from one project to another. While this means my bedside table has half a dozen books I'm part way thru, our place is littered with not-quite-finished stone walls, partly-repaired items and SWMBO has a queue of jobs for me; it also enriches my existence.

 

To keep my body functional without overloading it, the backyard is my gymnasium: I can swing a pick, do a few minutes of shovelling, carry some concrete blocks or rocks, get in some tai-chi with the whipper-snipper.

 

Never waste a trip up and down the paddock; drag a load of garden prunings to the bonfire, carry up a load of firewood and attack it with the block splitter.

 

My office desk is a gymnasium for my mind, with several projects on the go.

 

I depend too much on this 8-year-old iPad and this forum as my social gymnasium.

[Geoff_H]

Now retired my time is split between Gym ( 3 days per week), grandchildren, and engineering. Retired 6 years ago now designing and building small aircraft with extensive use of 3d printing. Redesigned 3d printer to use carbon infused Nylon.

[Yenn]

Bushwalking, that gets me to out of the way places with a good group of people. I used to do a lot of photography and sailing and of course I helpout in the garden and used to be in the rare fruits group.

What are you growing Sue? Jackfruit? Mangosteen? Lychee? Longan?

[facthunter]

Lived on the beach and lakes and did bushwalking in my early days. I still must have a sea breeze for relief on hot days. When you are out in the Centre, you KNOW that's not going to happen. Done enough sailing to know you need strength when things go bad or speed and wisdom to get "home" first. Boats and Planes will take your last dollar and then some if you aren't careful. Only sail or fly with people who know how to.. Nev

[onetrack]

I indulge in repair and restoration work of almost anything that is mechanical. I have a collection of projects awaiting restoration (like so many other people!).

I have 3 vintage Chevs ('31 and '32) awaiting restoration. I also have a 10 tonne, 4WD Chamberlain front end loader awaiting restoration. A fairly rare machine.

 

My current main project is restoration of a 3 tonne Toyota diesel forklift, that belongs to a mate. I have 6 forklifts of my own, 5 of which are in need of restoration. I've already rebuilt 2 of the engines for these 5 forklifts.

I've got a '79 diesel LWB Landrover station wagon 90% restored. A Mazda 2200 diesel van awaiting an engine swap (I have the engine ready to go in, the original was blown up when the timing belt snapped).

Next urgent project is restoration of a Rockmaster twin-ram posthole digger. Just about finished restoration of the frame and hydraulic cylinders this week, the gearbox is next for attention.

 

I rebuilt an '89 Isuzu 5 tonne traytop truck from a salvage wreck in June 2015. It took me 2 solid months of mechanical, body and paint work to bring it back to good roadworthy condition. I only use it for transport of my "goodies".

I buy and sell new components and parts for machinery as a sideline. I sell on eBay and Gumtree, but it's not a huge part of my life or income today. I enjoy buying at auction, and acquire a lot of workshop items cheaply that way.

 

I do machinery inspections for people that want to buy machines, mostly contracting equipment, such as earthmovers, welders, gensets, machine tools - you name it, I can tell you how it operates, and what's wrong with it.

I used to buy and sell used machine tools in conjunction with a fitter and turner mate, for about 15 years - but he moved down South about 4 years ago, so I don't bother with that area now.

 

I enjoy playing with and learning about electronic devices. I build my own desktop computers from components, and have done since 2003. I can fix most of what goes wrong with computers.

I'm interested in military history, the history of industrial equipment manufacturing in both America and Australia. I collect historical sales literature, books, and photos relating to industrial and earthmoving equipment, and its manufacture.

I particularly enjoy studying the history of WW2 Lend Lease, and following the stories of the manufacture and disposal of the massive amounts of equipment manufactured in WW2 by America.

 

I have a rented 18M x 9M workshop and small yard only 4kms from my home in the city, and that's my main "play area".

I have just purchased a 2000 sq m industrial yard in a small town about 130 kms away from the city, for cheap storage for my hoard of "collectables".

I'm currently in the process of developing the yard by way of levelling it, fencing it, and building a large shed for covered storage. It'll keep me occupied for a few years yet, until I become too feeble to do physical work.

 

I still do serious amounts of physical work nearly every day, even though I'm 71. Most of the stuff I deal with is heavy, that's why I like forklifts! I hope I'm good for another 15 years, although who knows what will come out of left field?

A mate has only just retired from his engineering, fabrication and machining business, and he's 86. But he's very fit, he'd pass for 65 any day. I reckon he'll probably make 100.

[willedoo]

I have a short concentration span, flitting from one project to another. While this means my bedside table has half a dozen books I'm part way thru, our place is littered with not-quite-finished stone walls, partly-repaired items and SWMBO has a queue of jobs for me; it also enriches my existence.

Welcome to the club, Old Koreelah; I thought I was the only one.

[facthunter]

I think you have to keep busy at "something". or you end up on sports bet and drinking sherry. TOO much stuff will eventually overwhelm you so I've prioritised it and might even end up with some free bench and shelf space if i'm lucky. It's all got to be looked after and that takes some skill.by itself. Nev

Edited July 18, 2020 by facthunter

[onetrack]

SWMBO and I have the perfect balance for keeping "stuff". She throws every single thing out, as she deems it past its use-by date - which can be as little as 3 mths!

But I grab the good items from what she throws out, before it actually goes to the tip!

 

I reckon if you've had something for about 30 years, and forgot about it, it's time to move it on!

 

But if you look in most peoples open garages as you drive past, you'll often see a garage crammed to the ceiling with "stuff", and the cars parked outside! I think that's when it's time to have proper assessment of what you actually need to keep.

The worst bloke I ever came across was an old farmer who was a dedicated and obsessive hoarder. He could not throw anything away, and he would go to the local tip virtually every day, and bring home a trailer load of "useful stuff".

 

I walked into his house, and he had old newspapers piled to the ceiling in every passageway, lining the walls on each side. You could only just walk between the piled-up newspapers.

Every room was piled high with every imaginable item you could think of - old saucepans, old kettles, old TV's, old electrical devices of every type, old household items galore.

 

Not so long afterwards, his house caught fire! - and the firies couldn't put the fire out! It was fed by the mountains of "stuff" he'd collected! The house burned to ground level,and all his precious "stuff" went with it!

It was all pretty sad, really. I think a lot of these people must have suffered greatly for want of even basic items during the Great Depression, and that "Depression-era", "waste-nothing" mentality is burnt into their memory and actions.

 

I often get accused of having too much junk, but I will be quite happy one day to have a big auction and sell it all off, I'm not that attached to any of it, that I can't part with it.

But I hate to see good, solidly-built old products get scrapped, simply because "new technology" has replaced it.

 

I bought a massive Landis cylindrical grinder at auction about 2009. It was a 1940 model, and was probably purchased by the Federal Govt during the War to manufacture ordnance or military items.

It had a 36" x 3" grinding wheel, and the machine weighed nearly 8 tonnes. It was a beautiful machine, it could still grind to 0.0001" accuracy. Landis were the "Rolls-Royce" of cylindrical grinders for maybe 80 years or more.

 

It had belonged to a bloke who had a good little engineering business making replacement moils (chisel bits) for rockbreakers.

But he dropped dead at 51 and none of the family knew anything about the business, and didn't want any of the equipment in the factory. So they called in the auctioneers to sell everything where it lay.

 

When the auctioneer got to the Landis grinder, he couldn't get a bid on it. Cylindrical grinders have been replaced by the newest lathe cutting tips such as Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN), which will go straight through hard chrome.

The auctioneer tried to get $2500 for an opening bid. Nobody was even interested in the machine. He came down and down - to $500 - and still no-one bid. He asked for offers, and I offered him $300.

He tried to get an advance on $300 and no-one was even remotely interested - not even the scrap dealers! So I got it for $300. We borrowed a 7 tonne forklift from next door to load it, as nobody had a crane or Hiab that could lift it.

 

The forklifts tyres all went nearly flat as he got it off the floor, and he loaded it onto an 8 tonne Hino, which grunted with the weight. We got it around to my mates workshop and used another borrowed 7 tonne forklift to get it off.

My mate and I spent a week on it, fixing a few leaks and getting the automatic hydraulically-operated traverse to work properly. It ran like a dream, and we advertised it for sale.

 

It took 12 mths to sell it, but we finally sold it to a bloke who loved old machine tools, for $2000. He was gloriously happy with it, because he had some pin grinding jobs to do, and it suited him just fine.

I consider it was a worthy "save", because so many of these fabulous old machines have gone to China to be turned into cheap Chinese tools, and I consider that a real waste.

[Flightrite]

Over the last year or so I've been dumping old mechanical stuff down the tip from my Mot Mech days, it's been such a cleansing feeling?