Make your own spirit level! (by alaric)

You can easily spent £25 on a large spirit level. Even a cheap 60cm one costs £10.

Since I have some plans to build a wall across uneven ground, a long spirit level to check my footings are level is a requirement. But I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

So I went into B&Q and, for £5 plus a few tens of pence, picked up a two-metre length of extruded steel box section, a square tube about 1cm on a side and strong enough to not flex noticeably under its own weight.

And for about £2.70 I picked up a small hand-held magnetic spirit level unit.

Combining the two, voila - for under a tenner, I have a two-metre long spirit level.

And although there's only two vials in the magnetic level unit, it has the functionality of a level with lots of vials, since I can position those two vials at any point along the level I require. So I can have them in the middle, for traditional "is this rubble-filled trench roughly level" checking. Or, when nailing a series of pegs into the ground and wanting them to all be at the same height, I can bring the vials to one end of the steel tube, balance the other end on an existing peg (ideally with a helper to hold it there!), and easily read the vials as I adjust the peg I'm leaning my end of the tube on.

And when I'm sick of building walls, I can store the pocket-sized magnetic level away, and think of something useful to make with two metres of steel square tubing, an arc welder, and a brazing set...

Cube Units (by sarah)

To stop anymore cat wee incidents I have become a tad militant - and thus we have been focusing on doing something to the bare wood units we have in the lounge.

Here are photos of the first unit being dealt with.

First off we had to sand the cube all over - especially the edges as these are manky loose grain pine which splinters like anything!

Then we had to dust the saw dust away!

Then to the vanishing - we decided upon silk finish - it took four coats! Still I had estimated 5 coats!

We did everything but the undernieth surfaces, then when dry turned it over and did those - but we then repeated the processes with out turning it over so that there was less of a chance of ending up with a good top and bad bottom - not sure if that makes scense but thats how we're vanishing these babies!

We Survived! (by sarah)

We surivived Space Camp though Al did get rather muddy and I got rather glittery!

We Made aliens and rockets, pitched tents and hiked (ok so I didnt hike as my pelvis and Jeany wouldnt allow it but Al did), made mothers day cards, looked at the stars, drew the moon and made posters of the solar system, watched Zathura (or what ever the space Jurmungy is called, in fact I dont know how to spell Jermungy so that probably doesnt help!), made planispheres and made a model of the solar system out of the cubs!

I did get a bit carried away though and ended up explaining the rock types on the moon! Mind dew on of the cubs was keen to discuss M-theory and parasitic universes and the like! My knowledge of Scifi also ment that I understood most of what the kids were going on about whilst alot of the other adults looked a bit blank (I not sure this is a good thing as half of it is kiddies programmes!).

Poor Jean desperatly wanted to go on the hike with the cubs - there they all were getting ready to go and she bought me her shoes, hat, gloves, scarf mittens and wellys. I desided we could wave them off - but not sure this was the kindest thing as poor Jean stood at the gate little arms stretched through it calling to the kids as they disappeared up the field - she really really wanted to follow them - made me feel really crewl.

Still I really enjoyed the weekend even if I did end up making cards with 30 kids at once when I had been expecting 10!

Space Camp (by sarah)

We're off on Space camp this weekend with the Scouts and Cubs!

Looking forward to it 🙂

Jean has the Geologist Blues (by sarah)

Everyday we go out into the garden and everyday Jean fills my hands with stones carefully selected from the garden, then she cries when I say we can only take one as a specimen.

She cries even more when I wont let her have more than one specimen of the same rock type. So far she has slate, oolitic limestone, banded sandstone with calcite cement, a few feldspar crystals (though ashamedly I forgotten how to tell feldspars apart with out the add of thin sections and a microscope!), and a bit of flint.

Now all I have to do is show her how to lable them up and classify them!