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chopper
Special Collaborator
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Joined: July 13 2005
Location: Essex, UK
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Points: 20032
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 09:12 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Is your shed OK?  |
With those winds, I suspect a lot of sheds in the Outer Hebrides are now in the Inner Hebrides.
Edited by chopper - January 14 2015 at 09:13
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Stool Man
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Joined: January 30 2007
Location: Anti-Cool (anag
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Points: 2689
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 10:23 |
There were so many damaged roofs that the islands have run out of spare tiles, and we'll all have to wait until the sea is calm enough for the freight ship to dock (not just with tiles, but food etc too, obviously.)
chopper wrote:
Stool Man wrote:
Outer Hebrides. I moved up here from London a few months ago.
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Wow, no wonder you've had bad weather, there were some really
strong winds around Stornoway recently. Hope everything gets sorted out
for you.
Whereabouts exactly are you? - my wife
has been to Lewis and thought it was wonderful. It's a place I'd like
to visit at some point (well, you've put me off a bit but still...).
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I'm at the southernmost tip of south Harris. It's all amazing here usually. I saw somebody's shipping container had been rolled over onto their car. It takes something special to roll a shipping container.
Edited by Stool Man - January 14 2015 at 10:27
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rotten hound of the burnie crew
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Dean
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Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 11:20 |
I would say that all's quiet in Hampshire but that would be a lie.
Many years ago I made a wind harp (aka aeolian harp) and cut a hole in the car-port wall so the westerly wind that rips over the fields, leaps the back hedge and batters my house would produce soothing hums as it passes over the harp. Like a wind-chime but less annoying.
Unfortunately all it ever did was emit the occasional moan and having tried many different tunings to get it to work, I finally gave up. Since then the steel guitar strings I strung it with have rusted and it has detuned itself quite badly. Low an behold it now works like a charm.
And it is very loud.
And atonal.
In fact it wails and howls like a damn banshee, and not the Siouxsie kind either.
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What?
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timothy leary
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Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 12:05 |
Have you ever thought of replacing the steel strings with nylon strings?
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Dean
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Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 12:37 |
That would probably work as I think it is the roughness of the string that sets up the vibration as the air flows over them. I think the pristine steel strings were just too smooth.
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timothy leary
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Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 13:03 |
If different gages of weed whacker nylon string were used I think it would provide more sound. I am interested in the process because it seems really open to using different materials. I am interested in building an upright free standing version to place somewhere in the yard. i am sure the neighbors will be thrilled. Any imput?
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Dean
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Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 13:30 |
The thicker the gage the longer the length will need to be and the lower the resulting tone (much like any stringed instrument), it will also need a larger volume sound box. I originally made mine to fit in a sash window, but moved to a house with different windows before it was finished so it is only about 3' wide so can be tuned to a similar pitch-range as a violin.
The tuning pins are home-made dulcimer pins (nails with the heads cut off and filed to take a spanner).
Edited by Dean - January 14 2015 at 13:31
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What?
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timothy leary
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Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 13:34 |
Thanks looks great. I like the look of wood.
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Jim Garten
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Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 10:47 |
timothy leary wrote:
weed whacker |
Hmph! ... I think our friend means 'strimmer'
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Dean
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Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 10:53 |
Aye, my weed-whacker is a machete, though more often than not the weeds win.
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What?
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timothy leary
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Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 11:09 |
Jim Garten wrote:
timothy leary wrote:
weed whacker |
Hmph!
... I think our friend means 'strimmer' |
Strimmer? Are you speaking English?
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 11:45 |
 I don't think that Black & Decker or Husqvarna put "Weed Whacker" on their packaging, even in the colonies.
String Trimmer = S'Trimmer.
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Padraic
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Joined: February 16 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
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Points: 31169
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 11:49 |
But Craftsman does - they even trademarked it
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 11:57 |
Microsoft once owned the trademark "ballpoint"
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What?
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 12:10 |
I have a troy bilt, it will always be known as a weed whacker. When I do battle with weeds am I looking to trim them.....no..... I whack them right flush with the ground.
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timothy leary
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Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 13:13 |
I heard in Australia they are called whipper snippers.
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chopper
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: July 13 2005
Location: Essex, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 20032
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Posted: January 16 2015 at 07:43 |
Dean wrote:
I would say that all's quiet in Hampshire but that would be a lie.
Many years ago I made a wind harp (aka aeolian harp) and cut a hole in the car-port wall so the westerly wind that rips over the fields, leaps the back hedge and batters my house would produce soothing hums as it passes over the harp. Like a wind-chime but less annoying.
Unfortunately all it ever did was emit the occasional moan and having tried many different tunings to get it to work, I finally gave up. Since then the steel guitar strings I strung it with have rusted and it has detuned itself quite badly. Low an behold it now works like a charm.
And it is very loud.
And atonal.
In fact it wails and howls like a damn banshee, and not the Siouxsie kind either.
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I bet your neighbours love you. If you still have any.
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ExittheLemming
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Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11420
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Posted: January 16 2015 at 07:58 |
timothy leary wrote:
I heard in Australia they are called whipper snippers. |
I'm not Australian but I live there and yes, I think you're right. They can of course be pressed into service as a dicincentive for the indigenous whipper snappers to ever encroach on your property ever again (but you never heard that from me right?...)
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: January 16 2015 at 12:20 |
chopper wrote:
I bet your neighbours love you. If you still have any. |
They're all Scottish, it must sound like the celestial choir invisible compared to their national instrument.
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What?
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Stool Man
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 30 2007
Location: Anti-Cool (anag
Status: Offline
Points: 2689
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Posted: January 18 2015 at 09:09 |
Exactly ten years ago, in January 2005, I made the decision to explore the world of Progressive Rock. With the exception of Pink Floyd, who I grew up with from the age of ten, I'd always avoided prog and instead listened to classic rock & pop, blues, avant garde weirdo nonsense, and numerous other sorts. I'd had a few of the obvious albums over the years, but not many at all, and rarely more than one album by any band apart from Floyd. On making my decision, the first bands I newly discovered that I loved were Traffic, Jethro Tull, Caravan, and Focus. And then I discovered this place, and here we are
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rotten hound of the burnie crew
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