DIY WORKSHOP

  

gas tap newly installed sss.jpg
Installing A Gas Tap

Preface
We had a gas tap newly installed in the Japanese-style tatami-mat room. It is our reception room.
In winter we used to use kerosine fan heaters in this as well as in the children's rooms.
Children are all grown up and left home. Consequently the reception room had been the only room with a kerosine heater.
A kerosine heater is bothersome. You have to drain the old remaining kerosine as you start to use it in winter plus you have to fill the tank regularly.
Perhaps we got too old and wanted to save such care when we knew a friend of us has an old extra gas heater. We bought it very cheap and decided to have a gas tap newly installed.

-1/7-

taking off clay wall.jpg

I consulted with a dealer about where to install a gas tap.
Our conclusion was to take off a part of clay wall close to the place where there was the gas meter outside. I undertook the work.
The photo shows how I started the work.
Using a drill I made a line of holes along the marked line in order to separate the part to be taken off from the body wall.

-2/7-

clay wall taken off.jpg

I broke off the wall carefully so that the work didn't damage other parts of the wall.
Clay taken off I made an empty space by cutting off a part of the bamboo mesh with a rotary grinding wheel.
Again the work shouldn't give damage to the body wall. I could do it successfully.
One mistake was a dust mask. Dust rose arond while cutting bamboo mesh. I put on a mask but it was rather late. I found later I inhaled a lot of dust. Inside of my nose was black.

-3/7-

panel frame installed.jpg

The opening is covered with a plywood panel which is screwed on to the frame inside the opening.
It took me a long time but I could make a stout frame which finally fitted tight into the opening.

-4/7-

wood panel.jpg

I made the small opening on the panel for the tap on the day it was installed.
A dealer man marked the place and the size very clearly.
I sandpapered the panel(the photo) for painting, which I did later on a warm day.

-5/7-

insulator filled ss.jpg

I filled the cavity with insulator in order to prevent dew condensation and a gap wind. The material was the remaining of what I used for my speaker systems as a sound absorber.

-6/7-

gas heater available.jpg

The tap was installed as in the photo.
Now the heater is easy and carefree to use. We keep old kerosine heaters only for the occasions needed in their rooms When they come back home.

-7/7-

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Toilet Stool Gasket Replacement

new gasket.jpg

Preface Skip Preface
This is the record of my replacement of the gaskets between toilet stools and drain pipes for two rest rooms in our house. They had never been replaced since the house was built 35 years ago.
The replacement had to be done because water leaked out from between the toilet stool and the floor in the rest room on the second floor. I did the same with the other rest room on the first floor on this occasion. The replacement proved that bad gaskets had been the cause of a bad smell we suffered for a long time.
The first photo below shows a toilet in our house. The two toilets we have are quite the same.
I had long suspected that the odor was coming from between a stool and the floor. I was hesitating whether we should have them repaired by a specialist or do it myslef. However, with the water leak the repair couldn't wait and I made up my mind to do it myself immediately.
The followings are how I did it. It is my pleasure if they would be of any help to D.I.Y.fans.

-1/15-

toilet whole.jpg

Steps of repair:
1. Close the water stopper.
2. Flush water and empty the toilet tank, then drain water in the toilet stool. I used a plastic manual pump for kerosene.
3. Take off the water pipe from the tank, then turn the nuts off the tank bottom in order to take it off the toilet stool.
4. Drain water from the washer toilet seat and take it off the toilet stool. See for details at "PANASONIC WASHER TOILET SEAT" in this site.
5. Turn off the bolts and nuts and take off the toilt stool.
6. Change gaskets.
7. Restore the toilet.
Above are the steps which may look simple but actual work is not as easy. Unexpected things may happen or you may dirty a floor or your clothes. You must take a measure for the odor, too. Plastic gloves and a sheet are musts.

-2/15-

stopper.jpg

The photo is the part where water is fed to the tank. It had beeb changed from a normal pipe to the flexible one as I installed the washer toilet seat. The tank lid is taken off.
The flexible pipe is connected to the stopper by way of a junction that branch out to the washer toilet seat.
As you take off the flexible pipe, you have to be careful not to lose a gasket.

-3/15-

tank bottom.jpg

The tank bottom:
It is fixed to the stool by two bolts. The nuts were easy to loosen and the rubber gasket was still elastic.
There are hollows at the bottom inside where water remains a little even after flushing. You need to be careful not to spil it.

-4/15-

base fixing bolt.jpg

The bolts that fix a toilet stool.
The stool is bilaterally symmetrical. The front is right side in the photo.
The stool is fixed on to the floor with the smaller bolt(anchored bolt) on the left.
I had to break the anchored bolts as I took off the stool, about which I wrote at the bottom.
The bolt on the right is for unifying a stool and a drain pipe with a gasket in between by tightening a metal ring toward the stool, not for fixing it on to the floor. It is detached from the floor.
At this stage you mark accurate position to which the stool is placed back. I used yellow masking tape, which are not clear in the photo, though. Marking is neccessary by all means in order to set the stool at one go. The new gasket will be damaged otherwise.
The description above turned out to be wrong. You must read Re-repair at 14/15.

-5/15-

washing base.jpg

The stool is beeing washed.
You can't pump out all the water inside because of its siphon structure. So you have to be careful when you carry it out.
It will be difficult to wash it in a bath room. You have to repeat turning it over and over until dirty thing stops coming out.
After washing you dry it.

-6/15-

old gasket2.jpg

The loosened gasket from which the odor rose.
It had been loosened. The photo maybe too small to show how it is damaged.
It is designed to work in the way the protruded brim on the bottom of the stool presses down the gasket on the inner circumference. Unified tightly by bolts and nuts, the stool and the drain pipe become one so that it never leaks out bad water.
I noticed the stool was loose a little when I took it off. I surmised it might have kneaded the gasket. When setting it back you must check it is fixed tight both on to the gasket ring and on to the floor.

-7/15-

.jpg

A gasket is beeing taken off.
To stop the odor a piece of crumpled paper is put into the drain pipe.
I used a minus driver to peel it off the pipe end and a metal ring.
In order to let a new gasket fit tight on to the place, I took off the old gasket elaborately.

-8/15-

new gasket.jpg

A new gasket made of putty.
I bought two at a net shop for 1194yen includeing postage.
The gasket is set inside a piece of cardboard ring. The inside surface of the ring is coated so that putty won't stick to it. It is useful. You can use it in the next step.

-9/15-

shaping gasket.jpg

In applying the new gasket, you have to make it flat like a ring of canned pineapple, then shape it to a proper size. You'll find the coated cardboard paper very handy in shaping the gasket.
When setting back the stool, you use the marks and place it down exactly onto the right place at one go in order not to damage the new gasket. If you failed, you have to shape the gasket again.

-10/15-

anchor holes.jpg

Repair Of An Anchor And An Anchor Hole.
Metal anchors and bolts were firmly fixed in the wet underground. I had to break them to take the stool off the tiled floor.
I was perplexed then but luckily I could finally restore them.
In the left hole the tip of the broken bolt remained. I made a 4mm hole and tapped a new thread for a 5mm bolt.
The left hole is empty of an anchor. The bolt came off with its anchor. I filled the hole with a filler that hardens and installed a new anchor.

-11/15-

broken bolts.jpg

The broken bolts and an anchor, a filler and a new anchor.
A part of the bolt at top left remained in the anchor.
The bolt on its right came out with its anchor before it was broken.
The heads of both bolts were torn off when forced to turn. Holes for the cap made them weak.
Repair of anchors took considerable time and energy. It was an unexpected happening that offen accompanies D.I.Y
I had to wait for the filler to harden and the toilet repair took two days.

-12/15-

Postscript
There are many types of toilets and each type requires its particular way of installing. With our toilets the seals on which the model name or product number were printed had been came off and lost long ago. So the only way was to dismantle one and find how it was installed. Fortunately, our toilets were none of special ones and the only parts needed were gaskets. The net shop sent us the gaskets the next day.
Damaging anchors was quite a happening. Luckily, again, I could restore original anchor holes.
The whole work was, so to speak, hard labor. Carrying a stool down from upstairs and washing it and then bring it back upstairs again caused muscle pains for a few days.
Setting the both toilet stools just on to the proper positions seemed to have been done successfully. The odor gradually disappeared and no water leak has been found so far.

-13/15-

position guide set.jpg

Re-repair using a hand-made position guide:
To my disappointment, in about 3 months water started to leak occasionally between the stool and the floor. The stool had not been placed at the right position. It had to be repaired again.
Though it was too late to recognize, the position marked with pieces of tape as I repaired it for the first time was the position that caused leakage.!!
So, in order to place the stool at the very position it should be placed, I made a position guide.
I traced a bottom pattern of the stool on to a piece of plywood and cut out an inner guide and an outer guide.
The photo shows those guides being fixed on the floor. They were neatly adjusted to the right position and fixed on to the floor with packaging tape.

-15/15-

stool set to guide.jpg

I installed three sliding guides on the outer guide so that I can let down the stool along those guides just at the right position.
The photo shows how the stool was set. As I set the stool in such a way I could experienced for the first time the feeling of pressing the putty gasket in the right position, which I didn't last time.
Now I declare with confidence the completion of the repair.

-15/15-

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Renovation Of Garage

old garage.jpg

My father built this garage soon after our new house was built. A part of the garage is a storeroom. The photo shows its north side after remodeling.
As my brother, who lives next door rebuilt his house, I had to remodel the garage, for the rebuilding blocked the west side of the garage, the entrance side.A big carphtry it became. I hadn't imagined the work to be done by myself.
It had turned out to be my weekend carpentry because the cost estimated by a professional carpenter was too expensive.
The shock of the estimate made me decide to do it by myself. A man, triggered by a big shock, often betrays his hidden power. Besides, I used to watch, though unconsciously, my father's work, rebuilding work wasn't any difficult.

-1/10-

new garage1.jpg

For a car to be able to get in, I had to move the southern wall about 1 meter inside.
The photo shows the foundation and pillars are done. I bought timber at a D.I.Y. shop and carried it home on my wagon(Toyota Light Ace).

-2/10-

inside fixture.jpg

Inside fixture under renovation.

-3/10-

new garage2.jpg

The inside fixture is finished and the southern old wall is being removed.

-4/10-

old wall removed.jpg

A new frontage is appearing.

-5/10-

shutter installed.jpg

I had a shutter installed. The worker came to measure the frontage beforehand.
An electric apparatus for opening and closing the shutter was too expensive for me to buy then. Now, as I got older and find it rather hard to open it, I want it.

-6/10-

new garage done.jpg

The new completed frontage of the garage.
The nose of Mazda Miata, the car I owned then is parked inside.
Miata is gone and the garage is now my workshop. My wife's car, which took place of Miata, is parked outdoor.
After completion, I had the front of the garage concreted.

-7/10-

before reformation.jpg

The photo of the garage before remodeling. There was not an enough space then.

-8/10-

workshop corner.jpg

I made a workbench at a corner.
There are a vise on a thick heavby bench and an air compressor underneath. Regrettably, the place by and by lost its function stuffed with things.

-9/10-

Postscript
A big carphtry it became. I hadn't imagined the work to be done by myself.
It had turned out to be my weekend carpentry because the cost estimated by a professional carpenter was too expensive.
The shock of the cost drove me to do it by myself. A man, triggered by a big shock, often betrays his hidden power. Besides, I used to watch, though unconsciously, my father's work, rebuilding work wasn't any difficult.
It took several months to finish it but I enjoyed the work so much that I found different myself. I had never enjoyed doing something that much before.

-10/10-

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Painting Of Eaves

foothold1-1.jpg

I repainted the eaves that had not been taken care of at all since the house was built. I repainted the two eaves on the southern side of the house as I happened to find them partially rusted away. It was too late to fix but I repainted them trying to prolong their lives.
I set the foothold for the first floor eaves using two step ladders and long stepping boards that I had made for working on the roof. To make the foothold safe, I connencted it with a long pole to the tree nearby.

-1/13-

foothold1-2.jpg

Top view of the foothold.
It had no rails and so you had to walk or work on it leaning against the edge of eaves or grabing it with your hand.
Ii is better, of course, for an older man like me to install a safer foothold, but building such foothold needs much more energy and time. Thus my work is adventurous each time.

-2/13-

half painted.jpg

You need to remove the rust before painting.
Removing the rust is tiresome and takes much more time and energy than painting.

-3/13-

done1.jpg

Painting done!

-4/13-

too late1.jpg

I carefully removed the rust and painted the part where tin had been rusted away. The timber around the part was also rotted off, too.

-5/13-

ladder catch.jpg

The other eaves is installed above the porch on the upper floor. There is a part on it, too, where tin had been rusted away.
I first installed a ladder catch over the rail. On the bottom of the catch were screwed wooden pieces which caught the rail tight. It worked well and I could bring up tools and stepping boards smoothly.

-6/13-

foothold.jpg

I fastened the stepping boards on to the porch rail as in the photo, installing a prop to stop the stepping board from tilting.
While installing the boards, I made a big mistake. That is, I let one stepping board fall. It struck and broke two tiles as in the next photo.

-7/13-

tile broken.jpg

Broken tiles.

-8/13-

tile fixed.jpg

After painting, I mended the tiles as in the photo.
We had spare tiles but in replacing them with the new, you had to move other tiles around. It was not recommendable I judged. So, I mended them by glueing. The wire and black plastic tape are for holding the glued pieces tight.

-9/13-

ready to be painted.jpg

The photo shows rusting, the more tiresome and time consuming work than painting is done.
The view makes you feel you are at a much higher place than you are, which the vew from the ground never suggests.
I had to manage to operate a wire disk attached to an electric drill with one hand as I had to hold the edge of the eaves with the other all the time. The work was most difficult in the painting this time.

-10/13-

painting.jpg

This is how I worked. I'm grabbing the edge of the eaves by my right hand in this photo.
I had it taken by my wife. It looks nothing difficult but in reality, you had to be paying attention not to step off nor let anything fall at all times

-11/13-

too late.jpg

There was a similar part that rusted away on this eaves, too.
Again, I carefully rusted off and painted, wishing it to survive as longer.

-12/13-

done.jpg

Done!
Not to damage the painted surface, I started painting from the right end to the left, without stopping on the way, finally getting down from the foothold holding the ladder. Newly painted surface is beautiful.
I only wish it survives longer・・・!

-13/13-

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Pruning Of A Mukutree

mukutree.jpg

I have been pruning the trees around the house for years since retirement. Well, we have a big mukutree which has been providing us with a wonderful green shade.(The photo was taken in June.)
However, it grew very big(tall) and I had found it too hard for me to prune the tree last time.
I recognized I had only a few years left before I must stop climbing the tree, and I made up my mind to cut the tree shorter.

Pruning trees brings you a lot of branches to dispose of and you need a few days to finish everything. So, I scheduled the days of pruning consulting with the wether forcast.

-1/7-

cut to naked.jpg

This is the tree after pruning.
I pruned the tree in such a way it won't spread branches in higher position and over the neighbor's land. I refrained from cutting the whole upper trunk as I surmised it too dangerous for me to try. I used an electric reciprocal saw in pruning, which enabled me to complete such tough work in one day.
In cutting, I connected the cutting block with a piece of plastic rope to the tree. However, once a big block, swayed wide and hit me on the ankle as it was cut off. The ankle swelled and soon turned dark blue with internal bleeding. It seemed a kind of sharing of pains between the tree and me(?).
I also made a cautionless mistake. A smaller block, which I didn't connect with rope, unexpectedly hit a branch as it fell down, jumped obliquely and it finally hit the water tank below and broke its top cover.
You must know raw wood is much heavier than it looks.
Carelessness can be very dangerous!

-2/7-

branches on the ground.jpg

Heaps of branches and wood blocks occupied the space in front of my workshop. I left them there to be disposed of the next day trusting the weather forecast. Good weather seemed stable for a few days.

-3/7-

branches disposed.jpg

Good weather continued the next day.
All the branches and wood blocks including those of other trees were disposed of. 21 45-litter plastic bags were needed to clear the space.
Our city collects combustible garbage twice a week. Each family can bring out three garbage bags at a time. So, it took one and a half months to clear all the bags.
Big wood blocks were left outside to let them dry out to be cut smaller later.

-4/7-

mukutree down view.jpg

The photo shows how the tree spreaded branches the next year. They didn't grew in higher position but in lower position as in the past. Pruning in the fall looks easier, too.

-5/7-

mukutree viewed up.jpg

Upward View Of the Tree
It's a real green shade, isn't it? I like it very much.

-6/7-

mukutree shade from inside.jpg

This is the view from inside my workshop/garage. The green shade is provided with just as it had been done in the past years. It cools down the inside, too.
The best place for BBQ and my work outside.

-7/7-

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outer tank.jpg

Our house when built was located on the outskirt of a village where the water pressure was lower. In order to apply more pressure, we installed a tank with a motor. The apparatus has been used many many years without any trouble.
However, one day, a meter reader pointed out that a greater volume of water had been used suddenly and had suggested us to check a leak.
She was right already twice in the past.

-1/8-

ball tap inside tank.jpg

I found a ball tap link in the tank we installed had been broken and water had not been stopped tightly causing continuous overflow.

-2/8-

broken link arm.jpg

A link arm to push the valve was broken as shown in the photo. Why broken? Was the metal excessively hardedned?
Naturally, the link arm was not sold in DIY shops nearby. They sell a ball and a tap only in an assembly. So, I decided to make a copy of the link arm by myself.

-3/8-

material.jpg

I looked for any stainless fitting out of which I could cut out the link arm and I picked up a catch for a door bolt. Both the thickness and the size were appropriate.

-4/8-

scraping.jpg

I copied the shape on the catch and scraped off with a disc sander first and finished it with a file.

-5/8-

replica made.jpg

A new link arm was completed afte drilling a hole and finishing it with a fine file.
The shape is not quite the same but the relative positions of a fulcrum, the points of force and action are the same.

-5/8-

reassembled.jpg

The photo shows the reassembled tap.
It was installed back to the tank and has been working right.
Incidentally, I cleaned and disinfected the inside of the tank before using.

-7/8-

Postscript
In reparing something, it is natural that you try to shoot the cause and get rid of it. However, I couldn't understand why such a place was broken? There was no way to remove the cause. So, I repaired it anyway.
I checked a D.I.Y shop nearby and net shops for the very metal part I needed but they were selling only assembled components, which decided me to make one myself.
I picked up a door bolt catch to make the part out of and luckily, I could successfully repair the ball tap as I reported above. The tap has been working O.K. since.

-8/8-

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Cracked Water Pipe

site.jpg

Once our meter reader pointed out that the amount of water we had used was unusually plenty.
Sometime before, we had found a leak advised by the same reader. The leak was from one of the releaf valve installed to the solar heating tank, which was above ground.
This time, the leak must have been somewhere underground. I knew no way to find it. However, one day I happened to notice a wetter place over the pipe route.
I didn't expect the point of leak was just below the wet place. But, you had to start anyway. I gouged concrete and severed out the portion around the spot.

-1/4-

leaking.jpg

Luckily, though the leak was unlucky, I could hit the crack on the pipe. The spot was just aroung the center of the wet place. Water was coming out of the crack forming a piece of thin film.

In the photo the crack was bound with a black plastic tape to stop the water force.

-2/4-

crack.jpg

The cracked joint sleeve.
The crack bore on a joint sleave. Why on the sleeve was the question, for it was thicker than the pipe.

I closed the stop tap, cut the portion out, and installed the mending pipe with two new sockets.
In mending, to stop water and dry the pipe ends were not easy, for the water in the pipe continuted coming out little by little. It took a while before the water stopped coming out and I could dry the parts to glue well.

-3/4-

refilled.jpg

The spot refilled.
In refilling, I beat earth under the pipe to stop it as possible from shrinking down. I thought otherwise the earth over the pipe consequently press down the pipe and cause another trouble. So far, nothing seems to have happen with the mended pipe.

-4/4-

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Dashboard Box Lid
Toyota Estima

dashboard.jpg

One day, the pocket lid behind the steering wheel stopped responding to the release button. It stayed closed till I opened it manually. I thought the spring was broken. The ETC unit was installed in the pocket and the mal function caused a big inconvenience.
I asked my car dealer if they order the spring of the lid for me. The person in charge said no. He said it was not caused by the spring alone but by the whole assembly. That is, I had to replace it with the new. It was about 15,000yen. I thougt it was worth trying to repair it myself.

-1/6-

points circleds.jpg

I asked the salesman through whom I bought the car the way of detaching the assemly. It was rather easy.
Later, I detached it at home and knew how it was broken.
The coil spring wasn't broken. What were broken were the axles and the parts around them(circled in red and pink in the photo).
The assembly after repair:
I installed a new metal stopper as you see it in the green circle. It is more away from the axle than the original stopper in the yellow circle, which is so close to the axle as to break it by the force charged each time I tried to open the lid too far.

-2/6-

red circled.jpg

Repair processes:
① I repaired the broken plastic parts with an adhesive.
② I installed a new sleeve made with an aluminum ring. The sleeve holds the spring and is held inside the spring by an washer.
③ I assembled all the parts over a steel bolt which backs up the damaged original plastic axle.

-3/6-

yellow circled.jpg

④ I did likewise on the other side.
The stopper, which is in the yellow circled, is too close to the axle as to charge it multiplied force givien to the lid of a long lever.
The plastic used to the assembly is not so strong.
SO, THE DESIGNER SHOULD HAVE PAID MORE CONSIDERATION!!

-4/6-

stopper.jpg

Close-up of the stopper I installed:
The result was not fully satistactry, like:
① The lid doesn' open as wide as it did before because of the new stopper.
② The movement of the lid is not as quick as it did before.
However, the push button revived. The mechanism seems more sturdy and durable. I would buy a new assembly next time.

-5/6-

Postscript
I found the material was a brittle kind of plastics. As a whole, it is light and neat but I judge it has a structual weakness as I mentioned above.
It's dissapointing to find it was a product under the cost performance priority.

-6/6-

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Cleaning And Condenser Tuning Of Quartz Clock Movement

clock front.jpg

Skip to see Condenser Tuning.
The photo shows the quartz clock in our living room. It started to get slow even with a new battery. I have had a notion that quartz clocks are expendables and they can't be repaired. So, I have never tried to repair one before. But this time, somehow I happened to think ofChecking through the pages over the internet, I learned clock movements are not expensive. They sell one for 450yen to 1300yen(for a cuckoo clock). They don't sell any special long life version. Also, they can be restored by cleaning.
The last information decided. Changing the movement with a new one can wait. repairing it.

-1/16-

mat.jpg

Before setting to work, I cleaned the desktop and around it to keep the movement out of dust. Also, I put a cushion sheet to protect the clock face.
The day I did the work was fortunatly rainy, a less dusty day.

-2/16-

clock back.jpg

The photo shows the back side with a battery and the lid taken off.
First, I took off the back plate. It was fixed with six screws at the places marked with yellow cirlces.The holes were smaller and a slim driver was needed.

-3/16-

hook and cover.jpg

Next, I took off the glass on the face. It was fixed with an aluminum frame that had six fixing nails that were easily made straight.
Photo left: Two of the nails with green circles.
Photo right: The detached glass and frame .

-4/16-

detach hand.jpg

Next, I took off hands. They were inserted on to spindles and they could be pulled off, only with proper needed force. I used pliers as shown in the photo.
The hands were firmly fixed as if they were adhered. In pulling, I gave a touch of shake in order to take one off successfully. You have to be careful not ot damage the movement as well as hands.

-5/16-

detach nut.jpg

After taking off the hands, I took off the movement by turning off the nut. As I didn't have a dedicated driver, I used the same pliers I used for taking off the hands.
This time, I had to be careful not to give any scar on the clock face. One scar would have spoiled the repair even if the clock revived.
A piece of cardboard protector would have worked but I didn't make one this time. I was lazy enough to venture the repair without it.

-6/16-

movement detached.jpg

The photo is the movement detached from the clock board.
Luckily, a rubber washer was sticking the movement and the board, and the movement didn't fell when the nut was taken off. It was a luck.

-7/16-

open movement.jpg

Disassembling of the movement:
I levered off the movement cover with a minus driver, applying the driver little by little on both sides in turn.
However, as the cover came off, it jumped off together with one of the cogwheels. You have to be careful not to let it happen.

-8/16-

movement inside.jpg

Inside of the movement.
I proceeded the work with thin plastic gloves on.
You have to note the positions of cogwheels.
You must be careful in handling them as they are very light.

-9/16-

movement cover and wheels.jpg

These are the cogwheels that were taken off and put in the movement cover.

-10/16-

movement coil.jpg

After taking off cogwheels, I took off this component from the movement case.
The component is the engine of the clock consisting of a driving coil and a rotor(green circled).
The rotor is very small and easy to be lost.
So far are the processes of disassembling.

-11/16-

air duster.jpg

Cleaning:
I used a spray duster as shown in the photo. You apply jet air on to each cogwheel and bearing.
You may not find any difference after cleaning.
After cleaning, I assembled the movement again. In this occasion, I could proceed assembling very smoothly.

-12/16-

fitting guide.jpg

As I put back the movement on to the clock board, the guides(yellow circled) helped me. You can't make a mistake.

-13/16-

Postscript
As the battery was set, the rotor started rotating, or the clock started moving. It may be too soon to say this cleaning was really successful, but the clock has been working correct for three days now.
I learned a movement can be cleaned and is worth trying if you want to get it revived.
Subsequent Progress
After 4 months it started to be slow again. I replaced the battery and the clock revived. But in about a month it started to get slow again. It was the time when the temparature was very low. The trouble must be causded by the increased friction on axis and its bearing?

-14/16-

condenser attachment.jpg

Condenser Tuning
So I did the condenser tuning with installing a chemical condenser attachment as shown in the photo. The condenser I was of 30MF/10V. It hppened to be at hand.

-15/16-

condenser attached.jpg

I installed the attachment as shown in the pnoto. How did it turn out? The clock revived!
It seems that the energy stored in the condenser supplies the needed energy quickly enough which the battery is unable to respond. This method can be an alternative of one more battery to be connected parallel I thought.

-16の16-

Supplemet:Movement replaced
(Installed on 2019/05/14)

.jpg

The clock finally stopped dead and I replaced the movement with a new one at last. It started again with the trial battery that came with the movement.
The photo shows the one I bought through Amazon. It's a Kishizuka Kikai made short-shafted sweep moving type movement. I could install old hands OK. The price was ¥1306 plus ¥360 carriage. The price rose during two years and 8 months after I repaired it first.

―Supplement―


  

Retractable Wheels

retractable wheel on.jpg

I brought the desk home from one of my son's apartment when he graduated from university.
It happened to be the time I opened my workshop and I reformed it into my workdesk. The legs are steel and the board is made of thick particle board. That is, the desk is heavy.

-1/2-

retractable wheel off.jpg

I wanted to make it movable and so I installed wheels as shown in the photos.
To use the wheels, you pull them down to outside the leggs.
When the wheels are not needed, they can be retracted inside to be pulled upward by a spring.

-2/2-

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Small Shovel

shovel before.jpg

A handle of a small, convenient shovel which you can use by one hand broke.
We realized it was "convenient" as we knew we couldn't use it any more. It had been treated not with care at all. It had been left outside and got wet when it rained.
We knew we needed it and I mended it.

-1/5-

shovel pin up.jpg

First, you have to take out the fix pin and clear the mount. I scraped off the pin head and tried to hammer it out. Somehow,it didn't come out easily. It was broken when I finally took it out.

-2/5-

shovel handle making.jpg

I used a piece of wood stick for a new handle, making it round by a plane.

-3/5-

shovel after1.jpg

Front side of the finished shovel.
I painted the handle with paint that contained preservative.

-4/5-

shovel after2.jpg

Back side.
I removed the rust in token of our thankfulness for its past contribution.
It has been kept inside since.

-5/5-

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Restoring Termite Damage

termite damage whole view.jpg

Accidentally I found termite damage around the door in our storage shed. Lucky was it that I could find it?
The restoring work took about three weeks. I had been engaged in a project then but stopped it and gave the highest priority on the restoring work.
The most difficult and hard work was to clear the place. The shed was full of things thrown in there during some thirty years in the past. They were the things almost all unnecessary but difficult for you to discard.

―1/6―

termite damage naked view.jpg

The photo shows the whole damage.
I decided to replace pillars and a beam without removing the galvanized iron sheets, which I surmised will make the work more awkward though.
Luckily, the main function of the pillars were for holding the door. They were almost free of load.

―2/6―

termite damage pillar foot.jpg

The photo is a close-up view of one of the pillar bases. They were being installed buried into the ground a little.

―3/6―

termite damage pillar bases concreted.jpg

I filled the old pillar holes with concrete planning to install new pillars to be fixed with metal plates anchored onto the concrete floor.

―4/6―

termite damage ready to restore.jpg

The photo shwos the place ready to be restored with the concrete filling hardened enough.
While waiting for the concrete to harden, I shopped timber for pillars and a beam. I wanted rectangular timber of 87mm by 87mm in thickness but they sell only those of 90mm by 90mm. I had to plane them thinner by 3mm.
On top of it I had to buy two 3 meter long timber for 1900mm long pillars.

―5/6―

termite damage restore/images/termite damage restored.jpg.jpg

The damage restored.
In finishing the work I painted the galvanized iron sheet around the door anew and gave preservatives to the foot of pillars.
I had been poor in measuring, and so I paid a very careful attention this time that I could fit the pillars and the beam just into their places.

―6/6―

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BBQ Brazier

I brougt it back from USA in 1988.
.jpg

Photo: KENMORE BBQ Brazier
It can be used both with propane and charcole. It can be also used for smoking.
We enjoyed BBQ often in our garden for a few years after coming back from USA but then we stopped using it, perhaps because I became busier and so were children as they grew up.
It had been left uncared under the eaves for many years. It got rusty, plastic wheels broken and wooden boards deteriorated.

-1/2-

Postscript
As I started thinking about the life after retirement, I wanted a new one and bought one when I visited Canada escorting students for the last time. However, the world had changed after that terrorism against the World Trade Center in New York. JAL didn't allow me to bring it aboard. I had to leave it at JAL counter in Vancouver, Canada. I wept.
After retirement, to restore the old and partly broken brazier was one of the first jobs I enjoyed. It revived as shown in the photo as a charcoal version brazier.
I brought back a new propane burner, too but the shop we had patronized didn't like to fill our portable bomb as they were closing propane selling.
The brazier is now kept inside and has been often used.

-2/2-

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Garden Table

A Training Piece Of My Woodwork
round table.jpg

I made this round table top in order to train how to cut a wooden board into a round piece and how to paint it beautifully.
Originally, the top was plastic. It was not one piece but was composed of several narrow plastic planks which wore to tattered.
The table came to us with two matching chairs but one of them I disposed of. It was not worth repairing.
I challenged to cut out the round table top with a saw, a plane, a file and sandpaper.
Painting was a challenge, too. I painted it with a brush, which, naturally, I couldn't finish at one try. I tried three times, or I compromised with the third finish. Painting with a brush is so difficult, I learned.
It turned out to become a good match for a coffee break in the shade of a tree.

-1/1-

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Mending Of Pruning Shears


(Installed on 2018/07/31)


The photo shows two pruning shears I mended this time.

finished.jpg

I had postponed the mending for three years but using them with energy and strength more than needed came to the limit. I got older and couldn't waste my precious strength any more. So I tried the mending at last.

―1/8―

nicks.jpg

The bigger one had nicks as you can see them. I don't remember when and how I caused them. Some of them are very big but I judged I can make them well cutting shears again practically.

―2/8―

taking off the rivet.jpg

The first step of mending is dismantling but the pivot is a rivet, not a threaded bolt to be tightened with a nut. It is troublesome.
I planned to use the rivet again and so I grinded and filed the hammer crushed head of the rivets as shown in the photo.

―3/8―

dismantled.jpg

In about an hour the shears were dismantled as shown in the photo. It shows the bigger one. I sweated a lot with the work.

―4/8―

diskgrindered.jpg

For mending the blades I used disk grinder. It is a very appropriate tool for the work because it can make a concave line as you apply it onto the surface at a small angle.
You can glind the inner surface of a blade so that the center of it becomes slightly sunken along its length but you must be careful not to grind the edge for the next process.

―5/8―

whetting.jpg

Grinding work finished you whet blades in order to make smooth and sharp edges.
With me, the work was familiar as I had experienced with chisels and planes.

―6/8―

rivet before heating.jpg

The final process is putting blades together again.
The photo shows a rivet placed on a broken piece of an earthenware.
You heat it with a hand burner and set it into the pivot holes to be hammer crashed.
The work must be done quickly and neatly while the rivet is hot. That is, I had no chance of taking a photo of this final process.

―7/8―

reassembled.jpg

The mending of two shears were finished. Crushed heads of rivets look not large enough but they are practically strong enough to keep blades together.
The spring washer on the bigger shears is new as I had damaged the original one when dismantling it.
I'm looking forward to the next pruning chance.

―8/8―

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Restoring A Septic Tank Hatch

Installed on 2019/06/20

The cast iron hatch of our septic tank had dangerously corroded. I restored it as shown in the photo.

back to its place.jpg

The price of a new hatch, which was too expensive, decided me to restore it with the leftover FRP materials I had kept since the last speaker making.
The hatch above looks wet but it's not. It only looks so with its polyester coating.

―1/6―

backside before+polished.jpg

The photos show the back sides of the hatch. Left:before removing the rust. Right:after removing the rust. The hatch had grown very thin. Ignorance is bliss! We were stepping on the hatch.

―2/6―

face before+polished.jpg

The photos show the faces of the hatch. Left:before removing the rust. Right:after removing the rust. Removing the rust was a good one day work.

―3/6―

tools.jpg

Tools and materials used for the FRP handiwork: they are (from left to right) a paper cup, a syringe, a brush, curing agent, scissors, glass wool and resin. Repeating a step of mixing 1cc curing agent with 100cc resin(liquid polyester) is my way.
The whole surfaces of the hatch were applied with paraffin contained resin in finishing.

―4/6―

back side coated.jpg

The photo shows the back side of the hatch which is covered with FRP layer. Pieces of glass wool through which polyester permeated forms the layer.

―5/6―

face coated.jpg

The face was coated only with resin.

―6/6―

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Restoring A Two-wheel Push Cart


(Installed on 2020/06/30)

.jpg
This push cart, which my father made about 50 years ago, had been my handy cart but badly weatherworn. It had corroded holes at some places and the wheels needed to be replaced.
It was my mistake(1) that I didn't take a photo before it was restored.

―1/5―

.jpg
I mended each corroded hole wrapping with a piece of wire gauze and covered it with FRP. The photo shows one of the mended holes where a fine texture of glass fibre of FRP is visible.

―2/5―

.jpg
In order to apply new wheels you needed to install a new axle, which was a piece of biggest trouble in this restoration.

―3/5―

.jpg
I made a mistake(2) in cutting the axle and made it a bit too short. Keeping wheels with pins from coming off was the original idea but the axle was too short for installing holes on both ends for pins. Consequently I had to devise a different way of keeping a wheel on one end. I cut internal screw threads at the center there to hold proper washers with a screw as shown on the right side in the photo. The white mold applied to the pin end on the left is an injuryproof.

―4/5―

.jpg

These are the old wheels. The rubber tires hardened and were worn away utterly losing their elasticity. They caused big rattle. The new wheels, I expect, are tube tires and much calm.

―5/5―
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Lopped Branch Shredder Maintenance

(Installed on 2020/10/30)

1 branch shredder.jpg
It's our old branch shredder. The label says 'Roller Mill - A Garden Shredder'. It's been working without trouble for longer than twenty five years. However the reset switch (circuit breaker) broke on the holder and it fell inside the body. I can accepted it. It's old enough for something not good to take place. I can use it without the breaker but it saves the motor from over current. So I decided to fix it.

―1/8―

2 switch panel.jpg
The photo shows the operation panel. All four switches are covered with dust covers. The breaker switch was being installed under the round cover on the far left. The cover is fixed with Y screws. Why Y screws?

―2/8―

3 sw panel before fix.jpg
The photo shows the hole where the switch was fixed and the switch itself off its place behind the panel. In taking off the cover I could turn off Y screws with a pair of pliers. The switch seemed a simple one-time off swith.

―3/8―

4 lid removed.jpg
The photo shows the shredder with its upper lid being taken off. In order to take off the lid I needed a Y driver. I didn't have one nor couldn't find one at nearby D.I.Y. shops. They sold smaller sized Y drivers only. So I made one.

―4/8―

5 y driver.jpg
I cut off the tip of an old minus driver and shaped it into a Y driver as shown in the photo. The driver didn't fit tight to the screw but somehow I could take off the screws and, of course, fixed the lid back to its place in the end.

―5/8―

6 screws broken neck ball.jpg
These are the screws, the broken neck that came off the breaker switch and a rubber ball. The ball is one of the two which had been pushed tight onto the screw in the screw holes in the diagonal positions. I could take out the deeper one only with a drill bit for woodwork after a few other trials.

―6/8―

7 reset switch fixed back.jpg
I fixed the switch behind the lid as shown in the photo. It is pushed tight upward onto the operation panel with a metal fitting which I made with a piece of copper plate. The plate is fixed with original screws used for fixing the panel onto the upper lid. There are two useless holes on the fitting for I changed the way of fitting on the way.

―7/8―

8 reset switch fixed.jpg
The reset switch was fixed back. To end up the maintenance I dusted clean off the surface and put back the dust cover. The shredder is now perfectly ready to be used.

―8/8―

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Fixing The Oven Door Glass.

(Installed on 2021/01/25)

1-broken door glass.jpg
My wife called me loudly in the kichen! I went there and found the door glass of the oven cracked all over! She said she was innocent. Okay but it was after she changed the round rotating stand inside with a square one with four legs, an edge of which might have hit the glass not knowing it.
We called the after-sales service and knew the oven was too old for them to help us. They suggested we buy a new similar unit(an electric and a micro-wave ovens built in one) but we found the price was more than $3000. We were at a loss.
I was driven to the wall ... hit upon the idea to fix it myself. I searched over the net and found shops which sell pieces of various glass to orders! I carefully sized the glass I needed, gauged the radius to be applied in rounding the corners and ordered from a shop a piece of TPFL3.3, which can be used under 450 degrees C.

―1/7―

2-cleaned rubber rim and frame.jpg
I had four days before the glass arrived during which I cleaned the door and its periphery. I detached rubber brims from the frame as well as from the broken glass. I cleaned them off oily dirt which had invaded into them.

―2/7―

3-ceaning the door.jpg
During the years of unattended use rust grew on the metal parts hardening the dirt around them. Cleaning needed time and effort.

―3/7―

4-cleaning the pipe space.jpg
The pipe space under the oven unit had become the place of dust bunnies.

―4/7―

5-verifying glass size.jpg
The glass arrived as scheduled. It was securly protected wrapped with layers of plastic air mat inside a bigger corrugated carton. I applied the rubber brim around the glass and anxiously fit it onto the frame. Beautiful! It was just as big as I ordered.

―5/7―

6-installing rubber rim to the frame.jpg
The door was perfectly fixed but fixing the frame onto the door was unexpectedly difficult. The work took me nearly an hour because the brim had become loose a little, plus I didn't have proper understanding of its section structure. It was considerately made for the door to tightly seal the oven. It was the work of new learning.

―6/7―

7-the door with new glass.jpg
I could fix the oven door with a piece of new heat-resistant glass as shown in the photo above.
Informaton about the glass:
Name=TPFL3.3
Max temp=500℃
Continuous temp=450℃
Shop=Kodama Glass

―7/7―
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Fixing A Shower Hose


(Installed on 2021/05/26)

1-fissure.jpg
A fissure grew on the shower hose as shown in the photo. It sprays water on what you don't want to be wet.

―1/4―

2-hose taken off.jpg
First you cut the hose off the joint metal. Then you take off the collar in order to cut the remaining hose on the metal open and take it off. The order of this procedure is important for the easier work.

―2/4―

3-hose insertion.jpg
In inserting the hose to the metal the order above must be reversed. Making the joint metal hot makes the work much easier. I used a soldering iron for this purpose.

―3/4―

4-hose fixed.jpg
I made scratches on the metal joint but the fixing was successfully finished. The fixing was very smooth and didn't take me long. Many years ago when I changed the hoses the work was hard as I did it forcibly. I was much prepared this time through the past experience.

4/4
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A Shutters Pull


(Installed on 2021/06/04)

1-a pull installed.jpg
I had hurt my wrist the other day and had great difficulty in pulling up the shutters of my workroom. The shutters has two dented pulls but they are too shallow and I had badly hurt my finger nails a few times in the past. The difficulty had grew as I get older.
So I finally installed an easier pull as shown in the photo. The pull as shown in the yellow circle comes off the shutter to be grabbed. When not used it can be attracted to the shutters by magnets.
N.B. Installing such a pull is only possible to the shutters which has the retractor inside the shutters.

―1/3―

2-pull materials.jpg
As usual in my recent handiwork I picked up the materials from the remainings as shown in the photo. I used them as they were not changing the sizes.

―2/3―

3-through the gap.jpg
The pull can go into the retractor through the gap between the shutters and the opening of the retractor. The gap is about 20mm wide and the vertical depth inside is over 400mm, fortunate sizes that allowed me to make such a pull.
The pull, which is simple enough, has proved itself the marvelus device. I have been saved from the hard work of opening the shutters.

―3/3―
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An Under-stairs Safty Bar


(Installed on 2021/06/15)

1-buffer.jpg
I bumped my head against a lowering edge in the under-stairs storage the other day as I stowed a heater. I'm losing hair and naturally the skin peeled. It hurt, of course. I learned my body never become suppler. So I attached a safety bar to the edge.

―1/3―

2-rounded edge.jpg
I made a safety bar as shown in the photo making the lower front edge round. Bumping the bar would hurt but it wouldn't peel the skin. Soft buffer attachments are sold but they are expensive to me.

―2/3―

3-jagged edge.jpg
The photo shows the jagged edge against which I bumped. It was there awainting for an old clumsy invader.

―3/3―
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Fixing A Rake Shaft


(Installed on 2022/05/21)

1 rake dissembled.jpg
The shaft of the rake, which had been a must for cleaning the ditch, got almost crumbled inside the collar. I cut off the damaged end and reformed the part into a solid one.

―1/5―

2 handle new hole.jpg
The photo shows a new hole inside which the rake root is fixed. I should have cut off the damaged end a little longer but I didn't as I wanted the following repair work easier.

―2/5―

3 handle chipping off.jpg
I used a woodwork file to shape the end that must fit into the collar.

―3/5―

4 handle infiltrating preservative.jpg
I applied preservative to the tapered end as it likely to be watery longer in case it would be used in water.

―4/5―

5 rake repair done.jpg
All the parts were assembled as shown in the photo. I felt the rake very solid.

―5/5―
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Attending My Handy Pruning Shears


(Installed on 2022/07/29)

1pruning shears2.jpg
I attended the pair of pruning shears I have been using exclusively. I have two other bigger ones which are too heavy to me now. I have enough time and perseverance for whetting, however, the blades need a new rivet to put them together after whetting. I used the old one last time. It was shorter but could narrowly perform its duty. Now after breaking two times it became too short.

―1/4―

2pruning shears2.jpg
I planned to join the blades with a screw by making a 4 mm screw hole through the rivet. I could successfully tap it as shown in the photo above. However, the screw went into the hole only as far as about 4 mm. I wasn't aware the thread pitch of the tap was 0.9 mm against the screws of 0.7 or 0.8 mm pitch we could get now. Shocking! Supposedly I had never used the 9mm shread holes longer than 4 mm so far. They were all short enough for the gap to be absorbed. I don't remember how and where I got the tap??
3pruning shears2.jpg
Cornered I planned to enlarge the hole for a 5 mm countersunk head screw. Advantageously it doesn't come out above the rivet.

―3/4―

4pruning shears2.jpg
The repair was finished as shown in the photo. I punched the screw end to prevent the nut to loosen. The shears of this type don't use screws and nuts like those found with some woolen shears. They have structural prevention against loosening. Supposedly they are more expensive?

―4/4―
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Repairing A Side Table


(Installed on 2023/01/08)

.jpg
A side table which I assembled a long time ago gave way under the heedless load. The laminated top board was broken into three pieces. It's not an important piece of furniture but a convenient one. So I decided to repair it reinforcing it with a piece of 5.5mm-thick plywood.

―1/8―

2_top board glueing.jpg
First, I glued the broken board into one.

―2/8―

3_sandpapering.jpg
Then I cut out a reinforcing board into the size. I sanded its surfaces for glueing and painting.

―3/8―

4_reinforcing board.jpg
The top board and the reinforcing board ready to be glued into one.

―4/8―

5_gluing two boards.jpg
I glued the two boards into one. I also drove many nails in order that the reinforcing board bears the tensile strength with its whole thickness, not only with its glued surface. Is it only psychological?

―5/8―

6_bolt hiding holes.jpg
I deepened the bolt-head holes for the original bolts to be able to grasp the legs strong.

―6/8―

7_new top board finished.jpg
I left the new board outside for hours in order to transpire the bad smell of sprayed color.

―7/8―

8_repair completed.jpg
The side table was repaired as shown in the photo. For an instant I wanted to try its strength by stepping on it, which I didn't.

―8/8―
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Repairing The Solar Water Heater

solar panels 20%.jpg


(Installed on 2023/02/24)
'Inlet Relief Vulve Replacement' is added on 2023/06/21

1 relief valve adjusting.jpg
I found the spout of water from the relief valve at the top of the tank unusual. I replaced it with a new one but the spout didn't stop.
Incidentally I had this solar water heating system installed forty years ago, that is we have been using it thirty years longer than the repair warranty period with the following personal repairing, most of which I did before the installment of my present web site without taking photos.
1:Replacing insulated pipes between the solar panels and the tank.
2:Replacing heat and pressure-resistant hoses between the solar panels.
3:Replacing relief valves.
4:Replacing water circulating pump.
5:Fixing relay on the control board.
6:Painting of the trestles.  

―1/6―

2 old p reducer+stop valve.jpg
The unusual spout was caused by the malfunction of the pressure reducer(the device marked with no.1 in the photo). The gate valve(no.2) also had lost its function. I had to replace them but didn't get the idea how to do it.
The question was cleared as I removed the insulator around the pipe. A piece of flexible pipe was it! It is the device which makes a part of pipe work detachable. I could change those valves peacefully. The new stop valve made my following work easier.

―2/6―

3 inside of old valves.jpg
The photos above show the inside of the two old valves. The built-in filter, the manual said, needed cleaning twice a year. I regretted my lack of knowledge, or insensitivity.

―3/6―

4 pressure reducer+stop valve.jpg
The two new valves were fitted as shown above. Later I replaced the pipe between two valves with a new straight one in order for the insulating cover to be installed easier.

―4/6―

5 pipe painted.jpg
I wire-brushed the rust on the pipe and painted.

―5/6―

6 repair finished.jpg
The whole work was finished as shown above. It was the one-week work of thinking, placing orders, installing valves, painting and covering them woth insulator.

―6/6―


Inlet Relief Vulve Replacement
(Added on 2023/06/21)

1st relief vulve replaced.jpg
I replaced the relief vulve at the inlet of the tank. The vulve got old and I judged it lost its original initial spouting performance(0.97kgf/㎠). I couldn't find the vulve from the same maker. However I found a vulve that looked exactly the same with the old one(red circled in the photo) I took off made by the maker called 'VENN'.

―Addition1/1―
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Improving A Cleaner Hose
0_greenwood gvca30n-ys.jpg


(Installed on 2023/04/04)
Installing A New Power Switch On The Grip is added。(2023/06/13)

1_ring contact.jpg
My favorite cleaner which I had repeatedly repaired finally died never to revive. So I bought a new one, a model you could almost buy two for 10000yen. However, it was a disappointing one. The switch bottons which were installed on the hose end at the handle often dodges you turnning away when you want them. So I fixed the hose end at the handle and installed slide ring contacts on the other end.
The photo shows the dismantled slide ring contacts to which I put on the new hose.

―1/8―

2_ring contact adapted.jpg
The new hose and the old slide contatcts were combined into one component. Hoses were different in their diameters but the new one was elastic enough to put it on the cylinder of the slide contacts. The leads were lengthened.

―2/8―

3_fixed contact dissembled.jpg
The photo above shows the other end of the hose that were being dismantled. The sylinder is cut short at the led line in order to be joind into one socket unit of the sliding contacts as shown in the next photo.

―3/8―

4_ring contact socket adapted.jpg
The photo above shows how the new socket component is made. The red square indicates the part where two shortened cylinders were joined. They were glued with an agent for a chloride reinforcing with collars.

―4/8―

5_new ring contact socketed.jpg
The new sliding contact component is assembled as shown in the photo above. I applied grease to the slidnig contacts.

―5/8―

.jpg
I killed the rotation of the hose at the handle with a screw. The switch buttons now face up all the time when you use the cleaner.

―6/8―

7_cut in and away.jpg
They are leftovers. No.1 was an attachment of an old cleaner. No.2 and 3 are the pieces cut left from the hose end cylinders old and new.

―7/8―

8_finished.jpg
The new sliding contacts are installed as shown in the photo. The component is a little longer but it rotates smoothly and help you use the cleaner without stress.

―8/8―
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A New Power Switch On The Grip


(Installed on 2023/06/13)

9_handle before.jpg
The last improvement was a good one. However it didn't make for the cleaner to be operated with a single hand. So I installed a new power switch on the grip. Thanks to the last improvement the fixed hose to the handle made it possible.

―addition1/6―

10_controller opened.jpg
The photo shows the controller consisting of a linear potentiometer and a controller(slider) button. The potentiometer was a particular one in that the resistant films were formed on both sides of the element. They were connected in series and there was a slit on one of them near the edge where the resistant value becomes high so that the element could also function as a switch.

―addition2/6―

11_remodel circuit.jpg
The red circles show where and how I remodeled the controller. I made a slit in the circuit and two wiring holes on both sides in order to connect the leads to and from a slide switch.

―addition3/6―

12_handle opened.jpg
The inside of the grip was filled with ribs. The slide switch I installed was a small one but not small enough to be installed without scraping off some ribs.

―addition4/6―

13_new switch.jpg
The slide switch was installed as shown in the photo. I used thin flat headed screws.

―addition5/6―

14_new grip sw.jpg
You need to operate the original slide switch to control the vacuum strength but in the ordinery use the power switch is most frequently used simply. So the remodeling was successfully finished.

―addition6/6―

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