Sunday 22 January 2012

Sunday.



Above is today's mystery object.  Well, actually there's no mystery. I made it this afternoon. It's a weight to drive the clock I illustrated yesterday. It weighs just over five and a half pounds, and is made of lead in a sheet  copper casing, and was nearly an afternoon's work. Only nearly because in the late afternoon Sheila (just along the road from us) 'phoned to ask about yesterday's Prize Crossword. We'd both nearly completed it, so swapped the few remaining undone clues. In view of Z's blog entry this seems to be this weekend's subject. The clue that pleased me most was 'cut back tough fish'- eight letters- (or rather getting the answer did).  I now  don't know whether to leave it to see if anyone else got it, but if I do that you'll all think I'm hoping for further assistance, so I'll tell you that the answer I put down was  PILCHARD  (clip backwards,  and hard).

Good night all.

7 comments:

Lori Skoog said...

Sloppy Joes: Saute some onions and a few pieces of pepper. Add some ground beef and break it into little pieces as you brown it. Throw on some tomato sauce, and whatever spices make you happy. Cook down the sauce until it gets a little thick. Serve on a toasted roll. Sometimes I melt a little cheese on the top.

Pat said...

Your crossword skills are like your scrabble skills - unbeatable!
So far!

Unknown said...

Thank you Lori. Ann says it sounds 'tasty', so I may get to try it eventually.

Hello Pat. Not true I'm afraid; since I've been playing scrabble on Facebook (nearly a year, I think), Z has been able to beat me, and so has Rog. So far I've been lucky with my tiles as far as you're concerned. Keep trying please.

Unknown said...

P.s. So has daughter Nea, but then she's a viciously good player, and would probably say "yes, but look who taught me".

Crowbard said...

Nice bit of Work Mike. Did you start from sheet copper or with a pre-formed canister?
How did you get that lovely lead dome? Do you build it up like a moleskin wiped joint or 'boss it into shape with a mallet?

Unknown said...

Hello Carl. Well observed! The lead dome you can see is the upper half of an old lead driving weight which was about half the necessary weight. I then cut copper sheet to the needed size, formed and rivetted it into a cylinder with the lead weight inside the upper end, turned it upside down, and filled it up with molten lead. I'd already worked out the necessary weight and got it about right. Then filed up the copper, hammered it a little,then aged and polished it.
Please do not ask me to give away any more trade secrets, or my other blog readers will never purchase any more antique clocks from me.

Crowbard said...

I'm sure your customers queue for that very reason Mike, they know that you make only needful renovations using authentic methods and materials with your traditional craft skills and lifetime's expertise.

PS Pootertu is experimenting with the Caledonian dialect, her v-word is
'Och er Mi'(ke)
[capitals & spaces are mine, along with the final 2 parenthesized letters]
If Och aye is an emphatic 'yes' I suppose 'och er' is an emphatic maybe!