I have made a forge with 5 breeze blocks (one on the bottom to avoid burning the patio), an old length of stainless vaccuum cleaner pipe, with holes drilled in it to let the air exit the full length of the forge, and my daughters old hairdryer ducktaped to it. Gets steel to slippery heat when using anthracite beans.
Have seen that old forklift tines and train track cut up make good anvils, especially where the trains have work hardened and flattened the tops with use.
If just making something small, a sledge hammer head can suffice , just remember to hit the hard faces not the soft sides for proper anvil effect.

An anvil is just a mass with a hardened top, nothing fancy. Remember if youre buying one to take a ball bearing and a 12″ rule with you to check for rebound off the hardened face. Just stand the rule up and drop the bearing from its full height. Cant quite remember the figure but its something like 60% minimum rebound is a good anvil. Avoid cast iron, they will just fail in use.

My EDC is a genuine Swiss Army issue Victorinox SAK, with the gridded aluminium scales. It opens my tuna tins and peels my oranges and has done since about 1997.

Swing a sledgehammer left or right handed
Split logs left handed
Split kindling right handed
Cast a fishing rod right handed
Left eye dominant, shoot right handed
Bit of a mess really.

@ whitestone
Hate to break it to you mate, but Mot is South Welsh slang for a ladies pubic hair.
In your defence, South Welsh and North Welsh do differ considerably .

Knew a bloke with a labrador called Martin, and another one who had a dog called Christopher. Not Chris, but the full Christopher.

Dogs I have had are
Kai
Bailey
Flynn
Thor
Alf
And last but not least,
Roary.

Boy or girl?
If boy, looks like a Reg to me
If girl, I’d go with Millie.

I had viral meningitis once, early 20s, the early stages were very much like described above. However, it was only a matter of 24 hours before I was projectile vomiting and the stalks of my eyes felt like they they had red hot knives stuck in them.
Seeing as its apparently been going on for a few weeks, Im going to go out on a limb and say its probably not that.

@dyna-ti,
Here you go mate, turns out we’re both correct!
https://www.valleymill.co.uk/blog/baking-in-lockdown-welsh-cakes/#:~:text=%20Seasoning%20instructions%20%201%20There%20is%20a,blacken.%20After%20around%2020%20minutes%20the…%20More%20

I can confirm that burning on layers of oil/fat is one way to season cookware. We used to make bakestones from 3/4″ boiler plate , very popular in Wales for making Welsh cakes. Burning layers of cooking oil onto them after sandblasting all the mill scale off gave the beautiful black finish that you get on old bakestones.

Scoville never stick, or something like that. Best non-stick pan I ever used, cleans up lovely.

Yeah, I’m not absolutely convinced its low test, but all the research I have done at least suggests that its a strong option. I will defo try and get an appointment with the GP, but I think I’m hoping there.
If I can avoid starting it then so much the better, as it does appear to be a lifelong commitment.
The heat has absolutely battered me this year, but I hate the summer anyway. Im hoping the heat is part of why I feel so shit at the moment.

And have you noticed any difference in injury healing or at least recovery from injury? It’s really starting to piss me off now, I’ve never been like this and I really hate it.

@fossy
Very interesting to read this, mine is a similar story, had a bollock out due to something, cant remember as I was only 6, and the old girl wont or cant tell me what it was.
Also had a dodgy vasectomy after 3 kids, not quite the nightmare youve had but I definitely wouldnt have it done again, its wrecked my remaining bollock which is now w ay more sensitive than it was.
I’m guessing that the remaining bollock ticked along nicely , giving me all the test I need, until its started dropping off due to age, and what with there only being one doing the work of 2, I’m now lower than I should be. My symptoms sound identical to yours,no energy and lethargic for no good reason.
So , it seems getting a GP to listen and not fob you off is half the battle then? My surgery is useless, took about 3 years of badgering to get my missus’ HRT, and then only after a locum said it was a clear cut case of needing HRT.
So, do you feel re-energised following the treatment, or are you still lethargic ? Any undesirable side effects you’ve noticed?

Anyone else think the best looking watches are either from tbe 80s or have an 80s vibe to em? Been loving the old red LED type watches on here, but always lusted after one of these bad boys from the Kays catalogue as a kid:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=citizen+ana+digi+temp&id=1A6F2CC7C4FDC8250F8F4BD58A2088F46DD80230&FORM=EQNAMI

Anyone had one? Have read theyre quite temperamental, and often need repair, not surprising since theyre nearly 40 year-old electronics.

Also, any love for tbe Sinn space watches and the tutima titaium military watches?

Used to manufacture oil and gas pipeline components, did a bit of nuclear as well i think.
Look up the properties of common high strength and commonly used materials such as the various inconels and duplexes. Just about everything we made was of pure unobtainium and had ridiculous lead times on any scrapped material, like 6 months for a forging.
I would imagine being conversant with more easily sourced alternatives wpuld be advantageous.

Had a pair of O’neill polarised specs which were great, until whatever additive is in the water on the log flume in West Midlands Safari Park stripped the coating and mirroring clean off them.
Curently sporting a pair of Sungods, very happy with them, plus you can have custom options and replace lenses, if thats important to you.

Anybody been awake to watch it go down? Amazing red colour, stunning.

overnight soak in Plusgas and a bit of pipe over the allen key to increase leverage.

I have repaired one of these before, for a workmate.I just bored out the damaged threads, turned up an insert and tapped it the correct thread, or maybe I thread cut it on the lathe. Anyway, nice tight fit and a couple of dutch keys to prevent the bush rotating in the crank arm and by all accounts it worked for years with no problem.

What about from the Cwmafan /Briton Ferry side? You could either park in the carpark at the bottom of Ferry woods, by Jersey Park, and ride up all the way offroad / fire road, or just take the bwlch road from Cimla and head uphill and park in the layby at the very foot of the Foel?
The masts are at the top of the the Foel, its the name of that mountain.

Ive got one spare , in black, marked up as FC-M442/443 , think it came off a Mongoose Teocali ages ago. Its yours for the postage, I was due to bin it this week anyway.

Bit of an update, in case anyone was interested.
In the end, managed to find a Ridgeback Expedition, in my size, in stock. But in Yorkshire.
Turns out the shop who had it were top people though and sorted it all out painlessly and quickly, so top marks to Blazing Saddles in , i think, Hebden Bridge.
Love this bike. So comfy, geometry suits me perfectly. Instead of havi n g to get out of the saddle and mash up hills, i just lean my arsebone into the saddle , spin the pedals and plod up the hills .
The mechanical disc brakes are waaay better than the last set of non -hydro disc brakes I had before, cant see there being a problem with them.
Overall am very happy with it, glad I went with it, would still love a Dutchie at some point though.

When I was a fit young thing, i would go for a 20 miler with a heavy bergen every Sunday. The weight difference before and after the run would be of the order of 7-10lb of bodyweight in around 3 or 4 hours, which was almost certainly only water, through breath and sweat, and blister juice.
No overall difference in bodyweight Monday to Saturday, just on tbe Sunday run.

Just a thought, this is the first significant wet period we have had for a while, any correlation between wet weather and this happening? Have seen this type of thing happen before because moisture has gotten into the system somewhere.

Gildan all the way, especially for long sleeves.
Got a promotional tee off a company about 7 years ago, been worn regularly ever since and to this day is my favourite tee to wear, so comfy .

Er6 is a lovely bike to ride around town, in my experience.
Did my test on an Er6, but none around to buy when I passed so bought a Bandit carb model.
Absolutely hated the thing, did about 300miles on it in 4 years before eventually selling it. Was an absolute pig to ride around town compared to the Er6, so I think you made the right choice.
When my friends get their first bikes I always suggest the Er6 as a n optio n.

I witnessed this whilst camping down Aberafan beach, y eah that one, one night, years ago. Used to assume it had something to with the warm water from the Steelworks. Too much Simpsons opening sequences I think.

All the Gower campsites are within an hour or so fom Afan, and thats taking into account the terrible M4 traffic you experience on a sunny weekend down here.
Oxwich and Port Eynon are particularly worth a go. Might be worth looking at whats available in Neath area too, thats not far from Afan.
Midges are a pain in the arse this year though, as stated, so anywhere that allows a fire would be handy.

To me, it looks as if the horizon draws your eye to the centre of the canvas, about a 1/3rd of tbe way up the canvas from the bottom edge. I would consider putting another large tree in the foreground, left hand side, then taper back in height towards the horizon. This would give you a sort of basket of tree branches which would then encapsulate tge area where my eye is drawn to, namely centre canvas, 1/3rd of the way up from bottom edge.
Then, stick the very last rays of the setting sun radiating out from t his point, maybe a sliver of sun disc as well.
However, being an engineer has ruined me for life, symmetry id everything and a large open gap on the LHS would proper do my head in.
Do as you see fit, i really like the colours though.

Now I am not a landowner, and dont speak for landowners, but I have never had a problem wild camping anywhere in South Wales, its a favourite summer passtime of the kids down here. Nobody tends to bat an eye when we see tents in the middle of a forest or near a remote lake, stream or whatever. Theres so much empty space around here that youre unlikely to see many people if you go more than a mile off a main road anyway
As long as you leave no trace , and arent obviously having a rave, I dont think that youd encounter any problems, well in my experience anyway.

Had it about 15 years ago, two babies atvthe time and working shifts so must have been sleep deprived or run down.
Had it in my left eye, an intense twitching buzzing sensation like an electric shock. Eye swole up and gave me a cold-sore type thing on the cheekbone, but no puss.
End result is a slightly twitchy eye now and then, and a cool duelling scar under the eye. Also weirdly aged the skin under the eye, so when I was 30 I had one eye all smooth skinned, and one wrinkled and crowsfooted with a scar on it. Looked a bit like a burn.
Old age has caught up at last and now both my eyes look the same. Winner!

Haha just seen this and blew up the pic to see the headbadge on the head tube.
Looks like a club, so colnago maybe?

Welds look a bit dodgy to me, seen enough good looking Ti welds go bad to trust dodgy looking ones.
Id give em a wide berth.

Not tried it, but if you have any Putoline chain wax knocking around that might do the trick. Wax and graphite.

Tell me that you wouldnt want one if you had the chance . Go on.

https://www.instructables.com/SURF-FISHING-CART-TRAILER/

https://www.instructables.com/EXTREME-FAT-TIRE-BICYCLE/

Interested to see how this develops, just got the missus into riding (bikes!) after a 30 year break. Would love to see other little spins for when were down there next.

Not a local, but spend lots of time down there.
A rideable loop which i enjoy is newquay to holywell or vice versa across the cliff tops, say hello to the seals if you see them. Lovely little spin in this weather. Love Cornwall.
Also, for a nice calm bimble on the bikes, follow the Camel Trail starting or ending in Padstow, nice track following the river. Bound to be super busy this time of year though.

We use Bondhus and Wiha where I work, industrial press tool fitting. The pressure we put on them is indane sometimrs, never had one snap or twist yet, even with BFO pipes over them as a handle. The chrome effect Wiha ones are far superior to anything else we’ve used, think they were quite expensive though, they were ordered in error by our boss.

These bad boys
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wiha+ergostar&id=EC722080995D61CAEEF12A9633F803C96D752181&FORM=IQFRBA

I can vouch for the Buffalo Special 6, had one since ’96 I think, veeery warm when new, about 20 odd years of washing will diminish the interior fleece a smidge though.
Great for commuting on the bike in winter: if its dry and cold, youre warm, sometimes to the point of needing all the vents open.
If its wet and your soaked through, youre still warm, wet though. But good news is they dont take much radiator time before theyre dry again.
I tried the Montane alternative, and whilst many people report good results, i had to send mine back, it had a weird fit, either baggy arms and tight on t he chest, or vice versa.
Id go Buffalo every time.