Winder tool
I needed to place a nut halfway along a threaded bar (many times). This was going to take forever to complete 20 or 30 nut placements by hand, so I simply improvised a tool that did the work with zero effort and in about 1/50th the time.
Patrick R. Andrews
The website of Patrick R. Andrews
Latest posts
Bonnet catch
Ford clearly used their B team to design the bonnet catch on our Transit van. Or maybe they had some software engineers sitting about idle The locking mechanism is ridiculously complicated and requires the ignition key be used as a high-torque handle really not advisable if it s the only key you have and the nearest Ford dealer is in a different time zone. So I improvised an opening system using…
Kitchen construction
Spanish plumbing doesn t generally impress me. I needed to fix this boiler and plumb it in so that our various washing devices would work, asap. I eventually managed to put together pipework and fittings from a hardware store. Sealing of the low precision components was achieved using a special form of polymer paste (intended for other applications). It s not aesthetically pleasing, but I like the…
Motorcycle paintwork
A fellow motorcyclist got in touch to say that he had dropped his precious machine in a car park and to ask if I could do a cosmetic repair. I smoothed out some scratches and applied the correct paints (using masks developed from my days as a modeller). The result passed muster with his friends, who were all discerning riders of machines of the same design. This is probably the fifth such minor…
Wall bracing
Two rooms in a house I own were built on a pad of clay. This got very wet years ago and caused a separation between walls, which I braced using several steel jibbets and a lot of cement (not pictured). Notice the distortion of the small window frame. You can see light through the corner, but that has since been filled and the result seems really strong. All those bolts actually penetrate the walls…
French drain
I had to improvise a french drain, in order to arrest a landslip. Not exactly a high tech or novel solution, but I feel it was quite well done, given the whole process took two days (including hurried research).
Drill guide
I had to drill some holes through a wall. These needed to go through at a consistent 90 degrees to the surface. I put this guide together using scrap that was lying around. It really helped, although it s not exactly a high precision process.
Top box lock
Despite the terrible printed instructions, I managed to fit a replacement lock barrel to my BMW topbox and code it to my ignition key. Sadly, the plastic interior of the mechanism had become gnarled by a previous owner, so I had to make a clip ring to retain the barrel. It works quite well, even if it s somewhat stiff to turn. I refuse to use topboxes anyway, on grounds of a) ugliness and b)…
Van bike rack
I made a frame for the inside of our van to hold the two shoes which accommodate the bikes front tyres. It s attached to the tie-rings which are built into the vehicle and has performed well, so far. As well as being strong, I can remove the whole system quickly (for transporting eg plasterboard on the bed of the van).
Bike leg
An attempt to shorten a motorcycle sidestand, to correspond with the lowered suspension on that machine.