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Twitter Links You May Find of Interest

Paul Woodhouse — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:53:00 +0000

Here’s a round-up of tweets and posts from the past month or so that you may or may not find of any interest:

UK launches a competition to design pylons of the future http://zite.to/lqPsXj #
Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists http://t.co/rj30UaB via @engadget #fb #
Regions hope industry clusters will draw jobs #fb http://j.mp/kCPmzu #
Open-source cell phone network could cut costs to $2 per month http://j.mp/koGhSJ #
“@guardianscience: Spacewatch: International Space Station timings and positions http://t.co/NNV7IJ4 <~ Mancunian Standard Time. #
Doomsday bunkers for under $10,000! http://t.co/qFteN2R #
“@joerogan: Scientists (re)create substance 100,000 times hotter than center of sun http://t.co/cLlv6Pe <~make a self-cooking wok w/ it. #
ADEX: Futuristic PreFab for Modular Off-Grid Living http://j.mp/kgYSb0 #
30 foot Scrap Metal Optimus Prime [Pic] http://zite.to/mgpTs0 #fb #
“@MFGcom: US #Manufacturing Slowly Rotting Away: How Industries Die – http://t.co/ty2xDoY #fb #
Ruler designed specifically to shoot rubber bands http://zite.to/lGeAmo #fb #
Perforated house with bonus pseudo-wank explanation from the architect http://zite.to/j78yBr #fb #
Engaging the nation with science and engineering http://zite.to/kaWEHi #
Almost humourously named Wang Kang stuns colleagues by wearing homemade Iron Man suit to work http://zite.to/ma0uMh #fb #
Arty Bollocks Generator: http://is.gd/SfxYEt #
Lord (of the vertical record player) Sugar: I have never come across an engineer who can turn his hand to business http://zite.to/jAhGgn #
Treasure from the Trash: 'Urban Mining' Could Reduce Reliance on Metal Imports http://zite.to/kOtQN7 #fb #
“@OMGFacts: In some areas of Oklahoma: People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed. < ~ in Bacup it's a mating ritual. #

“@ElecDesignNews: How to Make a Hand Drill out of a Pencil Sharpener: http://t.co/IqdGu3y #fb #
American Mum-in-Law pulls a tin of Heinz sticky toffee pudding out of her bag and says instructions are to boil it on the nob for 15 mins. #
She now knows what a (k)nob is and that she meant hob. Can anybody advise me how I broach the subject of Hobnobs? #
The Hidden (Google) UK Science & Engineering Map http://zite.to/jQqT6D #fb #
3D printing sparks the rise of the citizen designer (Wired UK) http://zite.to/mfdKjr #fb #
Manufacturing Boosts Economic Growth in Great Lakes Region: http://is.gd/d6bju9 #fb #
Sometimes, all that’s needed is a filter. #
My aircon sounds to be working dreadfully hard – like an idling 747 no less. #
Open Source Digital Fabrication http://zite.to/kR65ff #
Social Networks for Engineers http://zite.to/jipkG3 #fb #
Via @guardianscience: Your chance to name a species http://t.co/F9O6Fe1 < ~ shame Woodhouse Terrificus is a no go. #

Make Your Own Magnetic Silly Putty http://zite.to/lxdVQi #fb #
Went for lunch at an English-themed butty shop. The only thing English about it was the bloody portion sizes. #tiddly #
How the ‘ecosystem’ myth has been used for sinister means http://zite.to/mLmhqZ < ~well, if there isn't an ep. of Dr Who in here somewhere #

Nebula / Cecil Balmond http://zite.to/mxeRQ1 < ~ 4km of st/st chain and 120,000 aluminium plates. #fb #
Snap-Together CNC Machine http://zite.to/iW1S7m #fb #
Mirror Polished Stainless Steel Spheres – Art Installation in Santa Monica http://zite.to/lCE3Mr #fb #
Cool Workshops – Chabott Engineering http://2wheeltuesday.com/2011/06/cool-workshops-%e2%80%93-chabott-engineering/ #fb #
Bizarre vintage exercise machines http://zite.to/kNGJ28 #
Data Sculptures http://zite.to/iCviTV < ~ 3D printed vase of voice is rather nifty. #fb #
Bristol and Glasgow: ‘super cities’ that will lead manufacturing renaissance http://zite.to/kuxe6F < ~ PR fabricated bunkum. #fb #
Pretty Big Dig: Construction Cranes as Ballet Dancers http://zite.to/iw8YEs #fb #
Buy a Life-Sized Dalek Right Now for $5K-ish http://zite.to/kV98S7 #
Learning to Weld http://zite.to/m40ypb #fb #

Feel free to follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tinbashr

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-15

Paul Woodhouse — Sun, 15 May 2011 01:53:00 +0000

No Longer Used for Evil, Oil Barrels Remade into Sweet Cabinets http://zite.to/jGyBBq #
The United States will be competitive with China in Manufacturing costs in 2015 http://zite.to/j4b8C4 #
How To: Make Your Own (fake aluminium) Mid-Century Modern House Numbers http://zite.to/jOaqhm #
How to make a cookie cutter / food shaper http://zite.to/keCiJ3 #fb #
3D printing — an "industrial revolution in the digital age"? http://zite.to/j8IISi #fb #
STUDENTS REJOICE: Mike Bouchet Turns Shopping Trolley Carts Into (Cool?) Lounge Chairs http://zite.to/jKcQdW #
New GE 3-D Printing Facility Will Manufacture Parts for Ultrasound Machines, Airplanes and More http://zite.to/jSvuZN #fb #
“@doctor_who_news: British Steel takes on Doctor Who (as in landlording it up) http://t.co/GMDAdGi #fb #
Workshop Designed for Girls Interested in Engineering, Math, Science http://zite.to/jGiSp5 #fb #
Chubby "magnetic" boy can carry pans on his sweaty overhang: Ivan Stoiljkovic, 6, sticks metal objects to body http://zite.to/mokHUi #
Awesome Predator Statue Made from Scrap Metal http://zite.to/khp4Wn #fb #
Q: What's blue and can't sing?
A: Blue. #
Tiny Iron Spheres Are Oldest Fossilized Space Dust http://pulsene.ws/1B3hV #
Exploding frame clockwork sculpture, the sequel http://pulsene.ws/1ARjs #
RT @newscientist Amazing graphene strikes again: now it may reveal the grain of space-time http://bit.ly/mg69ov #
Awesomely Bad Ideas: Teaching a Robot to Sword Fight http://zite.to/jZ2e9S #
How to build four essential shop tools out of recycled parts http://zite.to/ivOP51 #fb #
Remember that City are the new United. And magic of the FA Cup? Yeah, if Mr. Jelly is your magician. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-08

Paul Woodhouse — Sun, 08 May 2011 01:53:00 +0000

Google Workshops Hints at Long ‘Bashing History http://nblo.gs/hiMJW #
How the (Original) ‘Doctor Who’ Theme Changed Music http://zite.to/kVTYTK #
The Cost of SETI: Infographic http://zite.to/jNY5p1 #
Sweet chemistry: Carbohydrate adhesion gives stainless steel implants beneficial new functions #
Conspiracy theorists will be doing their nuts if Bin Laden is dead. They’ve been saying that since 2003. #
And there was me thinking Obama roasting Donald Trump’s wig on a platter was his weekend highlight. #
At any time the temptation to sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight is never more than a whim away. #
Chairs Made From Old Computers Offer Interactive Seating http://zite.to/leyMEj #
The Alpha Bike, An Electronically Controlled Fixed/Free Concept Bike http://zite.to/mIjQV9 #
Apple Interested: Researchers At Yale Develop Metallic Material That Can Be Molded Like Plastic http://zite.to/jObhgz #
Dutch Office (no, not a euphemism) Created Entirely From Cardboard http://zite.to/kp2m2h #
Growth in UK manufacturing slows http://zite.to/m2HdFu #
InMojo – Make. Share. Live. Open Source Hardware. http://zite.to/jn6INb #
Not made in England: The lost art of manufacturing http://zite.to/j8yrY0 <~ infinitely better piece than the title would lead you to believe #
Hidden Workshops Add to Libyan Rebels’ Arsenal in Misurata http://zite.to/maUGdl #
Accenture: Offshore Outsourcing Has Not Worked http://zite.to/iePnia #
The Exovault EXO10 iPhone case is work of art in wood and brass – TNW Gadgets http://zite.to/jKA6GG #
Furniture Made from Street Sign Boards http://zite.to/iABp5o #
How Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson and Marlon Brando fled to Ohio on 9/11 in a rental car http://zite.to/insB09 #
Old Post: Sarah Palin Gets Hammered by Steelworkers Union President http://bit.ly/jxRq8E #
The K9 Storm Aerial Insertion Vest (that’s doggie parachute to you and me): http://is.gd/3EMP0X #
Old Post: Cover gallery – Stainless Steel World http://bit.ly/iq2pyg #
Old Post: No Rest For The Wicked. http://bit.ly/mNtaMy #
Old Post: “I’ll just put a bit extra on for shipping.” http://bit.ly/mqCBD5 #
“@nlj: Here’s the TARDIS cookie @kaylaworld and I made. http://t.co/Lsi0dJE <~ Tremendous. Looks totally inedible, but tremendous. #
David Lynch’s Incredibly Disturbing Coffee Ad http://zite.to/lJ0gfP <~ Can we club together to get this to show at the next Superbowl? #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-04-24

Paul Woodhouse — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:53:00 +0000

Here’s a round-up of last week’s tweets and posts you may or may not find of any interest:

Space tourism company opens, hiring astronauts http://zite.to/hLqDFv <~ good lad Dickie Branston. #
Stylish Digs for Urban Chicks http://zite.to/eupmfB <~ an aluminium chicken coop nonetheless. #
Numi’s stainless steel stool sprinkler will help you iMove your iMotions for less than $6500 http://zite.to/fZ34VO #
CNC mill built from junk and hardware store parts http://zite.to/dEkVfJ via @Ziteapp #
Manufacturing Chat – a social networking opportunity for manufacturers http://zite.to/hOiB8T #
Vacuum cleaner piracy ~> Self-Replicating 3D Printers Could Prompt Manufacturing Revolution http://zite.to/dS1tQf via #
Ex-pat Tinbasher originally from Bolton quits job in Oz to watch Trotters get tubbed 5-0 http://is.gd/WpQCSk #
FRIDA (not Frantic) Offers Glimpse of Future Factory Robots http://zite.to/gV48ZY #
New Graphene Material is Paper-Thin and Ten Times Stronger Than Steel http://zite.to/eW5DEy #
Steel Dynamics Showing Its Mettle In Industry Turnaround http://zite.to/feOAbm #
IKEA Table with Embedded Train Set http://zite.to/epi612 #
General Motors plans an open house for its Parma Metal Center http://zite.to/hsofwh via @Ziteapp #

Feel free to follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tinbashr

Oh, Look! A Spanking New Theme

Paul Woodhouse — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:06:18 +0000

Well we’ve finally got a new site/theme/layout/look/feel up and running after far more faffing about than is healthy for anyone.

There’s still a few things to iron out or tweak a bit more, but it’s mostly functional – or as far as I can tell.

So, if you care to pass comment on anything you’ve come across that you don’t like or don’t quite understand, please let me know in the comments.

Both the main Butler Sheetmetal site and the blog have been revamped, with both a more minimal and integrated feel.

We’ve also added a client case studies section and a job book section which contains all the photo galleries.

If you have a couple of spare minutes, do have a little mosey and let me know your thoughts if you care to share them.

I’d be terribly grateful.

I Really Wanna See Those (Slow Motion) Fingers Stop a Saw Blade

Paul Woodhouse — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:47:20 +0000

There’s enough frightening stuff goes on in your average sheet metal shop – none more so than Jasper arriving on a Monday morning having spent the weekend watching Braveheart on a loop coddling a bottle of Lidl’s finest cooking sherry.

Talk about pudgy round the gills and waxing not too lyrical. He’s simply a sequence of Scottish grunts and groans.

The last thing you’d want to do with him he engage in a conversation, let alone touching any kind of sharp instrument or operating machinery.

Still, it’s not like most of us aren’t a bit like that of a Monday morning.

But, fear not people. Those of you (and me), like Jasper, reaping the health and safety whirlwind due to early morning mental blurring need fear no more when faced with sharp blades doing anything over 1,000 RPM.

There’s some clever fella devised a circular saw locking system thriggered by by conduction – and with water being a conductor, that means your pinkies.

The following video is most impressive as they try and attack the blade with a limp hot dog and it shutting down without causing even the slightest of Stevie Nicks.

But, it gets darn close and then some – as in a 1,000th of an inch – then kachunk-a-blammo; the automatic locking system kicks in and halts the blade dead in its tracks.

Hot dog wieners are all well and good, but you need someone with real sausage fingers to really put it through its paces. So, the inventor steps up and volunteers his digits for the camera – one of those super duper slow-mo affairs that takes nearly as long to set up as it does to display the slowed down version of the film.

It takes a while as the crew wants to show exactly how close the guy gets with his finger and the forces / tensions on the blade as it abruptly stops. Either that, or they manage to film the first ever slow motion finger slice with Tarinto-esque blood spurts arcing across the shot that’s guaranteed to go viral.

But, I won’t tell you anymore. You can just watch it yourself:

Firemen Use Angle Grinder to Free Man’s Pipe from Steel Pipe

Paul Woodhouse — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:15:59 +0000

We all know that first week back after Christmas and New Year can be a lonely and desperate time. Just ask Jasper. Many’s the time he can be seen skulking in the steel racks for hours on end when it’s quiet with nary a peep out of him.

I sincerely hope he’s not up to what this geezer in a Southampton fabrication shop has been up to:

A MAN who got his genitalia stuck in a steel pipe had to be cut free by eight firefighters using an industrial grinder. The heavy duty cutting gear had to be used to remove the three-inch long hollow pipe after medics were unable to release it. The painstaking operation, which involved eight firefighters, took around an hour.

The drama began after the man took himself to the accident and emergency department of Southampton General Hospital.

Restricted blood flow had left the man in a state of arousal, and unable to remove the pipe.

Staff there were so concerned that they phoned the emergency services and a crew from Redbridge Fire Station were initially dispatched. But they had to bring in backup from St Mary’s station which has a fire truck equipped with specialist cutting gear. A disc gutter cutter, with a four-and-a-half-inch blade, was used to slice open the stainless steel pipe.

The man, in his 30s, offered no explanation for his predicament but was said to be “quite concerned and anxious”. He had been given an anaesthetic to prepare for the procedure.

St Mary’s crew manager Adrian Johnson said: “It was a very delicate operation. We did not want anything heating up.

The person who did it deserves a commendation for his nerve and steady hand.”

Meanwhile, watch manager Greg Garrett from Redbridge station added: “I’ve only come across this type of thing three or four times in my 17 years as a firefighter. It’s not a daily occurrence.”

The man’s private parts were left bruised and swollen.

I’m generally fairly reluctant to post entire articles seeming it goes against Rupert Murdoch’s grain, but I really didn’t know which bits to cut out (as the fireman said to the bloke with his knob stuck in a steel tube). I mean, this is why you’d love to be a local journalist. Maybe a fireman as well, but not the guy doing the angle grinding or holding the pipe steady.

However, feel free to go and enjoy yourselves in the comments to the article.

Duct Tape, Darts and Balloons

Paul Woodhouse — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:02:52 +0000

Yes, wrap your motor in Duck tape.

How could I not venture to the Avon Duct Tape Festival this past weekend? Avon happens to be one of the two (there may be more) duct tape capitals of the world – the other being Sarah Palin’s home village of Wasilla. And yes, it’s kind of what you expect – an excuse to plonk a few fair rides on an uneven part of a field, get tipsy listening to 80s cover bands and take part in a parade with floats held together by the stuff.

It’s in no way tacky – well I suppose the tape is (ho-hum).

With it being a fair, my good lady was determined for me to display my undying whatever by winning her some kind of fair prize – a partially paralyzed goldfish or some stuffed toy made by Chinese orphans that would be more mobile than any goldfish.

It’s not that I’m a curmudgeon so much that I understand these things are rigged. Whether you’re talking about basketball games that have spring-loaded backboards to ensure the b-ball flies off into an adjacent county, or doctored darts that have you seeking the nearest specialist to check for the early signs of Parkinson’s, the fix is in.

Balloon Darts

We hadn’t made half a circuit of the festival before I heard a redneck trying to tempt me into throwing darts at a wall of balloons. I was doing my best to ignore him, but with Steph having her heart set on something stuffed and ignoring anything I ever have to say, she’d already engaged the bugger in conversation and was shouting for me to stop.

Marvellous – some crap banter ensued between the hillbilly Barnum and myself about him not wanting to shout (even though he was turned way past 11) and me explaining there was no chance him understanding a word I was saying – which he obviously didn’t understand a word of.

He then thrust a dart into my paw and told me that whatever happened Steph would win a prize and that the dart was free. So, with my wife pleading with me via the medium of puppy peepers, and some hick blabbering nonsense, I cracked. I took a couple of steps towards the stall and languidly lobbed the dart in the general direction of the balloon board fully expecting it to explode mid-flight or drop to the floor three inches from the latex as if it’d hit an invisible sheet of Perspex. Or merely bounce off one of the balloons and do a King Harold.

No, I happened to pop two of the blighters.

I resisted the urge to clap myself or perform a Tiger Woods fist pump, and expected Steph to be handed her prize and for us to pop off for a corn dog.

Instead I was handed another couple of darts and told to pay a couple of dollars for the privilege. I was being hoodwinked and having the hoodwinkery explained to me as I handed over a $20. However, it was hoodwinkery that I have no idea what was being said. Before I could throw the next two darts, I was asked if I wanted to pay a further $5 to try and win a ‘medium’ prize.

I was being up sold without having bought anything in the first place. I hadn’t a clue what was happening, but was strangely enjoying the swift-talking swindler’s patter. The guy was a pro.

At this rate I was fully expecting to be taken into a port-a-potty and robbed of cards, cash and kidney.

Steph was starting to look stern and interjected on my behalf that we’d take our prize and run. At which he whisked the two darts out of my hand that I thought I’d paid for and reached for Steph’s prize.

Of course it wasn’t something dangling off the stall itself but something he rustled from underneath the counter out of an old plastic bag:

It basically looked like they’d partially wrapped some sausage meat in duct tape and tossed it in some boiling water. Even the dollar store would’ve considered themselves shysters for charging for it.

At least Steph found out I was right. And at least I don’t have to do that for a living.

Well not yet.

Female Mechanics Calendar and the Tottenham Wrench

Paul Woodhouse — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:39:49 +0000

Three minutes away you were from having the pleasure of me videoing myself doing a naked umbaba round my back garden in the snow.

But thankfully, Spurs put paid to that little escapade just as I was getting down to my underpants. They also put paid to any other thoughts of a gaggle of Dingles descending upon the capital for a cup final.

You can’t help but be impressed by it as an effort. Even a few Blackburn fans felt a bit sorry for all concerned. Though that might not last.

Anyway, in order to cheer us all up I’ve come across the 2009 Female Mechanics Calendar. No, it’s not pornographic, nor is it clad remotely scantily – it’s a calendar full of women who are mechanics.

Now I don’t want this to come across as patronising or snide. I wanted to highlight it for the same reason that the photographer who put the thing together did – to show that they are genuine Rosie the Riveter type role models out there, and maybe this will help render the necessity for calendars pointing such a fact out in the future worthless.

Lady Mechanics Calendar 2009

Click for full size centerfold.

Yuletide Welding Caps

Paul Woodhouse — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:47:53 +0000

What do you give that special welder in your life who’s in a festive funk and has a head shaped like a balloon?

Why, a Christmas welding cap, of course:

Merry Christmas…