Schreiber

...yeah, ok, DEFINITELY not going to Maine this weekend. Given that Saturday morning is going to be spent either as the 8th person who allows us to field a softball team or doing frantic last-minute steeple-keeping, possibly involving AC installation.

OK, I shouldn't ACTUALLY be so negative. I'm making progress, I'm (sorta) ringing Grandsire now, Plain Bob* will probably happen within the next couple of weeks. As I say: it's just weird when you remember when so-and-so couldn't put two strokes together, and now YOU're the one who's an idiot.

And I successfully replaced the clapper on the #5!** Go, me! (Now I just have to check to reassure myself that the weird noise it's making doesn't mean it's about to fall off again!

Now my job situation at the moment: THAT's worth complaining about...

*******

After practice on Wednesday, went out for one last dinner at King and I with various fellow Ephs and landofnowhere: the latter bore up well as the rest of us swapped stories of how the campus has changed over time, and which buildings we'd broken into for kicks at some point in our irresponsible youth.


Plain Bob, like Grandsire, is one of the simpler Methods in changeringing;
although having just read the comments on an entry by the incomparable tkingfisher, I am now imagining that it is what she'd call her new property if she bought a chunk of North Dakota or something.

** Albeit with a lot of help from fellow steeplekeeper Ricki, and secondarily from Margaret, Austin, and Phoebe; none of whom have DW or LJ accounts that I know of.

1 Oct.: Assisted in replacing the staple bolt on #7 at Old North. NB #8 still to go. Nylon nuts are a pain.
NB: Antique bell fittings, lacking staple bolts, presumably work quite differently.

5 Oct.: Replaced the rope on #3 at CotA.
Mem.: fid
Mem: measure length of tail and height of sally on old rope first!!
Mem: drop most of the rope down the hole (by attaching to previous rope, ad lib.); through hole in wheel (check it's the right way);
then once around the first upright, coil around the two uprights til c. 15 cm. left, then TAKE UP SLACK from every coil EXC. the first one, THEN wrap, drop end through center, put under first loop around single upright.
Mem.: Don't do practice while hungry: leads to Int. -6

15 Oct.: Assisted in replacing staple bolt on Tenor at Old North. [See "Open Letter to Squigamunk"]

19 Oct.: Let rope on #3 down by about six inches. Mem.: measuring by height of sally above your nose is a useful technique.

December: Ordered new bolt from Whitechapel: Ricky kindly agreed to include the cost in his larger order for Old North.

------

15 Feb.: Finally got the clapper bolt off the new clapper of the #5. New staple bolt had arrived from Whitechapel the previous week, so now just need to find the time to reassemble the whole business, get the old clapper off the 5, and put the new one back in...


22 Feb.: Put the new clapper back on the #5 (Well, Ricky did a lot of the work: also props to Margaret, Phoebe, and Austin.)

Summer: Ricky brought us a shop vac.; Got new filter for shop vac., and started cleaning bell chamber

September: Planed down runner board on #2: hopefully making for better ringing...

25 Sept.: Made new slider with Jeff delPapa (well, I helped)

To do:
- Go through the tool box in the ringing chamber ✓
- Go through the "Maintenance" section of the Tower Handbook.
- Ask if we need to start more ropes hanging
- Learn splicing [Follow-on book?]
- Repairs to gudgeon of #5
- Clapper of 5 needs a new bolt
- Check why #5 making weird juddering noise. (Adjust twiddle pins? Gudgeon?)
- Clean excess oil off frame of #5
- Shorten rope on #3 (?)
- Oil #6 - Ricky? Two person, afternoon job, anyway
- Organize bell chamber cleaning
- Buy sandpaper
- Get new slider cut to size; Sand; Adjust to correct deep-set-ness; install
- Get reimbursed for the wood...
- Make (smaller) slider for #2


- Talk to church about getting another 3 ropes (Eddie)
- Get new bolt/whatever for 5 (Josh/Elaine) ✓