what's the last thing you bought?

[hermes2015]

I think I could make good use of those. They could be assembled into a lovely sculpture.

[jumbojak]

I was looking to buy some dumb bells today. Holy shit, the prices are out of sight! 

If you can find them in stock, WalMart still has reasonable prices. About a buck a pound for fixed weight dumbbells.

[jumbojak]

I think I could make good use of those. They could be assembled into a lovely sculpture.

You could cast them out of concrete. They would be cheaper, lighter, and the molds customized to any size, shape and lettering you like.

[hermes2015]

I am inspired now. I can see some possibilities for concrete discs. Also wormy or snaky shapes, perhaps an interpretation of the Laocoon with discs and snakelike tubes. Yes, I know I'm strange.

[billy rubin]

motorcycle wheel covers!



designed to reduce the turbulence around the rear wheel caused by the spokes. installing them will require me to re-engineer the rear brake caliper, but i can do that for later in the year.

i guess some people call them aluminum pizza pans, but i know what they're really intended for

[Randy]

Billy, maybe you could use them for pizza pans as well.

[Icarus]

Billy, the imagined turbulence at the rear spokes is not worth much of a a conversation.  The deal is that the air is so turbulent and dirty by the time it gets to the rear wheel that worrying with the rear is not very profitable.  Worry some about the front wheel where the initial turbulence and resulting drag begin.  Even over a streamlined object, appraoching a Reynolds number in the 5 x 10^6 is where separation and turbulent flow begins.  Reynolds numbers are a function of velocity and downstream distance.

I agree that it would seem that the spokes might churn up a maelstrom of sorts.  However the air is already smashed and twisted because the tire got there first.   Interestingly a round or near round object , like a tire, has a drag coefficient of about 2.0. Counter to the the perfectly logical assumption that a rectangular object would have more drag, it actually has a typical drag coefficient of about 1.3.  Not to suggest that some of the bike parts should be rectangular.  This is messy stuff and you can be assured that the rider contributes as much or more drag than the bike does. Apparently we should use dwarfs for LSR riders.

Go ahead and put the pizza plates on the wheel.  It is cool looking at the least. 

[billy rubin]

Billy, maybe you could use them for pizza pans as well.

the first thing i did was drop one and bend it, so that 9ne goesto the kitchen probably

[billy rubin]

icarus, its become one of those philosophy things now

im looking for unmeasurably small increases that only help if i do a lot of them. i need l3ss than 4 percent increase in speed to hit my target, and at 135mph that is something like 11 more horsepower.

it cant be done-- the motor doesnt have it in it. im alread y some 45 percent beyond its original design limits

but something like 75 percent or better of the horsepower is overcoming air resistance and drag, and like you say, most of it is the rider. im still losing weight, but not as fast as id like

the wheel covers are an attempt to decrease the low pressure zone to eithrr side of the wheel. as they turn they each build a lozenge of low pressure that is squeezed from the sides by the slipstream. that increases friction and slows the bike just like holding a dollar bill between your thumb and forefinger and trying to pull it out. maybe its not much anymore having gone from 40 round spokes to 3 aerofoil-shaped ones on each wheel, but im looking for tiny gains now

tbh i think riding position is most important. if i could afford a wind tunnel id do it there. maybe i can decorate myself on the slow runway with yarn and get my kids to video me from alongside

i could get probably 10 mph just by fitting a fairing, but the naked class is where i want to succeed

[billy rubin]

theres a lot to learn from these old films

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acySDnGYzVM

[Icarus]

Boards. I bought some wooden boards.

I have a column (post) on my front porch that has deteriorated. Gotta replace it.  Finding decent lumber is not easy and if you do find it, the price is a bit much.  I did find some good quality wood in a local big box store. To find it there was surprising because the bulk of their stock lumber is very poor quality.

I bought four  1 x 6 x 8 foot pieces. really nice stuff but it cost $96 plus 7% sales tax.   That works out to a little over   six dollars per board foot.  On examining the boards I discovered neat little labels that said: produced in New Zealand. I bought a few boards that that came from trees on the other side of the world. 

[billy rubin]

the japanese havebeen buying undressed timberfrom americafor many years, entire rafts at a time.

they usedto buy sized lumber, but as i understand it, they asked for metric dimensions. theamerican mills refused to cut it for them, sotbeyjust bought cuttrees and sawed them themselves ij japan.

the american mills lost all the business.

[Anne D.]

the japanese havebeen buying undressed timberfrom americafor many years, entire rafts at a time.

they usedto buy sized lumber, but as i understand it, they asked for metric dimensions. theamerican mills refused to cut it for them, sotbeyjust bought cuttrees and sawed them themselves ij japan.

the american mills lost all the business.

Wow. That's crazy.

A new leather belt. I've lost some weight. I bought a men's belt, though, (I'm cheap, and men's belts are cheaper; plus I just like men's belts better) and it's the wrong size--somehow bigger than my old belt despite my trying to follow the size guide. I absolutely hate teturning mail order stuff.

[Bad Penny II]

There is a table on the internet for $40, US$30



https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kendall/other-kitchen-dining/dining-table/1274522838

I messaged Myra, "can the legs be removed for transport" she said no, they can't.
But can they though?
I don't have a trailer or a truck any more, just fairly sturdy roof racks on a Mazda 3.

The table looks old, old and interesting, could make a good workbench, only one crappy pic.

[Anne D.]

The table does look old and interesting. I bet you're right that the legs can be removed. It's the whole reattaching part that might be tricky