May the Games Begin....

As it says in the Bible- 'It is finished.' and I think I might be as well...

The carpetball table is complete and has even been used already! But not without some more hard graft! As I left it last post, we were about to fill the holes along the side and then we were 'about done' yeah right! We decided to use the offcuts from the ends of the table as reinforcing for the troughs, which was quite a pleasing use off the scraps!

And then added a support between each of the legs which, as it happened, were badly bowed inwards and needed a little persuasion from a car jack...

But it submitted in the end and will provide a lot of strength to the table as it is dragged around by campers! After a few touch ups with filler and sand paper, it was time to add a coat of varnish!

And then...the carpet could finally be laid! It was harder than I imagined and despite designing the table around the carpet tiles, there was still a fair amount of trimming and fitting to be done! We went through about 3 litres of contact adhesive and were seeing all sorts of wonderful things by the time we had finished!

Then I added half rounds along the top edge, covering the edge of the carpet to stop kids picking at it, and with Shaun's routed edge it was all looking pretty nice! Another coat of varnish and it tied together very nicely!

As expected, it took 5 people to carry it to the upstairs hall (at least we don't need to worry about people stealing it in a hurry!) and of course, as soon as it was in place a carpetball tournament ensued....

Sneaky Peak...

Well well well. I seem to say it a lot,but once again we are mopping up a project that has been on the list for about 2 years now. Ever since Lanet added her name to the esteemed list of Rocklands Volunteers almost 2 years ago, whispered comments, quickly drawn sketches and here say were all that could link Rocklands to the mysterious Carpetball Table...

...but now the time has come, the plans have been drawn, lumber bought and construction has begun on quite possibly South Africa's very first Carpet ball table. The basic concept is a table about 4-5m long, but only 50cm wide with a trough at each end and raised sides, carpeted along its length. Players stand at opposite ends of the table and line up there set of four pool balls any way they wish and then throw a cue ball down the length of the table in an attempt to knock their opponents balls into the trough at the far end. Apparently its huge in America and so hopefully it will take off here as well.

Shaun and I have come to accept that when we build things together there is a tendency to over engineer things a little and build not only big but also STURDY! The thought being that we have to imagine every stupid thing that a 10 year old could wish to do to the table...standing on it, trying to turn it over, dragging it across the floor, trying to throw it at their friends, trying to set fire to it etc, and then trying to build to withstand up to and exceeding 5 years worth of this abuse. As you will see, I think that this table would probably make quite a good nuclear bunker never mind carpet ball table!

We added struts underneath the length of the table which would then be screwed into the side panels supporting the entire length of the playing surface and preventing it sagging.

We bought some laminated pine shelves which clocked in at an impressive 3m long and would form the base and sides of the table. Standard dining table legs were used to give some nice sturdy support. We then screwed the sides on- much wider than was needed for the sides of the actual playing area, this was to give the legs structural strength and minimise flex and twist on the table.

Then to add length to the table, or rather to avoid losing length when making the troughs (3m lengths were the largest we could find) we decided to add the troughs on at each end by making 'boxes' that would be screwed onto the main table.

Just so you know, we estimate that there are over 500 screws and a litre of glue holding everything together at the moment, and there is over 20m of pine making up the bulk of the table.

That's over 500 holes that need filling and over 20m of pine that needs sanding. I think its fair to say that this is a labour of love!

So as it stands at the moment we have both troughs on, decoration down the side in place, most of the holes filled and a large proportion of the table sanded. Shaun also routed down all the edges of the top which will create a nice profile when we glue the half round onto the top edge. So a little more sanding, carpet to glue into place, a few more holes to fill and sand, a coat of varnish, and we should be finished!

Test Transmission...

Living on the Peninsular has many benefits. The clean air, beautiful views, friendly people and nice towns. It also has its downsides. The howling South Easter, power cuts, intermittent water supply and the TV reception. One of these we thought we might be able to do something about, and so we decided to do away with the 'bunny ears' aerials on the TV sets and try to rig up a proper rooftop aerial. Problem one is that living on the Peninsular, as previously mentioned, means that there is also a near constant gale blowing 8 months a year. This makes mounting external aerials difficult and slightly pointless as the picture goes fuzzy as the aerial swings around in the wind. So we climbed into the roof space and set up our UHF and VHF aerials in there, attached the signal booster, splitter and yards of coax cable. Then we spent a happy hour or so tuning the TV, moving the aerials about, retuning the TV, fiddling with the gain on the booster, retuning the TV...after which we had two good channels and lots of fuzz. the UHF aerial didn't seem to be so lekker, so wondering if it was the slates messing up the signal, I headed for the roof...

But despite my best efforts and the thought that a new job description could be looming, we had no joy and I was forced to retire.

Feeling tired and defeated we called it a day but vowed not to let this rest. The next day, Shaun made a visit to the shop where we bought the booster and after having been assured that we had bought all we needed last time, he was told that in fact the booster needed a power source and so it had been doing nothing to help us. Shaun has made it a personal matter. He will not accept defeat in this mater, and has bought a power supply, new connections for the coax and new wall boxes. He is determined, stay tuned...

Legless...

Continuing with the theme of Games Room-itis, we pulled out the two fingerboard tops that were in the programming store (it's the room that just keeps giving...) and I set about renovating them! The first task was to sand down the old varnish from the wood work. Enter the Belt Sander- quickly becoming my favourite tool in the box. Then I added legs, made from pine planks, going through the usual drilling, countersinking, filling and sanding polava!

Then a quick sand all over, and a lick of varnish and table one was good to go! Table two is in need of a bit more work- the entire playing surface is in need of a lick of paint, markings added etc. but it should be finished soon, and then...the Carpet Ball Table...

Boat loads of fun...

The other day we had a wonderful surprise that I think it is only right to mention! One of our trustees gifted Rocklands a 'secondhand' (it looks brand new- barely a mark on it!) doubles sea kayak! Just out of the blue, just like that! Wow! It looks pretty nice- now I just need to get it in the pool to see if I can roll the beast...

So thank you very much!

Turning the Tables...

A long awaited project has finally been completed today- the rickety old table tennis table has been given a new lease of life! Not only that, but the even older more knackered tops that were slowly turning to dust in the sports hall store are also now a fully functional table tennis table! And how was this miraculous transformation to take place? Through 2 days of hard work, sweat and blood, but worth every second. They were in a pretty sorry state when we started...( a previous fix up attempt had involved screwing the tops in from the bottom up...with long screws and then angle grinding the protruding ends off and gouging chunks out of the table top)...

We started by taking the top off the old fold up table in the sports hall. If anybody reading this is considering buying a fold up aluminium framed table for a high usage situation like a campsite, my recommendation would be- think again! They don't last!

Then we had a chat and decided to go industrial, heavy duty, one time. Solid pine frame, none of this pansy fold up business- once these things were in place- they were there to stay! Next tip for any would-be furniture designers/refurbishers, stick to standard lengths of timber- it will make the job go a lot faster if you only have to cut 3 pieces of wood instead of 57 (it will also work out cheaper)! So we made a simple but sturdy pine frame, pretty much like a pine dinner table 2.4m x 1.2m.

What followed was 10 minutes of grunting, sparewords and frustration as I tried to centre the tops on the frame. Walking around one side measuring, walking to the other side adjusting, back to the other side, too far, adjusting...and so on and so on! This complete, we measured in from the sides to the frame underneath, marked, drilled and counter sunk screw holes to go into the frame.

And then filled all the holes and gouge marks with wood filler, then sanded them off. This will never give a perfect finish but it was a sight better than the state the tables were in before!

After this, we needed a way to stop the chipboard edges from crumbling away to nothing so we glued and nailed strips of half round all around the edges. This should help them last longer when they are no doubt bumped and scraped around the place. unfortunately this did leave a couple of gaping holes where the edge of the table was round and the edging was well...not. So we applied generous amounts of expanding foam which, by its very nature, just kept getting more generous, which we later cut and sanded.

A couple of coats of paint and we were 90% finished. We used normal vinyl house paint (left over from the climbing wall project) with a view to lacquering it later on for durability. Once this was dry (very quickly in the African sun) I measured and masked out the white edging and centre lines and used some white enamel to paint the in.

Then after a Titanic effort, Shaun and I manhandled the table up to the UPSTAIRS hall, barely fitting through the door, and pulling various muscles! But there it now stands, already used by our international guests!

Super Size Me

Hi, my name is Paddy Brown and for the next 30 days, I will attempt to eat nothing but Cheese Toasties...Super Size me!

For a similar experiment, simply take: One catering sized bag of Cheddar Cheese...

...Between two and four slices of well buttered white bread (the cheaper the better)...

...and a Toastie maker (Brevel if you're in England, Snackwich Machine if you're in SA...)

...and then bond them together in the beautiful symphony that is a toasted sandwich...

Day1 Supper.
The results are truly mouthwatering and even the Lactose Intolerant Darla is tempted. The delightful blend of melted cheese and crunchy oil-rich bread hint that this sandwich would provide everything a growing 23 year old would need.

Day 2 Breakfast.

Its 9.45am and the sizzling of melted butter and cheese is just whats needed to rouse me from my sleep deprived state and get me ready for the day.
9.50am and I'm chewing my through slice 4. I can feel a layer of grease resting somewhere around my colon...

Day2 Lunch

My doctors have advised that I halt this experiment- not least because it serves no actual purpose and will not serve to further the human race in any way, but mainly because it will make me fat. Well then this will be my swan song, my last cheese toastie for the day...

1.33pm My stomach is cramping and I think I'm going to die...

1.35pm Experiment aborted

1.45pm Fruit filled detox begins...