clifton wood on wed 4 jun 03
ok.
confession time.
i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb shopping.
at any rate, i was going through a dumpster the other day, and got some GREAT
stuff... including 250 zip disks, an art bin, a pad of paper pallettes, sharpy
markers... all these things cost money!
among my finds were a triple beam scale and a bunch of twaddle hydrometers.
i have questions about each.
- triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no matter how
much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to snigger at my
ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away) is way below
the zero line... matter of fact, it's resting on the bottom. my dumb idea is to
epoxy a washer underneath the dish... experiment first & find a washer that is the
right weight, of course.
any other ideas? and... is this an indication that callibration-wise, this scale is
kaput? of course, i can check that myself, once i do the glue job, by just putting
standard weights on it. how much worse can it be than the ones at school, where
folks routinely put wads of wet clay on the beam to get it balanced. boy, i wouldn't
do that without understanding the effect of diminishing moisture in the clay (just
joking) which brings me to my next question...
- twaddle hydrometers
i searched the archives & found the great postings from a year ago about mr
twaddle... the hydrometer inventor (thanks, ivor) and that these things are used to
measure the relative density of liquids denser than water? or something like that?
and i thought hydrometers were either
a) school science projects made with a milk carton, strand of hair & a nickel
b) a never seen device read about in clay books to check how watery one's glaze is.
gosh, the limits of my stupidity continue to amaze me... but then, i'm easy.
so - do regular clay people (who i aspire to be, right after the brain upgrade) ever
use these? if so, how?
they look ridiculously fragile & nonfunctional, with strips of paper inside the long
glass tubes. not confidence inspiring for someone who only deals with a plastic
shrouded medical thermometer.
i googled it, and found LOTS of suppliers... $50 & up... but no instructions on
which ones to use to do what & how.
and... if none of us ever use these twaddle hydrometers, who does? no point in just
dumping them again.
thanks for wading through this stuff, which couldn't even aspire to be twaddle, in
the derrogatory sense of the word.
sabra wood
Catherine White on wed 4 jun 03
Thank the gods that be, that I am not alone in loving dumpster diving. In
Denver there are alleys bisecting every city block. There are wondrous
dumpsters lining those alleys. And there are such wondrous treasures to be
rescued before the landfill jocks come with their nasty trucks to destroy
all these goodies. Denver was a DD's paradise. How I miss it!
Catherine in Yuma, AZ
Forget the losses; exaggerate the wins.
Remember: forget. Remember: forget.
(T. Jefferson Parker)
----- snip-----
> confession time.>
> i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb
shopping.
>
> at any rate, i was going through a dumpster the other day, and got some
GREAT
> stuff...
Jennifer F Boyer on thu 5 jun 03
Hi All,
My Ohaus has a little compartment under the pronged thingy that
holds the material scoop. It has a metal washer type cover that
you can remove by unscrewing the pringed thingy. The compartment
below can then be filled with small metal stuff to make that end
weigh more. Small hardware items like nuts work well. The first
step is to simply fill your scoop with the number of nuts that
brings it into balance. Then remove the lid from the compartment
and put the nuts in there.
Take Care
Jennifer
clifton wood wrote:
> ok.
>
> confession time.
>
> i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb shopping.
>
> at any rate, i was going through a dumpster the other day, and got some GREAT
> stuff... including 250 zip disks, an art bin, a pad of paper pallettes, sharpy
> markers... all these things cost money!
>
> among my finds were a triple beam scale and a bunch of twaddle hydrometers.
>
> i have questions about each.
>
> - triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no matter how
> much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to snigger at my
> ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away) is way below
> the zero line... matter of fact, it's resting on the bottom. my dumb idea is to
> epoxy a washer underneath the dish... experiment first & find a washer that is the
> right weight, of course.
>
> any other ideas? and... is this an indication that callibration-wise, this scale is
> kaput? of course, i can check that myself, once i do the glue job, by just putting
> standard weights on it. how much worse can it be than the ones at school, where
> folks routinely put wads of wet clay on the beam to get it balanced. boy, i wouldn't
> do that without understanding the effect of diminishing moisture in the clay (just
> joking) which brings me to my next question...
>
> - twaddle hydrometers
>
> i searched the archives & found the great postings from a year ago about mr
> twaddle... the hydrometer inventor (thanks, ivor) and that these things are used to
> measure the relative density of liquids denser than water? or something like that?
> and i thought hydrometers were either
> a) school science projects made with a milk carton, strand of hair & a nickel
> b) a never seen device read about in clay books to check how watery one's glaze is.
>
> gosh, the limits of my stupidity continue to amaze me... but then, i'm easy.
>
> so - do regular clay people (who i aspire to be, right after the brain upgrade) ever
> use these? if so, how?
>
> they look ridiculously fragile & nonfunctional, with strips of paper inside the long
> glass tubes. not confidence inspiring for someone who only deals with a plastic
> shrouded medical thermometer.
>
> i googled it, and found LOTS of suppliers... $50 & up... but no instructions on
> which ones to use to do what & how.
>
> and... if none of us ever use these twaddle hydrometers, who does? no point in just
> dumping them again.
>
> thanks for wading through this stuff, which couldn't even aspire to be twaddle, in
> the derrogatory sense of the word.
>
> sabra wood
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer mailto:jboyer@adelphia.net
Thistle Hill Pottery Montpelier VT USA
http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
Never pass on an email warning without checking out these sites
for web hoaxes and junk:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/
http://snopes.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bruce Girrell on thu 5 jun 03
sabra wood wrote:
> - triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at
> zero... the dish side isn't heavy enough...
Chances are that you have the wrong dish on that side - there's a good
chance that the original got lost or damaged, someone tried to replace it
with whatever is there now and it didn't balance, so the thing got tossed
into the dumpster.
> the balance indicator [is] resting on the bottom. my
> dumb idea is to epoxy a washer underneath the dish...
> experiment first & find a washer that is the
> right weight, of course.
What's so dumb about that? That's all the tare weight does anyway. The only
thing I would suggest would be something less permanent than epoxy (perhaps
silicone) that you could remove should you a) discover or purchase the
proper weighing pan or 2) change the weighing pan to a differnt size (to
weigh bigger batches for example).
After achieving balance you should, as you have already realized, check the
balance with some known weights. Unless the pivot has been damaged by rough
handling (being pitched into the dumpster) it should be OK.
Bruce "searching for his lost Dumpster Snorkle" Girrell
Donald G. Goldsobel on thu 5 jun 03
Some of the triple beam scales have a part on one side that contains lead
shot hat is used as ballast to calibrate the scale. If you have that kind,
open caefully as the shot will be all over the place. Add weight a little at
a time to zero the beam
Donald
----- Original Message -----
From: "clifton wood"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 11:53 AM
Subject: dumpster diving... twaddle & unbalanced triple beam
> ok.
>
> confession time.
>
> i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb
shopping.
>
> at any rate, i was going through a dumpster the other day, and got some
GREAT
> stuff... including 250 zip disks, an art bin, a pad of paper pallettes,
sharpy
> markers... all these things cost money!
>
> among my finds were a triple beam scale and a bunch of twaddle
hydrometers.
>
> i have questions about each.
>
> - triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no
matter how
> much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to
snigger at my
> ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away)
is way below
> the zero line... matter of fact, it's resting on the bottom. my dumb idea
is to
> epoxy a washer underneath the dish... experiment first & find a washer
that is the
> right weight, of course.
>
> any other ideas? and... is this an indication that callibration-wise,
this scale is
> kaput? of course, i can check that myself, once i do the glue job, by
just putting
> standard weights on it. how much worse can it be than the ones at school,
where
> folks routinely put wads of wet clay on the beam to get it balanced. boy,
i wouldn't
> do that without understanding the effect of diminishing moisture in the
clay (just
> joking) which brings me to my next question...
>
> - twaddle hydrometers
>
> i searched the archives & found the great postings from a year ago about
mr
> twaddle... the hydrometer inventor (thanks, ivor) and that these things
are used to
> measure the relative density of liquids denser than water? or something
like that?
> and i thought hydrometers were either
> a) school science projects made with a milk carton, strand of hair & a
nickel
> b) a never seen device read about in clay books to check how watery one's
glaze is.
>
> gosh, the limits of my stupidity continue to amaze me... but then, i'm
easy.
>
> so - do regular clay people (who i aspire to be, right after the brain
upgrade) ever
> use these? if so, how?
>
> they look ridiculously fragile & nonfunctional, with strips of paper
inside the long
> glass tubes. not confidence inspiring for someone who only deals with a
plastic
> shrouded medical thermometer.
>
> i googled it, and found LOTS of suppliers... $50 & up... but no
instructions on
> which ones to use to do what & how.
>
> and... if none of us ever use these twaddle hydrometers, who does? no
point in just
> dumping them again.
>
> thanks for wading through this stuff, which couldn't even aspire to be
twaddle, in
> the derrogatory sense of the word.
>
> sabra wood
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Tony Olsen on thu 5 jun 03
Sabra,
No need for the epoxy, the 'dish' on the dish side should screw off (can =
I say that?) to reveal an area just below/inside it where balancing =
weights are placed. Mine has several pieces if lead shot, or BB's. you =
can add the weight there.
Take care..
Tony Olsen (Galveston)
Lily Krakowski on thu 5 jun 03
Blessings and dive in peace, my child. Us dumpster divers are the hope of
a world engulfed by garbage, landfills, etc.
I wouldna glue a thing. I would find a small pan to put on the dish side
and see if that does not do it. I have seen scales that did not adjust
properly unless there was a dish on the pan side. A small metal baking dish
works well....
Also: you will see at the end of the beams, near the "needle" that there
is an indentation in the rod. This is meant to hang weights from. If all
else fails you might try hanging any kind of ring or washer on there....
> ok.
>
> confession time.
>
> i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb shopping.
>
> - triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no matter how
> much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to snigger at my
> ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away) is way below
once i do the glue job, by
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
Earl Brunner on thu 5 jun 03
The platform end of an OHAUS scale unscrews and there are metal weights
located in a cavity under the platform. It may also be calibrated for
the scale to read "o" when a container is on it.
As a side, my Ohaus was purchased with a separate fourth beam, just for
the container. If you don't adjust for the additional weight of a
container (assuming the scale needs one) BEFORE you begin weighing stuff
then you have to include the container's weight in every measurement
that you do.
If it is one of those that has a container, than you are on the right
track. It sounds like you need to add some weight to get balance BEFORE
you can use it. Look for that cavity area that I mentioned above.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of clifton
wood
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 11:53 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: dumpster diving... twaddle & unbalanced triple beam
- triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no
matter how
much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to
snigger at my
ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away)
is way below
the zero line... matter of fact, it's resting on the bottom. my dumb
idea is to
epoxy a washer underneath the dish... experiment first & find a washer
that is the
right weight, of course.
Fredrick Paget on thu 5 jun 03
Sounds like the scale you got had a removable pan that you didn't get.
You can find a can or something and weight it so that it balances
with the can and weight on the scale set at zero. Then check it with
the calibration weights.
Fred
--
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Jeremy McLeod on thu 5 jun 03
Catherine White wrote:
> And there are such wondrous treasures to be
> rescued before the landfill jocks come with their nasty trucks to destroy
> all these goodies. Denver was a DD's paradise. How I miss it!
>
So true. Live in Denver and have found a few good items.
Nothing, however, to compare to the year I furnished my entire
New York City apartment (a studio, to be sure) with items put on
the curb in the ritzier neighborhoods on the East Side. Had a VW
van at the time and it was the perrrfect way to stay ahead of the trash
pick-up people.
Jeremy McLeod
Joyce Lee on thu 5 jun 03
ok
----- Original Message -----
From: "Earl Brunner"
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: dumpster diving... twaddle & unbalanced triple beam
> The platform end of an OHAUS scale unscrews and there are metal weights
> located in a cavity under the platform. It may also be calibrated for
> the scale to read "o" when a container is on it.
>
> As a side, my Ohaus was purchased with a separate fourth beam, just for
> the container. If you don't adjust for the additional weight of a
> container (assuming the scale needs one) BEFORE you begin weighing stuff
> then you have to include the container's weight in every measurement
> that you do.
>
> If it is one of those that has a container, than you are on the right
> track. It sounds like you need to add some weight to get balance BEFORE
> you can use it. Look for that cavity area that I mentioned above.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of clifton
> wood
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 11:53 AM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: dumpster diving... twaddle & unbalanced triple beam
>
> - triple beam scale... it doesn't balance when all is set at zero... no
> matter how
> much i adjust the terre whatchamacallit. the dish side (fell free to
> snigger at my
> ignorance) isn't heavy enough... so the balance indicator (snigger away)
> is way below
> the zero line... matter of fact, it's resting on the bottom. my dumb
> idea is to
> epoxy a washer underneath the dish... experiment first & find a washer
> that is the
> right weight, of course.
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Hendrix, Taylor J. on thu 5 jun 03
Sabra,
Quick question. What is in the bottom of the hydrometers for weight?
If it is shot, keep them. If the buggers are weighted with mercury, get
rid of them (safely). When I worked at the water company, we had
several glass hydrometers and some of them were weighted with mercury.
To break one was to spend hours disposing of the hazardous waste
properly. Be gentle with them if you can and they will work great for
free hydrometers!
If you have the right one, just float those hydrometers in the liquid
you want to measure. As long as the scale is long enough and the
hydrometer floats right, you can use it. You can even make up your own
personal scale with some tape around the stem where you like your glazes
to be. Just wrap the tape at the glaze line and adjust your glaze to
that tape every now and again. Yeehaw.
Nice find.
Taylor, in Waco.
-----Original Message-----
From: clifton wood [mailto:cliftonwood@EARTHLINK.NET]=20
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 1:53 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: dumpster diving... twaddle & unbalanced triple beam
ok.
confession time.
i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb
shopping.
...
- twaddle hydrometers
i searched the archives & found the great postings from a year ago about
mr
twaddle... the hydrometer inventor (thanks, ivor) and that these things
are used to
measure the relative density of liquids denser than water? or something
like that?
and i thought hydrometers were either
a) school science projects made with a milk carton, strand of hair & a
nickel
b) a never seen device read about in clay books to check how watery
one's glaze is.
...
sabra wood
________________________________________________________________________
______
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Alyss Dorese on thu 5 jun 03
Jeremy,
You bring back such memories of living in New York. We, too, decorated our
apartment with cast-offs. Lots of "pickers" in NY get stuff out of
dumpsters and then sell them to the local antique shops. We created our
headboard from the second floor staircase railing of a building being
demolished. We were walking in the street and looked up when the edifice of
the building was down and immediately thought what a magnificent headboard
that would be. The wood carvings were great. After negotiating with the
wreckers and taking it home (for $10) bucks, we spent many hours removing 40
years of different coats of paint to get it back to its original wood. It
was worth it. With all the pickings we did our friends described our place
as "neo-gothic."
I left all that wonderful carved wood behind when I moved to the desert. Now
my place is decorated in glass and brass. But I still yearn for that old
look. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Alyss Dorese
Palm Springs, CA
dorese@ix.netcom.com
> Nothing, however, to compare to the year I furnished my entire
> New York City apartment (a studio, to be sure) with items put on
> the curb in the ritzier neighborhoods on the East Side. Had a VW
> van at the time and it was the perrrfect way to stay ahead of the trash
> pick-up people.
>
> Jeremy McLeod
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Donald G. Goldsobel on thu 5 jun 03
----- A tried and true method to balance that scale.
Hang a bit of wire from the hook or hole at the end of the scale and twist a
nut on to mit. Then get some wshers ( these are the variable weights) and
cut out a section from the side of each of them. You can now slide a numbr
of them on to the wire until the balance is right.
Good luck.
Donald
Steve Mills on sun 8 jun 03
Here in the UK Dumpsters are called Skips, and the process of retrieving
goodies from them is known (in the circles I move in; anti-clockwise and
fuelled by good Ale) as *Skip Grovelling*. It is in my opinion an
essential skill in these waste-full days, and good skips are properly
laid out by thoughtful operators, and thereby hangs a tale.
In 1984 I moved out of my town centre workshop/shop persuaded by the
gluttonous Corporate Property Department who banged up my rent 400
percent! to aid the clear-out I hired a Skip and had it placed as close
as possible to the workshop. It was organised as follows: at one end:
usable furniture and hardware. Pavement-side: usable wood. Roadside:
usable metal. At the other end: firewood. In the middle: rubbish. During
the long process of clearing out my skip was voluntarily emptied 5 times
by passers-by which pleased me no end.
As my Kiln was a mixture of brick and fibre and too big to move en-mass,
it had to be dismantled, and as I had built it rather too solidly (I've
learnt that lesson now!), most of it excepting the frame wound up in the
middle of the skip; the fibre in bags, the brick scrap loose. I was
convinced that no-one would be able to use a large quantity of scrap
insulation brick, so imagine my surprise on returning next day to find
it ALL gone! I puzzled over that for some time, until in conversation
with a Sculptor/Conservationist friend of mine the subject came up, and
he admitted to removing the brick scrap (going a wonderful shade of pink
as he said so).
Bath as I suspect most of you know is a Georgian City, and built
entirely of the local Sandstone (a City Edict; Red Brick is not allowed)
what my friend Laurence was doing was grinding up my old brick, mixing
it with Lime Mortar, and repairing the local edifices with the resulting
concoction which was EXACTLY the right colour.
We live and learn!
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Catherine White writes
>Thank the gods that be, that I am not alone in loving dumpster diving. In
>Denver there are alleys bisecting every city block. There are wondrous
>dumpsters lining those alleys. And there are such wondrous treasures to be
>rescued before the landfill jocks come with their nasty trucks to destroy
>all these goodies. Denver was a DD's paradise. How I miss it!
>
>Catherine in Yuma, AZ
> Forget the losses; exaggerate the wins.
> Remember: forget. Remember: forget.
> (T. Jefferson Parker)
>
> ----- snip-----
>> confession time.>
>> i am a MAJOR dumpster diver... just can't resist. ditto for curb
>shopping.
>>
>> at any rate, i was going through a dumpster the other day, and got some
>GREAT
>> stuff...
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
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