Maintenance day

which I hate. If I didn't have anything else to do, puttering around fixing things would be a great way to spend a day, in my opinion. But it always seems like things need fixing RIGHT NOW. Still, when that happens, it is best to just settle in and find a solution. Here's the latest:

The handle and locking mechanism of the woodstove has been bothering me for quite some time. Finally, the little tang on the inside end of the handle cracked, so I had to not only make a new one, but figure out how to place it so that the annoyance would be gone.

I actually cut a piece off of a chunk from an old wheel barrow part that was sitting around (cut it with the hack saw, i.e. by hand) and found a couple extra nuts that would fit on the end of the handle and got it placed just right.

Then, Melissa discovered that the drainpipe under the sink was starting to drip. Close examination discovered that the big wide nut that holds the drain face (the thing you see when you look down in the sink) was cracked, and thus not holding the thing tight.

Taking it apart, I discovered another threaded piece was crappy and cracking as well. That meant I had no parts to put the thing back together. Still, in my plumbing box, I had a few old parts, and by using one designed for a bathroom sink, I was able to get it all back together. Of course, I had to use a 2" piece of PVC as a washer, and a bicycle innertube as a reducer, but it actually doesn't leak.

Not too shabby for not going to the store for parts!