I am a handy dandy person sometimes
Sep. 16th, 2008 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crankyoldmanAlright, so, maybe it's obvious, considering I'm an engineering student and all, but I like fixing things. I am very satisfied to maintain things on my own--I was in charge of a tractor growing up, I tended to change the oil in the car, got the butter machine working at the movie theater with just a paperclip, etc. MacGuyver really was my hero growing up (and I still didn't get my Swiss Army knife until I went to college! WEEP).
Anyway, so due to the face there's like, zero covered areas to keep your bike on this campus and the fact the monsoon happened, I discovered, to my horror, that my nice shiny, not even a year old Schwinn has some rust in a few areas. Thankfully not the wheels, because hey, those are aluminum, and the main frame is similarly constructed. But the screws, gears, and handlebars are not aluminum. So after going "agh!" for a minute or two, I remembered something.
Coca-cola is a weak acid.
I happen to have some on hand, because I'm a Coke drinker and after some confirmation from an RSS feed of mine, I realized that yes, it could probably clean up rust. So I went out to my bike armed with my tools (as there are a few adjustments it could use, even STILL, because I suck at aligning the seat right or something), a can of Coke, and various accoutrement.
Lo and behold, it did a pretty good job. There are parts where the orange doom still exists, but I left a good enough coat on them them that it should continue to work after the initial rubbing. The handlebars especially look MUCH better. I also oiled a few parts and I could tell my bike was happy.
Now I just need to think of a cleaning solution for my table... more research!
And yes, I'm uber fond of odd uses for everyday items. Like baking soda paste takes out sweatstains from shirts (I used to run track and do marching band as well as had to wear white shirts at the movie theater... this is protip, for sure). I blame my fondness for the Farmer's Almanac (I get one every year and subscribe to the website now).
Anywho, not really much else to report. Feel free to share any odd usage things, I collect them.
~Cendri
P.S. MOTHERFUCKING HELL, WORK. I LEFT YOU ALL THE DOCUMENTATION YOU COULD NEED AND YOU STILL HAVE ISSUES? OH WAIT THAT'S BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING RANDOM INTERNS TO DO IT.
...I need to breathe. And probably wait until AFTER Aeromechanics II's office hour to send an email back. Blood pressure. Calm.
Anyway, so due to the face there's like, zero covered areas to keep your bike on this campus and the fact the monsoon happened, I discovered, to my horror, that my nice shiny, not even a year old Schwinn has some rust in a few areas. Thankfully not the wheels, because hey, those are aluminum, and the main frame is similarly constructed. But the screws, gears, and handlebars are not aluminum. So after going "agh!" for a minute or two, I remembered something.
Coca-cola is a weak acid.
I happen to have some on hand, because I'm a Coke drinker and after some confirmation from an RSS feed of mine, I realized that yes, it could probably clean up rust. So I went out to my bike armed with my tools (as there are a few adjustments it could use, even STILL, because I suck at aligning the seat right or something), a can of Coke, and various accoutrement.
Lo and behold, it did a pretty good job. There are parts where the orange doom still exists, but I left a good enough coat on them them that it should continue to work after the initial rubbing. The handlebars especially look MUCH better. I also oiled a few parts and I could tell my bike was happy.
Now I just need to think of a cleaning solution for my table... more research!
And yes, I'm uber fond of odd uses for everyday items. Like baking soda paste takes out sweatstains from shirts (I used to run track and do marching band as well as had to wear white shirts at the movie theater... this is protip, for sure). I blame my fondness for the Farmer's Almanac (I get one every year and subscribe to the website now).
Anywho, not really much else to report. Feel free to share any odd usage things, I collect them.
~Cendri
P.S. MOTHERFUCKING HELL, WORK. I LEFT YOU ALL THE DOCUMENTATION YOU COULD NEED AND YOU STILL HAVE ISSUES? OH WAIT THAT'S BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING RANDOM INTERNS TO DO IT.
...I need to breathe. And probably wait until AFTER Aeromechanics II's office hour to send an email back. Blood pressure. Calm.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-16 06:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-16 06:58 pm (UTC)~Cendri
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Date: 2008-09-16 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-16 07:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-16 09:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-17 12:15 pm (UTC)NOW HOW TO FIT IT INTO FF8.
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Date: 2008-09-16 06:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-16 09:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-17 06:49 pm (UTC)