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#611
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AG: Thread Marking
If you want to make a bar tack to reinforce a weak spot or to serve as the eye in a hook-and-eye closing, you have to learn how to anchor your thread and acquire a few other skills. But if all you want is a spot of color so that you can tell front from back, left from right, or George's from Bill's, all you need to know is how to thread a needle. If a thread is thick and fuzzy, you fold it over the needle to make a tight loop that you can poke through the eye. For most threads, you cut off the frayed end so that all the fibers are the same length and you don't have the frustration of some of the fibers going through the eye and the rest skinning back until they make a big lump. Now hold the needle so that you can see the eye. Poke the thread through it. Magnifying glasses help. If this doesn't work, pinch the thread so near the end that what sticks out is quite rigid, and your fingers would block your view of the needle if you tried to poke it. Point the thread toward your eyes and bring the eye of the needle down over it. If the thread bushes out at the end, or if you'd like it a little stiffer, press the end of the thread firmly against a piece of wax with the thumb of one hand, and use the other hand to pull it out. Beeswax is traditional for this purpose, but a candle stub, a piece of paraffin wax, or any other non-sticky wax will do. One old book says ". . . draw it smartly over a cork." I usually repeat the waxing a few times before trying to thread the needle again. One can also buy a "needle threader", a pointed loop of thin wire that you can poke through the eye of the needle, then poke the thread through the loop, and pull the loop out of the needle, which pulls the thread through the eye. Check that the eye of the needle isn't smaller than the thread. "Crewel" needles have bigger eyes than sharps of the same size. Also check that the needle is thicker than the thread, but not so thick that it makes a huge hole. ---------------------------- Threaded needle in hand, make a bar tack: Select two points on the fabric to be marked. They shouldn't be more than a quarter inch (3 mm) apart, lest the bar tack catch on things and get pulled out. You make a bar tack by going down at point A and coming up at point B. I do this all in one motion, but for the beginner, I'm going to describe a tedious way: Push the needle through the fabric at point A. The needle is easiest to push through by pushing on the eye end with your thumb or the tip of a finger. (Most people use the middle finger.) A thimble or thumble is *strongly* recommended! Or if you have some stiff, non-skid adhesive tape, stick a square of it on the spot that needs protection. Pull on the needle until only a few inches of thread are left on this side of the fabric. If you find that the thread slips out of the needle during this operation, pull on the thread instead of or in addition to the needle. Turn the work over, push the needle through at point B, pull on the thread until it lies straight and flat on the back. Then change the angle to slant away from point A and continue pulling until all but half an inch of the thread you left at the beginning has been drawn through. (You should leave a couple of inches of waste thread the first time you try this, so that the thread won't get jerked all the way through when your hands shake.) Push the needle through at point A again, exactly where the tag you left is sticking out. Pull until the thread between A and B is snug and flat. Turn the work over and push through at point B, precisely where you went through before. (Don't angst if it isn't *exactly* in the same hole -- a *little* inaccuracy only makes the tack wider -- but you can get "close enough" only by aiming for "spang on".) Pull until the thread is snug, but not tight. Continue until the spot is big enough to suit you. This should be at least three stitches, to keep it from coming undone. Finish by coming up at point B. Cut the thread close to the fabric, then trim off the tail at the beginning the same way. Sooner or later these ends will pull out and wave around as little flags on the wrong side. Don't worry about it. When washed, the ends will fluff up and get too fat to pull out again. ---------------------------- Whoosh! Who would have expected a ten-second job to take so many *words*! I was planning to cover both bar tacks and cow hitches, but this is *quite* enough. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
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#612
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AG: Thread Marking
On Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 11:32:49 PM UTC-5, Joy Beeson wrote:
Snipperino Whoosh! Who would have expected a ten-second job to take so many *words*! I was planning to cover both bar tacks and cow hitches, but this is *quite* enough. Did you actually intend this to go in rec.bicycle.misc? I confess it can resemble rec.bicycle.stitch-and-bitch--but not nearly so much as rec.bicycle.tech. -- Andrew Chaplin SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO |
#613
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AG: Thread Marking
On Tue, 28 Feb 2017 09:43:15 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Did you actually intend this to go in rec.bicycle.misc? There was a bicycle connection when I started writing, but by the time I got the needle threaded, I'd lost it. And it was past deadline. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#614
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AG: Thread Marking
On Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:39:13 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Tue, 28 Feb 2017 09:43:15 -0800 (PST), wrote: Did you actually intend this to go in rec.bicycle.misc? There was a bicycle connection when I started writing, but by the time I got the needle threaded, I'd lost it. And it was past deadline. Well, at least it wasn't another "My light is better than your light" recital :-) After all, it is so silly. After all, everyone knows that MY light is better than your's :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#615
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AG: Thread Marking
John B. wrote in
: On Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:39:13 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote: On Tue, 28 Feb 2017 09:43:15 -0800 (PST), wrote: Did you actually intend this to go in rec.bicycle.misc? There was a bicycle connection when I started writing, but by the time I got the needle threaded, I'd lost it. And it was past deadline. Well, at least it wasn't another "My light is better than your light" recital :-) After all, it is so silly. After all, everyone knows that MY light is better than your's :-) Amen to that. -- Andrew Chaplin SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO (If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.) |
#616
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AG: taking a position
I'm trying to change my default position from the right-hand wheel track to the middle of my half. My theory is that this will stop me from drifting to the right every time I stop thinking about not drifting to the right. Another benefit will be that when I'm in the right half of my half, I'll have a reason for being there, and I'll bear that reason in mind. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#617
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AG: Not dead
Eighteen-mile ride yesterday went well despite eye-watering cold, but I had two servings of tea instead of a nap. Not caught up yet. The change to Devil-Satan Time didn't help. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#618
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AG: Light, light, and there is no light.
Over on rec.bicycles.tech there's a long thread that consists of the same two posts being badmintoned back and forth, each side so intent on defeating the enemy that no communication can take place. Such emotions are contagious; every time I read the thread, I'm tempted to dive in and point out that the whole discussion is moot; for most people, battery lights are available and hub dynamos don't even exist. Thank goodness most of the combatants are in my kill file! I suppose that I could mark the thread Ignore, but I keep hoping that somebody will accidentally say something. The battle reminded me of my Ed Kearney light. It held up so well that when the bulb fell out of the housing, I was too old to go out after dark, so I never repaired or replaced it. I had added an emergency-in-case-of-failure red blinky when L.E.D.s came in, and that is still on the rack. Pauses to run out to the garage. The battery is dead. manages to pry open a case that was glued shut with at least fifteen years of road dirt Rotating the A cells in their sockets repaired the light. Batteries sure ain't what they used to be! We recently found a radio that still worked after being forgotten for twenty years, and a ninety-cent crank flashlight that was found after being lost for a year lighted up without being cranked. (I suspect that the flashlight had a supercap instead of a battery.) (For young whippersnappers: disposable batteries used to have a short shelf life, and sometimes burst open and ruined your flashlight if left too long.) I'm planning to give the still-functioning blinky to Goodwill instead of putting it back on the rack; the odds of needing it are slim, and the odds of remembering that I have it are slimmer still. But I might go to the Trailhouse to see whether they have any non-blinking red lights. I have two automotive-style reflectors that work whether I remember that they are there or not -- perhaps I should drop in at the auto-parts store instead, and put a third reflector where the light was. ------------ Ed's lights were well designed, and composed entirely of off-the-shelf components. I had a motorcycle battery in my saddle bag (I think that I replaced it more than once) and I think that the headlight was meant for a motorcycle too. You could get the clamp that attached the headlamp to my handlebars from the plumbing department of a hardware store. I bought two sealed-beam bulbs, but the first one never gave out. The taillight was meant for the corner of a semi-trailer. It had a red lens pointing back and a yellow lens to light up my back: red to say "this is the back of the vehicle" and yellow to show what kind of vehicle; I wonder whether modern lights have this back-light feature. The double lens also made it easier to see that the light was on. A feature of that taillight that I didn't like was that if you took either lens off, the light fell apart completely. I *think* I replaced that bulb more than once, but I'm glad that I never had to do it along the road. The taillight turned on and off by plugging and unplugging; there was a switch on the headlamp, but I always unplugged it when I unplugged the taillight. Then I'd plug the trailer connects on the battery into each other to keep them out of trouble and stuff them into the saddle bag. I'd wrap the free ends of the light wires around -- the seat stay, I think -- and plug them into each other to keep them there and protect the sockets from rain. I was so *thrilled* when the light came in the mail: no more having to be home before four O'clock! I withstood cold quite well in those days -- there were only a couple of days a year cold enough that I could wear my alpaca tights, I was merely annoyed when the cars on Karner Road threw blobs of salted slush into my face, and when I found icicles hanging from my fenders, I made a game of trying to get home without knocking them off. I didn't mind coming home tired; one just goes a little slower and shifts down a little more. Riding in the dark is actually quite pleasant, if one sticks to roads that have fog lines. But riding home in the dark when I was tired and it was cold added up to more than the sum of its parts; lifting the curfew didn't give me the freedom I'd expected. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#619
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AG: Light, light, and there is no light.
On Mon, 13 Mar 2017 23:59:44 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote: Over on rec.bicycles.tech there's a long thread that consists of the same two posts being badmintoned back and forth, each side so intent on defeating the enemy that no communication can take place. Such As I posted there, "My lights are better then your lights" which pretty well sums up all the points that have been discussed to date :-) But cheer up, I believe the discussion about "toe overlap: is gaining ground :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#620
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AG: Light, light, and there is no light.
On 13/03/2017 11:59 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
Over on rec.bicycles.tech there's a long thread that consists of the same two posts being badmintoned back and forth, each side so intent on defeating the enemy that no communication can take place. Such emotions are contagious; every time I read the thread, I'm tempted to dive in and point out that the whole discussion is moot; for most people, battery lights are available and hub dynamos don't even exist. Thank goodness most of the combatants are in my kill file! I suppose that I could mark the thread Ignore, but I keep hoping that somebody will accidentally say something. The battle reminded me of my Ed Kearney light. It held up so well that when the bulb fell out of the housing, I was too old to go out after dark, so I never repaired or replaced it. I had added an emergency-in-case-of-failure red blinky when L.E.D.s came in, and that is still on the rack. Pauses to run out to the garage. The battery is dead. manages to pry open a case that was glued shut with at least fifteen years of road dirt Rotating the A cells in their sockets repaired the light. Batteries sure ain't what they used to be! We recently found a radio that still worked after being forgotten for twenty years, and a ninety-cent crank flashlight that was found after being lost for a year lighted up without being cranked. (I suspect that the flashlight had a supercap instead of a battery.) (For young whippersnappers: disposable batteries used to have a short shelf life, and sometimes burst open and ruined your flashlight if left too long.) I can't claim youth but I try to snap whippers as often as possible. I'm happy with the USB rechargeables that I use. I remember having to deal with actual batteries. But I found a light a while back that had those CR2032 batteries or whichever and even though I hadn't used it in years, it still lit up. I was impressed. Anyway, the important thing should be to make sure that you're visible. Everything else is a matter of personal preference IMO. |
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