Satisfying jobs - add a pair of images
- Thread starter jefmcg
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
I'm not surprised. You hit it with a great big red arrow.
simon.r
Person
- Location
- Nottingham
@jefmcg UK silver hallmarks aren't difficult to interpret. There will normally be 4 marks:
A maker's mark (can be anything, but normally a set of initials)
An assay office mark (where the item was hallmarked - normally a leopard or anchor or crown, but may be one of a very few other marks)
A date mark (a letter)
A lion (to indicate sterling (or 925) silver)
These are some exceptions to the above, but most of the silver that you'll come across in the U.K. will have those 4 marks. The photo below shows the hallmark on a small pin tray that I have:
From left to right:
Maker's mark (very worn)
Assay mark (an anchor, showing it was assayed in Birmingham)
A lion (sterling / 925 silver)
A date mark, in this example a lower case "h" in that shape means it's from 1907/8
It'd be interesting to know if your tureen has any marks on it.
A maker's mark (can be anything, but normally a set of initials)
An assay office mark (where the item was hallmarked - normally a leopard or anchor or crown, but may be one of a very few other marks)
A date mark (a letter)
A lion (to indicate sterling (or 925) silver)
These are some exceptions to the above, but most of the silver that you'll come across in the U.K. will have those 4 marks. The photo below shows the hallmark on a small pin tray that I have:
From left to right:
Maker's mark (very worn)
Assay mark (an anchor, showing it was assayed in Birmingham)
A lion (sterling / 925 silver)
A date mark, in this example a lower case "h" in that shape means it's from 1907/8
It'd be interesting to know if your tureen has any marks on it.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
My late mum bought me a laptop in 2008 and it served me well until recently, when the screen went black. That was after a week or two of occasional flickering. If I shone a torch at the screen, I could see that it was still working, so it was just the backlight which had packed up. The laptop is a bit underpowered by modern standards so it would be a good excuse to treat myself to a new one, but I couldn't just chuck away something that my mum gave me which I knew I could bring back to life ...
There were 2 main potential culprits - the CCFL backlight itself, or the inverter which powers it.
The light is contained within the screen panel and so is very hard to get at. The inverter was an easier target and I found a replacement on eBay for £3 so I tried that first. No joy, however - the screen was still dark.
Since the screen is useless without a backlight, I thought I might as well dissect the screen and see if I could find a replacement light at a price worth paying. It was a big faff but I managed to get the backlight out without breaking anything. Suddenly, my electronic spider senses were tingling ... Next time, I will power the inverter down first! (DIY electronics joke.) Actually, I could see what looked like soot where the wire attached to one end of the light. I pulled on the wire very gently and it came away! The soldered joint had failed and the soot was from electrical arcing.
The laptop in pieces:
I had to search the house for my old soldering iron and solder. I have barely done any electronics since getting my degree in 1986 but I kept my tools in case I ever needed to do little jobs like this in the future. Eventually, I found the tools and repaired the wire. I was confident that repair was good so I half reassembled it before switching it on to test it ...
It LIVES!!!
I put the bezel back on and found that I had nipped the ribbon cable to the screen, causing it to go white. (Made a change from black!) I had to disassemble the screen again to sort that problem out!
So, it is working well again and I am feeling pleased with myself. TBH, the end of the CCFL light was pretty charred so I would not be surprised if it failed again but hopefully it will work for another few years. If/when it does fail again, I will probably remove the lid/screen of the laptop and use what is left as a small desktop computer connected to an old external monitor that I have in the attic room.
The only thing is ... I had got interested in buying a new laptop and now my excuse has gone!
I may lend this laptop to a friend and buy myself a new one anyway.
PS Here is a bonus picture showing the burned out connection on the backlight which needed repairing ...
There were 2 main potential culprits - the CCFL backlight itself, or the inverter which powers it.
The light is contained within the screen panel and so is very hard to get at. The inverter was an easier target and I found a replacement on eBay for £3 so I tried that first. No joy, however - the screen was still dark.
Since the screen is useless without a backlight, I thought I might as well dissect the screen and see if I could find a replacement light at a price worth paying. It was a big faff but I managed to get the backlight out without breaking anything. Suddenly, my electronic spider senses were tingling ... Next time, I will power the inverter down first! (DIY electronics joke.) Actually, I could see what looked like soot where the wire attached to one end of the light. I pulled on the wire very gently and it came away! The soldered joint had failed and the soot was from electrical arcing.
The laptop in pieces:
I had to search the house for my old soldering iron and solder. I have barely done any electronics since getting my degree in 1986 but I kept my tools in case I ever needed to do little jobs like this in the future. Eventually, I found the tools and repaired the wire. I was confident that repair was good so I half reassembled it before switching it on to test it ...
It LIVES!!!
I put the bezel back on and found that I had nipped the ribbon cable to the screen, causing it to go white. (Made a change from black!) I had to disassemble the screen again to sort that problem out!
So, it is working well again and I am feeling pleased with myself. TBH, the end of the CCFL light was pretty charred so I would not be surprised if it failed again but hopefully it will work for another few years. If/when it does fail again, I will probably remove the lid/screen of the laptop and use what is left as a small desktop computer connected to an old external monitor that I have in the attic room.
The only thing is ... I had got interested in buying a new laptop and now my excuse has gone!
I may lend this laptop to a friend and buy myself a new one anyway.PS Here is a bonus picture showing the burned out connection on the backlight which needed repairing ...
OP
OP
jefmcg
Guru
First image isn't loading. I think you need to use http://rs31.pbsrc.com/albums/c368/JFCarpentry/Boats/cuchilo018.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clipI think ive shown this before but still a pleasure for me to enjoy .
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
They loaded fine for me... It must have been a lot of hard work to get it looking that good!
r04DiE
300km a week through London on a road bike.
Uber-fabulous! Very well done and thank you for posting itI think ive shown this before but still a pleasure for me to enjoy .
OP
OP
jefmcg
Guru
BTW, thanks everyone for posting examples that are vastly more impressive than polishing a bit of silver (or not-silver, as the case may be)
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Wooden boats, of all sorts, are things of beauty - especially with such a nicely varnished foredeck!
I stripped the whole thing back to a good structure and started again . It took most of the summer on and off and i think i got 15 coats of varnish mixed with pure turps on the foredeck .
You should be cruising along the Grand Canal in Venice on that, with a Matt Monro soundtrack in the background.I think ive shown this before but still a pleasure for me to enjoy .
