Mrs Poacher has been away at my SiL's since Tuesday. Yesterday, having prepared Melanzane alla parmigiana and baked a Pannetone in readiness for her return later today, I was at a loose end, having to stay home for an expected delivery. Way back in late January, I collected a decrepit J F Wilson for
@midlife and started dismantling it for salvageable parts. After applying copious quantities of penetrating oil and brute force, I got the 5-speed block off one side of the Normandy flip-flop rear hub, but the fixed side was seized completely. Putting the lock ring in a vice and applying as much force at the rim as I dared (they
do unscrew clockwise, don't they?), something gave.
Unfortunately it hadn't loosened but sheared off, leaving me with a useless, but quite free-turning broken hub.
It must be useful for something, though, surely? After musing several possibilities I decided a wind vane might be the best option. This is only a proof of concept, using a scrap piece of packing wood and a small piece of plastic left over from secondary double glazing several decades ago.
So far it's proved to be sensitive to wind direction and an effective scarer of Woodpigeons (and other birds, I'm sorry to say). If I bother to make a finished version, it will have a cyclist struggling against a perpetual headwind. Laser-cut metal commercial versions are available, but I might just put my fretwork skills to the test with some thin plywood.