2026-08-10

Last modified: 2026-08-13 10:25:57

• Keyboard Glockenspiel
• Tractor weight distribution
• Tractor trailer

Keyboard Glockenspiel

I put all the o-rings on the keys today:

And it makes a big difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-crJOQJ0WA

Remaining issues are:

• black keys go down too far
• ball bearings keep falling off
• key weight isn't quite enough on some keys

Tractor weight distribution

I've poured concrete in here:

With stones, lead, sand mixed in, and some bolts sticking up vertically as a kind of "rebar".

After I'd mixed it all nicely and poured it, it was only 3/4 full and the mixing bucket still had a load of concrete in, so to get that concrete out I swilled the bucket around with extra water in it but that has meant the top bit of concrete is very wet and probably won't set properly. Oh well.

Tractor trailer

I've been doing the green paint on the wooden panels. It is going very badly.

I thought it would be fun and interesting to do it on the grass. How wrong I was! It is getting covered in bits of dead grass, terrible, and I am having to squat/crouch in order to do it. I should have done it on the workbench in the garage, obviously.

The green paint is "racing green, gloss, non-drop" from "151 coatings". It seems to be a very good paint, covers nicely, can't complain about the quality.

It's very runny in the can but very viscous once it comes out. It has a tendency to drip off the brush even after you wipe it on the edge of the can, and it is very difficult to clean off your fingers.

Also I don't have any white spirit to clean the brushes. I have been leaving them submerged in water to stop them drying out ( does this do anything?) and reusing them the next day.

The best way I have found to clean the paint off my fingers is to spray Zoflora on my fingers:

Using a white microabrasive sponge is not a good idea, I have given myself some quite bad carpet-burn-type rashes on my forearm.