Review of the movie INCEPTION

So, saw Inception on DVD last night.

The basic notion is that corporate espionage is now at the level where people can invade other people's dreams and trick them into revealing corporate secrets -- what the folks in the movie call ''extraction''.  A team of brain hackers (my term, not theirs) wants to take this one step further, by strategically planting a thought (i.e. ''inception'').

The movie was pretty good.  Engaging.  Some violence; I don't recall there being notable bad language or sex-type things.  It was well-executed, although the whole ''dream inside a dream'' concept was vaguely reminiscent of The Matrix.


So, engaging and  well-done, although the whole premise of dreams being so realistic that you can't tell whether you're awake or dreaming seemed far-fetched.  Telling them apart has never been a problem for me: I've **always** been able to tell that I was dreaming (or at least, always sensed it, on some deep level).


Anyhow:  worth a rent.


--GG

Random thought regarding mightiness

A random thought.  Or rather, relating to Lego Architect (a co-worker).


"He has the strength of ten men -- or thirty-six angry leprechauns."


--GG

Did the Kessel run

Here in Brisbane there's a road called Kessel Road.

I've often said that I hope my kids one day live on -- or near -- Kessel road.  That way, when I go to visit them, I can say that I've made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.

And I would say that **every** time I came to visit.  :)


Well, today I visited a co-worker's house for the first time.  And for part of the trip, I did indeed drive along Kessel Road.

And I can honestly say that I made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.

Literally.  :)


--GG

Hypothetical influence on alien reproduction on their social structure

This came to me when I was taking a lunchtime walk with some co-workers:


So, let's say there's an intelligent alien species with three sexes.

-A "fetus carrier" sex, that's analogous to human females:  they get impregnated, and carry the fetus until birth.

-A "dominant inseminator" sex, that mates with the "carrier" sex.  This sex is kind of analogous to human males.  More on this in a moment.

-And a "submissive inseminator" sex.  This is kind of like an "Independent" who carries the swing vote when there is a 50-50 split in the House or Senate among the two dominant parties.  This will make sense in a moment.


When a "fetus carrier" and a "dominant inseminator" mate, the result is always a baby "fetus carrier".

In order to create a baby "dominant inseminator", a "fetus carrier" and "dominant inseminator" need to mate -- but during a fairly narrow time-period the "baby carrier" also needs to mate with a "submissive inseminator".  So the "submissive inseminator" serves as kind of a catalyst to making a baby "dominant carrier".

When a "fetus carrier" and a "submissive inseminator" mate, the offspring is always another "submissive inseminator".


Note that this has somewhat of an analogy to humans:  females carry the XX chromosome, and men carry the XY.  I read somewhere that, really, "Males only exist so that they can make additional males."  In other words, if females could figure out how to reproduce without intercourse, then two women could each contribute an "X" to produce a new female ("XX") with genetic diversity.  So it would be a closed loop:  females creating additional females.

With this in mind, maybe the alien "fetus carriers" are "(X)Y", the "dominant males" are "X(Y)Z", and the "submissive males" are "X(Z)" -- with the component in brackets being what is contributed during mating:

-"Fetus carrier" + "dominant male" = X + Y = another "fetus carrier"

-"Fetus carrier" + "dominant male" + "submissive male" = X + Y + Z = another "dominant male

-"Fetus carrier" + "submissive male" = X + Z = another "submissive male"


Another component is that "submissive inseminators" are physically smaller:  about two-thirds the height of the other two sexes, and slender almost to the point of being frail.  They also have about half the life-span of the other two sexes.  To put it in human terms, the "submissive inseminator" typically has a lifespan of about forty years -- about the same time as the "fetus carrier" is near the end of her fertility.  So it's almost like, biologically, they only exist to participate in the reproductive process.


So:  How would this reproductive structure affect the social structure on that planet?  Bearing in mind that on Earth, humans have basically one way of reproducing, yet have many different cultural social structures (e.g. pair-bonding; polygamy; polyandry (rare!); extended families; nuclear families; "free-love" situations; patriarchy; matriarchy) -- and some of these have changed over time, within a culture.


Because they are physically smaller, and have shorter lifespans, I predict that the "submissive inseminators" would generally be the less-powerful sex.  However, the "dominant inseminator" needs the "submissive inseminator" in order to reproduce another one of "his kind".  (Kind of like if, among humans, a male needed some sort of catalyst in order to have a son -- for those for whom that's an important thing.)

Because "submissive inseminators" and "dominant inseminators" do not mate with each other, they don't have to be attracted to each other.  But both need to to be attracted to the "fetus carrier"

Likewise, the "fetus carrier" needs to be attracted to the two types of "inseminators" -- but probably in different ways.


Just as in most(?) industrialized cultures here on Earth, I would project that "dating" and relationships are primarily and at least initially for the "relationship" aspect -- and that reproduction only comes up later (although it can be an issue right from the beginning).  So therefore I could see a "baby carrier" dating either a "dominant inseminator" or a "submissive inseminator" first -- and worrying about "having kids" later on in the relationship.

The cultural norm would probably be to have a three-person romantic relationship, and set up three-person households -- with one of each sex.

Among those who were out there, "dating", you would have two "layers" of being "single":  being just an individual, looking for two partners -- or being a twosome, and looking for the third.

If you were already paired up as a twosome, it would be a little more difficult to find a third person that was compatible to you both.


You would have classified ads and dating sites with many different categories.  Not including "same-sex" relationships (see below), among heterosexual folks you could have (to use human analogs):

-M seeking F or Z
-F seeking M or Z
-Z seeking M or F
-M and F seeking Z
-F and Z seeking M
-M and Z seeking F


Socially conservative people would probably say that a "marriage" (which would include three people, one of each sex) would be the best thing when reproducing and raising children.

Some people might have a two-person partnership, and only bring the third person in when they're trying to conceive -- a little similar to a same-sex human couple bringing in a third person when they want to have a baby.

There would be, mathematically, more possible forms of homosexuality:  since being a threesome is normative, you could have a three-person same-sex relationship -- or two of one sex, plus one person of another sex.

Among humans, if one of the parents stays home part time or full time to look after the kids, it is usually the female.  But occasionally -- especially if the female has a high-powered, good-paying job, the male might be the one to stay home.  In this alien society, there is even **more** flexibility:  although the "dominant inseminator" might be the one to typically work full-time, it might be about 50-50 for the "fetus carrier" or the "submissive inseminator" to stay home with the kids.  So, similar to polygamous human relationships, there would be a greater opportunity for the "fetus carriers" to be "career women".


And probably other implications, as well...


--GG

Working around the clock

I recently learned that someone objects to the phrase "24/7" ("twenty-four, seven" -- i.e. "working on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week"). 

There are a number of reasons, which I can't adequately communicate -- but among others, it's fairly cliched.


Thus, I have decided to use an alternative phrase:  when I plan to be working on something full-time, around the clock, I will be "going 60-60-24-7-365-52-12" -- or variations thereof.

("Sixty seconds an minute, sixty minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a week, 52 weeks a year, 12 months a year.")


--GG

Bench grinder bases

This is the third of three "quickie" projects that I turned to near the end of my week-long vacation, once I realized that my "main" projects weren't going to get finished.


So:  I have two "bench grinders" (as they're called locally; in Seattle they might just be referred to as "grinding wheels").  One I received as a gift (birthday?  Christmas?  I forget) from BrotherDave; the other I picked up used from a pawn shop.  One has a coarse and a medium wheel; the other has a coarse wheel and a wire brush.

(Update on 11 Aug 2014:  I've since replaced one of the coarse wheel with a white, aluminum oxide wheel -- to minimize the burning (i.e. ruining the temper of the metal) when I sharpen blades.  So now each of the four wheels has a different purpose.)

Previously I'd clamp the base of the grinders to a saw horse or my little sawbench.  However, there wasn't much surface to clamp on to, and occasionally the clamp would slip off.  I've been meaning to bolt the bench grinders to a slab of wood -- so that I could then clamp the wood, not the base of the grinders.


I rummaged through my stash of scrap lumber.  These two pieces are marked as "wet", because for a while they were stored outdoors, in the weather -- so they got rained on a bit.  There **could** be some minor rot -- so wood from this stash may not be not suited for load-bearing applications.

My thought was that I'd clean up each board (with a handplane), then cut each in half and glue it side-by-side.  This would result in a platform that was half as long as the original piece of wood, but twice as wide.  (Of course.)

In the above photo, the top board is mostly cleaned up, but the bottom one needs tidying.


The below photo shows my set-up on my workbench.  I have a series of large screws in the surface of my workbench.  Usually they're recessed, but I extend them as the need arises, to serve as planing stops.  You can also see the scraps of wood that I'm using as cleats, to bridge the gaps between the screws (and also prevent the screw heads from digging into my workpiece).  The scrub plane that I'm using is above and to the right.

Cleaned up a little more:

Same thing, different angle (and the workpiece pushed more firmly against the rear cleat):

By the way, note that I've painted one of my cleats purple:  this indicates that it's a piece of wood that I use for a particular purpose, not just a "scrap".  (In other words:  "Don't cut this up!  Leave it as it is!")

So, "day 1" of this project included cutting the wood, preliminary planing, and then gluing.



The below photo shows the wood after I joined the two halves together, and cleaned the seams up a little bit with a handplane.  I also flattened them a little, since the wood was a little cupped.

The photo is a little dark, since it was taken very late in the afternoon. I haven't yet wiped on the tung oil (which is pretty much the same as Danish oil).  Note that I've already marked out, and drilled, the mounting holes.

So, "day 2" was tidying up a little with the handplane, drilling the mounting holes, and then wiping on some tung oil.


And, here's what it looks like after the oil has dried:  I **do** like the look of oiled wood that's been handplaned.

So, this is day 3:  now that the oil has dried, it's time to mount the bench grinders to the wood.

One of them was pretty easy to mount, because the mounting holes were on the corners of the base.  But the other one...

...urgh.  I had to remove the safety cowls, just to gain access to the holes.  Above you can see the Allen wrench that I used to tighten the screws.  Note that I've painted it pink -- and also put a "flag" of red electrical tape on it.  This helps me find the darned thing when I accidentally drop it into the grass.


And, here's the final product!

A **lot** easier to mount to a sawhorse or (as pictured) my sawbench.




--GG

Spacers

Here's the second of three "quickie" projects that I turned to, during my week's vacation -- when I realized that none of my "larger" projects would get completed.  I wanted to have a sense of accomplishment -- of actually **completing** something.  :)

I made a series of "spacers" for my vice.  The screw for my workbench's leg vice is in the middle.  When I'm clamping something short, it's easy to center it across the width of the jaws, so that the left and right side of the jaw share the load.

However, when I'm clamping something vertically that is fairly long, it has to pass to one side or the other of the screw.  This means that half of the jaw is clamping, but not the other side.  This is bad for the vice, as it causes twisting pressures:  the formal term is "racking".

The solution is to hold a spacer in the other side of the vice.  The space should be pretty close to the thickness of the actual workpiece -- although it doesn't have to be exact.

The photo above shows a top view of my vice.  My hand represents the workpiece that would be clamped only on one side of the jaw.  The bits of wood on the other side of the vice serve as the spacers.

More specifically:  I've drilled holes in the corner of many different scrap pieces of wood.  I then mix and match the thicknesses, to approximate the thickness of the workpiece.  Then I thread a bamboo chopstick (disposable!  but salvaged) through the holes, and pass the chopstick from the top of the workbench to the top of the vice jaw -- with the pieces of wood dangling.  This balances the load on the vice jaws.

(Note that this isn't my own invention:  it's a variation on a design I've seen elsewhere.)

As you can see in the second photo (side view!), I have -- as I usually do -- noted the date of completion of the project.  I also painted sections of them purple -- to indicate that these are **not** simply scraps of wood:  they now have a specific purpose!  (Otherwise, I might mistake them as simple scraps of wood, and accidentally throw them out or use them for other purposes.)


Nothing fancy:  given the purpose and function, it wasn't worth the extra time to make it purty.  But, as with the "splitter" rack, I've been meaning to do this for a while.


--GG

Splitter stand

Here's one of the "quickie" projects that I turned to, when I realized that I wasn't going to complete any of my "big" projects during my vacation.  It's a holder for my roofing hammer (or is it a crate hammer?).  I use it to split wood when I need it to be riven -- i.e. split along the grain, which is stronger than if it's cut "not quite with the grain".


This first photo shows the results of a few different sessions.  This was constructed completely out of offcuts from the "Bretz steps" -- the free-standing outdoors steps that (once completed!) will be part of my fitness regimine. I had two large-ish triangular pieces of wood.  I "jointed" their mating surfaces and glued them.  (Wait a day.)

Then I cut them to approximately a rectangular shape:  the wood wasn't quite long enough to span the width (see lower photo), so I had to allow a void at two of the corners.  I also clamped it in place and marked the location for the holes for the mounting screws, and drilled those holes.  One piece was slightly thicker than the other, so I used my scrub plane to reduced its thickness.

Then I constructed a pair of dowels:  I used the crating hammer to split some rough blanks from the offcuts from the original pieces; whittled them down a bit using the pliers-multitools that Old Roommate sent me; and drove them through one of my dowelling plate.  Then I drilled a pair of holes for the correct size, spread some glue, and drove the dowels in.  (Wait a day.)

Then I wiped on some tung oil, and let it dry.  (Wait a day.)


Then, install it.  Here's where it goes, prior to my installing it:

It's right at the end of my workbench that I do most of my work.  And it's adjacent to my doweling gear, which I keep on the top shelf, just to the left of that black tool tote that you see on top of the metal shelves.


And, here's what it looks like, after it's installed.  Note my green lines and the "Room for expansion" note:  I intentionally mounted it to the far right of the board, to allow room for other tools -- as the need occurs.

Note that a long while ago I painted the head of the tool with pink spray paint.  It may look a little sloppy -- but it's a lifesaver when you're working outdoors and you lay your tools down on the ground -- and then can't find them again!

I've painted my pruning saw and my hatchet with pink, as well.  Also a few of my pruning shears.  I've spent too much time searching for tools among fallen dried leaves...


Anyhow, that's one of my "quickie" projects.  :)  Been meaning to do it for a while.

--GG

The world is your workshop

Tomorrow is the final day of my eight days of vacation.  I got a lot done -- although (of course!) not as much as I wanted to get done.

One thing that this vacation has reinforced for me is that projects that don't take a lot of person-hours can still take several days -- because every time you glue something, or paint/varnish/oil something -- that's it!  Shift's over!  Time to stop work!


For example:  one of my projects -- which I'll discuss tomorrow -- is two pieces of wood glued together, with two dowels sticking out of the front, and then rubbed down with some finishing oil -- and then screwed to a rack.

But!  Prepping the two pieces of wood so that I could glue them together took maybe half an hour to an hour (I didn't keep track).  Then I glued them -- and that was it for the day!  (On to other tasks...)

The next day I handplaned them (mostly) flat, created two dowels, laid out and drilled the holes, and glued the dowels in -- and that was it for the day.

On day three (today), I oiled them.  OK, end of that segment.

And finally, on day four, I get to actually bolt it to the rack.  Whew!

The other thing I've learned is that, when you're fortunate enough to live where the weather is pretty mild -- that the whole world can be your workshop.  Or, at least your back yard can.

Here you can see three different projects glued and clamped.  My workshop space is pretty small -- and my workbench is (unfortunately) pretty cluttered, so I don't have a lot of room at the moment for bulky things.

Part of the clutter is due to various partially-finished projects -- something I tried, unsuccessfully, to address this vacation


To bring the message full-circle:  my primary project this vacation was the Swamp Guitar (basically a cigar-box guitar).  But because I'd have to keep stopping due to glue-ups, I also worked on a custom tool caddy, and a little bit on the Bretz steps, as well.  Once I actually finish any of these three projects I'll post some photos.

But, about two days ago I realized that there were just too many stages remaining for those three projects, I changed my focus to three fairly quick tasks -- such as the one I described above.


Tomorrow is my final day of vacation, and I post some pics of the projects I **did** finish.   As for the three "main" projects -- well, I'll keep picking away at them, an afternoon or two per weekend.  In among my other duties.  :)


--GG

Review of Anastasia

Watched the animated movie Anastasia for our family movie night.

Pretty good.  The musical numbers slowed down the pace, in my opinion -- and the songs were functional, without being particularly catchy.

The animation seemed a little choppy -- like they were trying to save money by drawing fewer frames per second.

I was also annoyed by the un-necessary inclusion of "the dark forces" angle:  why did Rasputin have to be some sort of evil magician?  Couldn't they have come up with some other way of having the antagonist trying to thrwart their plans?

Plus, I thought the little white bat didn't serve any purpose -- except to be the obligatory small, cute "sidekick" of either the hero of the villain -- as per all other recent animated movies, it seems.


Anyhow:  worth seeing once.  Pretty good.


--GG

Best vacation EVER

I'm on a week's vacation.  This is the best vacation I've **ever** had!!! (!!!!!) (!!!!!!!)


It started out unpromising, in that last Friday was supposed to be my last day at work:  I just had two tasks to wrap up -- tasks that I really couldn't delegate.  However, Friday morning I was given two new tasks, that needed to be completed "sometime next week" -- while I was on vacation. 

So, instead of spending Friday wrapping up my two existing tasks, I ended up spending all day working on my new tasks. 

Since I didn't have any specific plans (e.g. a family road trip) for my holidays, I ended up deciding to come in on Monday, as well.  I ended up finishing all but one of my now-four tasks -- and the person to whom I owed the fourth task said that it could wait until I got back from holidays.


So!  Vacation started Tuesday.  It is now Friday evening.  Each day I've spent at least a half a day in the shop, working on my "swamp guitar" (it's like a cigar box guitar; more info when I finish it). 

When it gets too dark to do woodworking in my workshop (no electricity), I go outside and clean up small sections of the back yard:  clearing things out of the way and mowing the long grass that remains.

Today I managed to spend the whole day in the shop.  I reached a "gluing point" -- when I glue a section of a project I'm basically stuck until the next day -- so I turned my attention to two other projects:  a tool caddy (photos when I'm finished), and the Bretz Steps (free-standing steps, three steps high, for the back years -- for exercising). 

Today, as well as the other days, I also spent a little time clearing off parts of my cluttered workbench, as well as lapping (flattening a surface) and sharpening some chisels and handplane blades (i.e. making second-hand chisels and handplanes better).


Picked up a 300 grit Japanese waterstone a few days ago, to make lapping my blades easier.  This is the coarsest, fasting-cutting sharpening surface that the speciality woodworking store sells -- as far as I know.  It seems to work:  I'm wearing down -- and therefore evening out -- the backs of my blades noticeably faster than with my previous gear.


And!  I'm only halfway through my vacation.  So hopefully I will actually finish my swamp guitar -- rather than have yet another partially-finished woodworking project.


Stay tuned.  :)
   

--GG

Flatten with a stone

In general, I use the "sandpaper on a flat surface" method to lap my handplane soles and chisel backs.  However, even the coarsest grit of sandpaper can take an awful long time to flatten the back of a blade, if it's out-of-flat enough.

Based on some advice I'd gained from the woodworking e-list that I follow, I picked up the coarsest grit Japanese waterstone.  The thing about waterstones, apparently, is that they "cut" faster than oilstones, diamond stones, and sandpaper -- because they're continually showing fresh, sharp surfaces.

The corresponding disadvantage is that you end up with a lot of slurry -- the cast-off sharpening particles mixed with the lubricant (the water).  But that's OK, if it gets the job done.


So, as I said, I picked up a 300 grit waterstone.  Seems to work.  Above is a snapshot of the back of my larger morticing chisel, polished to near-mirror smoothness -- at least, the important end.

Similarly,he's a shot of a smaller chisel -- also super-shiny.  And again, note the contrast of the shiny section to the "old" section near my thumb.


The point (pun unintended) of sharpening a chisel (or handplane blade) to such smoothness is that it provides a sharper edge:  If the two intersecting surfaces -- which meet to form the cutting edge -- are this shiny, this indicates that the microscopic cutting edge will be smooth, rather than jagged and rounded over.

A super-sharp blade then means that you can actually slice the wood fibres, rather than plowing through them and breaking them.  This, in turn, leads to cleaner results.


--GG

Scavenged wood

On Sunday afternoon we went to a barbeque hosted by one of The Lady's co-workers.  I noticed a small pile of wood that was lying on the ground next to his garbage can.

I finally figured out a (hopefully) diplomatic way of asking whether he was throwing away the wood -- and if he was, perhaps I could have it?  He was (or rather, he was just going to burn it as scrap) -- and yes, I could.


Above is the "before" picture.  After we got home I couldn't help but spread the wood out to assess the situation.  As you can see, it appears to have been some sort of packing framework -- maybe from some appliance?  Various staples and nails are holding many of the pieces together:  they need removing.
 

This next shot shows four additional pieces.  Luckily, they don't have any nails for me to remove.

Here's the "after" picture:  I spent maybe a half hour (I forgot to keep track) that evening, removing the staples and nails.  In the photo, I've laid out some of the tools from my nail-removing kit, which I used for this session.  Yes, I have a dedicated kit, collected in a tool tote, for removing nails from pallets and such. 

This kit includes nail-sets and a hefty hammer (for driving nails back out of the hole), a "cat's paw" prybar for getting between pieces and prying them apart; and a pair of pliers to straighten bent-over nails, so that I can drive them back out; I also sometime hold the nail with the pliers, during the "driving out", to provide some extra rigidity, so the nail doesn't collapse.

Oh:  and a crummy margerine tub, for holding the discarded, bent nails.


As you can see, it's a pretty decent haul of wood for "free" -- if you disregard my labor.  I have a few ideas for what I'll build from at least some of this wood -- although it'll have to join the queue:  I have a backlog of projects (which I guess means that I won't get bored!).


Four of the pieces of wood got damaged in the process of separating them.  So today I glued them back together.

Then -- as usual -- I labelled each piece with the source (i.e. "the guy's house") and the date I got them.  I just wrote directly on them with a permanent marker.

As I think I've mentioned, I generally try to make my projects out of pieces from the same source.  Part of the design -- and engineering -- challenge, for me, is to figure out how to accomplish my design goals while using the available materials.


--GG

The type of rag

During the weekend I like to accomplish things -- tasks large and small.

One of the things I did was to re-organize the rags in my shop.  Yes indeedy.

Previously, I had two categories of rags:  "large" and "small".  But, upon reflection, this didn't correspond to how I actually use my rags.

So:  I dumped them into a pile, and sorted them into three categories.

In the photo, the shoe is just there as a size reference...

-The yellow and white yogurt container is an example of what I keep the rags in.  Once container per size.

-The largest rags are for covering -- that is, as dust covers.  For example, when my electric drill isn't being used, I place a larger rag over it -- just to minimize dust getting into the vents.  I figure, "why not".

-The medium-sized rags are for wiping:  for example, when I'm doing a lot of sharpening with waterstones, I wipe the chisels off with a rag of this size.

-The smallest rags are for applying finish to projects, such as paint, boiled linseed oil, or tung oil/Danish oil.  I tend to fold it in half the long way, then fold it over once and dip the folded end in the liquid.


Ahh... yep.  :)


--GG

The end of the road

The Lady lived in the house across the road from us since she was a baby (her parents still live there); went to live in Seattle for many years (where she met me); then lived where we are now.

So, except for her stay in Seattle, she's lived on this road since she was an infant.  She remembers when it was a gravel road.  She remembers when they paved it.  She remembers when people started using it as a shortcut between two highways, and the raod got kinda busy.

And now, this (photo above; you might have to click to enlarge -- poor photo contrast).  A traffic triangle at the end of the road.  She does not like this -- because it signifies that we are now a "main" road:  busy enough to have a lane separator like this.

We're moderately rural:  here's a view down our road. About half a kilometer in one direction, there's a home with a few cows grazing in their front yard.  Around the corner and down a bit, there's a yard (meadow?  pasture?) with about fifteen sheep.


So, yeah:  change happens.  But that doesen't mean you have to like it.


--GG

Actually using them

One of my arguments for why I'm not a hoarder -- at least, not to a pathological degree -- is that I actually use some of the things I save.  They're "spare parts".

If I collected bits and pieces, and then didn't remember what I had -- or remembered what I had, but couldn't find them when I needed them -- then it's no good having them.  But if I **do** remember where there are...  then, good thing I have 'em!


For example:  I'm on a few day's vacation, so I'm doing various useful things around the house.  As I took out our battered (but faithful!) old electric lawnmower, I decided that it was finally time to repair the back flap -- it was just **too** worn:  the rust hole was so large that chunks of grass were spraying out at me.  Plus, it's a safety concern:  hard things could be flung at me as well.

The photo above shows it post-repair -- but you can see how large the hole was.

I figured I should cover up the hole with some sort of sheet good.  Originally, I was going to use plywood -- so I went to my stash of small-to-medium-sized sheet goods.

Aha!  This old plastic cutting board!

I held it up to the inside of the flap; marked a "cut line" (with a trysquare!); and trimmed off the excess -- the section that used to have the carry handle.  I just used a regular backsaw.

Then I drilled a few holes, and attached it to the inside of the flap. 

You'll notice that I have the long sections of the bolts protruding outwards, rather than inwards, towards the blades.  This was an intentional trade-off between aesthetics and functional design:  the relatively smooth bolt heads are facing inwards -- meaning that they'll collect fewer grass clippings than the bolt shafts would, had the bolts been pointing inwards.  And although having the bolts protruding towards my legs is a minor safety concern, it's pretty darned minor:  my legs don't get close enough for me to be in danger.

As a bonus, notice how I've "clocked" the screws:  all of the slots are aligned (the red lines are just for emphasis).

My dad taught me this -- although he didn't have a specific name for it.  I think his own dad taught him this, as well.  It shows pride in one's work, and attention to detail.

Or at least as much pride in one's work as could be expected from someone who re-uses old plastic cutting boards to repair their electric lawn mower.


--GG