[Ableza]

I learnt to drive in my BF's father's 1972 AMC Gremlin w/ manual transmission, in their neighborhood of gently rolling hills. Was a good way to learn a clutch. I think he bought the car just to teach us how to drive ...

"BF"? I learned to drive a tractor when I was 8. Also drove my dad's '48 Willy's Overlander by the time I was 10.

 

[Paladin79]

You, sir, have an very understanding potter (er, wife). Kiln drying is not an overnight thing, IIRC. I do not know many spouses who would react positively (or even neutrally) to pieces of wood “drying” out in the oven.

It only takes one hour for the wood I used, you measure moisture before and after the drying and you do this at about 200 degrees. I dropped the moisture to about 9% while starting at about 30%. I did not want to dry it extremely since I was going to be using a draw knife and spoke shave.

Everything is relative. Compared to making a knife blade in a pressure cooker out of methyl methacrylate this barely raised an eyebrow.

 

[monkuboy]

By the way "dust on cables affecting sound" is a brand new level of audionervossa to me, but hey whatever floats your boat I always say. And also, send me $1600 for a genuine audio-certified Swiffer. I think I still have some "THX Certified" stickers in my garage.

I don't post much here but I felt it important to clarify your statement about Swiffers. The main thing is to make sure you always swiff in the right direction. Audio Swiffers come with arrows on the handles to point you the right way. It doesn't matter which model you use, failure to go in the right direction is a sure recipe for dusting disaster.

 

[Kyyul]

I'm a little behind but just read about the Vali 2++ Plus Plus Plus ++. I don't have any tube products but have a couple of Tubes that worked with the old version of the Vali2. Are they worth anything? Figured they were rubbish but i can't throw anything away.

 

[Ableza]

I don't post much here but I felt it important to clarify your statement about Swiffers. The main thing is to make sure you always swiff in the right direction. Audio Swiffers come with arrows on the handles to point you the right way. It doesn't matter which model you use, failure to go in the right direction is a sure recipe for dusting disaster.

You are correct. And I forgot to mention that I also sell an audio Swiffer static-discharge device to prevent nasty static electricity build up which can adversely impact electron spin. They are custom-made to order and price depends on the current market rate of raw polymeric carbon nitride.

 

[artur9]

...The real solution is hybrid; IC motors are stunningly efficient at constant RPM, e.g., driving a generator/alternator. ...

True hybrids can be worse for the environment. https://theconversation.com/are-plu...-suggest-it-depends-how-you-drive-them-146598

HST, the "driving a generator" part suggests you really mean range extended EV.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/extended-range-electric-vehicle

Sorry for the pedantry.

 

[artur9]

(deleted - late to the party again)

 

[rkw]

All of you need to be more imaginative about cable lifters.

 

[Ableza]

True hybrids can be worse for the environment. https://theconversation.com/are-plu...-suggest-it-depends-how-you-drive-them-146598

HST, the "driving a generator" part suggests you really mean range extended EV.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/extended-range-electric-vehicle

Sorry for the pedantry.

My wife drove a 2013 Chevy Volt until just last year. It had a very interesting drive train in that it was 100% electric drive, but since the battery was small (48 mile range) it also had a gasoline engine that only drove the generator. We took it from Phoenix to Santa Fe and back one time and achieved over 50 MPG with the engine running the whole trip. Not bad, and a decent half-way step to BEV for many people. BMW has a similar system in one of their vehicles.

 

[Ripper2860]

All of you need to be more imaginative about cable lifters.

Nice. Gotta give you a hand for that one.

 

[artur9]

BMW has a similar system in one of their vehicles.

That's what I have (i3) which has been discontinued this year ;-(

It's tank-size is electronically limited to the battery range. Since my battery gets 70mi/charge the tank is limited to 1+ gals so that the generator also only provides 70mi/tank. The newer models had bigger/heavier batteries so their tanks were limited to 2+ gals.

Dunno why they bothered...

 

[golfbravobravo]

I paid $5.90 for 91 Octane here in sunny NorCal today. Ridiculous. I wonder how much better my car would run if I could actually get fuel that was higher in octane than the drop-dead minimum that the engine needs...

Don't modern ECUs are care of that? Though I have to admit I haven't tried running my premium-requiring car on anything other than high octane.

With the rental we had last couple of weeks in CA/OR when filling up in OR (where, I'm told one still cannot pump one's own gas - I thought that had changed) in answer to 'Which grade?" the answer was 'Regular, it's a rental".

BTW, we ended up with a Ford Escape which, no matter what I did, would not produce better than 26mpg despite my efforts. I can get better than that out of a 6.2 litre, 495 HP V8!!! Come on Ford.

 

[golfbravobravo]

I have never heard a comparison between lifted cables and non-lifted cables, but also for me it is a step too far. And it looks downright stupid. If you have visitors, and you try to explain why you have cable lifters, they might immediately call the doctor.

If your cables are lifted often/far enough, does one eventually have to shave them??????

 

[Ableza]

If your cables are lifted often/far enough, does one eventually have to shave them??????

Audiophile at Gold's gym: "Do you even lift, bro?"

 

[Barnstormer13]

Following the unprecedented rise in electricity prices here in the UK (typical households' bills have tripled in 12 months) a recent study found that the average electric car will now be more expensive to run than an ICE vehicle, due to the increased cost of home charging.

This ignores the additional initial purchase price of an electric vehicle compared with an ICE equivalent.

I accept that electric vehicles are the future, but I certainly wouldn't buy one yet.

You can always switch to an Ebike. That’s what I’ve done and I use it daily for a 6 mile commute each way. I’ve gone from spending around $6 / day in fuel and maintenance cost to around $0.05 / day.