Briggs and freakin' Stratton

Honestly, I mean, how many mechanics will do more with a spark plug than to gap it, and to check that there is spark going to it! Yup, judging by the jolt through my fingers, there was plenty of spark, so the magneto, points and everything electrical is working. Maybe its air. Clean the air cleaner. Okay, so all I did was blow it out...and maybe order a replacement on line, hopefully this will do for now. But it was working last week, so I can't think that the air cleaner would have packed up suddenly! Its not something air cleaners DO! Maybe its gas. Well, its all new gas, and judging by how nicely it is blowing through and creating a nice petrochemical fog in the air there is nothing gummed up or sticking in the carb. Maybe its getting too much fuel! A sunken float comes to mind. And it might still be a problem. But the excess fuel doesn't seem to be there all the time...or else the carb would be swimming in it, the float in a carb does the same thing as the float in a toilet. if it fills up and stops "floating", the toilet runs. And in a carburated engine, the fuel just keeps on running in. Sunken carb floats...possible but unlikely.
The delicate balance of the counter loaded springs of the governor. Hey, that could be it! Oh wait, that broken spring...its a red herring...its only there to keep the linkages nice and tight. They don't have them on ALL Briggs and Stratton engines, and nobody seemed to know why it was there. Well, I re-attached it on and it made no difference. Of course, it took me an hour to track down "where" to re-attach it, and to find out what the blessed thing is actually there for!
Changed the oil AGAIN, all that fuel collects on the walls of the cylinders, and trickles down into the oil pan. Dangerous at worst, annoying at best, always a source of excessive and needless wear.
So, we have air, spark, and fuel. How about timing? Oh wait, the only thing that will throw a B and S engine's timing off is to get a flywheel to shear the key on its shaft. And this has not happened. Took me an hour to discover that little tid bit of info!
Well, after a full day of tweaking, checking on line, perusing forums with amazing amounts of non-applicable information, perhaps just go back to the beginning.
Spark plugs. Gapped and clean. disengage the thing from the wrench where it was sitting happily. No cracks in the ceramic, lets see what the spark looks like. Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow (repeat as necessary as the voltage jolts through my hand in quarter second intervals) and observe that there is "something funny" about that spark. Turns out, the spark is there, but is being shorted backwards through some defect in the spark plug.
Replace spark plug with spare from the snow blower. Works fine.

funny, I don't feel fulfilled.....

December!

The fall is when it is busiest around the Armoury....there is the harvest to bring in, windows to seal up. Screen doors to dismount and put away. This fall has been crazier than usual...there was no harvest since the feral rabbits around here cleared my garden. But the usual fall pumping of the septic tank uncovered a problem. A week of digging found the flattened pipe, and another week of digging uncovered several plugged runs. It wouldn't have been so bad but the cold was coming in fast. It was a case of being able to spade through the grass in the morning, and needing a pick by evening. I really wore myself out....and picked up the flue as a result. Well, no need for flue shots for me! Now, three weeks later, the larangytis is still keeping me whispering. And coughing.

I did get to the ballet last Thursday....and I found a place where I could cough without disturbing anybody. I have always wanted to see The Nutcracker", and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet did a fine job. This was classical ballet....not really my thing, but dammit, I never got to see it when I was a kid, and now was my chance. I'm glad I did. Now I can strike that one off my list! The music was good, and the girls were pretty. Brenda liked the men in tights, which makes her happy (and by extension, me happy).

I scored a nice job....to supply the swords for the "Rob Roy" Musical which is starting up in Toronto. All good looking, battle ready swords, not making much on the job, but very prestigious. I'll serialize them, and maybe polish up a couple of hilts to see how they look. And the local highland regiment dropped in (well, not the WHOLE regiment) to see how a nickel plating of their cap badges would look. They liked my sample, and so they are going to bring a hundred in. Looking forward to that job...not! Lots of buffing with masks and goggles. At least the electro plating is safe and quick. I'll try to show off some of that job on my "South Tower" blog.

Since I have been sick, I am not attending any of the parties and fetes which abound at this time of year. Not fair to expose people to my flue! So I have been spending most of my time in the shop, building armour. Lots to do....lots of orders. Got to love it!

We have decided to not have a wild and crazy party this new years eve. Oh well...perhaps one of my friends who reads this blog can suggest an alternate venue.

Oh, and the picture at the top...well, that was a little photoshop that Brenda's brother did a couple of years ago. I don't think I look too bad in horns....grin!