First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)
--
Tim Lamb

On 26/07/2015 11:11, Tim Lamb wrote:
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)

If the kids use it more than once I'll be surprised, whereas a bag of
sand with plastic pots.....

"stuart noble" wrote in message ...

On 26/07/2015 11:11, Tim Lamb wrote:
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)

If the kids use it more than once I'll be surprised, whereas a bag of sand
with plastic pots.....

We had about 40 kids with their parents here yesterday at a wedding
reception for my daughter. A pile of hay bales kept them amused from noon
until late evening - not a single tantrum or argument - quite amazing and
relatively easy to arrange. Mind you the clear up is going to be a bit of an
issue !!!!!!!

Andrew

In message , Andrew Mawson
writes
"stuart noble" wrote in message ...

On 26/07/2015 11:11, Tim Lamb wrote:
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)

If the kids use it more than once I'll be surprised, whereas a bag of
sand with plastic pots.....

We had about 40 kids with their parents here yesterday at a wedding
reception for my daughter. A pile of hay bales kept them amused from
noon until late evening - not a single tantrum or argument - quite
amazing and relatively easy to arrange. Mind you the clear up is going
to be a bit of an issue !!!!!!!

AOL:-)

Straw is cheaper! Mind, dad and youngest are hay fever sufferers.

I take Stuart's point about usage but, if nothing else, it means I don't
have to struggle (and can sell!) carrying the portable one out of the
garage!



Andrew

--
Tim Lamb

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...

In message , Andrew Mawson
writes
"stuart noble" wrote in message ...

On 26/07/2015 11:11, Tim Lamb wrote:
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)

If the kids use it more than once I'll be surprised, whereas a bag of
sand with plastic pots.....

We had about 40 kids with their parents here yesterday at a wedding
reception for my daughter. A pile of hay bales kept them amused from noon
until late evening - not a single tantrum or argument - quite amazing and
relatively easy to arrange. Mind you the clear up is going to be a bit of
an issue !!!!!!!

AOL:-)

Straw is cheaper! Mind, dad and youngest are hay fever sufferers.

I take Stuart's point about usage but, if nothing else, it means I don't
have to struggle (and can sell!) carrying the portable one out of the
garage!



Andrew


But daughter insisted on hay as it's softer. Straw I could use for pig
bedding, I don't need hay until next winter for the sheep and it's debatable
what state it'll be in then - even the 40 or so full bales I managed to
recover before the rain

Andrew

Sandpits can be a real pain to keep animals out of of course, but one has to
be sure the device for covering them is not itself dangerous.

as for making the right constituancy, there was, believe it or not a study
done about the correct types of sand and mixture of water, to make good
sandcastles as it was needed for a comercial project i seem to recall. the
type of sand is very important.

I just wish I could remember what I was looking for when i found it by
accident.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it out!
Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match the
1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than 2m
long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)
--
Tim Lamb

In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In message , Andrew Mawson
writes
"stuart noble" wrote in message ...

On 26/07/2015 11:11, Tim Lamb wrote:
First for the year:-(

New sandpit constructed for the grandchildren..... yes, I did try it
out! Why doesn't play pit sand come out of moulds cleanly like damp sea
sand?

Management is insisting that it must have a cover. Cats, Foxes, falling
leaves etc. At around 2mx 1.5m not ideal for plywood offcuts.

Co-incidentally some left over tubular metal garden cloche ends match
the 1.5m dimension and there are lots of 12mm o/d steel tubes more than
2m long. I don't have tig or mig welding tackle.

The cloche design used plastic spigots secured to the end frames which
plug in to larger diameter tubing than I have.

The eureka idea is to plug the tube ends with some hot melt (glue gun)
glue, grind the ends to match the cloche end, drill a hole to take a
stainless woodscrew......:-)

If the kids use it more than once I'll be surprised, whereas a bag of
sand with plastic pots.....

We had about 40 kids with their parents here yesterday at a wedding
reception for my daughter. A pile of hay bales kept them amused from
noon until late evening - not a single tantrum or argument - quite
amazing and relatively easy to arrange. Mind you the clear up is going
to be a bit of an issue !!!!!!!

AOL:-)

Straw is cheaper! Mind, dad and youngest are hay fever sufferers.

I take Stuart's point about usage but, if nothing else, it means I
don't have to struggle (and can sell!) carrying the portable one out of
the garage!


Our kids used to love the sandpit when they were younger.

And I had one as a kid. Quite deep IIRC, sunk in the ground lined and
floored with paving slabs. We spent ages playing in their digging
tunnels for toy cars etc. playing with toy soldiers
--
Chris French

Brian-Gaff wrote:
Sandpits can be a real pain to keep animals out of of course, but one has to
be sure the device for covering them is not itself dangerous.

as for making the right constituancy, there was, believe it or not a study
done about the correct types of sand and mixture of water, to make good
sandcastles as it was needed for a comercial project i seem to recall. the
type of sand is very important.

I just wish I could remember what I was looking for when i found it by
accident.
Brian

Brickies sand?

In message , Brian-Gaff
writes
Sandpits can be a real pain to keep animals out of of course, but one has to
be sure the device for covering them is not itself dangerous.

I'm thinking of a light steel frame covered in waterproof woven plastic
sheet.

as for making the right constituancy, there was, believe it or not a study
done about the correct types of sand and mixture of water, to make good
sandcastles as it was needed for a comercial project i seem to recall. the
type of sand is very important.

Play pit sand is claimed to be *rounded* rather than *sharp* for safety
reasons and also much finer than sea sand. The appearance is similar to
moulding sand used in metal casting.

I tried whacking the moulds with a metal trowel but still failed to get
a clean release.

I just wish I could remember what I was looking for when i found it by
accident.

Oh well. Another of life's imponderables:-)
--
Tim Lamb

Possibly one of many press reports in 2012 of paper by Dutch physicists
in Nature's Scientific Reports. Synopsis:

"Just a bit of water enables one to turn a pile of dry sand into a
spectacular sandcastle. Too much water however will destabilize the
material, as is seen in landslides. Here we investigated the stability
of wet sand columns to account for the maximum height of sandcastles. We
find that the columns become unstable to elastic buckling under their
own weight. This allows to account for the maximum height of the sand
column; it is found to increase as the 2/3 power of the base radius of
the column. Measuring the elastic modulus of the wet sand, we find that
the optimum strength is achieved at a very low liquid volume fraction of
about 1%. Knowing the modulus we can quantitatively account for the
measured sandcastle heights."

http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/1208...srep00549.html

I remember discussing at the time the possibility of a bid for EU
funding to establish a consistent set of measurements and ratings for
beaches across all member States. But we concluded the German's would
be bound to get there first

--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

In message , Robin writes
Possibly one of many press reports in 2012 of paper by Dutch physicists
in Nature's Scientific Reports. Synopsis:

"Just a bit of water enables one to turn a pile of dry sand into a
spectacular sandcastle. Too much water however will destabilize the
material, as is seen in landslides. Here we investigated the stability
of wet sand columns to account for the maximum height of sandcastles. We
find that the columns become unstable to elastic buckling under their
own weight. This allows to account for the maximum height of the sand
column; it is found to increase as the 2/3 power of the base radius of
the column. Measuring the elastic modulus of the wet sand, we find that
the optimum strength is achieved at a very low liquid volume fraction of
about 1%. Knowing the modulus we can quantitatively account for the
measured sandcastle heights."

http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/1208...srep00549.html

After Friday's rain this was certainly very wet sand. Not to the level
of self slumping though.

I wonder if the granule shape leads to a higher contact area and more
*sticksion*.

I remember discussing at the time the possibility of a bid for EU
funding to establish a consistent set of measurements and ratings for
beaches across all member States. But we concluded the German's would
be bound to get there first

:-)

--
Tim Lamb

On 27/07/15 12:01, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Robin writes
Possibly one of many press reports in 2012 of paper by Dutch physicists
in Nature's Scientific Reports. Synopsis:

"Just a bit of water enables one to turn a pile of dry sand into a
spectacular sandcastle. Too much water however will destabilize the
material, as is seen in landslides. Here we investigated the stability
of wet sand columns to account for the maximum height of sandcastles. We
find that the columns become unstable to elastic buckling under their
own weight. This allows to account for the maximum height of the sand
column; it is found to increase as the 2/3 power of the base radius of
the column. Measuring the elastic modulus of the wet sand, we find that
the optimum strength is achieved at a very low liquid volume fraction of
about 1%. Knowing the modulus we can quantitatively account for the
measured sandcastle heights."

http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/1208...srep00549.html

After Friday's rain this was certainly very wet sand. Not to the level
of self slumping though.

I wonder if the granule shape leads to a higher contact area and more
*sticksion*.

stiction, IIRC...;-)


I remember discussing at the time the possibility of a bid for EU
funding to establish a consistent set of measurements and ratings for
beaches across all member States. But we concluded the German's would
be bound to get there first

:-)



--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.