Good morning!!!!

[300UGUY]

59 degrees and partly cloudy ... real humid/wet ... I could see fog rising up off the ground in the headlight last night when I drove the Simplicity CFC 18 ZTR - which has a steering wheel BTW - up to the shed at 10 or 11 PM.

Got the MIG cleaned out/up the night before last ... Grabbed some mothballs when I was at the Big Orange yesterday to see if we can avoid anyone taking up residence inside in the future. The only thing that required much work was the wheels ... they had got pretty chewed up from it getting dragged around in/on gravel ... so I pulled 'em off, ran a bolt thru 'em, stuck on a flat washer and nut so they wouldn't spin on the bolt and then chucked that up in the drill press and hit 'em with a large file for the rough pass, and then used some drywall screen for the final pass. Rolls much more smoothly now.

Last night I fixed the frayed cord on the Sawzall and pulled the rubber nose cover and metal workstop off in preparation to repack the gearbox with grease ... which I also have to do with the angle grinder. So there will be a trip to the Milwaukee Service Center up by Cleveland later today to pick up the correct grease for each. Probably should grab a set of brushes for both of them if they are reasonable. Also cleaned up the framing and finish nailers.

Day before yesterday I started doing a little refurb on my Tool Gypsy bandsaw. With the shed being unheated, anything with bare metal had started getting a little crusty from the condensation and humidity that comes with the seasons:

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But nothing a little sandpaper and elbow grease wouldn't handle ... along with a coating of mineral oil to see if we can avoid having to do it again any time real soon. I noticed while I was doing this the rear blade guide on the bandsaw set back quite a ways from the material being cut ... and if it wasn't for the rear backing plate/jaw in work clamp being fixed, the saw could actually cut something wider than the 6" it is rated for - at least on a straight 90 degree cut. So while I was at Home Depot today I picked up some really nice steel spacers and longer bolts for the rear jaw ... and viola ... The Super Cut mod was born:

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Cutting a 7 1/2" wide piece of 1/2" plate ... which will be the mounting plate for the new stand for the bench vise I'm building ... to get it off the bench:

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A very mild feed rate is critical to keep it from stalling out ... but it works:

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Did some measuring and fitting for the SSQA build project, cut and drilled some steel for the mount for the diverter valve on the loader and got a bunch of junk cleared off/put away from the main work bench.

And the very last thing I did last night before coming back to the house was burn all the scrap/trash wood/cardboard/paper to reduce the combustibles in the building ... and it sure didn't take too long for it to get like a sauna inside.

Got rid of a couple old broken axe handles and a rake handle that was bad ... I also burned about an 1/8 can of Minwax Poly that had skinned and gelled up ... and a can of All-Purpose PVC cement that had gone south ... but was still very volatile ... which was fairly entertaining ...

I've seen a lot of bandsaws, but that is the only one that allows the blade to swivel for a angular cut. Neat machine. Fluid film will keep it from rusting up, but a layer of any oil will do the same thing. I use old crankcase oil to keep things moving, it allows me to recycle it in a way.

 

[daugen]

very productive day today.
got a demolition contractor, the largest in the area, come out within two hours of my call, and give me a $3K price to demolish and cleanup a small horse barn on my property that is literally falling down in parts. About 15X50 feet, and they do the permits and pay the fees inclusive. I had guessed between 2 and 3K, and had actually put 3k in my original budget, and big surprise, well at least I guessed right. Probably would have cost ten thousand in Bucks County Pa after an environmental and historical impact study was performed, in triplicate.

now the bad part. Some local farmer just dumped a load of "something" on the fields. Ah, the sweet so compelling smell of septic...

and the good. The new lawn mower, which is sort of a garden tractor on steroids, seems to run fine, the optional seat is soft and very comfortable, and I hardly exercised it much picking up some weeds and sticks on its first big outing...
it's been raining so much here I've had no time to fool with it, too busy with other things.
Lord, have to close that window. only so much of that smell I can take...

 

[JDgreen227]

Getting ready to chow down....baked chicken strips, local sweet corn, and fresh steamed green beans washed down with Moscato...and we recently adopted a new kitten...if life got any better than this I would pass out....:laughing:

 

[RoyJackson]

very productive day today.

The new lawn mower, which is sort of a garden tractor on steroids, seems to run fine, the optional seat is soft and very comfortable.

Sounds like you had a great day, Drew!
Good luck with the new tractor!

 

[Larro Darro]

Good Evening. 1845, partly cloudy, 89F {106 heat index} with 74% humidity. Forecast low of 71F with 30% chance of showers tonight, and a high of 94F tomorrow.

I was able to do a little in the garden before going to Panama City today. The heat and dry weather has burned up my young green beans. I have more seeds just sprouting, so maybe those will do better.

We have Tractor Supply Here but lots of Cigarette Smokers and their smoke just outside the door all the time...I thought most folks have quit the nasty habit...!

Bob, don't talk bad about those folks. They are doing their part to help save Social Security

Hope everyone had a good day.

Larro

 

[bakerg]

Getting ready to chow down....baked chicken strips, local sweet corn, and fresh steamed green beans washed down with Moscato...and we recently adopted a new kitten...if life got any better than this I would pass out....:laughing:

Bill, you are getting mellower in your old age, you sure didn't stay away very long. Good for you as there is no use stress over things, just roll with it and enjoy life. you cannot please everyone all the time, as long as your happy, your good.

 

[bakerg]

The new lawn mower, which is sort of a garden tractor on steroids, seems to run fine, the optional seat is soft and very comfortable, and I hardly exercised it much picking up some weeds and sticks on its first big outing...

Nice looking machine drew, hope it works well for you.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 63F this morning, got to 91F and sunny no rain today. Got called in the IT guy was in the hospital for observation with heart attack symptoms . 1.5 hours billed all fixed at work. Got new tube and tire for wheelbarrow and pinched tube during install Patch it tonight and reinstall.

 

[rswyan]

Just woke up about 45 minutes ago ... finished my first cup, time for the second.

Currently 77 degrees here ... which probably means it's pretty humid out ... will have to fire up the AC in the shed tonight to dry things out.

Called Uncle Ernie and got the steel ordered for the grapple today. It will be ready for pick up by 0930 tomorrow.

Having the conversation with the wife about that before I placed the order was a real hoot ...

Generally speaking, she has absolutely no interest in what it's all about and doesn't want know any of the details ... she just wants to know what the bottomline ($$$) is ...

So, in leading up to that, I'm trying to explain the realities and practicalities of purchasing steel to her ... ie. it comes in standard lengths and if you purchase a 20' stick (more than you actually need for a particular project) you'll pay a cheaper price per foot/per pound than if you ask them for 3' of something.

Then I explain to her that to do something like this (lay out and build something with some degree of precision) a proper work surface to do it on would be really handy (ie. a new welding table) ...

She's sitting here and listening to the pitch ... but is getting all annoyed and fidgety as I go thru the details ...

So finally I give her the bottom line number for the steel purchase and her reaction was just "Oh ... that's it ?"

It was apparently much less than what she thought it would be ... which was just priceless ...

Absolutely made my day ... :laughing:

 

[rswyan]

I've seen a lot of bandsaws, but that is the only one that allows the blade to swivel for a angular cut. Neat machine.

Yeah ... considering what it is (cheap import), who made it (China ?), and who originally sold it (Homier - the Traveling Tool Gypsies) it's actually turned out to a pretty decent machine. I bought it from a guy up in Cleveland who built high-end, custom restaurant furniture & fixtures, mostly out of stainless. He was looking to upgrade to an Ellis or something pricey ... and claimed he was unhappy with the accuracy of the cuts ...

Personally, I haven't found a problem with the accuracy of the cuts (surprising what a good blade and proper adjustment will do) ... but the angle scale on the machine isn't accurate, so you have to check the cutting angle with an angle finder, when you set the head for an angle cut.

The blade seems to track accurately while cutting .. so what's to complain about ?

Grizzly Tools sells the same unit under their label for around $600 ... which is probably 2 or 3 times what I paid for this one (guy really wanted to get rid of it ... :laughing

5 x 6 Metal Cutting Bandsaw w/ Swivel Head/G9742

Fluid film will keep it from rusting up,

I've heard of that ... but never tried it. Thanks ... I'll check it out.

but a layer of any oil will do the same thing.

Right. The mineral oil I used is antique ... I think it belonged to Grandma ... and my mom probably probably stole it and hid it from her to keep from getting dosed ...

I use old crankcase oil to keep things moving, it allows me to recycle it in a way.

There ya go :thumbsup:

I need to do something to make mine go away ... got about 250 gallons of it sitting around here. I had Safety Kleen all tuned up to come out and pick it up (and they pay ya for it) ... but the route driver never called me back to get directions and set up a time ...

Another one of those "incompletes" ...