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Puget Dude’s creations and fabrications (Random project thread.)

LXCam

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Demers has a shop in Pinetop, AZ. Had them replace a few windows at my old place. Not.impressed. at. all. That's all I will share publicly....
Ya I get it. Unfortunately it happens, I’m dealing with some internal f ups right now that all I can do is apologize, put on my knee pads and resolve the issue.
 
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e015475

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Show Low and Mesa Arizona
Thanks for the info.

It will be five years this Christmas in Show Low, and the long term plan is to move back down to the valley in the next 3-5 years, so need to start chipping away at the repairs needed at the house. This is helpful information

PS - it was Demers I'd called, not Liberty. Sent me an invoice for $250 and said they'd be out to estimate the job as soon as they received payment. They did say they'd credit it back if I approved the estimate, but I sure didn't like the vibe.
 
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PugetDude

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Superstition Mountains, AZ
Thanks for the info.

It will be five years this Christmas in Show Low, and the long term plan is to move back down to the valley in the next 3-5 years, so need to start chipping away at the repairs needed at the house. This is helpful information

PS - it was Demers I'd called, not Liberty. Sent me an invoice for $250 and said they'd be out to estimate the job as soon as they received payment. They did say they'd credit it back if I approved the estimate, but I sure didn't like the vibe.
They charged us $195 to send two dirty semi-toothless local denizens reeking of pot out to measure 6 windows. (Only two sizes) Due up front, no credit against the final bill if I went with them. They think they have everyone over a barrel because of the semi-remote summer home situation. Their workmanship on my last house was abysmal, one of the guys the sent had only been on the job for two days. After getting cornholed $195 for a 10 minute estimate that was almost 50% higher than the competition this time around there is no way I would ever use them again.
 
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PugetDude

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Back in the Phoenix Inferno for a few days, in between appointments my bride helpfully assigned me another ornamental iron project... This one is going to be fun, it involves a lot of scrollwork... And rolled sections .. and rectangular tubing....
I priced 1/2" square tube scrolls at the local ornamental iron store, but they insisted I submit to rectal bleeding as the cost of doing business with them. So... Plan B.
Picked up a big wrought iron chandelier at a garage sale for $25.00 ...cut it apart and I have $600+ worth of 1/2" square tube scrolls, plenty for what I am going to need for this project. Forgot to take a photo before I cut it apart, but it looked fairly similar to this one...(Have I ever mentioned that I like to scrounge materials for my projects?🤔)
Screenshot_20250926-093958-468.png

Here's what I ended up with after deconstruction - 8 big multi -piece scrolls.. the other 3 are on my weld table getting shifted around with cardboard and blue tape, mocking up the design... IMG_20250926_084956864.jpg

More to come...
 

larry4406

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Back in the Phoenix Inferno for a few days, in between appointments my bride helpfully assigned me another ornamental iron project... This one is going to be fun, it involves a lot of scrollwork... And rolled sections .. and rectangular tubing....
I priced 1/2" square tube scrolls at the local ornamental iron store, but they insisted I submit to rectal bleeding as the cost of doing business with them. So... Plan B.
Picked up a big wrought iron chandelier at a garage sale for $25.00 ...cut it apart and I have $600+ worth of 1/2" square tube scrolls, plenty for what I am going to need for this project. Forgot to take a photo before I cut it apart, but it looked fairly similar to this one...(Have I ever mentioned that I like to scrounge materials for my projects?🤔)
Screenshot_20250926-093958-468.png

Here's what I ended up with after deconstruction - 8 big multi -piece scrolls.. the other 3 are on my weld table getting shifted around with cardboard and blue tape, mocking up the design... IMG_20250926_084956864.jpg

More to come...
Very clever sir!

Awesome repurpose and thrifty idea!

Hopefully the lamp was made of metal that can receive at least a few tacks without totally melting away.
 
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PugetDude

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Very clever sir!

Awesome repurpose and thrifty idea!

Hopefully the lamp was made of metal that can receive at least a few tacks without totally melting away.
It was fairly heavy, I believe it is probably ~1mm thick tubing at .040" . (18 gauge is .049") When I get a couple of the scrolls cut apart I will debur the cut and throw a micrometer on an edge.
 
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PugetDude

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Little detour on the architecural iron project..... Actually an 1100 mile roundtrip road trip to Bakersfield, CA to pick up a Burke Millrite mill I bought on eBay. I have been watching eBay for a smaller mill with a knee and an R8 spindle, my choice was either a Rockwell or a Burke.
This one popped up in my saved searches last week, I was too busy with getting the summer place shut down and my little iron project undereay, so i threw what I felt was a safe lowball bid in ($870) as a marker- and then to my surprise got a "pay now" message a few days later.


Drove over yesterday, picked it up this AM and made it back home to Arizona this evening. Had the opportunity to talk with the guy who ran the machine shop it came out of, when asked him about the condition his response was that if he had the room in his garage that's where it would be today. Said it's nice and tight, and everything works- and it didn't get a lot of use, it was too small for much of what they did in the oil/gas pipe business.

IMG_20251007_100307158_HDR.jpg

Tied it down with two straps to keep the base from shifting, and four to hold the mill down, one at each corner. It rode great, I didn't have to re-tighten any of the straps when I checked them at at gas/pee stops. (My 2023 RAM 1500 has a considerably longer range than my 1958 bladder)
IMG_20251007_100323737_HDR.jpg
It was a long drive home with the California 55 Mph speed limit while towing. 🙄

Going to put my old RongFu mill/drill up for sale as soon as I get this one up and running- there is going to be a 3 phase conversion in my future.

Unloading in the morning, it was too dark when I pulled in the driveway.

.
 
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PugetDude

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It's a fairly short table,Mike. Advertised at 27". I will take a few pictures after I get it offloaded today.
Nice.. I bought an older one off Ebay 15+ years ago and love it.

ps if you tip the head to the left 90 degrees and put a length of wood between it and the table it will have a much lower cg.
Thanks, may need to do that to get it under my gantry crane.
 

zmotorsports

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It's a fairly short table,Mike. Advertised at 27". I will take a few pictures after I get it offloaded today.

WOW, that's a short table Scott. I didn't know anything that short existed. Although I am far from versed in milling machines, I though the smallest available were 32" and then 36" but those were quite rare. I didn't know anything shorter than 32" even existed.
 

slowtwitch73

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Hellgate
It's a fairly short table,Mike. Advertised at 27". I will take a few pictures after I get it offloaded today.

Thanks, may need to do that to get it under my gantry crane.
Be careful.. it can be a bit of a rodeo once the head starts coming around.. I usually put a cam/ratchet strap around the extended quill, and then back to the end of the table to control the tilt and hold it while the nuts are tightened. If you rig it right, you can use the table feed to rotate the head.
 

LXCam

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Glad the return trip went well bud.

But you don’t think for one second I can let the drive out go without follow-up.

You need to show the world! (k, like maybe 6 guys here - but I digress) the death , destruction and desert donation you endured.

Ya know, your typical Scotty trailer trip 🤘
 
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PugetDude

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WOW, that's a short table Scott. I didn't know anything that short existed. Although I am far from versed in milling machines, I though the smallest available were 32" and then 36" but those were quite rare. I didn't know anything shorter than 32" even existed.
Hey, at least my feet are large...🤣
 
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PugetDude

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First step in unloading was to get it off the trailer. My litle gantry crane was just barely high enough to pick it, had to drop the head and wrap a chain around the column to make it work. Scuffed up the stripe a bit..🥴IMG_20251008_124456541_HDR.jpg
The off center load was a bit of a problem, but I was able to counter some of that with a couple of 2" ratchet straps from the base over the top of the crane rail. Rolled it off slowly, then moved the trailer.IMG_20251008_124439268_HDR.jpg
Once i got it out from under the trailer, i used my engine hoist to lift the front end enough to remove the straps and slowly lower it onto blocks.IMG_20251009_090020167.jpg
Heavy duty casters on order so I don't have to rig it again when it gets moved later...
 
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PugetDude

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Isn't moving heavy **** fun Scott? :eek:
Yep. I actually had to use a long pry bar to move the crane (uphill🙄) on the pavers with the weight of the mill dangling from it. One side at a time, a few inches at a time to keep the load from swinging.
Wanted to do this by myself, none of my available neighbors are mechanically inclined.
102F'n degrees out didn't make the job any easier...once it was on the flat garage floor things got exponentially better, especially when I was able to close the 16' overhead door and turned on the A/C .🙂
 
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