nadogail
Well-known member
I wish you a speedy recovery after your surgery.
What did you do "IN" your garage today?
- Thread starter mayhemman
- Start date
LeeG
Well-known member
Busy weekend. Helped a neighbor replace the alternator on his '14 Camaro. It was a pretty easy job and saved him about $900 that Sun Devil Auto wanted for labor for the job (we used an OEM alternator - I talked him out of going cheap on it).
A friend from church brought a 10' 4x10 beam over to run though my planer. It took longer to dig the planer out of the shed and get it hooked up to dust collection than it did to do the actual work, but still was able to knock it out quickly. I really like my small shop, but it is a pain having to have everything stowed away rather than being immediately at hand.
The rest of the weekend was about getting a bunch of small tasks from "almost done" to "done". I was able to knock out about half a dozen little projects. It's nice now that it is finally cool enough to be out in the shop all day.
Lee
A friend from church brought a 10' 4x10 beam over to run though my planer. It took longer to dig the planer out of the shed and get it hooked up to dust collection than it did to do the actual work, but still was able to knock it out quickly. I really like my small shop, but it is a pain having to have everything stowed away rather than being immediately at hand.
The rest of the weekend was about getting a bunch of small tasks from "almost done" to "done". I was able to knock out about half a dozen little projects. It's nice now that it is finally cool enough to be out in the shop all day.
Lee
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
I’m convinced dogs let us rub their bellies cause they know we like to do it.lol
I was just being silly. The customer you had described sounds really awesome.
KwikFab
Well-known member
Wanna hear about the last one I denied? Lol
That is the general idea of what I'd like to end up with, although I have doubts about getting there. I'll read that thread for ideas on methods and tools.There is a thread on "Rail Anvil's", and some are downright works of art. I have one someone else made up and I've done a little more cleanup on it since the pic was taken in 2018. While no substitute for a real anvil its is great for cold forming stuff and general beating:
Sure, why not? You know, for comparison with the pipe guy!
KwikFab
Well-known member
About +2 years ago I had shared a few pictures of a transfer case skid plate I made for my 80 series Land Cruiser.
This was on a local FB group.
Got a message from someone and we got to talking quite a bit about a job he wanted me to do.
Day 2 and we're finally on the specific details - he wants a custom modular bed rack for his truck. It needs to be modular in order to add and remove custom panels for affixing various tools and accessories to said rack.
Similar options go for over $1300+ without the extra panels.
Seeing how custom he wanted it, I gave him a quote of $1,100 give or take.
The price includes the design work on my end (CAD), the cutting of said material (both on the bandsaw as well as my CNC table. The fitment and welding of all necessary components.
This was really cheap considering I was including the material as well.
He gave me one of those "I was hoping more like $400 total LOL"
I was very polite and told him not at all possible, sorry. Material cost alone would be quite a bit.
That's not all, he pulled the "influencer" card saying he'll tell all his buddies about me and will even get me a sweater made. I had to respectfully reject that job.
Fast forward about a year later and I respond to a thread in the same group. It was a member asking for advice on how to weld or something as he just bought the Harbor Freight Flux welder (the 125 I think?).
He suddenly messages me out of the blue and since I had the same phone still, all our previous messages appeared.
It was the same guy that low balled me on the bed rack!
I was still very polite to him. He said he got a welder so he can make a gym rack and he needed all kinds of advice. Apparently he was cutting square tube with an angle grinder, and I suggested a bandsaw would be much easier.
He said "that costs money" and I agreed, it does lol.
He also asked about cutting gussets and certain plates and I suggested a hand torch (plasma) or oxyfuel.
He responds again with "that's a lot more money" and so on.
I mentioned to him "you know you asked me for a bed rack over a year ago right?" He absolutely did remember, and I told him all the tools I own are for the customer's benefit.
My prices are definitely reasonable, but I can't do work for free. So when I quote someone, I'm including all my equipment and experience being put to use for said job.
He apologized for the lowball offer and I told him if he needs help learning to weld, I'd be happy to show him at my house.
KwikFab
Well-known member
And just for fun, the transfer case skid plate I mentioned in my above post.
CAD (cardboard aided design) to the rescue!
I used a sandwich style approach for mounting the rear part of the skid.
And for clearance reasons, I used carriage bolts on the lowermost exposed part of the skid.
My old 80 series.
CAD (cardboard aided design) to the rescue!
I used a sandwich style approach for mounting the rear part of the skid.
And for clearance reasons, I used carriage bolts on the lowermost exposed part of the skid.
My old 80 series.
Put a Carhartt seat cover set on my step Dad's Ranger. Mom got it about 2 Christmases ago and I never realized it didn't get put on.
INSP380
Well-known member
Got out there early this AM and got a shelf up for my Craftsman Line up. All original boxes 
and unrestored…..added the “new” Powr-Kraft grinder to the bench…
Steve
and unrestored…..added the “new” Powr-Kraft grinder to the bench…Steve
Burt Shaver
Well-known member
Started and finished the dart board table for my buddies birthday. Spent about an hour debating my different options which ended up being time well spent. Originally I was going to set the board in from the top, it held the glass up 1/4” but I didn’t feel confident I could cut the wood away nicely to allow the board to go down. Ended up taking the table apart, placed the board beneath the table which looked good except the wire and numbers were were to far to the outside of the board and were not completely visible from above, So I took the clips that hold the wire numbers and wire numbers themselves off the board, cut the wire beneath the clips in two, grinded the ends of each piece down until I could get them 1/2” closer to the inside of the board, put it back into place and was perfect except for the plastic clips themselves were still beneath the wood and holding the board from sitting flush. Used the roto tool and sanded them down and it fit perfect.oldman_pottering
Well-known member
Weekend just gone was a long weekend for us and I finally got around to cleaning up, while cleaning up and reorganising I opened a box with an old Stanley plane in it ( I had bought this off Ebay last week) and found this hand written note about the plane, I thought this was pretty cool.
Before and after shots
Before and after shots
Went to whale-mart and got some antifreeze, came home and mixed up some 50/50 and finished filling up the Cougar's new radiator. Burped the bubbles, let it get up to temp, went up and down the road, romped on it a little, just to make sure it's all gonna hold. No leaks, and she's good to go.
Then let it idle in the driveway while I cleaned up the mess I made in the garage when I pulled the lower hose, lol. Isn't that always fun; the hose sprays forward, and the radiator outlet sprays backwards, both streams barely hitting the catch pan.
Oh well, the garage is clean and the car is fixed. That's always the goal!
Then let it idle in the driveway while I cleaned up the mess I made in the garage when I pulled the lower hose, lol. Isn't that always fun; the hose sprays forward, and the radiator outlet sprays backwards, both streams barely hitting the catch pan.
Oh well, the garage is clean and the car is fixed. That's always the goal!
TheClaw
Well-known member
Am I the only one who cleans the workbench only to have it mysteriously get messed up all by itself with in 24 hours
aka Larry
Well-known member
Damn, that is one beefy skid plate? 1/4" thick? I need to get some for my Jeep.
KwikFab
Well-known member
Good eye!
That was indeed 1/4" and yeah, plenty overkill
One thing about Land Cruisers is, you either have to make it yourself or pay a bunch of money for something. This is especially true for armor.
Jacko264
Well-known member
Hi mr claw can I ask what is the D shaped thing with a handle hanging on the wall
and what is it for please
Graham
and what is it for please
Graham
Beerhippie
Well-known member
No.Am I the only one who cleans the workbench only to have it mysteriously get messed up all by itself with in 24 hours
Mine grows small parts like fungi.
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niget2002
Well-known member
No. I've even been trying to clean up after each project and my electronics bench is half full of stuff again. Tomorrow evening I plan on cleaning it back off before it gets out of hand again.Am I the only one who cleans the workbench only to have it mysteriously get messed up all by itself with in 24 hours
Today I replaced the loud delta fan in the power supply box with the new, much quieter, noctua fan. Still more than enough air flow to keep the PS cool.
Made a impromptu TV stand.
KwikFab
Well-known member
Summary of yesterday and today's cut parts.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I had another "fifteen minute job" this AM. The drain for the drip pan of the pub beer tower
clogged Saturday evening. I was able to blow it out with some Dust-Off--at least well enough to get through the weekend.
My plan was to replace the vinyl tubing that connects to the drain. Simple--until I looked at how it was plumbed. Did I do this? The vinyl tubing goes through the bottom of the cabinet, then through the floor and connects into a P-trap via a hose barb in the crawl space. The crawl space is NOT my happy place. Damnit.
Crawled down there, disconnected the tubing--two trips as it was secured with Oetiker clamps and I had to get the angle grinder. Tried to pull the tubing up from the top--no go. Seems some genius (me) decided to route a CAT6 cable through the same hole the tubing goes through, firmly jamming it in place.
Plan B: I "snaked" it with a twelve-foot piece of 1/4" SS cable, mounted in a drill. That should do it. Put everything back together (another crawl), sewed the job up, hauled tools back to the shop and was done before lunch. Someday I'll get out a big self-feed bit and do that right--but not today.
After lunch, I'm a solar installer. Our sign out front:
is lit at night. It used to be wired into the low-voltage system for the yard lights, but we retired that system a year or so back. I'd built a solar battery system to power the sign lights. I'd sized the panel and battery to keep the cheap-*** LED floods I had on it lit for six hours after sunset, long enough to stay lit until closing on the longest nights of the year. Those cheap-*** lights died this spring, so I replaced them with some seriously NOT cheap Volt LED floods (surplussed from the yard lighting), which worked fine through the short days of summer, but were no longer staying lit 'til closing. The Volt floods draw about twice what the cheap-*** ones did--and are about twice as bright.
[aside]Yes, I'm aware that the floods are lying flat in that picture. Feral children had unscrewed the wing nuts that hold them. I replaced the wing nuts with Nylocs. Feral children don't often carry tools.[/aside]
So I decided to add another panel (claimed to be 2 amp @ 12 V nom, but seem to produce ~1 amp in the real world) and another 7 AH gel battery.
First step:
I don't need no stinking manual--and the charge controller that comes with these panels is a POS that lasts a month or so at best.
My battery/electronics enclosure with a REAL charge controller. The dawn-to-dusk controller mounted out front does nothing but plug the mounting holes, as the charge controller also does that much better, including being programmable to shut off a specified number of hours after sunset.
Done--and in about my estimated time!
clogged Saturday evening. I was able to blow it out with some Dust-Off--at least well enough to get through the weekend.
My plan was to replace the vinyl tubing that connects to the drain. Simple--until I looked at how it was plumbed. Did I do this? The vinyl tubing goes through the bottom of the cabinet, then through the floor and connects into a P-trap via a hose barb in the crawl space. The crawl space is NOT my happy place. Damnit.
Crawled down there, disconnected the tubing--two trips as it was secured with Oetiker clamps and I had to get the angle grinder. Tried to pull the tubing up from the top--no go. Seems some genius (me) decided to route a CAT6 cable through the same hole the tubing goes through, firmly jamming it in place.
Plan B: I "snaked" it with a twelve-foot piece of 1/4" SS cable, mounted in a drill. That should do it. Put everything back together (another crawl), sewed the job up, hauled tools back to the shop and was done before lunch. Someday I'll get out a big self-feed bit and do that right--but not today.
After lunch, I'm a solar installer. Our sign out front:
is lit at night. It used to be wired into the low-voltage system for the yard lights, but we retired that system a year or so back. I'd built a solar battery system to power the sign lights. I'd sized the panel and battery to keep the cheap-*** LED floods I had on it lit for six hours after sunset, long enough to stay lit until closing on the longest nights of the year. Those cheap-*** lights died this spring, so I replaced them with some seriously NOT cheap Volt LED floods (surplussed from the yard lighting), which worked fine through the short days of summer, but were no longer staying lit 'til closing. The Volt floods draw about twice what the cheap-*** ones did--and are about twice as bright.
[aside]Yes, I'm aware that the floods are lying flat in that picture. Feral children had unscrewed the wing nuts that hold them. I replaced the wing nuts with Nylocs. Feral children don't often carry tools.[/aside]
So I decided to add another panel (claimed to be 2 amp @ 12 V nom, but seem to produce ~1 amp in the real world) and another 7 AH gel battery.
First step:
I don't need no stinking manual--and the charge controller that comes with these panels is a POS that lasts a month or so at best.
My battery/electronics enclosure with a REAL charge controller. The dawn-to-dusk controller mounted out front does nothing but plug the mounting holes, as the charge controller also does that much better, including being programmable to shut off a specified number of hours after sunset.
Done--and in about my estimated time!
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Beerhippie
Well-known member
Oh, yeah--I had to replace a garden hose. We keep the hose on a reel to reach some areas of the lawns that aren't covered by the pop-ups.
I went to pull the hose out the other day and the hose broke into three pieces--at 45F! This is a short 25' extension to the 50' hose on the reel. The hose was a year old.
I bought a new one that claims "All Season Flexibility"
Right... if by "flexible" you mean "essentially rigid". We'll see how long it takes 'til that one breaks.
Who's the genius that formulates these "flexible" compounds? Obviously the same ***-hat who makes tool cords that have as much flex as rebar....
I went to pull the hose out the other day and the hose broke into three pieces--at 45F! This is a short 25' extension to the 50' hose on the reel. The hose was a year old.
I bought a new one that claims "All Season Flexibility"
Right... if by "flexible" you mean "essentially rigid". We'll see how long it takes 'til that one breaks.
Who's the genius that formulates these "flexible" compounds? Obviously the same ***-hat who makes tool cords that have as much flex as rebar....
SouthernIllinois
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2024
- Messages
- 1,679
Just a retired guy fooling with an old car and I work out of a US General 5-Drawer cart 99.99% of the time but I have 5 other tool boxes in the shop and a lot of duplicate tools and sometimes it’s aggravating opening and closing drawers looking for something you know you have but can’t remember which drawer it’s in.
Got bored and stumbled across a guy on Etsy that makes magnetic labels. Bought a few to see how I liked them.
They came in today.
Liked them enough I ordered 18 more.
Edit: I didn't realize how crooked some of them were until I posted these pics - I will fix that ASAP. My OCD won't tolerate that nonsense.
Got bored and stumbled across a guy on Etsy that makes magnetic labels. Bought a few to see how I liked them.
They came in today.
Liked them enough I ordered 18 more.
Edit: I didn't realize how crooked some of them were until I posted these pics - I will fix that ASAP. My OCD won't tolerate that nonsense.
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krazykevin76
Active member
Put the old Maxima on the lift to change out the A/C compressor. That was the easy part. Then the fight was on! A few hours and ****** knuckles later I was victorious. Round two will be next weekend when I put it back together:
oldman_pottering
Well-known member
That's gold !Just a retired guy fooling with an old car and I work out of a US General 5-Drawer cart 99.99% of the time but I have 5 other tool boxes in the shop and a lot of duplicate tools and sometimes it’s aggravating opening and closing drawers looking for something you know you have but can’t remember which drawer it’s in.
Got bored and stumbled across a guy on Etsy that makes magnetic labels. Bought a few to see how I liked them.
They came in today.
Liked them enough I ordered 18 more.
Edit: I didn't realize how crooked some of them were until I posted these pics - I will fix that ASAP. My OCD won't tolerate that nonsense.
I like the stray and homeless...................although it seems now that the homeless tools do indeed have a home
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Literally laughing out loud on this one!
Loved the "Stray and Homeless" label!
2001ZR2
Well-known member
My garage is evil.so I blame the Gargoyal infestation I have because no human could possibly do that. Good luck ClawAm I the only one who cleans the workbench only to have it mysteriously get messed up all by itself with in 24 hours
@SouthernIllinois - I found some right away on Etsy but not sure if they're from the same seller. Can you share the seller name or link? How tall and how thick are they?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Oh, yeah--I had to replace a garden hose. We keep the hose on a reel to reach some areas of the lawns that aren't covered by the pop-ups.
I went to pull the hose out the other day and the hose broke into three pieces--at 45F! This is a short 25' extension to the 50' hose on the reel. The hose was a year old.
I bought a new one that claims "All Season Flexibility"
Right... if by "flexible" you mean "essentially rigid". We'll see how long it takes 'til that one breaks.
Who's the genius that formulates these "flexible" compounds? Obviously the same ***-hat who makes tool cords that have as much flex as rebar....
I think it's the same guy who pre-installs the kinks in "kinkless" garden hoses.
Remember old-school heavy rubber hoses? With no vinyl/PVC or poly-anything?Oh, yeah--I had to replace a garden hose. We keep the hose on a reel to reach some areas of the lawns that aren't covered by the pop-ups.
I went to pull the hose out the other day and the hose broke into three pieces--at 45F! This is a short 25' extension to the 50' hose on the reel. The hose was a year old.
I bought a new one that claims "All Season Flexibility"
Right... if by "flexible" you mean "essentially rigid". We'll see how long it takes 'til that one breaks.
Who's the genius that formulates these "flexible" compounds? Obviously the same ***-hat who makes tool cords that have as much flex as rebar....
Same with extension cords. Actual rubber.
Oh: and not Amazon, Aliexpress or Temu "rubber". No "thermo" anything. Rubber, like in tires. Or proper doormats or horse stall mats.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
Yup. There's one hanging about five feet away in the shop:
75' of heavy and 'spensive. But always flexible. It lives in the shop, so rarely sees sunlight--the bane (among many) of natural rubber.
But for many years, we had various "synthetic rubbers" that were UV resistant, lighter and still flexible. The curse of rigid "rubber" is something fairly new--can't say exactly when it started, but....
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Bean counters. its always about the $$...
I've had better luck with "Life time" hoses like Gates.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I mean, really? How many years did I go without actually BREAKING a hose?
We have lots of synthetic rubber--reinforced vinyl with EPDM liners--hoses in the brewery that are quite flexible for their size. They also cost around $30/ft in the larger sizes.
I bought a Nikon-brand electronic cable release for my Nikon camera a few years ago (like over a decade ago). The whole idea of a cable release is to isolate the camera from your shaky hand when triggering. The damned $100+ release had a cord that was essentially a really crooked ROD. Fortunately, I'm handy with a soldering iron; had a box of old computer peripherals around and found an old wired mouse that had a perfectly flexible, four-conductor cord and replaced the release one with it.
GrayFlattop
Well-known member
[/QUOTE]
I see that we both keep our air tools in the same place - bottom drawer. About the only ones I actively use anymore are the air hammer and the 5” high speed sander.
Just a retired guy fooling with an old car and I work out of a US General 5-Drawer cart 99.99% of the time but I have 5 other tool boxes in the shop and a lot of duplicate tools and sometimes it’s aggravating opening and closing drawers looking for something you know you have but can’t remember which drawer it’s in.
Got bored and stumbled across a guy on Etsy that makes magnetic labels. Bought a few to see how I liked them.
They came in today.
Liked them enough I ordered 18 more.
Edit: I didn't realize how crooked some of them were until I posted these pics - I will fix that ASAP. My OCD won't tolerate that nonsense.
I see that we both keep our air tools in the same place - bottom drawer. About the only ones I actively use anymore are the air hammer and the 5” high speed sander.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Today was mostly "body work" If you can call putting patches on rust holes on the T-van body - "body work"
I know this is not a forever fix, but it's also not a forever rig. Its my camping beater.
I started with the SS patch I made a week back but had not installed. I did that and its in with 6 screws where there is still un-rusted steel. Then, as the SS was several inches too short to cover more I made up aluminum from flashing to cover those and used the same HVAC "repair tap" to attached them. This is the tape that had been covering the holes for 6 years or so and it's one fault is you can put a finger through it pretty easily. It lasted in the sun with no issues!
Learned today they do make this tape with a heavier aluminum backing but the Aluminum (and SS is required to get under the window rubber and its actually making a decent seal to the patches.
I'd have needed the aluminum anyway for where I had to get a bit creative on bends
SS and 2 aluminum patches the right side Aluminum had to get a near 90 deg bend back to and under the rubber, with an upwards kick:
Left corner of the right side back window needed the opposite upwards kick - the aluminum is exposed the tape is on the edges:
Left corner of the left side back window need the same upwards kick the horizontal "crease"maps to the body crease:
Back door left side of the window. -easier as the metal went straight up under the rubber:
Same on the right rear door window:
And a simple patch for a hole in the lower right corner of the body it did need a kick to map to the body. not sure why this one rusted, as it had no real avenue for the salt from SF Fog to get to it?
I'll hit these tomorrow on both sides above the gutter:
I know this is not a forever fix, but it's also not a forever rig. Its my camping beater.
I started with the SS patch I made a week back but had not installed. I did that and its in with 6 screws where there is still un-rusted steel. Then, as the SS was several inches too short to cover more I made up aluminum from flashing to cover those and used the same HVAC "repair tap" to attached them. This is the tape that had been covering the holes for 6 years or so and it's one fault is you can put a finger through it pretty easily. It lasted in the sun with no issues!
Learned today they do make this tape with a heavier aluminum backing but the Aluminum (and SS is required to get under the window rubber and its actually making a decent seal to the patches.
I'd have needed the aluminum anyway for where I had to get a bit creative on bends
SS and 2 aluminum patches the right side Aluminum had to get a near 90 deg bend back to and under the rubber, with an upwards kick:
Left corner of the right side back window needed the opposite upwards kick - the aluminum is exposed the tape is on the edges:
Left corner of the left side back window need the same upwards kick the horizontal "crease"maps to the body crease:
Back door left side of the window. -easier as the metal went straight up under the rubber:
Same on the right rear door window:
And a simple patch for a hole in the lower right corner of the body it did need a kick to map to the body. not sure why this one rusted, as it had no real avenue for the salt from SF Fog to get to it?
I'll hit these tomorrow on both sides above the gutter:
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