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

[PugetDude]

personally, I'd go with a brand name VFD for a fair bit more, eg.

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/drives_-a-_soft_starters/ac_variable_frequency_drives_(vfd)/micro_vfds/gs11n-22p0

Much better manual, warranty and support. It's the one I would have gotten if I hadn't sourced a couple of nice Invertek drives off eBay for little money. The cheap Amazon ones do work and work pretty well for most people, but their manuals aren't always the best and support is nonexistent. Plus, they have fairly poor reliability record (caveat - I know several people who have been using theirs for years).

Company I worked for uses a lot of Automation Direct stuff. I'd really like to find an inverter with a front flange mount so can put it in a small Hoffman enclosure with an oversized e-stop below it.
The motor on the mill is 1hp, so i was thinking an inverter in the 1.5kw range, we always oversized them for a performance margin.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

My neighbors and friends are all pumping their pools down. I have friends in northeast Mesa and their backyard floods really easy; they have 2 pumps running and it's still filing up.

 

[LopezBart]

Company I worked for uses a lot of Automation Direct stuff. I'd really like to find an inverter with a front flange mount so can put it in a small Hoffman enclosure with an oversized e-stop below it.
The motor on the mill is 1hp, so i was thinking an inverter in the 1.5kw range, we always oversized them for a performance margin.

I've had a Teco on our Bridgeport for years; they're about $200 now: https://www.surpluscenter.com/Elect...Frequency-Drive-L510-201-H1-U-11-3425-1-A.axd

 

[inphx]

I've had a....

Oh man .. now you have me browsing https://www.surpluscenter.com/ https://www.surpluscenter.com/Catalog/Catalog298.pdf

 

[PugetDude]

Bought a bit from them back when it was Burden's Hydraulics..they were the place to go for log splitter components.

 

[PugetDude]

Nice score on the vertical mill Scott. Looks like a nice piece of equipment. What size is the table? Looks like maybe a 36" or possibly a 42"?

Table measures 27" long on the T-slots, Mike. Compact footprint, perfect for my needs.

 

[Mr.zippy]

How did you weather.....the recent weather?

 

[zmotorsports]

Table measures 27" long on the T-slots, Mike. Compact footprint, perfect for my needs.

Thanks Scott. I didn't know that a table that short existed. Learned something new today. Glad it will fit your needs.

Mine measures 35" and it seems to be adequate for my work envelope. There have only been a handful of times I wish I would have purchased the 9x49, but the 9x35 works great for me the vast majority of the time.

 

[PugetDude]

How did you weather.....the recent weather?

The two mining towns to the east of us (Miami-Globe) are flooding big time. Again...
OK here so far, it's been raining for almost a week. Really unusual here in the Sonoran Desert.
I have pumped my pool down twice, probably going to have to do it agaIn tomorrow.

 

[PugetDude]

Thanks Scott. I didn't know that a table that short existed. Learned something new today. Glad it will fit your needs.

Mine measures 35" and it seems to be adequate for my work envelope. There have only been a handful of times I wish I would have purchased the 9x49, but the 9x35 works great for me the vast majority of the time.

I don't usually need to machine long parts. I guess time will tell if it's going to be adequate..

 

[PugetDude]

Spent the summer at our place in the AZ White Mountains, getting back to work in my garage down in the Valley of the Sun. Apparently there was a packrat organizing my garage while I was away. At least he was a tool aficionado. Sawzall blades, numerous weld pencils, table saw push stick, flap discs, Sharpie, razor blades, pencils, locknut, driver bit, sandpaper, broken plastic grinder guard, candelabra bulb base, 1/4" mounted sanding wheel, bluetooth receiver manual, two Milwaukee Markzalls (preferred 2:1 over Sharpies), buffing wheel, plastic bag and last but not least, the crown jewel of the collection- a small bobcat skull.

 

[PugetDude]

Spent the summer at our place in the AZ White Mountains, getting back to work in my garage down in the Valley of the Sun. Apparently there was a packrat organizing my garage while I was away. At least he was a tool aficionado. Sawzall blades, numerous weld pencils, table saw push stick, flap discs, Sharpie, razor blades, pencils, locknut, driver bit, sandpaper, broken plastic grinder guard, candelabra bulb base, 1/4" mounted sanding wheel, bluetooth receiver manual, two Milwaukee Markzalls (preferred 2:1 over Sharpies), buffing wheel, plastic bag and last but not least, the crown jewel of the collection- a small bobcat skull.

Edit: While I was posting this the little rat ******* darted out, snatched the little pile of nesting material, and disappeared back under the totes somewhere.
War has officially been declared.

 

[Old Man Roger]

lol

Thats a strange group of items for a rat.

 

[PugetDude]

Peanut butter on a rotating water bottle, over a bucket of water with a couple of drops of dawn in it. Friendly little ramp, aka The Stairway to Heaven.
I am now officially licensed (certified on the internet) as a Rodent Removal Technician. I hope to be promoted to Specialist soon, does anyone know the threshold for that? It's my understanding you need a hundred to earn the title of Rat Master Baiter.

 

[SilverJimmy]

I HATE PACK RATS! This RAT ******* was trying to become a resident of my F350!
Time to break out the tried and true Peanut Butter Burrito of Death!

Locked and loaded, put under the hood. Less than 30 minutes later…….
Die MF’R!!!!

Always a perfectly placed kill shot cuz the greedy bastards bite the burrito after a couple tasty licks!
Happy Hunting!

 

[PugetDude]

I HATE PACK RATS! This RAT ******* was trying to become a resident of my F350!
Time to break out the tried and true Peanut Butter Burrito of Death!

Locked and loaded, put under the hood. Less than 30 minutes later…….
Die MF’R!!!!

Always a perfectly placed kill shot cuz the greedy bastards bite the burrito after a couple tasty licks!
Happy Hunting!

The blue towel is a brilliant idea, keeps them from licking the peanut butter off without setting off the trap.

 

[Jgaz]

At least he was busy with his collection and left your wiring alone, we hope.
I just repaired a friend’s Honda element under hood wiring a couple weeks ago.
The pack rats in Cave Creek are relentless!

I have issues from time to time with kangaroo rats.
They look like a field mouse with a long tail that has a tuft of fur on the end.
Those little bastards stay outside (thankfully) and make a hole next to a wall or along the stem wall. Damn, can dig one hell of hole over night.

I use the small plastic clam shell traps with seeds or chopped nuts for bait.
My catch record is five of the little suckers in three days.

My wife calls me the ”rat *******” You think she’s referring to my trapping skills?

 

[PugetDude]

My wife calls me the ”rat *******” You think she’s referring to my trapping skills?

You can only hope.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I feel like the spinning water bottle is going to be treated like one of those gyro lamb and beef tubes.lol

 

[larry4406]

I saw this rebar welded art work and thought of you.

 

[Offcenter12]

I HATE PACK RATS! This RAT ******* was trying to become a resident of my F350!
Time to break out the tried and true Peanut Butter Burrito of Death!

Locked and loaded, put under the hood. Less than 30 minutes later…….
Die MF’R!!!!

Always a perfectly placed kill shot cuz the greedy bastards bite the burrito after a couple tasty licks!
Happy Hunting!

Man, what is it about rats and F-350 Fords? Just kidding about the Ford part, but rats climb under the hood of my 1979 F-350 and make a mess on top of the heater box. Not because it's warm as I don't drive the truck on a regular basis, but have employed the Victor traps also. Have to try the burrito trick.

 

[PugetDude]

Made some progress over the last few days on the ormamental iron project I mentioned earlier (before we got sidetracked by airborne Uhaul trailers and packrats.)
My bride asked me if I could (would?) build her a full size Santa Sleigh in time for our neighborhood Christmas Party. She wants it for a photo booth, so step-in instead of climb-in seemed safer to me, given the neighborhood demographics.
After looking at full size sleighs for inspiration online at $4000-$5000 I felt a budget of $250-$300 would be in line with what I had in mind, especially with the $25 garage sale chandelier for the majority of the scrollwork.

Cutting the chandelier into segments with my Ryobi 3" cutoff tool gave me 8 big multipart scrolls to work with.

Took me a while to mock up the design on my weld table, but eventually the chandelier started to look like a sleigh.
I had a few old sticks of 1/2" square tube and 1/2 x 1-1/2 rectangular tube on hand, so they worked their way into the design
The seat bottom and back supports are 1" square tube trellisses I built a few years ago that got taken down when we remodeled the front courtyard. Cut them down 4" in width and removed the latticework. They bolt in and form the structural backbone of the assembly.

Biggest challenge is making it all knockdown for storage. If i could have just blasted it all together with the MIG gun it would probably be done by now.

Once the weldment was mostly complete (and after I ran out of 75/25 gas) I started mocking up the plywood panels with cardboard, then transfered onto 3/8 plywood. M12 jigsaw and my old Ridgid oscillating spindle sander made quick work out of them.


Here's where it stands so far. Still have to figure out the curved front panel, fab up the cargo compartment and then tear it apart for finish welding, painting and final trimwork.



More to come ..

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I feel like that sleigh is worthy of a test run!

 

[PugetDude]

I feel like that sleigh is worthy of a test run!

I did put it on 1-1/2" casters because I got tired of walking around it to work on it.
Probably would do better behind my truck than my U Haul trailer last week

 

[Mr.zippy]

I did put it on 1-1/2" casters because I got tired of walking around it to work on it.
Probably would do better behind my truck than my U Haul trailer last week

If you flip over Santa's Sleigh like you did the U-Haul trailer, you'll be getting coal in your stocking for life!

 

[larry4406]

Very impressive that you have the eye to see a sleigh thru the cast offs of a chandalier!

 

[LXCam]

That’s very cool Scott.

 

[Finallygotit]

Scott, you sir have an eye for design. I don't think I could have ever seen a sleigh in that chandelier.

Great job!

 

[Jayman17]

Damn all that from an old chandelier ??? Very creative my friend!

 

[PugetDude]

Damn all that from an old chandelier ??? Very creative my friend!

I did get to use my little homemade roller for some of the arc segments. It struggled a bit on the tight radius 1/2" x 1-1/2" runners at the front, no problem with the bend, but it did collapse the tubing somewhat. Didn't matter for this application, still much better than kerfing, welding, and grinding.

 

[Mr.zippy]

I did get to use my little homemade roller for some of the arc segments. It struggled a bit on the tight radius 1/2" x 1-1/2" runners at the front, no problem with the bend, but it did collapse the tubing somewhat. Didn't matter for this application, still much better than kerfing, welding, and grinding.

Will we see some re-bar on this venture?

 

[LXCam]

Will we see some re-bar on this venture?

The obvious choice for candy canes

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Waiting patiently on how Scott is going to incorporate diamond plate.....

 

[PugetDude]

Will we see some re-bar on this venture?

I will have you know that there is almost 2" of 3/8" rebar in this weldment.

 

[PugetDude]

Waiting patiently on how Scott is going to incorporate diamond plate.....

Stay tuned...

 

[Old Man Roger]

You creative types really make me feel like a hack.lol

 

[PugetDude]

After a 5-month wait, today Pinal County Arizona finally issued me a...
.......Building Permit.

Details to follow .

 

[LXCam]

It’s about time. Congrats Scott

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome. Congrats Scott. Looking forward to the build.

 

[Finallygotit]

Cool!