Above 1200 Sq/FT Cleaning Up My Shop

[driftpin]

Resourceful repurposing on the 3-D router cabinet. I agree that trying to get chips as the head moves is a good way to go.

What about introducing a volume of pressurized air (VPA), and then a suction fitting to move the air through some-sort of filter? The VPA would put all the dust in suspension, and then it would filter through the containment mechanism, perhaps with a clean air return to the cabinet? Maybe like a media blasting cabinet, w/gloves, and a source of compressed air, you reach-in and use the compressed air to get the debris in-suspension and filtered. You aim the compressed air gun at the nooks & crannies, and just keep it going until the interior is clean.

 

[drivesitfar]

Andy: as per usual some of your posts FLY over my head so I thought I'd GOOGLE FIFO to see maybe what you meant. well i'm thinking it meant FLY IN AND FLY OUT cause the other meanings just seemed a bit crass.

in any case you might have the nicest router surround i've seen and not sure i've even seen one so WELL DONE!!

remember it's SUNDAY so rest up if you'd like cause with all these Saturdays you are getting a lot accomplished.

good to hear that Hershey has made a full recovery and sounds like the bull has too especially if you have another batch of calves this spring.

cheers and have a great day. PRAYERS SENT!!

we're babysitting our daughter's dog and my bride bought him a noisy monkey toy that I put red duct tape around to protect the noise maker cause he can take it out in about a minute otherwise. he was in our house no more than 30 seconds after not being here for maybe 6 months and he found it. our cat does not approve of him being here so she's hiding.

 

[Craptain]

Drives. FIFO. First in first out.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy the router enclosure has come up well

 

[Guster]

You’ve been away and still got more done than me! Bunch of pages worth…

And finally, They say don't fill a crucible too full, a very great risk of spilling. Is this too full?

Filled to the meniscus as my wife likes to say. Just don’t spill it where it hurts or stains.

Doors are on the router enclosure. I think it's going to work.

The ends are 3/16" off the table top to let air in. Now I have to figure out how to get the chips into the dust collection system as well as the dust. When I put the collection tube into the box I'm thinking it needs to go to the table top and may need to be flat to make sure there is room for the traveling power cables to clear. I'd also like a small hose to go to the router head to pick up as many chips as possible right off the work. No question I'll have to frequently vacuum out the box manually.

That is the nicest looking enclosure I’ve seen in ages. Great re-use too.

Plenty of examples on making a dust shroud and extractor mount on the internet to pick from. Always good to have a separate hose for a wand to do manual clean-up too. I like them simple and the ones with a custom wand that is like a small cup around the cutter seems to strike the best balance with me. Horses for courses. Least your extraction point is the right place. Just needs something to carry the weight of the hose so the gantry doesn’t have to drag it as well.

PS. Careful at Shorty’s! There’s not much to those maid outfits that can’t be instantly undone by a sharp corner or stray burr. Next minute, you share an unspoken intimate acquaintance that will haunt you for ages!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Resourceful repurposing on the 3-D router cabinet. I agree that trying to get chips as the head moves is a good way to go.

What about introducing a volume of pressurized air (VPA), and then a suction fitting to move the air through some-sort of filter? The VPA would put all the dust in suspension, and then it would filter through the containment mechanism, perhaps with a clean air return to the cabinet? Maybe like a media blasting cabinet, w/gloves, and a source of compressed air, you reach-in and use the compressed air to get the debris in-suspension and filtered. You aim the compressed air gun at the nooks & crannies, and just keep it going until the interior is clean.

Thanks for the excellent suggestions! If the cabinet operates under a vacuum a 1" hose directed at the tool might do good. Room air is filtered air. After thinking about it, since I have plenty of compressed air, I may just put in a small nozzle directed at the tool tip. Chips in small cavities need a boost to get them out. If I can get them off the work a low vacuum inlet should keep them from building up too much.

Manual dispersion of the chips is less desirable as it a little like a 3D printer, four hour run times are pretty common. It needs to just do it's thing while I'm nearby listening for substantial sound changes

Andy: as per usual some of your posts FLY over my head so I thought I'd GOOGLE FIFO to see maybe what you meant. well i'm thinking it meant FLY IN AND FLY OUT cause the other meanings just seemed a bit crass.

in any case you might have the nicest router surround i've seen and not sure i've even seen one so WELL DONE!!

remember it's SUNDAY so rest up if you'd like cause with all these Saturdays you are getting a lot accomplished.

good to hear that Hershey has made a full recovery and sounds like the bull has too especially if you have another batch of calves this spring.

cheers and have a great day. PRAYERS SENT!!

we're babysitting our daughter's dog and my bride bought him a noisy monkey toy that I put red duct tape around to protect the noise maker cause he can take it out in about a minute otherwise. he was in our house no more than 30 seconds after not being here for maybe 6 months and he found it. our cat does not approve of him being here so she's hiding.

Funny you didn't find FIFO, it's an accounting term, also use din inventory control, like ingot inventory.

Drives. FIFO. First in first out.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Andy the router enclosure has come up well

Thanks, Steve!! Detail finish is lacking but I have a job waiting. It appears it will go unpainted.

You’ve been away and still got more done than me! Bunch of pages worth…

Filled to the meniscus as my wife likes to say. Just don’t spill it where it hurts or stains.

That is the nicest looking enclosure I’ve seen in ages. Great re-use too.

Plenty of examples on making a dust shroud and extractor mount on the internet to pick from. Always good to have a separate hose for a wand to do manual clean-up too. I like them simple and the ones with a custom wand that is like a small cup around the cutter seems to strike the best balance with me. Horses for courses. Least your extraction point is the right place. Just needs something to carry the weight of the hose so the gantry doesn’t have to drag it as well.

PS. Careful at Shorty’s! There’s not much to those maid outfits that can’t be instantly undone by a sharp corner or stray burr. Next minute, you share an unspoken intimate acquaintance that will haunt you for ages!

Doesn't seem like I'm getting much done, but I think momentum is picking up. I think I have two more rent houses sold.

I should not fill the crucible so full, even though the aluminium has high surface tension and does not spill easily. What happens is if I leave some freeboard I only get three ingots full and the fourth is thin. Really no issue there, but, you know. So when I'm almost done, and the crucible is skimmed and not full, there is the temptation to add the end of a window frame. It just melts right into the crucible and you can feed it until it is FULL then retract the rest.

Thanks for the kind words. I was too cheap to buy plexiglass, then got some from some removed rent house windows (after they break them enough you go back with plastic) and was going to use that when my neighbor (who loans me his bull) started bringing me takeout windows and some of them are very good. I wanted lots of light in the enclosure and broke down and removed the aluminum frames to maximize light area. It still will need some LED's inside, I think.

I'm waffling on the vacuum around the tool now, thinking an air jet may be the ticket since it is all enclosed anyway. I don't like machining chips laying on the work.

It is nice here at Shorty's. Not much going on, I haven't even seen him yet. But there's plenty of food (it keeps appearing) and an old red car I've sanded on some. I see paint and a paint brush so I may paint it for him. Fannie, oooh la la...

 

[Bob Heine]

It is nice here at Shorty's. Not much going on, I haven't even seen him yet. But there's plenty of food (it keeps appearing) and an old red car I've sanded on some. I see paint and a paint brush so I may paint it for him. Fannie, oooh la la...

Andy, you sound like that college kid who was doing summer break handiman work. Went to the rich part of town and knocked on doors. One gentleman said "Great, I want the porch painted. The paint and brush are out back."

A few hours later the kid knocks on the door and tells the man he's all done. He takes the money and then says: "By the way, that's not a Porsche, it's a Ferrari!"

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, you sound like that college kid who was doing summer break handiman work. Went to the rich part of town and knocked on doors. One gentleman said "Great, I want the porch painted. The paint and brush are out back."

A few hours later the kid knocks on the door and tells the man he's all done. He takes the money and then says: "By the way, that's not a Porsche, it's a Ferrari!"

Sounds like the gentleman got a car painted at house painter prices.

 

[Kev442]

Not being an engineer, when my planer was making chips too large and too fast for the shop vacuum attachment to keep up with, I used this to aid the natural breeze the blades make while rotating.
Worked so well I didn't need to stop, I would end up with 30-50 gallons of chips on the tarp I put down.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Interesting concept. My old Belsaw planer needed no vacuum and would make a big pile of chips. My new Grizzley planer requires a vacuum to work. I don't know if a fan would help or not. However the vacuum works well. My goal with the the router enclosure is only to keep the dust and chips out of the shop, computer which drives it, and the storage drawers next to it. When I put in my central vacuum system the shop suddenly became cleaner. It doesn't catch everything, but most, and the air is always clear. The router makes lots of fine dust and needs an enclosure for operator comfort. Thanks for the comments!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Wife wanted eggs for breakfast yesterday. I only had two, which would work, after I broke them into a bowl to scramble I noticed the carton said use by 4-**-18. I'm not much on following use by dates, and these didn't smell, but my wife is too fragile to get food poisoning. So the dogs got them.

That's Hershey and her friend from across the road. They really are friends. Hershey shared the eggs with her.

My oil burner has been taking pretty regular adjustment because I'm not filtering the oil very well and the control valve (a gate) is plugging up often. I can snap it open and back to position and clear the blockage, but I have to be right there. I knew I had an old oil filter housing some place so I found it today.

Got it cleaned up and I'm collecting fittings.

My new offset vise arrived today.

The hand is there for the scale. The slide is a little sloppy but it will work just fine. Very nice for the price.

I did eight heats today and made some ingots and one trivet.

Almost got enough for another 75# bucket. I'll weigh them tomorrow.

A friend referred a guy to me I'd never met. He brought me an engine to melt down.

He called it a double overhead cam, but it's a single overhead cam, just has two heads. Iron block but lots of luscious aluminum.

When strangers start bringing me aluminum I'm feeling lucky.

Decided to put up a shower rod to manage the cords for the router. Picture is through the window. I think it will work well. Slick copper.

More to come!

 

[oldironfarmer]

The ears on my home made crucible are getting thin and bending. I think they were 5/16" bolts before they lost their threads and more material.

I've been using it for 18 months, at least 250 heat cycles. It's 304 SS and I run it up to 1,600F regularly, which is well above the continuous operating temperature. The whole shell has scaled off a lot of thickness. But I was surprised when I started inspecting it.

The cracks went almost all the way around. Only a few of the thicker welds had not cracked through.

It was in no danger of leaking, the inside has a thick layer of hard scale in the bottom but if it cracked all the way around the bottom could have fallen off. So it's time to do a crucible turnaround. If you're not familiar with refineries, a turnaround (or shutdown) is when you take part of the equipment out of service and do the maintenance required to get the next expected run out of it. During operations the inspection, operations, and maintenance departments make plans for what they think needs to be done when the equipment is available for maintenance. And there may be upgrades planned (capital projects) which change the design of the equipment. So, I'm taking my crucible out of service to inspect, repair found defects, and make it ready for a couple of hundred more heat cycles. The ears will be replaced with 3/8" 304 SS bolts I bought in anticipation of the turnaround. So changing from 5/16" to 3/8" is a change of design and requires all the necessary approvals before proceeding. In this case we had to make sure the pouring shank would still fit with the larger ears. Part of the design change was to raise the ears closer to the top to give the pouring shank hooks more room to grab the crucible by the ears. It was also decided to reverse the ears and have the bolt heads act as an additional restraint. If one ear should break off the bolt head may keep the crucible from being dropped.

Cracks ground out and old ears removed, and bolts cut to length.

Ears welded on

Unit complete waiting for operations to put it back in service.

Thanks for stopping in!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy nice looking vise.

Your up to your ears in aluminium commercial quantities even well done

 

[Grizz1963]

Morning Andy,

Dogs being best friends reminds me of 20 years ago when I lived in Cape Town, South Africa, I had a Standard Poodle, Charka at the time and he had a best mate from over the street too, Kenny. They did everything together as well.

Your new vine/vice looks lovely.

What sort of jobs were they originally designed for?

 

[jbmatth]

Good explanation of the turnaround on the crucible, luckily (I'm sure there wasn't much luck involved just good oversight while making your rounds) you caught the crack before it caught you by surprise. Good score on that engine, it aught to make some fine ingots.

JB

 

[Rex_A_Lott]

Offset vise. I never knew there was such a critter, but I have sure seen many times I could have used one! Just another little thing I have learned from this thread.
Being in the maintenance field, I am very familiar with the term, shutdown. Never heard it called a turnaround though. One of my navy buddies is in the nuclear power industry, they call them outages. Whatever you call it, it usually starts with a grand plan, which goes out the window when the first big "Oh ****" comes along.
Thanks for keeping us up to date, Good Luck to You.

 

[Craptain]

Offset vise. I never knew there was such a critter, but I have sure seen many times I could have used one! Just another little thing I have learned from this thread.

I currently have one for sale though it's much older and potentially collectible than Andy's.


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

Andy: lots of stuff going on since i last had a few minutes to read your posts. my ears really perked up when you said OFFSET VISE so do tell what brand/maker is selling new ones? I'd like to find an old DAWN (made in Australia) offset vice someday, but I don't really need one. let us know how you like it and if you have a few action pics to show us how it's works with long stuff all the better.

good to hear you sold a couple rental homes so you'll have some extra funds for who knows what or maybe to pay off some non covered medical bills if nothing else comes to mind.

saying that it's been a while since you drove home a new hot rod.

have a great SATURDAY!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy nice looking vise.

Your up to your ears in aluminium commercial quantities even well done

Thanks, Steve!! The vise was not expensive but will fill the need. Now I've got to build a stand for it. Plan is a stand for my stretcher, shrinker, vise, and bead roller. Portable. Within my lifetime.

I'm having so much fun making ingots I can't do much of anything else.

Morning Andy,

Dogs being best friends reminds me of 20 years ago when I lived in Cape Town, South Africa, I had a Standard Poodle, Charka at the time and he had a best mate from over the street too, Kenny. They did everything together as well.

Your new vine/vice looks lovely.

What sort of jobs were they originally designed for?

First time I've seen dogs get on this well.

Offset vise eliminates the throat depth issues, so you can work on the end of a 3 ft item, for example.

Good explanation of the turnaround on the crucible, luckily (I'm sure there wasn't much luck involved just good oversight while making your rounds) you caught the crack before it caught you by surprise. Good score on that engine, it aught to make some fine ingots.

JB

Thanks, I think turnaround is pretty much a refinery specific term. There was some luck. I had been busily using it, and since it is hot most of the time I don't pick it up except with the crucible tongs. I was quite surprised to see the cracks, like the day you see smoke coming from under lagging on a vessel, and when you strip the insulation you find a through crack.

Offset vise. I never knew there was such a critter, but I have sure seen many times I could have used one! Just another little thing I have learned from this thread.
Being in the maintenance field, I am very familiar with the term, shutdown. Never heard it called a turnaround though. One of my navy buddies is in the nuclear power industry, they call them outages. Whatever you call it, it usually starts with a grand plan, which goes out the window when the first big "Oh ****" comes along.
Thanks for keeping us up to date, Good Luck to You.

I learned about offset vices on Garage Journal, and after letting it soak in decided I needed one. We'll see how it works.

In refineries we use the terms Turnaround, or T/A, shutdown, and occasionally outage. When I worked in the nuclear power industry they were outages. I think all electrical power system shutdowns are called outages. Not sure why refineries are different. Maybe because the equipment suffers more damage in use. During a run you can have unexpected shutdowns, but a turnaround is planned and thorough to bring everything back up to full capacity.

But you're right about the first "Oh ****!". Then you scramble to modify the plans to save the schedule if at all possible. That's the part of the work I love and was good at. Figuring out how to shoehorn all the original work plus additional work into a tight site. Having to bring new equipment you fabricate offsite in a rush and install at the last minute and still get it connected, tested, and operational with the rest of the plant. I thrive on 7-13's.

I currently have one for sale though it's much older and potentially collectible than Andy's.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

So why aren't we seeing price and pictures? As long as I'm stuck in Shorty's shop waiting on the French Maid with fishnets I might as well bring something worthwhile home.

Andy: lots of stuff going on since i last had a few minutes to read your posts. my ears really perked up when you said OFFSET VISE so do tell what brand/maker is selling new ones? I'd like to find an old DAWN (made in Australia) offset vice someday, but I don't really need one. let us know how you like it and if you have a few action pics to show us how it's works with long stuff all the better.

good to hear you sold a couple rental homes so you'll have some extra funds for who knows what or maybe to pay off some non covered medical bills if nothing else comes to mind.

saying that it's been a while since you drove home a new hot rod.

have a great SATURDAY!!

I posted the link recently. It's a China Special, fabricated, not cast. But the jaws go in and out when you turn the handle.

All ten are going to be sold, but mainly because I don't want to be occupied managing them. The rental income is worth more than the capital but they are all free and clear so Uncle Sam will be happy at last.

Funny you should mention uncovered medical bills. We've never had any. Medicare and inexpensive supplemental insurance keeps our actual out of pocket costs to a minimum and my wife's brain cancer and subsequent operations ten years ago cost a bundle. But not to us.

I've got to build a storage garage before I can bring anything else home. Hmmm, maybe a rent house would pay for a garage...

I did get my oil filter installed on the fuel supply to the foundry furnace.

I guess I'm uptown, the filter is used primarily on Jaguars and Lincolns.

Made a fancy air nozzle for the chip blower on the router enclosure.

Ran the air line to a rotary valve with gauge.

I had an old coil hose I've never used so it makes a good self retractor for the supply to a moving gantry.

I think the air nozzle will miss the work but we'll see how it works.

If it does not perform as advertised the next option is an air ring around the tool fed from the same supply, with four or six holes drilled at an angle to direct air to the tool tip. Might provide some cooling too!

I keep using fittings from my $10 auction box. I've used a couple hundred dollars' worth it seems.

Thanks for looking in!

 

[Farmall450]

Good explanation of the turnaround on the crucible, luckily (I'm sure there wasn't much luck involved just good oversight while making your rounds) you caught the crack before it caught you by surprise. Good score on that engine, it aught to make some fine ingots.

JB

Agreed on the crack; it's funny what you find when you look at what is right in front of you.

 

[Grizz1963]

Absolutely impressive stuff.

I love mods like the blower, beats a stop start brush or even with your own face blowing.

Your progress is great.

 

[bj383ss]

Andy your air nozzle setup looks great!

Bret

 

[drivesitfar]

Andy: pretty creative use of SPARE PARTS and hope the new air works like you think it should.

yep you can maybe put a few bucks into some local suppliers and builder's hands if you might need another SHOP/GARAGE build. maybe one for just your finished cars with another lift for maintenance so you can free up some space in your current garage/shop?

nice fix on the crucible too.

enjoy your Saturday

i'm very happy you had the extra medical insurance like my parent's do. we'll be getting it too and hope it's around for our kids at a price that isn't like a mortgage payment.

 

[njhoudini]

If it does not perform as advertised the next option is an air ring around the tool fed from the same supply, with four or six holes drilled at an angle to direct air to the tool tip. Might provide some cooling too!

Very nice air nozzle mod! I wonder if you could also incorporate some sort of brushed or skirted surround. Looks like you have plenty of clearance, but the challenge would be getting a vacuum hose integrated into the lovely chamber. Something like this perhaps?

Google shows lots of different designs, I think my favorite was with a clear skirt so you could watch the item being routed.

Pretty certain you could work out the particulars into a sleek design. Another option instead of the brush/skirt could be to direct the debris towards one side of the chamber and vacuum everything out through strategically placed holes.

 

[Bob Heine]

Eugene, I don't know about that first one. Andy would have to find a broom.

 

[dchance]

Andy
Good to see you doing well and that you managed to handle all of the surprises in the unexpected turn around.

Dwight

 

[jimreed2160]

So I was popping some aluminum rivets today and the lightweight posts did not eject properly from the tool. But a few taps from my Andyluminum hammer and they just scrambled out.

 

[jblnut]

Good thing it wasn't up to me to design the air nozzle. I'm picturing a leaf blower with a light switch to activate turbo jet mode. It'd work but wouldn't fit in with the rest of your nice things.

The case around the router is slick, it'd sure be neat to have a vacuum table to **** the debris down and away that the nozzle blows out of the way .....

 

[oldironfarmer]

Agreed on the crack; it's funny what you find when you look at what is right in front of you.

Yeah, sometimes you can't believe it hasn't already broken.

Absolutely impressive stuff.

I love mods like the blower, beats a stop start brush or even with your own face blowing.

Your progress is great.

Thanks for the kind words!!

I was using a shop vacuum to clear debris away before but there was lots of stuff flying around the room. Not ideal for a computer driving the router. So I had run a 4" vacuum line over to the router area and made the box to allow the vacuum to pull in the chips. The air nozzle is just to get the chips off the work, the vacuum should take it from there.

Andy your air nozzle setup looks great!

Bret

Thanks Bret! The opening may be a little large. The plan is to pinch it a little after I see how it does while the router is making chips. Might go all the way to a MIG tip with an eductor sleeve around it, but this will get us going.

Andy: pretty creative use of SPARE PARTS and hope the new air works like you think it should.

yep you can maybe put a few bucks into some local suppliers and builder's hands if you might need another SHOP/GARAGE build. maybe one for just your finished cars with another lift for maintenance so you can free up some space in your current garage/shop?

nice fix on the crucible too.

enjoy your Saturday

i'm very happy you had the extra medical insurance like my parent's do. we'll be getting it too and hope it's around for our kids at a price that isn't like a mortgage payment.

Thanks, Drives! I try to modify as I go and things always work that way.

I don't like hiring contractors, so I'll probably just build the garage myself and hire a guy here and there. That way it gets done like I like (which is pretty low dollar, you've seen my electrical).

Medicare supplemental insurance is pretty cheap, and with zero copays we are seldom out of pocket for anything except a little on medicine. Zero cost for the last several ER visits. Her Neurologist does hit us for $75 per visit but I don't complain.

Very nice air nozzle mod! I wonder if you could also incorporate some sort of brushed or skirted surround. Looks like you have plenty of clearance, but the challenge would be getting a vacuum hose integrated into the lovely chamber. Something like this perhaps?

Google shows lots of different designs, I think my favorite was with a clear skirt so you could watch the item being routed.

Pretty certain you could work out the particulars into a sleek design. Another option instead of the brush/skirt could be to direct the debris towards one side of the chamber and vacuum everything out through strategically placed holes.

I don't want a skirt so I can see the action and stop it if something goes astray. Especially important when starting. I finally got the vacuum extended through the roof and within two inches of the floor.

The side walls have 3/16" gap under them to let the air in.

That's the whole idea of the enclosure, keep the chips out of the room and air. The Zip tool has a cooling blower which helps clear the chips, but I thought a little air would get them off the table. I put a few handfuls of chips on the table and the air knocked them right off and the vacuum picked most of them up. I don't mind if it builds up several inches away from the work. I can always brush them toward the vacuum when I'm taking the work off or changing tools.

Eugene, I don't know about that first one. Andy would have to find a broom.

Walmart has brooms, I just never remember to buy one so I wind up cobbling something together at home.

Andy
Good to see you doing well and that you managed to handle all of the surprises in the unexpected turn around.

Dwight

Technically, the turnaround itself was not unexpected. I was watching the lift ears slowly deteriorate (you would too at 2,000F) and took the shutdown when I was getting nervous about their integrity. The bottom really cracked me up, though. I keep E-309 and ER-309 around for stuff like this. It will stick just about anything to anything else. When our Sun Oil welding expert from Philadelphia saw what we could do with it, he called it OMR. (Oklahoma Miracle Rod)

So I was popping some aluminum rivets today and the lightweight posts did not eject properly from the tool. But a few taps from my Andyluminum hammer and they just scrambled out.

You just tickle me pink! Keeping it out where you can use it and finding it works as advertised and letting us know is absolutely wonderful. Thank you!

By the way, I hope the handle fits your hand. My handles are kind of funky.

Good thing it wasn't up to me to design the air nozzle. I'm picturing a leaf blower with a light switch to activate turbo jet mode. It'd work but wouldn't fit in with the rest of your nice things.

The case around the router is slick, it'd sure be neat to have a vacuum table to **** the debris down and away that the nozzle blows out of the way .....

You know I started out thinking about an air ring with small holes, then thought about a MIG tip with a eductor sleeve, then got cheap and make a nozzle. Story of my life. I have good ideas but then I always wimp out.

Like I mentioned, the case is for the vacuum. I would, however, like a vacuum hold down to keep the work in place.

Sad news. I spent most of today trying to get my router to run. The computer I have for is will not come on. Push the button and the button turns yellow not green. It just checks the floppy drives and waits. So I finally gave in and took a computer form the house. Loaded Mach3 on it and can't get it to work. I've used Mach3 on this computer before, I originally bought it for the router. Spent four hours on it and quit pissed.

I did make a trivet this morning, and loaded up another 75# into a bucket.

I'm so glad I'm not a hoarder. That's 450# of ingots and muffins there boys. And my working pile has diminished.

Thanks for stopping in. I've been too busy to visit around so bear with me. I'll be back before long.

 

[dchance]

Looks to me like you are getting ready for winter. I hope that the amount of work that you have stacked up to keep warm with is no indication that we are in for a long cold spell.

Dwight

 

[oldironfarmer]

Looks to me like you are getting ready for winter. I hope that the amount of work that you have stacked up to keep warm with is no indication that we are in for a long cold spell.

Dwight

Hmmuh. White man has three stacks!!



Well guys, it's been a tough day. Hershey is officially missing. Her buddy she was constantly with is moping around. She didn't come home last night nor this morning. She is always here in the morning. I drove around our square mile and didn't see her in the road. That's good. But there are 4,000 acres of wild government land across from us and she could have tangled with a bobcat or coyote, maybe a mountain lion or wild boar, and she is fearless. It hurts but we intentionally let her be a free agent to go and do as she liked and she had a tremendous life here. She is also skinny with no tag so someone may have picked her up. We've posted pictures on Facebook. While I was out looking I met a guy down the road, who knew her but hadn't seen her, tried to give me his dog.

Her name is Cali. I have a second cousin named Callie Rose. This dog is well trained, knows several commands, very well house broken. He's moving to a rental house where he can't have a dog and was very concerned about finding a good home. I told Sharon about her, thinking she would say no. Instead she said when can you get her. If Hershey makes it back home I guess we'll just have two. They'll be friends.

 

[drivesitfar]

Andy: sorry to hear Hershey is missing, but maybe she's just taking a WALK A BOUT and she'll be back soon. saying extra prayers for her and you and your bride tonight.

glad you helped the neighbor find some peace with knowing that his old best friend will have a good home and i'm sure Hershey will approve.

might be time to take the show car out on the fields to see if maybe Hershey is hung up somewhere and just needs a bit of help to come home?

good luck!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Along with the turmoil over Hershey (my woodcutter is upset too) I worked and worked on the CNC router issues. Finally I decided to order new software and install it fresh. Turns out when I went to their website they offer a Vista patch (and my new CNC computer is Vista) so that loaded OK. The the router would not hear the commands. Just sit there. Another couple of hours and I figured out how to turn the XYZ signals on. Then Z was backwards and no indication in the manual how to reverse it. So I made some manual cuts to test out the vacuum/blower combination.

Cut a three level well. This is without cleaning chips. The air jet does great.

I tried lot's of stuff and stumbled on how to reverse the Z axis. Selecting a "low select" box, or something similar. Too late and too tired to put another piece of wood in so I cut a gear pattern I had made. The hub area had already been cut out.

As it got deeper the chips still cleaned out nicely.

This is as deep as it went (I had the Z elevated a bit for safety). Gearing up for sand casting.

No cleaning except for the jet and vacuum. The pile of chips under the vacuum riser is unchanged, but there's not much accumulation of new chips.

And the gap under the left wall is keeping the floor swept clean.

The right end had not been cleaned prior to routing but is away from the chip production.

All in all I feel like it is a success and will work well. There will be lots of chips on the floor but not on the work as best I can tell.

Busy day tomorrow so there may be no shed time, but at least the router is back online.

Thanks for looking in!

 

[dchance]

Andy,
Great to see the router back to working.

Sad about Hershey.

Dwight

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy: sorry to hear Hershey is missing, but maybe she's just taking a WALK A BOUT and she'll be back soon. saying extra prayers for her and you and your bride tonight.

glad you helped the neighbor find some peace with knowing that his old best friend will have a good home and i'm sure Hershey will approve.

might be time to take the show car out on the fields to see if maybe Hershey is hung up somewhere and just needs a bit of help to come home?

good luck!!

Many thanks, Mr. Drives!

Had her buddy been missing too I would have more hope.

She didn't run on our farm much because she was scared of the cattle (a very good thing). So that leaves several thousand acres of thick brush with a wide variety of creatures.

She may limp in in a few days. Or not. We will handle it but I sure miss her. I miss her standing with her paws on my shoulders looking me in the eyes.

 

[don long]

Andy
I just watch and try to learn from your projects
I am very thick headed and learning new tricks is not easy for me so I don't say much. I will say thank you for sharing even the stuff I don't understand.

Hope Hersey shows back up soon

Don

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy I trust Hershey turns up soon...

Well done one the router

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Andy, you may have a better source for spin ons than I do, but I found these type things

http://www.filterprofilters.com/?product=25-micron-7-x-32-filter-bag

to be much more economical. One sock is good for 10-1500 gal of veggie oil, depending how bad it is. Just store away from rats between uses, or they are done for. Let a drum or IBC tote settle in the sun a day or two, then pump or pour all but the bottom funk through the filter. Not being in California, you might need another plan in winter.
other sizes http://www.filterprofilters.com/

Hopefully Hershey is just out having an adventure.

 

[Grizz1963]

Good luck to Hershey, let’s hope she is busy somewhere.

And of course Cali will be a good thing.

Glad Sharon was straight onto and into Cali.

I have house and yard work today, been too long out of the garage though.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Hope to see Hershey soon. Who can tell what Cali is meant to bring into your family, that would not have come had Hershey not turned up missing? His path may prove to become a legacy! His return will surely be a blessing. I'm with you Andy. Bobby