Recent content by VocaTexas

If there is rust on the ways, spray them with a bit of WD-40 and let it soak a few minutes. Then use a razor blade to carefully lift the rust off. You can also use the finest grade of Scotchbite pad if some of it is a bit more stubborn. Any parts that you can easily remove can be soaked in...

I'm building my own bifold doors on my shop. I modeled them off the Schweiss design. One is a 15 high by 20 wide, the other is a 12x12. A good welder in your area should be able to build you one.

I'm hoping somebody can tell me where to find an uncommon wire. I need a 12 gauge 5 conductor wire to power a door opener. These wires run from a rotary drum switch to a 1 hp electric motor. Two hot, two neutral, and a ground. I've searched Lowe's and Home Depot's websites and can't find it. I...

I'm sorry, I should have mentioned I want it to stay on until I turn it off. The winch has to spool up fifteen feet of strap to open the door. That takes over a minute with the gearing the winch has. All I know about the old switch is that it was made by GE a LONG time ago. All the rest of the...

I'm building a horizontal bi-fold door on my shop. For an opener I found a boat lift winch with a 1 hp motor. I tested everything before mounting and it all worked fine. I got the winch mounted and turned the drum switch to raise the door and the shaft inside the switch broke. I now need a drum...

I put these in my shop: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F2WMCP2/?tag=atomicindus08-20 My lights are 17 feet off the floor on the high side and 15 feet on the low side on a 30x34 footprint. I put three rows of six up there and the shop is as bright as daylight. I don't have any real shadows, even...

There are a lot of lock picking videos on You Tube. Surprisingly, most of the locks on the market are not very secure and are easily by-passed if you know how. I'd be willing to bet that lock is one of the easiest. A good locksmith could probably have it open in less than a minute.

If you go with vines, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES plant trumpet vine. It will absolutely destroy a building.

Congrats on the build. On the subject of lights, I bought these and put in my shop recently. I've got 18 of them in three rows of six each. The lights are sixteen feet off the floor and I have NO dark areas, even underneath lathes, and can plainly read the graduations on the lathe dials...

About 20 years ago I built an entire bucket, except for the back, out of 3/32 abrasive resistant plate. I didn't have a plasma torch, so I had the plate cut to my dimensions, brought it home and welded it together to match the original bucket. Steel prices are higher now, so I'm not sure how it...

From what I can tell in the pics, the rust doesn't look that bad YET. It looks like surface rust. Some Evaporust and Scotchbrite pads and it would probably clean up pretty nicely. Hope somebody that can use it gets it instead of a scrapper.

I'm dividing my new shop in half. One half is for welding,fabbing, mechanical work, the other is for my machine tools. I don't want grit on the ways of my lathes and mills.

Building techniques vary from area to area. The way this slab was poured is standard practice in Texas. I've built quite a few metal buildings myself (did it for a living for a while) and I've NEVER seen water wick up a sheet that had a tin ledge. I think the water is getting in around the...

I suggest watching some You Tube videos as well as the Hobby Machinists web site. Videos by Mr. Pete 222 (retired shop teacher), Blondihacks, and Keith Rucker will give you some good basic instruction on running a lathe. Keith Fenner, Abom 79, Steve Summers, and bcbloc02 (Brian Block) will show...

I paid for a 44 inch upper and lower a couple of weeks ago. Used the coupon to get $50 off. The store was out of boxes, but said they had a shipment coming in. When I told the lady I don't get to the town their store is in very often due to distance, she told me if I didn't mind waiting until...