What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[Outlawmws]

Had to catch up again...

Your title may be short but I would sure as hell hate to write your job description

I wrote out my functional Job Description 9 months before I actually retired. is started at 12 pages of bullet notes as breif as possble, and grew to 16 before I left the building... My boss (Head of legal) and my replacement were very appreciative.

BTW: We're on page 1960 of this thread. I was born in 1960. My birthday is two weeks away.

Coincidence?

it'll probably be into the 1970's before then...

 

[Beerhippie]

Back at the training wheels project today.

I've been making the spacers to fit for the "long" tables that tend to dump lengthwise:



but that means individually scribing each one in place, marking it for location, running back to the shop to cut it, back out front to install, deciphering my location code....

So I said screw it. They're picinic tables, after all.



One size mostly fits all.

Got the four remaining long tables done before the yard got crowded. Now it's Sunday.

Maybe I'll work on the Brick some this afternoon... or maybe I'll just have a beer and relax.

 

[niget2002]

Esp32 coding on a weatherstation display.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I wrote out my functional Job Description 9 months before I actually retired. is started at 12 pages of bullet notes as breif as possble, and grew to 16 before I left the building... My boss (Head of legal) and my replacement were very appreciative.

It took a year to train my replacement. She carried a notebook for that year. I found out later that notebook spawned into an entire shelf. I saw some of them, they were pretty much bullet points. I never imagined that my job was that complex.

The pisser? A crony manager, who replaced mine, handed that job to someone else, another crony, after I left, and he threw the notebooks away. He mis-performed and gave so many improper orders that the agency had to fend off thousands of suits. The entertainment value was great.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Esp32 coding on a weatherstation display.

Did you build your own weather station, or are you scraping the weather channel?

 

[kaymccampbell]

Looked at the **** building up on my bench and caned my way upstairs.

 

[niget2002]

Did you build your own weather station, or are you scraping the weather channel?

Weather station is am ambient weather brand. I'm using an ecowitt receiver to push the data to my HA. The display is using the HA api to pull the values.

I only started this project because the ambient weather base station's back light went out. It still works for pushing to the cloud, but you can't read it. I wasn't going to bother replacing it, but I didn't realize how often we actually used it. This Esp32 based display was 1/3 the cost of the actual replacement display.

 

[Beerhippie]

^ You don't need a weather station to know which way the wind blows, to paraphrase Bobby Z.

I've always wanted one--but not badly enough to spend $300-1,000.

 

[Mike S.]

This weekend I learned how to zinc plate old fasteners and hardware for my restorations. I had been looking at the Caswell kit for several years, but never pulled the trigger. This past week I did a little searching and found out that it can be done with normal household materials for very little money.

I bought some Epsom salt, an aquarium ariator/bubbler and zinc plates. I already had the rest of the items.

It took some trial and error to find the correct mixture. After that was sorted, I was really pleased with the results.

 

[larry4406]

This weekend I learned how to zinc plate old fasteners and hardware for my restorations. I had been looking at the Caswell kit for several years, but never pulled the trigger. This past week I did a little searching and found out that it can be done with normal household materials for very little monet.

I bought some Epsom salt, an aquarium ariator/bubbler and zinc plates. I already had the rest of the items.

It took some trial and error to find the correct mixture. After that was sorted, I was really pleased with the results.

Impressive!

 

[Old Man Roger]

It took a year to train my replacement. She carried a notebook for that year. I found out later that notebook spawned into an entire shelf. I saw some of them, they were pretty much bullet points. I never imagined that my job was that complex.

The pisser? A crony manager, who replaced mine, handed that job to someone else, another crony, after I left, and he threw the notebooks away. He mis-performed and gave so many improper orders that the agency had to fend off thousands of suits. The entertainment value was great.

Was this at the Pentagon or the DOJ or area 51?

 

[Outlawmws]

Was this at the Pentagon or the DOJ or area 51?

She could tell you, but then she would have to kill you...

 

[Old Man Roger]

She could tell you, but then she would have to kill you...

Unless it was Area 51, then it might be even worse.lol

 

[Beerhippie]

Unless it was Area 51, then it might be even worse.lol

Prepare the **** probes!

 

[Outlawmws]

It took a year to train my replacement. She carried a notebook for that year.

We were very lucky to 1} find someone with similar skill sets and experience as me, and 2) get her hired. As it was she shadowed me for a month and then I shadowed her the the second month. All by zoom.

Several companies over my career tried to find "another me" and failed - not even a candidate. She was the first, (out of 7 candidates that round) and the only one to measure up.

 

[niget2002]

^ You don't need a weather station to know which way the wind blows, to paraphrase Bobby Z.

I've always wanted one--but not badly enough to spend $300-1,000.

I was using mine to provide local rain amounts to my irrigation system. It worked awesome until the city started putting us on restricted watering days. I asked if they made exceptions for smart watering systems that only watered what the yard needed even if it was on a nonapproved day and they said no.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Was this at the Pentagon or the DOJ or area 51?

None of the above, but it did raise the ire of the AFT, FBI, and DEA, along with so many provider, client and patient suits.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I was using mine to provide local rain amounts to my irrigation system. It worked awesome until the city started putting us on restricted watering days. I asked if they made exceptions for smart watering systems that only watered what the yard needed even if it was on a nonapproved day and they said no.

Stupid AHJ.

 

[Snip's]

This weekend I learned how to zinc plate old fasteners and hardware for my restorations. I had been looking at the Caswell kit for several years, but never pulled the trigger. This past week I did a little searching and found out that it can be done with normal household materials for very little monet.

I bought some Epsom salt, an aquarium ariator/bubbler and zinc plates. I already had the rest of the items.

It took some trial and error to find the correct mixture. After that was sorted, I was really pleased with the results.

Very nice results, I've wanted to try zinc plating...
Care to share your formula and procedure?...
I've been doing nickel plating and instead of an aquarium bubbler, I put my solution in a glass jar and then use my ultrasonic tank...
I fill the tank with tap water and use the built in heater to warm the water surrounding the glass jar...
The ultrasonic energy does an excellent job of dispersing the gas bubbles from sticking to the parts being plated...

 

[Old Man Roger]

None of the above, but it did raise the ire of the AFT, FBI, and DEA, along with so many provider, client and patient suits.

Yet you still don’t mention the department, you a spy.

 

[Outlawmws]

Yet you still don’t mention the department, you a spy.

So? Your browser is a spy... Just sayin'.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Yet you still don’t mention the department, you a spy.

In those days I supported the Office of Mental Health and it's 23 hospitals, 2 research facilities, 4 prisons, a central reference lab, 15,000 employees, and roughly 1 million patients, in and out. It was an amazing couple of decades.

 

[coldh2o]

We were very lucky to 1} find someone with similar skill sets and experience as me, and 2) get her hired. As it was she shadowed me for a month and then I shadowed her the the second month. All by zoom.

Several companies over my career tried to find "another me" and failed - not even a candidate. She was the first, (out of 7 candidates that round) and the only one to measure up.

No doubt a tough measure, with that level of humility

 

[Outlawmws]

No doubt a tough measure, with that level of humility

Not trying to be arrogant or cocky. I spent a fair part of my early career wondering why people doing the same stuff were so inept. I wound up supervising people way older than me before I was in my 20's; some had been at it for decades. and after 4-5 changed career paths, it kept happening.

About 20 years back the VP I worked for assigned me to a client that the project was imploding - doing it on overtime - (I had my own clients in the day time) we dumped the fool that messed it up and my VP came in several days and worked under me (His request) to get it fixed - because I was the "fixer"...

That was a common theme throughout the 50 + years I worked.

 

[Outlawmws]

Found the painful error hiding in my fed taxes and saved $17K in taxes...

 

[2001ZR2]

Friday night Facebook marketplace purchase...no beer involved.

1st pic is right before I cleaned it with extra soap from washing a truck.

2nd picture is after I washed and then cleaned with 0000 steel wool and mineral spirits. Note the discoloration on the lid is gone is as is the blue paint. Sadly the labels didn't make it...they start coming off when washed with the car wash stuff....removed them completely.

Found a craftsman ignition wrench and 3/4" combo wrench.

Still looking to see if I wax it will it look better. Might paint drawer inside bottoms due to some rust and possibly the drawer fronts.

Definitely will clean and paint inside bottom of the box. Mice messed up the paint...just surface rust for now.

Realized the handle on the top middle drawer is bent.

Been fighting some birds that like to enlarge the holes woodpeckers make in my original siding. So been sheet metal patches from duct material. Getting too good at them and can make one in about 5 minutes if I have material on hand. I also hate ladder work so having bring out the extension ladder and go up 25-42 feet is not something I relish.

Also been working on staining trim for the new windows and hanging new window treatments. Gotta keep the wife happy.

Did get two trucks washed so the cart set up for this was used. I love it when a plan comes together to quote the A team.

 

[Beerhippie]

^How did you get it so clean without beer?

 

[Old Man Roger]

^How did you get it so clean without beer?

He lied about the beer.

 

[Mike S.]

Very nice results, I've wanted to try zinc plating...
Care to share your formula and procedure?...
I've been doing nickel plating and instead of an aquarium bubbler, I put my solution in a glass jar and then use my ultrasonic tank...
I fill the tank with tap water and use the built in heater to warm the water surrounding the glass jar...
The ultrasonic energy does an excellent job of dispersing the gas bubbles from sticking to the parts being plated...

Thanks, I stumbled across these instructions which work pretty well.

Zinc Plating on the Cheap – Christian Moist

www.cmoist.com

I'm not using the corn syrup, however.

I've learned that too much salt and sugar causes the plating to become bumpy. After backing it down a couple of times, the finish has become much more smooth and chrome-like.

The only "expensive" item that you'll need is an adjustable power supply. If you're already doing nickel plating, then I'm sure you already have that sorted out.

I never thought about using an ultrasonic cleaner. I might have to finally pick one up.

 

[Itinerant]

Disassembled a dead deck chair and put the metal bits in the recycle bin. Repurposed the fabric as a table cover while I continued working on the Athol.

 

[DGersic]

This morning, my paper shredder failed, it won’t stop running. There must be something that it uses to sense paper in the input slot. Hoping for an easy fix, dirty stuck switch, I took it apart.



It’s dirty. Shop vac removed most of the paper dust.




They used an opto pair to sense paper. Cleaning the optics didn’t help. So much for the hopes of an easy fix.




Some reverse engineering says that the clear one is the transmitter. It still lights up, but it’s really dim. The dark one is the receiver, and it seems to work using an old VCR remote as an IR source.

As a side quest, I’ve used a digital camera as an IR viewer before. An iPhone will not work for this, they filter IR at the camera. I had to dig out an old camera and get it working again.

Checking my stash, I found a transmitter. I think I bought the pair when fixing an Indiana Jones pinball machine, bunch of years ago. Needed the receiver, kept the transmitter for “someday”.




Using the specs on the package, I need a 70 ohm current limiting resistor for this LED on a 12V supply. Don’t have. Daisy chained a 47, two 10 ohm, and a “2.7 ohm”. Testing it, seems to work.




Except the “2.7” is really a “270”. Not sure how my supposed supply of 2.7 ohm resistors ended up as mis-labeled 270s. But that works, and puts me close enough to 330 ohm, and I have those.

Removed the old 470 ohm resistor from the logic board, installed a 330 ohm. Buttoned it back up, and returned it to my office.

 

[Beerhippie]

@DGersic : I just run mine manually since the sensor up and quit on me.

But kudos for the above and beyond rescue!

 

[kaymccampbell]

@DGersic Slick. Good call using the remote to test the receiver. Did it shut down the shredder when you clicked it?

 

[DGersic]

@DGersic Slick. Good call using the remote to test the receiver. Did it shut down the shredder when you clicked it?

I just bench tested it with my DVM on the receiver. Point the remote at it, press a button, watch the meter respond.

 

[DGersic]

@DGersic : I just run mine manually since the sensor up and quit on me.

But kudos for the above and beyond rescue!

I was thinking it would be easy. Just a few screws, pull out a bit of paper sticking a microswitch mechanism, something like that.

“We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy.”

If I didn’t have the transmitter on hand already, I may have done something else.

 

[TheClaw]

This weekend I learned how to zinc plate old fasteners and hardware for my restorations. I had been looking at the Caswell kit for several years, but never pulled the trigger. This past week I did a little searching and found out that it can be done with normal household materials for very little money.

I bought some Epsom salt, an aquarium ariator/bubbler and zinc plates. I already had the rest of the items.

It took some trial and error to find the correct mixture. After that was sorted, I was really pleased with the results.

This is on my list of things to do soon. I've had buddies try it and send parts away and do all kinds of things like that. I'd like to be able to do it at home.

 

[larry4406]

Thanks, I stumbled across these instructions which work pretty well.

Zinc Plating on the Cheap – Christian Moist

www.cmoist.com

I'm not using the corn syrup, however.

I've learned that too much salt and sugar causes the plating to become bumpy. After backing it down a couple of times, the finish has become much more smooth and chrome-like.

The only "expensive" item that you'll need is an adjustable power supply. If you're already doing nickel plating, then I'm sure you already have that sorted out.

I never thought about using an ultrasonic cleaner. I might have to finally pick one up.

Thanks for the link!

 

[imagineer]

Added smoke / fume extraction to the powder coat oven and laser engraver. I replaced the basement window glass with 1/4" plexi to hold the dryer vent. There's blast gate at each source. Eventually, I'll add another "Y" to connect in the paint booth that will be in the corner.

Regarding the ducting, it might not look like much, but it took over 2 frustrating hours to fit the hose and fittings together

 

[bugnut]

Spent time trying to fix the Ford 2000 tractor carb. After taking this off and on, many, many, times, spending hours on the web and YT I started double and triple checking everything to logically resolve the leaking after shutoff issue. I intend to create another posting with all the details as I could not locate one with details and images and figured if I got it solved I should record for other souls. So final resolution was to reset the float. Trying to determine the spring orientation required matching the wear marks to the spring. Will double check today with more gas in the tank but it finally worked correctly yesterday.

 

[larry4406]

Added smoke / fume extraction to the powder coat oven and laser engraver. I replaced the basement window glass with 1/4" plexi to hold the dryer vent. There's blast gate at each source. Eventually, I'll add another "Y" to connect in the paint booth that will be in the corner.

Regarding the ducting, it might not look like much, but it took over 2 frustrating hours to fit the hose and fittings together

Nice!

How did you mount this to the center of the window pane? Change the glass to plexi?