Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT 3rd time's a charm with a 3 car workshop

[MadeByMiller]

Sheesh

 

[loganb]

Boy oh boy I'm liking the way that drill press is coming together. Great work.

Thanks sir! Hoping to get some wiring in on it this afternoon and make a decision on if the enclosure for the VFD is big enough or not....hopeful progress update coming soon!

Sheesh

Yeah....I said something that started with that same word this AM....but it had fewer letters lol

So this is what it was supposed to look like...that's a 300 x 300mm bed for size reference. Half of a dust flange adapter for the dust collector system




Started out looking great:


(that dark color band is a shadow)

But somewhere on about top layer 4 or 5 on that wide flange, it went sideways...of course as I went to bed approx layer 3 of that flange...grrr. Not exactly sure of the sequence of events as I had timelapse off, but it made the "blob" on the completed flange face, crashed it hard enough it kicked the completed flange out of the machine and onto the floor...then continued to print spaghetti for the remaining 175 or so layers...

But trying again this afternoon...should be 80 to 90% done by bedtime so hopefully more successful this time!

 

[loganb]

In not 3D printed related....but kinda garage related as that's where the air compressor is:



Was that time of year to blow out sprinklers....the compressor isn't big enough to do them all at the same time but with a wifi enabled controller it's not hard to tell it to run the zone for 2 minutes then a couple minutes later trigger the next zone and repeat the cycle a couple times. Saves 100 bucks...one time cost of about 10 bucks to make the adapter.

Back to 3D printing....some learnings here for me to slow down and think **** like this thru a bit closer

I blamed the prior failure on a machine abnormality and didn't inspect the failed part as closely as I should've. I also admittedly don't have a ton of experience on large ABS prints...but should've remembered one of the known issues with ABS...warping.

Got the bulk of the flange done on Attempt "Dueces" and realized we had problems as it was mostly unadhered from the bed...



But some tape helping to adhere the brim/side to the bed salvaged that part and allowed me to keep going



Surface finish on the top of that flange looks like ****...more on that in a second...but that surface would be hidden so I didn't care and it was well on it's way and seemingly out of the danger zone so this was around bed time

But next morning this is what I had:



The print is technically "flat"...however that big flange curled...badly!

About 7 layer thicknesses badly!


.080" of "curl" may not seem like a lot...but in 3D printing where it's depositing thin layers...it's a big deal and this was about 7 layers of "curl" at the outer most diameter which is why the surface finish looked like **** as the gap between the nozzle and where it was depositing material wasn't correct.

Ok...so now what....how does one fix this? Variety of things can be done...here are the ones I can think of right now:

-Higher Print Temps: In this case I'm already running around 50C temps and not sure I could get much higher without some significant rebuild of the printer. Enclosures that enable you to hold consistent, higher than ambient temps are a key part to successfully printing many materials not named PLA or PETG
-Redesign the part-may make a bit of adjustment to the width of that flange...but in general I don't want to change it significantly. I could make some "cutouts" between the holes to give it more of a gear tooth design to help take some of the material out of the flange and reduce it's desire to curl
-Adjust print settings-I can do this as the part is a bit more "hella stout" then it probably needs to be...so successive iterations will take out some of the material which should help. I will also increase the width of the "brim" which is an extra wide perimeter added on the 1st layer to aid adhesion and keeping stuff "stuck"...the brim is shown here in brown on this slicer image. First 2 prints were 5mm brim, looks like 15mm is about as big as I can go and keep it within the working envelope



-Change Materials-ASA is a a slightly easier to work with variant of ABS which also offers better UV stability(which isn't useful here) and is less prone to warping...I haven't done much ASA printing at all...but I've got a couple rolls on the shelf and I will make this change on the next iteration. I could also probably do this in PETG...however PETG likes more part cooling then ABS/ASA and doesn't do as well in hotter temps and part of my fan shroud to deliver airflow to the print nozzle to cool just printed filament is busted....another thing on my "to do list". This doesn't impact ABS or ASA as that cooling fan is off

So in summary my revisions to hopefully get a better part on round 3:
-change in material
-changes in print settings to reduce material in problem area
-Some tweaks to design aimed to further reduce material

The statistical, design of experiment engineer background wants me to only adjust 1 thing at a time and better understand what makes the bigger impact. The more practical, want it done side that will win is saying throw everything at it then adjust from there if it doesn't work...so hopefully going to hit print on next version tomorrow

 

[Bakafish]

Sorry to jump in late, but why did you need ABS for this part? It's a vacuum flange of some kind? I use CF-PLA for just about everything and it is very strong, cheap and stable. Your infill percentage and wall thickness look overkill too, that only increases the tendency to warp and is just wasting filament on a part like this. 3 layer walls and 20% cubic infill is stronger than it looks.

 

[broinkrist]

I would print in PETG or one of the CF filled PLA materials. I don't use any part cooling on my Prusa and the prints come out pretty good, although there is usually some interior stringing. I'm also using a DIY print-dry setup. I agree with the above statement. I never go above 4 layers and 25% infill (unless I want solid on smaller parts). PET-G for more UV exposure.

I also found concentric floors/roofs to print much better than rectilinear overlapping layers in terms of curl and cosmetics, at the sacrifice of overall part strength.

 

[loganb]

Sorry to jump in late, but why did you need ABS for this part? It's a vacuum flange of some kind? I use CF-PLA for just about everything and it is very strong, cheap and stable. Your infill percentage and wall thickness look overkill too, that only increases the tendency to warp and is just wasting filament on a part like this. 3 layer walls and 20% cubic infill is stronger than it looks.

I would print in PETG or one of the CF filled PLA materials. I don't use any part cooling on my Prusa and the prints come out pretty good, although there is usually some interior stringing. I'm also using a DIY print-dry setup. I agree with the above statement. I never go above 4 layers and 25% infill (unless I want solid on smaller parts). PET-G for more UV exposure.

I also found concentric floors/roofs to print much better than rectilinear overlapping layers in terms of curl and cosmetics, at the sacrifice of overall part strength.

Thanks to both of you for following along and taking the time to share! I think a couple additional picture will explain a bit though I agree with the general principal of each of the statements.

In order to repurpose my cheaply acquired metal cyclone, I need to either bypass or remove the prior blower housing/exhaust. However I figured this out after it was mounted....and they liberally welded and glued/sealed it to the base...and as it's already wall mounted....getting it off is going to be a lot of work. Shown here in it's rough final configuration with motor above:




So with it staying in place(for now)....bypassing that blower housing was the name of the game then. The part currently being printed is the lower "half" basically to slide down into the center hole of the cyclone where the airflow will travel up into the blower. The cone I'm printing is tapered to seal tightly down into the center hole shown below...but will be heavily caulked into the housing as well for minimal leaks




As for why ABS vs PLA....I don't have as much experience with PLA's resistance to wear/long term durability in this with rapid moving air(carrying debris) moving past it, but feel better about ABS in the application then PLA based on what I've seen for wear in sawdust systems at work. The layers(5) on the first rounds are likely more than needed, but are there for wear resistance to provide greater wall thickness then for strength, from a pure strength standpoint I agree that additional walls here aren't beneficial and with ABS make it worse. The cyclone construction should keep any heavier chunks from impacting this part as the metal center section will protect it, so impact resistance isn't as important here. With this part being heavily "caulked" into place making replacement challenging I didn't want to have it wear thru though with the even best case 6 to 8 hours a week of realistic run time in my hobby environment.....probably not a huge risk.

Infill % was at 23% with gyroid pattern. SuperSlicer defaults were at 18 and 23%(not sure why these increments, wasn't anything I changed) and went with 23% as was planning to do heat set inserts into the holes for 1/4-20 fasteners and some previous pull out testing I did showed improvements there with increased infill though in this case that strength likely isn't necessary as it's just holding two hopefully flat surfaces together without much load other than fastener torque. More I think about this the more I'm tempted to just thru bolt it so may change that plan a bit....not sure yet.

Did get the model updated to remove a lot of the excess filament around the flange which should help but still debating on the fasteners...which means I haven't printed it yet...maybe tomorrow

 

[broinkrist]

Ahh. I see what you're doing. This looks like a fun project that I'll also have to do in the future when I upgrade my single stage dust collector with a cyclone.

One thing I was going to suggest is to print this in separate pieces. You can print the inner tube section with a small lip flange at the bottom, and have a multi-piece securing ring for the bolt-pattern that you can either glue together, use interlocking features, or both. It won't cut down on overall print time, but will make for less stressful prints.

I also wouldn't worry about the impact durability of the part, and just 'solve' that aspect by covering the whole air flow surface with aluminum duct tape.

 

[loganb]

When you don't pay enough attention when shopping and buy front brake pads when the rears need replaced....



You get to change oil while you wait for the wife to get done at Kohls to pickup the correct pads on the way home

Also get to add "replace left parking brake cable" to the list....along with an appointment to the local undercoater!

 

[Bakafish]

As for why ABS vs PLA....I don't have as much experience with PLA's resistance to wear/long term durability in this with rapid moving air(carrying debris) moving past it, but feel better about ABS in the application then PLA based on what I've seen for wear in sawdust systems at work. The layers(5) on the first rounds are likely more than needed, but are there for wear resistance to provide greater wall thickness then for strength, from a pure strength standpoint I agree that additional walls here aren't beneficial and with ABS make it worse. The cyclone construction should keep any heavier chunks from impacting this part as the metal center section will protect it, so impact resistance isn't as important here. With this part being heavily "caulked" into place making replacement challenging I didn't want to have it wear thru though with the even best case 6 to 8 hours a week of realistic run time in my hobby environment.....probably not a huge risk.

I say these things because I've been there myself I'm sure my ranty lectures are the last thing you want to read through when you are trying to execute your game plan, take it for what it is worth.

There is really rarely a part that I can't find ways I'd improve if printed again, so I no longer concern myself too much with factors like abrasive wear characteristics of 2 additional wall layers, print and deployment time is more dear to my process. There's nothing worse than making a 12 hour print and having it fail, or realizing you got one dimension a little off or one hole misplaced. I target fast printing, minimal solutions and embrace the iteration because its often forced on me anyway. Optimize it for service life when you have the part nailed down.

I've gotten to the point I print very small slices of a model to confirm fit and alignment of key features. A 10 minute print to check if the printed threads are too tight, or if a complex flange aligns before a multi-hour full print has paid off time and time again. It was hard for me to get into the mindset to print disposable stuff, things that were 100% going to be thrown away. Perfect parts on the first print is such a rewarding achievement, but is orthogonal to the greatest strength of the medium.

And as far as filament, ABS is just plain harder to print, and the shape of that part is really conducive to warping which just complicates things. I suspect little to no advantage in ABS as a material in this application, and even if it is twice as good against wear, we are still talking about pocket change costs of filament. It is unfortunate that PLA is so cheap and easy, because it gets dismissed as some kind of entry level material (we all want to be printing with Ultem and PEEK), but the PLA stuff really should be the first thing you reach for. The things that kill the fun of this sport are fiddling around (with the machine, the bed level, etc...) trying to get a finished print, and the printing time. That's why I suggest PLA (unless it really is going to be exposed to heat) as it is the easiest material to print with, it is quite strong and stiffer than ABS and PETG, and it is cheap, colorful and ubiquitous. Lastly, PLA is a material that at least has some semblance of biodegradability, and all those failed prints and throw away parts are a little less guilt inducing because of it.

On infill, Gyroid is very cool, but always seems denser than the setting would indicate. It may just be an optical illusion though. I use Cubic, because I suspect that the straight lines used are faster to print and the strength (equal density) is similar or better. The Adaptive Cubic is really nice when the part has a lot of internal volume.

Looking forward to seeing that blower in action.

 

[loganb]

Not going to try and quote the various parts of the appreciated "ranty lecture" as I don't have that much time....but in summary....I appreciate your wisdom and experience here!

In general, I view posting projects here as open sourcing the "design review" process we have at work as finding other sources of people with potential experience or thoughts in the potential topics is....a challenge. So I appreciate the feedback as it's generally spot on and helpful to have someone else either reinforce my thoughts/direction or to challenge it and suggest a different path or to consider it from a different perspective. Sourcing outside feedback on personal projects can be a challenge and what I personally enjoy most about the site. A huge wealth of experience, backgrounds, interests all interested in making or fixing or hanging around those who make or fix and available at our fingertips

You're spot on with the feedback about PLA vs other materials. With the downside of PLA in my mind really being temp resistance for elevated temps and this being in an conditioned garage and never seeing elevated temps....it's likely sufficient for this. I'm currently re-printing this in PETG as I had it closer and was less concerned about part cooling during printing with PETG vs PLA....but there is some filament "snobbery" probably going on looking down at PLA when it's probably perfectly adequate for the bulk of the prints not seeing either elevated temps or significant UV exposure.

The challenge you mention about quickly iterating thru the design process is something I continue to work on. At times I do good about it....at others I stare at the model for far to long and debate various ways to solve it in the computer when I'd be better off taking the 90 seconds to export to an .stl, slice it and send it to the printer and see how the thing functions in the real world, then iterate from there with the learnings from the hands on time! I'm not that and have "grown up" in the CAD world but the speed of iterating that 3D printing can enable is still something I don't take full advantage of

So in short...thanks again for continuing to follow along while also educating us here as well as your own thread! Loving the education we're getting on your thread about autocollimators and high accuracy prisms etc as well!

 

[nicholam77]

I'm not going to pretend to be able to give any advice, but with my lowly Creality printer and its other quirks, I know I simply don't have the time or energy to be dealing with stuff like 15 hr prints warping off the bed. So you could do like me and use PLA for everything. I've never even tried printing a different material.

I recently used some standard PLA for my outdoor TP-Link access point mount on the shed. It's mostly concealed by the access point, but will be subjected to 90°F + in the summer and down to -15°F in the winter. Will see how it holds up, but my personal theory is unless it's in direct sunlight, it will be fine.

I've always defaulted to gyroid infill because of you, but usually go only 5%-10%.

Love following along with your 3D printing stuff. You and @Bakafish were the main people who got me into it!

 

[loganb]

Not a very productive weekend but got some garage art hung up

 

[loganb]

Ok it was too early to call it a totally unproductive weekend

Also tried to marinade parts of the floor with ATF from the 2014 Silverado



Pan finally off, cleaned up and ready to go back in. Factory gasket was much better than the crappy die cut flat rubber one that came with the Wix filter, so factory pan gasket went back on



And it's back in the driveway with close to final fluid level. Little one was getting up from nap but I didn't want to leave it without anything in it so got it at least back on the dipstick.

 

[loganb]

Little recap for anyone doing this down the road

Transmission filter change

2014 Silverado 1500, 5.3L with 6L80 transmission

Approximate time: 1 hr

Fluid required: mine took 6 quarts, I did not do a full flush, just what drained from the pan. Dexron VI fluid

Tools used:



Oil drain pan and sawdust for cleanup not shown.

The single, ubiquitous 10mm is all that's required. 6" extension on the M12 ratchet made quick work of the fasteners....is it required...no. did it make the job more enjoyable...hell yes.

You can get the pan out without removing the exhaust Y pipe or jacking up the transmission, but it takes a bit of wiggling. No drain plug, kinda regret not putting a cast pan in earlier when the exhaust flange bolts would have been less aggravating. Swapping the pan to a cast pan with a drain may be something I do down the road if the exhaust needs to come apart anyway.

Online torque specs called for 80 inch pounds, so the Tekton 1/4" click type came out.

 

[Boostingaz]

Nice work Logan. I'm sure it saved a pretty penny doing it yourself!

I just did an oil change on the ol' Cummins. I spent around $80 bucks but that's only because it takes 3 gallons and I use Rotella T6 with Mopar filters. Fuel filters are up next but I still have stock of them on the shelf from a sale a few years ago. I think I have 4 more oil filters and 2 or 3 pairs of fuel filters left.

I didn't get any pictures but I spent the day organizing the storage side of the shop. It was getting a little out of control, stuff sitting everywhere on the floor.

Currently watching kids in the tub because we were outside all day and they are filthy. Then gotta run and pick my Dad up from the airport. Cutting into beer time lol.

 

[loganb]

Nice work Logan. I'm sure it saved a pretty penny doing it yourself!

I just did an oil change on the ol' Cummins. I spent around $80 bucks but that's only because it takes 3 gallons and I use Rotella T6 with Mopar filters. Fuel filters are up next but I still have stock of them on the shelf from a sale a few years ago. I think I have 4 more oil filters and 2 or 3 pairs of fuel filters left.

I didn't get any pictures but I spent the day organizing the storage side of the shop. It was getting a little out of control, stuff sitting everywhere on the floor.

Currently watching kids in the tub because we were outside all day and they are filthy. Then gotta run and pick my Dad up from the airport. Cutting into beer time lol.

Don't feel so bad about that oil change cost...this one takes 7.5 qt's so that's 2 gallons plus filter! I at least snagged (5) 5qt containers of oil off a big orange box clearance close out for 50% off and they actually had what the truck and Volvo took...so I grabbed all they had in those weights so I'm set for the next couple oil changes for each...minus the filters. Haven't looked up what a ****** filter change would cost me at a shop...but I'm doubtful it's less than $200 so helps me justify the toolbox and contents a bit better

Still need to do a coolant change on the truck and then chase down a ticking noise...then a host of service to wife's ride that will force me to take a day off work to get that done but it feels good to be doing some mechanical work on the rides. At some point the interiors need cleaned....damn kids

And I hear you on organizing...kids and I spent some garage time this AM while they were riding bikes and coloring with chalk and I tried to pick things up....made some progress...but I've got less which at times like this is beneficial since it can't get as out of control . We've got an auction coming up for my grandparents household goods as they transition to assisted living and it's making question more why do I have this many sq ft and this much stuff....while I'm also watching an online auction with some heavy iron at low prices right now.....talk about definition of insanity

 

[iced98lx]

Looks like some good projects down!

I hear you on the vehicles, pre kids my cars were spotless inside and out every weekend. Now? lucky if I go through and pull the kids trash out every few days.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Logan, that M12 ratchet is on my list of "needs".

Last 6L80e I did was on our 1500 Suburban that was the wife's DD. Probably another one we should have kept, it was Victory Red with tan interior.

I've gotten in the habit of adding a pan with a drain plug just for the ease of fluid changes...keeps a fair amount of oil off the floor, but not all of it

 

[loganb]

Logan, that M12 ratchet is on my list of "needs".

Last 6L80e I did was on our 1500 Suburban that was the wife's DD. Probably another one we should have kept, it was Victory Red with tan interior.

I've gotten in the habit of adding a pan with a drain plug just for the ease of fluid changes...keeps a fair amount of oil off the floor, but not all of it

I bought the ratchet for some specific project...not expecting to use it much after that and have been pleasantly surprised with how dang nice it is. I was likely jaded by my prior experience with a pneumatic one growing up that I didn't think was that useful, but I grab it when ever I can. I haven't found a need yet for the longer/extended reach versions, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I thought it would make an upcoming task easier.

This was my first 6L80.....come to think of it I think this was my first ****** filter change since probably 2014....aka right before I bought this truck. Did a filter change on my old 1990 Silverado regular cab..

And yeah....I thing the attraction between ATF and concrete is much stronger then the one between engine oil and concrete! Drain plug's on the pan just seem so flipping obvious and easy....google tells me I can get one with a drain plug that isn't a cast unit and shouldn't require the Y pipe to come off....hum.....

Thanks for continuing to follow along Marc!

Looks like some good projects down!

I hear you on the vehicles, pre kids my cars were spotless inside and out every weekend. Now? lucky if I go through and pull the kids trash out every few days.

Slowly making progress on some deferred maintenance! And I can't claim my cars were spotless pre-kids....growing up on gravel that never worked well...but I really need to make time at least 1x a week to do a quick trash/food pickup and wipe down!

 

[Boostingaz]

I have the Milwaukee 2567-20 3/8" ratchet. I have only used it a few times and each time I have used it it has lacked the torque to break anything free. I have to hand break a bolt free and then basically just use the ratchet to remove and replace it faster. Maybe my expectations are to high

Everything else I have out of the M12 line I love, this is the one questionable one for me. The drill is missing out of this photo, my wife stole it to drill holes in sticks for crafting yarn/bead wall art or something or other.

 

[loganb]

I have the Milwaukee 2567-20 3/8" ratchet. I have only used it a few times and each time I have used it it has lacked the torque to break anything free. I have to hand break a bolt free and then basically just use the ratchet to remove and replace it faster. Maybe my expectations are to high

I have no idea if my expectations are accurate or not...but they were low from my prior experience so I haven't expected much in terms of torque...but will agree it's no impact. In this case with 80 inch lb torque there was no problem with it breaking them loose, but will agree it should be considered a fast, low angle of movement speed wrench and not anything that's breaking stuff loose.

Looks like Project Farm did a comparision of some of these a year ago...torque was in that low 30 ft lbs which was slightly less then advertised at 35 ft lbs but comparable with others. Torque measurements at 8:40 mark or so

 

[Boostingaz]

I have no idea if my expectations are accurate or not...but they were low from my prior experience so I haven't expected much in terms of torque...but will agree it's no impact. In this case with 80 inch lb torque there was no problem with it breaking them loose, but will agree it should be considered a fast, low angle of movement speed wrench and not anything that's breaking stuff loose.

Looks like Project Farm did a comparision of some of these a year ago...torque was in that low 30 ft lbs which was slightly less then advertised at 35 ft lbs but comparable with others. Torque measurements at 8:40 mark or so

No doubt it's still a handy little tool, but like you said, don't expect impact type performance.

 

[loganb]

No doubt it's still a handy little tool, but like you said, don't expect impact type performance.

Which is why after much prodding from my family to update my Xmas list which doubles as bday list since they're both in December the Makita mid-torque 18v is on the wish list as I'm still using a pneumatic impact wrench when I grab it. This at least puts me in a better spot with the wife in January when I buy one if it doesn't show up as I can say "well it was on my list dear!"

Also put a lot of stuff on there that I hope nobody buys me cause they shouldn't spend that much...like the Primeweld TIG225X...but again I needed them to stop nagging me and better justifies it to my wife/in my head when I buy it in the 6 months after the holidays

In some slow but occassionally happening shop organization....new socket organizer for a Craftsman 1/2" drive deep well impact set that I wanted to get out of the long broken factory packaging:




I tried the "lightning" infill pattern for the first time on this which leaves much of the cavity empty and only generates "supports" where it's needed so under that top flat layer it looks like this:



With that darker red being the supports for the top layer. Worked pretty well, I only did 2 perimeters on this as I wasn't thinking about how the sidewalls get strength from the infill that touches it...and in this case very little of the infill touches the side walls so it's a bit "spongy". Definitely usable...but if it was in a box that moved or if it leaves the toolbox very often may see some damage in which case I'll just reprint with more perimeters.

Don't have a handy picture of it printed...but it's done...it's ugly and all black because I was too lazy to do a color change for the numbers which will eventually get hit with a white or yellow paint pen....but its in service

Also printed a battery holder for the garage for AA and AAA's and handily put it next to the bulk of the devices that burn thru such things. Need to toss some red paint or something similar across the top couple of rows to signify "dead" or "to be charged" as I use mostly rechargeables...but again...functional and hopefully an improvement.



For that one the model came from Printables

Printables

www.printables.com

 

[Bob Heine]

I have the Milwaukee 2567-20 3/8" ratchet. I have only used it a few times and each time I have used it it has lacked the torque to break anything free. I have to hand break a bolt free and then basically just use the ratchet to remove and replace it faster. Maybe my expectations are to high

@Boostingaz, I've always viewed pneumatic and electric ratchets as assists in tight places. I have a Milwaukee 1/4" right angle hex drive impact, which also doesn't break stuff free but it's great for getting a torx screw out of a tight spot on a body panel in a wheel well.

My Milwaukee is the non Fuel model (2457-20) so it's whimpier than yours but in a tight space or awkward position it's a godsend. I like the fact that without any battery assist it still works like a manual ratchet. Granted, It's a heavy ratchet but once a fastener is broken free it's faster than a manual ratchet.

I once owned a large, heavy chrome electric ratchet 30 or 40 years ago that used a non-removable NiCad battery and turned about two revolutions per minute. I think I used it twice before the battery went south. I kept it for a long time in a prominent place in my tool box to remind me good ideas don't always work out. I also bought a pneumatic sabre saw. If I had more space I would hang some of those tools on a Wall of Shame.

 

[madison069]

Transmission fluid changes, that's a task I've put off on most of my vehicles. I've had bad experience with fluid changes so I just can't do it. But I did drain the camaro transmission and the concrete also got marinated by it also. Looks like a murder scene sometimes.

As for the milwaukee ratchet, I actually just use the ratchet itself to break the bolt and then hit the button. Been doing it for 3 or 4 years now. Battery does flex a little so I just be mindful of where I'm grabbing the handle and break the bolt loose. If it was really tight then I use a breaker bar before putting the Milwaukee on it.

 

[iced98lx]

@Boostingaz

I once owned a large, heavy chrome electric ratchet 30 or 40 years ago that used a non-removable NiCad battery and turned about two revolutions per minute. I think I used it twice before the battery went south. I kept it for a long time in a prominent place in my tool box to remind me good ideas don't always work out. I also bought a pneumatic sabre saw. If I had more space I would hang some of those tools on a Wall of Shame.

I think we all have those wall of shame tools, I know I keep more than one around to remind myself... LOL

 

[nicholam77]

Also put a lot of stuff on there that I hope nobody buys me cause they shouldn't spend that much...like the Primeweld TIG225X...but again I needed them to stop nagging me and better justifies it to my wife/in my head when I buy it in the 6 months after the holidays

Nice strategy

In some slow but occassionally happening shop organization....new socket organizer for a Craftsman 1/2" drive deep well impact set that I wanted to get out of the long broken factory packaging:

Looks good. After moving my sockets to 3d printed trays I was amazed how much space it saved.

Are your numbers raised or in relief? It's hard to tell from the slicer pic. I assume raised.

I sorta got two-color to work on my Ender in Cura once, but it was a pain. Got a specific paint pen you use? I'd much prefer something like that.

Also I've been meaning to ask, I know you were working on some box wrench organizers quite some time back... did you ever finish those and if so how do you like them? I was going to try a similar thing.

 

[loganb]

Been struggling to use the tools recently....got a chance to both make wife happy and use them....




Wee bit of overkill but hey, when she says it's time to lower the 2 yr old's bed....I'm not going to do it the hard way!

In other news, haven't gotten a heck of a lot done outside of the day job and family job. Was out of town much of last week setting up an auction to aid in a family transition to assisted living. Still working thru the mental feelings there but the purpose of the auction was to get the house empty and that was successful so next steps can commence. It highlighted that what we may collect and find "joy" in can be a very significant burden for the people who may have to do something with it when we can no longer manage it...either due to age, health or just being gone. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but over the next week going to try and take an hour and sit down in my garage and look at what's all there and put together at least some vague info/direction to be included with my estate planning doc's to serve as guidance/information/starting point for someone to work thru if I was to get hit by the proverbial "bus" tomorrow.

I'd strongly encourage anyone reading this to think about the same situation....what if a relative or someone not at all knowledgeable about your interests/hobbies/tools was in charge of getting rid of them. Where should they go, who should they call, what resources are out there...do you want it sold or donated...can your survivors afford to donate stuff etc? Between this and my wife being executor for a different family member's estate, it's opened up my eyes significantly on how much we can make an impact on the survivors by either taking a little time(and some money) to prepare for it now vs letting it ride

In good news, the family dynamic amongst the next generations was good, everyone generally got the stuff they wanted before the sale, the family pieces stayed in the family etc and I have some shelves to build for the office to help display some stuff that came back with me as a result. Also have a new oak dining table set that needs refinished but that's going to be a different post/thread I think. There is a large amount of walnut that's been air drying for 30 to 50 years that was originally bought or put up by my grandpa so it seems kinda fitting that the shelves displaying some of the stuff that came from them would be made from some of that material.

And if you've made it this far....well here is something to try and get things back on GJ style track...something obnoxiously loud, practical, ugly, and has a habit of leaving marks on concrete when parked there for too long lol.




After harvest on the farm before it freezes, we are often involved spreading dry lime on fields to improve soil quality/mineral levels and starting on some fields that are a bit to far to want to road the wheel loader there....so she's loaded up on the stretcher. Dry lime is hauled in from a quarry and dumped in the field by belly dumps, then we use the loader to load it up into dry spreader box of the truck parked behind the trailer. Same thing can also be done with a smaller skid steer and a belt conveyor....we don't own that though and this is much faster....so we use this approach.

That particular shade of ugly paint is a Terex brand, more fun to be called T-Rex and is powered by a Detroit diesel that doesn't leave any doubts for anyone in a mile or two radius on if she's working or not. Local sandpit have a couple that are 2.5x larger then that one and on a calm day if they're running can be heard for an almost 10 mile radius. Needless to say the operators there are a couple of old guys who are now blessed with not hearing their spouses nag them after running that equipment for decades without hearing protection as was common in the 60's thru 80's or so. Fortunately we don't have to put too many hours a year as she's far from "comfortable"....but sure is fun for a bit and earns the keep doing stuff like this and some occasional dirt work and tree pushing

 

[XJSuperman]

Terex or Euclid green is a top 3 shade of green. Some of the coolest old screaming monsters were painted that color.

 

[Boostingaz]

@ Logan

Good on you for stepping up and being boots on the ground involved in the transition and downsizing. Many times you are correct, families have no idea what to do, or just straight up can't be bothered and don't want to. Hell, the younger generation of beneficiaries don't even know what half the stuff is that Grandpa/Great Grandpa owns, let alone know how to use it.

That's a nice piece of equipment!

The cousins just got a new piece of equipment that requires a phone call to move it between fields. Any guesses? Now the search is on for a trailer so they can haul it themselves.

 

[loganb]

Terex or Euclid green is a top 3 shade of green. Some of the coolest old screaming monsters were painted that color.

Why did they paint Terex/Euclid green?





So they can hide in the weeds from the Cat's


I remember reading up on the history of Terex a while ago, one of those interesting corporate saga's that involved GM(yes that GM) buying Euclid, renaming it based on Latin verbage to mean "King of the Earth" and then eventually divesting it along with Detroit and several other industrial/heavy equipment things they used to do. Always grinned when running it growing up....I mean you're a 16 yr old boy with the loudest thing around and it basically says T-Rex on the side....how can ya not enjoy that . Plus the knowledge that it's pretty bulletproof and when you're digging dirt the risk of seriously damaging it is low helped the novice operator get more comfortable

Ok, I can't lie....I grin when I run it now....then maybe grimace when I get out after a couple hours but thankfully it hasn't had a couple hours straight of work in a while

I will admit that at first glance it's not an overly attractive color after 40+ years of weathering, but it's definitely distinctive and it grows on you. When that paint is fresh I think it looks very sharp, shame that either the paint technology or the ability to override the finance team didn't exist back then to have used paint that faded/chalked less and kept more of the "high-vis" appearance for longer

 

[loganb]

@ Logan

Good on you for stepping up and being boots on the ground involved in the transition and downsizing. Many times you are correct, families have no idea what to do, or just straight up can't be bothered and don't want to. Hell, the younger generation of beneficiaries don't even know what half the stuff is that Grandpa/Great Grandpa owns, let alone know how to use it.

My involvement was definitely not as much as my parents was or as much as I would've liked, but glad I could help out over the past several months and be there to help setup and then for the actual sale.

and let's not forget that the "sellers" of the stuff don't often realize what all the stuff is or how much there is....I think there were (5) different sets of gold rim china pulled out of cabinets around the house...it was almost a joke how much of it there was. $5 got you choice of what set you wanted....1 father I was talking to there bought both of his daughters set's for $5 total and was going to be their white elephant gift for Christmas which I got a good chuckle out of. But I don't want any of it(had my chance at as much as I wanted) as eating on dishes that has to be stored separate and washed by hand just isn't something I personally value. I did get some cool looking decorative glassware that was just "neat" to set on shelves and collect dust and maybe get dusted once a year....I feel better about it when it has no real functional purpose vs something that could/should be used but just isn't ....the mental hoops we all jump thru

That's a nice piece of equipment!

The cousins just got a new piece of equipment that requires a phone call to move it between fields. Any guesses? Now the search is on for a trailer so they can haul it themselves.

Hum.....requires a phone call.....Indiana corn farmers......needs a trailer

I'm going to start with it's oversized and they're in a populated enough area the folks there care more....D7 CAT dozer is about 60k lbs....moving D8's assembled is more fun as those are 80k lbs or so and trailers for those are a bit spendier....so maybe a D8? But it takes a hell of a lot of dirt needing pushed to justify a D8 as a farmer. On this path could be a track hoe/excavator as well. We haul our Deere hoe on that trailer....but if you get a 40 ton or bigger unit that's going to push the limits hard

Big sprayers get roaded unless you're going crazy far....same with all the tractors and combines so don't think it's one of those

Unless it's a totally different type of phone call and they got a large drone for drone based chemical application? Though the really big ones there require a flight plan and the trailer isn't that fancy...just take your standard flatbed and put a landing deck on the top for them to drop onto to swap batteries and reload

But I'm going to go with Dozer/Excavator as my final answer

 

[loganb]

Or maybe they are crazy and have bought a helicopter to do chopper based spraying? Fun to watch....I think those guys are crazy though

 

[legenddc]

Always entertaining to me to watch older people throw fits when younger people don't want china sets. Lots of arguments around their kids get married and don't want to register for it.

My mom uses her china frequently but also puts it all in the dishwasher and even microwaves it with the silver rim. We have a set that was my wife's grandmothers and it's never been used by us.

Now that you mention a white elephant gift, I think I might have to find a massive set to give to my sister as payback for always buying my kids massive toys. She still hasn't realized we've kept all the big stuff in case she had kids...

 

[Boostingaz]

@Logan

All good guesses. They do have a dozer but it's not that big. It's just used in combo with the skid steer for ditch filling, hint hint. Not sure how much water management you guys used to have to do, big hint!

This is used all over the county for contract work. They do a lot of work for other farmers.

It's putting it's predecessor into semi-retirement.

 

[loganb]

@Logan

All good guesses. They do have a dozer but it's not that big. It's just used in combo with the skid steer for ditch filling, hint hint. Not sure how much water management you guys used to have to do, big hint!

This is used all over the county for contract work. They do a lot of work for other farmers.

It's putting it's predecessor into semi-retirement.

Dang..nice rig! And I never would've caught that as we're not fortunate to get enough rain in our area to need to do any tiling....guess the benefit of being drier is cheaper land and we don't have to tile! I think we have 3 drain tiles total...all in the bottom of terraces that just can't be sloped like we would like so that they can drain naturally so we had to dead head them and sink a drain tile there.

@jblnut appreciates a good tile machine and will like it!

Always entertaining to me to watch older people throw fits when younger people don't want china sets. Lots of arguments around their kids get married and don't want to register for it.

My mom uses her china frequently but also puts it all in the dishwasher and even microwaves it with the silver rim. We have a set that was my wife's grandmothers and it's never been used by us.

Now that you mention a white elephant gift, I think I might have to find a massive set to give to my sister as payback for always buying my kids massive toys. She still hasn't realized we've kept all the big stuff in case she had kids...

We're fortunate that my grandmother at least recognized that she didn't use her China anymore and that her kids and grandkids didn't need it either....but that wasn't a realization that came lightly and took years of say "no thank you" when it was offered to us lol. Accepting that nobody really wanted it and proactively tossing it out without attempting to sell was too far of a leap to make. She made a similar decision your mom made and "sacrificed" a set for the dishwasher/microwave and used it fairly regularly, it and the gold rim, painted christmas set are the only ones I ever recall eating from. I was honestly impressed with how well the gold rim stood up....it got used at least monthly for probably decades and the painted rim is still in pretty good shape...so it was either a good set or maybe it was old enough it was from when they still put good stuff in the paint.

And if the market here is similar to yours's, you'll spend more in time and gas getting to an auction and waiting for it to sell then you will buying the set. The more I think about it the more I want to find a set for one of the annual gathering's on my wife's side to put into the gift exchange!

 

[Boostingaz]

@loganb

That's the old machine. This is the new one that for the time being requires the phone call to a man with a bigger trailer haha.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

But it takes a hell of a lot of dirt needing pushed to justify a D8 as a farmer.

Neighbor that owns the ground around ours has 3...yes, you read that right, THREE D8s, one flat track and two newer versions with the high track. He doesn't "need" them, but could move most of the county's dirt if he wanted too

 

[OutlawDrifter]

@loganb

That's the old machine. This is the new one that for the time being requires the phone call to a man with a bigger trailer haha.

That's hell of a tile plow!

 

[Boostingaz]

That's hell of a tile plow!