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

[Boostingaz]

Going on year 10 or 12 of the vacant house scenario on my paternal grandparents side, and the endless string of issues trying to keep a non lived in house going. No one can agree on what, how, who or when. My maternal grandparents estate was settled/sold/auctioned and done in a few months.

If your ready to be done.....

Go to probate court and file a petition for instructions and lay it all out and let a judge decide. If everyone can't come to a decision it's easier to be forced to follow a court order than be "the bad guy".

 

[loganb]

Going on year 10 or 12 of the vacant house scenario on my paternal grandparents side, and the endless string of issues trying to keep a non lived in house going. No one can agree on what, how, who or when. My maternal grandparents estate was settled/sold/auctioned and done in a few months.

Damn.....

In good news....given the housing market in that time frame it's pretty likely that appreciation has probably at least kept the estate value "even" after the expenses for upkeep/taxes etc. Assuming nothing major like a roof had to be done....

 

[nicholam77]

It big and chonky

Now you will be able to print GIANT articulated dragons

 

[loganb]

Now you will be able to print GIANT articulated dragons

LOL....maybe

I'm sure I'll get some requests for it.

New filament sensor showed up today....warming up now after install so see if that fixes my issue or not....fingers crossed

In other things...yeah nothing has happened. Big DIY estate sale was this past week....success in that the house is both mostly empty and we grossed the high side of the couple of private estate sale companies estimates. We didn't have to pay 35 to 40% to the estate sale company...but we've also had basically the entire last 2 weekends and most evenings over there the past 3 weeks....and it's not yet ready to turn over to the cleaners. The estate companies earn their money I think.

My approach was easier which would've been to sell the big or valuable stuff that represents 70 to 80% of the "value" and 20 to 30% of the total items...then donate or dumpster everything else. However I'm not the exectuor, I'm not as close to the stuff as I'm an "in-law" and the surviving spouse isn't living with us and hearing that we threw out most of her stuff probably would've been challenging....I get why the path we took was done. But Saturday and Sunday(and required prep) was a heck of a lot of effort (and we had other family helping) for approx $1,500 gross proceeds as it as all little stuff(decor, kitchen stuff, clothes, small furniture, camping stuff etc) as we presold basically all the furniture and more valuable items directly on FB marketplace.

But dumpster should show up later this week, and we'll hopefully have the house ready for cleaners next week. After I play pack mule and haul trash....I get to start working on swapping out a passenger seat in an F150 then attempt to remove some scuffs from the paint

And in good news....new chonky boy printer seems to be running well with the new filament sensor....hooray! Guess after bed time I have an overnight print to put together to see how it does

 

[loganb]

And in good news....new chonky boy printer seems to be running well with the new filament sensor....hooray! Guess after bed time I have an overnight print to put together to see how it does

And the print after I posted this it failed

Similar story...but different error message. Updated the ticket with manufacturer, thought about it while at work and ended up taking apart what they call the buffer tonight as I couldn't manually force a piece of filament thru it


Buffer tube installed...filament feeds in from the left side from the external source, then the right side tube goes to the toolhead:



And it on the desk...took out 6 screws to get to this point




Flipped over...3 more screws to take off to pull the circuit board off



Couple more screws to pop off the spring/plunger/tube mechanism



And then beat the orange thing on the table a bunch and go stabby stab stab and some filament debris falls out



It's not a very big pile of debris, but the filament is 1.75mm in diameter so it doesn't take a big pile to create a blockage

Put it back together with high hopes...dashed...same failure but at least now it's feeding filament thru so progress....maybe?

Heat up the nozzle, extrude material thru it manually, attempt to rerun the program...works like a charm.....hum.

Finishes the hour long print....load some ABS to see how it does...fails...same failure to feed filament error. Heat up the nozzle and manually feed material thru....at least seems to have made it thru the start of the print......I'll have a better idea of if this is successful starting or not before I go to bed...so I may or may not have 2 new sets of aerosol can holders in the morning

 

[Trapps]

I don’t like the issues, I like the sharing.

Good luck on the estate items, never fun.

 

[loganb]

I don’t like the issues, I like the sharing.

Good luck on the estate items, never fun.

Thanks sir! Looks like the quasi work around worked...so far at least:



Will know in the morning how they turned out but so far it prints great...once it gets going.

We are at least getting close on the estate....dumpster shows up Thursday, goal is to be able to have it picked up by Monday. Legal paperwork came back from the courts today so my wife can actually execute the listing agreements and we can work on disposing of the vehicles when ready. I'll spend another long lunch hour at the house tomorrow hauling stuff up from the basement to drop into the garage so that by the time Saturday rolls around the basement where I was mostly stationed is "Done" and I can bask in it's glory....or in reality play pack mule for the main level.

After dealing with this mess....I'm definitely getting "twitchy" as the wife calls it on the unnecessary stuff in our house that has been set to dispose of thru donate for awhile and just hasn't left....hopefully I can let things settle down for a couple weeks before I push too hard on some of that stuff leaving. I'm definitely not innocent here as the too many shelves full of stuff in the garage will attest...but we've got 16 totes of kids clothes that are outgrown, sorted...labeled....but nothing happening....so yeah.....lots more trips to the donation/shelter/neighbors house etc are in the future!

 

[loganb]

Filament is printing like ****, but it's a crappy ABS I was just trying to get thru....the rest of the material from this brand is now in the trash. But it's at least looking like it's working correctly....once it gets going.

 

[loganb]

For crappy filament...they turned out functional enough. Once will get magnets on the back, other gets screwed to a wall (I think)




Exciting lunch hour....filled a dumpster....well almost. 12 yd, should've got a bigger one but the "guy" we were told to use this is as big as he does. Finished filling it tonight, it's now full...pickup load or two will come back to our house to go out in next weeks trash...but if that's all that's left over I'm good with that...getting closer at least!




Tried to start another print tonight on the new machine...failed same as it has before....grrrr. Manually told it to feed material thru then hit start...fingers crossed that looks like it's working. If so...I'll upload a new set of machine logs to the open ticket with the mfg in the morning and see what they say.

 

[loganb]

Dumpster got picked up....didn't get a bill for overage so it was apparently under the 3,000 lbs included in the fee ($275 for a 12 yrd) so that's nice. New AGM battery is sitting in the Ford to get swapped out, then swap a power lift chair in the passenger seat out for the factory one and then get to tackle some scuffs/marring on the bed




Another Snap-On ratchet was found buried in a toolbox...rougher shape and wouldn't spin



Little dirty inside and a broken tooth...FV70 which per the interwebz dates it to the 1960's so I suspect this one was acquired in a house cleanout from a toolbox left behind

5 minutes with a rag, some cleaner and a couple hits with a die grinder and scotch brite pad at least has it usable



Was missing one of the screws for the head as well, so will try and pickup a rebuild kit for it to return it to complete condition....but going to need to do something about the organization of it's new home....warning avert your eyes if you're a member of the pristine toolbox club







Yeah...some work to do there.....but trying to keep the TV off of football I mean distractions this afternoon and see if I can clean anything up in general and find some more of those spoke about but often hidden "flat surfaces"




I'm sure my kids will be super helpful in the endeavor!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I've been on an OCD organize kick in my toolbox lately...definitely needed it. If I can do it, so can you!

Currently redoing my redone tool rolls in the Tundra and Suburban. Making one bag to move between both, that will have more and be better.

PS...tried to make my old USA made Proto 16" handle 1/2 ratchet better, it's just worn out, couldn't find any rebuild kits on the interwebs. Time to put it on a shelf I guess

 

[legenddc]

Have you tried using https://www.tooltrace.ai/ ?

Great you were able to get the house emptied so quickly.

 

[loganb]

Little progress on my place

Vevor drill sharpener continues to be a success...worked thru a mostly intact Letter bit set that was mostly unused in about 30 minutes



3d printer actually making something to upgrade a tool...digital read out on planer thickness






Square M4 nut in a slot to hold the top end of the scale and provide adjustment for position of the scale. Post cap is a slight pressure press fit...don't think I need to put any sort of bolt/internal clamp...at least not yet.

Now to figure out the mount for the bottom half of it

 

[Bob Heine]

Logan, I love the spray can holders.

I'm incapable of getting my resin 3D printer to do anything so I live with my old standby, exhaust tubing. I made some 30 X 30 cabinets with 1x8 pine for the case and cheap Home Depot 15 X 30 cabinet doors. The idea was to avoid storing spray cans four deep in a standard 12 inch cabinet. Unfortunately, the 1X8 shelf still allows two-deep storage. This resulted in a lot of non-date coded duplicate spray cans. I think there were 22 spray cans on one shelf.

I went to my local Advance Auto store, grabbed a spray can and tested the short exhaust pipe couplers in the bins for a good fit. Cut each coupler in half using an exhaust pipe cutter (straighter than my Portaband and way less scary than my 14" cold saw).

Welded a strap to the bottom of five pieces of tubing and tacked the top of the pieces together.

Turned out the doors won't close with five spray can holders so I cut one off and use it alone in another cabinet to store the WD-40 can so it doesn't grow legs. In the end, I can find a spray can of paint without a lot of searching and shuffling.

It turns out the 16-ounce detailing bottles are also an issue so another trip to Advance Auto got me the part numbers for perfect fitting couplers for those and bulk purchases online made them a thrifty option.

There's no treatment or program for my affliction so a set of smaller 8-ounce bottle holders showed up on the end of my single drawer HF cart. When I'm painting and need some solvent, a little squeeze bottle is better than splashing chemicals from a gallon can. It seemed like a good idea so there's a ten 16-ounce bottle holder on the wall behind the workbench.

 

[loganb]

Scattered updates

The aerosal can holder got magnets glued to the back and stuck on a cabinet



Picked up a new to me safety step stool that folds up nicely for easy carrying in the work truck. I often need to reach the top of windows or doors at 7' to 8' above floor....and I'm 5'8" on a good day so need some help


It won't ride around all the time...but at 25 lbs it's easy to move and the giant steps make it nice to work off.

Promptly used it to strip extension cords out of the ceiling of the father in laws place....




Hard to argue to a potential inspector they're temporary when they're cable stapled to the ceiling....so the checklist on that house is almost done...lists next week.

The zero turn mower over there suddenly stopped moving...crawled underneath fearing the worst and found no belt tension on the drive belt to the hydros...culprit was a broken tensioner spring shown below.



Patched a new one together with a 3" and 4" spring hooked end to end from big blue box hardware and lumber box store...proper spring is on order but for now this one keeps the tensioner tight.

And a test of some basic gridfinity trays for ratchet storage ..I may have more 3/8" standard length non flex ratchets then needed

 

[loganb]

Have you tried using https://www.tooltrace.ai/ ?

I used it early, haven't tried it in several months so should probably give it another shot. I'm good for using it for more special purpose tools....but for the example above where I've got a plethora of similar sized ratchets I struggle to rationalize the benefit in my head of individual custom slots for each. Seeing it in boxes looks great....but I don't have the patience to sit down and make it for myself. I could likely make a single holder that works for most of those ratchets...but then I lost a lot of space which bothers me as well.

Now torque wrenches or other similar things that are more expensive, don't have duplicates....those I'll try and figure out something with individual spots for those tools.

The exercise of dumping all the "normal" 3/8" ratchets in a bin did highlight I probably could thin the herd a bit and add a stubby and a shorter handled flex head as the only flex 3/8" is a like 14" or 16" Snappy...definitely should just buy something new and stay off Marketplace as that'll only cost me even more

 

[loganb]

Visits to places like this is why I have so much stuff in the garage....



But no regrets

 

[82355]

I may have more 3/8" standard length non flex ratchets then needed

Just chuck them Craftsmen hitch pins in the iron pile, and you will be fine!

Martin

 

[loganb]

Unexpectedly long day....but made it back home.

Went to Kansas City to help move a grandparent back to their house from assisted living after a hospital stay that took some recovery time afterword. Left my house early enough I could stop at Harry J Epstein's tool heaven as they're open the last Saturday of the month with some delicious pancakes and other breakfast treats cooked while you shop....it's pretty hard to beat. Jori's now wife(mazel tov!) makes a mean pancake and the spread of other items that goes with it would've beat many breakfast restaurants...

Should've taken more pictures....but if you need screwdrivers they've got you covered! There were multiple pallets of Felo in both black/yellow, black/red and woody configurations:



Ended up bring home a small box worth of stuff back home:



The Mayhew set I've seen around here more often recently so couldn't pass it up, bottle opener cause duh(bought 2, one went to my brother). Lang mini pry bar goes in the work truck, 6" rules from Product Engineering, Vessel striking impact screw driver and Koken 3/8" stubby flex were the expensive bits. Tire chuck for the work truck and a couple Tajima blade refills round out the haul this time.

For anyone who hasn't been thru, it's well worth a stop and a significant detour from a road trip to go thru there and see it. If you have been there, it's worth a return trip! The first floor is impressive but don't leave without going up and down the stairs! 2 more floors upstairs and a basement level all with more unique oddities, backstock, crates of overstock etc. The common things are on the main floor but the thrill of the hunt is above and below!

With the trip to HJE completed....2 trucks and an SUV made quick work of the limited furniture that got moved to assisted living so didn't take long to get the purpose of the trip completed. Had lunch, some time sitting around catching up and then it was time to disperse and hit the highway which was all well and good until about 2 hours down in the shy of 3 hour return trip and I got a phone call. Quick dump of my pocket onto the center console confirmed it.....I had driven another vehicle while I was there moving it around and left with the key for it in my pocket....****

So found a median crossover marked no U turns and promptly disobeyed it to head back south. Quick drop off of the key, grabbed a hat I left there, and pointed the pickup back north. Ended up returning home around 9:30 when it was originally scheduled for around 5:15...but it allowed me to almost finish the audio book

Arrived home to find a couple of cars in the driveway got washed by the 4 and 6 yr old....so that's maybe helpful? Need to mow the yard, oil change in the Volvo....another trip back to father in law's to get the last load of trash out of the garage for pictures tomorrow (hooray!)....sure a few more things I'm forgetting but will be reminded of soon

Just chuck them Craftsmen hitch pins in the iron pile, and you will be fine!

Martin

I have been guilty of using that style of ratchet as an emergency hitch pin before! They've been replaced in normal usage by the nicer craftsman V series or the 2 larger snapon flex head's not in the picture but the new Koken above will probably get some of the usage as well. I think one will probably end up permanently in each of the trucks with a basic socket set and the rest will be relegated to "present" but not well used in the toolbox

 

[loganb]

That 2x a year time when I have to spend 5 min on YouTube looking up how to reset the service reminder....at least it's not longer than it takes to change the oil

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Took me a couple of years to remember which trip meter setting made it function on my wife's Tacoma...I feel your pain!

 

[loganb]

Yeah I always get the wrong sequence ...it's a combination of the start button but don't turn it on, holding a different button then pressing and holding start then releasing a button after some magic incantation flashes on the dash....

 

[madison069]

Visits to places like this is why I have so much stuff in the garage....



But no regrets

I’ve been doing my best to stay away from places like this until after the move. I would just cause more work for myself!!

 

[loganb]

I’ve been doing my best to stay away from places like this until after the move. I would just cause more work for myself!!

In good news you can fit several hundred bucks in a small box at the store so you can spend your fill and not have a very large box!

 

[loganb]

Little time... attempting to declutter

Likely been at least a year ago I decommissioned my chopsaw/miter saw station...haven't missed it yet. But I chopped up one of the cabinets with drawers to fit in another cubby so I didn't have to totally part ways with the first real piece of shop furniture I built in the winter or 2008



But in the year since then....I haven't been storing much in it...



Mostly storing air...and sawdust....and some sanding supplies I didn't reach for often as the stuff I actually used was elsewhere....so tonight it goes



Or it starts to go. I got the drawer slides stripped off and the boxes cut up so I wasn't tempted to try and save the plywood and got called away....but past the point of no return so hopefully tomorrow I can finish it up.

And don't worry, no dovetails were harmed in the destruction here. Cheap almost full extension slides, boxes made with dados and grooves, library card style label holders in the fronts that never got labels....but maple face frame and drawer fronts

 

[Trapps]

I keep thinking about dismantling my workbench and starting over in a more efficient layout. Posts like this are not helping me keep those thoughts at bay...

 

[loganb]

I keep thinking about dismantling my workbench and starting over in a more efficient layout. Posts like this are not helping me keep those thoughts at bay...

This one won't help much either then....




Ran out of energy to complete the effort tonight and get it into the trash... Tomorrow project.

Also got a wedding present knife engraved... Couples name on other side

 

[nicholam77]

Are you replacing the old miter cabinet with anything? Or just felt like some destruction? (can be satisfying!)

It took me a long time to destroy my miter station and original attempt at an MFT... I also had some sentimentality because they were early shop projects and early woodworking projects for me. But no regrets... things can almost always be made more efficient one one way or another.

Nice job on all the little 3d prints.

 

[loganb]

Are you replacing the old miter cabinet with anything? Or just felt like some destruction? (can be satisfying!)

It took me a long time to destroy my miter station and original attempt at an MFT... I also had some sentimentality because they were early shop projects and early woodworking projects for me. But no regrets... things can almost always be made more efficient one one way or another.

Nice job on all the little 3d prints.

No replacing at this time....needed it gone to trial my next layout tweak

Moved the jointer 90 degrees, then stuck the planer where it was(still need to finish that project) to trial out this layout allowing me to better access both machines.



After cleaning up some other stuff and moving some things to the trash...I think it's an improvement. Still need some fine tuning and probably need to put a longer power cord on the jointer but this should work. Will be easier to use dust connection on the jointer as it'll just be a 6' or so flex line to hook up...still have to work out the cleanest way to get to the planer but I think I can mount a 6" pipe under the cnc bed and have flex to it and flex from it to the machine. Longer term there is a port on the main trunk to allow a 6" line to come over on the ceiling and drop down but not there yet.

Next step I'm still thinking about is moving the planer off that base and putting it on top of this Vidmar cabinet:


Would likely then dispose of the existing planer base, so that frees up 5 or so sq ft which given how much "stuff" I've got would be an improvement. I'm working to move the hardware that's filling up several of those Vidmar drawers to a different location....maybe that would give me some push to get that done....

 

[loganb]

Will spare the details but with the hydraulic lift cart and a bunch of blocking cause I was out of lift height...planer got moved



Need to get it lagged to the top for safety...will watch for if I think the cart is too top heavy but I don't plan to move it much ..just if I have to reposition for a long board.
Motivation tank is about out with a cold at the moment ...so probably won't get the old base taken apart tonight.

 

[loganb]

Few things..

Looks like the latest part they sent me for the new 3D printer fixed it



That's the buffer assembly that filament feeds thru before heading to the extruder head. There is a filament detection sensor and a circuit board in there .....so not sure what it was that wasn't right but replaced it and it's working as it should so that's great

Back on the farm for harvest for a couple days



Overall yields for corn and beans have been very good, generally significantly above the production history for that field....thank you to timely rains. This field will not be in the above avg bucket....around 25 bushels an acre on 150 acres. 2 miles away was pretty good and was over 60 bushels an acre....but just missed the rainfall on this patch of dirt.
Playing the game of catch the combine with the grain cart...yes the tractor and the cart colors don't match...I said the cart should be gray to not match anything but red was on the lot lol.


Then get to roll coal with old iron



Bins get loaded with a roughly 13" x 120' auger and it will make the 5020's which are a 140 HP non-turbo tractor get their exercise in on soybeans which leads to a good night shot. We like the old open station tractors for this as they're cheap(relatively speaking) horsepower and the open station(no cab) makes getting it started/shut off easier cause you don't have to climb up and in like would with a newer machine with a cab. Electric motor would be nicer... But the auger moves around to different bins so making that work with a 120 ish HP electric motor gets more challenging.... So diesel powered it is!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Hoping to crawl in a semi this weekend and get some harvest action for myself...need to reset.

 

[loganb]

Hoping to crawl in a semi this weekend and get some harvest action for myself...need to reset.

Did a bit of running around in our new(to us) one with an auto shifting transmission.... definitely something one can get used to!

 

[Boostingaz]

Few things..

Looks like the latest part they sent me for the new 3D printer fixed it



That's the buffer assembly that filament feeds thru before heading to the extruder head. There is a filament detection sensor and a circuit board in there .....so not sure what it was that wasn't right but replaced it and it's working as it should so that's great

Back on the farm for harvest for a couple days



Overall yields for corn and beans have been very good, generally significantly above the production history for that field....thank you to timely rains. This field will not be in the above avg bucket....around 25 bushels an acre on 150 acres. 2 miles away was pretty good and was over 60 bushels an acre....but just missed the rainfall on this patch of dirt.
Playing the game of catch the combine with the grain cart...yes the tractor and the cart colors don't match...I said the cart should be gray to not match anything but red was on the lot lol.


Then get to roll coal with old iron



Bins get loaded with a roughly 13" x 120' auger and it will make the 5020's which are a 140 HP non-turbo tractor get their exercise in on soybeans which leads to a good night shot. We like the old open station tractors for this as they're cheap(relatively speaking) horsepower and the open station(no cab) makes getting it started/shut off easier cause you don't have to climb up and in like would with a newer machine with a cab. Electric motor would be nicer... But the auger moves around to different bins so making that work with a 120 ish HP electric motor gets more challenging.... So diesel powered it is!

That last picture is cool!

Not this year but coolest picture I think I have.

 

[loganb]

When running 2 machines at a time in the same field its been chewing around 50 acres/hr so means get to see this view a couple times a day as we hop from field to field.



It's normally a couple miles or less to the next field and the process to unhook or rehook the header is usually 5 minutes or less so its more efficient for us then splitting the combines into separate fields...unless it's a smaller field and out of the way....or we are running beans and corn at the same time...or or or always exceptions.

If we can make the trek in a single parade it takes 6 drivers...which can be hard to line up so it's often a multi trip excursion as the first combine, truck with header and tractor with grain cart(or semi) move to the new field and open it up so we can get the equipment in. Then load another driver or two up, head back and repeat.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Did a bit of running around in our new(to us) one with an auto shifting transmission.... definitely something one can get used to!

I drove one many years ago, tried to like it, just couldn't. Very scary on ice as well. But, it does open up options for drivers during harvest.

 

[loganb]

I drove one many years ago, tried to like it, just couldn't. Very scary on ice as well. But, it does open up options for drivers during harvest.

It arrived in July so no ice yet to be forced to try it out on. The DT12 automated manual transmission does open up options for additional drivers, honestly was more for the improved mileage and operator comfort. Right now it's sitting about 3/4 of a mpg better than the 2018 truck which is the next newest. Think it's 3 yrs old with 300k miles so it's the newest and most comfortable ride we've got. Dad sometimes says if he wanted to 'row' for fun he'd get a rowboat, but if there is a viable, worthwhile replacement that makes the grain runs easier he's all for it. Integrated jake brake on the shifter stalk on right side of the steering wheel is handier then reaching for a switch in the console, lot quieter and smoother ride...coupled with the newest trailer makes it the first one out of the lot. It's tuned to 550 HP so it pulls the couple of substantial hills we've got easily....not having to run the gears down to 4th by hand helps as well!

 

[kppolich]

That time of year again where the dust flies and the days get shorter. I'll add to your harvest pics with some absolute beauties my buddy took last week here in Eastern Iowa.

Photo Credit: Mehrdad Z


Glad to see Bambu got you sorted on the part as well.

 

[loganb]

That time of year again where the dust flies and the days get shorter. I'll add to your harvest pics with some absolute beauties my buddy took last week here in Eastern Iowa.

Photo Credit: Mehrdad Z


Glad to see Bambu got you sorted on the part as well.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing! Forgot to grab the drone on this trip so no fun drone shots... thankfully we've had a bit of breeze most days to move the dust out of the way.

Dead still days in beans can make dumping on the go challenging when you can't see the header. The green machine software link between combine and tractor to allow the combine operator to "slave" the tractor to the combine speed and spacing apart shows it's value in low visibility conditions. With mismatched colors we may look at the 3rd party solutions after the bugs get worked out

 

[Xti04]

Im definitely not a midwestern farmer by any means, had to pull off to let a combine pass me last week while I was down south of Knoxville. Always makes me happy to see giant machinery on the road between fields. Never been involved in a harvest of any sort, looks like a cool experience to me though.