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

[loganb]

Ferris makes good equipment and Kawasaki is probably the best small engine manufacturer.

My first Ferris mower but so far I'm impressed. Ordering the mulch kit for it but otherwise it's running like a champ.

Any real progress here is slow... ok non-existant.

2nd weekend in a row away from home, this time at 2 family reunion events for my wife's side and had forgotten how much stuff is required to leave the house with an infant....ugh. This was part of the stuff, for 2 nights for 2 adults and 2 kids about 2.5 hours away



The little one is now over a yr old so the amount of stuff will start to go down but goodness it's a lot of ****

Otherwise nothing overly noteworthy is going on
- Need to get carb put back together and green mower sold
-Sprinkler estimate for moving some heads due to the fence that went in came in at $2k so I'm doing that myself...another project... yay
-No progress on CNC Router project
-Haven't tackled the Serp belt and associated parts on the Volvo yet
-Garage is still a mess from the birthday party shindig and related drying out of party stuff in there

 

[Bob Heine]

This was part of the stuff, for 2 nights for 2 adults and 2 kids about 2.5 hours away

In my world that's packing light for a 1/2 day trip -- and it's only two of us.

 

[loganb]

In my world that's packing light for a 1/2 day trip -- and it's only two of us.

So that explains why the corvette doesn't get many miles! I laughed the other day when I showed my wife a pic of the 2 carry on bags we had for a 4 day Florida trip back before kids...yeah that's not happening for awhile!

Also forgot to mention aside from sprinkler work being added to the project list, upping my lawn care game in general has been burning my time recently.

Last year the grass in much of the yard didnt look great and I was annoyed and probably cared too much that it was the worst looking yard in the 1 or 2 block radius....so spent more time on it last fall and this spring and coupled with pretty favorable weather so far its looking the best it has since we bought it...which then means I'm trying to keep it up as we get into summer heat. Fungicide, more frequent mowing, just bought a bunch of rain gauges to start auditing sprinkler zones to figure out how much water is going down...another rabbit hole but I enjoy learning and this is a new thing to learn about

 

[nicholam77]

2nd weekend in a row away from home, this time at 2 family reunion events for my wife's side and had forgotten how much stuff is required to leave the house with an infant....ugh.

I feel this so hard. We've had a couple of trips, too, and it feels like we're bringing the whole house with us.

The lawn is looking great.

 

[loganb]

Off topic....so fair warning

This last week has been a challenging one as we got a late night phone call....you know the kind where their is only 1 reason that person would be calling at that hour...and it's not good. Wife's sister was killed in a car accident that was pointless and stupid and involved excessive speed and alcohol on the part of the other driver....but that's enough on that part of it.

As I played a supporting role for my wife and the rest of the family getting this and that and making phone calls then starting to dig thru her paperwork to get a picture of the estate(divorced, rented her place, kids are in high school so not something they could really help with) I alternated between feelings of frustration, sadness and moments of being impressed on what she was able to accomplish with the financial means she had. She touched an incredible number of people in her chosen profession...but her interests and desires were never such that she would chase more hours or pick up more shifts for financial security. She worked the shifts she needed to meet her immediate needs and that was enough for her.

As the initial part of this whirlwind is over, the gatherings are done and we now work to understand the next steps to support her kids, I wanted to share a couple of the biggest learnings we've had so far in hopes that someone else can benefit

1. Access-she was organized and liked paper records which were well kept and organized(huge help) but we as yet haven't gotten into the computer as nobody seems to know the password and the "forgot my PIN" goes to her email...which we don't have access to and the phone was destroyed in the crash. Fortunately it's a PIN and only 4 numbers vs a stronger password and it's Windows 11 which doesn't seem to have a permanent lockout feature so we will get in....just gonna take awhile.

Regardless of paper or digital, spend a couple hours and get your critical documents together and include instructions on how to access the most important legal, medical and financial parts of your life. Get them together and then figure out the best way for trusted others to get access to this if needed. Safe deposit box they're signers on, a dropbox/cloud sharing site they have access to, the emergency sharing access of a password managers service, a jump drive or paper copy in their possession...pick what works for your situation and get (2) people who live in different households access.

2. Direction-You likely wouldn't let some other random person determine who gets guardianship of your minor children or where your physical assets go while you're alive....but passing away without the legal documents such as a will to direct where those things go is exactly what you just agreed to do. Especially if you have minor children, spend the couple hours and 500 to 1500 bucks depending on complexity and get wills, power of attorney and other doc's created, filled out and signed so that YOU control what happens in the event of an untimely demise. Every couple of years you should review and make updates if necessary, but get started with a Google search for "Family Law Lawyers" in your area...now

3. Protection-We're not positive...but we're likely looking at a situation with no life insurance coverage unless there was a group policy thru work. Yes life insurance costs money and you hope it never gets used...but eventually all of us pass on so you know the event is going to occur...you're working to protect it from happening at a poor or unexpected time.

Talk to a financial advisor and evaluate the options that exist for your scenario and what you're trying to protect or ensure. It would've been an amazing help to her daughters had the policy discussed with her agent 9 months ago been executed as it would've provided for roughly 4 years of college for each of them for the cost of 3 or 4 more shifts of work in a calendar year. To me that's an easy decision and what makes me the saddest as had we asked and had more honest discussions, that policy would've become a Christmas present or some other "gift". We'll be having those conversations now with some others in the family....but wish it wasn't because of this lesson we've learned here

I'm sure other lessons are going to come up here, but after experiencing this my wife and I are very glad we have sufficient insurance coverage and the legal side handled but admittedly do need to improve the access side...which is on the list for this week.

If any of the tech inclined members has any methods for brute force cracking a Windows 11 Hello Pin...drop me a note....happy to pay for results. I have the machine and have used kon-boot to get a local account with admin access which enabled access to some old pictures which is nice...but really looking to get the main account so we can get accounts and logins that we are hoping are saved in the browser.

 

[tj675]

Sorry for your loss! Appreciate the reminder and the good words of advice.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Thoughts and prayers headed your way for your family.

All great advice, a plan makes things much easier for sure.

 

[nicholam77]

Really sorry to hear that Logan, that is awful. I can't imagine and I'm sure it was a total shock with an accident like that. You give some great advice, though. I do have life insurance but now I'm feeling guilty to admit... I'm one of those people who "has been meaning to" get a lawyer and set up a will etc for the last several years but hasn't gotten around to it. I'm going to get on that ASAP.

It also reminds me to check in with my parents who are getting older. I think they are pretty organized and have briefly discussed the "access" component with me before, but to be honest I could use a refresher.

Wishing you and your wife the best as you move forward!

 

[jbrentd]

Thoughts and prayers to your family. Sorry to hear this news.

 

[Swanny1953]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Many years ago I created a document titled “if I should die or become incapacitated” that has a shortcut on my desktop. My wife and kids know where it is and what’s in it. I put in links to other documents I had created that have all the brokerage/bank/credit card accounts, life insurance policies and contacts for each. Just have to remember to update the docs every so often. I use a password manager called Keeper and gave them the credentials to access that as well.
We’re at the tail end of dealing with my FIL’s passing in mid-April and have run into many of the problems you cited - still cannot get into one of his computers, and getting someone to talk with Mom about his personal accounts without the required court documents has been beyond frustrating. 2-1/2 months later, we can finally pay off his truck note - those people wouldn’t give me (or mom!!) any info until we had the court docs, but that didn’t stop them from threatening repossession for non-payment.
As suggested above, best thing to do for your loved ones is to get prepared so they don’t have to deal with a bunch of unknowns.

 

[loganb]

Well quick update time here as been almost a month...

Still dealing with the "picking up the pieces" on the family side, this last week or so has been primarily focused on getting out of her apt which will hopefully be finished today. Other's have been sorting and packing at night and I've got the most flexible work schedule of the family so I've been working early and late so I could get load or two out of the apt and into storage during a slow spot in my workday. It's let me be helpful and kept me out of some of the drama so all's good there....though I connected the dots yesterday that my sinus/allergies have been acting up unusually for about the last week and it aligns with when I started going to her place which contained 50 lbs of cats on (8) legs total...yes 1 was a super chonker. So think I'm allergic to her cats....glad this should be over today!

Few small projects have gotten accomplished:

Furthered my nerd standing with wife's family as one of the nieces had a bad screen develop on this Samsung laptop...something got dropped on it. First time replacing a laptop screen but 70 bucks and 2 days later it was done in about 20 minutes so was pretty happy with that.



Most of the minimal project time has been spent on landscaping, primarily sprinklers. When we put the privacy fence in 2 years ago it put 5 sprinklers on the wrong side of the fence but they were all on the same zone so I just stopped using it and kinda limped thru things. My brother and mom came up to help watch our 2 kids for the weekend when we had services for the sister in law and he brought his new drone which was super fun to play with but really highlighted the line in the backyard between what was getting sufficient water and what wasn't....so that got me off my **** and after a $2k estimate from a local company I decided to do it myself and most of the way there. The house is 15-ish years old too so most of the heads need raised a bit and swapping spray heads as well so it's had a bit of scope creep(no surprise) but at least to the point where that sprinkler zone is watering again!


New heads on first run before I got the adjusting done. Still have a couple more heads on the "back" fence in this picture to dig under the fence and into the backyard but big improvement getting this zone running again and the daughter likes playing in these sprinklers cause the spray is gentler which was honestly one of the mental reasons I used to justify it in my head...glad it worked out!




In an unexpected twist I got designated to help(lead) the assy of a yard shed at a family member's as the original volunteer to assemble it wasn't showing up to start work. Standard big box "DIY" kit highly optimized for minimum material cost and ease of shipping with 0 concern on durability or ease of assembly but whatever I've never done one of these and the jobsite is 10 minutes away from my house and it's highly important to the family member so ok let's see what I can get done. Took about 3.5 hours to get the 2 side walls built and all the stuff somewhat sorted out...pile of parts about 20 minutes into sorting to learn what we had


We were taking some liberties with their design...it was designed to go onto wood floor and walls were designed to be framed with 2x3's and no bottom plate but I modified things to at least do full top and bottom plate with 2x4's but as customer wanted to minimize material cost I was working with the kit materials as best I could. Siding panels are all precut so have to work within those constraints but a couple hours after this and 15 degrees more into the heat we had the 2 side walls done with far more framing then instructions called for and a plan for the end wall(which required some longer 2 x 3's I'd have to rip down as I hated their design) and called it a day

Well in the best example of Cunningham's law (The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to post a question, it's to post the wrong answer) playing out in non-internet "real life" I've been party to....the original volunteer to assemble said shed heard progress was made and came out to review and didn't like the "reinforced but following their plans" design we were using and took it all apart and then framed up new walls using full 2 x 4's he supplied with conventional wall framing methods! How I would've done it too had I not been working under the direction to minimize material usage and trying to stick within the "kit" materials as close as possible...but alas I don't care as I had been "fired" from the volunteer position

Have gotten a few random spots of 20 or 30 minutes to spend in the garage while daughter rides her bike inside while it's still hot in the evenings...the added benefits of a fully conditioned garage as suddenly overflow living/activity space is something I had thought about but undersold in my head how nice it would be. Nothing major new out there but have a new carb to put on the Z445 mower so I can get it sold and hope to get that done this weekend so I can run it for a bit to ensure it's working then get it cleaned up to sell and out of my hair

Smoked first full brisket on Thursday night for Friday night's supper. I'd been a bit leary of brisket due to the size, cost and length of time but we have some family in town and got a couple on 4th of July on sale so gave it a try and was far easier then I had feared and turned out great. Rub wasn't as consistent on it as could've been(bit salty in a couple spots) but very tender and great flavor...and when you do a 12 lb brisket for 6 adults you get leftovers so never a bad thing!




Think that's about it for now....time to get ready for the household starting to stir and then to pack a tool bag and some allergy meds for moving day and hopefully get that done so we can put that piece of this episode behind us!

Have a great, productive if you so choose and safe weekend ya'll!

 

[Boostingaz]

I am so sorry for the family loss!

My wife and I own a company that specializes in guardianships/conservatorships/acting as trustee for standard and special needs trusts and also probate work for the court. It is all too common for people not to have a plan and or any paperwork in place. There is some great advice in the above post. Please please plan for your estate now so that things are executed according to YOUR wishes not state law.

If anyone wants a simple planning guide PM me. It's just small printable booklet that I made that asks all the pertinent info about bank accounts, income, pensions, insurances, locations of documents (car titles, deeds etc), mortgage info, specific funeral wishes, all kinds of stuff so that someone would have basically all the info they need to assist in a situation such as this, just PM me and I can email it to you. If anyone is in AZ and needs attorney recommendations for setting up POA's or a family trust anything let me know too. This is not a business plug, just willing to share good! names and numbers kind of thing if anyone wants to get their affairs in order and doesn't want a "yellow pages" lawyer.

 

[loganb]

I am so sorry for the family loss!

My wife and I own a company that specializes in guardianships/conservatorships/acting as trustee for standard and special needs trusts and also probate work for the court. It is all too common for people not to have a plan and or any paperwork in place. There is some great advice in the above post. Please please plan for your estate now so that things are executed according to YOUR wishes not state law.

If anyone wants a simple planning guide PM me. It's just small printable booklet that I made that asks all the pertinent info about bank accounts, income, pensions, insurances, locations of documents (car titles, deeds etc), mortgage info, specific funeral wishes, all kinds of stuff so that someone would have basically all the info they need to assist in a situation such as this, just PM me and I can email it to you. If anyone is in AZ and needs attorney recommendations for setting up POA's or a family trust anything let me know too. This is not a business plug, just willing to share good! names and numbers kind of thing if anyone wants to get their affairs in order and doesn't want a "yellow pages" lawyer.

Ohh expert here in the in's and out...thanks for taking a couple minutes to share and the generous offer to help others! Will file that away as the wife is the PR/Executor for the estate, but the estate is relatively simple from a legal perspective....family dynamics not so much. When one doesn't have much, estate's are pretty easy and the only hangup is that there is a pending legal/civil settlement due to the manner of the accident that will prevent the estate from being closed for awhile as that process works its way thru the courts.

I'll reiterate my prior comments on things everyone should think thru as eventually we all die...Wills and Power of Attorney cost some money(but well worth it and if you have kids I personally view it as a requirement)...and life insurance isn't always affordable or obtainable for all....but for the love of "insert your preferred deity" take an hour or two and consolidate a list of your financial records and other important documents, get your logins for your financial accounts and other key things there and get them to a person or a place where when something happens a trusted person can get to them and knows what to do. At a minimum, put copies of the stuff into a document safe in your house, and make sure (2) trusted people who live in different households know where that key/combination is kept so if it happens, they at least know where to go. We already had a Google Drive folder shared with the necessary people with scans of all the legal paperwork they may need, so we just added a document in there with some links, safe combinations and other pertinent stuff and hope that its 30 minutes or an hour a year to update that is a complete waste of time

We still haven't gotten the "letter of personal representation" so my wife can close out accounts with more "strict" rules, but we at least know what's out there because she still got all her statements and bills printed and kept them well organized...if we didn't have those we'd be operating totally in the dark right now! The days/weeks/months after a loss are hard, spend some time and make sure that if you go unexpectedly your family doesn't have to navigate that time period with the added stress and hardship of not being able to manage your affairs easily. Once you get that done...have the often uncomfortable discussion with your close friends and family to try and help THEM put their $h!t together so if the same happens to them YOU aren't stuck trying to figure out their password or dig thru mail and sweet talking receptionists to try and suspend services etc

Ok, enough depressing soap box **** talking about the realities of life. Success was had at the apartment, it was empty in 3 hours or so except for 4 larger pieces that will be out by 9:15 tomorrow morning as that was when we had scheduled a few more strong backs and trucks....so hopefully that'll soon be in the "done" column and we can get back to slightly more fun pursuits like a new carb on a mower, next revision on wrench racks and a CNC router...and finishing the work on that silly Volvo.

 

[Boostingaz]

@loganb

All excellent advise. At least she has a list! That's wonderful. We usually get brought in after some kind of incapacitating event and since these are "strangers" to us we know literally nothing. We have to search houses in the hopes they have records.....most people don't. We have contacts at almost all the major banks and investment firms (Edward Jones, Vanguard, RBC, Raymond James all those guys) as we literally have to email each and every one asking for an account search. It is tedious when there are no directions so I am a strong believer in estate planning.

Things will get smoother one she has her certified letters of PR. Get a few extra copies of there are a lot of assets, most major places will only accept originals not copies.

If she was a veteran and or government worker don't forget to check places like VA, OPM, DFAS there could be benefits that even she wasn't really aware of.

Don't hesitate to PM me if you run into any trouble and I might be able to give you a contact person at some of these agencies that will make the process a little easier.

 

[loganb]

Moving is more enjoyable when most of the stuff is going in a dumpster in the driveway



But a last 45 minutes this morning to get the last few big pieces out(and into the dumpster) and done! Well other than last few boxes in my truck to drop at the nieces tomorrow...thank goodness the physical and emotional task of that is behind us now.

Got some time back on my projects and worked in putting the new carb on the z445 mower. Got it bolted back on, fresh oil and filter and it works...but wait....why is it back in pieces...



However during the testing of this I remembered that the charging system isn't working right...****. So new voltage regulator is on the way...maybe list it by next weekend. Any of the "locals" to omaha need a 54" zero turn with 230 hours?

After that, normal household stuff and a wonderfully fun attitude by the 3 going on 13 year old...it's time for some of this



Need to take Monday off to recover from the weekend

 

[Boostingaz]

@loganb

"After that, normal household stuff and a wonderfully fun attitude by the 3 going on 13 year old..."

I have one of those.....fun huh

 

[loganb]

@loganb

"After that, normal household stuff and a wonderfully fun attitude by the 3 going on 13 year old..."

I have one of those.....fun huh

Yeah...we are very fortunate that 95% of the time she's very well behaved....

But with my parents here end of last week and wife's parents here now it's been a busy couple of days so we definitely are in the 5% not well behaving time. Fortunately she will be in bed soon and she'll wake up tomorrow with no grudges and hopefully in a good mood to go see her friends

 

[Boostingaz]

We have a trip coming up soon to go back to Indiana for a wedding and to spend some time on the farm and at the lake and with the family. Our kids by day 3/4 will be in their 5% haha. Sun up to sun down with all the cousins will wear them out super quick!

 

[82355]

What are you asking for the mower?

Martin

 

[loganb]

What are you asking for the mower?

Martin

Honestly haven't gotten that far yet....2010 model Z445HC I bought new from a dealership. Got about 180 hours in its first 5 years living on the acreage then since 2016 mowing season has been living the city life and took the next 7 years to get the last 50 hours. Am hoping I get the charge circuit fixed this weekend, once I do will PM you.

 

[loganb]

A little progress on the garage...though it's hard to tell

Found some mouse damage to wiring on the mower, got it fixed and the yard mowed. Will let it cool down outside before I adjust the carb a bit...too hot for that today.

An "honest" picture of the current state:



With a little sweaping "help" but not complaining

During afternoon nap time got plane till/cabinet that stalled thanks to the CNC project at least off the bench and onto the wall which is the most progress it's seen in several months...so minor victory but still a victory

 

[OutlawDrifter]

You can still walk through it and see the floor, you're doing okay my friend!

 

[bj383ss]

Oh the state of my shop and my shed is much worse. You need me to post pics to make you feel better!

Bret

 

[loganb]

Oh the state of my shop and my shed is much worse. You need me to post pics to make you feel better!

Bret

Lol!

I think my bigger hangup right now is probably the number of projects I have at 50% and not really functional yet. I've got a long track record of getting projects to the 80 or 90% phase and very functional but not finishing the "pretty" and "refined" for awhile but many of these right now aren't even at the functional stage yet which is aggravating me. Mostly self-inflicted issues but am going to try finish some of these so I can free up workbench space and feel a bit more productive

My inlaws are here as well and father inlaw has similar garage interests and hobbies so I try and have the space more clean and organized when he's here so he's more comfortable working on things out there and keeping him out of my or mother inlaws hair during the day while we are working. He's currently got a cold though(hope it's only that) so I have a day or two probably before he's puttering again so maybe I can make progress this afternoon during the older ones nap time.

 

[loganb]

Well stars aligned, father inlaw felt better and kids were pretty well behaved and I got most of Sunday afternoon on the garage and got a bunch of little stuff done

Finally got a ladder up on the wall and out of the way, also mounted a piece of mdf on the side of the light duty pallet rack style shelving at the top and put that shelf up to hold 3 organizers that have hardware/anchors etc more commonly used in the house. While staring at the dead space up top trying to figure out what to put there the framing nailer jumped up and found a new home....its used so sparingly I should sell it but likely won't so its a fine place for it.




Fine carpentry it is not, but it is a home for one of the super handy raised work platforms out of a couple 2x4 cutoffs, a bit of glue and some screws






I've had another pair of lights for the ceiling for awhile and just haven't gotten them up, an extension cord got nicked with an electric hedge trimmer so figured while I was waiting for a couple plug ends I'd knock a couple foot off and see what I think for placement to kick back some shadows. So far I like it, need to scoot the other row back towards the garage doors a bit to spread it out better but it's a good "temporary" fix until I run conduit snd get them on their own circuit with a 0-10v dimming as well.



Other light fixture is probably going to get a cord and plug put on it and hung above the cnc router project so that I have better light there and is easy to turn on and off while I figure out what level of permanent lighting to do over the garage door area. I held off on doing anything permanent there I wasn't sure if garage doors would be open enough to cause an issue but I have spent very little time out there working with the doors open(thanks air conditioning) so probably going to think harder about a permanent run of lights there.

 

[nicholam77]

It may not feel like it to you, but the garage is looking clean and organized from where I'm sitting! The wider pics give me a better sense how big that CNC is!

When you're feeling stalled, it always feels good to check off a couple smaller tasks. Hope you and the fam are hanging in there and enjoying your summer!

 

[loganb]

It may not feel like it to you, but the garage is looking clean and organized from where I'm sitting! The wider pics give me a better sense how big that CNC is!

When you're feeling stalled, it always feels good to check off a couple smaller tasks. Hope you and the fam are hanging in there and enjoying your summer!

It's definitely better after some QST this weekend! For work a number of years back we were doing one of the brain dominance things...think it was HBDI and the facilitator who was part of our internal Org Development team(so knew us a bit) saw mine and asked "When you get stressed....do you have to clean up your desk and your work area before you can do the work?" Yup! I like a sweet spot of "stuff" and "organized" so when it's outside that sweet spot too long it starts to wear on me till I push aside what I should do to fix it...then back on track. The work desk is outside that sweet spot as well

This pic shows the work area a bit better. The router footprint is right at 60 x 60 for a 48 x 48 work envelope so it's definitely a big footprint to commit too but it helped when I snuck the laser underneath so the "net floorspace" wasn't that full footprint. Once I get it running will eventually rotate it 90 degrees so I can feed material "thru" if the wife's ride is out but for now the current layout works.

 

[loganb]

This one is for @jbrentd!



Father in law made great progress on removing weeds so we could spread mulch later this week. Before that happens I wanted to add a couple sprinkler heads so busted out the shovel and got to work... about an hour or so later I had a soaked shirt but didn't appear to have any leaks

Now only about 6 more heads that need added thanks to the fence and I think 13 heads I want to swap the spray head on but am making progress

 

[jbrentd]

This one is for @jbrentd!



Father in law made great progress on removing weeds so we could spread mulch later this week. Before that happens I wanted to add a couple sprinkler heads so busted out the shovel and got to work... about an hour or so later I had a soaked shirt but didn't appear to have any leaks

Now only about 6 more heads that need added thanks to the fence and I think 13 heads I want to swap the spray head on but am making progress

haha, I think I started sweating just from reading that post.

 

[loganb]

haha, I think I started sweating just from reading that post.

I thought when we bought this place that sprinklers would be "fun" and an "easy" way to keep green grass...

More in the camp now if mother nature can keep it green it shall be green, but the peer pressure with all the other green lawns is definitely keeping me running the sprinklers which then highlights the light coverage spots....causing more work....and more mowing....endless cycle

 

[99MPower]

ill trade you! My wife wants all the green grass. I cant keep a green yard if i wanted to!

just finished all 700+ posts in the last 3 days. Stuck out here in the Med, floating around on a destroyer. Cant wait to get back and join all you normal people working in the garage. HAHA

Love everything you've done, and as a major gear head, seriously considering one of those 3D printers. Organizing my tool boxes, and other stuff would save so much money. Might have to get on that bandwagon soon

 

[loganb]

ill trade you! My wife wants all the green grass. I cant keep a green yard if i wanted to!

just finished all 700+ posts in the last 3 days. Stuck out here in the Med, floating around on a destroyer. Cant wait to get back and join all you normal people working in the garage. HAHA

Love everything you've done, and as a major gear head, seriously considering one of those 3D printers. Organizing my tool boxes, and other stuff would save so much money. Might have to get on that bandwagon soon

Well first off thanks for your service! Seen some of your other comments around here and glad we could help keep ya occupied when you're not on duty! I live about 10 minutes from Offut AFB and have a neighborhood full of AF and a few Army guys and serious respect for what you're doing...and you get some cool toys too

The 3d printer is fun and super handy. My biggest issue right now with why it doesn't run more is a scheduling conflict with the PC I have the CAD software on...aka it's our "home" PC and my wife often needs it at night so I'm likely ordering a Dell refurb from their business outlet to setup at my desk in the home office using the keyboard/monitor setup I use for work. This way the scheduling conflict is gone and my **** stays at my desk...seems like a win. Now to just decide what to order....

Little project tonight was hanging that last light "temporarily" over the cnc router area and see what I thought. Sacrificed an older extension cord and grabbed a cord grip and 10 minutes later it was up on the ceiling



Big improvement...foot candle measurement before with the phone on the surface of the router bed was approx 15...



As an IT guy I worked with would say...this is "way gooder"

 

[99MPower]

Well first off thanks for your service! Seen some of your other comments around here and glad we could help keep ya occupied when you're not on duty! I live about 10 minutes from Offut AFB and have a neighborhood full of AF and a few Army guys and serious respect for what you're doing...and you get some cool toys too

Appreciate it! Cant complain about the toys as a weapons instructor, and a sonar technician hunting for things unda the sea..

Moving 13 times in the last 18 years, never really had exactly what I wanted for garages, but I've always made it work the best I could. Ive been on GJ since 2007, but never really started a full blown garage thread, as I was always moving. Got married back in 2019 and living in the house now. Hoping to do a 20/24' x 24/28' detached, based on what I can fit on our cul-de-sac lot. I'm a huge competitive shooter/reloader, and car guy. Sold my race car a few years ago, and regret every minute of it. Big diesel trucks, trailers, and race cars for most of my adult life, and then the "boss" got in the way.. Not single anymore, and cant blow $4k-$5k at the race track on a weekend anymore. LOL

Killing time, and cant wait to contribute when I get home and more available to post pictures, etc.

 

[loganb]

Appreciate it! Cant complain about the toys as a weapons instructor, and a sonar technician hunting for things unda the sea..

Moving 13 times in the last 18 years, never really had exactly what I wanted for garages, but I've always made it work the best I could. Ive been on GJ since 2007, but never really started a full blown garage thread, as I was always moving. Got married back in 2019 and living in the house now. Hoping to do a 20/24' x 24/28' detached, based on what I can fit on our cul-de-sac lot. I'm a huge competitive shooter/reloader, and car guy. Sold my race car a few years ago, and regret every minute of it. Big diesel trucks, trailers, and race cars for most of my adult life, and then the "boss" got in the way.. Not single anymore, and cant blow $4k-$5k at the race track on a weekend anymore. LOL

Killing time, and cant wait to contribute when I get home and more available to post pictures, etc.

Cars and guns...dangerous and spendy combo for sure! Living in the city has lowered my ammo usage...had a range on my acreage in Iowa 2 houses ago....definitely miss being able to walk out that back door and be at the range. Mostly small bore and handgun though, didn't play much with long range or reloading. Grew up doing competitive airgun and small bore though either a 10m airgun range in the upstairs and just picked up a new "yard defender" to help with the invasion of rabbits. Plus it gives me a break over lunch hour trying to get back into practice punching holes in paper.

You on homestretch to 20 yr mark and out or sticking around a bit longer?

 

[99MPower]

Cars and guns...dangerous and spendy combo for sure! Living in the city has lowered my ammo usage...had a range on my acreage in Iowa 2 houses ago....definitely miss being able to walk out that back door and be at the range. Mostly small bore and handgun though, didn't play much with long range or reloading. Grew up doing competitive airgun and small bore though either a 10m airgun range in the upstairs and just picked up a new "yard defender" to help with the invasion of rabbits. Plus it gives me a break over lunch hour trying to get back into practice punching holes in paper.

You on homestretch to 20 yr mark and out or sticking around a bit longer?

Need to go to 21 on current contract, but if I can get a sweet gig teaching in the Hampton Roads area, and not move again, I'll "probably" stay til 24. At a point now, that the money is decent finally, things are settling, and I'm in a more administrative/managerial role. Current assignment on a deployable USS destroyer makes life, and being gone difficult on the family. Wife was "ok" with everything when we got married in 2019, as I was on shore duty with normal "school" hours M-Fri, as I was teaching weapons/force protection.

This deployment is our first together, and its been a struggle. I cant wait to get home, but at the same time, things could be better on the home front. There is a reason divorce rate is so high in the military. Its HARD, and a ton of work.

As long as I can go back to shore duty, and get back on normal "business/school" hours, M-Fri and minimal travel if any, I'd like to stay to 24. 60% base pay as soon as you retire, disability, and starting another career, I can build the garage of my dreams!!! haha.

I have (2) step kids, 15 year old son, and 6 year old daughter. Its been a crazy ride for sure, and I wouldnt change a thing

 

[iced98lx]

The light over the CNC looks great! I'd venture to say you need a PC that is beefy enough to virtualize a few machines so one can be running a 3-D printer, on the CNC, etc

I really really want a 3D printer after watching your thread.... my poor wife won't know what hit her lol

 

[wreckdiver1321]

The shop updates are looking good Logan!

I feel you with the sprinkler ****. My dad, as far as I'm concerned, is the unmatched king of lush, green lawns. Since I was a kid, he's mowed weekly, used the sprinklers twice a day, and put down fertilizer and overseeded once a month. Annual aeration too. He's teaching me a thing or two, but I don't know if I have the time or desire to do it myself.

That being said, I grew up with a beautiful lawn and want my kids to have that too.

Dammit.

 

[loganb]

The light over the CNC looks great! I'd venture to say you need a PC that is beefy enough to virtualize a few machines so one can be running a 3-D printer, on the CNC, etc

I really really want a 3D printer after watching your thread.... my poor wife won't know what hit her lol

Ironic you mention that...Fedex supposed to deliver a new desktop tomorrow so I can fix the "scheduling conflict" we currently have on computers....aka my CAD stuff is on our home desktop which means wife's computer so if she wants it for household stuff I'm out of luck. I also prefer my desk/monitor setup anyway....so a new to us Dell Business refurb should show up tomorrow. Looked at building my own, didn't need another project and this was cheaper for what I wanted. My CAD needs are pretty easily handled(current machine running it with Intel integrated graphics) so this should be a big improvement and promote household peace and goodwill

Tomorrow I've got to pickup the new keyboard and mouse(Logitech) so I can use the same ones on both machines without kvm switch or other annoyances..hoping to setup the new machine after kids go down Friday night...damn life is exciting if that's a good Friday night!

The cnc and printer will them have basic "dumb" machines(retired laptops) for pushing programs or other minor things at the machine..or thats the plan for now

And yes...you do need 1

 

[loganb]

The shop updates are looking good Logan!

I feel you with the sprinkler ****. My dad, as far as I'm concerned, is the unmatched king of lush, green lawns. Since I was a kid, he's mowed weekly, used the sprinklers twice a day, and put down fertilizer and overseeded once a month. Annual aeration too. He's teaching me a thing or two, but I don't know if I have the time or desire to do it myself.

That being said, I grew up with a beautiful lawn and want my kids to have that too.

Dammit.

So I too learned my lawn habits from my father...however they were far more tailored around the rural, farm life and someone who had other things that were far more important for him to keep growing well...mainly the crop acres and livestock. Needless to say those habits didn't translate super well to trying to keep at "average" in the neighborhood grass game so I've learned a fair amount the last 2 years. It's looking better than when we bought it...but got a ways to go. Fortunately many of the other things we learned on the farm put us in far better positions on more important areas....so still a win.

A nice green lawn for kids to play on makes the wife smile...so I guess the sprinkler work isn't done yet.

 

[iced98lx]

Tomorrow I've got to pickup the new keyboard and mouse(Logitech) so I can use the same ones on both machines without kvm switch or other annoyances..hoping to setup the new machine after kids go down Friday night...damn life is exciting if that's a good Friday night!

And yes...you do need 1

Check out Synergy - toss an old monitor on the 2nd machine and you can use 1 keyboard and mouse back and forth like it's just one PC. I used it for years to have my work computer and home computer on the same desk but one set of inputs.

Any suggestions on what to look for on the 1st time 3D printer? I know I don't want a tiny one as much like you my prints would be mostly utilitarian stuff...