A Shed Downunder.

[1/2 Cup]

It has been a huge week at work, 5 x 8 hour days of fairly intense training on Autodesk Inventor which went through 30 chapters in 2 volumes of manuals covering 2D and 3D modelling plus trying to keep on top of my normal day to day work load. The course was fantastic and I learnt heaps especially just how hopelessly inept my self taught computer skills are.

We have our Labour day holiday in some states here this weekend and I am really looking forward to the extra day off, hopefully making some more progress on the bench and table builds.

A number of weeks ago I started the procurement phase of a Dining Table build for Mrs 1/2 Cup and the pic below is where things are at to date.
I think I will have it built before I am able to complete the 3D drawing given my computer literacy levels but any way I am sure you will start to get the picture.

The legs are 3 x 3 x 1/8 SHS and the leg cross brace ties are from solid 1" rod. I will also use the 1" **** weld Tees to tie the assembly all together.
As per my Fabrication Bench build it will be an all metal finish in clear.


View media item 38509
Shelby helping me out as well.

Have a good weekend.

1/2 Cup..

 

[1/2 Cup]

I made a little more progress on the Retro Industrial Table top this past week end seeing the six Red Gum planks mated and glued together as pairs. I intend to run the 3 pairs through the big planner / thicknesser at work as my little Ryobi unit will not even look at it.
Red Gum is an extremely hard, durable and heavy timber to that end the top will be a 2 man lift and its only 5 ft 6 x 2ft 6 x 2 inches.

I dowelled and used a Urethane glue to joint them.

For those of you into old tools, the 2 sash clamps in the middle are old Woden units that were part of a collection of wood working tools I brought of a friend a couple of years ago. They came from a long established Funeral Parlour that his family had run for many years. Traditionally, had their own carpentry shop to make coffins so they have seen some action over the years but are still in really good condition.

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Even my table saw struggled with a new TCT blade just to square the edges.

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I also made a little bit of a head start on the Dining Table build in the evenings just to keep from annoying the neighbours. Pics to follow.

Cheers

 

[1/2 Cup]

A number of years ago I brought an antique overhead luggage carrier that would have originally came from a train carriage or tram to put towels on in the bathroom. They are quite attractive pieces to that end are now reproduced in there thousands.

I had similar aspirations to make some knock off copies myself, dismantling the unit and having a pair of ends cast at a local foundry. The finished product came up well. Sorry no pics as I sold it not that long after.

Moving forward in time Mrs 1/2 Cup had planted a climbing rose against the house at the front (post #7) and as it grew, needed support and clearance to train it along the facia, not content with was available in terms of brackets to do the job I struck apon the idea of recasting some more of these brackets to support the rose.

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I had a number of them cast in aluminium and have a few spares left over so I am considering using a pair on the Retro Industrial Table with a polished brass rod between them at one end as a towel rail.

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Cheers

 

[RivennHewn]

Lights, fans, fab table.... where do you get the time for it all?

 

[1/2 Cup]

Lights, fans, fab table.... where do you get the time for it all?

There is never enough hours in the day, i thoroughly enjoy working in the Shed and get great satifaction from the stuff i do, its very rewarding to say the least. That said i strive to have a balance between work, family, home, shed and community.

 

[N0tt0N]

They came from a long established Funeral Parlour that his family had run for many years.

Now, a dining room table actually MADE from coffin wood would be a real conversation piece!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Now, a dining room table actually MADE from coffin wood would be a real conversation piece!

Strange that you mentioned that, the bloke that I brought the sash clamps and planes from lives basically across the road from me, he wheels and deals a lot with motor bikes, old stationary engines, farm machinery, even tractors and the likes. He has always had a rather eclectic mix of nice stuff.
His health has not been brilliant for many years having overcome Leukaemia and stomach cancer and has done it pretty tough. He is the sort of bloke that would give you the shirt of his back to help out
As I mentioned his family owned a funeral directing business for many years and I was fortunate to be offered to purchase and given some stuff his dad (since passed and a mechanic in a previous life ) had owned and handed down to him. Knowing that it was going to a good home and that I would take good care of them.
Any way to cut a long story short, having seen that I have been making the top for the Retro Industrial Table he said in conversation recently that he had some nice Red Gum posts and offered them to me as he was cleaning out a lean to at the back of his shed to make room for more stuff that he had brought.
I went over to collect the posts and in amongst a pile of timber leaning up against the wall of the lean to was some other rather widish 6ft long pieces and smaller trim in a finished 3/4"Meranti. Unfortunately the timber had surcome to the ravages of time. He said I could take it as well and then proceeded to tell me that it was a complete coffin, or be it in kit form and well passed its use by date even to reclaim.
It turns out the coffin was originally destined to carry a family member to their last resting place but was, obviously, never used.
I gave the timber a miss. True story.

Cheers

 

[Ronny]

Quite possibly his own coffin. Just being practical i suppose. A proper wood one would be nice instead of the MDF ones in use these days.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Quite possibly his own coffin. Just being practical i suppose. A proper wood one would be nice instead of the MDF ones in use these days.

As I understand it the coffin was originally built in the 1930s for an older family member and for what ever reason was never used. You are quite right, knowing his father I would suspect that would have been the case.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I have not had much Quality Shed Time in the Shed Downunder over the last week or so as I have been travelling quite a bit with work lately.
I spent 2 days in Swan Hill (about 3 hours to the North West of here)on the mighty Murray River last week looking at some Capital upgrade projects at a few of our larger pumping facilities then off to Lake Eildon today (2 hours to the South) to do some electrical tests on the control system of some infrastructure at the main regulating gates. Monday and Tuesday next week I will be 6 hours to the South East at a place called Sale doing some Factory Acceptance testing on some SCADA control switchboards for an up grade project at another of our water storages at Yarrawonga on the Murray river once again.

Last weekend I had anticipated running the Red Gum timber through our planner at work, loaded the trailer, got to work early Saturday morning an found I could not access the area in which the planner was in, faulty lock so needless to say that set the precedent for the rest of the weekend and I just ended up in the garden mostly.

I did manage to get a few bits done on the Retro Industrial Table however, preparing the edge trim for the Red Gum timber table top which I have made form 5/16 x 1 1/4 mild steel flat all round with drilled and counter sunk fixings much like my Utility table (page 3 post 46 ) as well as making some spacer washers from the 2 " cutter plugs for the timber top. Waste not want not.

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Spacer Washers.
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Edge trim.

I also scored a nice old cast iron hand wheel and rising stem that was destined for the scrap, I need to think about how I could incorporate it in the table some how.

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Cheers

 

[Nursepeter1973]

If it was right proportionally the wheel could be a quite nice lazy susan... piece of glass as the top...

 

[rixtrix1]

Always such neat stuff and ideas, 1/2 Cup. Thanks for sharing. Little access to such stuff have I found here in Phoenix.

 

[1/2 Cup]

If it was right proportionally the wheel could be a quite nice lazy susan... piece of glass as the top...

That's not a bad idea, the wheel is around 10" in diameter and I am on the hunt for more of the same. I am also thinking adjustable retro stool with cast iron tractor seat, I will ponder on that.
How is the work bench going?

 

[1/2 Cup]

Always such neat stuff and ideas, 1/2 Cup. Thanks for sharing. Little access to such stuff have I found here in Phoenix.

On the contrary, you have come up with some stuff that is to die for.
Most of the stuff that you get out here is horrendously priced, in relative terms, compared to what I see get sold stateside.
I am in a fortunate position where I get around a bit and am always on the look out, that said nice stuff is getting harder and harder to find. The wheel and stem were freebies from a dumpster.

Cheers, thanks for the reply

 

[Nursepeter1973]

The workbench is fine... well its in stasis at the moment as I await another option to try and grind the coating off the top... also my next project is on hold as I'm awaiting delivery of a metal drop saw... though I do have 5 weeks holidays coming up...

 

[1/2 Cup]

Some 15 years ago I knocked up a couple of grinder pedestals from 4'' schedule 40 ammonia pipe that were off cuts from an industrial refrigeration installation we were completing at the time. I had made the 3 with the intention of some day mounting a metal polishing buff to the green one in the middle, it sat for a long time, never being completed until recently I decided not having a decent anvil, (note, the small anvil you see at the bottom of the image has the horn broken off it) that I would fit a nice thick piece of 1" plate to the top that would provide me with a solid surface to work and set out metal on.
I haven't found a permanent home for it yet but with a little re organisation in the shed down the track it will be dyna bolted down permanently. In the mean time it been a great fixture to do those things you would do on anvil but at bench height and works well.
Size wise the top plate is 16" x 16" x 1" and the gussets are made from 3/8" plate.


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Cheers

 

[mwbailey]

1/2 cup, You may not want to hear this, but back to Post #402 -- we teach Autodesk Inventor to high school freshman here in town! So, it can't be TOO hard to learn. . . . Seriously, many students take right to it, but they learn by trying things. We teach the basics and some of the secrets -- like, if you work with the same sketch a second time to "Extrude", you need to have selected "Share Sketch" for it to work. Of course, some students don't listen and will get hung up for a while until a classmate passes the hint along. I still use an Education copy of Inventor at home even though I retired almost three years ago from teaching "pre-engineering". Good luck. If you can visualize the projects that you've developed, you can handle Inventor.

 

[1/2 Cup]

1/2 cup, You may not want to hear this, but back to Post #402 -- we teach Autodesk Inventor to high school freshman here in town! So, it can't be TOO hard to learn. . . . Seriously, many students take right to it, but they learn by trying things. We teach the basics and some of the secrets -- like, if you work with the same sketch a second time to "Extrude", you need to have selected "Share Sketch" for it to work. Of course, some students don't listen and will get hung up for a while until a classmate passes the hint along. I still use an Education copy of Inventor at home even though I retired almost three years ago from teaching "pre-engineering". Good luck. If you can visualize the projects that you've developed, you can handle Inventor.

Many thanks for the tip I have been fumbling my way through, but the more I use it, the more I am learning. I am lucky enough to have a licence on my work lap top, so I have spent time at home working on my own Inventor projects.
I am really enjoying learning and using the program.

 

[rydeshed]

I used to run a sawmill cutting cypress, ironbark and some redgum. I used to run water with some detergent on the blade with redgum, as the gum was what made it so difficult to cut. Pity you cannot do this with an electric saw(!) but I wonder if there is something you could do to help the cutting process. Silicon paste on the blade before a cut perhaps?

Love the thread!

 

[1/2 Cup]

I used to run a sawmill cutting cypress, ironbark and some redgum. I used to run water with some detergent on the blade with redgum, as the gum was what made it so difficult to cut. Pity you cannot do this with an electric saw(!) but I wonder if there is something you could do to help the cutting process. Silicon paste on the blade before a cut perhaps?

Love the thread!

I have been using just plain soap on both sides of the blade and doing multiple smaller cuts which seems to help a bit.

I still haven't run them through the planner at work yet, this looks likely to be next weekend now.

Many thanks for your feed back.

 

[metalhead140]

Hello 1/2 Cup, busy as ever I see! I can relate to the being stuck away from home, having had to spend the past 2 weeks (and the next 3) stuck in Sydney for training for work myself. Somehow you still seem to manage to get a lot done though! How do you do it?

 

[HOTFR8]

How do you do it?

Going on his post times I think he can go without sleep.

Honestly I ask the same question.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hello 1/2 Cup, busy as ever I see! I can relate to the being stuck away from home, having had to spend the past 2 weeks (and the next 3) stuck in Sydney for training for work myself. Somehow you still seem to manage to get a lot done though! How do you do it?

Going on his post times I think he can go without sleep.

Honestly I ask the same question.

I have got fess up, i have been waking at all hours in recent months and cannot for the life of me get back to sleep, that said i am in bed most nights by 8 - 8.30.
Last night i came home from work just stuffed, watched the news had tea and went for a nana nap at 7.00 then woke about 2 i guess so thats around 7 hours good solid sleep. I lurked around the GJ for a bit, logged on to work and finished some project reviews then emailled them off. Breaky, shower then out in the shed at 6.30, fired up the shed computer and just generally tinkered around with the Red Gum top steel edging and bits and pieces.

The shed computer is on while i am working in the shed during the day on the weekends so i just check for any new posts on the GJ periodically, like now, then back to work.

Cheers....

 

[1/2 Cup]

The subject of metal polishing came up recently in RivennHewn's thread " The making of a table"
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228073

Getting totally side tracked yesterday, due to not being able to get the Red Gum timber planned for the Retro Industrial Table my thoughts turned to just how I was going to metal finish all the frame for the new Dining table for Mrs 1/2 Cup, the build of this table is not a real priority at the moment as I am really only gathering the bits and pieces as Post #402 Page 21 shows.

I literally had to dig out my polisher from underneath the other concurrent projects I have stored in the shed. I built the unit some 25 years ago using a 2 speed washing machine motor, a jack shaft with bearings that I had picked up a local swap meet. Not the nicest looking piece of gear that I have but it has served me well for many years.
I had tried spindle shafts on my bench grinders but found I could not manage the larger pieces like the stainless steel Model A radiator surround Post #356 Page 18 nor could I get the speeds I required to achieve the finishes I needed.

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The leg brace tie rods for the Dining Table are made from 1" solid rod that has been hot dipped galvanised so the issue that I had was just how to finish them not having ever polished a gal surface before.
The galvanising is fairly thick and proved very easy to finish, not as shiny as chrome or stainless but as the photo below shows IMHO it came up not to bad.
The challenge now will be to get the rest of the rods to look the same.
I used a 2" sisal wheel and a fairly course cutting compound only and have not tried a cloth wheel for the final cut and polish as yet.

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Here is another example of what can be achieved with the polisher, I made a cable stand some years ago from stainless and gave it the treatment as well.

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Cheers, have a great weekend.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Moving some of my projects around on the weekend allowed to get access to the metal polisher also gave me the opportunity to do a little Autumn cleaning so to speak.
In the process it enabled me to grab some pics of other stuff of interest I thought that I could share in the thread.

A roller stand that I built some years ago.

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Like wise, my saw stools, built many years ago and still going strong.

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A rather unusual set of cast iron legs that were destined for the hard rubbish collection. When I went to pick up the old laundry mangle that I had brought on EBAY(post #395 page 20) these, along with the cast iron bench seat ends (post #114 page 8) were sitting in a pile of rubbish on the front lawn, literally hours away from be collected and gone forever.
As I was loading the mangle on my trailer the seller asked wether I was interested in the pieces, you bet and the rest is history as they now have a good home, net cost zilch.

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Cheers..

 

[panthersteve]

Hi

I saw a thread recently that had a build of a set of shelves to hold these storage trays, I thought it was you but can't find it. Any idea where I saw it ??

Cheers
Steve

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View media item 35831:

 

[Tonus72]

Are you talking about this thread Steve?

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95951

 

[panthersteve]

Are you talking about this thread Steve?

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95951

That's the one, thanks

 

[1/2 Cup]

That's the one, thanks

You got it in one , thanks.

That's next on the agenda!! A rack system to stack them in..

Cheers.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Just back from Sale, a five hour drive if you believe Google maps which by the way does not account for peak hour traffic in Melbourne.
Over the last two days we were doing some Factory Acceptance testing for some new control switchboards that we have had built for an upgrade project on one of our water storages and literally a mile down the road is the Royal Australian Air Force training base at East Sale.
I snapped a picture of their gate guardian a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Winjeel used for basic training some years back.

View media item 39052
Here is a link for those that are interested.

http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series2/A85.htm
Cheers

 

[1/2 Cup]

Are you talking about this thread Steve?

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95951

Thanks Tony, sams has done some amazing work on his storage arrangements. It is worth while checking out

 

[1/2 Cup]

The Solar installation - Update - Performance Review.

It has been a little over two months now since we hit the go button on our solar installation.(post #323 page 17) In that time we have generated in the order of 1680 KWH. and I am very happy with the systems overall performance.

On our current electricity tariff we pay around .34 cents per KWH peak (7am to 11pm week days, 14 cents per KWH off peak ( 11pm to 7am weekdays ) then all weekend it is at the off peak rate of 14 cents per KWH.
We also have electric hot water which is at a flat 14 cents per KWH.
The solar feed in rate we will get will be around 8 cents per KWH. and as typically this billing period is our highest due to the mainly air conditioning load we have through the last half of summer it will be interesting to see our next invoice which is due in early April.

Our days here are getting shorter as we head into Autumn and on average we are still managing to generate a fairly healthy 20 KWH per day as conditions permit.

Enjoy your weekend, Cheers

 

[HOTFR8]

Sounds like that system is working well. Having some great Solar days here still as well.

 

[1/2 Cup]

You know when your not having a good day when you are welding away on a piece for the Dining Table build and smell this pungent smoke, stop and look around to check things out and see a glow of red from around the bottom of my trusty old TIG welder and the smoke was emanating from the vents in the sides.

Its time to talk to Mrs 1/2 Cup in relation to that 250 amp AC/DC pulse TIG on special at United Tools.

R.I.P. old faithfull.

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[Nursepeter1973]

Good luck with the negotiations with The Office of War & Finance ***** that ol faithful died.. I'd love a Tig but it took me 5 years to get the Mig...

 

[1/2 Cup]

Sounds like that system is working well. Having some great Solar days here still as well.

We have done 28 KWH hours today and I am really happy with how its going, Have had some cracking weather here today and had a couple of cloudy days during the week with 19mm of much needed rain.

Good luck with the negotiations with The Office of War & Finance ***** that ol faithful died.. I'd love a Tig but it took me 5 years to get the Mig...

I need to think over my business case first and just how I am going to approach this delicate situation.
She does have a sentimental attachment to the welder as both the TIG and MIG came from her stepfathers estate some years ago and being three phase no one else in the family were interested in them.
I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

 

[HOTFR8]

You know I still see the best from my system when the power bill is in credit. I've never been one to sit and watch to see what it is producing. We have had some great Solar weather.

 

[JonnyMac]

You know when your not having a good day when you are welding away on a piece for the Dining Table build and smell this pungent smoke, stop and look around to check things out and see a glow of red from around the bottom of my trusty old TIG welder and the smoke was emanating from the vents in the sides.

Its time to talk to Mrs 1/2 Cup in relation to that 250 amp AC/DC pulse TIG on special at United Tools.

R.I.P. old faithfull.

View media item 35898

Total tools have a special on an ac dc cigweld tig at the moment $1500 which is a pretty good price I reckon..

 

[SLYDIT]

why not take it down to the motor rewinders? if its just the internal transformer, they could probably rewind it for a third of the cost of a new one??

 

[1/2 Cup]

Total tools have a special on an ac dc cigweld tig at the moment $1500 which is a pretty good price I reckon..

I have been doing my research for a while now and there is an awesome selection to choose from in the market place, there are a few things to consider should I get the green light.
I will check out Total Tools as well, we don't have a branch near us but there is one in Albury, which I will be travelling through on Tuesday as I have some work to do up at Dartmouth Dam.

Many thanks for your input.

why not take it down to the motor rewinders? if its just the internal transformer, they could probably rewind it for a third of the cost of a new one??

Which ever way, I will still pull it apart and have a look and see what caused the issue, these old welders, from years gone by, were built in such a manner that you could actually fix them. It weighs a ton and is a four person lift.
I do have some spares that came with the unit and I do have a mate who is a motor re winder. It still welds really well and will not end up as scrap. There is one on Ebay for $480 at the moment.

Thanks for dropping by.