Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT DIY Shop

[Trapps]

Good luck with the repairs and insurance war, Jeff! My opinion is that most insurance providers loyalty is to their shareholders 1st, customers 3rd. They're not all bad, but in my decades of experience, the only issue I ever had was with State Farm.

 

[racer-john]

Insurance companies will insure your block of concrete at the bottom of the pond against FIRE and want an arm and a leg to do it. That's my thought on I.C's

 

[Jeff Ivers]

State Farm never had a soul!

You are probably right! To maintain my sanity, I have been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, even though the doubt seems to be winning!

I have a very jaundiced view of insurance companies - in my opinion, all your premiums buy you is the ability to sue them down the road for the coverage you thought you were purchasing. Just my $0.02!!

Have we gotten to a point where companies are banking on the reluctance of the average homeowner to engage an attorney? Is there an alternate way to obtain a fair settlement?

Good luck with the repairs and insurance war, Jeff! My opinion is that most insurance providers loyalty is to their shareholders 1st, customers 3rd. They're not all bad, but in my decades of experience, the only issue I ever had was with State Farm.

Glad to hear I am not the only one. When talking to contractors, the universal response to the news that I had State Farm was negative.

Insurance companies will insure your block of concrete at the bottom of the pond against FIRE and want an arm and a leg to do it. That's my thought on I.C's

Only if you can prove that you kept the pond full of water, right?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Last October, after many years of being interested in the subject of metal detecting, I decided to bite the bullet and acquire the gear to pursue this as a hobby.

Metal detector selected: After a fair amount of research, I ordered the Garrett AT Max with headphones and pinpointer. I chose this model because I thought it would do a good job of coin, relic, and gold detecting. Specifically, I like that it is waterproof and offers wireless headphone capability. Both the detector and the hand-held pinpointer work through the same set of wireless headphones.

So far, I am very pleased with the selection. The headphones are re-chargeable and I simply plug them in for a few hours after each outing. The detector works off 4 AA batteries. I decided to acquire a set of rechargeable Lithium-Ion 1.5 volt batteries to use with the detector. They work great, but the voltage does not gradually drop like normal AA batteries, so the battery strength gauge on the detector is nullified. You can be detecting with full strength indicated on the batteries and then the detector just shuts down. I carry a spare set of batteries for that situation, and am considering a second set of the Lith-Ion. The pinpointer works off a 9 volt battery and makes a horrible racket when the battery gets weak. I would like to find a rechargeable Lith-Ion for it.

One of my goals is to detect the entire 5 acres I live on. With all the people who buried valuables back in the 30's, who knows what may be buried on this property? A ditch runs diagonally across the rear of the property and was used for trash disposal for years before we acquired the property. We dug a ton of trash out of that ditch, but I am sure there is more there. The detecting of this property will likely take on a "chore" status, as I expect to spend a lot of time without finding anything rewarding.

In order to keep myself motivated, I have been looking for sites to detect that might yield coins or jewelry. So far, I have hit about half the parks in my home town.

My best finds, to date, are a 1974D Kennedy Half and a 2000D $1 coin.

Coins: One of my biggest sources of frustration with this hobby is what to do with coins. I don't know how many u-tube videos I have watched and how many google hits I have read on the subject of coin cleaning. Much of what I have read is just wrong from my perspective. Most of the coins I am likely to find are modern coins and I want to clean them enough they can be put back into circulation. If you can't read the date, how do you know if you might have a valuable coin? If you can't read the date, how do you know the metal composition of the coin? If you haven't discovered it for yourself, our modern coinage is very poor quality. Since 1982, Pennies have been 97.5% zinc and they pit with any acid exposure (including being in the ground). Therefore, advice to use vinegar or lemon juice is not well founded. Right now, I am soaking all Pennies in 50/50 distilled water and Simple Green for up to 12 hours and then lightly rubbing with baking soda. This is getting most clean enough to put into circulation or revealing that they are pitted beyond circulating. I have tried Krud Kutter but without as much success. I tried olive oil and vinegar/water soaks without success.

Since 1945, nickels, and since 1965 dimes and quarters have all been made of cupronickel (75% copper and 25% nickel). When these have been in the ground (or mulch) for any length of time they turn almost black. My best success with these has been to line my ultrasonic cleaner with a piece of tinfoil and the fill it with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Simple Green that I have heated almost to boiling in the microwave and run for 12 minutes. After, I lightly rub with baking soda. This gets the coins clean enough to put back into circulation but sometimes with a bit of a pink/orange hue. I don't know if the coloration is caused by the soil/mulch of if the ultrasonic cleaner is promoting transfer of metal from the exposed copper core of the coins to the face.

After I figure out how to make my new microscope/camera work, I will post some find pictures.

If you have good info on coin cleaning/preserving, please feel free to wade in.

 

[jbfsr]

Try a tumbler. Like used for cleaning shells during ammo reloading.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Try a tumbler. Like used for cleaning shells during ammo reloading.

Are you one of those enablers? Kidding aside, I always look for an excuse to buy a new tool. Is this what you use on coins? What type of media do you use in the tumbler? Does it work on all coins or only certain types of metals?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I have been really bad about updating this thread since last fall. I am really missing my shop time and have developed some ideas for my next projects. Since last fall I have been consumed with 3 things:
1 - Storm damage to my property/insurance issues, and repairs
2 - Treasure hunting
3 - Unclaimed property

With respect to the storm damage, I am getting near to getting everything repaired/replaced. Contractor and material availability has been a real issue. Still waiting on window guy and the return of the fascia folks to complete the job. After that, I will be replacing the roof to correct the mismatch.

With regard to treasure hunting, this is a hobby I had thought about for years and finally decided to pull the trigger. Don't expect to get rich, but have a desire to detect my entire property. Since detecting the property usually ends up with the finding of much buried junk such as cans, gate latches, etc., I am keeping myself motivated by detecting sites that I believe are likely to yield something of value. As of now, I have detected all 30+ playgrounds of my local community and have started on the larger metropolitan area.


The above picture is of my most profitable day so far, which occurred last weekend. Found $2.95, including my 3rd $1 coin. So far, my total find is $26.75. At this rate, I will pay for the detector in about 10 years! Still, it is fun to find something of value and remove trash, such as bent nails, from children's playgrounds.

With respect to unclaimed property, I have been on an unexpected journey that commenced last November. At that time I received an offer to buy mineral rights in Texas from me. I was about to throw it away as some type of scam, since to my knowledge I owned no mineral rights except for my property in OK, when I vaguely recalled receiving something similar a while back. Dug through some files and discovered a different offer from 2 years earlier that obviously referred to the same mineral rights in Midland County, TX.

After giving it some thought, I concluded that more than one entity had reason to believe that I owned mineral rights in TX. If that was the case and they considered them of value, then the rights must be mine through inheritance and there might likely be payments that had been escheated to the Texas Unclaimed Property fund. I knew that a step mother-in-law who died in 2002 had worked in the oil and gas industry and received minor mineral interests as part of her pay for her work. The interests were so minor, they were not mentioned in her will and all paperwork had been lost. I did a search of TUP with her name and discovered a rather substantial amount of funds dating back to 1986 in her name. Since that time, I have had to probate my wife's will (she died in 2004 and no probate was required at that time), after tracking down a copy of the will from the attorney who prepared it, and obtaining a copy of the s. m-i-l will that had been probated in TX in 2003. I filed a claim with TUP and received a payment last week. The remainder of the funds belong to my sister-in-law who had to apply for a replacement SS card before she could claim her part. I am now waiting on the Oil and Gas company to change their ownership records on the mineral rights.

My reason for posting this tale is:
1 - Never dispose of a will for a relative, no matter how many years since the known probate issues were resolved.
2 - If someone is trying to buy something from you that you don't know you own, it may not be a scam and may warrant some research.
3 - Checking state unclaimed property funds with the names of distant relatives (including maiden names) can pay off.

Hopefully, in a few more weeks I can start posting about shop projects again.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

The good news is that I finally made it to the shop long enough for a very small project. One of my kitchen knives with the plastic handles suffered a handle failure.

This shows the rough cut replacement handles, the knife and half the broken handle.

I taped the handle halves together so I could shape and drill them to match.

Staining and applying polyurethane to one side at a time before assembly.

The newly done knife is on the bottom. The handles are not a match for the previous 3, on which I used some 100 year old oak versus the pallet lumber oak I used on this one. However, I have never had a matched set of kitchen knives and am only concerned with not pinching my hand on a broken handle.

With respect to mineral rights, I succeeded in applying to Texas Unclaimed Property for funds deposited for the distant relative to which my sister in law and I are the heirs and we both received payments. Next step is to get the ownership records changed with Pioneer Natural Resources so that we will receive funds held in suspense and ongoing royalties, plus the ability to sell the interest should we choose. That issue is about to drive me insane. Briefly, I contacted the company last November to alert them to the pending claim and for information on ownership change. I have endured long wait periods, partial information and mis-information. Finally, on Monday of this week, I got confirmation from them and the Midland County TX County Clerk that I did not have to re-probate the 2 pertinent wills, I just needed to record them with the Midland County Clerk. So, I fired off the documents to the clerk only to receive a call 2 days later saying they could not proceed with the certified copy of the probated will - they needed an "exemplified" copy of the will. It sure seems to me that one of the clerk employees or Pioneer employees that I have talked to could have told me that weeks or months ago. GRRR!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Made it to the shop for a few minutes the other evening. My digger tool scabbard, made of ballistic nylon, was rapidly fraying from inserting/removing the tool. Thought I remembered having some leather scraps acquired maybe 40 years ago. Found the scraps and voila:

 

[Jeff Ivers]

The sewer line for my house runs about 900 feet east of the house to where it joins the city sewer main line. There is about a 40 foot drop over the run. While mowing Monday, I noticed a large area of brackish standing water where I have traditionally not had water standing, even after a storm. Sewage? Called a plumber to see if they can check the standing water to see if it is sewage. In the mean-time, I figured it would be wise to locate the clean-outs that occur about every 150' on the run. Fount the first four, starting from the house, with my metal detector today. Probably 2 more to find. Always something keeping me out of the shop lately!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Couple of weeks ago, found this:


Since water had not traditionally stood on this spot of my property, when it was still there the following week, I decided this might not be a good sign - might indicate leaking sewer. Went out and used my metal detector to find 6 clean-outs and then called the plumber. Plumber came out and started to loosen the cap on clean-out number 5 (about 600 feet behind house) and this happened:

Not a good sign! They used a fancy power-washer like tool to clear a blockage caused by tree roots infiltrating the 6" pvc line. Then they ran a camera through the line and showed me video of where the blockage had been where tree roots had made their way into a joint and where the pipe was broken at another spot. Here they are in the process of replacing 100' of line:

Hopefully, in another hour or two, I will have sewer again, although my wallet will be a lot lighter!

 

[bdbecker]

Blocked/broken sewer lines are never fun, but at least you caught it early and the only mess you need to clean up is in the yard.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Blocked/broken sewer lines are never fun, but at least you caught it early and the only mess you need to clean up is in the yard.

Amen to that! I am really glad that I am not mucking sewage out of the shop (slightly lower that the house) or the house or, heaven forbid, both!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Feeling kind of silly! Yesterday, my cheese slicer I have had forever broke. Looked at it and thought the diameter of wire on it was about the same as some stainless wire I keep in the shop for safety wiring. So, out to the shop I go to see if I can fix my cheese slicer. After futzing with it for a bit, I decided it was not something I could repair, so destroyed it to recycle what I could. Today, I go all over town trying to find a replacement cheese slicer and finally end up over at Bed, Bath & Beyond where I bought an Oxo just like the one I just destroyed. Really nice deal, because it came with 2 replacement wire assemblies. Of course, that is when I went home and found the 2 replacement wire assemblies for the old one that I had forgotten I had! Some parts of getting old aren't that fun - like memory issues. Now, if I can remember I have replacement wires, I shouldn't have to buy another one as long as I am likely to live.

 

[bdbecker]

Give yourself a pass on that one... replacement cheese slicer wires would be pretty low on most people's 'spare parts to remember' priority list.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Monday, actually found some time to engage in some shop work. Pulled the Vette in and performed the annual oil change and a few cleaning/polishing tasks. Took the car over for new rear tires.

Then, I posted an ad in Corvette Forum. Tuesday, a guy called and arranged for a proxy viewing that day. Today, the deal closed.
So, now I am Vetteless.
So, now I am Vetteless.

 

[jbrentd]

Congrats on selling it. Got your eyes on another one?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Congrats on selling it. Got your eyes on another one?

That is a big yes and no. I love the look of the C8s but am absolutely infatuated with the sound of the new Z06. Probably a little too early to try for a Z06 and not sure I want to buy the regular C8 and then turn around and trade in a year or 2. Gonna give it some more thought and research.

 

[Wiz02]

Monday, actually found some time to engage in some shop work. Pulled the Vette in and performed the annual oil change and a few cleaning/polishing tasks. Took the car over for new rear tires.

Then, I posted an ad in Corvette Forum. Tuesday, a guy called and arranged for a proxy viewing that day. Today, the deal closed.
So, now I am Vetteless.
So, now I am Vetteless.

Being Vetteless is a terrible affliction and must be cured by acquiring another vette ASAP. Good hunting!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

With the Vette gone, my attached garage was half empty. Decided to acquire a UTV to try to access some remote sites for metal detecting adventure. As in all projects one project begets many.
Spent the last few days working on a bed divider and metal detector rack for the Honda Pioneer 520.
The only tricky part of the construction was that my end rails had to be tapered on three sides to fit the slots on the UTV bed.


Trial fitting the rack.

Brackets are off center so I can collapse the shaft and reduce the overhang of the cuff. Bed is just a bit too narrow to get the detector entirely inside the bed, even with the shaft collapsed.

Used pocket hole screws and plugged the pockets. Divider/rack made with scrap lumber, mostly pallets. This is after 3 coats of 50/50 boiled linseed oil and paint thinner.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I am continuing to outfit my Honda Pioneer 520 for some off-road metal detecting.


Added a tow ball/bar.

Added rear-view mirrors.

Wanted to add some auxiliary lighting on the rear for backup and bed access. Got the light kit. Needed a way to mount the lights. Thought clamps for the roll bar assembly would be the way to go. Searched and found some clamps for 1.5 inch bars. I have 1.4 and 1.5 inch bars in the roll cage. Brackets were too loose to fit the 1.4 inch bars, which were the best place to mount the lights. So, I decided that these parts of the bracket assemblies needed to have about .2 inches removed from the sides. The one on the left is unmodified and the one on the right shows the precision machining in progress - using a file. Lights are mounted, but forgot the finished pic - later.

Decided there was a lot of wasted space under the hood and wanted to use some of it for storage. Of course, Honda sells a plastic tray accessory for about $200. Wonder it I could make something with pallet lumber? On either side of the bay are these semi-elliptical recesses that look like they are designed to support something. Started with a cardboard template and made four 1.5 inch thick blocks to fit the notches.

Since most of the dimensions involved in this project involve angles, it seemed the best next step was to establish a level bottom surface for the box I'm building. I cut some scraps and drilled horizontally through the side so that I could use zip ties to attache these spacers to the horizontal cross bar in the bay.

Next, I made a cardboard template and then transferred that to a piece to form the bottom of the box.

Next, I started to work on sides that would attach to the notch inserts to support the box.

This shows the completed box. Notched the bottom so as not to stress the radiator overflow hose. Added some additional bracing in the bottom sides to help with strength. Now, I am working on some steps to pretty it up a bit and add a finish.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Continued outfitting my Pioneer 520.


Here are the lights mounted with the modified brackets.

Purchased and mounted a Garmin Tread above my auxiliary light switch.

The Tread has kind of a funky wiring harness that I did not want to modify. I wanted to retain the ability to remove the device with wiring harness should the need/desire arise. Finally decided to put a grommeted hole large enough to allow the feeding of the small bullet connectors and use some velcro to attach the bundled excess harness to the top of the dash.

And finally, my completed underhood storage box in place with the jump starter and tool kit in place with room for some additional supplies.

 

[madison069]

Hey Jeff,

Just stumbled on your thread and saw you had to deal with Pioneer Energy Resource. Did you ever get it resolved? My dad use to be a consultant for them so the name is familiar. They are a pretty big oil company.

I dig the UTV, There are alot of coal mine trails here in PA that the 4wheelers club go wheeling at. My past landlord used to do that for fun and it did sound like fun. I wonder what you would be able to find in some of those old mines with the metal detector.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Hey Jeff,

Just stumbled on your thread and saw you had to deal with Pioneer Energy Resource. Did you ever get it resolved? My dad use to be a consultant for them so the name is familiar. They are a pretty big oil company.

I dig the UTV, There are alot of coal mine trails here in PA that the 4wheelers club go wheeling at. My past landlord used to do that for fun and it did sound like fun. I wonder what you would be able to find in some of those old mines with the metal detector.

With regard to PNR, no, I have not yet resolved the issues. The company has acknowledged that my sister-in-law and I are the rightful heirs of the mineral interest by presenting us with a division order that we are required to sign before they will pay what is in suspense and commence regular royalty payments. The problem is the division order is totally wrong and has clauses that indemnify the company if we have claimed interest that is not ours. I provided them proof of what our royalty interest should be and, as yet, have received no response.

I share your interest in what one might find in old mines, but am not sure I would risk entering one.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

So what vehicle interior is not improved with the addition of some nice warm wood?


The final (at this time) planned enhancement to my Pioneer 520 was a way to retain my garage door clicker when I am running around my property. Seemed like a snug-fit open top box that could be adhered to the top of the dash would solve the problem since the Pioneer has no visors, no center console, and no other place to stash one.

On another note, I was at the Chevy dealership on Monday to have my 2011 Silverado cruise control fixed - they replaced the brake light switch. While there, I caught a newscast where they showed a body laying on the ground that a semi had run over and stopped on top of and an individual approaching the semi, ducking under the trailer and stealing the wallet from the body. I was flabbergasted at the multiple layers of bad taste displayed.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Apparently the law of averages is catching up with me. Have lived here since having the house built 30 years ago. In May noticed a sewage problem on the back of the property leading to the replacement of 150' of sewage line. Then, last Sunday, this:

That is sewage in the bottom of the shower in my workshop. No sewage problems for 30 years and now twice this year! Probably due to the ultra dry weather for the past several months, a joint in the sewer line separated and allowed root incursion leading to a blockage. The good news - it backed up in the shop and not the house! More good news, it did not overflow the shower pan!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

It is the day after Christmas here in Oklahoma. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and have a great New Year!

I spent yesterday with my daughter, 2 grandsons, and son-in-law in Edmond. The funniest thing that came out of that was when my youngest grandson (who had a bike accident this past year resulting in a broken collarbone) opened a gift from his mother to find a box advertising a "bicycle seat belt". It turned out the box was just a gag she found at a store and used to wrap something else.

My shop time lately has been limited to bringing the remaining recycled pallet lumber up from the barn to reduce into kindling. Guess I'll have to start looking for pallets with usable lumber again.

While I was shopping for others, I decided I should buy some additional Dewalt 20v max batteries for my cordless tools. I went to eBay and found some batteries labeled as Dewatl 20v max at a very good price and ordered the pair. What I received, was a single battery of a different brand with no Dewalt labeling. That is when I noticed the original ad had the last 2 letters of "Dewalt" transposed. This is clearly false advertising and bait and switch, which I am still working to resolve. I have usually been very cautious of false advertising, but missed the transposed letters in the name on a label that otherwise looked identical to what I wanted to buy. I post this as a warning to others. The crooks are getting very deceptive. I don't understand why authorities aren't shutting this type of behavior down.

 

[bdbecker]

Merry Christmas Jeff! Glad you were able to spend time with the family!

Hopefully you can get that battery situation sorted out. I'm too gunshy to order batteries off eBay or Amazon because I've heard more than a few stories like yours.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Merry Christmas Jeff! Glad you were able to spend time with the family!

Hopefully you can get that battery situation sorted out. I'm too gunshy to order batteries off eBay or Amazon because I've heard more than a few stories like yours.

Thank you. I have actually had very good luck buying both Dewalt tools and batteries off eBAy (at least 4 previous battery purchases). I am waiting on another set of batteries currently. But there are some bad actors on the site and they have gotten so over-the-top with their deceptive practices that one must be even more careful to avoid being cheated. I have returned the single battery and demanded a full refund and requested compensation for my packaging and time to deliver to a carrier when, by law, I am not required to return an item I did not order. I think eBay is monitoring the situation and I may end up finding out if their money-back-guarantee is worth anything.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

A couple weeks ago, I received a refund for the eBay ripoff batteries (fake Dewalt). I did not receive compensation for returning the fakes. I did file complaints with both eBay and US Postal Service concerning the Bait and Switch fraud. Interestingly, neither organization provides any follow-up on complaints. The genuine set of Dewalt 20v max batteries I ordered from eBay arrived and are working fine.

I managed to make it out to the shop for a quick project to build a TV riser for my replacement office TV after my 9"Symphonic with built in VCR bit the dust.



I am not into Legos, but I occasionally receive a jigsaw puzzle to work. Finished my latest.

If one wants to add challenge to the build, you can do the build in a linear fashion.

 

[bj383ss]

Jeff that is a damn cool puzzle!

Bret

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Jeff that is a damn cool puzzle!

Bret

Thanks, Bret. The title of the puzzle is "The World of James Bond". I think it is the hardest puzzle I have ever worked - just as diabolical as a 007 foe!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

The past year has been a bit strange for a guy who likes his shop time. Between multiple distractions, I have barely made it to the shop for a few minutes of time here and there to make a quick repair, process stuff for recycling, or build something I could whip out quick. One of the big distractions has been discovering I had inherited mineral rights in Texas about 20 years ago without knowing about it.

On the mineral rights front, I have collected unclaimed funds from Texas Unclaimed Property and have been added to the pay list for PNR and received the funds held in suspense. By my count, PNR has now acknowledged my interest in 63 of 116 wells operated by them. Still trying to figure out how to resolve the discrepancy. Also, have to resolve tax issues, as I discovered the mineral interests were changed to the married name of the original owner (from whom I inherited) from her maiden name in which all the properties were recorded instead of being divided and placed in my name and the name of the other inheritor.

For the above reasons, it looks like a trip to Midland TX might be in my near future. Anyone near there? Any recommendations on things to do or see between the Tulsa OK area and Midland?

 

[turbowoodworker]

Looking forward to the rest of the story Jeff. That is really interesting.
Have “the kin folk said, Jeff move away from there”? Your next shop may be in Beverly Hills!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Looking forward to the rest of the story Jeff. That is really interesting.
Have “the kin folk said, Jeff move away from there”? Your next shop may be in Beverly Hills!

No one is telling me to move away and likely won't (at least with respect to the mineral rights). As for BH, no way! This is an extremely small interest but on a relatively large number of wells. Last night, I discovered an additional 10 wells that I have an interest in (brings total to 126). This is one of those situations that got lost over the years due to such low royalties that a marriage and move resulted in loss of contact between operator and royalty owner. About 3 years ago, the operator started punching multiple horizontal wells thru the area and production jumped to the point where it is worth pursuing. Will be really glad to get this off my plate and back to the shop.

 

[turbowoodworker]

I just can’t get the Beverly Hillbillies tune out of my head

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I just can’t get the Beverly Hillbillies tune out of my head

Maybe remind yourself I am Jeff, not Jeb! Obviously, just joking. That was a classic program!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I am excited about this! Since taking up metal detecting about 14 months ago, I have experimented with multiple ways of trying to clean clad coins (65 and newer nickels, dimes, quarters, and 82 and up zinc pennys). I do not consider any of these coins to be of collector interest once they have been in the ground (or playground mulch) for any time - they simply come out too raunchy and never with any interesting patina. The goal is to clean them sufficiently to go back into circulation. I have tried various chemical combinations including vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, crud cutter, simple green, Dawn dish detergent, salt, baking soda and some I have forgotten. I have tried ultrsonic, vibratory cleaner with various grits, etc.

Well, now I have a combination that works! Small, single barrel rock tumbler about 4.5 " in diameter and 3.5" deep (inside). Fill about 1/3 full of aquarium gravel (white from Wal-Mart), add up to a couple dozen coins (do silver and zinc separately), add 1/4 teaspoon of Wind Fresh laundry detergent (high efficiency - low suds product from Sam's), add distilled water to cover and run on medium speed for about 2 hours. Sometimes, i hold a few coins to put in with the next batch because I think they can still be improved, but most are done after 2 hours. Do not add baking soda - when I tried that, I got pressure build up.

On other news, I made a 3 day trip to Midland TX this past week to try to get tax situation sorted out. While there, I went to the Petroleum Museum that has a wing devoted to the Chaparral cars of Jim Hall.









Chaparral 2, Chaparral 2D, Chaparal 2H, Chaparral 2E, Chaparral 2J, Corvette GrandSport 2B. I saw the 2J race in Brainerd MN back in 1971 - what a sucker!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Sometime between December 28 and January 18, I filed a complaint with the US Postal Inspection Service concerning the EBay battery scam I got caught up in. Today, I received an acknowledgment that the information had been entered into their fraud database and advising me to be sure to retain all original documentation! Good thing I hadn't already given up and thrown the info away - after all, my daughter may need it to complete the complaint after I die!

 

[Sifan]

yeah that ^

someone tried to file for my social security retirement ... in the process of getting that stopped, I was told to notify the IRS of the scan.

Notified them over three years ago, I get a notice from them 2-3 times a year that they are still investigating