Dukers Garage Projects

[Duker]

Just read the whole thread. Blew my whole morning, but all I can say is wow!

Eric, you must have had a really slow day to sit and read through this mishmash of stuff!1

Duker, when people say you should live life to the fullest, I don't think they were referring to multiple visits to the ER and doctors.

I sure hope you heal up well and soon.

Dan, you are starting to sound like my wife!!

Thanks, I am on the mend but it’s going much slower than I like…. My mind is still 12 the body feels like 80!

 

[rvieceli]

Duker. Congratulations on your retirement. You just need to remember that little two letter word that starts with N and ends with O. Easy to wind up doing everything that other folks can’t do because they are working.

I’m at the point where when people ask me how I’m doing I only say that I woke up this morning.

Ron

 

[Duker]

Duker. Congratulations on your retirement. You just need to remember that little two letter word that starts with N and ends with O. Easy to wind up doing everything that other folks can’t do because they are working.

I’m at the point where when people ask me how I’m doing I only say that I woke up this morning.

Ron

LOL….Thanks Ron! I can relate to just being grateful now for not being in pain the moment I wake up now since the back surgeries! That was truly life changing!

 

[LXCam]

Well you’ve certainly been a busy little Duker. No wonder we don’t hear from you anymore, that needs to stop brother…well that and more injuries and surgeries. Might I suggest you leave the ries out of it from now on and hang out again. We miss you around here.

 

[Duker]

Well you’ve certainly been a busy little Duker. No wonder we don’t hear from you anymore, that needs to stop brother…well that and more injuries and surgeries. Might I suggest you leave the ries out of it from now on and hang out again. We miss you around here.

I hear you Cam and I appreciate the comments! Hopefully, as I get closer to knocking out some of these major honey do's I will be able to spend more time here which will of course come with the expectations of receiving some more harassment as I fully expect to dish some back out at ya!

 

[Finallygotit]

......I will be able to spend more time here which will of course come with the expectations of receiving some more harassment......

 

[casmurbax]

Hi Duke that is some update.

Why did they give up the dog? Looks like he knows he landed in a good home.

Glad to see that you are covering from all your ailments.

 

[Duker]

Hi Duke that is some update.

Why did they give up the dog? Looks like he knows he landed in a good home.

Glad to see that you are covering from all your ailments.

Thanks John!

The young man I adopted him from lives near Austin and he is getting married soon. This is just my guess, but I think his fiancé was not a fan of dogs. That would have been a big red flag to me but I was more than happy to adopt him and he is a great dog. I think Jax is happy as well as he went from living in an apartment where he went for one walk a day to to living on a small ranch where he gets to roam wherever he wants whenever he wants!

 

[casmurbax]

If that is true that the fiancé had anything to do with giving the dog away, that is a huge red flag.

You certainly got the better end of the deal.

How is the wood shop?

Dumb question, why is your grind table mobile?

 

[Duker]

If that is true that the fiancé had anything to do with giving the dog away, that is a huge red flag.

You certainly got the better end of the deal.

How is the wood shop?

Dumb question, why is your grind table mobile?

I definitely was on the better end of that deal and my thoughts exactly on the red flags!

The grinder table is mobile for a couple of reasons as 1.) I took an existing workbench that I had made mobile originally so I could move it outside the shop to throw or work on messy stuff like a transmission etc. 2.) when I converted part of the space to the blacksmith area I needed the grinders to be mobile to be able to use them in the welding area etc ( I am lazy so minimal walking! ) so that table made sense to convert for the grinders and belt storage.

The wood shop is currently a mess as I still have not put everything away that I moved in from my previous storage units. However, the excuse I am going with is that I am having AC installed starting tomorrow so everything has been moved away from the walls as I am also having the
Loft walled in and am framing out a room for the compressor and dust collector!

 

[Bears Fan]

That is one serious sanding station

 

[LXCam]

Duke, it’s great seeing you posting again.

That is one serious sanding station

That pic got a snicker outta me. Even though my belt grinder station consists of one. Ever since getting it my bench grinder has been delegated to dust collection too.

 

[Duker]

That is one serious sanding station

It does take some pain out of grinding metal!

I need to 3D print some new belt hangers as while the concrete anchors work it would be better on the belts with a more “radiused” curve !

 

[Duker]

Duke, it’s great seeing you posting again.

That pic got a snicker outta me. Even though my belt grinder station consists of one. Ever since getting it my bench grinder has been delegated to dust collection too.

Very true….I can’t remember the last time I used a bench grinder for anything but grinding bevels on lathe tools.

 

[Duker]

Yesterday I moved my metal storage rack I made a few years ago to a new barn that is intended for wood & metal and miscellaneous storage. This freed up some working space in the metal shop but it was a giant pain to get done. Fortunately I had some help yesterday to unload and help move the rack into its new home and today I loaded it back up.

Most of the steel unloaded…. This is when you really hate flat bar…..



Getting ready to move the rack with the tractor





Loaded back in it’s new home….






Makes for a long couple of days…..

 

[Finallygotit]

That's quite a bit of inventory. At least it looks like you had a great day to to it.

 

[casmurbax]

The shipyard called, they wanted to know how big of a ship you were building.

 

[Duker]

That's quite a bit of inventory. At least it looks like you had a great day to to it.

Yeah too much ... When I would build projects for myself or if friends wanted me to help them build something I would have them order an extra piece in whatever they were building. Now if they want to pay something I take payment in food, Bourbon or Scotch so I am getting quite the stash of those... My waist line is telling me to quit taking the food payments!

 

[Duker]

The shipyard called, they wanted to know how big of a ship you were building.

LOL....Shhh... its the new Battleship Texas!!

 

[Bears Fan]

That's a nice rack you have there

 

[Duker]

That's a nice rack you have there

LOL....I am blushing!! Also, if I keep eating TexMex I will be at a D Cup soon!

 

[Duker]

How is the wood shop?

So an update on the woodshop.... The shop now has AC (as well as the metal shop) so that means I wont lose about 5 months of playing in the shop because its too damn hot!

In addition I have a crew framing the loft to enclose it. Currently its where my office is but it may soon be a future bedroom for one of my Boomerang kids...




While they are here I am also having them frame in the Dust Collector and Compressor which will hopefully reduce some noise in the shop as well as give me a few spots to hang some clamps.

 

[shortykorte]

Wow quite the nice rebound from two tough years. Puppy is a nice addition.
I see I need to stop by again and hold another safety lesson and bring you some Florida Safety shoes.
Been wanting to reconfigure my metal rack and yours has given me some good ideas.

 

[Duker]

Wow quite the nice rebound from two tough years. Puppy is a nice addition.
I see I need to stop by again and hold another safety lesson and bring you some Florida Safety shoes.
Been wanting to reconfigure my metal rack and yours has given me some good ideas.

Thanks Shorty! I think you are long overdue to come back and administer a safety refresher course! Perhaps a First Aid course is in the cards after the injuries I have had over the couple of years!

 

[casmurbax]

nice update...

When did Texas get a ski mountain?

 

[Duker]

nice update...

When did Texas get a ski mountain?

That’s my future wall art. My old skis, racing bibs etc …. A reminder of bygone days when my knees didn’t hurt!

 

[SilverJimmy]

I saw a bumper sticker in Telluride years ago that said “If God wanted Texans to ski, he would have given them mountains”! Ouch!!!

 

[Duker]

I saw a bumper sticker in Telluride years ago that said “If God wanted Texans to ski, he would have given them mountains”! Ouch!!!

Hey now.... we have the "Texas Alps" the Davis Mountains which I think are a little over 8000' at the peak!! Occasionally they get snow but the path to the snow patch is a little tough to traverse!!

 

[cvairwerks]

Hey now.... we have the "Texas Alps" the Davis Mountains which I think are a little over 8000' at the peak!! Occasionally they get snow but the path to the snow patch is a little tough to traverse!!

Yeah, but we've got a really nice astronomical observatory there, in Ft. Davis.....and a lot bigger telescope too...

 

[Duker]

Yeah, but we've got a really nice astronomical observatory there, in Ft. Davis.....and a lot bigger telescope too...

@SilverJimmy ^^^^^^What he said!!

 

[Duker]

Many folks told me that I would be busier in retirement than I was when I was working but I questioned the logic as it was common for me to work 12 hour days but I have to admit they were not too far off...! Between working on all the projects I told my wife I would tackle when I retired as well as doing some travelling it seems just as busy as the old regular day job.

I have even been able to score some new auction goodies for the shop to help get the shops organized... two 10 drawer Vidmar cabinets and a top cabinet.







There were hundreds of these type of cabinets as well as warehouse rack styles. A big upstream equipment manufacturer had merged with another company and was closing down their facility. It was 55 acres under roof - air conditioned... can't imagine why they had to merge!

The cabinets are actually full as well as listed by the labels so that was a bonus but now I have to see what I can shed to make room for some tooling and other items I need organized in the machine bay.

 

[casmurbax]

Nice grab Duke.

How much?

Someone has to ask.

John

 

[Duker]

Nice grab Duke.

How much?

Someone has to ask.

John

John, it was $550 for all three. There were a lot of cabinets up for auction which I think brought the price down below what I usually see on Facebook marketplace etc…Not a steal but I was happy to get them.

 

[casmurbax]

That's a pretty good deal and with drawers full of stuff.


Usually $100 a drawer around here. Good for you.

 

[LXCam]

John, it was $550 for all three. There were a lot of cabinets up for auction which I think brought the price down below what I usually see on Facebook marketplace etc…Not a steal but I was happy to get them.

That's a pretty good deal

Ahhh ********. Duke you ****! That’s a deal and a half



Nice score bud

 

[SilverJimmy]

Were those local and you picked them up or did they get shipped to you. Stuff like that doesn’t show up near me, or maybe I’m not looking in the right places?

 

[Duker]

Were those local and you picked them up or did they get shipped to you. Stuff like that doesn’t show up near me, or maybe I’m not looking in the right places?

Local to me… They were located in NW Houston so about a 2 hour drive one way to get them.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great score Duke.

 

[taumac]

John, it was $550 for all three. There were a lot of cabinets up for auction which I think brought the price down below what I usually see on Facebook marketplace etc…Not a steal but I was happy to get them.

Wow, I can’t find just one cabinet around me in decent shape for $550. You ****!!!

 

[casmurbax]

Duke, follow up.

You stated that they came pre-filled , how were you able to load them on you trailer? Did they provide the help? There was an old GE plant not far from me that was auctioning all kinds of heavy duty machines including 14 drawer cabinets. I can't recall what the plant did, but the winning bidder was not able to touch/haul/lift anything they had to use certain rigging company to have the equipment moved out. If I recall correctly that was not included in the bid.