Above 1200 Sq/FT Ernie's Place

[j p smith]

Todd the Hit & Miss Engine workshop went well. We had 50 guys and 10 engines showed up with either running issues or had not been started in a long time, one had been setting for 25 years since being run. The Big 10hp Bessemer started up and we ran it for 3 1/2 hours, that is the longest and best it has ever run since I have been around it. All engines that showed up left running, a successful day for sure

 

[StormcrowAz]

Marty - “…in only 18 months…” I had to laugh at that! I guess considering how long the Scout has been in limbo, the traffic light was finished relatively quick.

So…the story on the LED whip. I originally went with a simple, single-color, whip that was just an on-off type deal. Relatively inexpensive and had good reviews. I think it only took me three rides to break it. Cruisin’ through a wash, focused on what was ahead of me and forgetting I had low-clearance concerns. Drove under a tree overhang doing somewhere between 20 and 30. The LED’s themselves are encased in this polycarbonate type tube, which is what broke at the base of the whip.





So yeah, driver error. Not sure any light is rated for that kind of impact. The LED’s actually still work fine, but now they are exposed and unprotected. So for a replacement I thought I would try one of those fancy ones, and yes, I went with the same brand my buddy has.


A lot of good reviews and they have a lot of functionality to them, changing colors, patterns, and such. One of the cool features I really like is that you can run a signal wire from your brakes up to the controller module, and when you step on your brakes it interrupts whatever the current color scheme is and lights the whole whip up red. Basically a huge third brake light. If you run dual whips, you could also tie them into the turn signal lights for similar functionality.



Now if I can just pay attention to both the trail and what’s above me…

 

[StormcrowAz]

Jeff - Good to hear, and sorry I missed it!

 

[Jayman17]

Nice job on the plasma cutter cart. I like the design. Waiting to see what you cut up on the new table.

Jay

 

[drivesitfar]

you know this time of year I really wish I was a neighbor of yours cause we might have a WHITE CHRISTMAS and temps next week are going down below the teens (sure hope we don't lose power too). Then I think of my room temp summers and you with your 100+ at midnight temps and I'm thankful I can afford to live up here. at one point I was going to have a place in both areas (pre dream girl and 5 kids) to live 6 months in each area.

in any case I really have enjoyed watching you do what you do these past few years and wish you and your family a great Christmas and good holiday season.

BTW my son is flying from here to Cancun in a few days so since I think you were just there was there any must do's or see there I can pass on?

also since your posts are filled with great pics are you using an online service like flickr or imgur or gj's to accomplish this? I once was ahead of the curve on pics and used Photobucket until they changed their methods and I dropped their service (I would have paid for their free site, but then they made it worse and wanted money), and now I just download pics off my cell or laptop directly to GJ as thumbnails (that you click on 2 times for full size pics).

 

[Finallygotit]

Merry Christmas Todd!

 

[PugetDude]

Merry Christmas, Todd! Hope you have a great holiday with the family

 

[StormcrowAz]

Jayman – Thank you and thanks for stopping by! And it’s getting closer, slowly but surely…


Drives – A slightly belated Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. Did you get snow? We got some slightly overcast weather, maybe a tiny bit of a drizzle. Not unpleasant at all. The weather is a trade-off, I guess it just depends on what you want to compromise most on. Maybe we should move to the tropics, warm weather year-round with no snow. But then there’s those pesky hurricanes…

Regarding Cancun, sorry it’s a bit late…but we really enjoyed the Xplor park. If he’s in the area and hasn’t been before, I think Chicen Itza is a must. When we booked our visit to the ruins, it also included a side- trip to a local cenote, and included lunch. Basically, a big sink-hole filled with water you can swim in. We also did some snorkeling and catamaran tour to Isla Mujeres.

Regarding my pictures – many years ago I tried the direct upload to the forum, but at that time it wasn’t as user friendly (might not have even been this forum) and I didn’t like the way it posted thumbnails instead of pictures, so I started using a hosting site. After the Great Photobucket Extortion of ’17, I stopped using then and switched to Flikr, which has been way more user-friendly and they haven’t threatened to delete all my stuff yet. I also re-size all my pictures as at one point if you uploaded huge full-size images, or links to them, it would really mess with how it was viewed in the forum. Not sure if that’s still the case or even necessary now, but I still do it. Besides…a little blurry when zoomed in helps how my welding and grinding looks. I keep all of my full-sized pics on a separate hard-drive, so if there’s anything anyone wants to see close up (eek!) I can certainly post it up.

As always – thanks for checking out my stuff and the positive words of encouragement. Here’s to a healthy and happy New Year!



PugetDude – Hope you and your family had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!





So our shop shut down for the last week of this year. Of course, I came down with something Sunday night and took me out of commission on Monday. Maybe the dreaded Omnicron strain? I already got Covid back in June and got the vaccine a couple months ago, neither of which were anything worse than colds I’ve had in the past. This is no different, so who knows? I got tired of sitting on the couch so spent a little time in the shop yesterday and today.


Before that, though…I did manage to crank out one Christmas present for a friend of mine. A couple years ago he brought over a couple ferro and magnesium rods, wanting to see if I could make some fire starters out of them. I know, bad friend for waiting so long, but at least it was a nice surprise.



Not being a wood worker or even someone who works with wood much at all…I don’t have a supply of cool oak, mahogany, iron wood, or whatever to choose from. So a piece of 2x4 it is.



Sliced off a couple pieces and drilled holes for the rods. Took full advantage of the belt sander by roughing it in with a course belt and then threw on a fine belt to smooth it in. Turned out better than I thought it would.



The ferro rod is a bit longer and came with a hole pre-drilled on one end, so it sticks out the back.



Made a second handle, with a slightly different shape. Just because. Mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and glued the rods in place. Masked off the rods, prepping for stain.



Stained



And in my haste to get these done before Christmas, I completely forgot to take pictures of the final product. Basically the above without the blue tape. Oh, and for the scraper/striker I cut up a couple pieces of hack-saw blade and tied them to the hole in the ferro rod with some paracord. I’m no Royce, but I think they turned out decent enough. My buddy seems happy with them.

 

[StormcrowAz]

And now back to the plasma table build. I added a couple more hooks for cable management and then made this little “T” handle for dragging it around the shop.



Folds up nice and flat when not in use.



Next up was chopping a section out of the rolling shelf



That way this piece will fit in.



I had pre-drilled these holes in on the back-side of that insert



Cut the threads off some half-inch bolts that had a really long shoulder to them and welded them in place.



If you look closely, you can see that the left side of that insert didn’t line up too well



The beauty of welding…we can make it work!
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On the back side of the plasma cutter cart, I drilled out two corresponding holes for those dowels welded into the insert.



Got a couple of these spring-loaded thingies welded to the table shelf and then welded tabs to the plasma cart and drilled matching holes. Now I have a docking station for the plasma cutter.





So now I can store the cutter in the same foot-print of the table and not take up more valuable square footage of the shop floor. With it pegged in the back and locked in at the front, the cutter rolls around with the table quite nicely.

 

[drivesitfar]

thanks for the good post(s) and as always I do learn something every time I check in on you. funny you mention being Vaccinated and already having Covid and still getting it again cause pretty sure that is what exactly happened to my son who was staying with us for a few days before Christmas Eve dinner. he felt bad/sick and he ordered from his phone a self covid test that came out negative, but 7 out of the 13 people at our home for Christmas eve dinner ended up with Covid (me included). it's more like a cold in my case and my unvaccinated bride who hasn't been sick in maybe 20 years is still ok and feels great. she's not wearing masks and we did a bit more than kiss on Christmas morning with the kids all gone, but she has one rule she sticks by. she doesn't TOUCH HER FACE, she washes her hands often and she tries to keep clear of sick people sort of like being in a bubble.

i'm about done with this and hopefully tomorrow I can start my new years exercise and health plan 100% and a week of not eating all the sweets around here probably helped with my new years weight loss plan.

here's to another good year above dirt and if things work out ok we might be in your part of the world late spring for some needed sunshine (and heat).

cheers!!!

 

[StormcrowAz]

Made some more progress on the plasma table. Almost there!


Broke out the electrical stuff to add outlets underneath the table.



Mounted the boxes, conduit, and pulled wires.



Cut the female end off of a 10awg extension cord and added this strain relief thingy to the input box.



Running a GFI outlet/circuit, seemed like a good idea. The metal cover was originally for the standard quad round-receptacles (it’s what I had on hand) so did a little cutting/grinding to make the square GFI fit. This is where the PC, monitor, and motor control box will plug into.



The other box has a switched receptacle for controlling the pump. Will also plug the fish bubbler in here.



Bent and attached a couple pieces of 1” strap to the back of the table for cord management.



Threw some paint on the lower shelf and cutter cart.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Next up is to address filling and draining the table. Considering I’ll only be using this sporadically for hobby stuff, I didn’t want to leave the water in the table 24/7. I’ve seen this done a ton of different ways and this is how I’m going about it. Using van stone flanges to eliminate any lip inside the pan around the drain holes, hoping to let as much water drain out as possible. Had to drill four extra holes in the pan for the mounting of each flange. Cut up some 1/8” silicone sheet material for gaskets. I still had about 8 feet of 3/4” copper pipe left over from the compressor project, not to mention a plethora of elbows and other fittings, so thought that would be neat to use instead of PVC. I did have to buy one extra valve, though. Mocked up and in place.



The lower valve is the drain, and the upper valve is for the fill line, which is tied into the drain so it will fill and drain from the same holes in the pan. All sweated together and ready for final install of the hoses and a test run.



Oh, I’m using a Harbor Freight pond pump for filling. I’ve been using the smaller version of this for the recirculating coolant on the band saw for years now without issue, so hoping this will serve me just as well. I bent up a piece of aluminum for the pump to stick to, serving two purposes. One, it puts the hose on the correct angle for a straight shot up through the tote lid for attaching to the plumbing, and two – raises the pump intake a couple inches from the bottom of the tote. Hopefully any swarf or nasty-ness will settle to the bottom of the tote after draining, so the pump will only pick up relatively clean water when it’s time to fill again. Trying to keep it simple and not add filters to the water works. We’ll see how that pans out.



Added 20 gallons of water in the tote and 1 gallon of Sterling Cool Plasma Cut (anti-rust, prevents bacteria/mold growth) to the tote. First fill and everything looks great with no leaking.



About a minute and a half to fill and a little over 3 minutes to drain.



I think that does it for all the major assembly and fabrication. Time to move on to getting this thing running. I hooked all the wiring up was able to jog it around, but kept losing signal from the PC to the control box. After reading through the installation/troubleshooting guide I realized the mini-PC is not up to the minimum requirements. Per recommendation I tried a different USB cable, and stole the wife’s laptop (much better specs) and everything seems to work OK. Need to get a better mini-PC and work on cleaning up the wiring. I also realized that the machine torch I got for the table did not come with any consumables, so that’s on order as well.

 

[Finallygotit]

Really nice work Todd. So what do you have planned to start cutting?

 

[StormcrowAz]

Dan – Thank you! Ironically (or maybe not?) the first thing I want to cut after getting it dialed in is a bracket to hold a couple of lasers to help align sheet stock on the table. One of the guys on the Langmuir forum shared a design (and the cut file) that really speaks to me, so I’m borrowing the idea and running with it.



Not as much progress as I would like since the last update, life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes.


In efforts to tidy up the wiring I’m trying to run some drag chains. I say “try” as it’s still a work in progress. I see a bunch of the plasma guys use these custom and nifty 3D printed blocks to attach the drag chain ends to the tables. Considering I don’t have a 3D printer (yet) I’ll have to stick with what I know and make some metal brackets.


Starting with these little plates. The black plastic piece off to the left is what the drag chain ends look like.



Found some small bolts and welded them from the back side



I made the brackets that affix to the table and then tacked/welded the little attachment plates where needed.







Which leads me to here:



Fired up the table and jogged it up and down to test it out. The drag chain on the Y axis works fine, but on the X axis it’s folding up on the side I don’t want it to. Some binding issues and need to figure out wire routing to alleviate that issue.

Oh, also got a new PC hooked up and it seems to have fixed the connectivity issues I had with the first one. Now I need to fab up a bracket to mount that to the table and clean up wiring going to/from the monitor.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Some of the other distractions keeping me from completing the plasma table:

Did a little PM on the Can Am. I think I read somewhere in the manual that if you ride in dusty conditions it’s recommended to remove the clutch cover and blow out any dirt/dust in there and inspect the belt. Since all I’ve pretty much done with this rig is desert riding it’s probably prudent. About a dozen T30 torx screws and one hose clamp and it came off pretty easy.



Glad I did this, there was quite a bit of sand in there. Not sure how harmful it would really be, but I can’t imagine it would be good with the spinning bits with the rubber belt. The air hose made quick work of it.




This past Sunday we knocked out another item on my Honey-do list. The side-yard next to the shop has a set of double gates on each side, basically partitioning the house back yard, shop side yard, and back acre. The last set of gates leading to the back acre always gives the wife stress when pulling the trailers back there as it’s kind of at an angle, so she wanted to open up it up a bit. I think the previous owners used that little sectioned off side-shop area as a dog run for rescues. I don’t think we have a need for keeping these areas separated, so time to get chopping.

The wooden fencing is getting to that age where it’s starting to fall off by itself anyways, and will probably all need to be replaced in the next couple of years.





Dug out the post and back-filled the hole. This really does open up the space to pull stuff through and more importantly, makes The Boss happy. Also need to get rid of that scrap metal pile along the fence there.



A friend of mine called me up and asked if I could help him with some volunteer work to help support his daughter’s soccer team. So that ate up the majority of Sunday after digging fence posts up. Turns out the volunteer work was working a concession stand at the Cardinal’s stadium during the game. I’ve never been an organized sports fan, so not really a big deal to be at “the game”, but was kinda neat to see the stadium before, during, and after the process.



Something else I’ve never done before is work in the fast food industry. I think I can safely check that off my list of experiences, as I think this counts. My job was to help run the deep fry area (the wife also helped out up front at the registers). Slinging hot fries and chicken tenders for four hours non-stop at a rapid pace. Kind of crazy and definitely not the coolest (temperature-wise) of places to hang out in.



A bit of work and a new perspective on the behind-the-scenes action on fast food concession stands. I guess around 60 parents had signed up to support the cause but only 3 or 4 actually showed up, so the organizers and my buddy were very appreciative of the help. Hopefully they raised some decent funds for new equipment, uniforms, and soccer gear for the kids.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Nearly six weeks since my last update? Wow, how time slips by. I guess I will have to post an overabundance of pictures.


Let’s start with the fun stuff, as it hasn’t been all work and no play.


Took another trip to Mexico, this time was a solo trip as my better half wasn’t able to go due to prior commitments.



Also continuing to take the Can Am out for quick day-trips close to home.

Sunrise over the shop.



Boulders recreational area just west of Lake Pleasant with a couple other folks



Got a little sideways and high-centered on this obstacle. Needed to use the winch to straighten me out and get me over the hump. First time I’ve used it and grateful for it and full-length skid plates!



A cool shot over the lake of the mountains layered out.


Better view of the lake

 

[StormcrowAz]

Ok, now back to shop-stuff. Got the plasma table pretty much squared away (or so I thought) and was doing one final run-through on all the motor functions when the Z-axis stopped working. From what I’ve read it isn’t uncommon for the aluminum coupler between the stepper motor and acme thread to come loose.



Checked to make sure those four little screws were tight. Three were fine, but the top most one just kept turning. Evidently it is stripped out. The whole Z-axis assembly is one of the few things pre-assembled at the factory, so it must have been done there. Took it apart and flipped the coupler 180°, hoping for a better result (figuring maybe shaft size difference between motor and thread might make a difference) but two more stripped out just trying to snug them down, so no dice. Did some forum reading and found some replacement upgrade steel couplers.



That did the trick and now we’re back in business. Filled up the pan for the first test run and noticed there’s two new leaks. Not sure why it didn’t leak when I first tested the pans, but here we are. There’s one slow drip in the very back of the pan from what I’m guessing is the mating seam, and then one at the right drain assembly. Upon closer inspection it looks like I monkey-fisted tightening of the van stone flange and cracked it. Fortunately it’s not pouring out and it’s dripped straight onto the tote lid and running back into the tote itself, so lucky for that I suppose. Neither leaks deterring from moving forward. A new flange on order to replace the one I abused.


First cut in aluminum, some simple shapes to test everything out.



Everything seemed to run fine and the cuts look good. Time to make a real part.





This is a bracket for mounting a couple of laser guides. It bolts to the top of the stepper motor. Two mounts and two lasers off of Amazon attached to the bracket. I took a 5v charger, (old phone charger maybe? It was in a drawer full of miscellaneous chargers and cables. Everyone has one of those, right?) chopped the end of and wired it to the lasers.



Some odd reflections make it look like there’s multiple lines in the picture, but there’s just the cross-hairs there.



I had already run the power wires up through one of the table tubes and through the drag chains accompanying the Z-axis cables. Drilled a hole in the tube end-cap and installed a switch to turn the lasers on/off.



Had a little fun and cut out a few of these out of .125” steel.



Cut quality seems excellent to me. Minimal dross on the backside which easily chips off leaving a clean edge.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Next I used the “straight cut” feature, which lets you do a simple X or Y-only cut straight from the main screen. Just input the cut speed, pierce delay, and distance and it generates a quick code. More thin gauge aluminum cut and bent up for the computer housing.



Quick rattle-can job, mounted it to the table and tidied up all the wiring.



Here’s the whole set-up in its home. I run the cutter out away from the table to avoid any splashing and possible EM interference.



Spent a few minutes cleaning up one of the F-Bombs and did a quick paint job.




So minor leak issues aside, I’m calling this project/tool done and ready to use. Time to move onto the next project.

It has been patiently waiting, but I’m finally going to start putting effort (and no small amount of money, I’m sure) into my 1964 Scout. Excited and a little anxious at the same time. There’s a lot of firsts involved for me as I’ve never built a car before. Time to start eating this elephant one bite at a time.

 

[rattle_snake]

Very cool and great capability to have in the shop.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Justin - The possibilities are endless! Too bad my wallet isn't... Thanks for stopping by.



Made another tool for the plasma table. This little scraper/scoop fits between the table slats to help clean up slag and debris from the bottom of the table.










Now onto Scout business.


I want this to be a capable off-road rig but not so much as to sacrifice on-street drive-ability. I consider this more of a forestry road cruiser, exploration type stuff and not heavy rock crawling. Want to be able to safely cruise down the highway at speed.

I really don’t want to cut the fenders, which I think limits my tire selection to 33’s. I don’t want or need a crazy-big lift and would prefer to keep a lower COG. I know, everything is a compromise and I think I can be happy without having 37’s. Maybe I’ll build a rock-crawling buggy some day, but this Scout isn’t it.

Leaf springs would be quicker and easier, but supposedly linked suspension is superior and looks like it will be fun to build and more of an educational experience.

The original plan was an older Cummins 4BT paired up with an NV4500. Simple, mechanical, and no computers. Supposedly a pretty bullet-proof combination. Won’t win any land-speed records but should be enough to get me where I want to go. Now that 10 years has gone by, these seem to be even harder to find at a reasonable price. I am debating on just going with an LS-type motor as availability, and parts availability, are more common. Doesn’t seem to be nearly as “cool” to me, plus the added computer and wiring complexity is there with the LS.

I will attempt the bodywork myself, as much as my limited skill allows. Since I have a nice compressor now, I’m thinking about trying my hand at painting, too. Doesn’t need to be show-quality, I do plan on taking this out on the trail.

All this being said…it feels like I have no idea what I’m doing. All of my garage experience is pretty much documented here and not a lot of it is building a car from the ground up. The up-side is that there’s a lot of forum knowledge to read through and You-Tube to watch. Still not much of a substitute for experience, but there’s only one way to get experience and that is by doing.

So I guess I’ll pick up where I left off 10 years ago, and finish up the axles. The Dana 44 front and rear I have were out of a Scout 2. Can’t remember the exact year (should have written it down) but think it was out of a ’74 or ’76.


The rear I already rebuilt and did the disc conversion to:



The front is mostly tore down and I am going for the high-steer set-up. I got the appropriate flat-top knuckles off something at the junk yard, again don’t remember as it was so long ago. These were still pretty dirty and somewhat rusty, so took a wire wheel to them. Before and after:



Threw a coat of primer on there to prevent surface rust. Also noticed that one of the knuckles is already drilled/tapped. Last time I looked into this Parts Mike was the place to send these for machining and it looks like he’s still around, at least the website is still active.



Dredged up the rest of the parts from various totes and shelves and this is what I have so far.



I’m pretty sure the spindles I have are the correct type I got with the knuckles, but don’t remember if I got the hubs and backing plates at the same time. Probably so. Don’t have any calipers and need to figure out what will fit. Pretty sure those were the axles I pulled out of this front end. Will need to measure and verify. If good, then will want to clean and rebuild them while they are out. The box of bearings and seals was purchased 10 years ago. The bearings still appear to be sealed in their oily packages, so thinking they are still good. The seals are in surprisingly good condition, but thinking I should get new ones due to potential dry rot concerns. I have a set of 10 year old new Warn manual-locking hubs to put in. I will want to have lockers front and rear, so will probably do that last when I commit to tires and transmission to see what gearing is needed.

 

[rattle_snake]

For your scout, it sounds like many of your goals are similar to my 72 pickup. I think you have or can learn the capabilities to accomplish all aspects within your expectations. Ground-up build on nights and weekend will take a long time, enjoy.
Although they look cool, you don't really need big tires to achieve your goal. 33s, lockers and well set up suspension will go a lot of places.
I highly suggest linking front and rear, there are plenty of kits that take a lot of the work out it (although you have a plasma table now, so you ****). And coilovers. In the end, when you have to buy it all, a link setup isn't that much more than quality leaf/hangers/shocks and so on. Being able to change and adjust links/CO is key to having it perform to your expectations on and off road.

To avoid 'puters, you can put a toilet (aka carburetor) on a LS motor with appropriate manifold and ignition box. I think the LS is better in every way (power/weight/cost), unless you like the stinky, loud clacky diesel experience.

 

[drivesitfar]

one of these days i'll do more than just change batteries, tires, wipers and such on our cars, but for now i'll stick to the house type stuff and watch and learn as you and others fix, repair, fab and make better your old cars, jeeps and trucks. best of luck with that.

your new fab table is really taking on a life of it's own and i'm guessing you really like having it now?

 

[StormcrowAz]

Justin – Yep, but with your full-sized pick-up you have the added benefit of towing a decent sized trailer with you. With the smaller wheel-base, I’ll probably just limit the Scout to just dragging stuff around the yard.

Triangulated 4-link in the rear and 3-link with pan-hard up front is what I’m thinking. I had seen some kits from Ruff Stuff that are pretty turn-key, that utilize beefy Heim joints.


But after reading discussions (quite a while ago) between Mike (Zmotorsports) and Matt (lilscorpion) about their Jeeps, I’m now thinking Johnny Joints might be the better way to go. And considering the plasma table capabilities, might as well cut my own brackets and source all the components separately.

If I do go the LS route - doesn’t a carb negate some of the reliability and performance benefits of going with the modern engine in the first place? The diesel rattle does have a draw for me, but sometimes the concept of a thing has more appeal to it than what that is in reality. Most likely cost and availability will determine what I end up with.




Drives – Sometimes it seems like doing just the routine maintenance is all I have time for! Not sure why, but I’ve got it stuck in my head that having the experience of doing a complete build is something I need to do. I’ve only cut a few things on the table so far, but the capability is hard to beat. If I look back at all the projects I’ve done without it, there’s usually something in there that could have been made quicker/better/easier on the table. Thanks for stopping in!

 

[rattle_snake]

J joints are a great option and rebuildable. Although you can make all the brackets, the turnkey ones are cheap and no effort so your time can be spent on the rest of the job. Ruff and others can swap out rod ends for JJs in their kits.
I would also consider front radius arm for a street driven rig. They will flex more than enough while providing some anti-sway. No need for truss and upper link is non-trivial to package w/ driveline and exhaust. With 3 link, you will want/need a front sway bar at 70 mph, especially with short wheel base.
If you link the rear I would try to not hack up the tub for the upper shock mounts. I've seem jeeps with CO behind axle to clear links and not intrude into tub so bad.

I'm not a carb guy but if you like the idea of mechanical over electronics then a carb does that for fueling. but uses gravity for bowls and off-roading isn't always flat or level.

 

[samb]

That plasma table is a work of art, really love the plasma trolley built in!

 

[zmotorsports]

I think you will be very happy with those suspension designs Todd. My son loves the dual triangulated 4-link that we built for his WJ.

I also think you will be pleased with the Currie Johnny Joints. They are the industry standard that others try to imitate but never duplicate.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Justin – I’ll read up on the radius arms and see what they are about. Still have a lot to learn. Thanks for your help!


Samb – Thank you! Although almost all of the table modifications were blatantly stolen from the other guys on the Langmuir forum, so credit goes to them. The plasma cutter docking station was about the only piece of originality, seems to be working good, and I am happy with it. Thanks for stopping by!


Mike – I appreciate your input. The real-world experience you had talked about (had to be a while ago now) made sense to me and swayed me towards the J-Joints. Also thanks for your input on your coach batteries. I think I’ll probably stick with conventional AGM. Unless I retire and RV full-time, it probably doesn’t make sense to spend that kind of money on Lithium right now.



Pulled the Tacoma into the shop this past weekend at just 159,990 miles. Time for the routine lube, oil, and filter(s) change. I also had the supervisor on-site.



Not sure how everyone else lines up their rig, I use a digital tape measure to make sure it’s relatively centered. Now that I have power on that side of the shop I’m thinking maybe installing a laser up high that puts a dot on the hood/dashboard to help alignment while pulling it in. Not sure how that would work for different vehicle types.



Here’s a product of my latest Freeway Adventure. Cruising home, doing maybe 70-75, checked mirrors for merging traffic and looked back to see something tumble over the SUV in front of me. I think it might have been a brick off a trailer that was further ahead. Anyways, happening too fast to do anything about it - said object strikes the ground immediately in front of me and I felt one solid “thunk” under the truck. I look in the rear-view and see it bounce back up and sail completely over, just barely missing, a brand new Charger (like it still had the paper temporary plates new) that was directly behind me. That guy got lucky. The SUV in front of me pulls to the shoulder and his windshield is shattered. I cruise home the remaining few miles, keeping an eye out for any new idiot lights and listening for strange new noises. Here’s the result, new road-rash on the front skid plate.


Looks like I got lucky, too! Had I been in the wife’s car that probably would have went into the radiator. Love trucks and skid plates!



Also, here’s a testament to the desert climate. I cringe when I see other folks post pictures of their rusty undercarriages and working on stuck bolts.




It might feel like the surface of the sun for several months out of the year, but at least it’s a dry heat.



Rotated the tires and checked the brakes while I was at it. Good to go for another 5k.




For the oil, oil filter, and air filter it came out to $70. Not sure what the Jiffy Lube places charge these days, so not sure if I’m saving any money…but at least I know everything is being put back in the right place and the oil filter isn’t installed with an impact gun. Could take it down to Discount for their free rotation, but then I’m spending 3 hours of my life waiting for someone else to do it.



Other than that cleaned up a couple more Scout parts. Slow progress, but at least progress. Trying not to let any other projects get in the way, but I think routine maintenance on the daily driver takes priority here.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm jealous of your Mohawk 2-post lift Todd. Those things are built like tanks.

As for measuring, I have found on my vehicles and similar vehicles I use the mirrors as a gauge to center myself side to side and then my sitting position in the vehicle as the front to rear indicator. On front wheel drive vehicles I stop when the post is just behind the cowl, about mid-dash. For full-size trucks and SUV's I stop about middle of the front seat bottom. Those are general areas of course but I can usually get very, very close by adjusting from those indicators when I pull a varying vehicle onto the lift.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Mike – I did a bunch of reading on lifts and the only complaint I had seen about Mohawks was the price. I could have probably got a cheaper lift new for the same price I got this used, but I like the peace of mind knowing it’s a beefy unit. Might not be as pretty, but it gets the job done (safely).





So this followed me home from work the other day.



They are overhauling one of our heat treat ovens and this is the 1/8” stainless steel liner, which is being replaced with a new and improved design. Not sure how good this is, metallurgically-speaking. It has been heated to 1000° and cooled off at least a few times a week for the past 9 years. Probably shouldn’t be building any structural parts out of it, but should be just fine for plasma cutting signs and such.




I also got a small (18” x 30”) stand-alone piece (cover plate of some sort) of the same material and figured I’d test it out before cutting the bigger piece up into usable sections. Made this little bottle opener, which should be a good filler part for small unused areas of plate.



Seeing as how that turned out pretty good, I moved onto my first project of significant size. This has been something I’ve been thinking about for a while - A backlit house number sign for our driveway entrance. Programmed everything in Fusion 360 and post-processed in Sheetcam.





Pieces cleaned up.



Attaching the sides



Pulled out my “anvil” and rounded the corner pieces

 

[StormcrowAz]

This is how I attached the little swirly inside the petroglyph. Thinking I should have made the wire depth a bit more, maybe less visible from the front. But it turned out not too bad. Probably should have done this a completely different way in programming, but wasn’t really thinking in plasma-terms that the whole piece would fall out. Live and learn.





Cut up some chain links (seen in previous pic) in half and welded the hoops inside for securing the lights to.



And speaking of lights, I’ll be using some solar string lights as I don’t have power out at the driveway entrance. To help maximize effectivity of the string lights, I cut out this backing plate out of some thin aluminum sheet.



Both the backing plate and inside of the sign got painted white.



Went with a matte black for the sign itself



Waited until dusk and wired the lights in for a test run. I got these lights at least a year or so ago, so want to make sure they are still working. Leaned up against the shop for now.








Will give it a couple day/night cycles to make sure everything is charging and working correctly before I mount it out front.

 

[j p smith]

Todd that address number sign is awesome! You can use an aftermarket fuel injection kit on the LS motor, much more simple to wire and user friendly. The 4WP's Bronco I am working on has the Fast set up on it, some of my friends like the Holley Sniper set up better.
Also, I have a pair of calipers, not dial, good for most measurements that are not critical. Yours if they will work for you. I am off the next 4 days.

 

[zmotorsports]

Todd, that turned out freakin' awesome.

 

[Finallygotit]

Great work on the house numbers Todd!

 

[ronjon1190]

The house number looks awesome, but I like that little dog paw opener even more!

 

[drivesitfar]

The sign looks great and the skills it took along with the tools used are amazing. I love when a plan works as intended.

I’m sure your bride is smiling and questioning your tool purchases less as projects like this happen.

WELL DONE!!

 

[PugetDude]

House number sign looks great; nice project for the new plasma!

 

[Jayman17]

Very nice job on the house number sign! It looks great

Jay

 

[StormcrowAz]

Jeff – Thanks for the info! Regarding the calipers…are you trying to tell me something? Maybe I need to work on my accuracy? Certainly true, but I actually already have a set and another for back-up, in case I set it down and forget where. Not saying that’s already happened before… Thanks for thinking of me, though!

Mike – Thank you!

Dan – Appreciate it!

Ronjon1190 – Thanks! My better half wants me to cut a few more of those paw openers for her craft shows, so I have a feeling I’ll be running a batch here soon.

Drives – Thank you for checking in…and yes, my wife has always been really good with tool purchases, even with the larger ones like this. But they definitely get used and she sees the value in it.

Scott – Thank you!

Jayman17 – Thanks, and thanks for stopping by!



Quick follow-up to the house number sign. I looked up my purchase history for the lights and it’s been almost two years since I originally got those, so ordered a new pair just in case. Here’s how the strings are attached inside. Zip ties keeping them tight and together, didn’t want any loose strands visible from the street.



Mounted the white backing plate first. Using tapcons to attach to the blocks.



Also used tapcons to attach the sign itself. Did this separate from the backing plate so I only need to pull the sign off to change out the lights when they give up the ghost.


Here’s the sign lit up at dusk.







I grabbed a scrap piece of half-inch square tube out of the pile for mounting the solar collectors to. Just tapcon’d this to the top of the pillar.



Didn’t realize it until after I was done, but think I have enough wire lead to mount those to the existing bracket holding up the lantern. Would be less clutter up there and might re-do when I get the chance (and motivation)

 

[drivesitfar]

Looks great. One thing that might work to hide the lights wires is drilling a hole thru the concrete pillar but not sure what’s inside it or where the power actually is.

awesome address sign and great looking gated entrance!!

 

[StormcrowAz]

Thanks, Drives!

I don't have power way out there, so everything is solar. I don't really like how the wire looks, hanging out there, but not sure how else to address it. The pillar is concrete-filled cinder blocks. Not sure I want to do all that drilling for the sign. Re-painting the pillar might help to disguise it.