Above 1200 Sq/FT Ernie's Place

[StormcrowAz]

Drives – Thanks for following along and the compliment! And I when I put the actual roof covering on, it was only in the low-mid 80’s, so was still pretty nice out. It got to near 100 this past weekend and I worked in the shop to around 2:30pm or so before calling it a day. For me, it’s not too horrible unit it goes over 105°. Not saying I enjoy working in 100 degree weather, but it’s at least tolerable. We’ve definitely reached a point to where it’s time to take hydration seriously.



So made some progress on the porch roof decorations. I like to add a little personal touch to things, but wasn’t sure what would be cool. For no particular reason I thought a compass attached to the underside of the roof would be neat. Large with some different colors to stand out a bit. See how many people take notice of what’s above their heads when they come to the front door.

Start off with some 1” square tubing for the main directional cross-piece.
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Broke out the 45° table for the belt grinder to put a bevel on smaller cross-pieces. Of course I had to re-do this one as I wanted the 45 on the opposite plane of the square. The table does make putting a 45 in small stuff quick and easy. Easier than setting up the band saw for just a couple small angles.
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Coming together
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Started cutting some sheet metal accents. Put the flat table back in and turned the belt grinder sideways to take advantage of the platen and getting some of those lines nice and straight. Worked great! Also picked up a little magnetic sewing machine LED light for the drill press and it reaches the grinder as well. A bit more focused lighting is nice and for $8 it’s hard to beat.
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This is the center-piece that will cover up my less-than-professional weldments.
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Forgot to get in-progress pics, but made the compass needle out of 1/2” square tube and some more sheet metal pieces. Here it is put together. There’s a 1/4-20 bolt through the center holding the needle to the compass, so I can move the needle in whatever direction suits my fancy.
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Still need to fabricate a means to attach it to the underside of the porch roofing. After that I should be able to break out the rattle-cans.

 

[StormcrowAz]

After some deliberation I decided to go with a mini-receiver hitch type set-up for attachment of the compass. Would have been easier to just weld it up there, but I like the thought of being able to remove it if needed.

Started by cutting and cleaning the pieces
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Clamps, clamps, clamps. Used a shim on two sides for wiggle room.
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Originally planned to use some sheet metal screws to attach to roof (why there are holes in the angle iron) but decided to weld them on instead. Painted to match the ceiling.
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Compass and needle, all painted and attached.
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Overall not bad, but somewhat underwhelming. Seems to be what I had in mind, but not as neat as I thought it would look under there. They aren’t all home runs, I guess.

 

[zmotorsports]

Lookin' good Todd.

 

[drivesitfar]

Todd: I love the effort it took to make the compass. If your roof was painted white it would maybe show up better but painting the compass black and red might be easier to make it pop.

Or leave as is and maybe see what others think or your guests say

 

[fartymarty]

Overall not bad, but somewhat underwhelming. Seems to be what I had in mind, but not as neat as I thought it would look under there. They aren’t all home runs, I guess.

If you hadn't said you found it underwhelming....I would have bit my tongue...and maybe I still should...but (<--- you knew a "but" was coming)

With your skills heretofore being very impressive to me (thus my subscription) I have to agree. First off what you've made appears to be a weather vane not a compass. So either you need to rework the compass rose
and orient it to either true or magnetic north and ditch the arrow ...or...and I hope you do this one::: rotate the compass rose to proper orientation with north, AND.......have a shaft go through the roof to a real weather vane that will move the indicator under the roof so that you can see which way the wind is blowing from under the roof. This latter is more in line with your skill set.

This is one of those posts where I'm going to hit the enter button and cringe as I'm seemingly being critical of someone else's work who could build circles around me before I could start to get the right tool out.

Impressive painting and fabrication no matter what you think of me or my silly ideas.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Mike – Thanks for the comment and checking out my stuff!


Drives – Ironically those metal sheet panels come white underneath right from the store. I thought it would be good to color-match them with the grey of the frame/house so the colors of the compass would stand out more. Maybe I should have left it white to see what it would look like first, as I could have popped the compass off and paint the sheet later. Guess I could do that now, but then if I find white looks worse, then I’d have re-do the grey. Think I’ll stick with the grey for now and see how it goes. Either way, thanks for the suggestions and stopping by, always appreciated!


Marty – First off…nothing cringe-worthy there. I’m far from being part of the politically correct and thin-skinned crowd. Everyone has different tastes and opinions and are entitled to them. It just might be total ****, and being in the good ole U.S. of A. you can say so. I can just shrug it off. Now criticism that comes with a “why” and possibly suggestions for improvement (like you provided), I would categorize as Constructive Criticism. That’s good stuff and I sincerely appreciate the feedback. That being said…I had to Google what a compass “rose” was. And now that you mentioned the weather vane thing I can totally see what you’re talking about. When this whole idea first popped into my head I did an image search on compass and thought I’d tweak what the normal was, just to be different. I added the larger arrow point and tail thing to the needle because I thought it was neat and different. Now I’m thinking it might be better suited for having a rooster propped on top and swinging in the wind. Turning the whole thing into an actual functional weather vane is an intriguing idea. It would be neat to put some bearings or some such in there and see it move around. Not sure I really need/want that, but it would be neat. The hole in the roof to facilitate and making sure it would be leak-proof seems problematic. Maybe I should just make a different needle? It’s just bolted on there so would be simple to replace. For right now I’m still working on fabricating the N, S, W, and E letters. Not sure how much extra time I’m willing to put into this project. I might just start telling everyone: “hey look, I made a weather vane under my porch!”

 

[fartymarty]

Marty – First off…nothing cringe-worthy there. I’m far from being part of the politically correct and thin-skinned crowd.

Thanks Todd, I feel better now.

The hole in the roof to facilitate and making sure it would be leak-proof seems problematic.

Yeah, you probably couldn't figure out how to make it work, it's clearly beyond your skill set....yeah right . The only question is do you want to? If you do, then the problematic part will soon disappear.

My earlier post about aligning the compass rose to North was in the assumption that you had the red arrow pointing north in the photos. I only mention that now in case that's not how things are, perhaps it's already aligned, which would be great.

 

[drivesitfar]

Storm: I actually liked the weather vane up on top controlling the cool arrow you made below and i'm sure you can figure out how to make it work and not leak. that said you might want to wait til January when the top of your roof isn't 100+ degrees. that should give you plenty of time to work out the kinks in the design/idea.

always nice to check in on you and your adventures in your garage and around your home and your projects for friends and relatives too.

cheers

 

[StormcrowAz]

Been busy in the shop lately. Made some progress on the North, South, East, and West letters for the compass/weather vane. Wanted them all to be consistent in size so started with drawing a 4”x6” square on the table, figuring keeping it within those lines would be good.
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Soon realized that was less than optimal, too much of a margin for error with things being able to move around and all. Tacked a little jig up with minimal time/effort.
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Definitely made things easier to control
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The “S” was the worst, being made of many little pieces. To keep it from warping too bad I tacked it up in sections, ground the tacks flat, flipped it over, re-clamped and tacked that side.
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In the end I’m happy with the results. Now need to figure out how to mount them up.


And remember folks…you heard it here first!
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[StormcrowAz]

In other news…the switch on my drill press gave up the ghost. Had to take the motor off and replace it. Fairly easy fix, fortunately. Funny how you don’t realize how often you use something until you can’t.
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Also spend a good amount of time and sweat in a shop clean-up. I had a lot of “stuff” that has been sitting for a very long time. I was getting tired of looking at it and it taking up space. So bit the bullet and threw a lot of stuff out and did a bit of strategic relocation of materials (moved junk around).

Some before pictures
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[StormcrowAz]

Pretty much pulled everything away from that back wall, took all the stuff off the shelves, and evaluated what to keep and what to toss. Would eventually like to figure out a better way to store the bigger sticks of raw material. Would really like to pour some more concrete on the side of the shop, put a roof over it and move some of this stuff outside.
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One of the little things I’ve been meaning to do for a long time…get the oil drain for the lift out of the way. Not used very often but it takes up floor space and gets in the way. I made it to be easily separated, the pan from the can. Top half gets hung up and the bottom stored under the shelves, both out of the way but easily accessible. One less thing to trip over or work around.
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I feel much better about the state of affairs now. So much room for activities!
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Another big step was clearing all those valuables off the Scout. I figure this floor hasn’t seen unobstructed daylight, much less a broom, in about six years!
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And now that the Scout is freed up, I can start chipping away at finishing it. That will help clear out the cluster still in the one corner of the shop, which a lot of is the Scout frame and axles.


But really the next big project is getting a new air compressor set up…

 

[drivesitfar]

Todd: great job with the NEWS directionals for your compass or future weathervane.

really nice work cleaning up the shop and i've got an idea for your long stuff if you might have some extra lumber or unistrut to build some loft type storage. since you've got a fair amount of ceiling height storing the smallish long metal pieces up high might work best to get them out of your way until you need them and you figure which part of the ceiling or wall you want to use.

another option that has worked for a lot of guys is they had a space behind their workbench where they put their extra material (wood or steel).

best of luck on the new (maybe nice used one) compressor.

cheers

 

[rattle_snake]

Wow you found a scout hiding in your shop, cool!
Maybe I missed it before, it is an 800? What are the general plans? Big block, tons and 44s?

 

[StormcrowAz]

Drives – I had not considered going up high with the materials. I’ll have to sit and stare at my walls for a while now to see how that would pan out. I do like the thought of getting the floor space back. I might be able to re-arrange some stuff on the wooden shelves to free up a few spots to get the small pieces off the Gorilla racks, too. What would I do with all that extra space? Probably fill it up with more stuff.


Justin – It’s a ’64 Scout 80, which is the predecessor to the 800’s. Sorry to disappoint, but nothing so glorious in the works. The Plan is a 4BT mated to a NV4500 (not sure on the transfer case), rolling with 33’s on Dana 44’s, with a triangulated 4-link in the rear and 3-link/panhard up front. High-steer, power steering, hydraboost, and Air Conditioning. We’ll see how that all pans out. Going for a compromise of having good on-road performance and comfort, with some above average off-road capability. Mainly looking to do some exploring and adventuring type stuff, no serious rock crawling. Hoping to have something simple, reliable, and EMP-proof with the little diesel.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Even with the temps reaching 110° plus here, I’ve still managed to get some things done.

Had another septic scare, turned out to be just another clog. But I dug up the courtyard to check out the system, for my own piece of mind. Plus I needed to relocate that water line that someone had thoughtfully placed directly over the opening.
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I routed the water line up and out next to the wall. I’m thinking of adding a water feature in the corner of the courtyard and this will be a nice source of water for it.
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The Mrs. was a big help, she helped both dig it up and fill it in.
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Officially finished the compass/weather vane by painting and installing the directional letters. Sorry to disappoint, but not going to spend more time to turn it into a functional weather vane. It is a tempting, super-cool idea though.
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Picked up some lumber and concrete for the compressor shed.
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I must say…a half-ton pick-up is probably sufficient for my needs, but man…it sure is nice to have the 2500 for those times when it’s borderline. 1200 pounds in the bed and it leveled it out a wee bit. Still drove real nice, though.
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Craigslist find, not too bad of a deal. Both need some work, new hoses, etc., but from what I’ve read these are quality brands. Evidently the guy got them from his work where they figured it was cheaper to just immediately buy some new and inexpensive reels instead of fixing these. Another project, but will be nice when the new compressor does finally go in.
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[StormcrowAz]

Finally got around to something that has been bugging me for a long time. Previous owner had ran this wiring to the far side of the shop. Half conduit and half romex on top of the trusses. It was providing juice to the room I tore down there when we moved in and it’s been unused and terminated in a box up in the rafters ever since. Disconnected and tore it down. Thinking of running a sub-panel to that side of the shop for the compressor and some extra outlets.
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This segues into yet another project I got a wild hair about. That shelving in the previous picture…I’ve been using a regular ladder to access those upper shelves and always thought it would be neat to have some sort of rolling ladder. Did a lot of pondering over how it was going to roll up top – U-groove, V-groove, H-groove wheels riding on the appropriate tracking. Then thought about Unistrut and those little trollies they have for them. I’ve always wanted to build something cool out of Unistrut. So that’s what I went with and hopefully it works and rolls smoothly.

Made a couple brackets that bolt to the trollies, piece of angle iron. This is what the ladder will attach to.
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The strut comes in 120” lengths (well, the stuff that fits in the bed of my truck, anyways) and the shelf is 180” long. Welded a piece on to right-size.
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Cut some more angle iron, drilled holes in them, and welded those to the strut. This is what will bolt the strut to the shelving.
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Didn’t get a pic, but bolted the strut to the shelves without a hitch. The trollies will glide fairly easily from one end to the other with a push. Kind of nervous about how smooth they will be when the ladder is attached, afraid of them getting wedged in there somehow.

For the ladder itself I was originally going to make one out of 2x4’s, but then remembered I have that well pipe the mother in law donated. It’s 1.33” in diameter and will make for some easy gripping. Wall thickness is pretty stout, too.
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Similar to the strut, I needed longer pieces than I had…so welded on some extensions.
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Capped each end because it just seemed like the right thing to do
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In the mean-time…the Mr’s is helping out, too. She cut and drilled some angle iron pieces that will eventually support wood steps that are going on top of each rung.
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And that’s all that I’ve got so far. I’ve cut all the rungs and the next step is to notch them for fitment.

 

[drivesitfar]

nice work on the compass wanna be weather vane.

i'm really liking the thinking and watching you build that cool rolling ladder (old library ladder?). also more loft storage (even if you fill it with just supplies) will give you more floor space and more room to use the tools you have or maybe buy a few more.

carry on and now I know why you guys like 100+ temps in your garage and outside cause your brides clothing options are not sweats and long sleeve shirts.

good to see and hear that your bride also doesn't mind getting her hands dirty.

cheers and keep up the good work.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Drives – Yes, a rolling library ladder was the idea. The jury is still out on whether it will be “cool” or not! Thanks for stopping by.


Was a nice weekend, don’t think it got above 95° out, good early morning weather to work on projects.

Made some progress on the ladder. Got it all squared up and tacked a couple bars in to keep it that way while tacking the rungs in.
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Basing the rung spacing off my Little Giant, which seems to work good, at 12” on center. Cleaned off the galvanization, or thought I did anyways. Still some left over as there was some funkiness going on when welding the rungs to the rails. Not too bad though, didn’t get sick or anything.
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Got that all finished and it looks good. Leaned it up against the shelf, research shows 10° is common for this type of ladder. Did some measuring and tacked the lower casters in place. Wanted to tack the trolley brackets in place, too…but the mig lead wasn’t long enough. Broke out the gantry crane to give me a few extra feet and it was just enough.
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And that’s where progress came to a screeching halt. The ladder just won’t roll as the trolley bearings are locking up inside the strut. Thinking maybe I didn’t align the casters well enough, so that’s throwing it off and binding it up. I took them off and just tried to move it without the bottom wheels, but it’s still sticking. I hate it when a plan doesn’t come together. I think there’s just too many variables for this set-up to work smoothly on my less-than-perfectly-executed design. Maybe if I was working to machined tolerances here it would work, but I don’t see that happening. The ladder is done, though, and the strut is solidly attached up there. I think I’m going to put up some 1” round tube and try the u-groove wheel approach. That seems to be the general practice for rolling ladders according to the internet. Was hoping to do something new and different, shoulda known better.

 

[Finallygotit]

Todd, don't give up yet. Have you got a picture of the trolley assembly in the uni-strut? I'd like to see what you have going on in there. I want to help preserve the concept.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Dan - Sure thing! Thanks for taking some time to check it out, it's much appreciated. Sounds like you're pretty busy with the move and such and hope all is going well.

Trolley pics
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[zmotorsports]

Nice job on the sliding ladder.

Will the rungs protrude above the track far enough just in case the rollers fail to hold the weight? That way the ladder will only fall an inch or so before catching on the track and not miss the track.

 

[Sifan]

might try putting another trolley in the middle to help support and eliminate side to side binding? Nephew has same trolley on 25' farm machine shed doors. They had a trolley on each end and one in the middle, things never worked right from the get go. Was a pain to do on a ladder 25' up, but we put four more trolleys on each door. Spread the weight out and eliminated binding, rolls great! Also silicone lube is your friend Good luck!

 

[rattle_snake]

Hey Todd,
Maybe try a rubber mount to allow some deflection for the rollers. Or maybe shim if you can see how they are binding. I would also try a little bit of whiskey.

 

[Lotusnut]

You have done basicly what I would have built. Looking at the picture I question if the 10* slope is causing a side load where it is pushing against the side instead of a straight down pull on the wheels.

 

[j p smith]

Hey Todd. Just was looking thru and saw your new band saw. I just finished 2 20" Delta Band saws. If you need some help let me know, I am working every other week right now and am off this week. I can make copies of the manuals I have if you want. I think they are the same basic saw. Later, Jeff

 

[fartymarty]

You have done basicly what I would have built. Looking at the picture I question if the 10* slope is causing a side load where it is pushing against the side instead of a straight down pull on the wheels.

Perhaps triangle out the base (4 wheels in square or rectangular pattern on floor) so that all the ladder weight is on the floor when unloaded, that way the top is just a rolling attachment point or guide that is only significantly side loaded when someone climbs up the ladder (when non-movement is a good thing).

 

[Finallygotit]

Todd, here's what I'm thinking. I think those bearings are rubbing on the backside of the unistrut because of the weight (side load) of the ladder and the person riding along.

Would it be possible to put some thin UHMW sheet stock on the inside of the unistrut? Something for the bearings to rub against? Do the bearings or the unistrut look like they are wearing. Something like what Lotusnut mentioned. And as was mentioned before, maybe slather the inside of the unistrut with some grease.

Or! Do you have some space to add another mounted bearing 90° to your current bearings to take the side load on the trolley?

Just kinda spitballing here.

 

[InsaneEd]

I know the unistrut is already mounted but any chance you could remove it and mount it with the opening turned out (horizontal with the ground)? You mounted the wheels on the bottom to support the ladder and now you just need the track to guide the top.

I agree that the problem is a side load on the trolly.

But the ladder is awesome!! Don't give up yet!

 

[StormcrowAz]

Mike - Thanks! The uppermost rung is well below the track, as I didn’t think I needed another one up there. If I stood on the top one now, I’d be bumping my noggin on the rafters. I had not thought about roller failures, though. (safety third!) If that were to happen the casters at the bottom would probably kick out and send me swiftly to the ground, and probably to urgent care. Everything seems pretty stout, but it all works until it doesn’t, right? I’ll have to think about some sort of safety catch, for just-in-case. Thanks for pointing that out!


Sifan – Thanks for your suggestion! I actually did get a third pulley for another project. Don’t think it would take much to tack another one up there and see if it helps.


Justin – If a little is good, more is better…right?!?


Lotusnut – The side load issue seems to make sense. Maybe this is why most library/rolling ladders have the top roller. The grooved wheel on a pipe wouldn’t be as hindered by that, I would think.


Fartymarty – When lotusnut mentioned the side load, making a larger base was my first thought. Kind of like those free-standing rolling ladder platforms they have in warehouses. I kind of like the concept of it just being a singular ladder, so will work towards that goal first. Thanks for your input!


Dan – Not sure there’s room inside there for extra material, it’s a pretty snug fit. I’ll double-check, though. Adding more rollers 90° to the existing is a good idea, allowing it to roll on those first and the other ones as captured guides. Will have to think on that some more. Spit-balling is good and much appreciated!


InsaneEd – With enough time and money anything is possible! I’d have to weld another set of brackets on there, I’m thinking. I don’t think I could just bolt it straight to the shelving as the bolt heads would probably interfere with the rollers. Also thinking the rollers are designed to sit on the bent rails inside the strut, not sure if they would glide in a sideways position. I’ll definitely give it look-see, though. Thanks for stopping by and the suggestion!




Jeff – You know, I could probably use a little push in the right direction. I have what I believe is the Delta 28-345 manual. I wasn’t able to find much at all for the “Rockwell 28-3X5” that the serial number tag references. The 28-345 appears to be nearly identical with some very minor differences. I haven’t done a lot to it, but did take a few things apart and found what probably decommissioned this unit. The speed adjusting bearing that rides on the gearbox spindle looks to have detonated.

Gearbox and spindle
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Spindle pulley lever and bearing
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Looks like it also chewed up some of the pulley fins when it let go
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From what little Google-searching I did, there’s not a ton of parts left out there. The pulley and bearing are sold as an assembly (#427 on the diagram) which there does seem to be a couple available, but at around $1k each. I’m not entirely convinced I have the correct opposite pulley part (#429), either.
pulley assembly

If the right parts really are that rare and/or costly…I was mulling over the idea of finding a generic pulley that fits the spindle and direct-wiring the motor to a VFD. Thinking this would bypass all the 45 year-old wiring and allow me to control the speed directly from the VFD, while also providing the phase conversion. Seems kind of sacrilegious, though…hacking a nice piece of vintage machinery like that. Any help and insight you have would be greatly appreciated!

 

[plain2car]

Todd,
Just plain amazing!! you are quite the DIY'er... I can only dream of being half as talented. it is a good thing that you don't live on the "east side"... I would become "what about bob" to you... LOL!!! also I can't believe your friend won the camaro!! that is a really good car!! I was glad to see that the station didn't plaster stickers (paint) all over it... again you are really talented & glad that you share your adventures on here!!

 

[j p smith]

Todd that bearing was the weak point, one of mine was worse than yours, the other saw about the same as yours. My buddy made 2 new sleeves and then bored the pulley pressed the sleeve in and then welded the sleeve in place. How is the graphite sleeve that presses in and rides on the shaft. You may already know this, do not try to adjust the speed if the saw is not running

 

[j p smith]

Todd I used a VFD for the saw that I sold and a Phase Converter for the saw I kept

 

[StormcrowAz]

plain2car – Thanks for the words of encouragement! Sometimes I feel like I can accomplish a thing or two, but not “talented”. I certainly make my fair share of mistakes but I guess that’s all part of the learning curve. If you’re ever in the neighborhood feel free to stop by! Thanks again for visiting!


Jeff – I think I’ll look into putting a pulley straight onto that shaft as well, let the VFD control the speed. Thanks for your input!


Keeping busy, even in this heat. Making progress here and there where I can. Feels like I’m all over the place with projects, running several at a time. Not sure if that’s a bad thing or not.

Anyways…so a little over six months ago we got a new GE refrigerator. It recently started throwing out warnings about replacing the water filter. No biggie, the previous fridge had a little idiot light that you could reset when you replaced the filter so didn’t think much about it. Until I looked up the filters. $50 each, and I am not able to find cheap/generic replacements. Turns out GE added an RFID chip reader in the filter compartment and a corresponding chip on each filter. So it starts giving warnings on the fridge screen and yells at you, showing how many days late you are in replacing the filter. There’s a GE “bypass” that is installed in place of the filter and has an RFID chip that tells the fridge that you’re not using a filter, which eliminates the warning messages. Someone came up with a hack to cut off the chip from the bypass and tape it to the inside of the filter compartment, so you could install generic filters without the warning. I couldn’t even find the right generic filters, looks like my model fridge has a different fitting from all the other recommendations. So not happy about any of this nonsense, I decided to skip all that noise and just install an in-line filter before the fridge. They are readily available, half as much as the GE chipped versions, and last a heck of a lot longer.

Decided to get the bypass to eliminate all the warnings, an extra $25
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Of course when installing the fitting on the supply valve, I immediately cross-threaded the brass fitting. So another run to Home Depot for a new valve…yay.
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So, other than my careless impatience on that fitting it was a simple install. It’s tucked away above the fridge behind a silk plant the wife keeps there anyways…so out of sight.
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Filter is rated for 20,000 gallons, and considering we use maybe 1-2 a day…should last a while. Will probably replace it in a couple years on principle. $100 a year for “smart filters”? No thank you.


I tinkered with the rolling ladder a bit (great suggestions above, thanks all!) and am thinking that that the side load issues with trolley just might not be the best way to go. Going to grab some U-groove wheels and try the pipe method.

 

[StormcrowAz]

But for now, onto making progress on the Air Compressor Project. Before I actually buy it, I’d like to build a home for it, a 4 x 6 shed back behind the shop.
shop air 1

After way too much time in 3D modeling, and thinking about what would be “best”, I figured it was time to start actually working on it. First thing is a 4x6 slab. Made the form in the shop with some 2x4’s and also a jig of sorts to embed all-thread into the concrete so I can eventually bolt the shed down to it. I didn’t have enough rebar in my pile-o-stuff, but I do have some of this shelf racking that should be sufficient. They are only 4x4 squares, so had to cut 2’ off another one and weld them together.
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Mind you, I really have no experience in any of this stuff…just going off of what I’ve read. From what I gather the use of “J” bolts was once fairly common for anchors in new-pours (seems like epoxy or maybe just regular sleeve/wedge are now preferred?) and general consensus was to throw a nut/washer on the end that’s embedded to keep it from pulling out. Since I have a bunch of all-thread pieces in the pile (left over from the wooden gantry) figured I’d just weld some scrap on the end for the same effect. Little pieces of angle iron, hopefully help with pull-out and anti-rotation. Maybe overkill?
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After much consideration I decided to overcomplicate the door design and try a hidden bookshelf concept with pivot hinges, top and bottom. So I made this little box to hold a flanged bearing.
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The top bearing will be lag-bolted to a 4x4 above the doorway. The bearings themselves were pretty cheap, but after receipt this may be why.
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I don’t think this will be a self-correcting issue, so set about to square these up with the press. First one turned out pretty good, but got carried away with the second. I should have learned my lesson with the vise.
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[StormcrowAz]

Now onto the fun stuff. Waking up early, starting work at sunrise to avoid as much heat as possible.

Set out the form and leveled. Tamped dirt down.
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Threw some gravel in there (because the internet said it was a good idea) and tamped that down
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Attached the hinge box to the form. Between the flat bar welded between the coupler nuts and that little protrusion out the back, I’m hoping the surrounding cement will keep it from pulling out or moving around.
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A lot of sweat and wheel-barrow mixing later...
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Also pushed the jig down in place and screwed it to the form. It was at about this point when I thought: “why didn’t I just weld the dang all-thread to the wire racking instead of using the wooden jig?” I’m thinking that probably would have been an easier, and cleaner way to go about that. Hindsight = 20/20.

So threw a tarp over it (again, because the internet said it might be a good idea because it’s so hot) and this is where it sits now.
20200621_082317

Have several bags of Quikrete left over. What cool things can I do with those here? Some practical shed-feature? Make a sundial? Be lazy and leave them outside until it rains and turns them into bricks?

 

[fartymarty]

Be lazy and leave them outside until it rains and turns them into bricks?

Well sure you could do that, but most here would say they "made" some tarp holders.

Nice work, waiting to see the rest.

 

[PugetDude]

Subscribed!

 

[StormcrowAz]

Marty – Hah, I see what you did there! And thanks, it’s a slow process for me. From what I’ve read recommended cure time is a month. Considering we’re hitting 110° on a regular basis with just about zero humidity…I’m thinking it was about as dry as it’s going to be right around Monday afternoon. Time to start prepping the shed framework and air/electric plumbing.


PugetDude – Thanks for checking out my stuff!!




The wife got me a nice Puppy-Fathers day gift
20200624_190513
Been wanting a decent set of ratcheting wrenches for a while now and these seem to get pretty good marks for non-USA made.


Broke down and got a hydraulic down feed for the horizontal band saw. Supposed to be a simple bolt-on application, but of course it’s rarely ever that easy.
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When I made the cart I placed the saw supports right in the way of where the cylinder needed to go. So chopped that out and test-fit.
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To give me a little working room I pulled the bolts out of one side and raised that end using the gantry.
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Replacing the support out to the side. Probably not as sturdy as the original design, but should be sufficient. Opted to bolt the one piece in instead of welding as I was afraid the heat would melt/burn out the sealant.
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Put a bit of pre-load in by raising up on the original support section, tacked it into place, and burned it in.
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Somehow it actually came out level!
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I was going to add another cross-piece in and tie into the other support, but it turned out to be very sturdy and stable as-is. Cut a test piece and everything works great!
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[fartymarty]

Well, while we are waiting for the cement to dry.......
.... Todd, perhaps you could tell me 'bout that traffic signal light you have hanging on the wall. It seems it showed up just after the Packard did. If you've posted about it before just a link will be fine. (I did search, and found nada)

Is it hooked up and working?.... if so I'm sure it's a requirement that anybody with room enough to have a traffic signal in their shop has to have it turned on and lit during all shop photos taken for posting here in the GJ.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Marty – Thanks for your patience and continued patronage. Wish I had a better story to tell about the traffic light. I picked it up from my cousin (divorce sale kinda thing) and he, or the previous guy, wired all the lights directly to an extension cord. So basically it’s all on, or all off. Plan is to get one of those controllers and hook that up when I run power to that side of the shop.

Here's the obligatory picture!
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