Above 1200 Sq/FT Ernie's Place

[Bob Heine]

Todd, I realize how old I am when I see triple-light traffic signals. Growing up on Long Island in the 1950s we drove into "The City" quite often. New York City used double traffic lights with both red and green going on at the same time for a second or two when you were supposed to stop. I think they started using those in the '20s and still have them scattered across the city today. The big change was to go from dark green cast iron fixtures to bright yellow housings. When you were driving though mid-town Manhattan it was easy to miss a stoplight with all the neon surrounding them. This photo was taken in 1955:

 

[GRN96WS6]

Todd, I realize how old I am when I see triple-light traffic signals. Growing up on Long Island in the 1950s we drove into "The City" quite often. New York City used double traffic lights with both red and green going on at the same time for a second or two when you were supposed to stop. I think they started using those in the '20s and still have them scattered across the city today. The big change was to go from dark green cast iron fixtures to bright yellow housings. When you were driving though mid-town Manhattan it was easy to miss a stoplight with all the neon surrounding them. This photo was taken in 1955:

Interesting, never knew that tidbit of info about old stop lights.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Bob – That is a bit of neat history on traffic signals, thanks for sharing! I looked up some controllers on E-bay and will have to incorporate that into my light once I get electric run to that side of the shop.


Well the weather hasn’t been real conducive for working in the shop. I have been getting out there on the weekends around 5am or so, but am sweated out by 11am or so. Doesn’t help that the swamp cooler blew a fuse. The last time that happened it was the water pump that failed. Instead of fixing that I took it as a sign to start tearing out the old wiring in preparation for the new compressor set-up. More on that later…in the mean-time I made some progress on the rolling ladder.

Got a couple of u-grooved rollers and some ¾” EMT for them to ride on. Cut up some little tabs and drilled a hole in them. Welded the tabs to the EMT so it can be bolted to the Unistrut.
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Took a couple lengths of angle iron and drilled a hole for the roller. Also cut out a slot for a piece of all-thread that is intended to keep the ladder/roller from leaving the track.
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Welded a nut to the end of the all-thread and cut a piece of UHMW to size. The intent is to have the plastic roller inside the unistrut, small enough to roll/travel inside yet big enough to catch the ladder in case the roller completely fails. An extra layer of security, trying to build some measure of safety into this contraption…
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Which should work like this
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Added a cap to the top of the angle iron for some extra contact points of the roller cage
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That done - it’s time again for more aeronautic shenanigans. Wanted to weld those assemblies to the ladder as straight/level as possible, while it’s in place.
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At 10-11am it’s hot enough already in an un-air conditioned shop…and it’s even hotter 12 feet up on that ladder throwing tack welds onto this thing. Complaining aside, I got it done, pulled it down and finished burning it in.
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So…it works. For the most part. It still has a slight binding issue at some points in the 15’ or so of travel, but that’s easily overcome by simply lifting the base of the ladder at those points, allowing the rollers to fall back into place. I’m guessing that when welding those tabs to the EMT it caused some amount of warpage, enough to make it not perfectly roll-able at least. Maybe some heavier-duty pipe and not thin-wall tube might work better. Easy enough to try as I can simply unbolt the EMT and replace. Need to tweak the little plastic rollers a bit, too. Reduce the diameter for extra clearance as it might also be too tight in there. For now it works as intended, as a ladder I can easily roll out and grab stuff. Probably still going to use the Little Giant for bigger and heavier totes, but for small stuff this will be convenient.

 

[StormcrowAz]

In the middle of this the brother-in-law stopped by with this Dodge to do some suspension work. Really happy that this time he brought a mechanic-friend with him (brought his own tools, too) so all he needed was the lift. Left me free to go about my own business.
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The neighbor has a two-story structure she keeps the hay for her horses in. She likes to keep a tarp over the east end to keep the afternoon sun off. The tarp is good for about one summer before it’s time to replace. I guess it’s cheaper than a roll-up door? Anyways, before I became the official “climb up the ladder to replace the tarp” guy, someone had installed eye-bolts for running twine through the tarp grommets. Every year climbing up there to cut twine and re-string up more has been no fun. This year I made some adjustments for future tarp replacements. Welded up a chain link piece on each end of 3/8” rod sections (I had more of that rod than I had chain, otherwise might have just used all chain)
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Used some quick links to attach to the roof eye bolts and added a carabiner to the other end of the rod assembly for a tarp quick-disconnect. Oh, also slipped a piece of rubber hose over the rod for sound deadening. She says sometimes the tarp flips over the roof in high winds and is worried about the metal sound scaring the horses. Anyways, now I don’t have to fuss with cutting stuff down and tying a bunch of knots 12 feet up in the air. Should be a quick and simple job now.
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For some peace of mind I installed some security measures to the shop. Got a Wyze camera kit that comes with contact sensors for the doors and also a motion sensor. Not too shabby, especially for the price. Once I get electric run to the other side of the shop I will add another camera or two.
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I’ve also been visiting the local electric supply companies. This small pile of goods doesn’t seem to be in proportion to the amount of money spent. This stuff is expensive and adds up quick!
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[drivesitfar]

Storm: i've got a lot of stuff to catch up on cause last I recall you were making a sort of library ladder to access the shelves in your garage. any lofts yet?

yep the hardware stores have been getting a lot of my cash too cause you just can't find everything on Craigs or other auction and sale sites.

interesting fix on the tarp hanging and hope it makes your annual visit to help your neighbor easier.

keep up the good work!!

Oh and BTW I wish I had a big garage and a LIFT too.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Been a while since my last update. Being in the upper teens (115° - 119°) for the past few weeks has put a damper on my motivation for working in/on the shop. So the compressor project is temporarily on hold as I really don’t feel like climbing up the ladder to run electrical as it is even hotter up there. Still been working on projects and doing stuff, waking up and starting at 5am when it’s a relatively cool 90° out. Good for a few hours at least. The wife wants a fire pit sitting area with an overhead pergola type set-up, so we’re going to have a concrete pad poured for that in the back yard. While the truck is here, might as well add a slab to the side of the shop. Would eventually like to put some shade there for extra storage out of the sun/rain. That means cleaning up the years of “just throw that outside” material. Forgot to take a “before” picture, but this is certainly an improvement. Also, tore down the swamp cooler. Want the new slab to be one continuous pour. Plus two of the support pillars on the cooler rotted clean through. Time for a new one.
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My junk pile is getting bigger. May pay to have someone with a big trailer haul it off.
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Still have a pile of metal to deal with. Have a bit of it slated to sell off as scrap, but still on the fence for getting rid of some of the other stuff. I mean, do I really need Dana 27 axles out of the Scout? Not sure what else to do with them or what I could turn them into.
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The concrete is expected to be done in a week or three, no set schedule. Our neighbor is a firefighter and does this on the side, and for a good price, so not really worried about the timeline.



In the mean-time, while it’s hot out, the wife and I decided to start on an inside-the-house project. Tile the master bathroom shower. When we moved into the house the caulking in the seams was in bad shape, like half of it was missing. So I re-did it at the time and that seemed to be ok for the past 7 years, until now. Some spots were developing in the silicone that wouldn’t clean out and was worried it was mold. So decided to tear it out and go from there.
Here’s what it looked like before.
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Tearing down the walls. You can see where it looks like there may have been a leak in the middle of the back wall. The drywall was stained at the bottom.
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Pulled the rest of the drywall out and the shower pan
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[StormcrowAz]

There’s some discoloration to the framework in that one small area, but no rot or damage otherwise. Cleaned everything real good and let it air out for a couple days. Sprayed with vinegar and let that dry for a day or two, and then sprayed again. From what I’ve read that should do the trick for anything growing back.

Similar to the shop bathroom, I’m going with the Schluter Kerdi system. They now have complete kits for shower installs, including the pan, curb, membrane, drain, etc. The new curb will stick out an extra inch or two further than the old pan, so need to remove one row of floor tile. The Mrs. helped out with that.
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Still haven’t decided on what style of door to put back, but from a few I’ve seen on-line, and read in their manuals, I’ll most likely have to install some sort of framework on the top and sides of the shower walls. I decided to throw in some extra 2x4’s for future mounting that are in-line with where the curb will end up.
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Had to clearance for the water supply line, used the belt sander to put a nice radius in the board
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There was another 2x4 already in the wall, so figured I would tie into that for some extra support.
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The Kreg pocket hole jig is certainly worth the investment.

Of course later on it turned out I needed to trim the shower pan a little and thus moving the curb in, so ended up having to tear that support out and move it over an inch to re-center.

Placed a few horizontal boards between the studs for what will eventually be shower niches. Got to play with a new tool, digital angle gauge.
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Installed new drywall and then the next step was to address the drain, which had me kind of stressed, not really having a ton of plumbing experience under my belt. Plus my Google research didn’t really show much for my situation. Here’s what was in the shower to begin with
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[StormcrowAz]

Completely not compatible with the Schluter system. It looks like someone either had already drilled out a section of concrete there, or maybe it was from the original install, but it emboldened me to dig in. My plan was to hammer drill holes every inch or so around the drain to break it out. First I wanted to separate the old threaded flange from the drain tube, because I was afraid all the drilling and chiseling impacts might travel through the attached flange and crack the drain tube. The only way I could figure out how to cut that out, from inside the drain, was with a small cutting wheel. So I dragged the old compressor down to the basement and let ‘er rip.
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Something to be said for that size compressor, I guess. Big enough to run a die grinder for a short period of time, but still small enough to get into some silly places.

Anyways, ended up with a nice hole and a relatively clean drain tube.
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There’s just enough left there to attach the new drain flange to, any less and I guess I would have needed to dig deeper and add some sort of coupler/extension?

Next step was to start playing with mud. Mixed up some thinset and added the waterproof membrane and then the shower pan.
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The curb comes in two sections, maybe 3-4 feet long each. Had to cut off a section on one of them to make overall length (60”). The previous curbs I used on the shop shower were solid foam. These new ones are glued together with board and reinforced with blocks in between. Of course where I needed to cut was right in the middle, between supports. Seemed like a potential weak spot, so took some of the left-over shower pan foam from the shop (yes, I hung onto it for that long) and Liquid Nailed it in place. Seems to have set in nice and solid.
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And that’s where I’m at. I have some of the Schluter profiles on order, hopefully they will be here soon. After putting in the curb I’ll want them to determine tile spacing and where to cut holes for the niches.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Installed the curb and the membrane banding that covers wall-to-wall and wall-to floor transitions.
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I’m putting in two niches and want to make sure they line up with the grout lines to be more visually appealing, so did some dry-fit with the tiles.
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After a lot of measuring, marking, cutting, re-measuring, cutting up membrane, re-measuring, installing 2x4's, drywall sections, reworking a thing or two, and then finally thin-setting the membrane in
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There always seems to be some small spots where the membrane doesn’t adhere completely or leaves a small pocket, and the corners seem be especially prone to imperfections so I went over all of those with some Kerdi-Fix, which the manufacturer describes as: “a single-component sealing and bonding compound with a silane-modified polymer base”. Basically super-sticky stuff made for this sort of thing.
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Now at this point I technically have a waterproofed shower ready to tile. There’s a 2 inch overlap of membrane at all joint areas which according to Schluter is suitable for the shower area. I had done some research on this and there has been evidence that with prolonged immersion (think bathtub, multiple days) it is possible for water to wick in between the layers where it’s bonded together by thin-set. Thin-set not being waterproof and all. Mind you these tests were lengthy immersions, and with standard shower use probably wouldn’t be an issue. I’m not using this as a bathtub, should be plenty of time between showers to dry out and not soak through…but I’m kind of paranoid about this. I really don’t want to tear this thing out because of moisture related issues in the walls. Found a guy on YouTube (Tile Coach, good video’s if you’re interested in tile work) that used a product called Ardex 8+9 for an additional waterproof layer over the membrane. It’s a two-part mix that can be rolled and brushed on. Maybe a bit overkill, but hey…overkill is underrated. Covering the seams would probably been sufficient, but figured might as well do the whole thing. From a piece of mind perspective this stuff is relatively inexpensive.
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Here’s a close-up of the niche. I think this stuff will do a good job of taking care of those questionable corners and membrane seams.
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Another important area, lowest point of the shower, and I brushed the waterproofing all the way to the drain edge.
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I feel a lot better about this level of waterproofing going on. Busy this weekend and hope to start setting tile on Monday.

 

[PugetDude]

Looks great, Todd.
Shower systems have come along way.

 

[rattle_snake]

Master shower revamp has been on my list (because it's on her list) for years now. Got some quotes that caused severe pucker syndrome so I began researching what it takes for DIY like you are doing.... Lot of work and money... Thanks for sharing.

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice work Todd!


Are you planning to put the same tile you mocked-up on the wall on the floor too?

 

[StormcrowAz]

PugetDude – Thank you! Yes, when I did the shop bathroom I did a bunch of reading on how-to and the old plastic liner style seemed to be the tried-and-true method. Done right would outlast me. But there have been a lot of advancements in materials so this seemed to be a good way to go. Not sure if it’s any easier, still a lot of work, but turns out nice.



Justin – Yes, none of this stuff is cheap. The Schluter profiles killed me. Just extruded pieces of aluminum, but ultimately I do think they will add a nice touch. I guess if you amortize it over 10 or 20 years it’s not so bad. Thanks for stopping by!



Dan – Thank you! Well…we do need to replace all the flooring and originally we had planned on doing something that looked like stone for a more castle-type feel. This is in the basement so seems suitable. The thought was the wood and stone would make for a nice rustic, and natural-looking, contrast. After she got a taste of what the wood tile looks like, she is now considering having the wood-look on the floors instead. Not sure how well that will go over in the bathroom, though. Probably a bit too woodsy, I’m thinking? She is still undecided, and not in a hurry to re-do the entire downstairs just yet. So, long story short…we’re not sure.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Well, managed to make some progress but slower than I’d like.

Cut and installed the extruded aluminum profiles. I’m still on the fence for the inside radius corner pieces. Very fiddly with the fitment and corner connecting pieces. There was some swearing involved and it’s not 100% to my liking. I’ll reserve final judgement until after the grout has been put in and everything is cleaned up. If I was more experienced and had more patience it probably would have come out better.
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Here’s my tile-cutting station. Threw a tarp over the B&D Workmate to keep the mess and clean-up to a minimum when done.
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I took my time and set the first row in place and let it cure. The thought being that I didn’t want to put a bunch of tile on top and have movement while still wet.
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Next row
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And where I’m at now
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I did this same thing with the square tiles in the bathroom shop and it came out fine. Not sure what happened here, but I managed to get at least one of the second rows a little off and didn’t notice until it was set. I was really counting on the first row being darn-near perfect would set the pace with the rest of them, using the spacers and all. Turns out I can still manage to misalign things. It’s not too terribly noticeable, but you know how it is…being your own worst critic and all.

Having some work done to my foot tomorrow morning, so I’ll be out of commission for pretty much anything for the next few weeks. Kind of a bummer, not only pushes out the shower completion…but the weather is finally starting to fall into the low 100’s where I was looking forward to getting back out into the shop.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Loving the thread.

I'll be following the shower trick as I need to do one as well. Wish my bride was as handy.

I bent up a soap dispenser for hand soap for the concession trailer we built for the high school. The hand sink is quite tiny so the bracket holds the soap on the opposite side of the splash guard but allows the pump to stick over to the sink side allowing as much room as possible. I cut and bent it out of a thin piece of stainless I repurposed from an old BBQ.

 

[StormcrowAz]

WoodsTruck – Yes, I am very fortunate that the Mrs. is very helpful and happy to lend a hand when needed. Your stainless sink set-up looks nice! Thanks for stopping by!


So it’s been a month now since I had surgery on my foot and while I’ve always enjoyed a little down-time on the couch, being forced to stay there for weeks on end was not fun. A little stir-crazy at times. Especially since it’s started to cool off outside and knowing all the projects I have lined up that could be worked on. Stopping half-way through the shower remodel is frustrating as well. Oh, well…at least my foot is starting to feel better.

But while I was resting up, I did have someone else do a little work for me. My next door neighbor does concrete work on the side, so had him pour a 15’ x 15’ pad in the back yard for the wife’s fire pit area.
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We also had the skirt replaced in front of the garage. It looked like whoever put it there to begin with used something other than concrete, it was beginning to crumble pretty bad where the tires hit.
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He also poured the 10’ x 50’ slab next to the shop. Really looking forward to getting this covered and having some more storage out there. Hoping it also shades the shop a bit, maybe keeping it a bit cooler during the summer.
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This past weekend finally felt good enough to work on some stuff. We ordered a 14’ x 12’ pavilion kit from Costco and had it delivered. 3 boxes coming in around 750lbs. total. Hooked up the little trailer to the John Deere and moved them in front of the shop.
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Pulled everything out and took inventory
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Bags-o-hardware
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Set up a couple saw horses to work off the ground when able. First thing was to attached the brackets and plinths (learned a new word/thing with this) to the posts
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[StormcrowAz]

Set them on the pad to see what it would look like
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Put together the beam assemblies. Attached those to the posts. Attached the gussets from the beams to the posts. After a lot of measuring, moving, re-measuring, and moving we centered it on the pad, drilled holes in the new concrete, and installed sleeve anchors through the post brackets.
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Next steps were putting the roof panels together. Have I mentioned how helpful the wife is? She’s done at least half of the work on putting this together.
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Sheet metal panels installed. Also my postponed bathroom tiling stuff cluttering up the shop there in the foreground.
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At this point, we needed some help getting these roof panels on top of the post/beam assembly. Had a good friend of mine show up with this wife to help out. Instructions says four people for this part and looking at it, I had to agree that would be a good idea. My buddy (firefighter/paramedic) shows up and see’s what needs doing, and gives the captain down at the local station a call to see what they were up to. They were just finishing up lunch and hopped in an engine to cruise over and help out. Having the extra hands made this light work and I’m really happy we didn’t have to have the girls lift the heavy panels.
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Of course there’s always something…my friend doing an impromptu pull-up as the ladder gives way below him. This is his wife taking the picture and laughing at the same time.
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Near death experience narrowly avoided…both panels put in place and tweaked to final position.
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Super grateful the guys showed up to help and as the saying goes: “many hands make light work”. After installing the brackets that hold the roof to the post/beams we called it a day. Still need to put in the truss assemblies to brace it up on the inside and put the fascia boards on to finish it up. Hope to have that done today after work.
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Maybe next weekend I can work on that bathroom some more…

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice job Todd! Helps to have friends.

 

[j p smith]

Looking awesome Todd! Always good when extra help shows !

 

[StormcrowAz]

Finally finished all of the tile and grout work in the master shower. Just need to replace a baseboard or two and do a general clean-up. Also looked into shower doors, and figured this deserved something a bit nicer than the Home Depot kits, something with thicker glass. There’s a place right by work, but due to Covid the showroom is closed. Found another place and the lead time is 5-6 weeks, due to Covid. Bleh, oh well. I’ve waited this long…
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On a whim I replaced my HF manual-crank air hose reel with the auto-retract one. Had to modify the old mounting bracket as the new reel has a different bolt pattern. Also needed to notch the swing arm (the adjustable one with four bolts) as in the desired position a bolt head got in the way. Belt sander to the rescue. Still need to rebuild the Cox and Reelcraft units and should be interesting to see how they compare.
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Went out of town for a week on a mini-vacation and came home to this. Had some wind while we were gone, so the neighbor says. Fun stuff.
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The Boss has been wanting some gates made for the courtyard (yes, the previous owners ripped those out, too) to keep the dogs in check for when we hang out there in the front of the house. Several years ago a friend ripped out their rusty pool fencing and I hauled it off, figuring to scavenge at least some of the ½” square tube if possible.
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I was actually able to find a panel that the center section was half-way decent on, and turns out the overall height was good, too. So cut out what I needed and welded in some fresh 1” square tubing for the ends. Went with ½” J-bolts for hinges, they have a little bearing and a zerk fitting and seem to work well. Sleeve anchored those to the courtyard wall and did a test fit.
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Due to the location, a standard gate latch wouldn’t really work well so rigged this up
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Rolled the gantry crane outside and hit the gate with some primer and paint.
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I’m no Don Long, but it turned out decent enough and the wife is happy.
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So that was the little side-gate and I still need to build a set of small swing-gates for the main walk-way. Hopefully I’ll have time to knock those out in the next couple of weeks. Bought new 1” square stock for those as for what I have planned I think it will be easier to build from scratch versus salvaging from the scrap pile.

 

[rattle_snake]

..Went out of town for a week on a mini-vacation and came home to this. Had some wind while we were gone, so the neighbor says. Fun stuff.
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Oh no, man down!

 

[zmotorsports]

Saguaro down.

That *****. I'd confirm the wind story though......

 

[plain2car]

well hopefully no inspectors come by... !!! hey! you might get some federal money for that to be put back in it's "natural" habitat! ....

 

[StormcrowAz]

Justin – Yes, and fortunately there wasn’t actually anyone underneath it. I can’t imagine being both crushed and poked to death at the same time!


Mike – Haha! My neighbor is really nice and one of those slightly nosey types, but I’m kind of happy to have it that way. She’s home 24/7 and usually out taking care of her horses and such, so it’s nice to have another layer of security or a heads-up for any of these kind of mishaps. In return I fix the occasional small thing or load a bale of hay or two for her.


Plain2car – Inspectors? Not sure those types come out here. Hmm… I know these are protected but didn’t even think of it like that. Too late now, anyways…it’s been hauled away and no putting the genie back in the bottle. Thanks for stopping by!




So we went out and did this, because you know…I was running out of things to do.


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[Jeff Ivers]

So, how does one clean up a downed cactus?

 

[PugetDude]

So, how does one clean up a downed cactus?

It's a prickly situation.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Jeff – The wife found someone on Nextdoor that does landscaping work and they came and hauled it off. I came home from work one day and ****, like magic it was gone. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay someone else to handle the heavy work.

PugetDude – Way to poke fun at my misfortune.


Made some decent progress on the front courtyard swinging gates. The little side gate was a down-and dirty job, but the main entry gates have more visibility so wanted something a little nicer. The wife really wanted swinging gates, so that’s what she’ll get. As seen in the “man down” saguaro picture, it’s going in that gap between the garage and little short wall to the left. One side of the gate is going to be anchored to the short block wall. The garage is cinderblock/brick, but they put foam and stucco over that so I’m going to sink a post right next to the wall for the other side of the gate. I had some various left-over pieces of 3/16” wall 2” x 3” tube, so welded a couple of those together to make something long enough. Also added some “wings” to maybe add a little anti-sway when it’s set in concrete. Not sure if it will really help, but it makes me feel better.
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Since it’s going up against the wall I primed/painted 3 of the 4 sides. Gonna have to grind spots clean for welding the hinges on the front face, so will have to touch that up later.
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Next up is working on the gates. Designed everything in 3D first and then made a cut list.
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Somehow I again managed to mis-calculate and had to re-cut 4 pieces for good fitment. Nothing major in time or material, fortunately. Oh, I cheated on the "W" and had someone with a CNC plasma table cut that for me.
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[StormcrowAz]

Also spent a little time with the new toy. First modification is to get rid of the standard car seat-belts and put in some 4-point harnesses. Feels kind of weird to tear into a brand new vehicle.
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The wife and I took it for a quick spin in the hills just down the street from the house
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Really happy with how it performs, this thing is nimble!

 

[drivesitfar]

Merry Christmas

Please send heat and dryer weather to us if you have any to spare

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice work so far on those gates Todd. I take it that you plan to fill in the gaps to the right and left of the "W"?

 

[StormcrowAz]

Drives – This is the time of year to get stuff done. This was around 1:30pm or so, and it actually got about 5° warmer later in the afternoon. Warm and dry thoughts sent your way!

Dan – Absolutely! I’m still waiting on my Round Tuit to come in.



It feels like this is one of those times in life when there’s too many things going on at once. Fortunately everything is just stuff I want to get done versus critical need items. Still a bit stressful at times, though. Been doing my best to knock things off the list, but also tackling multiple projects at once, so it often feels like no big progress is made on any one thing. But progress is being made none-the-less.

Since we got the new toy, also needed a way to lug it around. New-to-us toy hauler.

Started on the shop wiring project – adding outlets to the two sides of the shop that didn’t have any, plus getting ready for a new compressor. First thing was to install a sub-panel and run wiring to it.

The shop is a complete wreck right now, stuff strewn about everywhere. Looking forward to re-organizing and cleaning it up when done.

Since I’m putting the compressor outside in a shed, this is my solution to running power and air. Cut a hole in the block

And basically sleeving it. Made this, which was anchored from the outside to keep it in place

And then welded another plate to in on the inside wall

I also added those ¼-20 studs, with the thought of attaching some sort of cover to keep sound/weather out. Not sure how that will actually work, we’ll see.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Ran wire and installed the A/C disconnect. Also used some left-over brown silicone from the bathroom project to seal the outside plate, which looks like **** but figured nobody will see that in the shed out there.

How it looks on the inside. The copper and half-inch conduit there for fitment checks.

Drove in two 8’ copper rods, one on either side of the slab, for ground. Underestimated length of the bare copper wire needed for that, so only have one side hooked up until I get more wire.

Also made a little progress on the courtyard gates by mounting the hinges. One side is sleeve anchored into the wall

And the other side hinges are welded to the post. I also made a little strap and backing plate for the concreted post, hoping to prevent any lean as this post is supporting the heavy gate. The plate is to distribute the pressure a bit, as that’s just stucco sprayed over a few inches of insulating foam on top of brick. Used longer sleeve anchors and seems to be pretty solid, on top of the it being sunk into concrete.

Also threw this on top of the post, just to be different. Not sure what it was originally for, I picked it up at the same estate sale where I got the mailbox crankshaft. Figured it might come in handy some day.

Installed a grab bar in the master shower. Drilled through the tile and attached with six stainless lag bolts into strategically placed studs. Dang shower door is still on order (thanks covid)

Did some minor work to the new trailer, converting incandescent bulbs to LED and such. Making sure everything is functional. Looking forward to taking it out and enjoying some outdoor activity. Until then…more projects to work on…

 

[drivesitfar]

You mentioned that you LOVE your Lincoln (3350?) welding helmet. yes? or if you could return it and get your money back would you buy a different one? a couple of the other members like that helmet too and i'm thinking of spending $200 ish for it instead of getting a $60 one cause like you I think I might use it more if I have one that works better AND I'd hate to have a flash if the cheaper one didn't work one day. I suppose the $200+ ones could not work one day, but in my experience you usually get better quality if you pay 4 times more for something.

your sleeve thru your block wall is just cool. I actually own a home that has block wall exterior and some interior walls so who knows I may try that some day too.

cheers and keep sending us some heat and sunshine.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Drives – I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say I love my Lincoln hood (maybe I just have commitment issues? ) but I am very happy with it. Don’t think I would return it now if I could, I’ll use it until I break it. I do kind of miss my Miller Digital Elite hood, maybe because it’s the first one I’ve ever used and got comfortable with it. It does have one extra feature, the “X” mode which senses the arc current and darkens the lens accordingly, good for welding outside. I’ve actually used that feature on one or two occasions. The only reason I’m still not using it is I was welding on something (I forget what) that happened to be below the drill press. I forgot I was wearing the hood and stood up quickly, smacking the lens on the drill press table. Hit hard enough to leave some sort of artifact inside the lens that didn’t go away when turning on/off. I was afraid it may cause flash leakage or some such and didn’t want to risk damaging the eyeballs. Here it is:

Notice the controls are all buttons (“digital”)

After I cracked that screen I figured I’d try something different, maybe a spend a bit more. I went with the Miller platinum hood, which featured a built-in face shield as well. Extra safety is good, right? I grind quite a bit so thought less time switching gear would be nice.

While the concept looked good on paper, I quickly grew to dislike this hood very much. The biggest reason? Weight. While it’s only a few extra ounces, I forget how much, the extra face shield feature added enough mass to make the whole thing uncomfortable. I guess a little extra weight attached to your noggin makes a big difference. It certainly did for me. This one I would return if I could.


So, risking the wrath of my Millermatic 211…I tried out the Lincoln hood. Slightly larger viewing area, different lens technology, and instead of it being “digital” the buttons are replaced by small knobs for shade adjustment.

Overall it’s a great hood, no complaints, and personally feel it’s a worth-while investment. Being able to see your work piece and surroundings without having to flip the hood up is fantastic, and the enhanced clarity while welding is great, too.

I don't mind getting certain things at Harbor Freight - clamps, ratchets, and such I consider as "disposable" and don't cry too much if they fail. But you only get one set of eyeballs and I'd rather not chance it. Go with the better hood.

 

[Balor]

It's a Harley-Davidson BT cam

 

[drivesitfar]

Thanks for the 411 on welding masks in your world.

nice to see your temps are around 75-80 (I miss those days here that is for certain especially since it's been raining 24/7 for 2 days and not much let up in forecast for a week).

cheers

 

[jollygreengiant]

I finally finished reading through this thread after a couple weeks on and off, and let me say it's very impressive! Especially your metalworking skills. My grandfather, and especially my uncle, were both good at metalworking but I never had much of an interest. Within the last year I've really come to enjoy it so threads like these are a great inspiration!

Do you mind saying what you do for a living? The amount of projects you seem to be able to get done has me wondering if you have a really flexible job, or you just don't sleep lol.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Jollygreengiant – Thanks for stopping by and checking out my thread! I’m an engineering manager at an investment casting foundry, mainly making small-ish parts for commercial and some military aircraft. We do produce some non-aerospace stuff as well, and make several components for the M134 mini-gun. It’s a regular 40 hour a week job, and thinking maybe it might look like I get a lot done if you sit down and read it at one time…but man, it certainly feels like I move at a snail’s pace compared to what I want to get done. If I could afford it, retirement would suit me just fine! I started my career in aerospace hand-finishing APU parts at a repair facility, so metalworking is familiar and comfortable to me, for the most part. I definitely don’t feel like anything close to a professional though, more like a hobbyist hack. Maybe if I got a Bridgeport and a lathe….




So here’s a project we outsourced and didn’t tackle myself, which subsequently it got done in record time. New shade coverings for the front courtyard (since I had to cut down the trees over the septic tank) and also for the side of the shop where I had the concrete poured. I will eventually enclose this, maybe with a couple large sliding doors. An extra 500 square feet of covered space will be nice!

Courtyard shade:

Shop addition

 

[StormcrowAz]

Oh, Balor - thanks for the I.D. on the HD cam. Curious to see how many folks comment on it in-person and will recognize it!

 

[StormcrowAz]

The shower door finally came in! Calling this project done.
Before:

After:

Finally retired the Harbor Freight porta-band. Considering I got this in 2012 or so, and it’s pretty much been in constant use since, not a bad piece of gear for being Harbor Freight.

So then came the make/buy decision…do I tackle the Rockwell beast now, at considerable time and expense or fork over another $100 for an immediate replacement? Considering how many irons I have in the fire now, the quick and easy option won out. Will need to modify the old stand to accommodate the new model saw. Another project for the near future, right now I’ve got other things almost completed that I’d like to finish.