Jake's Projects ...... or, .... How I waste my time

[jakemac]

Cleaned up the rest of the shelf parts and got them installed. I was hoping to fit two shelves, but it looks like I'll have a spare. The brackets will get stored under the bottom panel with the feet I'm not using. The spare shelf will sit on the bottom.

This is, of course, as long as Strouty doesn't need it back for his projects.

The doors still need cleaning, but that can wait until the replacement guide bushing shows up.

I opened the brown cabinet so you can see all the junk that will be swapped over. I'm looking forward to taking that POS cabinet to the recycling center. I picked it up off the side of the road on a recycling day almost 30yrs ago and have hated it ever since. It served it's purpose, but those days are long over. Two others got tossed when I moved 8yrs ago. This was the only one that was barely fit enough to hold onto until I could replace it.

 

[jakemac]

Cleaned the doors over the weekend (no pics). They came out better than I thought they would.
Today, I got the brown cabinet cleaned out and loaded into the Lista.
I also cut out the (only working) latch from the brown cabinet. Another member is going to used it as a template for a restoration project he's working on. Need to box it up and send it out.

Still waiting for Lista to ship the guide bushing I need to install the doors.




The small red roadbox has a new home (for now). I still need to find a place for the larger roadbox to live.

On the plus side, I found some new wall space to hang my stop sign back up. Just fired a long masonry nail in and stuck the sign on it.


I'm working on cleaning up a Columbian 73-1/2 Gyro-Vise. As usual, I forgot to grab a camera when I started. I'll post a picture when it's done.

 

[jakemac]

The guide bushing showed up from Lista today. This one little part (just the black piece) held me up for a week.

(the pic shows one set, I ordered 2, just in case)



Less than 5 minuted later, the doors were back on and I was done with the cabinet (for now).


Someday, I'll get around to building out the bench. I just need a little motivation and a 30" x 10' piece of 3/4" plywood.

 

[Strouty]

Looks great and I have plenty of shelves, so no worries there.

 

[jakemac]

Playing with chalk on the driveway this morning.
Hopefully I'll get to drag a new toy out and play with it later.

 

[jakemac]

Well, that could have gone better.

The first folds on the tarp did fine with the contact cement.
The big fold ......... not so well.
I guess I should have had an extra pair of hands for this one (or three).

Doesn't matter though, this project is for Function, not Fame.
Moving on to the next fold.

 

[Outlawmws]

Jake, Pre crease the tarp material with a roller of something. It helps. also make sure the contact cement dries before folding over.

Are you adding a cord in the edge?

 

[jakemac]

No cord, the tarp will only last a few years out in the sun, so I'm not being too fussy about how it looks or holds up to wind. This is a rush job. The munchkin gets home in about 45min and all work stops so the world can once again revolve around him.



Pulled out the new toy. A foot operated press punch. I just got the dies for #4 grommets. Doing them by hand or with the bench press was a PITA every time I needed to build a new tarp. This machine kind of fell into my hands for cheap money recently.




The grommets would seat better if I could find the right size for these dies. Apparently there is no standard in place and none of the manufacturers (in China) feel the need to adhere to .500 as a 1/2" measurement. Everyone uses a different measure.

 

[jakemac]

Old storage tent door panel (top)
New storage tent door panel (bottom)
This will replace the panel that fell apart on my storage tent in Maine. The critters living in the tent should be happy to have the front door closed again.

Looks ugly, but it will keep the snow out over the winter.
Got done and cleaned up the driveway 5min before the bus dropped off my nephew.
Pheww !

One thing checked off the list before I go to Maine next week.

 

[Outlawmws]

I wonder if you could hit the tarp with some flexible paint for better UV protection and durability? Maybe from Plasticote? People are painting cars with the stuff these days...

 

[jakemac]

Not sure how it would hold up to winter temps up there. It's often in double digit negatives at night during the dark days of winter.

IIRC, Most UV protection on tarps is a spray-on. While the paint may bond to the coating, it won't help if the coating delaminates from the tarp with weathering and age.

Besides, it's a simple matter to replace a cheap tarp every year or two (the expensive tarps don't last long enough to justify the cost). The issue is making the time to do the prepwork beforehand.

One of the reasons that I've never had a blowout from snow load on that tent, is that when a tarp needs to be retired, I don't remove it. I just turn it sideways and cover it with a new tarp. I must have 15 layers on that frame now.

It helps that that tent frame is the old galvanized pipe, not the new thin wall tubular pipe frames that you get now. I got it from my Aunt after my Uncle died in exchange for moving and organizing 20 woodstoves so she could sell them. The tent was going to go to the scrapper.

 

[MercLSU]

Good stuff! I've experimented with bonding materials like that but with very limited success.
And man, don't tell the guys on BushcraftUSA.com that. They'll correct you and tell you that you need a level nine dungeon master silnylon tarp that will protect you from wind, cold, rain, bears, sharks with laser beams, dentists, the list goes on...

I had a couple of fancy setups, more tuned for down here...but in the end I went back in the cheaper direction.

ETA: I'm a member there (site is awesome), so as I said, don't tell me that

If there's any gear you're hunting, let me know as I may have some extras. Awesome on you for your work with your nephew...maybe he'll join you on these outings one day?

 

[jakemac]

The contact cement is a new twist for me. The previous door panels I made were just folded and held in shape by the grommets. Those grommets were set by hand, on site. It would take me all day crawling around on the lawn. I've used the cement (3M 77) when I was carpeting and laminating cabinetry on jobs, but not on tarps. We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't hold, it'll still be held by the grommets.

I wouldn't mind using one of those heavy truck tarps for flatbed loads. That should last a while, but I'm not paying for one and they don't seem to fall off the truck anywhere near my house.

As for animals, field mice and bats are always a problem. The deer and moose keep eating the apples off my trees before I can get any, but they leave the tent alone. The bears don't come into town as often, since the dump became a transfer station. I occasionally spook a raccoon that's set up house when I go into the tent. As for sharks with lasers, I think the Border Patrol stops them at the border crossing. No pockets to keep a passport in. And I haven't seen a dentist since I was 17 (might have left that one too long).

I'll get my Friday mornings back for sales in September when school starts again. Right now summer school is only 4 days a week and Friday isn't one of them (a very looong day for me right now). So far, I can say that I've only missed one really good sale, but I think there may be two good ones coming up that I'll miss when I'm up at camp.

 

[XJSuperman]

Just went through the whole thing pretty quick this morning, but I really like the work you've done on some of the tools. Almost makes me want to spend the time to do mine, but then I wouldnt want to use them...

Anything happening lately?

 

[jakemac]

Thanks for stopping in.
Sadly, I haven't had the time to spend any time in the shop for the last year.
The benches are piled up with garage sale finds that still need to be cleaned, as well as project pieces waiting to be worked on.

I still need to set up my table saw and build a bench for the lathes.
It's that whole "Someday Syndrome" that I suffer from. I could use the distraction of shop time, but never seem to get to it.

 

[XJSuperman]

Sounds like most of us. I feel the same way sometimes.

 

[cash68]

I definitely thought those grinder shields were paper plates. heh.