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Puget Dude’s creations and fabrications (Random project thread.)

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Jayman17

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Is that your mountain home shop? I don't recall seeing that huge wood library card cabinet in your earlier photos. (y)
 
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PugetDude

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Yes, it's up at our place in the White Mountains.
Not sure it's a library card cabinet, though. Drawers are galvanized steel with oak faces. Four different drawer sizes. No slides on any of the drawers. Probably came out of an old hardware store. The back is good old USS large spangle galvanized steel sheet, hemmed edges, nailed on with #3 blued box nails.
I've had it for almost 20 years, got it when I was helping a buddy move out of a house when he got divorced. Previous owner had left it, he was going to leave it as well. I told him " no way we're leaving that here" so we loaded it up and dropped it off at my house. It's been moved a couple of times since, it really is a beast, especially with all the **** I have loaded it up with.
I built matching oak wall cabinets to hang above it.
IMG_20240729_094513452.jpgIMG_20240729_094706071.jpg
 
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PugetDude

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My wife said we needed to get a "deck box" to store the BBQ supplies, picnic dishes, decor items etc in. When she showed me what she had in mind I couldn't believe it, but (for once) didn't offer any other suggestions... Signed up for the $269 ITC price in June for the first one, then used the July 20% ITC coupon for the second one.
(needed one for each side of the fireplace) but replaced the 5" casters with 2" to get them down below window height.

She really likes them, they seal up tight, no dust, weather, or vermin issues. I may roll them inside for the winter to protect the wood tops. IMG_20240804_080008226.jpg
 

Firebrick43

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Yes, it's up at our place in the White Mountains.
Not sure it's a library card cabinet, though. Drawers are galvanized steel with oak faces. Four different drawer sizes. No slides on any of the drawers. Probably came out of an old hardware store. The back is good old USS large spangle galvanized steel sheet, hemmed edges, nailed on with #3 blued box nails.
I've had it for almost 20 years, got it when I was helping a buddy move out of a house when he got divorced. Previous owner had left it, he was going to leave it as well. I told him " no way we're leaving that here" so we loaded it up and dropped it off at my house. It's been moved a couple of times since, it really is a beast, especially with all the **** I have loaded it up with.
I built matching oak wall cabinets to hang above it.
IMG_20240729_094513452.jpgIMG_20240729_094706071.jpg
Can you show more pictures on how the drawer fronts are attached to the galvanized sides?
 

Firebrick43

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Thanks for the pics.

It appears that the slide the front and back down on the metal via the slot and fold over the top edge to retain it?

Do you think there is some kind of glue in the slots or a small pin just to keep the sides from spreading? Or is it just the stiffness of the bends that keeps the sides from spreading?
 

BrandonV

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Looks like the same cabinet drawer detail.
Where did he get his?
Mine came out of an older home shop in Apache Junction in 2005.

Father passed a few years ago but he picked these up at a yard sale in the early 1970s in Phoenix when he first moved here from New York. So for them to be second hand at the time that probably makes them pretty old. My mom recalls they were painted when they bought it and they stripped that paint off to expose the oak underneath.
 

Bob Heine

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My wife said we needed to get a "deck box" to store the BBQ supplies, picnic dishes, decor items etc in. When she showed me what she had in mind I couldn't believe it, but (for once) didn't offer any other suggestions... Signed up for the $269 ITC price in June for the first one, then used the July 20% ITC coupon for the second one.
(needed one for each side of the fireplace) but replaced the 5" casters with 2" to get them down below window height.

She really likes them, they seal up tight, no dust, weather, or vermin issues. I may roll them inside for the winter to protect the wood tops. IMG_20240804_080008226.jpg
Scott, sometimes you just get lucky. In 1997 we were looking for a side board for the kitchen after I opened the archway to the great room. Walking down the tool aisle in Costco I saw this bench and Liane said "That's perfect" before I could say anything. She won't let me mount the woodworking vise on the end but we all have to compromise sometimes.
Kitchen Cabinet.jpg
 
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PugetDude

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Scott, sometimes you just get lucky. In 1997 we were looking for a side board for the kitchen after I opened the archway to the great room. Walking down the tool aisle in Costco I saw this bench and Liane said "That's perfect" before I could say anything. She won't let me mount the woodworking vise on the end but we all have to compromise sometimes.
Kitchen Cabinet.jpg

So, did you mount the vise on the dining room table or the kitchen countertop.?😉
 
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PugetDude

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They actually started reissuing the Blue Oregon plates.

The new blue "Pacific Wonderland" plates are stupid expensive, eBay won't sell plates that haven't been expired for at least three years. Private collectors are snapping them up.
It takes about 40 plates to do one of these flags. eBay averages ~$15-$20 each with shipping for "craft condition" plates. (It's a good thing I have body hammers and a very rudimentary understanding of how to use them) @BrandonV was kind enough to send me a few. I did negotiate a bulk lot of the Washington plates, the rest of the Arizona plates I found at a local antique mall for under $10 each.
It's a fairly expensive undertaking to do one of these flags, but what hobby isn't?

Good news is I have enough assorted half-plates left to do another if I paint the plates like I ended up doing on the first Lady Liberty flag. So... now I am thinking of other flag variations besides the Statue of Liberty... Maybe the Gadsden flag or a 48 star version... Ideas welcome.

On this one I had to let the state graphics shine through.
 
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MrPink

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The new blue "Pacific Wonderland" plates are stupid expensive, eBay won't sell plates that haven't been expired for at least three years. Private collectors are snapping them up.
It takes about 40 plates to do one of these flags. eBay averages ~$15-$20 each with shipping for "craft condition" plates. (It's a good thing I have body hammers and a very rudimentary understanding of how to use them) @BrandonV was kind enough to send me a few. I did negotiate a bulk lot of the Washington plates, the rest of the Arizona plates I found at a local antique mall for under $10 each.
It's a fairly expensive undertaking to do one of these flags, but what hobby isn't?

Good news is I have enough assorted half-plates left to do another if I paint the plates like I ended up doing on the first Lady Liberty flag. So... now I am thinking of other flag variations besides the Statue of Liberty... Maybe the Gadsden flag or a 48 star version... Ideas welcome.

On this one I had to let the state graphics shine through.
And here I've been trying to find one of the copper Arizona plates for my collection under $30 and have lucked out. Oh well i guess.
 

TimeWarpF100

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And here I've been trying to find one of the copper Arizona plates for my collection under $30 and have lucked out. Oh well i guess.
You really looking for a AZ copper plate? I could probably dig one up . .. Have had bunches but usually nieces n nephews get them when they stop to visit. Think I just saw one on a bumper outside last week or maybe it was yesterday.
 

MrPink

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You really looking for a AZ copper plate? I could probably dig one up . .. Have had bunches but usually nieces n nephews get them when they stop to visit. Think I just saw one on a bumper outside last week or maybe it was yesterday.
Yes sir I am. I have been trying to get one for a while and have not had much luck.
 
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PugetDude

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I actually used a "jack out of the box"yesterday.... 🤣Installed new 3" x12" backsplash tile, ended up with a 1/2" gap between the top of the tile and the bottom of the cabinets....Decided the best way to fix it was to lower the upper cabinets... I was able to leave the microwave cabinet in place, cheated the difference with the crown molding and dropped the cabinet doors 1/2".
A better solution than 3/8"- wide tile strips which would probably break when I sawed them.IMG_20240807_172111565.jpg
 
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PugetDude

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PugetDude

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Finally got a chance to put in some time on the '32.
First order of business was to pull the motor back out; discovered I had an interference problem with the driver side exhaust header and the Vega steering box.
IMG_20240816_133041756.jpg
IMG_20240816_142948819.jpg
Decided the best way to fix it was to recess the steering box into the frame. I originally welded the mount in flush with the frame, but it wasn't enough. Marked out the recess and got out the grinder with an ultra thin cutoff disc. IMG_20240817_110706162.jpg
I had a piece of 2" S40 pipe in the drop bucket, so that's what I used for the recess. Unfortunately it was 3/4" too short so I had to roll a piece of 1/8" x 3/4" flat bar to lengthen it.

Got the pipe cut and capped, fitted it into the opening and welded in place. The underside will get welded when I strip and flip the frame. IMG_20240817_162335325.jpg

Bolted the steering box back on, it's now recessed about 3/4" into the frame. The bottom bolts are now attached to a 1/4" thick angle that will get welded to the underside of the frame. IMG_20240817_162634884.jpg


Motor went back in to verify clearances. Already checked the steering u-joints before I welded in the recess, so don't anticipate any issues there. IMG_20240817_173149275.jpg
The black line on the center pipe is where I marked it touching the top of the steering box.... before I spent half a day cutting, welding and grinding. Probably could have modified the header instead but this eliminates any chance of warping the mounting flanges.

Happy with the clearance now. Sorting out the shifter is next ... Thought that was going to be the first thing I worked on but I discovered the header interference when I was poking around on the driver's side trying to figure out how to convert the Goldwing shifter to a floor shifter. Not a lot of room on the driver side with brake and clutch master cylinders, steering column, and shifter. Bought a couple of push-pull cables to start mocking something up. Trying to avoid having to go with rigid linkage and a bellcrank. Suggestions welcome.

Thanks for looking.
 
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PugetDude

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Major breakthrough on the shift linkage today.
I spent an hour sitting on a Homer bucket staring at the shifter shaft, the stick shift lever, and all mechanical components that were in the way.
Finally decided to get my *** off the bucket and crawl underneath the car to see what it looked like under there. It is wide open, with a 9.5" offset from the shift lever on the engine to the centerline of the cab.
Finally recognized that when I was manually shifting the lever that it took a pretty good shove (like the foot shifter on the bike....) to get the transmission to shift... which I wasn't getting with a wimpy push/pull cable. Decided the linkage needed some mass behind it. I had some 1/2" S80 pipe that I tapped the ends on years ago to 5/8" UNF prototyping some hairpin radius rods. Dug the matching clevises out of a drawer and a plan was born....
Mocked up a quick prototype on the little welding table out of wood for proof of concept. It worked great on the bench, so I cut the hole through the floor in the cab and tried it out. Need to adjust the geometry a bit, but it operates like I envisioned. I was so focused on using a cable mechanism that I didn't look at other options. This solution is so much simpler.
Will start fabricating it out of steel tomorrow, need to pick up some 1/2" flat bar for the shift lever, it is sandwiched between two UHMW plates to minimize any lateral movement on the shifter assembly.
I may have to use Heim joints instead of clevises, but those are readily available.
IMG_20240818_142814580.jpgIMG_20240818_142823688.jpg

Thanks for looking.
 

Jgaz

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AZ
Major breakthrough on the shift linkage today.
I spent an hour sitting on a Homer bucket staring at the shifter shaft, the stick shift lever, and all mechanical components that were in the way.
Finally decided to get my *** off the bucket and crawl underneath the car to see what it looked like under there. It is wide open, with a 9.5" offset from the shift lever on the engine to the centerline of the cab.
Finally recognized that when I was manually shifting the lever that it took a pretty good shove (like the foot shifter on the bike....) to get the transmission to shift... which I wasn't getting with a wimpy push/pull cable. Decided the linkage needed some mass behind it. I had some 1/2" S80 pipe that I tapped the ends on years ago to 5/8" UNF prototyping some hairpin radius rods. Dug the matching clevises out of a drawer and a plan was born....
Mocked up a quick prototype on the little welding table out of wood for proof of concept. It worked great on the bench, so I cut the hole through the floor in the cab and tried it out. Need to adjust the geometry a bit, but it operates like I envisioned. I was so focused on using a cable mechanism that I didn't look at other options. This solution is so much simpler.
Will start fabricating it out of steel tomorrow, need to pick up some 1/2" flat bar for the shift lever, it is sandwiched between two UHMW plates to minimize any lateral movement on the shifter assembly.
I may have to use Heim joints instead of clevises, but those are readily available.
IMG_20240818_142814580.jpgIMG_20240818_142823688.jpg

Thanks for looking.
Impressive!
 
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PugetDude

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Got the shift mechanism fabbed up today.
Used 1/2" S80 pipe for the long shift rod, 3/8"" plate for the clevises. Had to modify a stock motorcycle shift lever to attach to the transmission. Did a blend and polish on the welds with my little M12 right angle die grinder. (Probably my favorite tool.)IMG_20240819_095419066.jpgIMG_20240819_103238248.jpg
The lever cross arm is 1/2" S40 pipe, found a rusty old 12" pipe ****** in the drop bucket so that's what I used. The little Milwaukee grinder just continues to impress me. Used a 2" Scotchbrite disc to remove the rust and mill scale. Capped the end with a 3/8 carriage bolt, makes a nice domed cover. IMG_20240819_110147965.jpgIMG_20240819_102624128_HDR.jpg
Didn't have any 1/2" thick flat bar for the big shift lever, no one up here on the mountain had any in stock. Stopped at a little welding shop to see if he had anything I could use. Nope, no 1/2" bar stock at all so I ended up with a decent size piece of plate instead. Took it home and broke out the cutoff discs. IMG_20240819_143819959_HDR.jpg
Used my DeWalt portaband table with a new Starrett 10/14 tooth blade to cut the shifter to shape. Probably took longer to get the rust and mill scale off than it did to cut it out . The plate had probably been stored outside for years.IMG_20240819_154539890_HDR.jpg

Got it installed temporarily and was able to run through the gears to verify it works. Thinking I may need to add a pair of opposing springs to return it to center.
Still need to mill a slot in the bottom of the aluminum channel and do some additional weld/rust cleanup so I can finally get this finished up and start working on getting it running.

Thanks for looking.
 
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