rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[OutlawDrifter]

I figured you'd be looking for more gear.

It would be cool to score Gear Vendor overdrive setup for your highway travels, then just run it in direct when you're wheeling.

Are you going to run the transfer case divorced? I'm not up on my lifted 40" rubber Ford stuff. I've never had anything bigger than a 33" tire rig....

 

[rattle_snake]

No, decided to go with a married transfer case, NP205. The 67-76 F250 'highboys' did come with a divorced Dana 24 or a NP205. This yields a 3rd driveshaft, and makes the front driveshaft longer and lower as T-case is father back.
To tuck the front shaft up, I went with a high pinion front axle and a married case. The married C6/205 was available in 78/79 trucks and broncos. The bronco had a longer adapter to run a double cardan front shaft which is what I went with.

I had 4.56 gears and 37" tires on my 77 bronco and it was a decent compromise for the 3 speed auto. It had a built 347 and was fun between stoplights. 4.88s and 40s are about the same ratio. The F-250 will weigh another 800 lbs or so and will have +100 ftlbs.

 

[nsula_country]

Sick!

CT

 

[rattle_snake]

In my continuing effort to repair instead of replace/landfill I installed a new fan in my battery charger. Old fan bearings were done. Easy fix. Cheated the system out of buying a new cost-reduced turd.

 

[rattle_snake]

Made some improvements to my Green Mountain pellet smoker. In addition to the usual low-n-slow stuff, I use it to cook pizzas (wood fired) and at high temps the temperature gradient is poor.

Founds some mods on the ol' interweb so stole and implemented them.
Mod 1 is a chimney extension, to lower it, supposedly keeping the heat in. I had done similar to my last smoker with subjective results. Made a 4 sided box out of scrap, drilled a hole.

The only patent-able part of this intellectual property is the intake radius which marketing is advertising as increasing gas velocity by 300%.

Other mod is a manual control rod to allow positioning of burner deflector while in operation. I've named this the Chernobyl mod.
The deflector position is adjustable but finicky, and also has a temperature dependency. Could use a servo and PID control loop here but keeping it simple.
While inspecting found the deflector itself was quite warped (potato chip'd) and had some broken welds. Clamped flat and TIG'd, now it flat again. Cut some threads onto a 1/4" rod and welded on a horseshoe as a handle. The connection to the deflector can be seen in the 1st pic.

As with your typical ECO (engineering change order), validation testing was done. Without any meat, I set temp to 225* and recorded the temperature at 3 places across the cooking surface. Then moved the deflector, let temp stabilize, and recorded measurements. Found the sweet spot then cranked up to 350*. The temp gradient/error increased so may cut the adjustment groove larger to allow more range. When done I realized the fancy handle prevents the shelf from folding and the cover fitting. Such is life with modifing things.

Oh, and it needs bigger tires.

 

[rattle_snake]

Some more progress on the old Ford. Got some help on critical welds on axle. Observed and stole some tips/tricks to improve my skills some. Found my welder polarity was backwards (Dooh!).
Built bump stop provision on axle side and have everything ready for last of final welds.

Chassis x-member and coilover towers burned in. Next are motor mounts, if only I could get short block buttoned up.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Wow Justin, you've been busy!

I'll have to check into your mods...I've got a Daniel Boone. Definitely frustrating how poorly the heat is transferred to the whole surface. Great for slow smoking all day I guess, which is it's main job. I pull out the Weber gas unit when I do burgers/steaks.

F250 is coming along...crossmember and towers look good!

 

[^&right]

First, really enjoying this thread!

But one thing is bothering me and I gotta know. Whats the story on that butchered oil pan hanging on your wall?

It looks like a private trophy?!

 

[rattle_snake]

The GMG products can do higher temp stuff well, but need some help. Your DB can do steaks really good a variety of methods. Takes longer than a gas grill. Main suggestion is to wrap the upper big flat deflector with tin foil for the greasy stuff (pulled pork, brisket), then remove greasy foil so when you crank it up above 400 it won't burn all the residual fat and taint the food.
For thick steaks I run at 250 for 20-30 min to get meat temp to 120-ish, then set GMG to 350 to finish.

I have a gas grill (built-in that was inherited when I moved in) but don't use it for steaks (or anything really). Charcoal is faster for me (build in is huge and has high thermal mass) and results are so much better. 2nd choice is the GMG same basic process, but takes longer. I guess I like the carcinogens from real smoke! Everyone has their method, use what you like.
Hmmm, now I'm hungry.

 

[rattle_snake]

First, really enjoying this thread!

But one thing is bothering me and I gotta know. Whats the story on that butchered oil pan hanging on your wall?

It looks like a private trophy?!

Thanks. Just a crazy guy puttering in the shop.

Oil pan is from a 460 Ford I bought as a core. It came pre-smashed, likely from removal at the junkyard. How it came to be on the wall as a shelf, isn't quite clear. I guess I like unique old junk turned semi-functional. Price was right.

 

[icecactus]

Could you fix your pics of the GMG mods. For some reason one of the pics is giving an error.
I have a GMG and was thinking about doing some type of mod to allow me to move the firebox as well. Would like to see what you did.

 

[rattle_snake]

Cactus,
I re-linked the last pic in the post above. I use the evil and all powerful cooperation know as 'Google' to host pics, there system has stability issues. I imagine their AI has now put me on a list.

Anyhow, just a rod that goes through a hole on the right side.


I cut off the horseshoe and replaced with a short piece of rod as a small handle. This allow the shelf to fold down and the GMG cover to fit, when in 'left' position. So it need to be adjusted each use.


Since were on the subject and everyone likes interpreting questionable temperature data to fit their own viewpoint, here are my findings:

Burner deflector position=Left
set_point=225, lid_probe=235, food_right_side=265
Burner deflector position=Center
set_point=225, lid_probe=250, food_right_side=253
Burner deflector position=Right
set_point=225, lid_probe=225, food_right_side=225

Burner deflector position=Right
set_point=350, lid_probe=320, food_right_side=310

We can infer from the deflector shape and temp data that moving it one way more of less deflects heat to the other. Given the best performance at 225 was at full right position, I cut the notch on the bottom to allow it to slide further right (not shown).
But at 350 the data has shifted and we see that temperature distribution is dependent on the temperature set point. It would appear to even temps out at 350, the deflector should be moved to the left. So the real usefulness is to allow adjustments to compensate for different temperature operating points.

I also welded the other side of the 'v', as it was clear it would fail at some point too.


We could further discuss the non-symmetry of the deflector holes and there impact on thermodynamic performance but I assume most of you have read enough already

 

[rattle_snake]

So it is dead battery season again. Bike wouldn't start after work yesterday, jumped but died as soon as cables removed. Had to get a ride home and get truck/trailer. Even though I was irritated, I made a point to realize that I am lucky to have a truck and trailer to recover myself. Even nicer to finally have a utility trailer instead of the **** filled horse trailer with no ramp and the less-than-optimal tie downs.
Since the weather is so nice I figured I would ride the backup bike (my dad's Suzuki) today. It wouldn't start either. Battery keeps loosing fluid over a short period. Just one cell dry so must be a short in that one.
So I pumped up the new tire on my car that is leaking and went on my way. Plan to look into the boat's electrical problem this weekend. Been avoiding it. First world problems I guess.

 

[nsula_country]

First world problems for sure!

Batteries and tires...

CT

 

[TTMotorsports]

I've only been in az a couple years but notice that after the hot summer the cooler nights kill batteries. My dodge and gmc sierra both got new batteries in the last 3 weeks. Dodge from California batteries were 9 years old. GMC lived whole life out here and was 3 years old. Both same brand.

 

[StormcrowAz]

So it is dead battery season again.

Yeah, you ain't kidding. The battery for my Tacoma is currently in the back of my Chevy, gotta grab a new one after work today. I doubt it's even three years old, maybe two. Hard to tell any more, seems the older I get the quicker time goes by.

 

[GeoRoss]

I've found that I'm lucky to get 4 years out of any battery here.

 

[TTMotorsports]

If you need to bend tubes or have any brackets cnc cut out I can do it for ya. I can also scan in paper or cardboard templates and cut them for you.

Saw your posts on pirate my username over there is 65chevy4x4

 

[rattle_snake]

If you need to bend tubes or have any brackets cnc cut out I can do it for ya. I can also scan in paper or cardboard templates and cut them for you.

Saw your posts on pirate my username over there is 65chevy4x4

Thanks appreciate the offer! Interestingly you were at the top of my list to contact for such things. I found your shop thread on Pirate awhile back and made the connection to your handle. Still impressed with how quickly you got building up (yourself) and back to business! Do you sleep?

A decent bender has been on my list for a long time. Unfortunately, most uses cases for me are test-fit/bend/repeat. Then notch, decide it's too short and start over the next day.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Unfortunately, most uses cases for me are test-fit/bend/repeat. Then notch, decide it's too short and start over the next day.

Apparently we fabricate the same way.......

 

[TTMotorsports]

Even with doing this **** for the last 17 years, I still do it that way more often than not too

 

[nsula_country]

I thought thats how its done?

CT

 

[rattle_snake]

Quick lathe project making some aluminum mock-up bushings. The urethane bushings are a very tight fit and impractical to install/remove for tube notch fitment and welding.

 

[nsula_country]

I am lathe shopping (covertly).

What lathe do you have?

Setup bushings look good!

CT

 

[rattle_snake]

I have a small Jet lathe. It belongs to my neighbor who has no place to put it, currently. He is starting his shop build process so at some point I will need to get my own, as I use it often. I would get something bigger, but since I'm a hack I don't need high precision one. Given cost of even entry level machines, I understand the need for covert shopping practices.

 

[nsula_country]

Machinist at work said go big. They are relatively "cheap" when used. He said $1500 for a 18x48 isn't unusual at auctions. He also has 2 CNC mills at home...

CT

 

[rattle_snake]

Finally got around to adding a whole house water filter and replacing all the water inlet piping. I helped my neighbor do the same last year so it was time to do mine. My dad is visiting, so I figured it was a great way to spend father-son time.

The existing system had 4 broken cheap valves, so there is no way to shut off water supply to house, other than buried main value. That another story I shall skip at this time. The water softener has it's own bypass, so I'm not sure why another was installed in front of it, but it didn't work anyhow.

So I cut out everything and started over. The last guy bent the pipe over at the concrete to make room in the wall instead of doing a nice job. Short of jack hammering out the sidewalk, I decided to go with it and install the new valve and bib crooked as before. Used a threaded fitting so bib can be replaced in future. Bought valves at a plumbing supply instead of big box store.

Opened up wall again to gain access to piping. The supply to house goes back into slab, so I left most ot the existing fittings alone. Change by mind a few time is discharge routing, ended up with this. not perfect, but used all but 3" of 10 pipe, so called it a victory.
The valve in front of filter leaked. Tried re-heating but no luck. Removed and re-did joint. Had large area with no solder adhesion. I think the reason was I applied flux then shoved a hamburger in my face before soldering. The delay between made another fitting 'stuck' with just flux. Next step is to fix drywall again.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

You probably already did this, but seal up that hole around the pipe. I had a shower remodel done and the contractor relocated a hose bib and never sealed up the hole. I discovered he never sealed the hole when a bee swarm moved in! I had the bees taken care of, but they returned 2 more times (after the hole was sealed up) in the following years.....including the day I sold/closed on the house!

 

[rattle_snake]

Ya all the holes will get sealed. I removed a soft water faucet as I now have both hard/soft on shop and can be used on both parking pads easier than this one. The bees like to live in the stone waterfall/feature in the back yard. Gone rounds to seal every tiny crack to keep them out. Once a hive is started they like to come back to harvest it.

I figured I should smoke some meat while plumbing to pay the help, so got to try out the mods on the GMG. Was able to quickly adjust the burner deflector and get excellent temperature distribution. Did brisket and pork at 260 for 9 hours came out decent. Still need to put big tires on it.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Sooo, you didn't mention smoked meats on trade for labor. Does this stand on all your projects?

 

[rattle_snake]

Sooo, you didn't mention smoked meats on trade for labor. Does this stand on all your projects?

For the most part, yes, however there are restrictions and caveats subject to change without notice. That said the aromas generated by the smoking process typically keeps the help motivated. Cold beer goes a long ways too.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

Very cool thread. Great pics and discussion of steps. I too had my MIG wired backwards for years and thought I was just never meant to be a welder! And to think the guy I bought it from built an entire race car with it that way...

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks Qwik. I figured the solid wire/gas setup was just harder than flux. Cleaner, better techniques needed. I did use flux wire in it when I first got it, then forgot to switch polarity. I'm glad I stopped, did some thinking and inspected before doing critical welds on the axle.

That said, all my hole vs. electron welds held up fine. Some light reading on the subject
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole

 

[nsula_country]

Interesting read.

CT

 

[QwikKotaTx]

Thanks Qwik. I figured the solid wire/gas setup was just harder than flux. Cleaner, better techniques needed. I did use flux wire in it when I first got it, then forgot to switch polarity. I'm glad I stopped, did some thinking and inspected before doing critical welds on the axle.

That said, all my hole vs. electron welds held up fine. Some light reading on the subject
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole

That's over my head. I bet I could grasp it when I was younger but not any more!

 

[rattle_snake]

I'll translate: It's that it's not there, or it went the other way.
There are more simple explanations on the web regarding heat distribution from polarity settings. MIG DCEN will be narrow and pile up.
I sold my 77 bronco to a Metallurgical engineer. I asked him why the polarity switch for wire type. He asked me if I knew what a hole was. Conversion went from there. Turned out we were working on same nuke power plant. Small world.

 

[rattle_snake]

Hole in the garage wall fixed for the 3rd time.
My dad did the work, the texture came out nice. I just came home from work and it was done. I guess that is the wife perspective, things just magically happen.

Interesting but useless fact:
Some Motron water softener salt comes from middle of Phoenix metro area in Glendale from underground slurry process.

 

[rattle_snake]

2x72 Belt Grinder Project;

Some members on a particular garage related website who shall remain nameless have proclaimed the wonders of a machine called a belt grinder. Claims ranging from ‘Most important tool in shop' to 'It changed my life' forced me to investigate what I was missing out on. After observing prices of such machines, I became confused and distant. Some highly skilled and motivated individuals simply built machines from raw materials to avoid Spousal Financial Backlash (SFB). Not having time for such endeavors, I found some alternatives and sought out advice from the same group of enablers.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=435013

There is also a good amount of data from the knife making crowd, although their intended use is different than mine. I wanted a machine that would plow through 1/4” steel with ease for automotive type use. Single speed, high torque. The lower priced 2x72 machines seemed under powered, so plan was to get a grinder less motor and cobble together a solution.
I decided to go with the Coote 8” wheel version and a 1.5hp motor, mounted on an existing stand I already had. First step was to shorten the truck brake drum tool stand/pedestal from 36” to 28”. Since a gravity clamp is inherently heavy, I used a hoist to get it into bandsaw for a clean cut.

I trimmed the ½ plate top on one side to make room for the drive belt and centered the grinding belt to the post. I used some unistut to mount the motor, which allow adjustability in the z dimension with fixed theta. phi is adjustable with shims.

I ended up going with a cheap, non-sealed, single pole, 3450 RPM motor and reduced grinder shaft rpm with a 2.5/3.75” pulley set yielding 2300 RPM/4800 SFPM, which is about 55 MPH.
I bought a 110v/2 HP rated push button on/off switch, but it was too deep for a single gang box, so ended up using a modified 4x4x2 j-box. Wiring is 12 ga on a 20A branch.

The low mount switch position got it running with wire I had on hand, but caused me to lean over with forehead near belt. To avoid a Kingpin style hairdo, I moved the box up on the arm. Still need to build a belt cover before something gets sucked into it.

So, how does it perform? Very well so far. Easy to control and removes material very quickly. Not to loud.

 

[rattle_snake]

Took the boat out last weekend, the intermittent electrical short/issue did not occur so wasn't able to do any debug/progress on it. Was a nice day (mid 80s) so we skied for a few hours (I guess I should specify water ski as apposed to snow ski for those who live in cold places this time of year). Water is still fairly warm, no need for a wet suit or anything like that...


Plan to try again after thanksgiving, with another load of people. I'm sure Murphy's law will help occurrence at an inopportune time.

 

[StormcrowAz]

I think you’ll find the belt grinder a nice addition to your shop. While I’ve used them at work back when I was hand-finishing, I’ve settled for a bench grinder at home for a long time now. Every time I use the bench grinder I think how the belt sander would be a better tool for the job. I’ve finally collected all the pieces and parts to put a 2x72 together myself based off Jeremy Schmidt’s design and am just lacking the time and motivation to put it together. That Coote looks like a nice turn-key unit for the money, keep us posted on how it performs for you.