Something just clicked…..

[rmalkow2]

I agree with you Strouty.
Time, money and space. The three legs of the shop stool. Unfortunately my stool seems to always be missing one or more legs and I fall off it a lot.

 

[Strouty]

I like that analogy.

 

[Strouty]

I made it through the wedding, slept in a bit, greased up my boots, swapped new laces in, loaded up the car, and headed to the shop. My Dad called and asked what I was up to, so he is going to come over and give me a hand for a while.

Tonight will be a late one at the shop, I have stuff to list one ebay and I know I won't get to it until later, it will be good timing anyways, later Sunday nights have always been my sweet spot. I know I can schedule the listings, but if I have to do it, might as well do it live.

I will post some updates later, not sure if I am going to do some woodworking or if I will do some metalworking with Dad. The wood needs two people but makes a mess and doesn't help with the shop organization, the metal will get the big vidmar cabinet done and out of the way. I will have to see what makes the most sense. Both achieve a goal, so I probably should not over think things too much.

 

[Strouty]

Another thing that has me mesmerized and I am sure it happens every year, but now 70 degrees feels like I have the heat on and I am sweating like a pig. Last week 70 would feel cool and comfortable. We have only had two days of cooler weather, yet my body is adjusting all ready. I opened the overhead door so I can try and get some cooler air inside. I may need to just vent in air through the AC units and see if that helps. I just thought it was funny that I am sweating my **** off while it is cool outside. I guess fall really is here, hopefully it is here to stay.

 

[Strouty]

So far today has been productive, Dad came over and helped me with the counter top for my credenza, then we decided to cut another one for my GF's space in the wood shop. She will be happy and it should kick start things for her as well. I still need to figure out what to do to finish off the edge of the top, then I also need to add some outlets that are accessible from above the counter. I figure this is step one, then I need to remove the door so I can get to step two. I have a bit of a mess to clean up, then I need to list a few things on ebay.


My mess, still not cleaned up yet!


My office credenza, well an area that I will be using to assemble files and other paperwork.


I still need to finish this end up, but it can wait until things are less hectic.


My temporary power strip.


Once I remove the door, this will be flush, I will also be reworking the outlets.


My GF's Cabinets and her new countertop, this is out in the wood shop.

 

[nine4gmc]

If you have some leftover top with the formica on it, try a heat gun to peel enough off for that small side section that was cut off. Love those cabinets!!

 

[Strouty]

Those cabinets are my GF's that is her section of the wood shop, for her projects only.

I have a long piece from the first cut, but how do I cut the veneer without having it explode? It was bad enough attached to the wood, I put painters tape on it and that kept the chipping to a minimum.

 

[nine4gmc]

You need a saw blade for veneer or really high tooth count blade, or you can glue it firmly where it goes and use a router with flush trim bit to go around the sides. You may even be able to cut it with a few scores of a razor knife.

 

[Strouty]

I think it is going to stay as is for now, I have more important things to do. I will tackle it when I remove the back door to the office. At least the top is in so I can use the space again, right now that is more important than looks.

 

[nine4gmc]

True, great job!

 

[Strouty]

So as most of you know, my shop needs a roof, but I have been ignoring it because I am not sure if I will have to replace the trusses completely in order to rework the interior to gain more height. My Dad tells me tonight that he will give the excavator to Me and my brother if I pay for the roofing materials and my brother helps me roof it. My brother and my Dad have a strained relationship and I tell him, he will say no way. My Dad says to tell him the deal, so I do, my brother says "I am going to have to pass on that." So now I don't know what will happen, I offered to buy it for $15k two weeks ago. I think he wanted to see the two of us do something together, I like those kind of deals, but my brother hates them as soon as Dad is involved. Go figure.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: i have some 1/4 inch lite oak or wood grain on aluminum that would work great to seal up the open end of GF's bench so keep your eye out for something like that and make it simple. or if you have a piece of laminate glue a piece on and 45 the edges with a router.

glad to hear you and your Dad are doing ok. i've never had a brother, but i have a couple younger sisters that at time drove me nuts. one of them is gone now to liver cancer and I seem to get along with my only sister a bit better these days, but still don't see her much. family can be tough. my mom is an angel and my dad is usually a PIA which might be partly my fault.

BTW your the new countertop and cabinets look great. did you load up the vidmar on Dad's truck to get it of your way.

looks like you got a lot done today and a little more bonding with your Dad.

 

[Strouty]

Dad brought his car, so nothing removed yet. The cabinets are my GF's, the top that has the exposed end is mine, in my office. Those cabinets are nice, but way too light duty for me, she thought they were fine, so I let her have them.

Family is always fun, you can never tell what is going to happen next.

 

[dodge610]

Well strouty the dist manager of that chain of parts stores offered me a management job. Looks like I am back at it again starting next week. No more truck driving. Hours are different but I only need 7 more years to retire and the money is better.

 

[Strouty]

That is awesome Dodge, love it when things work out.

 

[Strouty]

I got a few things listed on ebay and now I am going to head home. Tomorrow should be a bit of a clusterf&ck but I hope to still get some things done.

I will say, I did not clean up my mess, but if I don't get home, I am going to turn into a pumpkin.

 

[Thumper68]

Nice job today, both counter tops look great, I would do as Nine4 said and use a heat gun to get some matching laminate, then use a flush trim bit in the router.

 

[dlcwent]

In those pictures above, you said those were her cabinets and her new top. But you didn't show us a picture of her new top?? What gives??

Nice job by the way. If we're still talking.

 

[Strouty]

LOL, she would be mad if I did that.

It has been two weeks since I moved the big vidmar cabinet out and it is still in the middle of the shop. I need to build the base for it today, it will be a big victory for sure. Errands need to be done first, but when I get to the shop, that is going to be top priority.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great job and more progress.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks ½ Cup!

Today turned out less than stellar, in order to get the excavator to my shop so I can work on it I need to get at least one trailer inspected and then shuffle them around. I have a guy that drives the truck, but he won't drive the trailer with a load unless it is inspected. I guess I can't blame him, I just need to learn to drive my Dad's truck. That may be on the agenda this week.

Anyways my original point was that I shuffled trucks and trailers around today, fixed broken wiring, had to take wheels off to free up stuck brakes, and register trailers too. The I was driving a roll pin out and it was going really hard, when it broke free, I smashed my thumb with the hammer on the corner of the fifth wheel. It now hurts, but luckily is not swollen.



I got to use my Swench, if I had not had this, I would have been even more upset. Glad I bought it for sure.






On a good note, the Snap On driver bought a bunch of things from me, then sold some of my used tools, and is swapping more new stuff I scored on Ebay for green colored ones. Did I tell you that I like my Snap On driver?

 

[Strouty]

This morning I have to do all the errands that I didn't do yesterday. So I am essentially doing Monday over again.

 

[dlcwent]

Two Mondays in one week. No thanks

Good luck with your ventures today.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: another day another TO DO done or added to the list. seems like a never ending life struggle. only thing i can say is make goals and keep moving toward achieving them and you are Winning as some would say.

BTW my wife's friend has been trying to figure out why my laptop has been crashing so he removed a video driver yesterday and so far it's working great and my videos are working so it must have been an extra one crashing the system. YIPPEE

cheers and have a great day.

 

[Strouty]

DLC, I wish the first one never happened, but today is at least a bit more productive.

Drives, good news with the laptop. The to do list is a never ending thing, but I am working towards the big picture and that is a good thing. Things get sidetracked, priorities get changed, and life generally gets in the way.

I talked with my Father about the excavator and he says since my brother doesn't want any part of it, then I can have it. That will be a huge help around the shop! I am most likely going to either have to learn to drive his truck or buy my own because the excavator is about 10 tons and I don't have a good truck (that is on the road) to haul it. I could fix up the 5 ton and use it, but that truck has much better potential than being a tractor trailer truck.

I am going to have some lunch, then get cleaning things up. I may have to mount some racks I bought for the wood shop, I feel it will be worth the time and effort to get all the loose lumber taken care of. The electrician is supposed to come over tomorrow and wire up my RV outlet and help me figure out what needs to be done so I can hook up the wood shop and have power. For those of you that don't know or remember, the wood shop is a trailer (old office trailer) that is 10' wide by 32' long (or close to that).

 

[86turbodsl]

You need a saw blade for veneer or really high tooth count blade, or you can glue it firmly where it goes and use a router with flush trim bit to go around the sides. You may even be able to cut it with a few scores of a razor knife.

Backup helps a lot too. For any cut really to reduce topside chipout.

 

[Strouty]

I wonder if I sandwich it between two pieces of wood if that would keep it safe. I am probably going to just get the router bit (I may even have one).

I guess my thumb is still pretty sore, I am going to take some advil, work on the racking, then take a break and ice the thumb. It is still moving and is not black and blue, but it hurts to squeeze or if I touch it just right. I need to do some paperwork anyways.

I will post some pictures of the racks, they are cheesier than I would like, but they will look better than a half assed setup, so I am not going to let my perfectionist side win this battle.

 

[Strouty]

Well I definitely have a case of the Mondays. I installed the first rack in the wood shop and loaded it up, it looks great, it works great, but I put it too low. I was so concerned about losing space on the top shelf I lost sight of the big picture and now there is only 46" under the rack. I planned on storing plywood underneath it. So now I am shuffling things around so I can put another rack up (at the correct height ), then I can move all the wood to that rack and reinstall the original rack at the correct height. My thumb is really hurting now, but I just want to get this done, if it drags into another day I think I may lose it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: I hate when that happens with the measurements. Also wtf did you do to you thumb because I don't recall you saying until now?

 

[Strouty]

Drives, yesterday I was pounding a roll pin out of a linkage on my Dad's truck and when it came loose, the hammer hit my thumb while it was resting against the fifth wheel hitch. Basically, I slammed my thumb while it was on the edge of a big immovable steel object.

This is what my thumb was on when the hammer hit it, a bit hard to explain, but the pin was tight to the top edge and I used the fifth wheel to keep the punch lined up.



I found out that I really did not screw up too badly, the racks had to be trimmed down to fit, so I lose one shelf, but gaining the ability to lean the plywood under it makes up for that. I am just moving a few more things for tonight, then I am going to head home. I like where things are headed, but I need some time to think of how it should be for the long term. I think taking a break and coming back with fresh eyes tomorrow will really help.

 

[Strouty]

I am going to do a trial by fire driving lesson. I think I know what I was doing wrong before, there is a gear that you do not use in the high range. I think I was getting into that and making a mess of things. There is no shift pattern displayed and when I saw what it was on the internet, it started to make more sense to me. So my ride how may be a bit unfun, here is my chariot, at least it has a volvo logo on it.

 

[Strouty]

Here are the pictures of what I accomplished today.

My starting point:



First racks installed (still have to move them and shorten them)



Second set installed, these were all ready shortened. I may move these a bit as well.



Loaded up and done for the night.

 

[Thumper68]

Hey Strouty,

Get on with the driving practice I may need to borrow that excavator.

What are those racks rated for?

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: is your thumb turning black and blue under the nail and throbbing. one thing I've learned after having done that a few times in my life is to get a really really sharp very small drill bit and hand drill a hole with your fingers into the nail until the blood pops out and relieves the pressure.

hope you didn't break it.

your racks and wood storage looks great. i also like that Volvo truck. is that yours or Dad's? one thing i learned with the high low manual ****** on my old truck is that you need to double clutch to get it from one gear to the next at least on some of them.

good luck

 

[Strouty]

I made it home, it is not as bad as it was before he rebuilt the transmission, but it is very weird. The transmission is a ways away from the shifter and the shifter is mounted in this rubber thing that takes away all the feeling you would normally get from a transmission. It is very difficult to get it to the center position, it will feel like you are out of gear, yet you are still in gear or it has gone all the way to the next gear. The trans is an 8LL eaton fuller, so it has really low low gears, but still goes 95 MPH on the highway. I think the only reason they put the shifter in this linkage is so you can have storage space between the seats. I would rather have the feedback from the shifter than the storage space.

 

[Strouty]

Thumper, the racks are rated for 110 pounds per level, I think they would hold more than that. They have a bit of adjustment up and down, except the top and bottom shelf. Rockwell makes them, I ordered them when I bought my Jawhorse a couple of weeks ago. When you go to the website, it will ask you to sign up for the emails and you will get 10% off, if you say "NO" and keep browsing they will then ask you to sign up and get 15% off. That is the best deal I could find and I think the racks ship free.


Rockwell lumber racks


Drives, the thumb is not swollen and has not discolored, I hit it at the knuckle, sideways. It almost didn't even hurt, but then I went to pick something up and realized that it really did hurt. As for finger nails, I found that heating up a paperclip (red hot) you can just slide it right in, so if you don't have a drill bit, you can almost always find a paperclip.

The truck can be double clutched, but the less clutch I use the better, it is really straining on my lower back and I am actually a bit worried about what it will do to me for tomorrow. So basically I only use the clutch when I come to a complete stop, otherwise I just match the engine speed and shift.

 

[dodge610]

The Eaton Fullers are really quite simple after you run it a few times you will be a pro at it strouty Thats what i use to drive a 8 speed,10 speed and a 13 speed. I ran all three trucks you will have it down pat after a few times. You allready got the basics down use the clutch to start and stop dont use it other than that.

 

[Strouty]

This truck is very forgiving, it has a four and a quarter cat that has been bumped to 500. If you are on flat ground, you start in second, then shift to high range and shift into fifth, it will do this with a trailer, but when loaded you actually have to shift. I just need to get the trans so I can feel center, it screws with me. I had to use the clutch a couple of times to get it to release the gear when down shifting from 7th, otherwise I ended up yanking it right into 8th and the truck wants to roll then.

 

[dodge610]

This truck is very forgiving, it has a four and a quarter cat that has been bumped to 500. If you are on flat ground, you start in second, then shift to high range and shift into fifth, it will do this with a trailer, but when loaded you actually have to shift. I just need to get the trans so I can feel center, it screws with me. I had to use the clutch a couple of times to get it to release the gear when down shifting from 7th, otherwise I ended up yanking it right into 8th and the truck wants to roll then.

You will get it strouty just give yourself a few times and bingo smooth as silk.

 

[Strouty]

I figure I need to feel comfortable with the truck before I add the trailer and 10 tons of excavator.