Something just clicked…..

[Strouty]

My dehumidifier raised the temperature a lot more than that, it was obscene, like I had a heater going. I may try it again, since I have an AC unit and the fans. Long term I would like to get one that mounts through the wall, then I could plumb the drain to collect the water it removes from the air.

 

[Strouty]

I just heard back about the RM Schaller boxes in green, well minimum quantity is 1000, 30% up charge and $200 per size for the mold charge. Basically if I want green it would be $5030 before shipping. I guess I am going to either get red or try and start a group buy for them.

 

[RacerRick]

I have an air conditioner, but same idea, so I may look into that. Once I redo the roof, I will try and capture water from there. The funny thing is I keep forgetting how high the water table is, I think I dug down about 4 feet with the excavator and 5 minutes later, the hole had lots of water in it. I keep saying that I need to get some of those large concrete cylinders (I think they are called tiles?) that they use in storm drains. They stack on top of each other, so if I could dig down 10' or more I could probably have a decent well that I can just pump water out of.

That is how the hand dug shallow well at my place is built. Just 36" round concrete casing tiles stacked on top of each other in a hole in the ground. Mine goes down about 24 feet or so, and I have 10-15 feet of water in it at any time. That is about 800 gallons of water.

 

[F-117HWK]

I just heard back about the RM Schaller boxes in green, well minimum quantity is 1000, 30% up charge and $200 per size for the mold charge. Basically if I want green it would be $5030 before shipping. I guess I am going to either get red or try and start a group buy for them.

Holy hell

 

[bimmer1980]

Yup, I think I would be reprogramming my mind to like what ever color is in stock......

 

[Strouty]

Yup, I think I would be reprogramming my mind to like what ever color is in stock......

Red it is!

 

[Strouty]

Racer, I don't think I can dig much more than 10' with my machine, even if I tier the hole, once things get really wet, and heavy there is not much I can do. I don't need it for much, but it would be nice to have it if needed. I will have to call the local precast place and see what they have for casing tiles.

I got done earlier today than expected, so I decided to head back to the shop. I am headed out in the morning for a job, so I want to change the oil in Bev, also need to do a couple other things, like letter up the doors with company name and DOT number, then if I have time install a new 12 volt port in the dash. I don't want to be here late, so hopefully I can get things done relatively quickly. I have to move a couple things, but I should be able to bring Bev inside to do all the work. Fingers crossed!

 

[Craptain]

I have to move a couple things, but I should be able to bring Bev inside to do all the work. Fingers crossed!

Isn't that a great feeling.

 

[Strouty]

It was tight, but Bev fit.



When I was getting prepped to do the oil change I remembered some hardware that I found while sorting, this was a part I never installed from maybe four years ago. I knew right where it was and I installed it!






The oil change was a bit messy, with the positions and the size of the filter, my left hand was almost no help because of the elbow. I did however finally get to use my drain plug tool and it worked perfectly, no oil on my hands and the plug was not in the bottom of the drain pan!!!!!

 

[Strouty]

After that I used my GF's "cricket" to cut letters out for my DOT numbers and business name. It works surprisingly well and we have used it for other things too. I have to say that the final product looks terrible for a sign shop, but for a guy that just free handed the letter application, I think it looks pretty good. I will post a couple pictures when I get home, I am trying to pack up and I have to cover the forklift too, then I have to stop and get diesel fuel.

 

[nine4gmc]

My daughter just moved in with us Sunday and she has a cricket, im excited to give it a try. One thing i want to do is cut masks for sandblasting designs in glass.

Your shop is looking great and im sure you were happy to be able to get Bev in and work on her!

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

 

[LS6 Tommy]

We had a cat named Cricket. We lost her to cancer last Thanksgiving. She had really sharp claws, but couldn't put a mark in masking tape...

Tommy

 

[Strouty]

The cricket works great, I am sure if you just bought wide masking tape you could apply it to the cutting mat with great results. The funny part is I have thousands of dollars ******* in some vinyl printing and cutting equipment and of course I have not touched it at all. When I expand my office I plan on having an area to use the equipment. Have to think long term.





Those damn "S"s were the toughest, the way I redid some, but it was getting late and I did not really care. Once I get myself a logo, I will letter the truck up a bit nicer.

 

[dlcwent]

The cricket works great, I am sure if you just bought wide masking tape you could apply it to the cutting mat with great results. The funny part is I have thousands of dollars ******* in some vinyl printing and cutting equipment and of course I have not touched it at all. When I expand my office I plan on having an area to use the equipment. Have to think long term.

Why? I hope you're getting better about that sort of thing. I mean buying and never using. I know you're working on it anyway.

 

[Strouty]

Initially in 2010 (I think) I bought a couple items at an auction for next to nothing, seriously it was like $7. When I started my research on them, I found that I needed special software to make them work, the software was about $5,000, so I went looking for a used version, they were selling for around $2,000. I started looking for another machine that had the software with it, found one in Massachusetts for $1200, got to see it printing and working. When I got it home, I could not get the software to install properly, there was some weird problem that I could not figure out. I joined a forum to try and get some help, basically people thought it was a pirated copy of the software, luckily one of the moderators worked for the company that produced the software/machine he asked me to send him pictures of everything. After that he said it was not a pirated version, but it was really old, he told me that he could call the local distributor and would allow me to upgrade to the newest version for $800. I jumped on the chance to do that, but then I had the issues with my hands, so this got put on the back burner. Essentially I have two vinyl printers (thermal transfer),one plotter (cuts the vinyl), and a huge thermal laminator, all with the almost newest version of the software. I have just over $2,000 ******* in it and I don't want to sell it, I want to use it. Everything that I have read says that the machines are essentially bulletproof and that they will last for a long time, so I am not worried about them waiting for me to get my act together. I just need a 3' by 10' table and a desk for a computer (unfortunately a windows computer), but the kicker is it needs to be a clean area. Once I build my new office, there will be some dedicated space for this equipment.

I have also done this with two drill presses, a lathe, an ironworker, a bandsaw, a bridgeport, and I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting about. The good thing is in the last few months I have been cleaning up and working on getting things done. I need to set up my RPC so I can use my big tools, that is one project I am looking forward to. The first step is to get the air compressor working again, but the "new" air compressor may solve all of that, so I will wait until next week to figure out how I am proceeding with that one.

Today I have to figure out a bad vibration that the suburban has, I think it is a u-joint in the front driveshaft, but the shaft is no longer a slip joint thanks to lack of grease and Maine's generous amounts of salt. Last fall I got another one from the junkyard, but the old one will need to be cut out so I can install the new one. I will post some update pics when I get going, yesterday was a long day for me and I am getting a slow start this morning.

 

[Strouty]

A friend asked me for some help this morning, turned into a couple hours. Just got to the shop, going to pull the suburban inside and see about removing the front drive shaft. I hope my elbow is up to the challenge.

I was also told to take a look in the mirror, I did, and I still see my own circus, but I feel I am living in reality and I will continue to live in reality.

 

[dlcwent]

A friend asked me for some help this morning, turned into a couple hours. Just got to the shop, going to pull the suburban inside and see about removing the front drive shaft. I hope my elbow is up to the challenge.

I was also told to take a look in the mirror, I did, and I still see my own circus, but I feel I am living in reality and I will continue to live in reality.

Carry on.

 

[RacerRick]

Racer, I don't think I can dig much more than 10' with my machine, even if I tier the hole, once things get really wet, and heavy there is not much I can do. I don't need it for much, but it would be nice to have it if needed. I will have to call the local precast place and see what they have for casing tiles.

The water table where I am is 10-15 feet down, so that is why they dug down that far. With yours water table being much closer to the surface, you won't have to go as deep. You can also go with 4' tiles to increase the amount of available water if your well flow rate isn't high. If I am running the hose for several hours washing cars, etc, I can make the water level in the well drop by a couple feet.

 

[Strouty]

I am going to play around with digging a bit, I need to dig a pit to burn my brush, so maybe I can experiment with it then. I know the back of the lot is where the water runs, of course that is the farthest from the shop and electricity as I can get.

 

[Strouty]

The suburban had an intermittent brake light failure, seemed to be when you hit a bump. I pulled it apart and there was one wire that was completely exposed and halfway worn through. I figured that was the issue, so I gathered the tools, figured out how to pull apart the weather pack connector, soldered a new wire to the good part of the old one, then crimped a new weather pack pin on the end (I had some and even new where they were!!!). Go it back together and it was still having the same problem, so I pulled the tail light lens off from the actual light controller and it started working again. I decided to just change the bulb, so we will see if that fixes it. I spent more time on it than I wanted, so I did not even get to the driveshaft, will tackle that tomorrow. I just felt good about having the tools and parts needed to complete a task, plus when I went looking for them, I found them. I do need a better crimper, but I don't do a lot with weather pack connectors, so it can wait.

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Strouty,

I've started reading your thread from page 1, after 1/2 Cup directed me over here.

I'm on page 10, so I'm not sure how things develop, but loving it so far mate, and really appreciate your struggle with "stuff" taking over your life.

I am very guilty of hanging on to way too much stuff, but I've been having some success with thinning things down a bit lately.

One thing that has really helped me let go of stuff is to take photos before I get rid of things.

If I'm really umm'ing and ahh'ing about holding on to something or getting rid of it, the thought of taking a photo of it and sticking it in a "Let it go" folder in DropBox or Evernote really helps me to "let it go"!

Mat.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks for taking the plunge Mat, the thread reads like a bad romance novel, a forbidden love of a man and his stuff. There are plot twists, ups, downs, lefts, rights, it has it all. I am far from finished, but there has been some great progress, especially in the recent months.

I am about ready to head out to the shop so I can try and get the driveshaft out of the suburban, hopefully that will solve my vibration under load. I also have to load things up for another job that I am doing tomorrow, I want to take the suburban, but not if I can't fix the vibration. Some of my new tools need to be painted fluorescent green, when I used them the other day it was tough to find them on the ground, so I have painted all the other sizes the same way, makes them much easier to spot. If I was feeling ambitious, I could dig them all out and touch them up, that will depend on how the suburban reacts to the removal of the driveshaft.

 

[Strouty]

I got the driveshaft cut and my elbow is still working!!!!

It looks like I have to take the rear shaft out to replace a u-joint there as well. Good thing I had only planned on working not he suburban today. I only stopped what I was doing because I came up with an idea for a couple new Trusty Cook hammers, had to email Richard.

 

[dlcwent]

One or two piece rear driveshaft?

 

[Strouty]

Rear is one piece, front was supposed to be two piece, but it was rusted into one, my sawzall made it a two piece again.

 

[Strouty]

All the u-joints are out, now I have to go get new ones. Hopefully NAPA has them, if not I have to drive to the driveshaft place and that will **** up another 30 minutes of my time. It had both external clip and the stupid internal plastic goo. With those ones, you have to heat them and let the goo ooze out. I figured I would take a few pictures so anyone that hadn't seen them would know what I was talking about. Some of the caps were holding rusted needle bearings, others were holding dust that used to be rusty needle bearings.

 

[Strouty]

Of course my OCD/ Perfectionist wants me to clean and paint the driveshafts, so I am sure that will take some time as well. I am off to eat a quick lunch, then check and make sure I have an oil filter, fuel filter, and possibly one for the trans (need gasket too). The trans will only be if I get things done quicker than I think, I am kind of waiting until I need to do the transfer case, so I can change more of the fluid. Probably better to wait, I can all ready see the day ending before I want!

 

[simpler=better]

You're in salt country, paint the DS. Don't spend all day on it, quick 1-2-3 with a wire wheel, torch to preheat, and then whatever spray paint you have put on thick.

Preheat until you see the surface moisture mist up and boil off.

 

[Strouty]

I went one step better than that, I did nothing to the driveshafts. I almost can't believe it, but I managed to do it. Just got it back together, going to put the tools away and add some trans fluid, then test drive, hopefully no more vibrations. If this solved it, then I have to load it up for the job tomorrow and head home. Fingers crossed, toes too.

 

[Strouty]

Just like new! Not one vibration.

Sometimes doing something like this yourself can be very satisfying, this is one of those times. As long as the u-joints stay together we should be good. Not sure if I need a different grease gun, because I had to basically unbolt the front driveshaft to get grease in the u-joints. The rear was fine, but no way on the front. I know I had them facing the correct direction, because the other way, they would have needed to be totally removed to grease. Another thing to figure out. Unfortunately I did not get to change the oil, I will change the fuel filter, because it is about as simple to do as you can get. Monday I will change the oil, also think I should check the front pig and I was thinking about checking the bolts on the starter, the 6.5 diesels are known to loosen up and bad things happen when they loosen up.

 

[nine4gmc]

Fingers crossed for you Bro Stro! Thanks for posting the plastic retainer u-joints, I can not say I have ever seen or dealt with them before.

Edit, you and I were posting at the same time, Congrats!

 

[bczygan]

A friend asked me for some help this morning, turned into a couple hours. Just got to the shop, going to pull the suburban inside and see about removing the front drive shaft. I hope my elbow is up to the challenge.

I was also told to take a look in the mirror, I did, and I still see my own circus, but I feel I am living in reality and I will continue to live in reality.

Hey......That's what we all think!

Bill

 

[Strouty]

Made it home, nothing fell out, figure that is a good thing.

Bill I think we all have our own realities.

 

[bczygan]

Made it home, nothing fell out, figure that is a good thing.

Bill I think we all have our own realities.

Ha ha Strouty!

Made me laugh.

I sure have mine, and I jealously guard it!

Bill

 

[Wanna Ride]

If I remember correctly, those are Teflon-injected. In another lifetime, I worked at a machine plant that made 17,000 output yokes for GM every week. They were the transfer case output yokes on all GM trucks and SUVs, for the rear driveshaft. We went from raw casting, all operations, to install ready. We didn't install the joints, that was done after our parts were shipped to American Axle. Crazy tolerances on all operations, including heat treating. Pretty cool machine line, with lots of machine operations and cells. Learned a lot of cool **** during that era.

 

[Grumblebum]

TwoBytes, you are in for a good read, by page 50 you will find that Strouty is really getting going.

Sorry Strouty, I had a post typed up a while back when I was caught up on your thread but had one of those submit-logout things happen and lost it.

The shop is looking great at the moment.

I am wondering what your plans are for what I think was called the bridgeport 4 headed drilling beast ? Is that a keeper or is it moving on ?

Cheers GB.

 

[dlcwent]

Glad to hear you got it done Strouty. And don't you just love those plastic retainers. I remember the first time I came across that. I was lost as to how to deal with it. Of coarse that was many decades ago. But I still hate having to deal with it.

 

[Strouty]

Wanna, that must have been cool working in a place that made things like that. A friend of mine worked for a place that made machines that assembled things or packaged things, depending on what the customer wanted.

Thanks for checking things out Grumblebum, the big drill press is one of those odd things that I am not sure about. As big as it is, it only takes up about as much space as two drill presses, the variable speed and power feed is a nice feature too. One head is designed for low speed to run taps. I know I need to get it operational, then I will most likely list it for sale at a high price on ebay, if someone bites, I will let it go.

DLC, the first time I came across one was at 16 when I was rebuilding my car, could not figure out what to do, I think it was a local mechanic that told me about the torch, almost didn't believe him.

So today turned into a clean slate, the job was canceled about 10 minutes before I was set to leave. I figure I should change the oil in the suburban for sure, but after that I am not sure what to do. Today is supposed to be a nice day, so I may try and paint those new drawer units my Brother gave me. I also thought about finally setting up my parts washer, then Grumblebum made me think about finishing the big drill press. First thing I need to do is go to one of our towers and confirm a few antennas have been removed, then I will get some breakfast and head to the shop.

Today could be an adventure!

 

[Strouty]

I side tracked myself this morning, went to look at some planetary axles that my Dad said I could have for the forklift upgrade. They may work, but I think the tires are going to be the issue. They use a 24" rim to clear things, but I am trying to stick with 20" rims so I can use a specific size tire. I will have to look at what 24" tires are available, I can't go much bigger than what is currently on the forklift, if I remember they are like 40" diameter.

 

[Strouty]

I am thinking that the best course of action for today is to try and install the exhaust fan in the wall. If I do this, it will help me the most long term, I have a terrible time getting rid of fumes from welding or painting. I was trying to wait until I could get the right type of fan, but if I wait, there will never be the right type of fan...........

I figure then when the weather is crappy I can paint inside, weld, or fart a lot and all the fumes will get sucked outside.