Starting Out Young

[theoldwizard1]

I worked for one of the Detroit 3 in engineering for 31 years. I worked with a number of suppliers. If you get a job offer from a supplier, especially if it is a foreign supplier, you will likely find out that all the "real" engineering is done back at the "home" office. You are just an engineering "representative". A salesman with an engineering degree. Your job is to act as a spokesperson for the company and defend them in all cases.

Probably not what you are interested in.

 

[a_thiel24]

1/2 Cup - It has indeed proven to be a great saw and the battery lasts much longer than I had anticipated.

theoldwizard1 - You would be correct. I am currently working as a process engineer at one of the plants my company owns. So I don't make any of the big decisions like those at corporate, but my opinion does matter sometimes. I just have to make the machines run correctly

 

[a_thiel24]

Wow! I'm sorry for leaving you guys hanging for so long. It has been a whirlwind these last few months. I have been lurking, just not taking the time to post any updates. So I will try to get you caught up.

First off, some wedding decorations were made over Christmas break.



I reworked my drill layout. I was tired of the sharp edges on the PVC cutting my fingers occasionally.



As you guys know I am a huge Nascar fan. I have quite a few diecasts that I wanted to display so I made myself a shelf for them.



It was originally going to have a small dado in each shelf with a piece of glass. I quickly realized I didn't want to spend the money on that. Everything else was free because the wood was from the boards I had resawn last summer. There will eventually be a version 2.0 in the future where I can try out a few ideas I came up with along the way.



I saw these nightstand organizers for sale and decided I would give it a try and make one. The organization is perfect for my OCD. However, after 3 months I quit using it because it just didn't work as I had expected. It held my phone, keys, glasses, watch, wallet, leatherman, chapstick, belt, and work ID badge.



I started my part time job as a process engineer. I am currently in negotiations for my full time offer starting in May. I am really liking it so far and its only 9 miles from home I printed this desk organizer at school for my desk at work.



I spent a weekend in Lexington, KY for a bachelor party. We went to the Wild Turkey distillery.



Then 2 weeks later, was in the wedding for one of my best friends. (I'm on the far left) Great experience all around especially with mine coming up in 6 months now.



My fiance's grandpa passed away completely unexpected 2 weeks ago. It has been a very tough and trying time. He meant so much to her and a lot to me as well. But we are continuing on and will never forget his legacy.

Last, but not least, my senior capstone is about 95% done. The installation went great and everything worked exactly like it was supposed to! Just 2 presentations and a final report to go! Here is a look at what we will be presenting if anyone is interested.

 

[jbmatth]

Nice work all around, looking forward to graduation I'm sure and we are looking forward to future projects.
JB

 

[a_thiel24]

JB - Thanks for continuing to stop in and reply I actually started reading your thread a week ago and I'm doing my best to get caught up. Really makes me look forward to having my own place hopefully in the near future!

All - As of today, I have officially accepted a full-time position at my current employer contingent upon graduation!

 

[ryanp77]

Way to go, I always enjoy stopping by here and seeing what you are working on

 

[jbmatth]

JB - Thanks for continuing to stop in and reply I actually started reading your thread a week ago and I'm doing my best to get caught up. Really makes me look forward to having my own place hopefully in the near future!

All - As of today, I have officially accepted a full-time position at my current employer contingent upon graduation!

Thiel,
Feel free to skip some of my ramblings if you'd like, I get carried away at times. Look forward to when you get caught up, who knows what I'll be working on by then.

Also congrats on the job, now you just have to graduate, easy enough and really takes the stress off of things. I graduated in May '09, I accepted my offer in September of '08 right before the stock market took a dump. Lots of my classmates had their offers revoked and really made for some stressful times wondering when I would get that phone call. I did have a backup plan though, I was going to be a lotion boy for the Hawaiian Tropic Bikini Team.
JB

 

[a_thiel24]

ryanp77 - Thanks for stopping in. Every reply gives me more motivation to keep this thread going!

JB - When I decide to go all in, I read everything. I very much enjoy the back and forth between members. Graduation should be a piece of cake as long as I can kick this case of senioritis in the ****! Glad to hear that you didn't lose your job offer and even had a great backup plan .

 

[-Brent-]

Congrats! I'll be the first to say it, save as much as you can for retirement from the first check and on. You start now and your future self will be VERY thankful.

 

[a_thiel24]

Brent - That is definitely the plan! I'm open to any and all advice as far as saving from you or anyone for that matter. Glad that you found my thread as I have been reading yours for some time. I really like what you have done so far!

 

[Dynasty]

Great thread! I enjoyed following along.

Congrats on landing the job!

I'm a little older than you (27), but the advice I received from a respected mentor of mine has been a blessing, so I will pass it along to you. Do yourself a favor and purchase the book, "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. If you follow the basic steps laid out in the book, your financial life will be MUCH less stressful and MUCH more secure. You'll look back as you progress in life and be glad you took action. Trust me. I put his plan into action at age 23 and at age 27, I am waaaay ahead of my peers.

It seems you have a bright future ahead of you

All the best,

Kevin

 

[jbmatth]

As a car nut I hate to say this but don't buy a new car or especially truck you loose soooo much money between the depreciation, interest on the loan if you don't pay cash, higher insurance costs, and in my state higher registration costs.

It is okay to use credit cards IF you pay them in full each month, otherwise if you have to pay for it with credit/loan you can't afford it.

Max out your 401k from the very beginning take out whatever percentage from your check that will max it out and that way next year you will have it maxed, 18k is the max in 2017. In 35 years that'll be 2.4 million at 6.5% interest, more than enough to retire on. Roth IRA's are another beneficial retirement savings medium. HSA's (Health Savings Account) is an account you can invest pre-tax, pre-SS, and pre-medicare money in to pay for health care costs when using a high deductible insurance plan and doesn't have to be used by any point in time.

Here is one of my favorite articles on retirement savings. Mr. Money Mustache The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement/

It is tough for me to not spend everything I bring home on toys, tools, and car and garage stuff but at my current rate I'll have my house and land paid off before my oldest child is 12, then I should be able to retire the same year my youngest graduates college if I want.

Okay, I could keep going on but will stop now. You are very intelligent in order to get the degree you are getting and will surely research before making too many decisions.
JB

 

[a_thiel24]

Dynasty - Thanks for the book info I will into that some more.

JB - No plans for new cars for either of us anytime soon. I know most college grads get a new car first thing after graduation. I have no need, so why waste the money. It does seem like maxing out a 401k would be a great idea. I think I will work on that better next year. Although I am contributing to it now. Right now, I'd like to have money saved that I have access to use for house related costs should that happen in the next couple of months. Great info from Mr. Mustache

 

[1/2 Cup]

Alex, just dropped to see what you have been up to of late.

Great work all round and what a heck of a place to have a bachelor party...

Regards

 

[Knyte Tyne]

Alex, Incredible work bud, The world could use a few more Youngsters (not that I'm much older) like yourself. I hate how useless some generations are these days. My father was 54 when I was born so I was raised with much older values and a different outlook on life. Nothing aggravates me more than some "Kids" who believe everything should be given to them. My folks were never well off and weekly life was always an incredible struggle for them, something they never let on to us kids, just one of those things you realise when your old enough to understand. I was always encouraged to go and build what they couldn't afford. You are an inspiration, and given yourself a great headstart in life with your hard work and dedication. Now if you'll excuse me I need to take my own advice and go pull my socks up hahahaha.

 

[DaveIRL]

gez a capstone with four people cant be much work, my course makes us do it all ourselves.

 

[Grumblebum]

Congrats on the job Alex. That Milwaukee holder you made looks pretty cool. Been thinking of something like that myself.

Cheers GB

 

[jbmatth]

gez a capstone with four people cant be much work, my course makes us do it all ourselves.

Dave,
If Alex's capstone class (Senior Design is what we called it) was anything like mine (mechanical engineering just like his but a different school) it ends up a pretty involved project from start to finish for all involved. I spent more time that semester on senior design than I did on all of my other courses.
JB

 

[a_thiel24]

1/2 Cup - It was definitely a very fun weekend

Knyte Tyne - Thanks you for stopping in and for the very kind words. I really appreciate that.

DaveIRL - I think JB's reply will suffice to reply to your comment.

Grumblebum - Thank you! The holder was pretty simple. Just took a lot of planning ahead of time. Only thing I would change is the amount of space left on each end. I was trying to use a scrap and was left with about 3/8" on each side. One side broke while installing it. I glued it back on. Luckily it's the side with the flashlight which weighs very little.

JB - Thanks for the reply and for sticking up for ME's lol. It is indeed is a lot of hours. Definitely more than everything else combined this year. And I have spent many days out in the cattle barn during the process. But only 3 more weeks and capstone will be finished!

 

[PugetDude]

Just stumbled onto to this thread; subscribed for updates!
Interesting projects; well executed. Thanks for taking the time to document and share them with us.

 

[a_thiel24]

PugetDude - Thanks for stopping in and subscribing. I'm hoping that things will pick back after graduation.

I've been very busy as school is ramping up right before the end so that has become first priority.

I've been slowly working on some pallet racking for my dad. He bought it cheap and it was rusted pretty bad at the bottom.



So I'm cutting the bad feet off about 6".



And welding on some C-channel so we can level the racks front to back easier before lagging it to the wall in the back of the barn.



My brother also bought this metal bandsaw at a garage sale last summer and can't get the blade to cut straight.





It appears from the blade that someone tightened it down wayyyy too far making it bowed which I believe is causing it to cut funny. New one is here. I just haven't had time to install it yet.



Last, but not least. My neighbor and friend is a much better wood worker than I. He is literally the jack of all trades and is great at everything he does. He had an old Dewalt 735 planer that he replaced with a brand new one. The old one would occasionally not start back up shortly after he had used it aggressively. He was working on a project that couldn't wait so he went out and bough a new one. I'm guessing it would get a little warm and trip a thermal overload sensor. For $100, I had to at least give it a try.



Upon further research, I cannot find any type of thermal overload sensor on it. So now I'm leaning towards replacing the brushes on the motor? Regardless, I will never use it to the same capacity as he did so I should be fine. I did notice a few gouges on the bed that had raised edges and would scratch the bottom of the workpiece. So I've got a little bit of sanding to try and smooth those over.

No pictures, but I'm also in the middle of refurbishing an older Porter Cable 330 palm sander.

Lot's of irons in the fire with no time to remove them lol.

 

[a_thiel24]

Well I did a thing....

 

[a_thiel24]

And now it's off to the races to get some projects at home done.

So, first was the Porter Cable 330 Sander. It's the same type I used in high school and boy did they take a beating and last forever. They're a great finish sander, but at $125 new, a little pricey for me. So I picked one up on eBay for $35 that said the cord was nicked and that vibrated it violently. So I decided to give it a try. Replaced the cord after a full disassembly and cleaning of all the fine sawdust.



Put it back together and they were right, it vibrated so violently that I could barely hold it in my hand. I'd never experienced that before so I took to google for some answers. Turns out the rubber posts inside can harden over the years and not absorb any of the vibrations. So ordered those and got it back together once again.



Fired it up and it was good for about 5 seconds and then the clamps for the sandpaper would move from the vibrations and fly off the sander. They were well worn and would not hold together. Since I used adhesive backed sandpaper, I figured I'd never use them anyway. So I took them off and that threw the sander off balance. So JB weld was my solution and it has worked great. I also replaced the sanding pad and it's good to go!



Then it was on to the planer. It had some scratches and one major gouge in the bed that left marks in the wood .



I sanded those out with 400, 800, and 1000 grit sandpaper and then finished it off with some Johnson's Paste Wax. So I took boards that were getting marred up like this....





...and got them to look like this.



While I was working on it, I changed the screws that hold the blade cover on. I switched the screws with some T-bolts, which is a design feature of newer built Dewalt 735 planers.



So now to change the blades, only one tool is required and it already rests on the machine. I also changed the brushes to hopefully eliminate the overheating problem. Time will tell.





Last, but not least, I added the table extensions to the planer and leveled them up.



Overall, about $60 in the sander instead of $125 and about about $180 in the planar that would cost $500 for a new one. Very satisfied with those kind of numbers.

I'm still fighting with the bandsaw to get the blade to cut square. It's very frustrating . The blade does cut like it should now, just not perpendicular to the base or parallel between the guides. I'm open to any suggestions. The manual is not very clear on the adjustments. It just says "adjust this" to "fix that" while not telling which direction to adjust if its off in ** direction.

 

[Terranova]

Well I did a thing....

Go BG.
I'm a falcon too.

 

[Terranova]

edited. I thought you were a BG falcon like myself, but I read more of you're thread. Turns out you're at Ohio Northern! Congrats.

PS, I may have dated a polar bear at one point.

 

[-Brent-]

Congrats on graduating!

 

[Grumblebum]

Congrats Alex. Good little scores there as graduation presents.

Cheers GB.

 

[racestatus]

congrats!

 

[jbmatth]

Congrats as well, any plans for further education or simply done and done? I thought about going back for my masters while working, took two classes and made A's but realized I didn't want to be in school any more so I stopped and called it a day.
JB

 

[a_thiel24]

Terranova - I was just about to correct you, but it looks like you caught your mistake Thank you sir.

Brent - Thank you very much! It's been what seems like a long, slow road.

Grumblebum - Thank you and thanks for continuing to follow along. It blows my mind that people from down under find my ramblings interesting.

racestatus - Thanks!

JB - Thank you kind sir. For now, I'm definitely done with the whole school thing. I have no ambition to get a master's in engineering. If sometime down the road, my employer would offer to pay for an MBA, I mayyyy have to give that one some thought.

 

[a_thiel24]

Also over the past couple of weeks I have been working on finishing the pallet racking and lots of organization going on in the barn. Man am I so surprised with the results. Almost 95% of what was on the ground was able to fit on the rack. We used to store 2 tractors and you could get a truck about half way in the door if needed.

Now....



2 trucks and 2 tractors easily fit. I could probably get my car in there too if there was a bad storm coming. My truck was hooked to the trailer when I took the picture. It will sit in the middle and get some much needed time out of the sun. My hood is starting to lose some clear coat , but still no rust at 18 years old so I guess I will take peeling clear coat instead of rust.









So much space was gained by getting things up on the wall as well. I whipped up the hand tool storage last summer. I hung the metal racks up this spring. The ladders were the most recent. The simple, yet effective 2x4 hangers are working great so far.

 

[ajohno]

It's great when you have more space.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well I did a thing....

Congratulations on graduation.

Mike

 

[1/2 Cup]

Congratulations on a great achievement...........

Regards

 

[a_thiel24]

Well guys, it looks like Photobucket has bit my thread as well. Since this thread is still fairly short, I probably won't go through the trouble to fix all the links.

However, I am in the process of buying my first house that has both a garage and a shop! So when that process is over, I will need to do a few things from the house before I get to the shop. When the time comes, I will start a new thread and post the link to it here.

First thing I need to figure out is a new way to host pictures so there will be some test pictures.

 

[a_thiel24]

resizing to medium in iPhoto

 

[a_thiel24]

Large resizing in iPhoto

Looks like it may be a bit too big. I want to be able to see the entire picture without having to move the page to the side.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

 

[jbmatth]

They aren't showing up on my computer for some reason. Did you get the IM about the photo hosting? Hopefully my explanation works for you.
JB
P.S.
Congrats on the new home and shop, but you can't just tease us like that, how big is the shop?

 

[a_thiel24]

JB - I did get your message and tried it that way, but a little different. They aren't showing up for me either anymore.

Good question about the shop. I don't remember the exact dimensions off the top of my head. It does have an addition that is closed off, so two separate spaces. Which will work perfect to keep all of the sawdust off of my truck and auto tools. Shop is in the back. Garage to the left of the house. It's a corner lot just outside of town by the local grain elevator. Only one close neighbor and it's a not a busy road.

Hope this picture works for everyone to see.

 

[jbmatth]

I can see that photo just fine, I wonder why the other method wasn't working? One thing I do before I upload them is to open them in a Microsoft Office photo editor and scale them down to the next smaller size, and also save them as .jpg files.

That looks like a cool place, if the little off shoot on the shop is 20x20 that would make the main part about 40x50 which will be a very nice size to do plenty of work in. Either way it is about the size of your house or bigger, and that is perfect.
JB

P.S. When you start the new thread put a link here so it'll make it easier to find the new one.