The Aerodrome Studio - Machine_Punk

[e-tek]

I've never seen an outlet bar with a ground wire.....


OOps - meant to say kudo's to the style!

 

[machine_punk]

I've never seen an outlet bar with a ground wire.....


OOps - meant to say kudo's to the style!

It's really probably more 'style' than anything in the US. Pretty much everything in the US now is just made for plugs with three prongs, if you need a ground. I remember growing up with those dangerous little adapters that allowed you to plug the three-prong plugs into a two prong outlet, then had the little ground wire with a lug on it to attach it to the center screw on the outlet. I suppose a little bit of that is sneaking out in my design.

I have a Korean electric cord reel (a 50 foot extension cord on a reel, with 4 outlets in the center) (I was living in Korea at the time and they use the US standard for power) that has the ability to disengage the third prong...you actually turn it one-half turn and a spring mechanism allows the ground prong to retract into the body of the plug and it already has another ground wire molded into the plug (I'll have to take a picture for you on Monday). I seem to remember seeing separate grounding wires more often in Japan and England too. Anyway, I guess that rubbed off a little.

From an engineering perspective, I am mounting this 6-outlet strip on a huge metal frame. While I had the outlet strip open, I noticed all the ground wires were tied to that one screw on the outer metal cover. If they thought they should tie the ground to the metal body of the outlet strip, I thought it might be nice to tie the metal of the face plate (and by association, the metal of the entire Reconfigurable Tool Rack) into the ground of the power outlets. Once I attached the ground to the back of the face plate, it was only a small jump to decide that I might as well add a ground screw on the front (for a more industrial appearance, if nothing else.)

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I've enjoyed seeing the work you do in your shop too.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

It was a brutal weekend in the E.R. Between work and time with the family, I didn't get any time out in the studio.

Today, I picked up a couple of things at the local Ace Hardware (I like to use them, when I can, since they are usually locally owned, even if they are a national franchise). I picked up some more hardware (stainless steel socket head cap screws, brass washers) to finish up the Wall Power Extension Custom Tool Board. I picked up a couple of small, deep c-clamps, because they look like they would work well for the types of projects I do and they are made in the USA. I also got a heater for the workshop.
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Thanks to all of you who weighed in on the 'how to heat The Aerodrome Studio' question, earlier in the thread. Several of you recommended a small, electric heater with a fan of some sort. I've looked at several online lately and was still mulling over which one to order, but I thought I might have a look at some local stores first.

Well, lo' and behold, what did I see as I walked into Ace Hardware today, but a display of several different heaters. A couple of the heaters in the display were the same as a couple I have seen online and kinda liked the look...the larger and smaller Soleil Milk House Heaters. They looked nice online and I liked them even better in person.

I looked closely at the large and the smaller heaters from Soleil. They both have all-metal bodies. They both have an automatic off when tilted feature. They both have a heat selector for 750 or 1500 watts. They both have a thermostatic dial to keep a set temperature. In fact, it looks like the heating element/fan sub-components are EXACTLY the same. So, the larger model is simply in a bigger case. I couldn't imagine how that could possible affect performance, and at $20 for the smaller one and $35 for the larger one, I wasn't willing to pay almost double for a 'larger case.'

The larger Soleil Milk House Heater...
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The smaller Soleil Milk House Heater...
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The one I ended up with (the smaller one)...
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I plugged it in for a moment to play with it. The 'automatic tip-over safety switch' only works when tipped forward or backward, not side to side. That doesn't bother me too much. So, after checking it out for a couple of minutes indoors, I took it out to the garage and plugged it in. Here you see it sitting on my fancy heater shelf (also known as the washer), at the end of my metalworking studio...
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Performance: I didn't have it on long and it was pretty warm in the garage anyway (the fancy garage door opener button has a thermometer built in and it was reading 62 degrees). It did, however, seem to take the chill out of the air after a while. In the future, I will likely set it up and let it run for a while, before going out to work. I think I will also build a mount to attach it to the wall, over my work bench (I'll probably build a bracket which mounts to the top of my Reconfigurable Tool Rack). I found I couldn't continually run it at 1500 watts, since the mini fridge is on that circuit and they don't play well together.

Several folks on GJ recommended a small, electric heater (Thanks: EDT, GIRLINAGARAGE, BOB HEINE, and MDBECK1) (sorry if I missed anyone)

MDBECK1 had the winning solution of specifically using a Milk House Heater.

Overall, I'm happy with this solution for now. For $20, I cannot complain too much. It does seem to take the chill out of the air, which was my original goal.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

Korean Electric Extension Reel

E-TEK: I promised you pictures of the many-grounded electric cord reel, with a disappearing ground pin, I got in Korea and here they are...

I bought a Korean electric cord reel because, well, I was living in Korea at the time. (EDIT: as I look at it, it might be Japanese...looks more like Japanese script than Korean. In fact, now that I think about it, I definitely bought this in Japan, since I was using it for a sound system at the time, and that was when I bought that sound system. Funny how things get mixed up in your head after a few years. Japanese use what I refer to as 'Metric Power,' since it is 100 volts and 50 cycles (all divisible by 10, like the metric system) Since the US is the country which set Japan back up after the war, it is only natural that they use our style of power outlets in their infrastructure, even if the power is not exactly the same). It was what was available. Here is an overall pic of the cord reel. I think it is something like 50 feet of extension cord (actually 30 meters of cord)...
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The cord reel has several options for grounding. You see a grounding lug above the top two outlets. The outlets also have the third grounding prong, if you are using newer eqiupment with a grounding prong. You can connect the green grounding pigtail alligator clamp to a grounded piece of metal.
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If you are plugging into a two-prong outlet, you can move the third prong out of the way. turn the grounding prong 1/2 turn and you can push it in, out of the way...
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Then you can hook the pigtail alligator grounding clamp up to an appropriate ground at your wall outlet...
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There you go. A rather well-though-out solution to grounding your tools. Something I haven't seen in the U.S.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

Completed Wall Power Extension - Prototype B

I feel like I've spent about as long writing updates today as actually working in the studio. We had a nice family dinner tonight and a family game time. C's friend R was over and we would have worked on the riveted tool boxes again, but time ran out on us.

I was able to finish the Wall Power Extension Custom Tool Board for the Reconfigurable Tool Rack. (Can you tell that I like TLA's...Three-Letter Acronyms).

Here is where we left off last time...
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Here is the 'anvil' I use in my studio for now, a short piece of heavy square tube I picked up at the scrap yard a few months ago. I got all the rust off it with 3M surface conditioning discs in the air grinder. Since I am essentially done with this Custom Tool Board, I put a microfiber cloth on the anvil, to protect the front surface of the CTB...
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Here is the back side of the Custom Tool Board, with a small piece of aluminum angle clamped across it, to assist in lining up the letters and numbers I am going to stamp on it...
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I put a piece of yellow electrical tape over the pads of the small c-clamp, to protect the finished surface of the CTB...
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Some pics of the information I stamped on this CTB. This did not turn out to have as deep of an impression as I would have liked. I almost made them too deep on the last tool board and they showed through the front of the 0.125" (1/8") aluminum sheet I am using for the face plates. I wanted to back off a bit on this one, to reduce problems. I'll have to find a happy medium. These are nice and lined up, but not quite as sharp and deep as I'd like. Time for some more experimentation...
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Now that I have a template for cutting the face plate, I will always mount the commercial power strip behind the face plate (hence -Prototype B-)...
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Here is the original Wall Power Extension Prototype (with the commercial outlet strip mounted on the front of the face plate)...
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And a few pics of the completed Custom Tool Board, Wall Power Extension, Model: 2X6, Ser. 00003, -Prototype B-...
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M_P

 

[Red Leader]

More excellent work

If you are looking for a sharp way to label your work, I've got an old Ideal Industries electric stencil tool I could sell you...its basically like a mini surface welder


Looking forward to more updates.

 

[SWA Guy]

Re: Completed Wall Power Extension - Prototype B

I am amazed at your artistic abilities, and I share your love of all things "aircraft-like."

I hope that you haven't copyrighted the RTR concept as I am simply going to have to copy your idea. I hope that you'll take that in it's traditional form of flattery. I too like aluminum and metal in general, and I personally despise pegboard (but I can tolerate some of the metal pegboard on the market).

I was thinking about your dilemma in cutting the slots in the faceplates of the RTR. I seem to remember in an early post of yours that you mentioned that you have a 7" x 12" mini lathe. Have you considered milling on the lathe? It's done routinely. I would think that you could fashion a "jig" on your cross slide to accept the corner of any panel, then hold a 1/4" mill "bit" in your 3-jaw chuck. Plunge into your material and advance the cross slide 3/8", or however long you want to make the slots. Just a thought.

Please keep the posts and photos coming! I love it!

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Very cool using the lettering. I've been planning on a set myself. Instead of hammering them I thought I'd try them in my modified arbor press. What size are you using?


Another thing I thought of immediately - dry transfer lettering. Last summer I bought a lot of tools from CL. The PO was an ol' electrical engineer. On of the things I found in his boxes among the tools was an old old package of dry transfer instant lettering. It included the alphabets and numbers, but it included pages and pages of words and phrases used in/on electronics parts.

The brand was LetraSet Instant Lettering Dry Transfer. The box itself was very old, dated 1964 IIRC (got it in the garage now). I haven't used any of them yet so I can't speak for how they work. But I thought that the dry lettering might be another method you can use to identify what you need if stamping isn't an option.

 

[EdT]

WRT letraset. It's so old it may be too dried up to work by now. If it does transfer onto whatever you want it on, be advised that it is, essentially, wax and it's not too durable. There used to be a clear overspray that was compatible but I don't know if it exists anymore. I recall having some luck with clear lacquer, but it has to be applied very lightly in several coats or it'll disolve the lettering. Perhaps one of the water based clear sprays that are available now would work; don't know. Definitely something to practice a bit on stuff that doesn't matter.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

Love it...only thing that scares me is one day someone is going to drop a screw driver in a hole and short the prongs of a plug....

 

[gorilla]

After reading all of your thread this morning I have to say you're doing some nice stuff. I think that you should add a set or transfer punches to your tool kit it would really help with marking out hole locations. A counter balance for your rivet tool could be two pulleys, a piece of rope and a bucket of sand. If your going to do much with sheet metal you may want to consider a Di-Acro # 1 punch. Custom punches are relatively inexpensive for slots and easily available.

 

[machine_punk]

More excellent work

If you are looking for a sharp way to label your work, I've got an old Ideal Industries electric stencil tool I could sell you...its basically like a mini surface welder

Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks. I'd like to see a picture of that and some more information, if you could, Red Leader. I tried a few quick internet searches and only found the regular electric etching tools (which I spent a couple of hours looking at and thinking about...I think that is the direction I am heading, making my own etching templates and etching the aluminum electrically for logos and labels). Your machine sounds interesting, but I cannot find anything on the web in my quick attempts at searching. It would definitely have to work on aluminum for me.

I am amazed at your artistic abilities, and I share your love of all things "aircraft-like."

I hope that you haven't copyrighted the RTR concept as I am simply going to have to copy your idea. I hope that you'll take that in it's traditional form of flattery. I too like aluminum and metal in general, and I personally despise pegboard (but I can tolerate some of the metal pegboard on the market).

I was thinking about your dilemma in cutting the slots in the faceplates of the RTR. I seem to remember in an early post of yours that you mentioned that you have a 7" x 12" mini lathe. Have you considered milling on the lathe? It's done routinely. I would think that you could fashion a "jig" on your cross slide to accept the corner of any panel, then hold a 1/4" mill "bit" in your 3-jaw chuck. Plunge into your material and advance the cross slide 3/8", or however long you want to make the slots. Just a thought.

Please keep the posts and photos coming! I love it!

Thanks for the kind words. It looks like you live fairly close to me...just up I-80. I am in Sacramento often enough--we have family and a rental house there.

No, I don't have a patent out on the RTR. It would take a lot for me to quit my day job and just do metalworking for a living, but I've been having fun acting like a manufacturer. As long as you don't make money from the idea, I don't mind if you copy at all. It would be cool to have others out there who liked my ideas enough to copy them. I was very careful to make enough progress on the idea, before I posted the thread, to at least be 'ahead' of anyone copying the idea.

Let me know when you start planning and I'll PM you with my notes...things to consider, material sources, things I would change, etc. (you are actually close enough you could just come visit the studio and we could discuss it, before you get started).

Great idea! You know, I have thought a LOT about using the mini lathe to mill, since I don't have a mini mill--but didn't take that idea far enough to include the idea of milling these slots. I'll have to think more about that. I haven't set the lathe up (i.e. it is not the most accurate at this time), but that is something to consider in the future. I think, in the end, I am going to figure out a punch for the pneumatic squeezers. A_PMech gave me some great ideas on making stuff with oil hardened tool steel. I have the patience to use a hand file on projects. I think, overall that is the way I am heading. In the meantime, I am planning to make another jig for the router (similar to the one I made for routing the electrical outlet holes) and use a 1/4 aluminum end mill in the router. Great idea, though.

I will keep the pictures coming. Thanks for posting! It makes it a lot easier to post what I am doing, when I get feedback on the pictures and ideas.

Very cool using the lettering. I've been planning on a set myself. Instead of hammering them I thought I'd try them in my modified arbor press. What size are you using?

Another thing I thought of immediately - dry transfer lettering. Last summer I bought a lot of tools from CL. The PO was an ol' electrical engineer. On of the things I found in his boxes among the tools was an old old package of dry transfer instant lettering. It included the alphabets and numbers, but it included pages and pages of words and phrases used in/on electronics parts.

The brand was LetraSet Instant Lettering Dry Transfer. The box itself was very old, dated 1964 IIRC (got it in the garage now). I haven't used any of them yet so I can't speak for how they work. But I thought that the dry lettering might be another method you can use to identify what you need if stamping isn't an option.

Thanks. I think I have the middle size from Harbor Freight, which would be 3/8" They have the 1/8", 3/8" and 1/4" sets. They do have the set which is built to go on the end of a modified automatic center punch (put the letter in the end of the punch, press down, the punch fires and makes an impression--they don't seem to sell it online, so I'll have to take a picture for you). While it is a one-hand operation at that point, I wasn't as happy with the outcome. The modified center punch is a bit on the wimpy side and the shape of the actual stamps makes it VERY hard to line them up (they are hexagonal stamps, instead of square, but the bottom of the letter is NOT indexed to any edge of the hexagon, so it is nearly impossible to figure out if the letter is oriented correctly). The regular stamps are square and the letter is aligned to the sides of the stamp (which is why my strip of metal clamped to the work piece works for aligning them).

The arbor press is an interesting idea for the letter stamps. You would need something to hold them upright (ideally a large block of clear plastic, with a square hole in it). Or, perhaps a block of wood, with a rabbet on one edge, with magnets imbedded in one edge, to hold the steel punches. Perhaps a shorter block metal block with a small pair of vice grips welded on their side to hold the letter stamp and about 1/4 of foam for the base to make it easy to place the punch, but give enough when you press with the arbor. Or a metal fitting over the end of the arbor with a long, square hole to fit the letter stamp. Hmmm...just thinking out loud.

I've spent some time drafting (drawing/architecture) in my life, in high school, and I'm familiar with the rub-on letters. While that would give me a clean look, I don't think it is durable enough for my needs. I think I am going to modify my methods a bit, though, to get an even-more-industrial look. I think I am going to make small copper or brass tags, stamp the label on those, then solid rivet those tags in place.

Thanks for taking the time to post on my thread. Great job on the electrical work in your garage. As you can see, I went a little different route for electrical. Looking forward to seeing what you are going build, now that you have a wonderful place to work. I highly recommend that everyone who reads this go over and check out GirlnAgarage's thread...
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99225

WRT letraset. It's so old it may be too dried up to work by now. If it does transfer onto whatever you want it on, be advised that it is, essentially, wax and it's not too durable. There used to be a clear overspray that was compatible but I don't know if it exists anymore. I recall having some luck with clear lacquer, but it has to be applied very lightly in several coats or it'll disolve the lettering. Perhaps one of the water based clear sprays that are available now would work; don't know. Definitely something to practice a bit on stuff that doesn't matter.

Thanks for the information!

Love it...only thing that scares me is one day someone is going to drop a screw driver in a hole and short the prongs of a plug....

Now you see why I added a ground wire to the Wall Power Extension Custom Tool Board! Just kidding. I can see I will have to be very careful which tool board I put above the power outlets.

Are you in Richmond, Virginia, or just down the road from me, Richmond, East Bay, California? Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to post in my thread.


I appreciate everyone taking the time to post and comment. It makes it easier to take the time into preparing and posting the next update.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

After reading all of your thread this morning I have to say you're doing some nice stuff. I think that you should add a set or transfer punches to your tool kit it would really help with marking out hole locations. A counter balance for your rivet tool could be two pulleys, a piece of rope and a bucket of sand. If your going to do much with sheet metal you may want to consider a Di-Acro # 1 punch. Custom punches are relatively inexpensive for slots and easily available.

Gorilla: You must have been typing while I was. Thanks for the kind words and the ideas.

I've been sorta looking at transfer punches lately. After reading your post, and thinking a little more about it, I see how they might help me more than what I thought they might.

I've been looking at the Di-Acro punches too. They aren't 'next' on my list, but they are something I'd like to have. Next on my list is a Milwaukee portable deep cut band saw (I finally have the money saved up and will be getting it soon).

Do you have any web sites with punches for the Di-Acro machines?

M_P

 

[GirlnAgarage]

WRT letraset. It's so old it may be too dried up to work by now. If it does transfer onto whatever you want it on, be advised that it is, essentially, wax and it's not too durable. There used to be a clear overspray that was compatible but I don't know if it exists anymore. I recall having some luck with clear lacquer, but it has to be applied very lightly in several coats or it'll disolve the lettering. Perhaps one of the water based clear sprays that are available now would work; don't know. Definitely something to practice a bit on stuff that doesn't matter.

Interesting about the clear coat. I never knew that. I'm pretty sure you're right about the lettering set i have being pretty dry. I think I'd use a fresh pack to be safe

What do think about an acrylic coat?

Thanks. I think I have the middle size from Harbor Freight, which would be 3/8" They have the 1/8", 3/8" and 1/4" sets. They do have the set which is built to go on the end of a modified automatic center punch (put the letter in the end of the punch, press down, the punch fires and makes an impression--they don't seem to sell it online, so I'll have to take a picture for you). While it is a one-hand operation at that point, I wasn't as happy with the outcome. The modified center punch is a bit on the wimpy side and the shape of the actual stamps makes it VERY hard to line them up (they are hexagonal stamps, instead of square, but the bottom of the letter is NOT indexed to any edge of the hexagon, so it is nearly impossible to figure out if the letter is oriented correctly). The regular stamps are square and the letter is aligned to the sides of the stamp (which is why my strip of metal clamped to the work piece works for aligning them).

The arbor press is an interesting idea for the letter stamps. You would need something to hold them upright (ideally a large block of clear plastic, with a square hole in it). Or, perhaps a block of wood, with a rabbet on one edge, with magnets imbedded in one edge, to hold the steel punches. Perhaps a shorter block metal block with a small pair of vice grips welded on their side to hold the letter stamp and about 1/4 of foam for the base to make it easy to place the punch, but give enough when you press with the arbor. Or a metal fitting over the end of the arbor with a long, square hole to fit the letter stamp. Hmmm...just thinking out loud.

I've spent some time drafting (drawing/architecture) in my life, in high school, and I'm familiar with the rub-on letters. While that would give me a clean look, I don't think it is durable enough for my needs. I think I am going to modify my methods a bit, though, to get an even-more-industrial look. I think I am going to make small copper or brass tags, stamp the label on those, then solid rivet those tags in place.

M_P

Ah, but my arbor press is already modified to hold punches I had the ram rod drilled and installed a thumbscrew. I use the press for my work work

Anyway, just an idea I'm floating. I've got a letter stamp kit already for my leather work. I figured I'd get a steel letter set and see how it'd work on gauge sheetmetal. I'm wanting to build socket holders and I'd like to label each slot with the size.

I think the tags you have in mind would come out pretty good. Pic please!

 

[machine_punk]

Ah, but my arbor press is already modified to hold punches I had the ram rod drilled and installed a thumbscrew. I use the press for my work work

I think the tags you have in mind would come out pretty good. Pic please!

Great idea! See, you've already thought that through a lot further than I have. I would have made something a lot more complicated than that. I'll bet that helps you quite a bit (I am constantly amazed at the ways you have figured out to get this stuff done). I keep trying to think of something leather I could commission you to build for the studio...just haven't had anything pop out at me yet.

If you are going to use a press, I think you could easily go with the largest size, 1/4".

I had that tag idea last night...still thinking through the details, but I think it will look cool too. I'll definitely post pics.

Well, time to get out and enjoy some time in the studio. Hopefully another update in a few hours.

M_P

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I've been at this one handed thing for almost as long as I was two handed, well still shy a few years, but eh, close enough for government work.

Jigs, clamps, levers - essentially "tools" got really important. Just figuring out how to use them to my advantage is the trick. Its not too bad a gig when I can say I really need more tools

re: leather - If you come up with some kinda wild idea let me know. I'll see what I can do

 

[Tripp P.]

Amazing, that RTR is really looking sharp. The stamping looks good. It takes lots of practice to make them look perfect. I always found scribing a light line to line the letter up to help keep them straight. Fixturing would work great but the letter is never in the same spot on the stamp. I have some stamps that I can put together to make words (5 or say 8 digits at a time) I'll have to get a pic up for you.

Looking great

 

[GirlnAgarage]

That's reminds me, MP for fun google 'steel type holder'.

 

[EdT]

WRT Letraset over coat: I can't cite a specific product, but I think you'll be best off with something w/o hydrocarbon solvents. In the arts and craft area there used to be a product used for sealing prints for decoupage. It was alcohol based and I think it was called treasure sealer. Might still be around. Not sure if Letraset even exists any more.

WRT Metal stamps: All the ones that I have suffer from the problem that the position of the letter on the stamp is not uniform with respect to the edge of the "handle". This makes it hard to line them up against a straight edge to get pleasingly aligned rows of letters. Maybe they're not all like that, but mine are

 

[machine_punk]

Amazing, that RTR is really looking sharp. The stamping looks good. It takes lots of practice to make them look perfect. I always found scribing a light line to line the letter up to help keep them straight. Fixturing would work great but the letter is never in the same spot on the stamp. I have some stamps that I can put together to make words (5 or say 8 digits at a time) I'll have to get a pic up for you.

Looking great

Thanks. Is there some way to scribe a line on aluminum which is easy to remove later? Most of the sources I've seen recommend Sharpie on aluminum and marking fluid/scribing on steel. In general, it seems like the HF stamp sets have the letter pretty much in the same place, relative to the edge of the stamps, but there is too much space between some letters for the words to look right (called 'kerning' in word processing).

That's reminds me, MP for fun google 'steel type holder'.

YIKES! That was fun and the few sets I saw look fabulous, but at $350 a set for 77 letters & numbers, plus more for the special holder. I suspect these letter sets are spaced appropriately (different widths of bar stock), but I guess I'll be doing it manually for a while for that kind of money, since this is a hobby for me and I don't make money doing it.

The manual type holder...
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And the holder for use in an arbor press...
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And here is the HF Automatic Center Punch model I was telling you about earlier. I do NOT recommend it...it is a great idea which was not executed very well in this case. The automatic center punch is wimpy and the the letters are essentially randomly placed within a circle...it is very difficult to get them placed accurately on your work piece...
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WRT Letraset over coat: WRT Metal stamps: All the ones that I have suffer from the problem that the position of the letter on the stamp is not uniform with respect to the edge of the "handle". This makes it hard to line them up against a straight edge to get pleasingly aligned rows of letters. Maybe they're not all like that, but mine are

See the comments above...

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

Pinewood Derby Shark

NIGHTTRAIN (I highly recommend you check out his build thread) started a post elsewhere about building pinewood derby cars and I thought I'd post here about one I built a couple of years ago, while helping my stepsons out with their cars...

The Pinewood Derby Shark...
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M_P

 

[tinbender 66]

The pinewood cars bring back some cool memories (not memories of winning). It was a fun thing to do with my boys.

The rivets bring back memories too although not such great ones. I spent the first two years of my sheet metal apprenticeship working in a "blowpipe" shop. We built huge sawdust collectors and ductwork for sawmills and grain terminals etc. At that time all the duct was hard riveted together which meant the apprentice (me) had to crawl in there with a sack-o-rivets and a bucking bar. Back then I could fit in a 16" round duct haha. The only good thing was that when the journeymen had to go get parts or something I could go to sleep in there. When they came back they'd tap the duct with a hammer and it was back to work. After riveting they had to "lay it up" which meant me following the hammer with the bucking bar while they tightened the seam up. Lotta good memories though. Those blow pipe guys were a different breed.

 

[machine_punk]

Hey Tinbender 66! I've followed most of your build thread...you have some really cool things going on, over there in the Pedestrian Garage.

The Shark car didn't win either (not enough weight in the back to go quickly), but it was a lot of fun helping the boys with theirs and seeing the cars run.

Sounds like you learned riveting from the ground up.

Thanks for stopping by The Aerodrome Studio and taking the time to post!

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

Riveting Practice Pieces for the Boys

I don't feel like I got a whole lot of stuff done in the shop today. This evening, I got my toolbox caught up to where the boys are (go back a few posts...I'm teaching my oldest stepson and his friend to use solid rivets, with this kit from Vans Aircraft...)
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That is just the catalog photo above. We aren't near done with ours. I only have one or two of each of the critical tools and I am busy supervising the boys when they are working, so I just catch up on mine when I can.

Since they are both new to the craft of solid riveting, I don't want the first time they put a rivet gun to a rivet to be on their projects. So, I put together a practice piece for each of them. Just a couple of small pieces of the same thickness aluminum the toolboxes are made of (0.040), with a matrix of lines for rivet practice. I have cut the pieces to size, laid out a grid on them, using a rivet spacing fan, center-punched and drilled the first line of holes for them, and center-punched the second line of holes for them, and sanded the edges and corners even...
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I've done my fair share of practice pieces...
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That way, they have a place to practice, without messing up their projects. To me, the concept of practicing a step before doing it is essential to a turning out a quality product, especially since I am still in the learning phase of riveting (still been doing this for less than a year).

So, we are all ready for our next session of working on toolboxes.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

New Tool - Milwaukee Band Saw

You're probably asking yourself, "What does an orchid have to do with garages?" and I would say, "I bought it for my sweetie at Home Depot, silly." Our last orchid finally lost its flowers after a couple of months, so it was time for a new one. They really like the humid environment of the bathroom, so that is where we keep it.
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I also bought myself something. And, like everything worthwhile, there was absolutely nothing easy about it.

So, I've been wanting a Milwaukee portable, deep-cut, variable speed band saw for a while (ever since cutting parabolas out of that 1/4" aluminum plate the hard way, by rough cutting with a 4-1/2" grinder and a cutting wheel, followed by sanding down to the line with a disc/belt sander...
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That was definitely the 'hard way' to do this. Shortly afterwards, I traded a safari rack for a fabulous used table saw, which is great for long, straight cuts, but not so good for cutting parabolas in a thick plate of aluminum...
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So, the hunt was on for a better saw for cutting curved shapes. I knew with aluminum I COULD get away with a woodworking band saw, but I don't have a hard-core steel cutting saw in the shop, and I'd like to have a saw that CAN do that too. I looked at band saws all over the place, from Harbor Freight, to Grizzly, to the local Home Depot, to (well, you get the idea. Lets just agree that I made an exhaustive review of available metal-cutting band saws).

I have a very small metalworking studio and I didn't want to take up floor space with a stationary metal-cutting band saw, so I decided on a portable saw. This saw is likely going to see a lot of use in my shop, so I decided I wanted to step up from the HF/Grizzly offerings. The Milwaukee deep cut, and its DeWalt twin, seem to be the defacto gold standard for professional metal fabricators. SWAG offroad also sells some neat aftermarket add-ons for it.

It's a little steep brand new, at $300 plus tax or shipping, so I decided to see what I could find on CL and eBay. Hmmm...seems like everyone else REALLY likes their Milwaukee deep cuts too. Lotsa people out there trying to sell an older saw, which has been 'rode hard and put away wet,' for nearly new money. Well, that's not gonna work. Any time I find used for a nearly new price, I think, "Just buy new."

This is going to be a cornerstone piece of equipment for what I do (one of the 5 main saws I use for fabricating aluminum:
- The pneumatic body saw (Got it. For small, curvy cuts),

- The worm-drive circular saw, with a non-ferrous blade (Got it. For straight cuts in large sheets),

- The table saw, with a non-ferrous blade (Got it. For long, straight cuts),

- The portable band saw (Getting it. For curvy or straight rough cuts near the edge of the material),

- And some sort of chop saw (Don't have it yet. Very accurate cross cuts in relatively narrow material). Had a real epiphany on this one today--more to come.

Since it is a saw which will see a lot of use in my metalworking studio, it is a very versatile saw, it is likely that anyone who has a used one has worked it hard and used prices are nearly what new machines cost, the old versions have two speeds instead of the newer variable-speed version, I wanted the most versatility and power possible in this saw, I wanted a portable model, and the fact that the Milwaukee is clearly the standard by which all portable band saws are measured--I decided on a brand new, Milwaukee, deep cut, variable speed, corded, portable band saw.

Then, to raise the funds.

I'm used to finding used industrial tools on eBay and CL (Dotco, Cleco, Sioux, etc.) for pennies on the dollar (or at least four bits on the dollar), not buying new. This saw costs a pretty penny, around $300 brand new, plus tax or shipping, depending on your purchasing preference. $300 isn't going to break the bank for me, but I set a budget for my hobby stuff and do my best to stick to it. Never use credit to buy something which doesn't make you money. I tried Ace Hardware first (because they are locally owned and I want to support local business), but they have a dearth of power tools available with odd, off-brand names. So, on to Home Depot, who has it for $299.

So, along with spending some of my hobby money on current projects, I started saving my pennies to get this saw. Then, the van broke down and I started saving again. Then I worked a few extra hours at work and had enough extra coming in that check to pay for the saw...and had a problem on my time card and got underpaid that check, instead of getting the extra money. Then got an extra check cut for the extra money, cashed it right after work, drove straight to my closest Home Depot, where I've been drooling over this (now rusty) saw for weeks, but they had every model in stock, except for the model I wanted (but I did get an orchid plant for my wife). Frustrated, I went home, since it was time to get one kid off to martial arts training, the other kid off to his one college class (he is 15 and in high school--just started taking one college class at a time, for fun).

So, I hatch this plan on the way home. I've got to run the boy into the city of Napa anyway, for his college class. That just happens to be a couple of blocks away from the next-closest Home Depot. Hmmm...if I volunteer to take the kid to his class, I can stop by the Home Depot, just a few blocks away. OOOH...if I ask the wife to come along while I drop the kid off, then we can stop by Home Depot AND stop at a restaurant for a date night. Hmmm...I sense a plan coming on...

So, that is indeed what happened...dropped the kid off at his college class (he is only 15), stopped by the other Home Depot and picked up the saw and some blades, then went to a restaurant on an out lot of Home Depot for a date night. It was an an epic struggle against the axis of evil, but everything worked out beautifully, in the end.

Oh, you want to see pictures, don't you--well, here is what you want, so I guess EVERYONE gets what they want tonight...

An assortment of blades, which come in packs of two, for $15...
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The outer cardboard sleeve...
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The blow-molded tool case (which could pass for a suitcase)...
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The saw, in its case, without even a blade installed yet...
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There you have it. I cannot wait to get some shop time with this thing and see what it can do. I've got a few ideas for a base for this thing--more on that later.

M_P

 

[flybefree]

Tool ****! I can't wait to see how that thing works out for you...I have been snooping around the metal cutting bandsaw arena looking for a deal myself!

Shaun

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Nice saw. When you use it the first time it will be so easy. You'll be done with the cut before you know it. You'll think, "That's it?' Now that the cut is done, what now? Guess I'll go to the next step in fabbing this" lol

When you've been without a tool and have been doing the work the hard way it is night and day difference. In a way you will think "all that work (the hard way)and this just cuts it n 2 seconds". It almost seems ashame it costs so much, but ten again, good tools do. lol

BTW, I love my Rage 3 metal saw. You'll want to use your saw on everything!

 

[machine_punk]

Dangerous Tools

Yep, I think this portable band saw is going to become one of my Dangerous Tools...tools that are SO easy to use and make a task SO much easier than it was, that you want to use it, just to see it work. It is Just Like Magic, so you waste material and supplies, just to watch the magic.

A couple of my other Dangerous Tools:

this Dangerous Tool, the rivet cutter, cuts rivets to length Just Like Magic and makes me want to just cut rivets to see it do that so effortlessly...
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Instead of this little torture device, which, when used with a disc sander, simultaneously ruins the annealing on the rivet and burns the snot out of the tip of your thumb...
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...and this Dangerous Tool, the pneumatic rivet squeezer, which, once you set it up properly, will squeeze perfect rivets all day long, Just Like Magic...
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but, unfortunately, does not fit everywhere, so you still have to use the regular rivet gun sometimes...
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[mdbeck1]

... Here you see it sitting on my fancy heater shelf (also known as the washer), at the end of my metalworking studio...
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Performance: I didn't have it on long and it was pretty warm in the garage anyway (the fancy garage door opener button has a thermometer built in and it was reading 62 degrees). It did, however, seem to take the chill out of the air after a while. In the future, I will likely set it up and let it run for a while, before going out to work. I think I will also build a mount to attach it to the wall, over my work bench (I'll probably build a bracket which mounts to the top of my Reconfigurable Tool Rack). I found I couldn't continually run it at 1500 watts, since the mini fridge is on that circuit and they don't play well together.

Several folks on GJ recommended a small, electric heater (Thanks: EDT, GIRLINAGARAGE, BOB HEINE, and MDBECK1) (sorry if I missed anyone)

MDBECK1 had the winning solution of specifically using a Milk House Heater.

Overall, I'm happy with this solution for now. For $20, I cannot complain too much. It does seem to take the chill out of the air, which was my original goal.

M_P

uhmmmm.... if you had told me that the clothes drier in the garage I would have let you in on a BIG secret. They put out HOT AIR.

I had a clothes drier in the garage and they sell a valve to go in the drier vent hose. When you want to heat the garage up quick you throw in a load of clothes and vent the air into the closed garage. I load of clothes and I would have the garage from 40F to about 60F.

 

[machine_punk]

MDBECK1 with ANOTHER winning solution!

Took me just a moment to find one online...
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$8.50 (even cheaper than the $20 milk house heater)

Quote from the add copy, "Directs warm, moist air from electric clothes dryers back into your home."

Not sure why I didn't think of something like this. When I lived in England, where clothes dryers are relatively rare (because of the electricity costs), I had a 'direct vent' dryer, since there are very few built-in dryer exhausts in the UK. The dryer was built to just vent directly into the room, with no provision for hooking up a vent tube. I don't remember having a problem with it at the time. Overall, I'm not sure how that will work in the metalworking studio, dumping all the moisture in the air. On the one hand, I usually work in non-ferrous materials. That still leaves tools and a little bit of steel to be worried about. But, in general, the air in the garage should be a lot dryer in the winter, since it will be 'unheated,' except for the few hours a week I am out there working. The garage is hardly and 'air tight' space. Anyway, just thinking out loud there.
I may even do it cheaper than that. The dryer is against an outside wall and the outlet is within easy reach, when the dryer is pulled out. I may just disconnect the hose in the Fall (and stop up the vent hole) and reconnect the hose in the Spring.
Thanks!

 

[shopnut]

Dang M_P, are you ready for full production yet?

Let us know how that saw works out for you - looks like a good one, for sure.

 

[machine_punk]

SHOPNUT: I am starting to feel like I want to start building aircraft-inspired furniture, and not spend as much time on the shop. The wife and I talked about some ideas for decorating the patio...and that includes some airplane-wing-inspired chaise lounges and tables.

My whole goal with starting with the garage fixtures was to learn to do this thing called riveting. I looked back at my sample pieces and set my first rivet in May of 2011...only 8 months ago. I've only been designing and building 'real' riveting projects for 3 months now (and that is VERY part time work on projects).

I was catching up on your thread a couple of days ago...I hope your recovery continues to go well!

M_P

 

[mdbeck1]

MDBECK1 with ANOTHER winning solution!

Took me just a moment to find one online...
View media item 16087
$8.50 (even cheaper than the $20 milk house heater)

Quote from the add copy, "Directs warm, moist air from electric clothes dryers back into your home."

I may even do it cheaper than that. The dryer is against an outside wall and the outlet is within easy reach, when the dryer is pulled out. I may just disconnect the hose in the Fall (and stop up the vent hole) and reconnect the hose in the Spring.
Thanks!

You are welcome...

Please note the following line:
"Directs warm, moist air from electric clothes dryers back into your home."
If you have unprotected and/or cheap steel laying around it might start to get a light rust on it if you get too much moist air in the garage.
Keep a light coating of oil on all of the good tools.

 

[-Brent-]

Here's another one that's does the same thing but the execution is different. It costs more, too. However, I've heard good things about it.

 

[machine_punk]

Band Saw Table

While I really like my new portable band saw, having it set up like a bench-top band saw would come in handy for a lot things I do. I REALLY like the SWAG OFFROAD version (especially version 3). This photo is from the SWAG site...
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Find it here:
http://www.swagoffroad.com/Portaband_V_THREE.html

The price is pretty reasonable, but I consider myself a fair aluminum fabricator. I ought to be able to come up with something like that.

I had a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate left over from cutting out the parts for the two dental light brackets. It seemed just about the perfect size for what I wanted to do, so I didn't cut it down any smaller.

I was going to go ahead and knock together a quick MDF table for it, but I realized I'd just end up using whatever I first built, and probably never going back to build anything nicer.

Here's what I ended up with this evening. It is definitely a 'prototype,' and there are things I am still going to change on this one. I will eventually build a base of some sort for this.For the picture, I propped it up on some wooden blocks in the work table.
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The table top is held in place with the mounting system for the little work piece support that originally comes with the saw. It has a T-slot system, built for using square nuts. I couldn't figure out what size the machine screws were, since they would not fit anything on my thread checker. The screws were larger than '10,' but smaller than 1/4"...
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Until today, I didn't know there was any such size in between 10 (3/16ths") and 1/4" (although it did always seem like a pretty big leap in sizes). At Ace Hardware, which is THEE place to go for unusual stuff, I found one lonely bin in all of the machine screws labeled 'size 12-24 brass and zinc coated steel.' Sure enough, that was the size I needed. I got some flat head machine screws, so that I could make them flush, or slightly recessed, into the 1/4"-thick table top. Since the top will be supporting the whole weight of the saw, I decided to use twice as many screws and nuts (since it was a T-slot, I had options for number and spacing of fasteners)...
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Don't you hate it when you draw a center line, a bolt line, and a blade line on the piece of metal, label them clearly, then proceed to drill the bolt holes in the center line, instead of the bolt line? Yep...I hate that too. I need to make the blade hole a bit larger too. It is very hard to install the blade right now...
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A look underneath the front of the table...
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A shot from the back of the saw...just showing you that I centered the table on the body of the saw, not the blade. I believe that will make it easier to build a support for the table top.
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And an overhead shot...
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It sits nicely on the ground in this configuration too...
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A few more random pics...
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I need to cut some more clearance back here too, right next to where the blade returns to the top wheel. It is tough to get the blade on with this table in the way...
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There you have it. It took a little longer than I expected, but I am pleased with the results. This is definitely a 'prototype' (rough), but it will be helpful to have the saw freestanding for some of my other projects.

M_P

 

[machine_punk]

Band Saw Table

It has been a long week at work (worked 6 out of 7 days). I finally got some time in the studio today...and it was a very frustrating day. We'll get to that story soon.

So, last week, before my busy work week, I bought a Milwaukee Deep Cut Portable Band Saw. I had already cut a prototype table for it, and spent a couple of hours drafting plans for the legs. Here is where we left off...
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I've done a fair amount of aluminum fabrication in the past four months, but I haven't really started building things the way I want to build them...aircraft-like. I absolutely love the look of the modern, metal, spar-and-rib airframe. I want to build furniture which incorporates that look. One of the cool things about that method of construction is just how thin the metal is and how light the structure can be.

So far, I have been fabricating comparably heavy and clunky items. I had a big chunk of 1/4" aluminum plate, which is fabricated and close to ready to assemble for the light brackets (for these two dental lights)...
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The face plates for the Reconfigurable Tool Rack aren't even made out of aluminum sheet, they are made out of aluminum plate (my understanding is that it is 'sheet,' when it is sized by 'gauge,' and it is 'plate,' when it is sized by fractional inches...
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While I am in learning mode (building fixtures and storage for my metalworking studio), I figured it was time to start building with the methods I prefer. Here is my construction drawing of the Band Saw Table. You see exactly what this drawing is for--a full-size drawing used for checking parts for fit...
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This drawing doesn't show what the Band Saw Table will finally look like (although I did draft a drawing with a three elevations). This drawing shows the actual size and shape of the spars and the actual size and shape of the ribs. So, it is a combined view, whose main goal is to give me one drawing to use in the shop to check parts against, while actually fabricating them. (I know--this may not make a lot of sense yet. Just like the RTR, you may have to hang on, until there are pictures to see. It makes sense to me--and for now, that is all that matters. I'll post more pictures as I go). I am calling it a 'double strut,' because a wing normally has one strut across the front (just behind the rounded part) and one strut across the rear (just in front of where the elevators and flaps attach to the wing.) I have the front strut wrapping around to become the back strut, which I think will make it a lot stronger...and a lot more difficult to fabricate...
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Well--time to stop for family game time. We are playing the 'Cashflow' board game tonight. I'll update a little more, later tonight...

 

[EdT]

I've never actually seen one, but there is also a #14 screw size between the fairly rare #12's and 1/4". I know about them because I looked quickly at my tap drill size chart and drilled a bunch of holes and it took a while to figure out why the 1/4" tap was so tight.

 

[machine_punk]

Band Saw Table - Continued

Here's the stack of materials I have already prepped for this project. I cut out:

- three wood plugs, cut from 3/4" MDF, to use as curve templates for shaping the ends of the rib templates (using the 1-11/16" hole saw I already had. This gives me plugs of the inside diameter of the hole saw, or about 1.5").

- I ripped two strips of 3/4" MDF, which are EXACTLY the width of the circular wood plugs I cut. These will be the rib templates.

- I routed 1/4" round-overs on the remaining strip of 3/4" x 2" MDF (the one I used to cut out the circular wood plugs). This will be cut in two and used as a bending form for the spars.

- I ripped a 3" wide, 1/8" bar of 6061 T6 aluminum into two equal strips, just a little narrower than the anticipated final width of the ribs. These will be bent in four places to form the 'double spar' of the base...
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The cool thing about having a full-sized construction drawing is that I don't have to do a lot of math to figure out what the final size of some pieces will be. I can simply draw a line down and derive the final size from something I've already drawn. (This drawing probably won't make much sense to you now. Don't worry...just like the RTR, it will all come together and you will see what it means soon enough. For now, just nod and smile and recognize I got most of the dimensional data for the bottom drawing by drawing lines straight down from the upper drawing)...
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The other cool thing about having a full-size construction drawing is that I can put the actual parts on the drawing and check them for dimensional accuracy, like this strut, which I am simply placing on the drawing to show you that it is, in fact, a 1":1" (full scale) drawing...
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The OTHER other cool thing about a full-size drawing. Here you see how I measured the length of the strut, from the drawing. I used a piece of normal cotton string and followed the outline of the strut on the full-size drawing. Then, I added a couple of inches, just in case, cross-cut the 3"strip to that length with the portable band saw, then ripped that length into two even-width pieces on the table saw (with a non-ferrous blade)...
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Here, you see the two strips of aluminum bar I plan to bend into the 'double spar' design, next to the pieces of MDF which I have routed with a 1/4" roundover bit, then cut in half...
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Here is where today's frustration came in. I don't own a bender OF ANY SORT. So I was trying to come up with ways to bend this material, with what I have in the studio. It was an Epic Fail. That 1-1/2" wide, 1/8" thick piece of 6061 T6 aluminum beat me at every turn. Even when I could get a respectable curve bent into it, getting it to be in EXACTLY The right place (or at least MATCHING the other strut, so I could re-draw the plans with a different strut outline) proved to be more than I was able to accomplish. That is TOUGH stuff. I suspect there is some sort of annealing I could do, to make it easier to bend, but I've only seen that done. I did find a piece of 1/8" All-Clad (the same stuff I use for the face plates of Custom Tool Boards for the Reconfigurable Tool Rack) (I don't know which alloy it is), which bent like BUTTER! Only problem...I have already cut all of that material in my stock up into 19" x different rack space heights, in preparation for building tool boards for them. This is all the further I got with bending the original strips, with my original plan...
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Onto plan two...which definitely (eventually) bent the strips, but wasn't very accurate. RATS! I was very frustrated by this point, and spent a couple of more hours devising more-and-more complicated ways to trying to accurately bend these pieces, using plans three, three-and-a-half, four, and five. (no kidding, two more hours). No luck. GRRR. I need a bender (which is my next BIG tool purchase, but that is going to be down the road, since it will be a Baileigh 3-in-1, 52", brake/roll/shear. That's just under $2k, though. I'm going to have to put back money for a few months to get that.

I finally decided it was time to give up and go to my local metal supplier (EEEK $3.50/pound for aluminum cut offs) and buy some more of the All Clad I used for the face plates--which is just about how far I got today, since it was time to get dinner going for the family. A couple of more days at work, then I should be back in the studio on Friday. Hopefully it will be a more productive, and less frustrating day.
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[machine_punk]

I've never actually seen one, but there is also a #14 screw size between the fairly rare #12's and 1/4". I know about them because I looked quickly at my tap drill size chart and drilled a bunch of holes and it took a while to figure out why the 1/4" tap was so tight.

Yep...that elusive 7/32nds". It'll get you every time. Oddly enough, 7/32nds" has come up a few times in the shop lately. Odd.

M_P

 

[Red Leader]

Glad to see you in full swing still.

Have you checked out GirlinAgarage's thread where she built a metal press brake (I think that is the term?). I'm sure with your skills, you could build a small one and make that metal bending real easy!