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Gizmosity

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Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I've wished for this much space for......30 years or so. I've never lived anywhere that this much space was affordable. A place like this with a 50 minute commute would be $500,000-$750,000 easy where I'm from. Here? Nobody else wanted it. Priced accordingly.

I spent some time with a friend of mine yesterday and delivered some fabricated stuff to a friend of his with a commercial shop at his home. Got the ten cent tour and met a fellow woodworker/custom furnituremaker. Turns out THIS is the guy who has the 16" jointer stored in some barn under a tarp that will be finding its way to my shop. Film at 11:00. I'm not holding my breath that this will be happening soon, but it's going to happen.

Spent some time on the tablesaw last night checking things, adjusting things, etc. Acceptable runout at about .005". I could take the arbor out and touch it up but it's not worth it.

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I finally got around to ordering a throat plate for the saw. Mine didn't come with one and I found a guy on ebay selling them.

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This morning I worked on cleaning out my home office/store room. I'm slowly getting boxes unpacked and finding treasures for the shop. Here's just such a treasure:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forums/i-LNhf8pF/0/0ebf01c9/L/Pattern1-L.jpg{/IMG]

These two bins/boxes hold my great grandfathers patterns for what must have been a two person chainsaw. I "inherited" it because if I didn't take it, the whole thing was going to the dump. It was in my grandmothers attic for....well, my whole life and then some. I was told that he made these patterns around the mid 1930's.

[IMG]https://photos.smugmug.com/Forums/i-WPW69gL/0/c2635c91/L/Pattern2-L.jpg

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This is really the only reason I grabbed those spring clamps. The glue has given up on most of these patterns. He probably used hide glue as he also used to make "fiddles". I figured I'd glue the sprocket back together and display some of these. Maybe use the cylinder pattern for bookends? Not sure. I was 3 when he died so, I never really met him, although I may have spit up on him. He was a pretty ingenious guy and I don't think he had electricity at the time. I'm pretty sure this was all done by hand and with a treadle lathe.

Sadly, he was laughed at when he took these to a foundry to have them cast. He obviously knew a bit about the casting process. He has split patterns and core boxes. Unfortunately he didn't really know about DRAFT. None of these parts has any. They would never pull out of the sand. Too bad.
 
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jdcompman

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Oct 2, 2008
Messages
658
Location
South Dakota
Finally far enough for a puller to finish the job.

Just a tip on something I've done before. When my puller arms weren't long enough to reach a bearing, I just cut 6 new pieces of 1/8" flat stock, drilled some holes and replaced the short ones on the puller. This way I can just make whatever length I need.
 
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Gizmosity

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Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Just a tip on something I've done before. When my puller arms weren't long enough to reach a bearing, I just cute 6 new pieces of 1/8" flat stock, drilled some holes and replaced the short ones on the puller. This way I can just make whatever length I need.

Right now the only materials I have on hand are 2x4's and some 5/4 maple and cherry. I ransacked my friends shop across the street for ANYTHING and found a larger puller, but the "claws" were so large that they wouldn't stay on the bearing. I'm placing an order at a steel yard about 50 miles from here and grabbing a few sticks of 1/8" and 1/4" flat stock as well as 3"x3" angle and 3"x2" rec. tube for the new table saw fence. I will be ready to do exactly that next time.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Yesterday I fired up the ManVan and headed out to the surplus store. They have thousands of 4'x6-1/2' sheets of 5/8" OSB with 3 6' 2x4's nailed them. They were used for some pallet racking shelving inserts. They get $3 each. That's all she will hold.

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I wanted 12 of them but 8 was all that would fit. So hopefully I can tear this dog piss air freshener apart

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And with all those materials, make something to hold this

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My future mother in law has sheets of old tin stacked up that I can grab.

I also lost at least 2 maple trees in the last storm that I need to cut up and stack. I have a 12'x20' foot pad out back that all of this is going on. I didn't have anywhere else to put it at the time. But the humidity in the shop is so bad, they have to go. I don't like moving firewood more than I have too. There's room on the pad to run a log splitter that my neighbor needs a place to store and I can use whenever I want.

Spent a bit of time on the mower and got a new fiber button installed.

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Carb float bowl had a pin hole in it and it would scream like mad downhill and nearly die going uphill. Got that sorted out. Mow deck has sharp blades and a new set ready to go.

Sitting right next to all those 2x4 /OSB panels was a nice blue 5'x5' (approximately) machine table with a 1" top that looked to be Blanchard ground. Asked around, $0.30 a pound. They estimate $550. I swear he said it was 1400lbs. That's $420. I might offer $0.25 a pound, which would be $350. The thing is only 2 feet tall so it's not like it doesn't need some work. Although, technically I haven't scrounged any welders yet besides my future brother in laws buzz box he brought over. It's beyond the capacity of my trailer, too big for my neighbors trailer too and my car wouldn't pull it....but the ManVan could.

I think I've got enough projects at them moment. Since this is the second table I've stumbled across in a week I'm in less of a hurry to have 1400lbs of table to move around and not use for a year or two.

I finally actually measured the interior space and the shop is actually 30x60, which is what I thought it was. It was listed as 30x70 and I never measured until yesterday. I was doing some hypothetical machinery placement and it wasn't working out....each side is missing about 5' so at least that makes sense now.

The finished side I'm in now will eventually be for automotive/metal fab. For the time being though it's going to be a wood shop. Eventually I will get the other side finished and move all the woodworking stuff to that side. Maybe eliminate a bay door on that side as well. The side I'm currently in has large space on either side of the single 10' bay door. The other side has walls right up against the bar door tracks.

The biggest hang up in the whole plan is that the former owner still has some **** in there. I gave her 30 days....it's been 4 months. She's almost got it all out. I got word to her that it was going to the dump shortly and I'd sell the snowblower to pay for my trouble. She's been over twice in the last 5 days loading her car after a 2 month absence.

I won't have my friend bring stuff over until she's out and the locks are changed. Then everything that isn't wood related gets moved to the other side, he can bring his stuff over to clean out his basement so he can start the basement remodel on his place, and have a place to build cabinets/trim/doors in.

I need to place a steel order and order the tablesaw fence/guide bar. Then I can make the out feed tables after he brings his saw over.

Next summer I won't really have any time for this stuff. We're getting married next summer and I'm also replacing all the windows in the house, moving the front door, extending the rafter tails and the overhang (currently there's NONE) on about 20' of the back of the house, installing Tyvek and basically re-siding the whole place.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Today didn't ****.

Started with this:

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Took out about 200 drywall screws/nails/lag bolts/sheetmetal screws and disassembled.

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It was raining for most of the day. Didn't get anything else built, just demo'd. Still need to get some roofing tin. Still need to finish cleaning up a bit, then close off those holes on the outside. I will most likely just screw some old steel roofing/siding over the outside. The vinyl is pretty nasty where the kennel was. The house and shop have the same vinyl siding. When I re-do the house next summer I will buy quite a bit of new stuff for the front of the house. Then I can re-use that for the back of the shop.

I still need a shovel. I used a snow shovel I paid $1 for at a garage sale to scrape the *whatever* off the floor. I also got my shop broom there, also $1. The local Citywide Garage Sale is going on right now. Not one shovel for sale in town. I need to hit an estate sale. Rakes, shovels, hoses...I need it all.

In other news I decided to bid on some equipment at some local and semi local online auctions.

Saturday will find me at the Farmers Market helping my fiancée with her booth, as always. Then we are headed north for a weekend with some friends at their families cabin on some lake.

I hope when we come back, all her **** is gone.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
The lake was great. Rained quite a bit but that was fine. Stayed up most of the night catching up with friends and drinking great home brew.

On the way home we stopped at the most depressing place I've ever been....a flea market in northern Wisconsin. I walked away with a $0.25 Red Devil paint scraper. She walked away with minor food poisoning from a not so good egg roll.

Got home to find some boxes waiting for me.
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New throat plate for the Walker Turner table saw.

I'm bidding on a cabinet saw currently and I think my odds are pretty good at getting it at a decent price. I'm holding off on buying materials for a new fence for this saw until after this auction is over in a couple of days. If I get the cabinet saw, I'll re-install the factory fence and make new out feed tables for this one and sell it. If not, I'll stay with my old plan.

Hopped on the mower and got about 30 yards before the muffler fell off (my own fault). Reinstalled the muffler and got just about as far when I noticed the belt wasn't tensioned right. Re-evaluated tension on the new fiber button on the PTO. 30 yards of mowing and the fiber button sheared off.

~ sigh~

Glad I bought two of them. I'm building up the patience to go out and mess with it again.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
In Cub Cadet news:

Determined that when the fiber button disintegrated that it generated enough heat to destroy the steel spring in the PTO housing. It was softened and deformed. Yikes. I need to do a bit more research on that to determine the root cause. I maybe should have replaced the steel button that the fibre button rides on to engage the clutch....? More forums to scour.

I had bid on some equipment and won one of the two lots. I missed out on a Delta DJ-20 8" jointer, but the price got out of hand. It wasn't under power and they listed it as "untested". I couldn't pay more than $650 for a jointer I couldn't test, although I went to $680. The early DJ-20's had a quirky fence that quite a few folks hated. I had one.....and I hated it. I also had to go through 3 fences to get one that wasn't warped. I let somebody else take that risk. I think it went for just under $700. Might have been a swinging deal. Might have saved myself a whole lot of grief.

Besides, this afternoon I bought an 8" jointer for $300...and I was able to plug it in, turn it on and verify the bearings were good, the tables were true, etc. Nice little jointer.

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It IS a little jointer. The tables are only 40" long. It's a Wallace. It has a 4 knife "skewed" cutterhead so it should produce a pretty fine surface on figured woods.

I re-wired my trailer using some wire loom I picked up for $4 at the surplus store in record time so I could meet to get the jointer at 2pm about 60 miles from home.

Made it back just in time to toss my bicycle on the rack, change my clothes and meet at a friends house for a quick 20 mile ride. Right as I pulled in front of his house it just poured. We decided to just hang out in his shop, drink beer and wrench on bikes instead.

The auction I won was an older Grizzly cabinet saw. I've owned a few in the past and the ones I had were solid machines.....even though the blade tilts to the right (which, while identical to older Unisaws, in my book is dumb). The price was right. So, I'll finish up the Walker Turner saw using the factory fence ,which is still about a 38" wide rip capacity, and sell it. I think it's a great saw. It's between a contractors saw and a cabinet saw. It just doesn't have the weight of a cabinet saw.

There is still a 16" jointer coming sometime this fall. I am still on the prowl for a 15"- 20" planer and a dust collector or cyclone too. I've also just about burnt through my mad money.

Tomorrow I bid my fiancée farewell for a couple of weeks while she's out of the country. Time to stock up on pizza rolls.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I forgot to buy Pizza Snacks.......

I did go to the store though and I know I spent $60 on *food* but there's nothing to eat besides grapes, watermelon and Cinnimon Toast Crunch.

Ran into town to pick up my tablesaw.

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Not in too bad of shape. A little rusty on the inside of the base. Motor looks new. Also looks like it's been beat on for a while. A bit of paint, maybe some bearings, a new fence and out feed tables and it'll work just fine for me. Next winter I hope to be making new kitchen and bathroom cabinets with this saw.

Got ALL the firewood out. The firewood rack isn't complete but it's close. Need some more lumber and some tin for the roof. That'll be next years firewood. This year I doubt we will burn, unless I buy firewood. Our house has a back up wood furnace tied into the main HVAC system. I'd prefer that the propane furnace play backup to the wood furnace.....not this year.

Playing around with Autocad and tool placement in the shop for wood tools. There's really only one place to put the tablesaw because of doors and the water hydrant screwing up other locations. Trying to make it a usable space but also considering that it's temporary so I'm not wanting to invest a great deal of money in stuff that won't stay. Need to run at least 4 220V outlets for jointer, planer, tablesaw and dust collector. I don't have the planer or dust collector yet, but unless I find some absolute beast of a planer I'm pretty sure I can prewire for them.

Starting tomorrow I'm moving everything that's not woods related over to the other side of the shop. After I come back with more materials for the wood rack that is. And some new parts for the mower.

Grapes and watermelon for dinner.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I worked all day but don't really have much to show for it.

Ran to the surplus place and bought the last of the materials for the firewood rack. Hoping to grab steel roofing tomorrow. The firewood is in it and now I can start cutting up those two big maples that came down a few weeks ago and have a place to stack it.

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I also found some sketchy glass cleaner.

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I figured for a buck I'd give it a shot. It's Ingersol Rand branded. It's good stuff! I used to detail used cars for some quick cash when I was in college and got used to aerosol glass cleaner. I was out and I can't stand the dirt on those big windows. Next time I go back there I'll buy more. Haven't tried the graphite spray yet. I was going to clean the inside of the mow deck and then coat it with that. If it sprays well we might pick up all that's available for coating foundry patterns. $2 a can is a pretty good deal, although it's a smallish can. We go through quite a bit of the stuff.

I started moving everything over to the other side, starting with the 900lb, super awkward Johnson saw.

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After I got that beast set down, I sat down.....and that's pretty much been how I've spent the rest of the evening.
 
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zcar751

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Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
831
Location
Knoxville, TN
Interesting items you got from your grandfather. They will make great wall pieces. Also nice tool finds. I have always wanted a cabinet saw but can't justify the cost when I have a capable contractor saw that was the top of the line when I bought it.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Interesting items you got from your grandfather. They will make great wall pieces. Also nice tool finds. I have always wanted a cabinet saw but can't justify the cost when I have a capable contractor saw that was the top of the line when I bought it.

Thanks! I didn't really want those patterns at the time but I couldn't see them going to the dump. Fast forward 10 years and I'm teaching classes that involve pattern and foundry work. I have used these as teaching aids and examples of split patterns/core boxes and explaining draft/negative draft. I wish I'd have been able to talk to him about it. Maybe our family name would be associated with chainsaws now?

I will most likely have a contractor saw in the garage. I'm leaning toward a Paulk style bench and a portable Dewalt saw during the house remodel. I will be buying a large quantity of maple and making all the interior doors/jambs/trim/cabinets. For that a cabinet saw really makes a lot of sense in the shop. I'm also really spoiled as I've had access to large commercial saws for most of my career. I've *hotrodded* a few contractor saws in the past trying to save some cash. They worked fine at the time for what I was doing but when I stepped up my game and started doing high end kitchens and commercial work a cabinet saw (several of them) became a requirement.

I picked this current saw up on the cheap at auction for less than a new contractor saw. I'm still looking for a used Powermatic 66 single phase saw though.

(And a shaper. And a planer. And a dust collector. And a Multirouter. And.......)
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Finally got some steel roofing material today.

So this barn blew off its foundation many years ago. Some family members and neighbors got half of it completely down with tractors and the materials were re-used and the framing cut up and used as firewood. This half is leaning against a huge tree and it simply *won't* come down. I'm not getting in there with a chainsaw. It'll fall when it's damn good and ready. In the mean time I can salvage some stuff.

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I was surprised when I pulled the first piece off that the stud cavities were crammed with what looks like planer or jointer chips. Turns out the corner I was getting the steel off of used to house the well pump so this was the insulation.

Pretty sad really, there's obviously stuff inside, but whatever was in there is most likely crushed. If it's not crushed, it's rusted or rotten after 20 years. I spied some large steel wheels or gears from some equipment. I might talk to her about pulling them out and maybe making some table bases for family members or something.

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I got all I needed. Price? I mowed a couple of acres and gave her our CSA vegitable share for the week. Minus the fresh cilantro.
 
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ScatPak

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
21
Location
Missouri
About your PTO clutch on your Cub , do you think you may have the button to tight against the clutch ?? It doesn't take much pressure to engage the clutch.

Check this link ...

http://onlycubcadets.com/

A bunch of good people with alot of knowledge about Cub Cadets. There is alot of info about Cubs , but this is my favorite go to site.

Look in the Technical Library for Tractors and you can download the SERVICE MANUAL for your tractor and there is info on your mechanical clutch in the Tech Tractor Library.

I have been working on Cubs for awhile and if you need some help shoot me some mail .

Darrell
 

Bib Overalls

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Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
3,318
Location
Jonesboro, Arkansas
If it has been rotting for 20 years it might be ready to be more cooperative. I've found that with a little careful planning and some patience you can get something like that down safely by taking small bites. Get a cable in side and around something solid and try the tractor again.

What are those steel tanks for? They could be useful again or sold for scrap.
 
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Gizmosity

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Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
About your PTO clutch on your Cub , do you think you may have the button to tight against the clutch ?? It doesn't take much pressure to engage the clutch.

Check this link ...

http://onlycubcadets.com/

A bunch of good people with alot of knowledge about Cub Cadets. There is alot of info about Cubs , but this is my favorite go to site.

Look in the Technical Library for Tractors and you can download the SERVICE MANUAL for your tractor and there is info on your mechanical clutch in the Tech Tractor Library.

I have been working on Cubs for awhile and if you need some help shoot me some mail .

Darrell

Thanks Darrell, I may take you up on that. I have a print copy of the service manual from Binder Books that I found at the same website. I *thought* I had it adjusted to spec. Obviously I didn't. I have a neighbor with a 149 and eyeballed the PTO on that and the engagement tolerance looked about the same. I thought it was a lateral adjustment issue because the steel and fiber buttons weren't engaging perfectly lined up. I don't see any way to laterally adjust, and hold, the engagement arm. Talked to some folks and they all said that was normal and it would seat itself. Doesn't make sense. If I set the tolerance with it lined up, but it won't stay lined up, the PTO doesn't fully engage. If I tighten the gap up to make up for it, then it's too tight and I melt the clutch arm spring.

I bought a new steel button. I will re-use my old clutch arm spring because you have to buy the whole clutch disc kit to get one. (Not the screwed up one, but the old one I replaced).

Going to tear into it and try again in the next couple of days. I will likely post a ton of photos here.

Thanks for the post and offer. I figure I'll get this all straightened out about the time I need to pull the deck and start plowing snow.
 
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Gizmosity

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Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
If it has been rotting for 20 years it might be ready to be more cooperative. I've found that with a little careful planning and some patience you can get something like that down safely by taking small bites. Get a cable in side and around something solid and try the tractor again.

What are those steel tanks for? They could be useful again or sold for scrap.

She doesn't really care anymore, I asked about tearing it down for her and she basically asked me "what do you want to waste your time doing that for, it'll come down all by itself?" So I dropped it. I think she might be attached to it and the memory of her late husband who built it. Those steel tanks are 20-30 feet long, 4 feet deep and 5-6 feet wide. There's two of them. The second floor is partially resting on them. Part of the reason it's stayed up as long as it has. I have no idea what they were for. She has rented the acreage to other farmers for quite a while and doesn't farm herself. I think they used to grow corn and melons. Now it's 200 acres of wheat.
 
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Gizmosity

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Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I have a 250 mile bike ride coming up next week......I'm so out of shape.

So, no work in/on the garage, the shop, the house and screw the firewood. I'm riding my bike every day. 30 brutally hilly miles yesterday and a nice easy 22 miles on semi flat ground today. I was miserable yesterday. Today was fun again and I remember how much I like to ride. Mainly because I rode with a couple people in better shape than me yesterday so the pace was out of my comfort zone. I really only have 1.5 lungs....hills cause me to lose my breath a little faster than most. Factor in that I'm a big fat slob too.

Today was my pace, my ride, and I could just listen to music, ride along the river valley, watch eagles and smell the dead deer carcasses.

I also stopped and had lunch and a ginger beer.

I won't be in the best of cycling shape for this upcoming ride, but I won't be the worst.

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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
Last year I ran a pair of Soma Sparrow bars. Never got used to them and they hurt my wrists. Some people swear by them. Gave them a shot but it didn't work. Because I knew I was going to experiment with bars, I had my cables made extra long to accommodate swapping bars. I was close to buying a set of Jones 'H' bars but I tried a set of trekking bars first and that's what I'm still running this year.

Swapping bars screws everything up for fitment. Have to swap stems and adjust the seat, which Brooks saddles don't have much rail to adjust. Had to get a setback seatpost.

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I'm still adjusting the seat in tiny increments trying to dial it in. I'm just a bit off. Made some more adjustments today before I take off on today's ride. I also put a bit of lipstick on her. I named the bike "Hotlips Houlihan" when I bought the frameset two years ago, so it needed to be done.

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jbmatth

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Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Messages
5,681
Location
Northern Ok.
I'm a fellow cyclist, and have done quite a bit of riding in the past, but haven't ever really broken the 100 mile mark other than one time. That is one heck of an undertaking, and I look forward to the story of your journey. Also you have some really interesting things in that shop of yours, keep up the great work and I'll keep following along.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I'm a fellow cyclist, and have done quite a bit of riding in the past, but haven't ever really broken the 100 mile mark other than one time. That is one heck of an undertaking, and I look forward to the story of your journey. Also you have some really interesting things in that shop of yours, keep up the great work and I'll keep following along.

I may have not put my words together properly to really explain this ride. It's 250 miles, but over 4 days. This is an annual unsupported ride with a group of friends. I think 12 people are going this year. Thankfully one of them is an EMT.

I in no way meant to imply that *I* am riding 250 miles in one day.

60 miles loaded with camping gear is a big enough goal this year.

Congrats on your century! That's an accomplishment most people can't even imagine.
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
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376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I started riding with all my gear on the bike yesterday. When I did my first tour, an 1800 mile wandering route around Lake Michigan, via Dubuque, with a stop in Ashland (not a direct route by any means) I pulled a Bob trailer, which worked fine. You can however pack WAY TO MUCH ****. Packing too much isn't a big deal in a car. On a bike you have to lug ALL that stuff everywhere you go.

I've thinned my gear drastically since then.

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The only items going with me that aren't in this shot are those items attached to my bike (water bottles, sunscreen, phone, etc. in a small frame bag) and toothpaste, because I need to get a tiny tube before I leave.

This particular tour is only 4 days and the route is such that I know I won't be cooking so there's no food or cooking gear coming. I pared down so much that I was able to elininate my rear panniers for this trip. I do have drink mix and 6 granola bars. I can fit snacks on board.

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The rear bag looks heavy....it just holds my tent and it weighs about 2lbs but the bag is really hard to purge the air out of.
It'll be a little sparse and spartan this trip. But, the less you carry the more you enjoy the ride.
 
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madoc1

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Dec 11, 2012
Messages
1,242
Location
spicewood, tx
good luck. I understand about the lungs.. I would be better off if I did something like this. my capacity is about 35% now.

jim only 99 here today!
 
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Gizmosity

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Jun 17, 2014
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376
Location
SW Wisconsin
good luck. I understand about the lungs.. I would be better off if I did something like this. my capacity is about 35% now.

jim only 99 here today!

Oh, man, 35%? If physical activity will help, I can't recommend cycling enough. I started during my physical therapy after my motorcycle wreck with a recumbent excercsie bike when my ribs were still very painful. I pedaled in my living room and watched Cheers and News Radio episodes on Netflix.......there's a lot of them. I had never really cycled prior to my accident, but it was about the only physical activity I could safely do, besides walk and eat French toast. I happened to live in a third floor walk up at the time. Taking walks was pretty dangerous being by myself. I sometimes couldn't make it back up the stairs. I lost quite a bit of my lung capacity in my right lung that won't ever come back. I hope you're able to increase yours.

Very cool bike trip!!! I try to ride every day...

Keep trying man....don't let it slide.
I also TRIED to ride every day. Then I moved 50 miles from my job so I lost a couple hours everyday with the commute. I was still riding 100 miles a week. Then winter hit. I bought some base layer wool, cycling boots, put pogies on the handlebars. Then the snow/ice hit, so I bought this:

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Then it just got so damn cold last winter that I couldn't ride at all. I mean it was COLD.

Then we bought this house/shop in early March, so another great excuse to NOT ride.

I think I will do OK on the coming ride. I'm sure I'll be toward the back of the group for most of the ride and I'll sleep good at night. I want to keep riding into winter and see if I can do some organized fatbike rides in the snow that vary from 50 to 100 miles.

I've been hitting 25 miles everyday with no problem. Monday I'm going on an 85 mile ride with a couple friends. That should be interesting.
 
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Gizmosity

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I swore I wasn't going to spend any more money on "metals" tools and concentrate on getting a wood shop up and running. But........

Lonesome wall, before:

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Lonesome wall, after:

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I couldn't read the front of the machine in the Craigslist ad if it was a Miller EconoTwin or an EconoTwin HF. It wasn't an HF. But got the welder and the 3x5 table with a 3/8" thick top that's pretty flat. Might grind the welds holding the top on and weld in some tabs and bolt it down in order to level the top. Weld some plates on the legs and attach some locking casters.

$200.
 
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Gizmosity

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Man I wish I could score a deal like that!!!

I am actually kind of amazed at the deals on Craigslist within about 200 miles of me. Lots of farmers going to auctions and dragging stuff home and storing them in the barn.

The guy I bought these from got them at an estate auction a few farms down the road from his farm and was selling them because he said he was afraid to use them in his barns. I saw the insides of some of them. I wouldn't weld in them either. I bet he got these super cheap. I wasn't really interested in the welder, but it worked. It's a Miller. I can paint it, put new Miller emblems on it and re-list it and get my money back if i really wanted to. I might play around with scratch start TIG with it. I've got a kinetic sculpture project idea out of stainless 1/8" rod I have been acquiring bits for. Maybe I could use it for that? :dunno:

Zero shop anything today. Today I met a few ladies and we headed out for a ride.


Our destination was technically the Capital Building, but Ian's Pizza was the real reason I was interested in this ride. 44 miles and all is well.

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84.47 miles later and I feel a bit like someone tore off my legs and then beat me with them.

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Gizmosity

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I guess I got really busy.........Haven't been on here for months and months. With so many projects I just kept at it every spare moment. I've actually gotten quite a bit done.

I picked up this saw at an auction for a good price and proceeded to tear it down and see what I got.

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Lots of caked on sawdust, lots of "custom" features, but overall it's in good shape. I bought new bearings but the ones in the saw seemed good so I let it go. There was/is a sheetmetal shield mounted in the front of the saw to keep sawdust from spraying through the front slot....it rattles and it drives me nuts. When I do decide to replace the bearings I'll remove it.....unless I can McGuiver it off through the throat plate opening.

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Run-out is .002" at the outside of a 10" blade...better than on a couple of new saws I've bought.

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Once I was OK with the condition, I bought a new fence from Very Super Cool Tools....and it is just that.

Since the saw came with a stock fence and not enough rip capacity, I had to buy some steel and make my own front rail as well as weld up some table supports.

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Got it mocked up and made sure it checked out.

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Painting was a bear...it was cold. So while I let paint cure I started on the outfeed table and the extension tables.

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After I got it assembled and in place, I started looking at those black cabinets that house hardware storage drawers......it was 5/8" to tall to fit between the top and bottom rails.......so I butchered it.

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I had to create feet to raise them up enough for the flipper doors to open, but they fit perfect.

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They also created a problem with mounting the top of the outfeed table so I had to weld up some supports to fit over them and allow me to attach/level the table top.

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I used Baltic birch for the extension tables and put some inexpensive plastic laminate on them, then leveled everything, mounted the extension legs I made and then bolted the front rail and back angle iron in place and FINALLY was able to use the saw.

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It took a while, but I finally found a stick on tape long enough that read in inches and millimeters. I have 98-1/2" of rip capacity to the right and about 30" to the left. I basically just used 12' sticks of steel. I could have gone shorter but I like being able to square up full 8' sheets before I start ripping and crosscutting.

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I also knocked out a 10' tall plywood rack

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A nice steel table showed up one day that some company was going to put into a dumpster. I got a text asking if I wanted it and it just showed up. I plan on welding up some brackets to hold locking casters and only raise it maybe 1/2" from the height it is now. I like having a low assembly table as well as a standard bench....which I still don't have.

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A morticer of a friend of a friend needed a new home. I don't own it, but I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. I'm still not sure if it'll continue to live where I put it, but I can still cut over 8' of material without banging into it so that's where it lives. I also threw a drawer unit I picked up for a couple bucks on a riser and put it under the left extension of the saw. I keep blades, throat plates, stuff like that in there. I have another one I'll mount on the far right of the saw for planer and jointer knives and all the "stuff" to adjust them.

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There's a long list of other little things and an even longer list of stuff left to do. I got a 15" planer off a guy and just need to do some fiddling with it to eliminate some snipe. The jointer I bought over the summer got all tuned up and new knives installed and the motor decided to die. I hope to get that into a shop for repair tomorrow. The motor is an intigral part of the machine, the fence mounts to it so it's not as easy as just throwing another motor in it.

Anyway, that's a start to getting caught up......
 
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jbmatth

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Wow, you have definetly been a busy little beaver there! I like the table saw with the size of extensions you've built into it. Keep at it this is going to be a great "little" shop!
 
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Gizmosity

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I spent a bit of time in the shop over the last couple of days, although I didn't accomplish much.

I finally, FINALLY, got the table saw, extension and out feed tables level and flat. I have been chasing "level and flat" off and on for a couple of weeks.

I ended up adding 5 flat head bolts countersunk into the table top and through the 2" angle on the back side of the saw. Now the two don't move independently of each other.

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Then I was comfortable routing the miter slot grooves into the top.

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Got the hardware cabinets leveled and in place and the doors have just enough clearance.

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Now I can start actually setting things up and finding permanent homes for tools I've accumulated over the last 12+ years.

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Lots of room there....

Sifting through boxes of stuff I found my maglite and a tool tube I bought during my KLR days to mount on the bike for tools....which I never actually did because it was too small.

Fits the Maglite though....

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Gizmosity

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SW Wisconsin
I've been having technical difficulties copying photo URL's with my IPad....it just wouldn't copy them. Just did an OS update and now, in a very convoluted/roundabout way, I can.

So.......I've been doing a few things over the last week or so.

I got my jointer motor back from the motor shop. Not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. He got it back into service for $75 and it should last another 60-70 years.

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Neat coupler actually. It's got a small crack in one of the six holes but it should last a long time and 'someday' I may have to make a new one.

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The fence attaches to the motor so it was a sigh of relief when it was worth repairing. I was thinking of ways to cobble some secondary shaft with a pulley on it and mounting a motor below. No worries now.

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I really wasn't all that interested in this jointer when I first saw it. It's a short bed, like 40", which is really too short to flatten long stock. But the skewed 4 knife cutter head really helps on figured woods. Not as much as some of the new helical cutter heads out there, but this was real cheap.

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Finally jammed the stereo in a cabinet and made a little spot for my IPod.

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Yesterday I got tired of my clamps jammed in a barrel and messed around with a little organization of that.

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Then my neighbor came by and we started talking about an addition to the shop. A 16' shed addition all down the back and one side, so about a 1400 sf project. Not anytime soon, but eventually.
 
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Gizmosity

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SW Wisconsin
Been plugging away....

Some time ago, I picked up about 50 pieces of 3/4"x24"x42" MDF from a company that cuts them out of sheets to make trade booths lighter. I think I paid $2 each. So each of these cabinets cost me less than $8 of materials.

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Of course partway through assembly of the first one, my PC BN200 pin nailer, that I've had for 20 trouble-free years? It blew a seal. Rebuild kit....$40. New Hitachi? $59. Thankfully Amazon Prime got it here quick and I got the other 3 boxes assembled as well as some toe kicks out of scrap plywood from the old kennel that was in half the shop.

Definitely a high spot in the floor. Thankfully it's right in the middle of the run so I don't have the end box shimmed up an inch or two.

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Now for the next issues.....my chop saw.

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I bought this Makita LS1211 right when they came out. 60 degrees right AND left, over 12" of crosscut...it was amazing when it first came out. And it was around a grand. I bought it and it paid for itself immediately. Then I got a divorce and put the saw in storage......for about 13 years. I lent it out for a month. It came back with what I thought was a bent blade. My fault, should have had them provide their own blade. Replaced the blade.....it's not the blade. Replaced the blade flanges....and that's not it either. I need to get it into a repair place. Hope it's just bearings. The original blade isn't dull yet....that's how much use this saw has seen.

But....I can't really continue with the chop saw area until I determine if I'm keeping this saw or not. If I keep it, the cabinet tops will be about 33-34" deep. If it's not worth fixing (which I'm not ruling out) I'll just buy a 12" non-sliding chopsaw for a couple hundred bucks and be done with it. AND the cabinet tops only need to be 25" deep.

Limbo land.

In the mean time, I discovered that Biesemeyer (now Delta) no longer produces their chop saw stops. I LOVED those things. So much so that I may just fabricate something quite similar. For the fence, I'm looking at 8' to the left and 6' to the right. I may buy 80/20 1501-LS instead of building my own fence. We'll see. Can't really do much until I find out what saw I'll be using.
 
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Gizmosity

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376
Location
SW Wisconsin
I've tried posting a couple of times over the last couple.....ok....more than a couple...months. My IPad and this interface do not like each other. If I click to add a photo I'm immediately logged out. I've been working from home in the evenings quite a bit and it just hit me that I could actually do this on my work laptop.....so, I am.

I had a birthday recently and thought I'd treat myself to a new bench. I found a sweet deal on some Beech so I bought a big pile of that and had some Amazon gift cards to blow so I picked up a new Wilton vise. Been looking for a couple years for a decent used vise but nothing has shown up close enough to actually buy it before someone else.

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"Some assembly required"

Got the base pretty well done:
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The top was done in 5 big hunks. I still need to glue those together some evening this week or maybe this weekend.

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I had a couple pieces of cherry that I've been lugging around for the past 7 years and decided I needed to quit looking at them and use them for something. So, I've always admired the sawhorses James Krenov used so I made a set. I have some more cherry and I might make another set. They're really handy and nest really well to store in a small space.

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My first try at through, wedged, pillowed tenons. Turned out pretty good. My next set will be better.

I finally got a crosscut sled finished.

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Most of the beech I bought was great material but none of it was really straight enough to finish straightening on my short bed 8" jointer. When I bought the jointer I knew it wasn't going to help much on 8 foot stock. First thing I try to do with it? Yep. So I dug around and found some clamps and made a board straightener-outer to straight line rip each piece to get me in the ballpark before I started jointing.

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I threw some tools up on the wall the other day. 20+ years ago I really thought having a traditional style tool chest next to my bench would be the way to go. After a few years of bending over and sliding tills in and out and I gave up on it. I gave away the main body of it during one of my many moves, but I kept the tills. I just screwed them to the wall and added a shelf. Works fine for now.

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Anyway, I've been making slow progress. My summer was full of fun and kept me out of the shop for most of it. Got married and took a month long bicycle trip through Montana, Idaho and Oregon, kinda sorta for a honeymoon, although she stayed home.
 
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jbmatth

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Jun 3, 2013
Messages
5,681
Location
Northern Ok.
That is a pretty good idea for straight line ripping a curved board like that. Well done on the bench and say horses as well. Hopefully the bicycle trip was well worth it that is something I'd love to do but don't have the time right now. Keep us posted on future projects/progress.
JB
 
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