Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[Strouty]

Thanks 86, things were a bit better, until I opened my email this morning. Now things are stable, still trying to put out a few fires. Tonight may be a long night, again.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

The first thing I did was to try and use one of the Bosch "Rexroth" T-nuts on a piece of 80/20, so I am glad you have some knowledge about them as trying to find used pieces looked like it would be a lot worse than finding 80/20. I have no clue when it comes to the actuators, I can't even tell if they are gear driven or some sort of belt. I am thinking that if they are light duty, it could be the start of a good sized 3D printer and if they are heavy duty, it could be for a CNC router. Either way, it looks like there will be some very usable parts and I know paying $100 for the thing was well worth it.

Just shoot me a PM when you're ready... Most of the actuators are ball screws... Shouldn't be too hard to GoogleFu the model code, or worse case, call Parker for info.


Oh, and don't feel too bad about not getting as much done as you wanted... Saturday we went to my folks to visit and see their puppy, then out to dinner Saturday night. Yesterday we spent the day at Holiday World, a nice theme park in SW Indiana. The family time was worth the loss of productivity on Sunday, but I wish we had actually gotten something done on Saturday.

 

[Strouty]

Once I dig into things, I will send a PM for sure. Right now I have put that project on the back burner. Today I am helping a friend out with some more school buses, well one is mine and the other is his. We need to get them to my shop, his is supposed to stay for 2 weeks, but I am betting a month. I bought the other one because I wanted the Mercedes engine, I am not sure what I am going to do yet, too much going on to get into another project, at least the bus will be movable.

 

[Strouty]

The desk top is not drying at all, it was still tacky today, I tried rubbing it down again, with no luck. Of course a little water and you turn blue when you touch it. I may have to start fresh and do a clear coat. The varnish, tung oil, and turpentine wipes right off with water. Any ideas? I’ll take good and bad ones just the same.

 

[86turbodsl]

What's your humidity level look like? I've always found stuff takes longer to dry in high humidity.

 

[Strouty]

I was there making that too, the shop is air conditioned, but it still has moisture in there. Maybe I will try again, then on a dry day, stick it outside?

 

[86turbodsl]

Sunshine wouldn't hurt it any

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[Strouty]

Late start this morning, had a fairly long day yesterday, but it was a good day and a lot got figured out for the tower project. I just hope all that was discussed is acted on, sometimes things have a way of getting "missed", then I am back to dealing with delays and other problems.

I found a manual on eBay for Clark, (the outside forklift), it arrived the other day and I have been looking through it this morning. The steering system is pretty complex, but the manual is very detailed, at least in diagrams, it is severely lacking in part numbers. I need to take the manual to the shop and look things over, once I understand what components are actually on my forklift, then I can begin to troubleshoot the intermittent loss of power steering. Nothing like some old fashioned detective work.

One of the two contactor/overload switches I ordered showed up yesterday, pretty good condition, pretty good price. I bought a second one that was kind of listed incorrectly, some of the stickers and plastic covers were missing, but it should still be fine for me. This will allow me to put the proper starter on the air compressor as well as have the proper sized starter for the new RPC.

 

[Strouty]

My Brother needed to borrow my mag drill, he ended up at my shop for a few hours since he hadn't been there in a while. Then he asks about the jeep liberty, his neighbor needs a cheap vehicle and I ended up selling it, it has been delivered and paid for, so no more jeep project to worry about! Next on the list is the Volvo wagon, it needs to go. Then I have to get the truck my buddy left here out, he said he will pick it up. From there I need to start getting the school busses gone, then the ambulance, then.................. I guess I can see why I get overwhelmed quickly.

 

[Muzzy]

Converting an entire extra vehicle to cash is a good morning's work!
Celebrate that and don't get wrapped up on what is still to come.

 

[xtremek]

Now that you have some more room and some more cash, hopefully you can keep the momentum going.

 

[Strouty]

I think selling the jeep may open the gates for other things to go. At least that is what I have in mind right now.

At the office today, I want to get the air ride seat out of one bus and replace the seat in Buck, that seat has seen better days. They are not a direct swap, so it may be a bit cumbersome as I can't get either vehicle into my shop. The bus is going to scrap, so I can weld the seat back in, just has to make the drive to the scrap yard and it will be done. I may have to make an adapter plate for Buck, but it doesn't look like it will be too bad. Famous last words, right?

I hope this week I will be able to finally level up the lathe, I need to turn a part to complete a year old project. Would be nice to get that project done and out of my shop. On another note, my brother offered up his knucklebone crane, he bought it, then bought a newer one that he likes better. I will most likely buy it, it is a decent size and in pretty good shape. I am not really interested in the truck itself and I think I could sell the truck to offset some of the costs involved with swapping things to another truck. Short term thoughts on long term plans.

 

[cbacres]

Had a chance to cut on the band saw?

 

[Strouty]

Nothing in my shop, I did test it out before I bought it. It cut very nice. Between the office work and the tower project, the shop is going to be back burnered almost completely.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Just checking in to see if any thing has changed, congrats on the jeep, Had a person come out to see and drive mine, but I have seen no cash. Rich

 

[Strouty]

I will be honest, I didn't get much cash, but my total investment was low, I had about 3 hours of my time and $33 for the title paperwork.

 

[xtremek]

But you got a project out of your space. That's huge in my book.

 

[Strouty]

I got it off my mind too, that is probably more important than the money. At least right now, too much going on mentally.

 

[PelicanPines]

Too much mental work causes brain swelling. It's like weight lifting in the head... feel the burn... smell the burn.

Take a break... drink plenty of water...

 

[xtremek]

Too much mental work causes brain swelling. It's like weight lifting in the head... feel the burn... smell the burn.

Take a break... drink plenty of water...

But you're right. Still, I can't help but laughing.

 

[Strouty]

Today was my break, I have been searching for deals online for a replacement camera. If you remember I bought one a while back, but it had a couple issues and they refused to fix it (BH Photo), so Paypal made them refund my money. So I have been without a telephoto lease for a while and I need one soon for some of the tower jobs. You just can’t get good pictures without one, from the ground anyways, but from the tower you usually can’t get far enough away to get the pictures you need. In the end, it has always been a balance of pictures from the air and pictures from the ground that make the inspection report shine.

Anyways, I would just buy a new one, but Nikon has offered specials before where the price gets discounted and they offer a free battery grip, so I can’t bring myself to pay almost the same for a used one. I keep hoping a new model will come out and this one will drop in price, no such luck.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Well I guess the people who came out to drive the jeep yesterday didn't want it after all. Pretty strange when I didn't even have a for sale sign and they come cold calling. Maybe the thought that I was going to give it away. Felt like that is what I offered it to them for. Quoted them 800.00. Rich

 

[Strouty]

Try $600, that sold mine.

I bought a camera kit, came with the lens as well, the lens is worth quite a bit, so it may get sold, I will have to mess with it a bit.

 

[Strouty]

I made a mess today.

 

[86turbodsl]

But that's a good productive kinda mess.

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[Craptain]

I made a mess today.

Yup. Aluminum does that. Just playing? Or is this a real project?
At least you got some shop time in.

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[Strouty]

It is a real project, my GF has this laundry rack that folds up, it is usually embedded in concrete, but she wanted it on the side of the deck. Of course I have to always make things more difficult, the thing has been in my shop since May and we bought it last summer. I hope to have it figured out and mounted in the next couple weeks. This was a big hurdle for me, next is to make up the brackets, I am going to stick with aluminum, so I will be doing some welding too. The mast for the rack is some odd metric size and I had to buy shim material to make it fit normal aluminum pipe, when I get done, it should be rugged and look decent, I hope.

 

[Richard Cranium]

What year was your jeep? and how many miles was on it?

 

[Strouty]

2003 with 130k

 

[Strouty]

This week is starting off right, going to get another afternoon with my buddy at the shop, we are going to work on figuring out the Bridgeport next. I have it all wired up, but he knows code, so we can see about cutting a shape with the CNC portion.

I think I want to get the lathe all buttoned up, it has a few panels that need to be reinstalled and the backer board/splash shield thingy needs to get setup. After the mess yesterday I can see those are important things to do. Then I need to put down a mat, my back didn’t like standing there in essentially one place for that long.

 

[PelicanPines]

My wife's grandfather was a machinist with back issues. He went out and got a handicapped walker... modified it with locking casters and more extreme height adjustments... used it for standing in front of his equipment...

 

[Strouty]

I hope I don’t have to go that far.

I think an anti fatigue mat will be enough. Seems like the height of the machine was OK, but I may need to raise it up, I think that will be more obvious after using it for a while.

I am just glad my buddy is available, he is a wealth of knowledge. I am paying him, but he is worth it for sure. Once I get things working, then I can do more playing. I figure the only way I am going to get used to the tools is to use them.

 

[xtremek]

..........I think an anti fatigue mat will be enough. Seems like the height of the machine was OK, but I may need to raise it up,..............I figure the only way I am going to get used to the tools is to use them.

My back still hurts after running the lathe for a while, even though I built the bench to my height.

Like anything else, the more you use it, the better you get.

 

[Strouty]

This afternoon we got the Bridgeport up and running, it is simpler than we thought, the thing is like a cheat sheet for CNC. My buddy had never run this type of control and we both had looked at the manual, except it was an old one, so it wasn’t a lot of help. In a couple hours we figured out how to make a program and could cut about any normal shape you can think of. He absolutely loves this thing and says it is perfect as is. I will need more time to completely understand it, but this is just a small idea of what it can do.

 

[Strouty]

That picture makes things look funny, but it is a perfect 3” circle with a 5 pattern bolt circle with a square cut into the center.

 

[jack stand]

Nice!

 

[Strouty]

The funny part is that now that I think about it, we never trimmed the head of the Bridgeport, LOL. I am guessing things will be even better after that. I am going to try and do some programming tomorrow afternoon. I know how to view it before it even cuts, so I can fix it before it gets screwed up.

I figure I should do some simple project every week at a minimum.

 

[xtremek]

I'm happy to say...................YOU ****!!!! Very nice. get the head trammed in and make some chips. Like you said, anti-fatigue mats are necessary, but a stool or chair for the mill is another requirement, if you're doing the CNC stuff.

 

[Strouty]

I could see a stool, but first the mat. I still need to figure out a few things, then I have to start ordering actual tooling. I have enough tool holding supplies to outfit a small shop (maybe not), but my tooling is very slim for the Bridgeport. The lathe is even worse, I have almost no tooling for that. I am still torn on if I should go to a CXA tool post and be done with it. Eventually I would like a gap bed lathe that is bigger, so CXA could be perfect, just need to measure some things.

 

[Strouty]

In the last couple weeks I found the maintenance manual for Clark and now the parts manual. You truly have to love eBay, I paid more than I would like, but there is no local support for this one so having the manuals will be worth it when I do the first repair.

I need to finish machining the base piece for the GF’s project, then figure out the middle bracket. Once that is done, I can get it out of the shop for good.