Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Welcome......To Odd Acres

[sawduststeve]

 

[Finallygotit]

I should put a video camera near the street. I have seen quite a few people do a double take and smile. There were two ladies on horseback that stopped and pulled out their cell phones.

Hahahaha...... And it's only been up for a day and a half!

 

[Finallygotit]

Another project on the list this weekend was to try and revive the headlight bezels on my wife's van. Normally in the past I would have yanked these units and replace them with new. Considering that I would have to pull the bumper and the grille from the vehicle, I thought that I would try this route first. I can just see me throwing things and cussing.

Here's what I started with.

Here's what I ended up with after about an hour and a half. (Both sides are done BTW)

I think I saved myself from front end disassembly.

It is also soooooo nice now to finally be able to have all of my tools and equipment at hand to do projects like this.

More to come!

 

[Bob Heine]

Dan, I polished the headlight lenses on our '04 PT Cruiser many times over 12 years but once the coating is gone they need more often. I finally replaced them but kept the old ones so I can sand them off the car and spray a couple of coats of high solids clear on them. My real reason for keeping the old ones is to avoid an accident -- as soon as I throw them out someone will wreck the front end.

 

[Finallygotit]

Hi Bob!

Yeah, the coating on the bezels once worn, means you gotta keep after it more often. I saw a product made by Mothers that is a peel and stick laminate for headlights. This might be a decent alternative to rebuffing. Need to do some more research.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Finallygotit]

BTW, we had a little contest here at Odd Acres among our friends and co-workers regarding the shape and color of the shed smiley.

This one came in at a very close second.

 

[zmotorsports]

Another project on the list this weekend was to try and revive the headlight bezels on my wife's van. Normally in the past I would have yanked these units and replace them with new. Considering that I would have to pull the bumper and the grille from the vehicle, I thought that I would try this route first. I can just see me throwing things and cussing.

Here's what I started with.

Here's what I ended up with after about an hour and a half. (Both sides are done BTW)

I think I saved myself from front end disassembly.

It is also soooooo nice now to finally be able to have all of my tools and equipment at hand to do projects like this.

More to come!

Great job on the headlight lenses Dan, they turned out great. One of the best investments I have made was my 3M headlight polishing kit. I know it has saved me much more than it cost me.

I also am glad to hear you have everything set up and have all of your tools and equipment at hand. I know how that feels and it is sooooo nice to be able to walk to a drawer or cupboard and grab the exact tool you need without having to dig for it or wonder which box you had it packed up in.

Place is looking great and I am happy for you.

 

[Finallygotit]

Great job on the headlight lenses Dan, they turned out great. One of the best investments I have made was my 3M headlight polishing kit. I know it has saved me much more than it cost me.

I also am glad to hear you have everything set up and have all of your tools and equipment at hand. I know how that feels and it is sooooo nice to be able to walk to a drawer or cupboard and grab the exact tool you need without having to dig for it or wonder which box you had it packed up in.

Place is looking great and I am happy for you.

Thanks for stopping in Mike! And thanks for the kind comments.

I have tried a couple of other lens polishing kits and this one that I got, made by Mothers, is by far the best. Although I have not tried the 3M kit you're referring to.

Regarding the tools, I'm actually in the middle of making a sign that says "I know I have seen that recently somewhere". I used to say that ALL the time before this shop got organized. Man that was frustrating!

 

[HOTFR8]

Do I see Solar on the roof?

 

[sawduststeve]

I should put a video camera near the street. I have seen quite a few people do a double take and smile. There were two ladies on horseback that stopped and pulled out their cell phones.

Hahahaha...... And it's only been up for a day and a half!

Video camera, soooo last century, web cam please, we can all watch then.
Thanks in advance.

Shiny headlamps, what's not to like.

steve.

 

[C_F]

Love the smiley face!

Nice work on the headlights too, mine never seem to come out that clean. However, I just use 3M paint rubbing compound...I guess I should spring for a Mother's kit.

 

[Finallygotit]

Do I see Solar on the roof?

Hello HOTFR8! Yes indeed, you do see solar. The shed is off grid but lights up wonderfully at night when needed.

Video camera, soooo last century, web cam please, we can all watch then.
Thanks in advance.

Shiny headlamps, what's not to like.

steve.

Hi Steve! I'm not sure I want to have a live webcam running at Odd Acres. You guys might catch me scratching or adjusting myself inappropriately.

Love the smiley face!

Nice work on the headlights too, mine never seem to come out that clean. However, I just use 3M paint rubbing compound...I guess I should spring for a Mother's kit.

Hello CF, I can't speak for the other kits on the market but I'm quite happy with the results with the kit from Mothers.

Thank you all for stopping by!!

 

[HOTFR8]

Hello HOTFR8! Yes indeed, you do see solar. The shed is off grid but lights up wonderfully at night when needed.

What a great idea. Any chance you can show us the system?

 

[Finallygotit]

What a great idea. Any chance you can show us the system?

Well sure, be glad to, but give me a day or two so I can take pictures please.

 

[HOTFR8]

Well sure, be glad to, but give me a day or two so I can take pictures please.

Will do . If you pop over to Sheddwellers you can read about my Solar hassles.

 

[Finallygotit]

OK HOTFR8, here's my system. Mind you, it's nowhere near the scale you have but it serves my meager needs.

Here are the solar panels.

There are three panels putting out 15 watts each. I don't know the brand as there is nobody listed on them other than output voltage and wattage. These were left by the PO.

Here's the controller.

There was no controller with the solar panels so I had to purchase that myself. The red button will turn ON/OFF the 12V outlets as well as the 5V USB ports.

The controller feeds this 12V deep cycle marine battery.

For the lights, I have two of these 12V 800 lumen LED bulbs. Their color is around 6,000K.

These two bulbs put out an impressive amount of light.

The whole system is put in there temporarily as I just wanted to have proof of concept. Since this works quite well, a new project was recently put on the "To Do" blackboard to give this set-up a proper installation.

I also have a 12V to 110V inverter in there should the need arise to plug in one of my battery chargers for our garden equipment.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[HOTFR8]

Now that system is like my smaller Solar with two 80 watt panels that runs my computer and printer, fax, phones, answer machine as well as a couple of lights. I would call it a UPS power supply. That is a very basic and practical set up you have that will work well for a very long time. Thank you for posting so much detail and sharing it here on the forum.

Proof of concept you do not need as I can verify what you have will work very well. Just keep an eye on the battery voltage (it should be about 13.5 volts if the battery is good) and keep the battery up off the floor.

 

[Finallygotit]

HOTFR8

The charge voltage is around 13.6 - 14.2 volts depending on the cloud cover. That picture of the controller was taken at night right after I turned on the lights. I can have those lights on for hours, it seems, and the battery never seems to drop below 12.1 volts. And yes, I keep the battery safely tucked away on a shelf.

Thank you for stopping by, much appreciated.

 

[HOTFR8]

A good working system for sure.

 

[Finallygotit]

Hi Mike! Thanks for stopping by and the kind words.

I looooooove my Bridgeport. I will be installing the electrical in the garage this weekend (YAY!!). I also have a small, and I mean small, project to finish up for the model train museum here in town. After that, it's time to rebuild the head on the BP. I want that puppy to run like it was new. Now, not so much, kinda sounds like a coffee grinder at low speeds.

I mentioned earlier that I was working on a small project. I thought I would share the results. These little buggers are axle retainers. The hardest part about these little buggers was holding them. So here is a picture of the little buggers.

More to come!

 

[Striker-7]

Could be worse. Could be working on 'Z'-scale. I've heard it referred to as "moving jewelry".

I'll keep my HO and LGB / Aristocraft G-scale, thanks!

Nice work all around, love the shed!

 

[sawduststeve]

I think ^^^^that's a mahooosive comedy pencil, either that or, well done fella.
I've had splinters bigger than those.

Steve

 

[Finallygotit]

Could be worse. Could be working on 'Z'-scale. I've heard it referred to as "moving jewelry".

I'll keep my HO and LGB / Aristocraft G-scale, thanks!

Nice work all around, love the shed!

Thanks for the comments and stopping by Striker. Those parts are for an 'O' gauge locomotive..........I think.

I think ^^^^that's a mahooosive comedy pencil, either that or, well done fella.
I've had splinters bigger than those.



Steve

Hi Steve!

 

[Finallygotit]

Well, thanks to fnieto (GJ member), I was able to find just the right ultra bright LED light strip that I had been looking for to mount on my mill.

Started with a chunk of polycarbonate that I had laying around.


Then I squared it up on all six sides and chamfered all the corners. (Don't ask me why....it's a disease.)


The idea was to mount the new light behind the head where it meets the ram. In order to do so I needed to machine a scallop to match the radius. So out came the boring head.


Next up, mill some pockets for the rare earth magnets and glue them in.


Then mount the LED light strip to the other side of the plastic holder.


We have light!!


The pictures really don't do it justice but this thing is bright. Light off...


Light on...... This gives a great amount of back light to see what I'm machining. My poor tired eyes are really liking this new light.


Here you can see it mounted in place.


Well, that was part of my Saturday projects.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nicely done Dan.

Great job.

 

[Finallygotit]

Thanks Mike! I am quite pleased with the results.

Hmmmmm...... but that cute little lathe........ I need to do a bit more refurbishing on it then I think it's time to trade it in.

Hanging around Paco's thread is not good for my pocketbook, me thinks.

 

[HOTFR8]

Now that light is clever. What ever gave you the idea to make it like that? I can see it works very well.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Dan, top job..

 

[Vieux]

Excellent idea and implementation of the luminaire!

 

[Finallygotit]

Now that light is clever. What ever gave you the idea to make it like that? I can see it works very well.

Hi Simon.



I just knew that I wanted a light there as it's a dark spot. I figured that with today's LED technology I should be able to find something. I needed something that was bright but compact. The only thing left to do was to figure out how to mount it. I guess it goes back to when I was a mold maker. I quite often needed to make fixtures and jigs to perform repetitive operations on multiple mold inserts that would repeat. I got quite good at making fixtures I guess. Were there's a will, there's a way I guess.

Dan, top job..

Thanks Steve and thanks for stopping by!

Excellent idea and implementation of the luminaire!

Thank you Vieux! And thank you for stopping by.

 

[C_F]

That light is pretty slick, I like it!

 

[HOTFR8]

Either way well done.

 

[sawduststeve]

That light is pretty slick, I like it!

Seconded.

 

[Finallygotit]

Thank you and thanks for stopping by Steve!

 

[Finallygotit]

Welcome back!

Guess what I'm doing??

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like fun Dan.

 

[C_F]

Nice project, but where is all the rust and dirt??

 

[shortykorte]

Could be worse. Could be working on 'Z'-scale. I've heard it referred to as "moving jewelry".



I'll keep my HO and LGB / Aristocraft G-scale, thanks!



Nice work all around, love the shed!

Me too on the LGB/Aristocraft


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice project, but where is all the rust and dirt??

Rust and dirt, not so much. REALLY nasty fugly grease and oil; had that in spades. Realized part of the problem lie with the previous assembly. Some things were assembled incorrectly. The rest was due to worn out bearings. I hope to cure the coffee grinder noise this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed.

We'll get this!

 

[Terrick down Under]

That light was a brilliant idea, you know we are all going to copy it....