Workshop 88

[Dan in Pasadena]

You are correct it gets tougher, especially when you add another sibling to the mix --it is more than double the work.

1+1 only adds up to 2 in arithmetic. In child rearing, the answer varies from 3 to 5!

 

[AldeanFan]

1+1 only adds up to 2 in arithmetic. In child rearing, the answer varies from 3 to 5!

And worse when they're sick, I'm home with a sick little girl today
I think I'm worse off worrying about her than she is being sick.

 

[Paul_VR6]

1+1 only adds up to 2 in arithmetic. In child rearing, the answer varies from 3 to 5!

...and four is like twenty!

 

[Cooter's]

This was a real 'UGH' weekend for the workshop. Heavy rains a few days back caused a loooot of leaking through my not quite sealed roof, and what did run off onto the ground came back in between the floor and the wall, since the pad sits below grade

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It looks messier than it is, since I was trying to scramble and pull things out of the water. Wouldn't you know a bag of brand new mortar mix was sitting right in the middle of the puddle. A few boxes of tools, and personal belongings that hadn't been unpacked from the move got all wet.

This has seriously pushed up the need to re-roof this place. Will be doing that hopefully this month if I can manage the time. Now planning on steel roof, eaves trough's to a rain barrel for plants, and a drainage tench along the sides of the structure, like the following diagram

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On a side note, to bring a little cheer back to the rather soggy building, I set up my old desktop computer, home to all episodes of Top Gear. This lightened the mood a bit while cleaning items off the water soaked floor.

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View media item 31543"Tonight! Richard Hammond suffers trial by fire." - Amphibious Car Challenge

Note, 5 days later, the floor is still drying out.

I just made it through your build of Workshop 88 over the holidays. What an effective use of a small space. I really like it. Anyways, there is a Rally in Michigan this weekend (Sno*Drift) with many people working that have participated in the POR Rally, and a little article reminded me of your screen saver way back (above). Here is the short article (though lots can be found on those Wagoneers): http://autoweek.com/article/car-lif...-when-jeep-wagoneers-dominated-snodrift-rally

Cheers,
Cooter

 

[captain14]

I thought you put new metal roofing on the garage a couple of years ago when you extending the rear roof overhang? Or is that installation causing issues besides the ground water?

 

[BuickFarmer]

You know, between a baby and my new job, I've amassed a total of about 3 hours in the shop in the last 8 months. I'm guessing that's the way it goes, not that I'm complaining (she's a little bundle of joy).

Eric, just checkin in. Hope you can get back in the garage and give us an update on it and the family too.

 

[GJoustra]

WOW.... Just Wow!! Isn't crazy how our garages are always transforming?!?!

Congrats on the new baby and all the sweet freebies from work!

P.s. That sawmill came out of no where!!

 

[rpsurfr]

hey Jawga-
is there still a burger joint in downtown Athens called the Grill? I had a really great burger and shake there- wish I were closer..I am a displaced Southerner in exlie in the frozen north

 

[1/2 Cup]

Eric, just checkin in. Hope you can get back in the garage and give us an update on it and the family too.

Me too, as above.

Regards

 

[Mr. 360]

Has it really been 5 months since my last post??!?!!? Feels like yesterday. Truth be told, not much happened since then in the shop. The few house projects I did ended up just barfing their tools into a pile once completed, and a few pieces of furniture ended up in there from the house. Basically, you could open the man door about half way and that was it.

This past weekend however, we sold off my wife's old focus (got her a newer fiat 500 to replace it), and that inspired me to declutter some more. I pulled about 400+lbs of steel out of the shop, and gave it to the folks who bought the car. I also hoisted the mill head and bolted it back to the mill, and positioned it in the corner. I'm trying to get the shop in working order to tackle a re-roof project on the house this summer. No pics of that yet but I have big plans.

Also scored another freebie from work which I'll get some pics of soon. It's a Grob NS-18 metal bandsaw from the early 60's, in working order (but 3ph). I'm moving it this weekend to my folks' farm for storage, as I don't currently have space. Also picking up a Whitney-Jensen foot press.

Otherwise, I've been working on some shop projects using the laser cutter. A new wood stove, some vintage inspired steel toolboxes, and a metal pegboard system. I'll see if I can get some pics off my work phone, but that about covers it for now.

Thanks to everyone who asked how we're doing. My wife and I are great and I couldn't love my little girl more if I tried. More to come soon once I grab some pics. Cheers!

 

[Mr. 360]

Pics as follows;

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View media item 59964It isn't all sparkly clean yet, but i slowly varsol it a bit each time I go out. that old grease is like cement (it's olive oil, I'm told)

View media item 59966This baby is now laying on its side on a large pallet, all banded down and ready for transport. The serial # is 8377.. which I'm guessing places it around the early-mid 60's? I saw another unit over on Practical Machinist that was a 10### serial and dated as 67... so I'm just guessing. Nothing on the Vintage Machinery Index. It's all there though, although it could use a set of new guards.

View media item 59967New Woodstove. I've actually made about 95% of the parts. All that's left is the smoke shelf inside. Still have to weld it all together at home but it should be better than my old barrel. The bottom area will hopefully be for kindling.. though I'll have to test if it gets too hot. Likely won't get to weld this up until the fall, but it's a start.

View media item 59968The toolbox is really an exercise in learning the brake presses. I'm making it to roughly model the Beach box behind it. I have the top for it, just need to put the curved bends in it.

View media item 59969This pegboard is in the works... I have about 6 different styles of peg all laser cut from 1/4" steel. I throw them into the gaps on large 1/4" jobs. I've mostly filled it by now.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Welcome back Eric, great work on the stove.

Regards

 

[xtremek]

Thanks for bringing us up to date, Eric. Interesting that 1/2 cup dropped by because between you, him, and Vieux, I think you three have the vast majority of the talent on GJ. Anyway thanks again for sharing.

 

[JustinS]

That's a serious bandsaw

 

[rmalkow2]

Liking your current shop projects. The stove and tool box are looking great. It looks like you have been doing some good work in the garage lately.

 

[AldeanFan]

Great update,

You definitely win for the biggest machinery in a small shop.

Can't wait to see what you do with all that equipment.

 

[Grumblebum]

Good to see you are still at it all-be-it at a slower pace Eric. The little ones do put the brakes on garage time for sure.

Thanks for the update. You are going to need to get a bigger shop one day for all the fabrication goodies you are acquiring.

Cheers Grumblebum.

 

[HSpencer]

Eric

Good to see you back posting again. I am sorry to hear again of your on going water problem. That gets to tasting of the keg after a while.

Great to have you back again!

Best Regards
Herb

 

[Mr. 360]

Thanks gents, much appreciated. Good to get back and do some posting. Got a bit of time last night to start welding up the little wood stove. It will be so nice to have something a little more substantial in there come wintertime, not to mention with a cooktop.

Herb, sorry for the confusion, that post up the page is actually just quoted from a few years ago. In actual fact the shop has been bone dry since I did all that trenching, roofing, and eavestrough work.

 

[Mr. 360]

Here's a few shots of the progress on the wood stove so far. Most of the body is tacked up, and the door is getting the damper welded on. Still have to make the smoke shelf inside and the retainers for the fire brick. Time will tell if the lower kindling box was in fact a good or bad idea for proximity to the heat source. May need a liner of some kind.

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[rmalkow2]

You have a great looking design going there. Should be room to cook breakfast on the top!

 

[Bears Fan]

Looks like some fine quality craftsmanship on the stove! I like it

 

[1/2 Cup]

The heater looks the goods Eric, well done.

Regards

 

[BBChevro]

The heater looks the goods Eric, well done.

Regards

x 2

I felt a bit guilty that I had not posted on here for a long time - but then I realized that your posts were a bit scarce for a while too.

Family is a very worthy distraction Eric.

 

[Mr. 360]

You have a great looking design going there. Should be room to cook breakfast on the top!

Looks like some fine quality craftsmanship on the stove! I like it

The heater looks the goods Eric, well done.

Regards

Thanks Guys! I've got most of the parts for it now, just need to find the time to finish welding it up and paint it. I could go with a standard bbq paint in black, but I thought a cool retro colour might look neat, assuming I could find it in high heat. Anyone ever paint a stove in manifold paint like a duplicolor or something?

x 2

I felt a bit guilty that I had not posted on here for a long time - but then I realized that your posts were a bit scarce for a while too.

Family is a very worthy distraction Eric.

Thanks. Ya it's been a little quiet around here but hey, your kids are only little once. I've also been using the garage lately to work on a house project. As I mentioned a little while back we're planning to re-roof the house as it's looking pretty sorry now. You know its time when every week a roofing co. leaves an info pack in your mailbox.

We got a bunch of quotes, and when the cheapest 15 year shingles were going to be $4000 just to slap over top of the old ones, I figured it was a good plan to take it on myself. We were also quoted $20,000 extra to add a simple 8" overhang to the house, since our 40's era house had about 2" of overhang.

Last weekend my dad and I hoisted and lagged 6 sections of overhang up the gable ends. Nearly killed us. I went with 15" overhangs and pre-built the whole deal on the ground. The deal was hauled up the ladder where quick clamps hung it from the 2" overhang, then tacked with a few screws. Lag Screws pulled it in a bit and I will finalize it by through bolting it to the rafter.

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[1/2 Cup]

Eric, family come first.

Great work on the overhang.

$20 k just to do that unreal

Regards

 

[rmalkow2]

Nice work on the overhang. That will be functional and really change the look of the home as well. Stay safe in the project and enjoy most of that 20k staying in your account.

 

[Olinrj]

Eric, it's been a while since I have commented, but I've stopped by to keep up with your projects. I totally agree that family comes first, even at the expense of the garage and the GJ. We've now been in our house over a year and I haven't made anywhere near the progress on the garage that I originally hoped for, but the time withmy wife and boys trump my hobbies every time.

Those overhangs will completely change the look of the house! Great job taking it on yourself. Keep us updated as you can.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Mr. 360]

Thanks guys, I agree it changes the place completely. I think 15" is a good overhang size for the house. We're going with a steel roof so I tried to match the rib spacing of the profile to keep things looking nice. That meant I had to step the overhangs up by 9" every time i added an extra 'rib' to the roof width. We're getting the steel from Havelock Metal, the same supplier that I got the garage roof from. They sell direct from their manufacturing shop and it's about 2/3 the price of anywhere else I looked. I love the product and the customer service is great too. If you need a steel roof in southern/central Ontario, these are the guys.

Once the overhang part of the project is done, we're actually planning to add a craftsman style shed dormer to the front roof. Not for living space, but we hope to vault the ceilings someday and it would add a lot of light up in the ceiling. We never even got that quoted.... would have added 5-10k to the quotes I'm sure.

 

[Mr. 360]

Small update, I've had some time lately out in the shop to get it all cleaned up after our big re-roof project (no pics of that handy at the moment).Since then I've been going over the XLO a bit to give a bit of rejuvenation before ever using it. As mentioned the old machinist used olive oil as a cutting fluid, and I believe some kind of molasses-like compound as well. The 2 have created a very stiff goop that is very hard to remove, even with chemicals like varsol. I've slowly been chipping away at it here and there in the evenings. I got the top side of the saddle pretty clean, then removed it to get the bottom. Unfortunately it looks like he rarely pressed the one shot oiler, as all the passageways are clogged up with the same **** as the outside of the machine. The saddle ways are pretty worn down, but for me I really doubt that will ever be an issue.

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These ways should still have the hand scraping, like the knee does. I'm not exactly sure how much wear this is, but I can check it once the machine is together. If I was ever serious about machining I'd invest in a machine in better shape. For now however, this will be fine.

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I popped off the chip gaurds and cleaned em, then scraped a massive pile of chips out of the knee. It was basically full of chips in there

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This is about the extent I'm going to currently. pulling the lines and fittings, cleaning the surfaces and passageways, and putting it back together. so far it's complete and nothing seems broken.

In other news, I managed to score a free Brown & Sharpe milling vise and an SIP compound rotary table from the off-cast tooling pile at work, plus a few boring/facing heads to boot. The vise needs a clean up and new jaws, and the table just needs a good cleaning. The rotary table has almost zero play, I'm doubting it got used very much.

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[captain14]

Is the overhang you placed on the roof of the house similar to the ones you built for the rear of the garage? How much of the summer sun do they share for the windows?

Not sure of the house orientation to south.

Please post up some of the metal work for the roof when you get time.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Mr. 360]

I'll post a few shots when I can get my hands on em. My dad took a bunch during the build-out. I took a solid week off after the Canada Day long weekend in July, and both my folks and my wife's folks helped us pull it off in a week. The front of my house is south facing and we have a large picture window. I left a good 20" of overhang at the front to shade that window and provide some rain protection. It keeps the heat out in the summer and lets the sun in in the winter (with the sun being lower in the sky).

 

[GDPossehl]

Wow, a 20k quote to add a bolt-on overhang is unreal. However, I'm not really surprised as the quotes we receive from Canadian contractors are often on the gouging side.

You did a great job. I never understood why they would leave overhang off roofs in the first place.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Eric, thank you for the update


Great progress all round.

Regards

 

[rmalkow2]

Good work cleaning up your mill. It's always amazing what you learn about a machine or vehicle when you give it a good scrubbing by hand.

 

[BBChevro]

...In other news, I managed to score a free Brown & Sharpe milling vise and an SIP compound rotary table from the off-cast tooling pile at work, plus a few boring/facing heads to boot...

There's that word again - Eric, you are definitely the master of the freebie.

Well done, and thanks for the update.

 

[Mr. 360]

Thanks guys, it's been nice to get a bit of stuff tackled out there again.

GD, I think just everything involving houses in this part of Canada is just insane right now. I mean, you can't even touch a house in my neighbourhood for under 400k, and we're talking 800sqft 75 year old bungalows that were built for the war and supposed to get torn down a few years after being built. Actually, I think the latter is why they left the overhangs off in my case. No sense spending the extra few dollars in 1942 when they were really only a temporary barrack for families working the munitions plant.

1/2, thanks for always checkin in, hope all's well down under

rmalkow, I've learned a lot on this piece. I found a manual online and got that printed off which should help too. The only big expense I see here is a vfd or phase converter of some kind to get it going. I think a few guys mentioned that over a single phase motor and they're right. I was told the motor was pooched but I think the guy that said that might not be the handiest, most mechanical fellow, so i may be in the clear, who knows.

BB, it's really all about the patience i guess, and keeping an eye out. Of course, working for a machine shop chock full of vintage machines helps too

 

[Guster]

There was a whole period where it was the fashion to have minimal or no overhangs when apparently modern material and design meant that they are not required anymore. Now everyone is putting them back on, mostly due to weather-tightness issues - funny that.

Anywhere or anyone else you know where you might be able to take the motor to get checked? If it has packed-in a single phase motor might be more economical. 3-phase is definitely smoother with the option of some additional variable speed control or even running it a little faster than the mill was originally capable of. Which can be nice for smaller work.

VFDs in the sizes needed for my machines are still very expensive here so I opted to sell the old 3phase motors and buy similar framed single phase motors as needed. Was cheap and quick to swap out and get back to using my machines. You may not be able to find the compact style(pancake) motor in a single phase format so the mill would end up taller if that is an issue.

 

[Mr. 360]

You know, if I was to get the motor off I could just bring it to work, clamp it to a bench and plug it in if I wired a 3ph plug onto it. All the machines at work are 3ph. I forget if it's the 1.5 or 2 HP model but I found vfd's here to be about the same as a 1ph motor of comparable HP. I did like the notion though of the variable speed aspect of a vfd, plus not having to fabricate special fit pieces to make a new motor work in the same spot. The pancake is nice as this is a tall mill, so it's close to ceiling height. I actually have to tilt the head over to open the garage door. That is, until I can get around to building out some carriage doors instead of the old roll up, like the sketch below. Maple construction, 1/4 sawn, 3" thick rails and stiles with insulated panels in between. Still not sure whether to go square or arched a la 44 bikes.

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[Ajustable]

The overhangs look great, keep up the good work. Oh the drawings, well keep them coming that is a talent to be able to draw as well as you do. I always look forward to your posts.