ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

No good deed goes unpunished.

Sure feels that way sometimes.

 

[zanyad]

Excellent job on the lathe stand (like all your work!). That drop-front mod to the box is a very nice finishing touch!

 

[zanyad]

I shouldn't feel the way I do as I have been so blessed in life, but for some reason I have allowed these outside influences into my mind over the past few days and they have messed with me more than they should.

Like I tell my kids: you can't control how you feel, but you do control your response.

Thank you for those who have responded, and I apologize for the sidetrack.

No need to apologize in my view; your thread, your soapbox.

 

[Jayman17]

That lathe stand really turned out nice Mike! I thought it was good before you filled the gap but your execution and use of the cut off top piece was genius. Like you said, you and the next 2 generations of your family will be able to use that.

 

[PugetDude]

That lathe stand really turned out nice Mike! I thought it was good before you filled the gap but your execution and use of the cut off top piece was genius. Like you said, you and the next 2 generations of your family will be able to use that.

Technology will have advanced so much that Mike's grandson will be communicating with the DRO telepathically.

 

[ntsqd]

I feel the same way, no need to apologize.

Something else my grandfather taught me; When you give away your time & work it is worth what they paid you for it.





And that is a good thing. If they don't like the work that I've done I'll give them a refund on it and they can go somewhere else. And that is a good thing, too.
Read a quote once that sort of applies. "If you loan a friend $20 and they don't pay you back, it was worth it."

 

[Scuderia-F1]

All, I apologize for my ramblings over the past few days about my small problems. It just seems like the group here shares much of these emotions and I like to think of my thread as not only a sharing of projects, but a conversation of how we can all improve and become better people with a common thread or interest.

I shouldn't feel the way I do as I have been so blessed in life, but for some reason I have allowed these outside influences into my mind over the past few days and they have messed with me more than they should.

Thank you for those who have responded, and I apologize for the sidetrack.

Don’t apologise mate, I can totally relate to everything you brought up.
Life has taught me the hard way that you have little to nothing for being nice, the ones that gets free or cheap anything, are the ones that has the audacity to compl about this and or that.
So it’s either pay my rate or find your help elsewhere, no hard feelings at all and delete my number, please.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Mike, just a thought for you. Since I have been in down here in Prescott my wife and I have become quite close to a great group of friends. These people have been friends for close to 40 years, some have been friends since birth over 60 years ago. I’m becoming very close to the ringleader of this bunch, just spent a week with him on a trip. One of the best things I am getting out of this friendship is that his personality, work ethic, and demeanor is inspiring me to be a better person. I know we all are not perfect, but I know I can be better. I believe that if I was lucky to have you as a friend, you would also have that same effect on me. Thanks again for sharing what you do with me and the rest of us on here.

 

[PugetDude]

Mike, just a thought for you. Since I have been in down here in Prescott my wife and I have become quite close to a great group of friends. These people have been friends for close to 40 years, some have been friends since birth over 60 years ago. I’m becoming very close to the ringleader of this bunch, just spent a week with him on a trip. One of the best things I am getting out of this friendship is that his personality, work ethic, and demeanor is inspiring me to be a better person. I know we all are not perfect, but I know I can be better. I believe that if I was lucky to have you as a friend, you would also have that same effect on me. Thanks again for sharing what you do with me and the rest of us on here.

Awww, Sterling. @LXCam is going to be so flattered when he reads this...

 

[quadrcr87]

Great job on the lathe stand Mike. Excellent work designing it to be both functional and match the shop perfectly. This picture really demonstrates that. That is a shop that anyone of us would love to work.



In the wake of Hurricane Helene, I have been watching the news and spending way too much time on social media. Reading and hearing people's negative comments made me start losing faith in humanity. People are arrogant, entitled and think the government can wave a magic want and erase the disaster. It's threads like yours on Garage Journal that help me believe there are still good people out there. Please keep sharing.

 

[gorilla]

Congratulations Mike you've accomplished something I was never able to do. You fired an A-hole customer! In the corporate world I worked in all my customers were internal and there was no way to get them to go away..

 

[Finallygotit]

In the corporate world I worked in all my customers were internal and there was no way to get them to go away..

I hear ya! I'm glad I don't have to deal with that any more!!!

 

[IndyGarage]

Thank you very much for your kind words and I'm glad I'm not alone, but not that I would wish for others to have to experience that **** from people.

My wife and I learned very early on in our marriage that the ONLY reason we could afford a certain lifestyle and certain toys in life was because of my skillset and both of our abilities and desire to work and provide. Neither of us made much money in our careers as we had no secondary schooling, mainly just school of hard knocks.

Both my wife and I are the only ones in our immediate family that are not college educated. All of my siblings are and all of my wife's siblings are, and to some extent I think that makes them feel a bit "entitled" to certain things in life, maybe even my time as well. OR, maybe that is just the way I interpret their selfish behaviors. Either way I do NOT begrudge someone with a college degree, don't get me wrong. I think it is commendable as long as it is a worthwhile field. Don't even get me started on the whole ivy league entitlement **** or worthless degrees or I can go on for hours.

That being said, both my wife and I saw the immediate benefits from what a college degree brings to a person in the professional arena, so we were hell bent on the fact that our son was going to college, no ifs, ands or buts. Fortunately, he was all in on the idea even from a young age and not only did an amazing job throughout his college years but has excelled afterwards in his career and for that I am very proud and pleased that our sacrifices which made that possible for him weren't wasted.

Not sure why I went off on the whole secondary education thing there other than one thing you mentioned spurred that thought (in green above), which then sparked another thought about finances and money. You said "others being generous with their talents". I think that is where my life differs to some degree. Most of the people mine and my wife's families, other than my oldest brother, really don't bring anything to the table in regards to talents or skills that can be shared. Their careers were/are in the academia world and business to some extent and nothing of any use to me so rather than exchanging my skills for theirs, I'll take the money, plain and simple.

While I choose who I give my work away to, and I have been generous in the past with my work (maybe hard to believe), I find very few these days being worthy of that generosity. Maybe I'm a bit sinical or harsh but when I have people seek me out to "give them my work" yet they have all of the luxuries of the modern world yet my wife and I are driving older vehicles and have 6+ year old phones, lived in the same home for 26 years, etc., I find it very hard to see their situation of a car breaking down due to neglect and why that instantly becomes my problem.

Like you, I feel my only worth to most people is what I can do for them and not what kind of person I am. For that it has taken me years to overcome, because I always felt that if I do something for someone, they will reciprocate when I need a hand. That is NOT the case 99.9% of the time and I can count on one hand and have fingers left over how many people I can count on if something were to arise where I needed something. I had a health scare/issue a couple of years ago that put me down completely for about two weeks and then another 6+ months until I was back to even 75% and I saw absolutely no one from either of our families and only one friend who reached out, besides my wife and son of course.

Maybe that says more about me than them, but it taught me a lesson and that is my wife and I have absolutely no one to count on but ourselves. To some extent maybe that is a good thing because I hate owning others anything, so I guess it pays off in the long run.

I have also learned over the past few years that I don't think planned for our financial freedom in retirement as early as we should have. We both had pensions when we started our careers and therefore focused on things like paying our first home off and then acquiring toys and **** like that because we figured our retirement was already addressed and solidified. Well, when then that option went away and our company did away with pensions we were both in our early 30's and were just barely starting to invest and plan for our financial future. Yep, that's all on me and I have no one else to blame for that. I may have played a bit more than I should have in my early years and that has caused me to have to play "catch up" later in life. However, it took me a while to get that chip off my shoulder about what I thought was my shortcomings in life of being "just a mechanic" and I finally figured out that the good Lord blessed me with a skillset and I had better put that skillset to good use.

I get the same thing when people see my shop and tools and what they don't understand is that took a lifetime to acquire and nothing in that shop came cheap, whether it be monetary or time spent working late nights into early mornings, and for that reason I see that I should see some form of ROI for my choices.


I try not to let it creep into my life as well, but there are times I am unsuccessful and it gets the better of me. I don't know why but when I take on a job I feel obligated to do the best I can and somehow I take that too personal. When I explain to someone I don't know when I'll get to their project and they accept those terms, then come back later and insult me, I guess rather than shrug it off I take offense and take it as a personal attack. I wish I could just let **** go at times, but I can't. I feel I have been blessed so much in life and I want to use that skillset that I have been blessed with to enrich my family's life. However, at times I wish I could just close my shop doors off to the outside world.

It appears that you are right in the middle of a mental struggle. I often have to remember that my emotions and feelings about something are created in my brain - they aren't actually real. They are made up based on personal values/rules and experiences or memories that might not be accurate. It's hard, but you can turn them off.

On the college thing. I always considered there are many folks just as talented as college students who didn't have a chance to go. It has nothing to do with intelligence or merit - life is not always fair. They didn't get the chance. But you can almost always tell the folks who worked hard for what they have and those who did not.

Those who don't have anything of value to share aren't trying. Everyone has something for others, even if it's caring or humor or their stories or experiences or just buying lunch sometimes.

Awhile back I was in the lunch line in front of a multi billionaire guy at a company (which he owned), and when we got to the cashier I bought his lunch. He looked at me shocked and said "you know who I am don't you". I said "sure, but you don't know who I am and I bet not many people buy you lunch these days". He said "nobody has for a long time." I said good, thanks for supporting us all here, have a nice day - he saw me in my office later and sat down to chat - nice guy.

For me, I'm trying to accumulate experiences, but it's so much easier to get stuff. I remember in some workshop a long time ago writing down 100 things I wanted to have and 100 things I wanted to do. The have things clicked off over the years easily, I can only think of one thing left on that old list, and I could buy it tomorrow. The do list has been much harder - maybe I need to get into tune with others a bit better.

 

[PhantomEB]

Love the lathe tool box and all its details……but gasp……black handles with in view of a red tool box with chrome?

 

[Ohmthis]

Thanks Justin. I actually did enjoy it, for the most part. I've had it bouncing around in my head for nearly as long as I've had the lathe, so it was nice to finally be able to get to it.

Now for somewhat of a rant.

I say "for the most part" with some trepidation however, just because I have some other work on my son's vehicles to do and some work on my assets that needs to be completed. However, lately I have been getting some calls from very anxious (and to some extent upset) people who have been on my list of side work who have not been happy with me and my delays. These calls have been affecting me mentally and emotionally, and not necessarily in a good way. My wife asked me why I chose now to do this particular project, and I simply said, "because I wanted to". Once I had found the storage box locally and had it sitting in the shop it drove me nuts not starting the project and looking at that box every day.

While I am very grateful for those people who put their trust in me to work on their vehicles or projects, I will NOT put off my own assets and that extends to my son's assets. Our stuff comes first, period. I made that commitment to myself and my family about 10 years or so ago because I was putting off repairs on our stuff to work on other people's and put up with something of my own not being in proper repair. I figured with my business, I had to make some sacrifices, but it drove me up a freakin' wall and something had to change. These days I simply will not allow our stuff or projects to be delayed just to make someone else happy.

If people are ok with that great. If not, they are welcome to take their vehicles or projects elsewhere with no hard feelings. Most understand that I work a full-time job and only have a couple hours a night to work in my shop and are more than ok with that, others not so much.

I explain that right up front before I even commit and if they can't live with that then I would rather make sure they understand that from the beginning. I also don't work on stuff for people I don't know, unless they are recommended from a person I do know. I just don't take on jobs from the general public or people I have no connection to.

Most people have a lengthy list of personal projects that they want to get to after they get home from work each day and I am no different. The only difference is that I "choose" to take on some side jobs when time allows, not only for the extra money, but also to help others out and to continue learning. I wish more people understood that. When I closed my speed shop down in 2017 after purchasing our new home I was done dealing with people. Most people only care about their own projects and think nothing of it being a bother to someone else. Granted, I benefit monetarily from this work, but it's not life altering income and is just as much about continuous learning as it is about earning money. I am also flattered that people don't trust other shops after coming to me as I feel I provide much better workmanship than they can get anywhere else, but that may be debatable. When I built the new shop, I told my wife I was just going to work on our own stuff and no one else's because I was tired of being treated like I was a commodity.

Once we got the new house where we wanted it and my shop setup and all our personal vehicles in back into proper condition, I thought I'd take on an occasional side job to keep my time occupied as I don't like sitting dormant and not having a project. I swore I wouldn't do "the list thing" again, but I started that back up again a couple of years ago as my phone was ringing more and more and I couldn't keep them straight or in order. My process then became I work on our stuff and when I have time or a gap between personal projects, I go to the list of side work and take on the next job in order. When it's done if I have time I go to the next, if not I tackle whatever personal project I have come up and rinse and repeat. Unfortunately, this entire year has been one personal project after another starting with our attached garage completion back in January and I just haven't been able to get my feet under me all year long. Between some major work on my son's vehicles and some projects of my own that I have put off, I just haven't been able to get to "the list" and it has made some people upset.


Sorry for the rant, but just been feeling a little overwhelmed lately and then guilty for building the lathe stand that I have wanted to build for nearly 10 years. Some days I just want to hit "delete" on the list and quit answering the phone. But on the other side, I actually enjoy working on stuff for other people, when I have time, and it doesn't conflict with my own stuff that is.


Probably much more than people wanted to hear nor care about but back to the regular scheduled program and rant over.

Mike I know exactly how you feel! I do electrical and HVAC side work. I’ve used the same philosophy the last two years and there are people who get it and those that don’t. I say goodbye to those that don’t. We are all in agreement here that our time is limited and precious. If someone tries to be ****** with my time they can excuse themselves out of my life.

 

[PugetDude]

Love the lathe tool box and all its details……but gasp……black handles with in view of a red tool box with chrome?

Embrace diversity.

 

[bugnut]

Mike, loving the new lathe stand. Glad you made a over for the opening on the tool box. My ocd was going crazy seeing chips and such getting in there. Nice work!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, loving the new lathe stand. Glad you made a over for the opening on the tool box. My ocd was going crazy seeing chips and such getting in there. Nice work!

Thank you.

When I had it in my head, I figured it would be back under the chip tray far enough that I wouldn't mind the open space. However, as soon as I got it in place that gap bugged me.

As far as chips, I was actually surprised, there were none that got in there during the hour or so I was checking the headstock alignment and making cuts. When I was in the design phase trying to figure out what to do with the lid and figured I would just cut it off I didn't imagine chips getting in there. Then when I had it all in place and setup I couldn't imagine chips NOT getting into the opening. I was pleasantly surprised after that first hour or so of making chips that none got into the top section.

It still bugged me enough that I had to close it up though.

 

[zmotorsports]

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Ours was busy but enjoyable.

Friday night was lawn maintenance. Edge, trim and mow then a bit of relaxing.

Saturday morning the wife and I were able to sit on the deck and enjoy a couple cups of coffee and enjoying the back yard.


I then headed out to the shop to work on a couple of small projects that I wanted to get off the workbench.


My wife asked me about a week ago to take a look at this old Halloween decoration that seemed to only work intermittently. It is a dancing skeleton in a tux and tophat that we somehow acquired about 33+ years ago. My son loved this thing when she would put it our for the Halloween. He would stand in front of it as a little boy and dance along with it and giggle.

When she got it out a few weeks ago to show our grandson, it only worked every several times that the button was pushed and he lost interest quickly in it. She was going to toss it out but instead asked me if I thought it worth fixing and if I'd take a look at it so I had some time Saturday morning to dig into it.

After opening it up and moving wires around I found the problem.


The two wires going to the switch had been smashed, I am assuming at time of manufacturing, and took until now to finally break the internal conductor(s). If I moved the wires a bit the switch would work. I tested the switch and it was fine so I figured I would just desolder the wires, cut them back about half an inch and resolder to the switch's printed board.


Testing again before desoldering.




Desoldered, cut back and resoldered in place.


And wouldn't ya know it, he dances again on queue.


She put it back on the fireplace sill and when our kids and grandson came over Saturday night she let him play with it. For some reason it seems to draw out a smile and giggles from small kids.

Mission accomplished and another toy saved from the scrap.

 

[zmotorsports]

Next I moved on to another small project that has been sitting on my workbench for about a month. This one for a fellow garagejournal member who contacted me about seeing if I could fix this speed sensor.

I believe this is from an early 90's Honda and is no longer available. The mounting ear had broken off and needs to be rejoined with the body. I started by removing the O-ring and then started to take measurements.


Taking a lot of measurements to come up with a mounting fixture in which to hold the pieces in the correct orientation to be welded.


After a trip to the scrap bin, I found a small drop of .250" plate in which to make the mounting plate. I started by drilling the bore stepping up from pilot hole to 1" drill bit.


Then stepped to the Criterion boring head to bore the hole out to the needed 1.062" diameter bore for the body of the sensor.


With the bore completed, it was time to put all those measurements to work by adding them up and coming up with the mounting bolt distance from center of bore.


Mounting bolt hole drilled and tapped for a 1/4"-20 thread.


That should work to hold things in place.


Next was to clean everything well and grind a small chamfer around the broken area on both pieces.


Clamped in place using a couple of shims to hold them in perfect alignment and ready to tack in place.


Not wanting to disassemble the sensor, I would hit the part with a small weld, then cool before another small weld.



Stay tuned for more pictures.....

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with the sensor repair.

Some compressed air followed by a little cool water, then I could move on to the next weld. Took a bit of time but this way I didn't have to disassemble the sensor and fear breaking a gasket or seal of some sort. I also continued to spin the drive to make sure the rotating torque didn't change which would indicate something was being effected by the heat. Everything seemed to turn consistent throughout the repair.


Completed welds.


I had originally put this repair off thinking I was going to chuck it up in the lathe and spin it to machine the flat area down so I was waiting until the lathe was back up and running. However, the welds laid down flat enough and seeing as how it wasn't too bad of a casting, I figured I would merely file the weld down.


A few minutes with a file, then some 80-grit, 120-grit and lastly 320-grit emery paper and it was complete.




Ready to reinstall the O-ring, box up and send back to its owner.


Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

Has anyone experienced this issue with their Starrett 91B tap handle?


I have had two of these Starrett tap handles over the course of about 25 years now. The first one lasted about 20 years without issue. Then about 5 years or so I noticed the moveable anvil split so I sent it back and they repaired it under warranty and all I had to do was cover shipping costs.

Here is my Starrett next to my old Greenfield tap handle which just seems to keep on going without any issues at all.


It's hard to see but if you look closely you can see the hairline crack in the anvil that runs parallel with the handle.


Here with a tap inserted the crack spreads open a bit.



I'm a little disappointed in it. I figured the first one was a fluke seeing as how it lasted so long but this one has only lasted about 5 years and doesn't get used anywhere near as much as my first one did as it saw almost daily use.

With Starrett not being Starrett any longer I doubt it will be covered and I wonder even more so about the quality. Not sure what to do at this point. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I don't crank down exceptionally tight on the taps, I think it has more to do with the forces applied being torsional and pulling the V apart at the center of the anvil, but can't tell for certain.

 

[zmotorsports]

After cleaning up the shop from the morning's couple of small projects, the wife and I moved on to setting up for the party in the back yard later in the afternoon.

The wife and I started this tradition about 4 years ago when our first nephew on the wife's side of the family got married. The idea came from when my son and DIL were married. My daughter-in-law's family threw my son a "tool shower", which I had never heard of but thought was a cool idea. The premise was as these young people were getting married, they had no yard tools, nor most had any tools of any sort to start out in life with. The tool shower for my son was really a cool idea and rather than just a "guys" thing, it was open to all couples and both sides of the family. Now my son already had a healthy supply of actual tools, but things like garden hose, rake, etc. were all things as a new homeowner and being about to be married were things he didn't have.

The wife and I were so impressed with the idea that when my wife's first nephew was getting married, my wife said she would like to start the tradition that we threw a "tool shower" for all her family members as they were getting married and so this is our fourth one now over the past 4 years.

In the past ones, I have grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, then the wife and DIL have fixed salads and desserts, etc. but this time the wife didn't want me standing over a grill for hours on end so she had the main course catered, then asked for others to bring the side dishes. It ended up costing us a bit more, but was so nice to be able to sit and enjoy the time rather than standing over a grill while everyone else enjoyed themselves.

About an hour before I had to pick up the main course, we set up the ******** game as well as the small soccer net and ball that we got for our grandson.




We ordered fried chicken with rolls and cornpones (cornbread in the shape of a spear) from a local steakhouse that we frequent and is known for several generations of fine food. Maddox Ranchhouse in the huge metropolic of Perry, UT is only about 20 miles from us and their food is second to none. The wife thought their fried chicken would be a nice touch that is what she ordered for the party. I ran to get the food about a half hour before and then set up the tables and we were ready to receive guests and the remainder of the food.


The wife set out her steamer to keep the chicken warm during the party and she made her world famous baked beans. In the Styrofoam containers to the left were the cornbread and roles along with their house made raspberry honey butter.


Just before the crowd arrived.


We didn't have as many people as in the past but some were out of town but all in all a pretty good turnout for a fall evening.



We couldn't have asked for better weather. The clouds were clear, no wind and temperature was mid-70's. Perfect.

 

[zmotorsports]

Then yesterday morning the wife and I enjoyed some coffee on the deck again. Afterwards I went out to mark out the areas in the back yard that I need to kill where the Bermuda grass is located. Turns out two spots, one measuring about 300 ft/2 and the other about 225 ft/2. I ended up marking out a couple of feet past where the Bermuda grass stopped on each area to make sure I kill it all.








Breaks my heart to have to kill any sections of lawn as it's been such a struggle to get the yard looking so good after moving in and putting the yard in. But I know if I don't kill it now it will only spread until it takes over the entire yard.

 

[zmotorsports]

After marking up the lawn, I went out to the shop to sit and enjoy the view of the clean shop.

Then the wife came out and asked what we should do for the rest of the day. It was such a beautiful day and we hadn't been up to see the turning of the leaves yet locally, so we opted to go for a drive and get the Camaro out.



The shop had a completely different feel all weekend just knowing that all of the equipment was back in order and the shop was ready to be put to work.




Cover removed, fluids checked, tire pressures checked and giving everything a once over with a California Duster. Although the cover does a great job of keeping dust off the paint.






Pulling out of the yard after closing the gate. Love that color in the sun.


Seems like forever since we have driven the car, it was nice to get it out and stretch its legs.







We ended up driving north up Highway 89 to Logan, UT, then over Logan Canyon to Garden City (Bear Lake), then continued north on Hwy. 89 to Montpelier, ID, then over Hwy 36 to Preston, ID and back into Logan, UT for a late lunch/early dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants before heading home.

A great drive and we racked up just over 200-miles for the day.

Thanks for looking.

 

[slodat]

Many years ago I was working on a project in the Chicago area. I needed a ratcheting tap handle for a small tap. I ended up at an old, traditional tool supply house. They sold me a Greenfield. From that point forward, I have always bought Greenfield when I can. I've found some really good deals on NOS Greenfield tap handles on ebay over the years.

 

[ScepterToad]

Nice update on projects and a nice repair on the sensor Mike.

Any chance you could remove that anvil and make a new one? May be a moot point depending on how long that would take and what they cost.

 

[zmotorsports]

Many years ago I was working on a project in the Chicago area. I needed a ratcheting tap handle for a small tap. I ended up at an old, traditional tool supply house. They sold me a Greenfield. From that point forward, I have always bought Greenfield when I can. I've found some really good deals on NOS Greenfield tap handles on ebay over the years.

Agreed. The Greenfield is a workhorse through and through. It has never failed me yet my Starrett has failed twice now in the same amount of time.

My Greenfield looks like it's been through the ringer, but I bought it new before I purchased the Starrett. Back in the late 80's I didn't like the tap handles that came with my tap & die set and a coworder let me in on the secret of the Greenfield handles. I bought one to replace the generic one in my set and it has been the workhorse of the tap handles for 36+ years. The Starrett was added about 10 years later because it was a Starrett, and I thought it would be better. Not the case. Kind of disappointed if I'm being honest.

I have three different sizes of Starrett tap handles and although they look like nice tools, I usually grap the Greenfield handles. I bought a used Morse tap handle from an estate sale about 10 years ago and it is a nice tool as well although a bit more beat up than my Greenfield's.

Nice update on projects and a nice repair on the sensor Mike.

Any chance you could remove that anvil and make a new one? May be a moot point depending on how long that would take and what they cost.

Thanks Keith. Not sure I even want to mess with it at this point to be honest. It may just take up real estate in the tap drawer.

 

[ntsqd]

Has anyone experienced this issue with their Starrett 91B tap handle?


I have had two of these Starrett tap handles over the course of about 25 years now. The first one lasted about 20 years without issue. Then about 5 years or so I noticed the moveable anvil split so I sent it back and they repaired it under warranty and all I had to do was cover shipping costs.

Here is my Starrett next to my old Greenfield tap handle which just seems to keep on going without any issues at all.


It's hard to see but if you look closely you can see the hairline crack in the anvil that runs parallel with the handle.


Here with a tap inserted the crack spreads open a bit.



I'm a little disappointed in it. I figured the first one was a fluke seeing as how it lasted so long but this one has only lasted about 5 years and doesn't get used anywhere near as much as my first one did as it saw almost daily use.

With Starrett not being Starrett any longer I doubt it will be covered and I wonder even more so about the quality. Not sure what to do at this point. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I don't crank down exceptionally tight on the taps, I think it has more to do with the forces applied being torsional and pulling the V apart at the center of the anvil, but can't tell for certain.

I have one like that only split all of the way apart leaving only one driving flat on the jaw, looks like it might be the same size too. Mine is a 91B, and because I just looked up my purchase of it I guess that I've been ignoring it for too long. Time to contact Starrett about it.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have one like that only split all of the way apart leaving only one driving flat on the jaw, looks like it might be the same size too. Mine is a 91B, and because I just looked up my purchase of it I guess that I've been ignoring it for too long. Time to contact Starrett about it.

My first 91B broke out half like you described. This one so far just has the crack down the length of the anvil.

 

[slodat]

I wonder if the angle is closed a small amount, causing the fracture..

 

[ntsqd]

I suspect that it's the sharp corner in the bottom of the notch that has no stress relief shape to it. Mine was clearly a hard steel brittle failure. If it just had a small hole that the two flats intersected, much like how you drill-stop the end of a crack before welding, I believe that the problem would go away.
If the angle is closed up, even a little, that would sure make everything worse!

EDIT: Starrett just got back to me. It may be possible to buy the replacement part(s). See attached

 

[zmotorsports]

I suspect that it's the sharp corner in the bottom of the notch that has no stress relief shape to it. Mine was clearly a hard steel brittle failure. If it just had a small hole that the two flats intersected, much like how you drill-stop the end of a crack before welding, I believe that the problem would go away.
If the angle is closed up, even a little, that would sure make everything worse!

EDIT: Starrett just got back to me. It may be possible to buy the replacement part(s). See attached

Thank you. I may reach back out to them and see about ordering the anvil (plunger) separately, and maybe the pin.

Thanks for the breakdown. I'll reach out to them. Last time they had me send the whole tap handle, but ordering the parts needed would be easier.

 

[ntsqd]

What their Tech Dept just emailed to me:

03339-0 PLUNGER SUB ASSEMBLY is listed for $8.50
03343-0 PIN, .062D X .266L is listed for $5.00

I've not disassembled mine, no idea why they say that the pin should be ordered with the plunger.

 

[zmotorsports]

What their Tech Dept just emailed to me:

03339-0 PLUNGER SUB ASSEMBLY is listed for $8.50
03343-0 PIN, .062D X .266L is listed for $5.00

I've not disassembled mine, no idea why they say that the pin should be ordered with the plunger.

Just to confirm, yours IS the same 91B as mine, correct?

Thanks.

 

[zanyad]

Mike, excellent repair on that sensor!

The gathering looked very nice, this bit had me drooling:

rolls with house made raspberry honey butter

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, excellent repair on that sensor!

The gathering looked very nice, this bit had me drooling:

Thank you. That was actually a fun little project. I like doing tasks such as that as it makes me think a bit and step outside for ideas on how to approach.

As for the party, it was a bit of work, but I think the turnout was well received. I hope the perspective bride and groom were pleased. I am not as close with this particular nephew as I am with some of the others.

When we go to the actual restaurant, they bring the rolls and cornbread out immediately, both are hot and right out of the oven, and the raspberry honey butter melts upon contact. Freakin' delicious. I could probably eat my weight in the bread and honey butter, however, I refrained from having any the other night.

 

[ntsqd]

Just to confirm, yours IS the same 91B as mine, correct?

Thanks.

Got it from amazon and their order entry for it says that it is a 91B. I need to confirm this with the handle itself before I order anything.

 

[zmotorsports]

Got it from amazon and their order entry for it says that it is a 91B. I need to confirm this with the handle itself before I order anything.

Awesome.

Thanks. If I have time tonight I may pull mine apart and confirm the two parts needed.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to people not valuing your time TBH, and I darn sure wouldn’t put too much effort into family matters. Your time is worth X, and it is up to you to determine what X is. You have the experience, which adds a multiple to your X. People will pay, but everyone is going to try and decide your value for you. Unfortunate but thats the world we live in,

Stick to your guns, and who cares what others think.