Small Improvements.

So I've been bending over uncomfortably lately...

I had the Taig lathe mounted on a roll away toolbox and the height wasn't ideal.

While cleaning out the mess in the carport I found the red toolbox in a pile of stuff I bought at an auction. It raises the lathe up so that I don't have to bend while adding two more drawers for stuff to my shop. Win-win.

The other annoyance was that the roll-away tended to want to roll away, even with the caster locks engaged. So I added two angle iron pieces on either side that trap it against the wall between the two workbenches.

This is an example of the sort of hijinks we get up to on Thursday nights. Gregg is proving a point with an 8' fluorescent lightbulb and a running car.

Easter and Legos

Today I went out with the boys and we stopped in at Goodwill. I found the Lego Crystal Sweeper kit for $7.00. It was missing one guy and a couple of tiny pieces. Lego gets upwards of $70.00 for it. I put it together with Henry this afternoon. Why are Lego kits so damn expensive? Also the toy selection at most area thrift stores has shrunk horribly under the weight of the impending CPSIA legislation. It's harder and harder to find good deals like this. Anyway, Henry wanted that kit and now he has it!

Boy playing happily.

Really? $70.00?

Felice dyed eggs with the kids before Easter. Henry likes eggs.

Then they made Matzoh ball soup.

Jillian, Olivia and Max hunt for eggs.

Aleaha found one!

That afternoon we went over to another egg hunt. Lauren and Max relaxed a bit.

Danger of Papercuts

Hmmm...

Henry started sticking post-it notes on my face when I tried to say goodnight to him.

That's Max's friend, "Puppy". It's a stick with a bunch of leaves impaled on it.

Henry made some decorative headgear for toothbrushing.

Here's a video of a small turret lathe in operation.

Great film tag lines.

Fuchs Surface Indicator

I'm helping a friend dispose of some tools and thought this little indicator was worth showing.

I had already cleaned the gunge from the face, but the whole thing is somewhat dirty and rusty.

Loosening the clamp on the right allows the case to separate. The little knurled nut is used to engage or disengage the mechanism so that the body can rotate.

I cleaned out this side.

This was difficult to clean as I didn't want to completely disassemble it. Tiny hairlike springs make me nervous.

The small pinion transmits force when screwed down against the larger gear. The one coil spring provides tension.

I flushed out the filth with solvent, scrubbing lightly with steel wool and a toothbrush. The small hair spring is hooked into the other end of the indicating needle wire that's staked into the small gear.

Back together, very lightly oiled. The indicator is responsive again!

BRATSCHI MFG CO
Fuchs
PAT NOV 18 1913
CLEVELAND O USA

I searched a bit and found the patent, #1079169. The "Fuchs" is one Leon Fuchs of Dayton, Ohio. There are some small differences between the patent and the production model.

Cleanliness

Henry likes to clean.

Here he is cleaning the toilet. He set up the safety flasher.

Max is pensive.

Max and Henry clean the sink.

Henry looks bored.

Henry cleans his face.

Max!

Here's a neat way of generating large radii grooves.

Cosmic Diary: Greenwich 1894

Machining with Spud

My neighbor Chris, who also goes by Spud, came over this afternoon to work on a few projects for his dragster.

He had already made some parts but wanted some aerodynamic radii added. Ok, they are just for looks, not drag reduction.

So I used my Shaplane tool to make some radii.

Pretty.

Pleasing to the eye.

I then turned my attention to making a mandrel out of plastic for him. I used a half center to support the work while allowing a facing cut.

This end will be grabbed in his smaller Atlas lathe when he gets back home...

I turned the OD with a shoulder at the chuck end.

While I worked on the mandrel, Chris was milling slots in the smaller parts.

Chris, hand on one crank and the other ready to drip some cutting oil on the slitting saw, with panache and élan, to boot.

The finished saw cuts.

I didn't take pictures of the drilling and tapping of the mandrel because I was: a) busy working on it and b) it was boring. That's one of the exhausts of his dragster mounted on the mandrel. He needs to trim the powdercoat from the bottom section and needed a way to fixture it on the lathe for that.

It's tapped for the screw that when tightened expands the mandrel against the inside of the tube.

Library Sale and Pathetic Cake

This is the weekend of the annual Friends of the Library Book Sale at the Benton County fairgrounds. It is my favorite event. You never know what you'll find.

Waiting in line. I usually arrive about an hour before it opens on Friday evening.

Mayhem. This year was the first time I noticed crews of day laborers scanning books with a handheld gizmo, scooping up books based on value for resale. It's a controversial practice. A friend who is an old school book hunter hates them but he's at an advantage. Technology can't compete with a lifetime of knowledge.

I managed to find a box of gun books right off the bat.

The rest of Friday's haul.

Saturday has lower prices, so we all went and bought some more. The kids have a similarly sized stack of new books.

Last night Felice finally felt well enough to have her birthday cake. Max decided to look cute.

44! My old lady.

Henry and Max jostled for position.

Some links:

• Restoring DiAcro Benders
• My Neighbor's new Econoline Brake Kit page
• A good way to surf Watch Instantly Netflix titles
• A Gunsmithing School Blog

It's About Time...

The kids haven't been obliging with cuteness lately, perhaps it's the fault of our new Wii.

Max came to the rescue with "Mr. Handy" a few moments ago. "Mr Handy called me a big fat bully."

Cute or insane? Take your pick.

In other news it took two weeks for the replacement heat pump fan to arrive. I'm glad to have been rescued from 19th century heat technology. Besides that? Nothing much to report.

Here's a great tutorial on using the jewelers saw.

Slingshots of the World!

It Never Fails...

Things go ok and then...

First a cute picture of Max. He is enjoying Taekwondo with Henry.

The heat pump wasn't starting...notice the small crack in the fan blade...

Oh yeah, and the other fanblade that's twisted, cracked and jammed against the housing of the pump...

Serviceman will be here Monday...should still be under warranty.

So I got to stress test my heart by splitting wood...