Monday, March 18, 2024

Welding Razor Blades

 


The grandson came down yesterday to try something he had seen on a welding video: stick welding razor blades together. He bought some 1/16" E-6013 rods and some razor knife blades and gave it a try. This was his best effort. Ain't very pretty but it's stuck. This is something I've never tried but having done all kinds of welding on all kinds of things, I'm not sure I could do any better. 

He seems to be enjoying his time at the college - got good grades the first 8 week session and starts again tonight. One of the classes he's signed up for is the one I just finished teaching. He's planning on taking the online class but I don't know how that's going to work out. I'm going to talk to the boss and see if there has been any improvement. If not, I can help him with it. One of my objections to online classes is there is no way of telling who is actually taking the class. I used to have my wife type my papers for me. Now she could take the online class while I was at work. Yes, I wouldn't have learned anything but I would've gotten a decent grade and finished my degree objective just that much quicker.


While the grandson was welding, I cleaned up the mill and the lathe and then bolted down the rotary table. It's centered up within a half-thousandth. That should be close enough for the girls I run with. Maybe look for the cutting bit today and if I find it start making a shift lever.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy St. Paddy's Day

 



Wishing you all a happy St. Paddy's Day with a couple of Irish rockers. Unfortunately, Gallagher and Phil Lynott, the lead singer for Thin Lizzie, both died way too young. Gallagher at 47, Lynott at 36. I listen to quite a bit of Irish music on late night radio, but it's usually the more traditional folk tunes. I sure wouldn't mind going back to Ireland again but I think my days of international travel are behind me. 

I got the MRI done yesterday. It went well other than I had to lay on my stomach for the test. My chest was hurting by the time the test was done and I had a headache afterwards but it was worth it to, hopefully, identify the problem. The technician said I did a good job holding still and the "pictures" came out well. I should be hearing from the doctor Monday or Tuesday. Here's hoping.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Centering Gizmo

 


I got a chuckle out of that one. MRI today - hoping the results will give me something to, maybe not chuckle about, but lead to some relief.

For the few of you who follow along on the blog and the social media platform that starts with an F, I've given up on that one. I posted a photo of the Missus on our anniversary along with a little dialogue to go with the photo and a couple of days later, the picture was still there but the dialog had disappeared. I wrote another post when I discovered it was missing and when I hit the post button a message came up that my post had to run through a filter. So, on my timeline now it shows a post with nothing there. I don't know what would have prompted this treatment but it's their game, their rules. I lived without it for close to 70 years. I can run out the rest of the clock without it.



Surly sent me a couple of links for a piece like I was talking about making in the last post, however, I had mine done by the time I got the message. Since I had a short piece of aluminum just about perfect for the job, it only took me about an hour to make. My math was right on the money, but since I don't have a taper attachment on the lathe I had to set the compound. My initial angle was real close but off just enough I had to make a small adjustment. Fits nice and snug in the taper of the rotary table, I've got a center in the top of it, and I've got a surface that is concentric with the taper so I can indicate off of it.

Right now I can do little jobs like this and long as I don't spend too much time bent over. Next step is to get the rotary table bolted down and centered on the spindle.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Mechanical Design

 


We're liable to find out just how important it is to have builders and fixers in just a short time from now. There's buzz about nuclear attacks, I just read something about an EMP weapon circling the earth and, of course, the invasion of foreign military age "newcomers".  Me, I'm not going to be able to do much building of any kind until I get my chest fixed.

Because of that, no building yesterday but I did run some errands, dropped the taxes off and did a little shop math. The rotary table has a Morse taper #2 hole in the center of it. A #2 Morse taper is .04995 taper per inch. Knowing that I drew out a little triangle and used the tangent formula to solve for the angle. 

I want to make a little gizmo I can drop in the hole to allow me to center the rotary table under the mill spindle easily. I'm thinking a piece with the Morse taper on one end and a center hole on the other would work. Maybe drill and tap a small hole in the center to have something to grab after getting it centered on the mill. I've got an edge/center finder bit that would make it easy to get my set-up. Maybe make the end with the center fairly large in diameter so I could run an indicator around it and I'd have no need for the drilled and tapped hole. I'll see what I've got in the aluminum inventory and make something up. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

More Rotary Table

 



The Missus had an early morning doctor's appointment that was about an hour away yesterday. By the time we got home and I had my breakfast, the morning was pretty well shot. Like most days lately, however, I've been trying to get a little something done every afternoon. I machined up a little stop plate for the rotary table to insure the shift levers will be located over the center hole in the table. I can now unbolt the vise and bolt the rotary table to the mill table and get it centered up under the spindle.

I still need to look for the tool bit I need or make a new one as need be. 

I felt pretty good while I was out in the shop - no chest pain - but later on that evening it hit me. Only a couple more days until the MRI. I sure as hell hope they find something that's repairable. In the meantime, I'll continue working on making a couple of shift levers for old Ducati singles.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Fifty-Three and Counting

 


Song by one of my favorite artists for my favorite girl. Anniversary today - 53 years for the Missus and I. Hoping we can stay healthy enough to get quite a few more under our belts. Which brings us to the "Hag".


We're at the "looking back" stage now, and it was fun. Not always of course. Lots of ups and downs in 53 years of marriage but if it was easy, anybody could do it.


And since I've known the old girl since we were both 16, this one seems like it was made for us. 

Happy anniversary Baby!

Monday, March 11, 2024

Spending Money Like the Government

 


I came across Robert Kennedy Jr.'s answer to the State of the Union address. I don't usually get too involved with politics, mostly because at this point I think the country is beyond redemption. However, Kennedy's speech is a good one. It's nine minutes long and worth watching. Help you find out what condition our condition is in.


I've been a fan of Jaguars ever since I saw my first XKE. I had a chance to buy one I could afford once, but that was only because it was in really rough shape. Now if I could buy one, I'd want one already restored and ready to go. Which means I'll never be able to afford one now unless I hit the lottery. However, I splurged a little and bought myself a book, and it's a dandy. Lots of photos and well researched history about a company that got its start making motorcycle sidecars.


The power feed for the milling machine came Friday. It'll have to stay in the box for a while until I get the chest fixed or else get Surly and the boys here to do the install. I want to change out the lead screws on both the X and Y axis, so it'll take some muscle and some mechanical know-how. The mill has an oiling system on it but it's plugged up somewhere. Need to get that fixed at the same time. Clean it up and repaint it also. Now, though, I'm going to take the vise off and mount and center the rotary table. Time to make a shift lever or two.