Finished Project

 

I finished the stitching pony yesterday. Now that it's done, I think I could have omitted the slot for the clamp screw. I saw that design while researching these things and figured there must have been a reason someone thought it was a good idea. The whole shootin'-match was made from material I had laying around. The knob is a bit of overkill but I like making things like that. I decided to forego any finish and went with the "family crest" instead. 

In the photo are "vix bits" from Garrett Wade. These things are the berries when installing hinges. The bits have a taper matching the angle of the countersunk screw holes in the hinges and a pilot drill inside. Just line the bit up over the hole in the hinge, push down and you've got a pilot hole for a screw in the middle of the hole just like it should be. While I've got a set of these, I've only used a couple of them. The one size I've used quite a bit, however. Makes for easy and accurate installations.

Looks like more rain today. Maybe make another pot of soup with the root vegetables. Work in the shop a bit as well.

Stitching Pony

 

I made a bit of design change for this one, so it didn't get finished yesterday. I'm deciding if I should put some type of varnish/sealer on it. If I do, it won't get done today either. Not that big of a deal, just want to finish this one so I can get started on the one for my boss at the side gig. Plus, this is for Surly and he could use it for a project he's working on for me.

I went to Indy last night for the Golden Gloves. I knew it had been a while since I'd been there. I checked the archives and the last time I was there was 2017. I was working nights at the college '18 & '19, and they weren't held '20 & '21, so it's definitely been a while.

There were four guys from our gym scheduled for the night, however, we had one win by walkover, one whose opponent pulled out of the tourney for some unknown reason, one who pulled out because he was eleven pounds over-weight, and one who actually fought for a win by decision. 

The last time I saw him fight was last summer in Terre Haute. He looked a lot better last night. He dominated the fight - still has a lot of room for improvement - but both his mental and physical game have improved. Unfortunately, he has to fight one of our fighters in the finals. 

Good night out. I'll be staying home next week. The finals are usually pretty crowded and I don't want to push my luck with the cooties. 

Egg Knob

 

Looks like Big Halsey has started contributing to the cause. That would be the big-un on top. In the middle is one from the old Rhode Island Red and the bottom one is from one of the Wyandottes. I was waiting to see a blue, pink or green egg, but a whopper of a white one is pretty good. Hopefully Little Faus will be getting with the program soon as well.

Put in 3 miles of walking yesterday morning and started on a new project. Not a big job but the material for a big job came in yesterday. That one's going to take a while - lots of individual pieces, some hole drilling and tapping. I'm going to try and get the new job finished today but I want to get a couple more miles in, pick up my veggies while I'm out, and I've got a couple other things on my plate.

Fuzzy Turkeys & A Moon Shot

 

I went to an advisory committee meeting at the college last evening - nice seeing some of the folks I used to work with. The inflation problem is hitting the welding program hard. Consumables have gone up in price and one of the committee members, who is a sales rep for Lincoln Electric, said they've had eight price increases since last February, with more sure to come.

One of the other members is in charge of training for the boilermakers and he was saying once again about how hard it was to get people who will actually work. He counsels everyone before they fill out the application about the job requirements and what they'll be expected to do on the job - fit through a 12"x16" man way, climb to whatever height is required, work in the heat and the cold and in dirty environments. However, the compensation package is excellent. Many of them still sign up only to quit as soon as they get out on the job. What a helluva wasted opportunity.

Before the breakout session with the individual programs, the general session opened up with the lady in charge putting out a call for instructors, especially in the welding program. My old boss will be retiring at the end of this semester and he has been teaching five classes. He said he might come back in the fall as an adjunct but he won't be teaching five classes. That's going to make the need for instructors even more dire. Most of the classes are two days per week. I might be talked into teaching a day class again. Maybe.

Photo of the turkeys was shot out of the truck window on my way home from the meeting. I rested the phone on the door while the truck was running and zoomed in a bit. I was surprised the shot came out as sharp as it did. The camera's pretty impressive in it's ability to take decent photographs with just the touch of a button.

I shot this one resting my hand on the deck railing - almost too easy.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #26

Number 26 - halfway through the year already and still no shortage of tee shirts. In fact, the one in the photo is brand new. Surly brought this down for me on Sunday.

And just in case you couldn't see the patch clearly enough in the large photo, you want to read it and remember it for safety sake.

Surly also brought an aluminum job for me to weld. I'll have to confess it wasn't my finest effort. My hands were a little shaky and I touched the tungsten into the puddle a few times. I had two pieces to weld - the second looked a lot better.

After Surly left my running buddy picked me up and we headed to the park for our Sunday walkies. Just as we got to the park it started raining, so we headed back home. Just before we got out of town there was a wreck right in front of us. I was sitting in the back seat so I didn't see it while it was occurring, but one of the vehicles ended up in the ditch and the other one was stopped in the road with quite a bit of damage. Fortunately no one was hurt.

I installed a new faucet on the kitchen sink yesterday along with my typical Monday chores. The installation went well - no trip to the hardware store needed and I only had to make two trips out to the shop once I was under way. Once for some silicon sealer and once for a couple of zip ties to keep the hoses from getting tangled up underneath the sink. The new faucet has a pull-down sprayer which will be handy. You can turn the sprayer on while the head is still in place for hands-free spraying while rinsing dishes as well as pulling the sprayer head out. 

While Surly was here, he gave me a hand putting the cylinder head on the jitney motor so I can figure out where to mount the remote oil filter. I've got a bracket tacked in place but after a quick eyeballing, I'm not so sure that's going to work. I might see about putting it on the outside of the frame rail - easy to service and it'll show off the Offenhauser filter cover.  

I got the shock mounts tacked onto the wishbones after my plumbing adventure - not much but every day a little something.

Keeping Tabs On Things

I got the tabs for mounting the dashboard rounded off and welded on yesterday. After bolting the dashboard in, I put the steering wheel on, set the seat in the cab and climbed in to see what the fit will be like. It's kind of hard to tell without the seat bolted down but I think it'll work. It's going to be a bit snug with my long legs and big feet but I'm going to get the seat secured and then see what I've got. 

I spent a few minutes yesterday looking at the old boat trailer Surly drug down a couple of years ago. The original idea was to convert it to a utility trailer with the primary purpose hauling motorcycles around. He's since got another trailer so this is one isn't really needed. However, it needs to either become useable or scrapped. After looking at it, I think it would actually be pretty easy to convert it into a nice little trailer without spending an arm and a leg on it. I'm going to keep thinking about it and maybe after the weather stabilizes a bit, maybe start on the fabrication part of it.

An attachment for an engine stand to hold a boat motor. I no longer have a boat motor so I don't need this currently. I can clean it up and paint it for some future time or I can cut the pipe off the end and scrap the rest. I'm leaning towards scrapping - time to make a more serious effort towards downsizing. Get things finished or get them gone. 

Hammerin' Out The Jobs

Since it turned out to be a nice afternoon yesterday, I decided to just piddle around in the shop a bit working some odds and ends. Went ahead and fit the hammer head to the handle, rather than putting it off to the side somewhere.

I made the tabs for fastening the dashboard of the jitney in place. I still need to round the top corners off a bit. It's about time to get a new 10-24 tap also. While the new phone takes good photos, it doesn't seem to work real well on close-ups. I don't know if there's a macro setting on it or I'm just wiggling when punching the button. Need to look into that.

I bought some leveling feet for the legs I need to make for the boss at the side hustle. They're not very thick, so I needed to adjust my design a little to maintain the required height. I swung by the steel supply and dropped off the material list. The tubing comes in 24' lengths, so the boss is going to pick the material up with his trailer. There'll be some hole drilling and threading of parts, so I'll get those pieces cut to length and bring them to my shop to do that. The rest the boss's son and I can do at his shop. Should be able to knock this one out in a couple of Saturdays

Surly said he might be down this weekend. He's got an aluminum job that needs to be done and he'll give me a hand with a bit of heavy lifting I need help with. 

And from the good news department: Some knucklehead decided to annoy Mike Tyson on an airplane and after Mike decided he'd had enough of it, he proceeded to pound some knots on the dude's head. With all the trouble they've been having on airplanes of late, they should hire Mike and a few other heavyweights to ride along on the planes to deal with unruly passengers. A good ass-whoopin' make you think twice before causing trouble on a public conveyance.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, things are coming along nicely. I'm always a whole lot more ambitious in the springtime - which is a good thing. Plenty to do around the old shack and in the shop. 

 

Getting A Handle On Things

 

I finally found a hammer handle that will fit my little ball pein hammer. I'll get that mounted up one of these days soon. The flat stock with the layout dye on it is to make some clips to hold the dashboard in place. Now I've got some tapped holes in the frame behind the dash but in order to access them, I have to remove the dash hood -easy enough to do now since it's only held on with a few Clecos. I haven't decided how I'm going to fasten it on permanently, so it's just liable to be inconvenient later. It'll be better if I can remove the dash by just taking out a few easily accessible screws.

I got three miles of walking in this morning - gives me six on the week. That puts me on track for my 25 on the month of April but I've still got some catching up to do for March. I finished another book this morning as well - #15 on the year. One more than my total output last year and right at one per week for this year. My buddy Kevin and I were both hitting one per week a few years ago. He's got plenty of reasons not to maintain that output but I really don't have. It's not like I'm all that busy since the cooties hit. I need to do a better job of prioritizing my time among my many interests. Nothing new there, though.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #25

Not a bad day on Sunday - sun was out, a little cool, but not so cold I couldn't mow the back yard. Yesterday was a different story. Woke up to snow on the ground. It was all melted off by about 11:00, but it never did warm up much more than 40 degrees. I wanted to finish the radiator support rods and brackets, so I lit the heater in the shop and got those taken care. Started snowing later in the evening again, by the way.

Rods are nice and shiny. I polished them up on the lathe and then ran them on the buffer. It's hard to see in the photo but on the end with the left-hand threads, I milled a flat for a wrench. Not that they'll ever need adjusting after the final installation, but since I've got left and right-hand threads, all I'll need to do to adjust them is loosen the jam nuts, put a wrench on the flats and then turn it which ever way I need to without unbolting the rod. 

Surly brought down a few things on Sunday - some gouges and a tool box, both of which used to belong to my dad. 

Pops carved a few birds and decoys. I'm assuming that's what the gouges were for. The tool box was a "government job" from way back when he used to work at Bohn Aluminum. The link will take you to a page of their advertisements, all of which had a futuristic theme. Both the design and art work are top shelf. Might want to give them a look.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, the tee shirt of the week. The shirt says the 39th annual, which means this fall it will have been eight years since I ran it. This is a 10K (6.2 miles) event. I might have done this one twice. I remember my running buddy and I doing it together for sure at least once. I could ask her but the chances of her remembering are really slim.

I'm taking the dog to the groomer today. That little guy has been costing us a small fortune as of late, but he's worth it. However, with the way the economy is going, if he keeps running up the bills I might have to get him a paper route or something to help pay his way. It's supposed to be a bit warmer today, so I'll get back out into the shop for a while.

 

Happy Easter

This is my all time favorite hymn, with Tennessee Ernie's version being the best. While that's just my opinion, since it's my blog, Tennessee Ernie wins hands down. They can play this one at my funeral, if there'll be one. Haven't been too many funerals the last couple of years due to the cooties, and even before that, in lieu of a funeral, people will have a memorial service/party instead. As long as the grandsons can set up the tee shirt stand, it'll be good with me. After all, I won't be around for it.

This is a photo I shot from across the aisle while traveling home from Minneapolis/St. Paul on the Amtrack years back. The photo was taken with the old Franke Jr, just guessing at the exposure and distance settings. I made the print and have been sitting on it for a long time. I finally got around to mounting it yesterday. I think it's one of the finest shots I've ever done. Since it's now framed, I might enter it and another one in the fair this year. 

Mowed the front yard and the doggie's poop park yesterday. I mow the poop park with a reel mower. The blades needed sharpening and I looked into how-to ideas but everything looked like a substitute for a proper sharpening. One of the ways I found used valve grinding compound and spinning the reel backwards with a drill motor. Probably would work if you spun it long enough. Years ago the machine shop instructor sharpened one up for a guy by chucking the reel in a lathe, spinning it nice and slow and then running the tool post grinder the length of it. I was contemplating doing the same but that was going to be more work than I wanted to get into. So lazy dude that I am, I took a mill file to the blades and dressed them up. Because the blades are spiral wound, I had to change the angle of the file as I went along the blade but they came out fairly nice. The only thing is I don't know how close the blades should be to the bed knife. I adjusted the reel until I had a little daylight but I didn't try using a feeler gauge or anything. It worked much better than it did prior to sharpening it, so I quit right there.

Happy Easter

Peace, Love and Understanding to you all

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

Ain't no rest for the wicked or the righteous sometimes, either. With all the crazy going on these days, there probably aren't too many that are just coasting along these days. I went to the grocery store a couple of weeks back and the deli counter had Kretchmar sliced roast beef for $13.99/ lb, I bought a 3/8" pipe nipple 6" long for $6.09. I ordered parts from Speedway Motors and recently if you ordered $99.00, shipping was free. Not anymore, cheap shipping cost me $12.07. As much as I'd like to blame Slo-Joe for all of this, spending has been out of control for a long time. Things have just escalated quite a bit in the last year. I see a serious cost overrun on the jitney project, along with everything that I've got plans for.

Should be everything I need to hook up the brakes from the calipers to the master cylinder. I forgot to order the jam nuts for the radiator support rods. I'll get them next order from Speedway or when I place a hardware order.

I got the brackets for the radiator support rods made up and tacked together. These will get bolted thru the firewall and into the framework behind it. 

Cuzzin Ricky went out on the road again Thursday and I tagged along. That makes two trips out of state this year and it's only April. We stopped for lunch at a place I heard advertised on the local radio station I listen to. Since we haven't been going to the racetracks, we got ourselves a couple of pork tenderloins. Decent sandwiches, price and service - we don't head over that way too often, but now we've got a good spot for lunch when we do. We also found a bargain spot to buy gas - $3.73 cash, $3.79 credit. Ordinarily those prices wouldn't be considered much of a bargain but they were close to 50 cents cheaper than most of the other stations. We drove by the Kankakee River State Park on the way home. I looked it up after I got home - camping and a 10.5 mile bike trail. I might venture over that way with the little trailer and my bike.

Need to do some grocery shopping this morning, going to try and get a couple of miles in and get a little something done in the shop as well. No rest for the wicked.

Springtime!

 

Must finally be spring, the magnolia trees are flowering. Beautiful day yesterday. Temps made it up into the seventies, sunny and not too windy. I got in another two miles walking in the morning. Went by the high school to drop some money off at the weld shop for a couple of raffle tickets and then I snuck down the hallway to check in with my buddy Kevin, now that he's back in the classroom. He said he has the CNC mill back on line again, which means I might be able to contract him for the jitney medallion I want for the grill shell. And, he remarked that it was the ten year anniversary of my heart attack. Yep, it's been ten years to the day this week. Other than dealing with the wife's cancer, it's been one of the best decades of my life. As long as I stay away from the red meat and the sugar and keep exercising, should make it at least to eighty. 

Did a little more yard work yesterday, replaced the pipe where the water filter used to be, took the dog to the vet for removal of the stitches, and some other little things. There's still a couple of appointments on the calendar but I'll turn up the gas on my own projects soon.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #24

Here's an oldie but a goodie. Close to twenty years old and still in relatively good shape. I like wearing long sleeve tees when the weather turns cold, which means the shirts usually get pretty holey around the cuffs from welding sparks. This one somehow escaped that fate and is still in good shape around the neck. I was still running in 2003, rather than race walking. I don't remember much about the race , so I probably didn't do much more than finish, which was status quo for me.

We've been thinking about getting a water filtration set-up in the house, rather than the two filters we have now. The water guy was here to test the water and he needed to get some before it hit the filters. The filters needed to be changed anyway, so when I went to remove the filter housing the nipple going into the filter assembly snapped in half. Fortunately I had a pipe plug in stock, so there's no cold water running to the kitchen sink or the ice maker, but everything else is good. I tried removing the broken part of the nipple that was stuck in the housing but wasn't having any luck, so I'll see if I've got a short piece of pipe to replace the filter completely. If not, off to the hardware store.

I got another 2 mile walk in yesterday, along with a trip to the library and the dentist. I finished the second left-hand threading job as well. I need to get a couple more miles in this week to not only get my required six, but a few more to pick up the slack for the missed miles in March. I want to be caught up by the first of May. 

Radiator Support Rods

 

Good day yesterday - got 3-1/2 miles in on our walkies, read the paper, cleaned up the garden where the rhubarb has popped up, and started making the radiator support rods for the jitney. I'm making them out of 5/16" stainless so I can polish them up later. I probably should have thought about making the steering shaft out of stainless as well. Might have been cheaper than using cold rolled and chrome plating.

There'll be a 1/4" Heim on each end of the rod, one right hand thread, one left hand thread. Not totally necessary but that will allow me to adjust the tension of the rod without unbolting it. I started by turning the rod to the 1/4" diameter and then threading one of the left hand threads. I figured if I was going to screw something up, it would be the end with the left hand thread. I almost did, too. I forgot to change the direction on the gearbox but caught it before any harm done.

Might finish those this morning, might do some yard work. Dentist appointment later in the day. Just need to keep peckin' away at the projects.

Hose Adapter

 

I machined the hose adapter for the jitney radiator yesterday - should be just the ticket. I also chucked the steering shaft up in the lathe and smoothed out the weld holding the coupling on to the shaft. The shaft was starting to rust, so I polished it up while I had it in the lathe. I'm going to have to do something to prevent it from rusting again. Chrome plating would be nice. I don't know where I'd send it or what that would cost. There used to be a place east of me not too far away that did plating work. I took a quick look at Thomas Directory and didn't find that one but there were several others listed. Something else to check into. 

Maybe work on the steering today - maybe not. It's supposed to be warmer today. I turned the heater back on in the shop yesterday while doing the lathe work. I'm tired of the temps in the thirties and forties. It's supposed to get up close to 70 this coming week, however. I'm ready.

 

Little Bit of Jazz

 

I'm reading a Michael Connely book that has the Harry Bosch character in it and the main character pulls up to his house and Compared to What is playing loud in the house. Harry explains the song is Compared to What but it's not the better known Les McCann, Eddie Harris version but a version by John Legend and Roots. I listened to one of those versions but, while it's done well, it just doesn't have the "kick" of the Les McCann version. I've got the Swiss Movement album and I did have the cd as well. This version's been around for 50 years but it's still one of my favorites.

And speaking of jazz music, the Missus had to go back up to the hospital for a routine thing, so we headed a little farther north for a late lunch yesterday to a little restaurant that had a nice bohemian vibe to it. The Missus had a "dolled up" grilled cheese and I had a vegan Reuben, of all things. Food was good and they had a nice jazz soundtrack playing while we ate. I've really missed not being able to get out with the old girl. 

I picked up the radiator hose for the jitney yesterday - got it right on the first try. Even though the motor was assembled in 1980, it must of been for the '81 model year. For the record, it fit's a Dodge Aspen or Plymouth Volare. Now I need to make an adaptor for the radiator that will reduce it from 1-3/4 to 1-1/2 and I'll be in business.

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

 

Went to see the tax lady yesterday morning. The Missus and I are getting a right nice refund this year. Apparently, we didn't have to pay taxes on all of our Social Security. Not sure the whys and wherefores about all that but as long as Uncle Sam is refunding a decent chunk of my money, I'm not going to complain. Reason enough to have happy feet the rest of the day.

I swung by the old part time gig to check with the boss about the legs I need to make for him - think we've got all the details worked out. I need to modify my drawing slightly and get a material list put together. His son is going to be helping me with this job. I was teaching him welding while working there and the kid is now gainfully employed as a welder, so that worked out. He's a nice kid - it'll be fun working with him.

On a whim, I checked on the parts that came with the motor and tranny I bought for the jitney, and it looks like the stock lower radiator hose is just about what I need. Maybe a little bit of trimming off of both ends and then make a reducing adaptor for the outlet on the radiator so it's the same size as the water pump and I'll be in business. Now I need to figure out what the hose came off of. I didn't ask the guy I bought the engine from what it came out of. If my interpretation of the engine stampings is correct, the engine is a 1980, 225 CID, regular gas, assembled on July 11th, with a cast iron crankshaft. According to my book, however, "by the early 1980s, Chrysler Corporation was a disorganized mess, and the chaos even extended to engine stampings." So, it'll be interesting to see what it will take to get the proper hose. At least the top hose should be pretty straight forward.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #23

This week we've got one from the Small Farmer's Journal. I no longer subscribe but that's not a reflection on the quality of the magazine. It's more a reflection of me wanting to slow down the inflow of periodicals into the shack. It's a good source of information on horse farming and for those earning a living on small holdings. Lots of info from the way things used to be. I was a subscriber for quite a few years and still have all the back issues, which I'd be willing to part with to anyone interested. I just can't bear to toss or recycle them.

I hung up the mallet brackets yesterday I made not too long ago. Also did a 2 mile walk, did some shopping, got a haircut, and made a layout for some table legs for the boss at the side gig. And since April is National Welding month, I finish welded the coupling on the steering shaft. Actually, I welded it just because it was time. Every month is welding month around here.

This one's for the Missus. I did some little job for her and after me blowing my own horn about being so handy, she cracked wise and cut me back down to size.

 

Walkies & Sprockets

 

A shot from the arboretum the other day. April 1st - hopefully this will be the last of the snow until next year.

They have a charging station on site. This is the first public charging station I've seen. There's a couple of Teslas I see around my neck of the woods but I don't think the EVs will be cutting into the IC rigs too much even with fuel prices continuing to go up. I didn't look at the charger real close but I didn't see a slot for your credit card. I can't imagine giving away the electricity to members but maybe that's a perk.

We went on our Sunday walk yesterday - 3 miles at the fairgrounds next county north. Good day to be out. My new sprockets came in Saturday, so before I went walkies I cut the keyway in the shaft. It's finally warming up a bit, so I'll see if I can't get busy and spend a little more time in the shop. I've got a couple of appointments this week but I'm looking forward to throwing the big doors open and getting back after it.

Treat Her Right

Probably the only white guy who could out maneuver James Brown on the dance floor. Check him out when he somersaults off the stage. Not much more than a one hit wonder as a rocker, but he sure got a lot of mileage out of it. He did make his mark on the country charts, though. I would have liked to have seen him live back in the day. 

This one's for our dog Larry. Every time he has to get in the car he starts shaking. I had to load him up for a trip to the vet again yesterday and he started shaking while I was putting on his harness. And then he always has to take a nervous poop as soon as we get there. So far, at least, he's never dropped a load in the car but he has made a deposit on the floor of the vet and the groomer a couple of times. I guess it's not that big of a deal, considering the president's behavior when visiting the Pope.

Here's our boy about half doped up and sportin' the cone of shame on the return trip. Should be a fun couple of days ahead for all of us.

There was a flat track race scheduled for today not far from me. It's a go-cart track, so it can't be too big. I was planning on going over there but it looks like it's going to be a rain-out.

The gym is having a fundraiser this evening but I'm still avoiding crowds, so I'm passing on that. I am thinking about going back and starting to work out again. I can go during the day when no one's around. I took my blood pressure the other day and it's telling me I need to do more cardio. I went to the arboretum and walked around yesterday for about three miles but that doesn't get the heart rate up much. Things were kind of sloppy there but now that I'm a member, it'll be a nice place to walk and take photos.

Haven't heard from my running buddy about our weekly walk yet. The Missus suggested a place for us that would be a nice change of pace - I'll have to run that one by the group.