Beautiful weekend - weather quieted down from the hot and muggy to nice and pleasant. Saturday there was some smoke that drifted in from the Canadian wildfires, but nothing that would keep you indoors. I took advantage of the nice weather by relaxing some with my new book, mowing some grass and working a bit in the shop and in the shack.
Shop work included a bit of planning for the mailbox bracket. The rough drawing above is how the planning sessions usually go. I run some things through my mind, come up with an idea and then sketch it out with a soapstone on the bench top. If it looks good, I proceed, if not, erase it and either modify the design or erase it and start over. With this one I've got it figured out as much as needed to start fabricating. I need to pick up some material first, however. I'll do that today and get the tubing for Coach Jen's job while I'm there.
I put the ground cable for the welder together, sharpened the spare mower blades and cleaned the shop. If you look closely at the top photo, you'll notice the floor is exceptionally clean. Since I was going to roll the Sportster out to work on it, not only did I sweep, I also ran the shop vac. I'm only about a month away from my birthday, and the goal is to be able to go for a ride on my 75th. The only real problem as I see it now is the back brake drum. Since I had never ridden the bike before bringing it home, I made the mistake of assuming the drum was round - wrong-o!. When I went to adjust the brake after putting everything back together, it became very clear that there was no way I could adjust the brake properly where it would be safe to use. I've been thinking about how to machine the drum in my shop with a minimum of hassle, and I think I've got it figured out. It'll take a bit of fixturing and making some tooling, but I think I can get it done. I dug the stand out I made when putting it together and I'll get that bolted to the frame and get the rear wheel off. After that, make some tooling.
Of course, now that I want to get back on the bike projects, I need to get the mailbox project and Coach Jen's project done, and I got a phone call Saturday about something else I may end up being involved in. I need to check it out this week but I told the party I can only give her a couple of days. And I have to help the Missus take the dog to the vet and meet the financial guy for my annual review this week as well. As it stands now though, it looks like the weather is going to be cooperating with decent temperatures. Hallelujah for that!
No comments:
Post a Comment