I got the vintage trials bike stripped down. The frame's pretty rusty from being neglected for all these years but it'll clean up well enough. I took the cup wheel on a small grinder and polished up the swingarm and it looks good. I'll use some emery cloth on it to finish the job and then see about some paint. I'm going to paint the swingarm and see how I like it. If I like it, I'll paint the frame. If I don't, I'll sandblast the paint off the swingarm and get everything powder coated.
Hoping to have the frame welded up by the first of the week.
OK, this is it for the Bossa Nova music for a while. No telling what I'll come up with in the future, though. Probably should have put some Irish music up yesterday.
I started on finishing up the trials bike. It won't take long to strip it down the rest of the way - pull the motor and put it on the stand, the front end will come off in one piece. Pull the shocks, rear wheel and swing arm and that'll be that.
I need to weld in the piece for the chain rubbing block on the swingarm, drill some holes for safety wire, then finish weld everything. That shouldn't take too long. Hopefully I'll get that done this week. However, I start back to work this week, and I've got a few other things cooking, but welding up the frame needs to be job one - get it done before somebody shows up on my doorstep needing something.
After posting The Girl From Ipanema the other day, my curiosity got the better of me and I went looking to see what else I could find by Astrud Gilberto. There's actually quite a bit and there's also quite a bit by the group here. This young lady sounds like Astrud, and I wish there was a radio station that I could pick up that played some Bossa Nova music.
Surly commented that I could have purchased the hose barb for $8.00 at Auto Zone but it probably would have been imported and not near as sexy as mine . To be honest, I never even considered asking about that item when I was at the auto parts store picking up the heater hose. There are four auto parts stores within bicycling distance of me, however, it seems every time I go looking for something out of the ordinary the young person working the counter has no idea of what I'm talking about - just like what I ran into trying to buy a rough service light bulb at Menards the other day. The two auto parts places that were run by the old guys who had been in business for years both closed down. Both of those guys were hard to stump. It's not fair to blame the young ones, though. We all had to start somewhere, and they're gainfully employed, so no offense to them.
As for making a part that could be bought for eight bucks, granted, it's not the most productive use of my time. However, for those of you wondering why, besides my not wanting to deal with the parts counter folks, I like doing that type of work. I've collected tools and machinery for years, as well as worked on a variety of jobs and had enough formal education to do most any and everything I need or want to do. Some guys collect stamps, some guys make $8.00 parts. Surly knows all of this. I imagine when he retires and has the luxury to do whatever the hell he feels like doing, he'll be out in the shop tinkering on something, same as I do. If you don't use it, you lose it and all that.
Beautiful song. The young lady singing passed away not too long ago, I believe. I don't recall hearing her on any other recordings but with a voice like that, there surely must have been.
Another beautiful day again yesterday and a busy one. I dropped the taxes off at the tax lady's house, then stopped at the hardware and auto parts stores on the way home. When I got home I started on the hose fitting. It was probably more trouble to make it than it would have been to buy one but I'm sure the local Chrysler dealer or a junkyard wouldn't have turned up anything. First of all, there aren't junkyards around like there used to be, and I'm sure talking to the parts man at the dealership would only end in frustration, so might as well make it.
The part started out in life as a 3/8" black pipe nipple. I drilled out two 5/8" nuts to slip over the pipe, as well as thinning them down in the lathe. The one on the outer end was welded on, then turned to shape and the OD of the pipe thinned down to 5/8". The second nut was welded on after that. I ran a tap into the hole in the head to clean up the threads, and bingo! There we have it. I'll put a little of the engine enamel on it so it looks "factory".
While waiting for the hose fitting to cool between the welding and machine steps, I finished the electrical outlet on the bandsaw. I tacked a piece onto the outlet box the other day, drilled and tapped a hole in the "beam" of the saw to mount it, and yesterday I put on a new plug for the saw motor. I should have installed another wall out nearby when I wired the shop but having the extension cord as a semi-permanent installation will work just fine.
I loaded up the trailer with the second helping of firewood to take to the splitter. It was a serious load but the trailer is hell for strong. The springs didn't compress much at all, the tires, however, were definitely over loaded. It looks like the valve stem blew out from the pressure. The tires have a bunch of cracks in the sidewalls, so I'm going to get a couple of new ones and install heavy-duty valve stems while I'm at it. That should be a lifetime fix for me.
I've got a nice pile of firewood for next year's heating season now. I need to move it under cover but it'll have to be with the wheelbarrow since the trailer's out of commission for a while. Sure glad I followed the advice (order) of the Missus and bought myself a splitter. That Hawthorne would have been a killer-diller to try and split by hand.
The nice weather is gone now for a few days. Windy today with gusts forecast greater than 60 mph. Colder temperatures on tap tomorrow. Standard operating procedure around here. I'll be back in the shop today again working on something.
Test photo: 2" hitch ball with really lousy threads. It looks like it has a stud threaded into the ball but I couldn't get it out without a lot of monkey business. Of course, the threaded part might have been machined on the ball to begin with. I think I'm going to cut the threaded part off and then chuck it up in the lathe and see if I can drill and tap the ball. The logical thing to do would have been to toss it in the load of scrap the other day since I've got a couple of spares already. However, the photo came through like it was supposed to, so there's that.
Beautiful day yesterday again, so I did some lumberjacking. Loaded up my little trailer with wood from the Hawthorn tree and pulled it out to the splitter with the zero turn. Without thinking about it, I just yanked back on the control levers and managed to pull quite the righteous wheelstand. Seems smooth application of power is called for when pulling a heavy load. Anyway, I got quite a bit of wood split. I've got another pile from the other tree yet to go and I need to cut some of the pieces to a smaller size. The fireplace insert has a pretty small firebox, so the pieces work best if they are 16" or shorter.
I took a look at the jitney while I was out there yesterday. I need to fix up the heater hoses, not that I'm going to have a heater in that rig, but I need to connect the water pump to the block. Someone has replaced the top hose fitting with a short piece of brass pipe. There's no "bump" on the end of it like most all heater hose fittings have, so I'm going to make a little something with the bump and with a hex so I can put an open-end wrench on it instead of using a pipe wrench. Not a big thing but I'm trying to get back on that project a little now that I've finally got the rear end.
Starting next week back to college two nights a week, one night a week boxing, finish the vintage trials bike, get the BSA going, same with the Sportster, and try to get caught up with all the rest of things that come around. It's going to be a busy spring but I better move forward while I'm in the mood for it.
Busy day yesterday. I had the truck loaded with some steel scrap from the clean-up operation - made $22.10 at the scrapyard when I dropped it off. Left there and headed to the courthouse to get a property tax statement so I can finish my taxes, Had lunch with Coach Jen and discussed some boxing stuff.
I've got everything I need to file my taxes now, and since the tax lady files them electronically, maybe she could attach this little ditty from Sonny Boy Williamson so they'll know what I think about all of my money that's been squandered over the years.
I headed out to shop later on and finished up a little project for the bandsaw, then did a little tune-up on the lathe. The headstock had more than a little play in it, so I pulled the last pair of shims out. It's still a little loose but that's all I can do without changing the big bushing the spindle rides in. I don't know if one would be available, and even if one is, the old dog needs more than just that. It's about time to start shopping in earnest for a new lathe.
This one's dedicated to the Missus. 54th anniversary today. Don't know how many more years we've got, but however it goes, we'll be together until the end.
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I've got a problem with my phone. According to my computer, the photos I try to download are infected. I'll be going to the backup plan in the near future until I figure out what's what. Might be a couple days on that.
Old Albert hit that nail square on the head. A former neighbor of ours from way back when, stopped at a gas station last week, made a purchase and had 29 cents coming back in change. The young lady working the counter couldn't figure out how to make the change. She called the manager over to show her the difference between a nickel and a dime - not that she needed either of those to make the 29 cents, but who knows how she was trying to get there.
Nice day yesterday, so I decided to tackle a couple of jobs on the to-do list. I fixed the work light on the Bridgeport. I tried buying a rough service bulb like I normally do at Menard's but the young ladies helping me had never heard of a bulb with a rubber type coating. I prefer those because if they break, the rubber coating keeps the glass from flying and the coating keeps a spark from burning through the glass. However, since it will be on the mill, it shouldn't be subjected to too much rough treatment. They did have rough service LED bulbs in a two pack, so I'll see how they hold up.
I also installed a replacement light under the kitchen cabinet. I did one a while back but I was waiting until my eye got better before tackling the second one. They're LED lights that are dimmable, and you can select the color temperature. They're both wired together off a common switch, so I replaced the old switch with a dimmer that also has an on/off switch. Much nicer lighting now.
I got on the scale the other day and I've put on some weight due to a combination of sore chest, eye surgery, winter weather, and gluttony, mostly gluttony. I'm still under the light-heavyweight weight break of 178, but I need to get back to a middleweight, which is 165 in the amateur ranks. I was down there last year and I need to get there again to get rid of the belly. I've started doing some Tai-Chi exercises and I think they're going to help a lot. Maybe not so much on the belly fat, but they should help keeping everything loose. I can do these at home and couple them with the boxing club workouts and some cycling, I should be on the right path. I have absolutely no desire to become a frail old man. I've got to be in good enough shape to take care of the Missus, the grounds and the projects. It's going to take some dedication, but I enjoy training and no better time than spring.
