Pickle Ball Repair Again

 

Coach Jen and I went to the Golden Gloves prelims Thursday evening. I haven't been there too much these last few years due to working or the Covid cancellations. I had a good time both at the fights and having the opportunity to catch up on a few things with Jen. I'm trying to decide if I want to be involved with amateur boxing in the future and we kicked a few ideas around on the drive down.

While I was at the fights I received a text about fixing another piece for the pickle ball courts at the rec center - no rest for the wicked. I picked the pieces up Friday after rehab, welded it up and sprayed a little paint on it, giving the paint time to dry, so I can deliver it today. I certainly don't mind repairing these things, but it's not all that easy. Originally, the round tube is fastened by soldering or brazing it to the rectangular tube. In order to TIG weld the two parts together, the solder must be removed, as well as the paint. Since the round tube is only about .020" thick, you can't get wild with the sander and take much stock off. It went fairly smooth until I burned a hole in it. Patching the hole was a pain but I got it, it's done and will be gone later today.

The weather is supposed to be warm again today, so I'm going to do a little outside stuff and then work on the trials bike or maybe put the electronic ignition in the Sportster. Just looking forward to being out there with the big doors open and the sunshine coming in.  

Bock is Back

 

Things have been pretty slow around here lately. Not with the weather though - storms, snow and temperature swings. It's supposed to warm up this weekend, however. The Missus has pert near won her battle with the shingles, so I'll be able to spend a little less time in the kitchen and a little more time in the shop. I ordered a new cut-off switch for the trials bike, but I didn't get around to working on finishing up the wiring like I had planned. That'll happen soon, however. 

The cardiac rehab is progressing nicely. Upper body strength is noticeably better and I've lost a few pounds. I've been working out a little at home on the off days as well.

Once a week there's a brief session with a topic relating to cardiac patients, as you would suspect. This week's session was on diet. I expected the cholesterol talk but that was never mentioned. Instead, the topic was sodium. I didn't get much out of the talk, but I got a couple of handouts that should be helpful. The one is a collection of healthy recipes, the 3 Bean Chili recipe in the photo being one I'm going to try. While there was no gumbo recipe in the handout, I'm planning on making a batch next week.

Alex Dreier

This is the time of year of Mardi Gras and the time when I was a young man Alex Dreier used to come on the television and tell the viewing audience that Bock is Back while promoting Meister Brau bock beer. I ran into the lady who used to sign my checks while in the grocery store the other day. It just so happened we were at the end of the beer aisle. While we were chatting, I could see a display of Shiner Bock out of the corner of my eye. After we parted company, I got to thinking about my train trip to New Orleans with Cuzzin Ricky a few years back - Cajun cooking and a good beer sounded pretty good, so I succumbed to the siren call of the Shiner Bock and next week I'll fix myself a batch of gumbo and wash it down with an ice cold Shiner. I wouldn't mind getting back on the City of New Orleans again and sample some more of that cuisine down there, though. Hard to beat the real thing.   

Mace

 

Photo shows the completed mace. Initially, I won't have the weights on the end of it. Hell, I might never get to that point as far as that goes, but I think I can work with this thing, improve my shoulder and arm strength without aggravating my chest too much.

Going along with this, I've got a 4x4 that I believe is cherry. I picked it up several years ago and I want to make a pair of Indian clubs out of it. I'm not much of a woodturner but I've got a small pair that I can use for a pattern, I just have to scale them up. Making one will probably be easy enough, but making the second one to match might be tricky. If I make a pattern to follow I should be OK. Not a pressing job by any means, but one of the many things that has been on the back burner for years. Once again, having a heart attack brings things into focus and I need to get some things finished or get them gone. Making a pair of Indian clubs should be fun and someone will be able to use them if I don't or after I pass.

 

Tornado

 

It's going to be tough to smile for a lot of people in my neck of the woods for a while after the storms and tornados that went through the area on Tuesday night.

West of me is the little town where I go for my ham radio club meetings. Lots of tornado damage to houses, the gas station and the Dollar General. Two people lost their lives.

East of me are solar farms. They took a big hit as did several houses and farms. I was lucky in that the tornados didn't touch down by me. We did have lots of thunder and lightning, small hail and a loss of power for a couple of hours.

 The generator kept the lights on, I pulled my little transistor radio out of the Faraday bag and I was able to pick up the repeater the radio club was using for the emergency with my little handheld. Pretty nice being equipped for emergency communications.

My heart goes out to all those affected by the storm. I can guarantee you the communities will pull together to get people shelter and help rebuild. I went through the big storm that took my almost finished barn down a few years ago but that's nothing liking losing your house and all your possessions.

Anniversary today - 55 years with the old girl. No big plans since she's still recovering from the shingles, but just real happy we're both still kicking and together.   

Shop Work

 

We had a couple of real foggy mornings last week and when I went into the shop Saturday, everything was dripping wet. There's always a lot of condensation in there every spring when the frost comes out of the ground, but this year it seems to have been worse than normal. I fired up the heaters and fans to help dry it up some but yesterday it was warm, sunny and breezy and that did the trick. I spent a little time wiping things down, oiling them and then dragging more tools out again.

The 1" threaded rod in the photo is the beginning of an adjustable mace. I don't see me adding much weight to the top of this thing, but I think using this will help with my upper body strength and flexibility without hurting my mysterious chest affliction.

I started wiring the trials bike - not much to it. However, the wires coming off the kill switch are tiny. I went ahead and soldered them in but I'm not so sure they'll carry enough juice to do the job. While the tank is off I'll finish welding the mounting tabs. There's a few other little things that need finishing. but it'll get done soon.

Since I'm retired, the time change doesn't bother me too much. I pretty much operate off my own daylight time anyway. But here in Indiana, it would be nice if the whole state was on the same time at least half the year like it used to be - thanks again Mitch!

Welding Ships

 I received my new issue of the Welding Journal yesterday and there was a blurb in the News of the Industry section that Marine Group Boat Works received from the Navy a grant to certify welders for the ship building industry. The graduates from the program will be certified to NAVSEA standards, which I was not at all familiar with. I did a search for the standards and the whole package is 137 pages long. As a former Certified Welding Inspector, I'm somewhat familiar with the certification process, at least as far as the American Welding Society Structural Steel D1.1 code goes. The American Bureau of Shipping code is quite similar in its requirements as is the Canadian Structural code. The Canadians offer reciprocity to American welders with the D1.1 certification. Also, when taking the CWI exam, you can use the AWS code book or the API book. So regardless of the code you would be certified to, there are a lot of similarities.

Keeping our discussion here to just stick welding, more properly known as Shielded Metal Arc Welding, the process has to be certified first thing. This starts with the electrode grouping and material grouping. E6010 and E7018 electrodes are in the same group, so they can be used either individually or together on the same weld test. Likewise, a material such as 1020 or A36 can be used. The code book specifies material thickness, edge prep and weld position. After the weld is completed, the parameters are recorded and the test plate has "coupons" cut and bent. If all goes well, the test is then used to certify individual welders.

The NAVSEA test is basically the same for mild steel but the plates are all subject to ultrasonic or radiographic testing. The welders must retest every three years or after a three-month layoff. Because ships use a lot more material types than just mild steel, the code lists most every other material and welding process that is required in shipbuilding, as well as requirements for groove welds and fillet welds, pipe welds, inspection and record keeping requirements.

Obviously there's a lot required for an individual and their employer to maintain NAVSEA certification. The article mentions Marine Group Boat Works has a 92% retention rate, so I would think the working conditions, wages and fringe package are good. I went to their website but didn't come across anything as far as employment. 

It is good to see the Navy is addressing the issue of bringing more qualified people into the welding trade in order to build and maintain their fleet. $633,005 seems like just a drop in the bucket if they are really serious about remedying the situation. However, things might be changing.

John C. Phelan
Secretary of the Navy

The Honorable John Phelan was sworn in as the 79th Secretary of the Navy on March 25, 2025. Secretary Phelan oversees the well-being, readiness and development of nearly one million Sailors, Marines, reservists and civilian personnel in the Department of the Navy and manages an annual budget of $263.5 billion and balance sheet assets totaling $922 billion. His departmental priorities focus on strengthening shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base; fostering an adaptive, accountable and warfighting culture; and improving the health, welfare and training of our people.

 I wish the Honorable John Phelan all the best. It's not going to be easy to erase that thirty-year backlog on fulfilling the contracts for new submarines. 

Long Neck

 I finished the bike radiator job Sunday afternoon. A little tricky but not near as bad as I thought it would be, especially after struggling with the radiator itself. The piece I machined up to make the transition worked as designed. I did get a little melt thru on the inside of the top piece, so I chucked it up in the lathe to clean it up before welding the completed part onto the pipe. Hopefully everything works, because I'd just as soon not have to fiddle with it again. However, I'm pretty happy that I'm still capable of doing this type of work.