Sunday Recap

 

The weather has been great lately - so nice in fact it's confused the crabapple tree. There are quite a few blossoms on the tree even though most of the leaves have already fallen. It didn't produce any fruit this year, likewise neither did the other apples, and only a few peaches also. The persimmons have some fruit. Hopefully, I'll have enough fruit to make a couple of loaves of persimmon bread.

The shiny gas cap showed up late Friday evening along with the piece of brass for the basement lathe project. I've still got some paint left from painting the gas tank, so I think I'll paint the top of the intake snout. 

The brass rod is about .004" oversize, so I'll have to turn the OD a skootch when I've got it in the lathe. When I get that done, I'm going to try and tackle making a new screw for the cross slide. It's a left-hand Acme thread, something that's going to be a stretch for my ability as a lathe operator. I've cut many a thread before - metric, standard, right-hand, left-hand, and Whitworth, but never an Acme. First time for everything, though.

 And from the what in the hell was I thinking files, I went to the storage space the other day to drop something off, and when I came around the corner to leave, this chair was sitting out in the gravel. I liked the look of it but kept going. Later, when I took the cleaning lady home, we stopped to take a good look at it. All oak, no loose joints and it was originally finished with shellac, which comes right off just by rubbing a piece of sandpaper across it. The cleaning lady said I should take it home, so we loaded it up. I've got no idea what I'm going to do with it, but the cleaning lady and I will get it restored and she can put it in her hope chest if nothing else.

I did a little plumbing job for my sister-in-law yesterday morning, sharpened the spare mower blades, installed them and then cut the front yard in the afternoon. I'm waiting to hear about walking this afternoon. Depending on how that goes, mowing, machining or both.

Odds & Sods

It doesn't look like much more than a small pile of gravel, but it's actually a small scale dry well. Since the reason I replaced the man door on the barn was due to the bottom rusting away, I didn't want the same thing to happen to the new one. Yesterday I dug a hole at the mid-point between the posts and planted a two-gallon bucket in the hole. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the bucket so the water could escape first. I also sloped the dirt so the water would head for the bucket, as well as skimming a couple of inches off the dirt outside the door to create a spot for the gravel. After it gets rained on a few times, I level it out a bit more if needed.

I also painted the gas tank on the Allis yesterday. I put another coat on after the photo so the "Zebra stripes" like you can see on the battery box are gone. And from the lipstick on a pig department, I ordered a shiny new gas cap - should be here tomorrow. I still need to check the fluids and charge the battery, but I should be ready for the first snowfall whenever that comes.

The screw for the compound on the basement lathe. There was a lot of slack when moving the tool post in and out but a 1/4" SAE washer between the handle and the dial took care of most of that. The threads on the brass piece, however, are worn out. The thread size is 1/4-20, and the OD on the part is 1/2", so I ordered a piece of stock - won't take long to make the new piece. I want to get the lathe functional before the weather turns cold. I've got a couple of projects in the basement shop that have been languishing for too long. They're nothing important really, just another loose end I'm trying to tie up. Plus, it beats sitting in the recliner all evening.

Praying Mantis on the inside of the screen the other morning. Depending on how the storm and screen doors are situated, bugs can get between them. I opened the screen door a few inches and closed the storm door and it escaped. Very interesting looking creatures. I see one around here maybe once every couple of years. 

Long list of things to do today - pretty sure the highlight of the day is going to be a tenderloin for lunch.

 

Great Day to be Outside

 

Beautiful day yesterday - in my book I'd call it perfect. I was supposed to go walkies with Coach Jen but her stepson was involved in an accident, and we decided it might be better to call it off - would've been a really good day to put in three or four miles, though. Instead, I primed the gas tank and battery box on the Allis. I've got some paint in the quart I used to paint the radiator shroud and the hood, but I didn't want to mess with the spray gun or paint it with a brush, so I ordered a rattle can of Allis orange. It doesn't have to be a perfect match. As long as it's close it'll be better than rusty orange.

It was also a great day for hanging a barn door. It took a little finagling, but I persevered just like Sgt. Preston of the RCMP - "We always get our man." If you look closely at the gap on the left side of the door, you can see a pretty healthy 1/4" up top and next to nothing on the bottom. The door frame is formed by a pair of 6x6 posts that are wrapped in sheet metal. No way I was going to be able to bump the posts outward, so I did some trimming on the sheet metal down low as well as grinding down some of the wood underneath it. It opens now without any interference even if you can't see any gap along the lower left side. 

The striker plate for the deadbolt lines up but the one for the doorknob is off by about 3/8". I'm going to make a new striker out of some thicker material as well as making it longer in order to get the screws into new wood. 

The gap under the door is the lowest spot around, so water and snow pool there. I'm going to dig out some dirt and replace it with gravel so the water will run down into the dirt rather than rusting the bottom of the door off like the other one and keep me from falling on my keister when the puddle turns to ice in the winter.

The weather's looking good for the rest of the week, so I'll continue spending some time on the outside chores and doing whatever else suits my fancy. 

Eve of Destruction

 

Once again, or maybe still, we're on the eve of destruction. Lots of bad things going on in our country and the world. Lots of talk about nuclear weapons like when I was a young man.  When will they ever learn?

Over the years I've turned into a peacenik it seems. The Prez just sent armed forces to the Middle East and is talking about bombing Iran back into the stone age. I'm beginning to think Trump's just about as nuts as Biden was. 350 million people in this country and all the mopes in Washington can do is go to war on borrowed money. 

However, all is not doom and gloom. The little lilac in back of the house has decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and bloom again. There's also a couple of blossoms on the rose bush out back. Nice little mood elevator.

 __________________________________________

Busy day yesterday. I got a message from my old boss at the part-time gig. Seems he was cleaning out some stuff and had a piece I had fabricated and wanted to know if I could use it. I didn't want it but I told him I'd pick it up and recycle it. When I swung by, he had a small pile of steel for me, so I loaded it up and then took it to Cuzzin Ricky and threw it on his scrap trailer. I also made a stop at the drug store and hardware store while I was out running around. 

Surly came down later and we shot the bull for a bit, he sandblasted a piece and I installed the lockset in the new man door for the barn. I still need to do a little prep on the door frame before hanging the new door, but pretty happy with the progress of late.

File This One .......

 

under Type A, aluminum file. That is, one that's designed for fast removal of aluminum material without loading up. The flat ones cut with a shearing action and give a nice finish as well as the fast removal of material.

When the grandson was here working on the little loader, I handed him my half-round one to use. The teeth are cut a little differently and the half-round shape is more useful if you're only going to have one. I was going to get him one of each, but I could only find a flat one. I don't remember where I got both of mine, but I've had them a long time. I've taken good care of them and never use them on anything other than aluminum or magnesium.

I'll give this one to the grandson next time our paths cross and continue looking for a half-round file for him. 

I was doing some rake and shovel work on the end of the driveway yesterday and the neighbor stopped by. Before he left, he mentioned having a new aluminum radiator that needs a little touch up weld on the filler neck - so I've got that one on the docket. Cleaned the gutters after that. Also completed my Green Level boxing license certification yesterday. It's good until October of '28, so I'll probably keep my credentials up until then at least. 

I bought a new man door for the big barn the other day - need to get that hung up. I did finish the cedar chest - looks pretty sexy. Sanded down the gas tank and battery box on the old Allis - need to get it primed and painted.

Lots to do, but this is my favorite time of year to be outside. Ride the bike, maybe do some hiking, some work on the shack, and then settle in for the winter. 

Prepare!

 

Today's the last day of Preparation month - probably should have addressed this at the beginning of the month, rather than the last day, but that probably says something about my preparations. 

I consider myself fairly well prepared. I've got a backup generator, some food and water set aside, but I bought the two-volume Civil Defense Manual and learned a few things. I've read the first volume and have started working my way through the second. Lots to digest here. One of my take-aways was the importance of forming a group of people if things get real bad. While that makes perfect sense, that would be tough where I live. However, now's the time to think about a solution before the ball drops.

The two-volume set is a little pricey, but it's a lot of information all in one location. There's going to come a time when this info will be extremely valuable. Get the set, read it and prepare!

Cedar Chest #2

 

Cedar chest after a coat of varnish - I think it looks pretty good. It would have been nice if the wood on the outside looked as good as the wood on the inside. The inside doesn't have any of the white stripes, but compared to what I started with, it'll do nicely. I still need to do something with the drawer front, however. I checked the stains available at Menards and they have some reddish colors but nothing specifically red cedar that I found. I was wondering if I could add a little oil base red paint with some brown to get a pretty good color match and then add it to the varnish. Menards does have small cans of stain for less than $10.00. That's probably my best bet. Find something close, stain, varnish and call the project done.

I should look into getting a new man door for the barn while I'm at Menards. The one on there now is a steel door that has the bottom few inches rusted off and the seam on the lock side where they joined the inside and outside sheets has opened up. It's a 36" door that measures a little under that. I'll have to take a tape measure with me and measure a replacement to make sure it'll fit in the opening. I'll probably run up there one day this week - nothing else on the calendar this week for a change.