The 3 T's or Two Dollars and a Blister

I've been busy the last few days machining parts up for several different projects. The top two photographs are the brake carrier I made for the midget. I was originally going to put a scrub brake on it but decided it deserved better. This of course required some think time as well as machine time. It came out looking pretty sexy, though. I machined up the hub and the carrier plate from two pieces. They have a light press fit together and they are screwed together with the screws holding the bicycle brake disc on. It bolts to the two piece wheel with some longer bolts running through some spacers. I just have to swap out the stove bolts that are holding the disc on for some good socket head fasteners and it's set to go.

The next photo down is a roller for a belt sander. My wife suggested I make up one of those bag toss games for an upcoming family reunion. I have plenty of wood left over that was either a part of or stored in the old barn so I figured I could knock that out in short order. The only problem was the plywood I had needed to be sanded down. I've got two belt sanders but both of them needed repair. Of course, that's why I ended up with them in the first place. One of them is a Milwaukee 4" that needed a front roller. I had bought the other parts to repair it about fifteen years ago but didn't want to pay the price for a new roller. I still didn't the other day, either. The roller assembly was almost $46.00 plus shipping. The bushings were over $8.00 a piece. So I decided to make the roller and knock another project off the list. I had to order some other stuff from ENCO anyway, so I ordered two oilite bushings at the same time. 95 cents a piece! The roller was supposed to be 2-3/16" diameter but the only stock I had was 2" so I built it up with the TIG and machined it up. Two bucks and the job was done. Makes me wonder why I waited 15 years to finally get around to it.

Next up is the axle for the high mileage car. Pretty straight forward here. Cut three key slots for the chain, brake and flywheel. Shouldn't be much more machine work on the car other than hooking up the steering. I know I'll have to shorten the tie rods we have but that's no biggie.

Last but not least is a picture of my middle finger and the big ass blister on it. When I welded up the piece of round stock for the sander that evening, the TIG torch handle got pretty hot. I was wearing gloves and I felt the heat but didn't figure I was doing any damage. I felt a little tenderness when the job was done but no visible evidence other than a little redness. I got up the following morning and no redness and no blister. About ten o'clock up it popped. I've never had a blister with a 14 hour delay before. As I write this three days later, it's still here and actually a little bigger than in the picture. I figure if I'm careful, it might last a couple of more days. I always try to make them last as long as possible before breaking. They seem to heal up faster and there's less chance of infection.

So there's the weeks output of machine work. It's amazing what a guy can do with the 3 T's - Time, Talent and Tools - and since I had all the stock on hand, all it cost was two bucks and a blister.