Frames Old & New

 

Before and after shots of frame repair on an old Ford Ranger pickup. I never would have tackled this one except, once again, a job for a friend. The Ranger is a genuine rust bucket but I managed to patch it up well enough to keep him on the road for another year or so. Those 6011 electrodes aren't very photogenic, especially when welding over that rusty metal but it's the best rod for the job. No way you could weld it with a MIG. The truck is basically just a parts-chaser so it won't be getting a lot of miles on it. I'm sure the patch will outlast the rest of the truck. 

While I was outside working on this one, the Missus intercepted a call from a lady I used to work with at the high school. Seems her son, who I had as a student, needs a fifth wheel installed on his truck or something but that one will be someone else's worry. I'll never get my own stuff done if I start taking on a bunch of outside work and there's just too much liability, especially things like semi tractors.

It was a nice day Monday so I took care of a few things around the shack. I replaced the wooden mounting board underneath the mailbox and put a fresh coat of paint on it. I also cut some pieces for the frame of the leaf off my Big Leaf Magnolia. The inside dimensions of the frame are 11" x 24". Big leaf, indeed. I might have it glued up by the time you read this as I'm writing this Monday evening. 

Yep - got it glued up yesterday. I'll sand it down and get the mounting bracket installed today. We might set a record for the high temperature today, so I'll try to get the first coat of stain on it today as well. That gizmo I made for clamping frames together when I taught the woodshop class at the high school has come in handy. Most all the frames I've made have been for things I've been hanging in my home woodshop, so they don't have to be perfect but this rig gets them as close as my miter saw makes the cuts. I do need to get a new blade for the saw. 

I'm working on getting a couple of photographs framed up for Christmas presents. I want to dry mount them, so I need to get started on those pretty quick like. These will be local deliveries, so not a panic yet. I bought frames with mats, so it'll only take a couple of minutes each to get them framed once I get the photos mounted.

I'm hoping to get back on the jitney today unless something else comes up. I've got a little bit of clean-up from the Ranger repair but that'll only take a few minutes. I want to get the cab sheet metal finished up. I'm anxious to see how the top edge of the sheet will look after I get done rolling a bead and reinforcing it with a piece of aluminum round stock.