I got the table base painted - the Missus has the next move. I think she's looking for some type of marble top. I'll give her the measurements and see what she comes up with.
I've been involved in boxing for quite a while. I was doing some sparring and helping out around the gym back in the seventies, and then started coaching when I got involved training Jimmy. I wasn't sure how many years I've had a coaching license, but I got a 15-year service pin in the mail the other day, so I figured it had to be at least 15 years. Then the following day I received a 20-year pin. So, it looks like maybe it's more like 20, rather than 15. Doesn't really matter to me, one way or the other, actually. I am hoping to be involved at least a few more years. Once it's in your blood, hard to give it up.
I did a little more work on the trailer yesterday - finished the two stakes that are next in line and cut a bunch of the tabs for the side stakes. The two pieces leaning up against the stake in the rear are the connectors for the plywood sheets. It was rainy yesterday or I would have gotten them bent and the sheets installed. I still need to make the rest of the stakes for the side sheets. Maybe work on them today. If I was to pull the rag out of my ass, I could have that job finished today.
Going along with the welding post yesterday, today a little bit of layout work. When I cut the bulkhead sheet, I needed to make an angle cut where it met up with the side sheet, with the corresponding angle on the side sheet. There's a couple of ways to do this, as long as both angles end up the same, doesn't matter how you get there.
I measured the angle on the trailer floor using the sliding T bevel and then transferred the angle to a piece of paper. I then bisected the angle, set my sliding T bevel accordingly and used that to set the angle on my circular saw. I could have read the angle directly from the plywood using my protractor and then divided it in half to get the angle, but I still would have had to set the T bevel for the saw.
I don't know where a kid would learn to bisect an angle or construct a perpendicular bisector. I learned how to do these and make a simple stretch-out in eighth grade. Making the bisectors is so simple, it's almost criminal not being able to do it. All you need for tools is a straight-edge and a compass or dividers. The compass in the photo I made years ago from a plan in Wooden Boat magazine. It uses a regular #2 pencil held in place with a spring type hose clamp. I've also got a couple of cheap pencil compasses from the dollar store that I used at the college and the side gig. Absolutely no reason not to have one, regardless of your trade.
Here's something else every fabricator and machinist should have - combination square set with square, protractor and centering head. You can buy a cheap set at Harbor Freight for $8.99 or buy a Starrett set for $299.99. While I'm a big fan of good tools, welding fabrication is hard on precision tools. If I was just starting out, I'd buy the Harbor Freight set and then save my money for something a little better after starting to make the big money.
Definitely need one of these framing squares as well. If you're a carpenter, buy one with the rafter scales. If you're a welder, buy one that's fairly cheap. Some guys cut a little bit off the heel for weld clearance. Any time you tack weld two pieces together, they'll move out of square due to weld shrinkage. That nipped off corner makes it easier to work around the tack welds when rechecking square.
I taught a fab class at the college and I covered some simple layouts and using the tools. Most of the students had never done any layout work at all. Other than a community college class or an apprenticeship, once again the question of how to learn this stuff comes up. I'd like to see an old-fashioned drafting/mechanical drawing class brought back at the high school level. While board work has been mostly replaced by CAD work on the professional level, I firmly believe board work would give students skills that would help them in the trades, whether that's as a welder, carpenter, pipe fitter, machinist or any other trade. You want to see the value of that, watch a sheet metal man or a boilermaker out on the job site. Layout work and pattern development are valuable skills that need to be offered again.
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