School's Out

School's finally out for the summer. We had to go an extra week to make up for all the snow days of last winter. I'm writing this at school while I take a little coffee break. I finished up all the paper work and I'm getting ready to tackle the shop clean up.

The roof is getting replaced this summer and my service door will be unlocked all day so the roofers can get in and out. Because of this, anyone and everyone can walk right in and help themselves to any thing that's not nailed down. I'm not worried about the roofers, in fact one of them is a former student. But while the roofers are up topside, no one will be watching what's going on downstairs. Last year I went through the same thing with the pipefitters and the geothermal job. It forces me to clean up and secure things which I should do anyway.

I'm starting the list of jobs for the summer. I definitely need to get some things done around the shack. Depending on the weather, I'm planning on hitting a serious lick every day on the "honey do" list, put some miles in on the bike and start training for a couple of race walks. Evenings will be spent in the shop either here or at home. I would like to see that 900 move under it's own power. I want to get out with the big camera (4x5) this summer as well. Lots of ideas and lots of unfinished projects. Should make for an interesting and fun summer.

Progress is Overrated

I got the new AARP magazine the other day - actually it comes in my wife's name - but Shop Teacher Bob is old enough to get the 10% discount at KFC. I'm not old as dirt but I remember when it was new. Any way, the magazine has an advertisement for Post Shredded Wheat with the headline "Progress is Overrated". It's a clever ad and at the bottom of the page was a web address to check out. I would suggest you take a look at the speech on progress. It's pretty damn funny. It's like Frank Drebin from Police Squad decided to make a commercial. Progress is overrated, indeed.

Film Lit Class

Several of my students took the Film Literature class this year. The final project for the class is the making of a short film. One of the boys who is in my welding class and also a fighter at the gym, made a boxing video. You can view it here. It features him and Coach Jimmy. It's a little schmaltzy but check out Jimmy when he's hitting the heavy bag. I had to work his corner at one of his fights because his main coach was out of town. I was really hoping he didn't get cut or hurt and I'd have to deal with it. As it turned out, he nailed the guy with one of those big shots to the body early and his opponent just crumpled. Man, he hits hard.

We had another exhibition at the gym Saturday night, also. When we get the DVDs burned, I'll throw something up here. Lot's of fun.

Welcome to the Hood

I managed to get the hood on the little midget. It's the busy time of year now. Finishing up projects, nine weeks grades, final exams, cutting the grass every time it stops raining, boxing - you name it - it's all going on. But the midget is pert near finished.
















We've been working on rebuilding the high mileage car as well. We've got the frame all tacked together and will be trying to get the steering roughed in next week before school's out. I'm not sure what's going to happen with this project. I'm still looking for someone to help take it over but nothing much has materialized yet. My department head, who we affectionately refer to as the CAD God, has offered his assistance in making up the required drawings for the proposal. He's a guy you can count on for quality work. That would eliminate one of the big headaches. The kid working on the car right now says he's planning on coming in over the summer and helping. If we can get the car built early enough, I could stay with it another year. I'm just not going to be worrying about it next spring. If it's done, we go. If it's not, I'll give the stuff away to another school who wants to get into the contest or jerk the motor out of it and toss the rest of it in the lake. It would make a nice fish attractor.

Thanks Pete

Steady rest prior to removal from the fixture






















Close up of weld.

The little dents are from peening.
Peening + high nickel content electrode + low heat input = good weld


I had the very good fortune to start working for my uncle Pete right after graduating from high school. It was just a little shop when I started working for him and he did just about any job that came along - lawnmower decks, trailer hitches, material handling equipment, repair work on the big ships that came into Chicago - you name it, Pete could weld it. "A Quality Shop Of Master Craftsmen" it used to say in the Yellow Pages and Pete made it quite clear that if I was going to work for him, I'd have to be a craftsman.

I worked for him that summer and a couple more times off and on and each time I went back, I had a better appreciation of what he was capable of. At first I thought every one did it Pete's way because that was the only way I knew. After gathering some valuable experience in a variety of other shops, I realized how good Pete was. Jobs that others would shy away from were the type of thing that was second nature to Pete. Fortunately I had the good sense to recognize this and started paying closer attention to what went on there.

The photos are the steady rest for my old South Bend lathe. It was made for a 14" lathe and mine is a 13". I've been meaning to find another one but after needing it for a job the other day, I said "screw it, I'll just cut it down". So I did. I started with a little bit of thinking, a little bit of measuring, a little fixturing, a little welding and just like that I've got a steady rest that I can actually use.

If old Pete hadn't have taken me under his wing forty years ago, I never would have been able to weld cast iron or anything else for that matter. And I never would have thought of tackling a job that has to be lined up as accurately as the steady rest needs to be. Pete's been gone for quite a while now and some place along the line the torch, no pun intended, was passed to me. One of these days, hopefully, it'll pass on to someone else.

Thanks Pete.

Memorial Day

Cuzzin' Ricky and I celebrated Memorial Day by taking the grandkids on a steam train ride.

The Nickel Plate 765 of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society running on the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum tracks from North Judson to LaCrosse. It was about a two hour trip and it included a photo run by for the passengers. They'll be running again in June for the Mint Festival.

You just can't beat live steam!

High Mileage Video

In addition to the actual high mileage contest part of the IMSTEA Super Mileage Challenge, last year they introduced a video contest as well. There were three entries last year and they were all quite good. They were the type of things you would see on TV as a public service announcement. Ours is a little different. It's a short clip that showed the crew building and testing the car. It's a shame we didn't get any footage of the wreck. Check it out - it's pretty entertaining.