Swamped

It happened again. Just about the time I get caught up and start to think I'm getting ahead of the game, it hits the fan.

I had the grandson down for the weekend to try out the midget and spend a little bit of fun time. The midget was quite the experience. I tied a rope to the back of it to make sure he didn't run in to anything, put him in the saddle with a few words of instruction and he put it to the floor. Even though I put a throttle stop on it, it still runs a little too fast for the boy. And grandpa, who was running along behind him tugging on the rope to slow him down. I'm going to change the sprocket on the back and put some kind of stop directly on the carb linkage to get him down to a safer speed. But it runs and he had fun. So there you go.

Sunday we went out for breakfast and then to a steam/power show. Lots of old trucks, tractors, fire trucks and stationary engines. Everything and old man and a young boy wanted to see. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. The young-un is old enough now that he's a lot of fun to spend time with. So that was the upside of the weekend.

I was going to cut the grass before the grandson came down but the mower quit on me. Like someone turned off the switch, quit. So I decided to check the switch and something didn't look right. I just figured I'd jumper around it and finish mowing and check it all out later. Bad idea. Instead of the starter cranking but the engine not running, now it doesn't do diddly. Also Saturday, Jimmy showed up with our "new" folding chairs he found for the gym. We got 63 free chairs but they're all rusty and need to be painted - before next Saturday's exhibition. So today, myself and a couple of my aces took the wire wheels to the chairs and then I went back after work and painted. So far I've got 27 of them painted and 9 more ready to paint. I'm shooting for another 18 or so tomorrow and the same on Wednesday. What a pain in the ass. Plus the grass is still growing and I had to have progress report grades posted by eight in the morning.

I've really got to start leaving myself a little breathing room so I don't have to go into a panic when the unexpected comes along. Because the unexpected, always comes along.

Teeter-Totter With a Little Progress Thrown In

I saw this at The New Cafe (Racer) Society. Stainless tubing and Brooks saddles. Pretty cool, don't ya think?

The midget's a runner. I got the motor lit off the other day and it's ready for the maiden voyage. As Cuzzin Ricky says: "It's cute as a speckled pup."

Drug out some parts for the 900 last night. I started working on the clutch hook-up. I've got a new lever and cable plus I've got a clutch release plate that was the latest thing about thirty years ago. Vance & Hines or RC Engineering used to sell these things. It allows you to throw away the stock cover that has the clutch actuator in it so you have easy access to the countershaft sprocket. I knew I was missing something to bolt it on but I couldn't remember what until I started digging around in the parts box. I need two long metric bolts, which around here will be difficult enough to come by, but the piece behind the sprocket that this gizmo bolts on to is in need of some serious repair. Apparently, once upon a time the chain broke and tore a big section out of it. That was pretty common, actually. One of the bolt holes is also stripped out. I've got a 6mm Heli-Coil set, so I can fix the threads and I can weld up the missing piece. So that'll be the next step. Like the black powder gun, I want to get most of the heavy lifting done before it gets too cold outside. If I can get most of the parts acquired and hung on it at home, I can take it over to school and get it painted on a weekend or during vacation - Christmas would be real good. That might be a little optimistic but I've never really had a good grasp on reality anyway.

Mr. Lucky

Man, I got lucky today. I received an invitation today from a fellow teacher in my department to go on a cruise this evening on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Boy-o-boy, what a nice night to be cruising around downtown Chicago it was! We boarded the Elegante right by Navy Pier and went through the lock to catch the Chicago River. The owner of the boat - not the guy I work with - provided a lovely dinner and a tour guide. We got a chance to see the city as the sun was setting and then cruised back out onto Lake Michigan for a short run along the shore line.

If I had money, I'd have me a big ass boat too. And you'd all be invited for a trip down the Chicago River. Shame it's never going to happen on a teacher's salary. When I build my little boat, I will give you a chance to row a little bit, though.

Thanks for the invite, Jeff.

Lookin' Good

We had a two hour delay yesterday due to a real heavy fog, so I didn't get as much done as I had planned on the midget. The only things left to do are the throttle and brake cables and a kill switch, though. Should be done by next weekend -maybe have the boy come down on Saturday or Sunday afternoon and give it a spin. Right now the weather man is forecasting rain for the next five days.

We did get the scrap box emptied out and loaded into the back of my truck yesterday plus a lot of general clean-up. Twenty-eight minute class periods don't allow for much welding time but they actually work real well for a clean-up day. There's still some work to be done but that's always the case. I've got to work out a schedule to start bringing things in. Cuzzin Ricky has the dune buggy that needs to be finished along with some ramps for his trailer, the gym "bus" needs patch panels, and we need to make a heavy duty log splitter just for starters. Plus, I really need to see some progress on my VW this year. I've got some really good students this year so we should be able to turn out both quality and quantity.

Now it's off to the scrapyard, do a little trenching and hit the gym. Get outside and enjoy the weekend, people.

Midget Progress

Maybe I should reword that. Midget progress is what I usually have going on. Progress on the midget is what this is all about.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the grandson's midget, finally. I got a couple of jobs that came into the shop to repair but I decided if I don't take some time to work on the midget, it never will get done. I put the other jobs on the back burner and started thrashing on my job for a change. It's almost back together after taking it down to paint the frame. I worked on it Tuesday during open shop and last night as well. I'm coming down the home stretch and it's looking just like I want. I was going to paint the body but after getting most of the sheet metal back on and rubbin' it down a little, I'm leaning towards a little splash of blue on the nose and leave the rest of it in the raw. Everything should be ready to run except for a little clevis to fasten the throttle cable to the carb linkage and a kill switch. Hopefully, it will be done this weekend or next week at the latest.

Weekend Fun

Jimmy, myself and one of our young guns from the gym ran a 5K Saturday morning. I was going to do the race walk but another one of our fighters had signed up and ended up working out of town, so I took his place. It was the first time I had entered this race and I expected a few more people - it was a very small group of runners. As it ended up, Jimmy and I ran together and finished 1 & 2 in the 30 - 39 age group. I didn't factor in the possibility of winning something when I decided to just run in the other guy's place. I would have placed first in my age division had I had a legitimate entry. Like I said, it was a very small race.

Jimmy bought an old Dodge van to haul his band stuff around in and for the gym to use to transport our boxers to shows. It runs pretty good, doesn't use any oil and has new tires all the way around. It does have some major rust issues, however. It looks like the Dodge will move ahead of the Volkswagen in the project line. With this one I can drive it back and forth to work while I'm working on it or throw a bicycle in the back in case I need to stop in the middle of something. Don't need to be driving around with a patch panel held in place with a half a dozen Vise Grips. We finished the trailer the other day, so there's an open spot big enough to drive the 12 passenger in and work on it. Always plenty of projects available.

Later on that evening we took the grandson to see the balloon glow. This is an annual event that has a bunch of hot air balloons that they fire up after the sun goes down. It's a fundraiser for the Kiwani's and it was a great night to be out. I bought the grandson a hot dog and an ice cream and we had a swell time.

It was a great weekend and it looks to be heading towards a great Fall. Get outside and enjoy the weather, people.

Black Powder Shotgun

I started machining up a few more pieces for the black powder shotgun I started a couple of years ago. This is going to be my at home winter time project. Instead of sitting on my rump in the evening vegetating in front of the television, I can go down the basement and tinker on the gun project. I want to get some of the parts that require machine work done before it gets cold out - no point in heating up the shop for an hour or two when it's freezing out.There's going to be a lot of filing and fitting so I can do that at my little bench down the basement and be happy as a clam.

The photos show the breech plug and the spindle/tumbler. They both still need quite a bit of hand work but I'm sure it's going to be a long, cold winter. Of course you can buy everything you need to build a muzzle loader from Dixie Gun Works or Track of the Wolf but what's the fun in that? Besides, those gun kits aren't cheap. Depending on the quality of the components, you can easily get $700 - 800 wrapped up in one. I'm planning on making everything myself. I picked up a little book from the library years back and made a photocopy. It's a "how to" on building a percussion pistol and I'm adapting the plans to build a 20 gauge shotgun. I'm hoping to have all the metal work done this year and with a little luck have the stock done as well. If this one goes well, I want to make a single shot rifle next. A breach loading 45 Long Colt should be just the ticket.