Rotary Table

 

The rotary table showed up on Tuesday but I didn't have time to look at it until yesterday. The outside of the table has degree markings around the perimeter and there is a vernier scale that according to the manual should be able to give 10 second readings. I need 28 grooves on the shift levers but there isn't a 28 hole plate for the dividing head so I'll have to figure out all the locations using degrees, minutes and seconds. It's easy enough to come up with a digital degree number, not so much with the minutes and seconds. I haven't done anything like this in a while so I'll need to do some math, but before I do that I'll check the Machinery's Handbook. There's a good chance they'll already have done the math.

Heading to oral surgery this morning. Not sure what the outcome of that's going to be, but I'm guessing it'll be painful whatever it is. 

Shift Lever Beginning

 

I milled the sides of the aluminum pieces yesterday. It wouldn't have been necessary if I had a piece of 3/4 x 1 flat bar, but my supply of aluminum shapes is quite limited and there's no place locally that offers much of a selection, either. Shipping costs on the two places I normally order from off the internet have increased, so I've got about an hour of labor, cutting the parts out, milling the sides, setting up and cleaning the mill when finished. Nothing out of the ordinary when prototyping or making a small qty of an item. I'm never going into production on these, just building myself a bike.

The plates for the dividing head on the rotary table can be seen in the photo. Hopefully the rest of it shows up soon. 

The temperature hit a record high yesterday. 71 degrees.and sunny. Great day to be getting out of the house, running some errands and making some parts with the big shop doors open.

Irish Memories

 

A photo of my Ireland trip came up on my "memories" the other day. It's been five years since I was there. It was a great trip. I've been lucky to have been able to travel to Europe several times, twice with people from work and once solo when I went to Ireland. I was planning on going to Scotland when Covid hit but had to cancel that out and was also wanting to go to Spain. Likewise, Covid also screwed up the plan for the Missus and I going to Hawaii for our 50th wedding anniversary. I doubt I'll ever travel overseas again but I'm still hoping to get to Hawaii. That's the only one of the 50 states I haven't been to - maybe next year.

I ordered a small rotary table for the mill. It also has dividing plates that can be used with it. The dividing plates showed up the other day but no rotary table yet. I'm planning on using it to machine the shift lever for the Rickati vintage trials project. I cut out three pieces of stock yesterday, two for the parts and one for set-up or screw up. I'm going to mill the edges while waiting for the table to get here, even though after machining the spline I'll have to remove some material along the edges. I'll see if I can find the tool I made years ago to see if it'll work for this job. If I can't find it or it won't work, I'll start making a new one. 

I've only got two more sessions to teach at the college - not much more to do there. I've a little more work organizing the tax records so I can call the tax lady and I need to figure out what I can do to exercise without causing myself any pain. Looks like we've got another week of above average temperatures on tap. Good time to get things done, even if I'm on injured reserve.

Have a good week! 

As The Day Went

 

I looked out at the corn field/front yard yesterday morning and saw what I initially thought was a turkey. However, the build didn't look right, so I grabbed the binoculars and saw it was a Bald Eagle out amongst the corn stubble. It took off before I could get a photo of it but it was carrying something in its talons. I'm guessing it was a rabbit - couldn't tell since I was looking into the sun and it was in the shadow of the eagle's body. Pretty impressive bird, though. 

I met up with a former student of mine for breakfast after that. He's a student I had in class 30 years ago. We had a nice chat. Sometimes you forget the impact you have on your students. At least in this case, it was positive. He's done well for himself, glad I was able to help with that in some small way.

He gifted me a cool key chain fob with a real scorpion. That's something you don't see every day, Chauncey.

After breakfast I moseyed on down the road a bit to the jewelry store. I bought a solar powered Seiko watch from them about a dozen years ago and it seemed to be slowing down like it was in need of a new battery. I had checked the instruction booklet and it warned of using a regular battery in it. The instructions said take the watch to a pro for the battery replacement. However, they told me at the jewelry store it doesn't have a battery in it, it has a capacitor and to replace it would cost $150.00 American dollars. The young lady helping me said in a case like this, they put the watch in the window for a week and see what happens. Since the book said it had a replaceable battery and I've got a sunny window, I'll just leave in the bright sunlight for a week and see if it charges up. If not, maybe I'll send a missive off to Seiko and see what the say about a battery replacement. 

I got my MRI scheduled after I got home - took me a few phone calls and the earliest date that was open is three weeks from now, but I'm on the calendar and hopefully it'll show something that can be remedied.

In the meantime, just going to have to take it easy and tinker with little things.

He's Got a Plan

Amen to that. Retirement was great until the Covid hit. Travel plans cancelled, parts and materials unavailable, businesses being forced to shut down, mandatory "vaccine" injections, only to find out the cost of the man-made disease was underwritten with our tax dollars. And now we find out it was all bullshit from day one. Unfortunately, a lot of after-effects from the injections, including death.

Additionally, we now have a government that is a kakistocracy or an idiocracy. Maybe it's both - the worst form of government run by idiots. Other than the few at the top looking out for themselves, they're not doing anyone any good in the short or long term. Now we've got a war mongering banana republic spending money like a drunken sailor. No bueno.

I did decide on the shift and brake arrangement on the vintage trials bike, aka Rickati. The local hardware store had the bushings I needed and I've got a piece of cold rolled shafting to make the crossover set-up. I going to see about making a splined shift lever. I made up a couple of them for the Sprint vintage racer years back on the vertical shaper in the high school machine shop. As always, the instructor coached me through the project and they came out just like they were store bought. I no longer have access to any machine shop other than my own, but I think I've got it worked out without having to buy a broach. I don't want to cut up a stock lever if I can help it. I'm thinking it'll be rather time consuming to get it done but it should be something I'll be able to do even with the chest injury.  

Speaking of which, I had to go to the hardware store yesterday and since the doctor's office is in the same strip mall, I stopped in to see about making an appointment. As it happens, the doctor was in and they were able to work me in while I was there. We discussed a few things and she wrote me an order for an MRI as the next step. I'm calling today to get the appointment at the hospital. I'm hoping for the best.

Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution

 

While browsing the blogs I saw where Tracy Chapman performed on the Grammy Awards. No chance I would ever have seen her, since I never watch any type of awards show, but I do like her music. Other than Fast Car, I can't remember the last time I heard any of her music on the radio. In fact, I can't remember the last time I heard that one either.

I won't be surprised if there's a revolution coming in the near future. I figured I was pretty well set to go on my preparations, but I've run into a couple of snags. The doctor's office called with my test results - not what I expected. The CT scan showed up some small kidney stones but no evidence of anything wrong with the chest. If I can't get to the bottom of this, it's going to really limit what I can do. Tilling the garden and other chores around the shack are going to require some outside help. Hell, I'm not sure I'll even be able to ride the Sportster this spring. To add insult to injury, I've got something going on with my right eye as well. I made an appointment to see the eye doc, but as it is, I might have to learn to shoot a rifle left-handed, especially the one with a peep sight.

I went out into the shop yesterday to start getting something accomplished. I put my "girdle" on to hold everything tight. It's looking like that's going to be SOP from now on. I am planning on going back to the doctor to see what else is available to me for relief. 

On the plus side, I think I got the squirrel out of the shop wall. Between hammering on the wall and a handful of mothballs I threw in there, it might have moved on. Now it's about time for a raccoon to move back in. 

Always Something

 I got my CT scan yesterday - waiting on the results. Should find out later today or tomorrow. Then, depending on what was found, see what the solution is. In addition to the chest ailment, I've got another couple of issues I'm dealing with currently. I'm afraid old age has definitely caught up with me. 

I went out to the shop the other day and discovered a squirrel had taken up residence in the front wall. Discovery was easy since it had chewed a hole through the OSB sheathing on the inside wall. That's what I get for not spending more time out there making noise. I'm not sure the best way to get it out of there but it's definitely got to go. 

I took a couple of photos of the vintage trials bike to study while I'm awaiting the solution to the chest issue. I'm hoping I can figure out the best way to get the shifter and rear brake lever situated. The bike is designed with a right-side shift like most of the old European bikes were. Unfortunately, the rear brake actuating arm is also on the right side. I'm leaning towards moving the shift to the left side which is what all American made bikes have since the early seventies. That would make hooking up the brake relatively easy. I just need a jack shaft to transfer the shifting to the opposite side. Not much to it really, just need to keep everything clear of the kick start lever. These are all small parts I can make without much physical effort. Need to get going on it.