Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

7 Nov 2016
Good Morning Everyone,
I'd like to state that I had a really good week off from the day job. I got lots of things done around the house and the final touches finished up at the bowling alley. Needless to say, I'm ever so glad to have that finished. The LOML and I spent some time working on cleaning up the shop and made some good progress. The cooler temps here make a huge difference in how much we can get done without being so blasted hot and humid. Love this time of year. Now I just need to work on getting the rest of my shop cleaned up and better organized to see what shakes out of all that.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all!

[John K Jordan]

We took down two more trees on neighbor's property across the road. I pulled the cable with my tractor while Isaac cut. These were both at the top of a 25' bank and dropped down the bank. One was a white oak, 30" DBH, the other was a 22" hickory full of nuts.

Man, what a windstorm! These trees developed so much speed in the way down and the huge fan of leaves made a blast of wind that blew debris at least 30 feet past the where the top of the tree landed. I ducked down in the tractor seat and turned my face away - I'm convinced that if I was standing unprotected the wind would have knocked me over!

Anyone in East TN want some hickory wood? White oak? I have the logs from three big white oaks now.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

'Glad you had a great week off from the "real job", Dennis...and John...why not get that wood milled so it lives on in furniture. :)

I had a productive weekend moving my mini-bathroom-renovation along to the point that it's pretty much time for major cleanup to finish. Paint touchup is complete; the tile baseboard at the bottom of the short "new" wall is in and grouted; lighting installed and best of all, the new counter and sink are installed and working. No leaks, too. :D :D :D Remaining work after thoroughly cleaning the room, and especially the tile floor, is to install the new toilet and get the shower doors in place. The shower will not be usable right away as I still have to get the leak in the hot water side fixed, but at least then my older daughter will not have to stumble downstairs in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and she can continue to share her sister's shower temporarily. I decided to complete the room first so I'm not working in two areas, because depending on certain things, getting to the leak, which is above the cabinetry over our refrigerator in the kitchen may or may not require removal of said cabinetry.

The cabinets are the original ones, despite not being "my style" as they are very high quality and cherry which is consistent with the other bathrooms in the house. I just cleaned them up and put on new hardware. The black counter matches the other baths as does the white sink. Lamps are new; mirror is original. Plumbing hardware had to stay "antique-y brass" because I cannot change out the plumbing on the large jacuzzi that dominates the room. But I actually like the new fixtures and they look good in the room. BTW, that counter was fabricated from an Ikea pre-laminated counter as noted last week. It really is a pretty good facsimile of the honed granite in the other bathrooms and for $80, a bargain. (Important for this project)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Bath%20Renovation/IMG_8640_zps4bsgnu17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Bath%20Renovation/IMG_8641_zpscqzbfdcu.jpg

This is the small amount of new tile work that had to be done (baseboard)...fortunately Datile still makes the tile and a reasonable color match. But wow...buying in small quantity is expensive because of shipping/handling to the dealer. Sheesh... (Photo prior to cleanup and paint retouch)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Bath%20Renovation/IMG_8642_zpsrasmsiwn.jpg

[John K Jordan]

'Glad you had a great week off from the "real job", Dennis...and John...why not get that wood milled so it lives on in furniture. :)


How much of it do you want? I have a Woodmizer behind the barn.

I'll probably cut some 4" thick white oak slabs, some long hickory handle blanks, and maybe a turning chunk or two. Give a couple of logs to a guy down the street to feed his sawmill. The rest will be firewood.

I like the look of your bathroom with the dark wood mirror and cabinet. But can't stand plumbing. Actually, I love having plumbing.

JKJ

[mark mcfarlane]

I moved into my retirement house and put up 60 feet of 1*4 pressure treated wood around the bottom of a patio fence/rail to keep my dog from chasing squirrels (until he learns how to hop onto a chair and over the top of the rail). The poor dog doesn't understand 3D, i.e. when the squirrels run up a tree... Kind of funny to watch.

Cleaned out the garage and had the floor ground and coated. Came out beautiful. Bought some paint for the garage walls and ceiling, painting tonight or tomorrow, as soon as the epoxy smell is gone.

Partially put together my Noden Adjust-a-bench, both one-rail brackets got bent in shipping, waiting for Geoff to respond to an email to see if I should just use them anyway, or try to pound them back, its heavy steel. The Grizzly 36*72 Maple top arrived in perfect condition (on its own palette).

And we had company for the weekend.

Not bad for my first weekend of retirement.

FWIW, I also got a shot of testosterone on Thursday (my first) and wow, I feel like I have 2X the energy I normally have. On my feet all day and still going after 4PM. Although my levels were 'normal' for my age, my new doctor suggested that 'normal' is not the same as 'ideal', and recommended the shot. Great call. More effective than drinking coffee all day.

[Jim Becker]

How much of it do you want? I have a Woodmizer behind the barn.

Admittedly, the logistics would be difficult, but if not, I'd surely take you up on some of that white oak. I'm contemplating whether or not I'm going to get some milling done in the coming year here as I know I'm going to have some ash coming down for sure. Darn beetles... :(

[John K Jordan]

Admittedly, the logistics would be difficult, but if not, I'd surely take you up on some of that white oak. I'm contemplating whether or not I'm going to get some milling done in the coming year here as I know I'm going to have some ash coming down for sure. Darn beetles... :(

So if I accidentally drive up to Coopersburg one day to visit Ellis would it be OK to dump a load of boards in your driveway? I have cherry going to waste too. We are actually thinking about such a trip later this year or early next.

Mark, I hope you enjoy retirement as much as I do. 10 years now for me. (I get the meds too! - topical application, not a shot)

JKJ

[John Sanford]

Completed my first welding project.

[Wayne Lomman]

I built a portable goat milking stand for my wife, and we went to the Brighton Ag show (about 2 hours away)with a selection of goats. A few ribbons came our way. The milking stand is a prototype I have decided. We will work out the glitches and then I will build a decent looking one. Task oak will look good. Back to work in Adelaide this week...Cheers

[John K Jordan]

Completed my first welding project.

Wow, that's incredible for your first project, John! I know my life got easier when I got my first welder - things that used to be so difficult to build or repair were suddenly so easy. I can't imagine keeping up this farm without welding - I built a welding room in my new shop with welders, bandsaw, plasma cutter, hydraulic press, sand blaster, and an extra drill press. And a big vise!

Don't you just love square tubing?! Hey, did you know you can get square plastic caps that press into the ends of the tubing?

What kind of welding machine did you go with? I started with a little 110v flux core wire machine that I used for years until I built this shop.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

So if I accidentally drive up to Coopersburg one day to visit Ellis would it be OK to dump a load of boards in your driveway? I have cherry going to waste too. We are actually thinking about such a trip later this year or early next.

Indeed I would very much enjoy a visit from you, pile of wood or not. With enough notice for scheduling to avoid work conflicts, I can also probably join you to harass Ellis for a few hours...it would be nice to see him again. It's been quite a few years, unfortunately.

[John Sanford]

Wow, that's incredible for your first project, John! I know my life got easier when I got my first welder - things that used to be so difficult to build or repair were suddenly so easy. I can't imagine keeping up this farm without welding - I built a welding room in my new shop with welders, bandsaw, plasma cutter, hydraulic press, sand blaster, and an extra drill press. And a big vise!

Don't you just love square tubing?! Hey, did you know you can get square plastic caps that press into the ends of the tubing?

What kind of welding machine did you go with? I started with a little 110v flux core wire machine that I used for years until I built this shop.

JKJ

Welding room in your shop? Gadzooks, color me envious!

I'm a bit of a tool junkie, so I jumped in solidly at the decent quality/capability level. I'm pretty sure that I'll have far more capability with my Miller 211 than I'll ever need. I've got a bunch of ideas for some metal work, as I've always loved the combination of wood and metal. But the short term goals is simply shop projects. I've got to build a mobile base for Uncle Max and a full workstation for my SawStop. It's the SawStop need that lit the welding fire. I do have to make sure I don't start any real fires though, which is why I'm !!! envious !!! of your welding room.

btw, aren't those BIG VISES wonderful? :)

[John K Jordan]

Indeed I would very much enjoy a visit from you, pile of wood or not. With enough notice for scheduling to avoid work conflicts, I can also probably join you to harass Ellis for a few hours...it would be nice to see him again. It's been quite a few years, unfortunately.

Ellis asked me to pass his hello to you!

[John K Jordan]

Welding room in your shop? Gadzooks, color me envious!

I'm a bit of a tool junkie, so I jumped in solidly at the decent quality/capability level. I'm pretty sure that I'll have far more capability with my Miller 211 than I'll ever need. I've got a bunch of ideas for some metal work, as I've always loved the combination of wood and metal. But the short term goals is simply shop projects. I've got to build a mobile base for Uncle Max and a full workstation for my SawStop. It's the SawStop need that lit the welding fire. I do have to make sure I don't start any real fires though, which is why I'm !!! envious !!! of your welding room.

btw, aren't those BIG VISES wonderful? :)

Big vises and anvils, too.

It sounds to me like we are both card-carrying members of the tool junkie club (right along with a bunch of Creekers, I'm sure!)

I could talk metal working all day! I wanted to keep the hot and dirty steel away from the wood so I added the welding room with double doors to a concrete deck outside. When the weather permits I play with hot and sparky things outside. Inside, I worried about globs of molten metal rolling into the small gap under the paneling so I sealed it with some aluminum angle glued to the floor. I thought about paneling the lower walls with 24 gauge galvanized sheet and still might some day.

I built this shop a few years ago but I waited 10 years while I saved up enough for it. Fortunately, I was able to do almost everything myself from the dirt prep to the wiring so I ended up with far more shop than I could have afforded otherwise. (and things done exactly as I wanted)

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I keep a big Jet horizontal bandsaw on wheels just inside the weld room door so I open the doors and roll it in front of the door and let the 20' stock lengths stick out into the drive. A portaband gets the stuff I'd rather not move. Years ago I ran into a guy who was selling his surplus steel at scrap prices, good angle iron, square tubing, round and square rods, etc. I bought 8000 lbs and stuck it in a shed. It is so nice to just go get what I need without driving to town. Some of it has rust but for around the farm that doesn't matter much.

Besides the little wire welder I got a big AC/DC stick welder when I started on the shop - welded rebar on 2' spacing for the concrete and 1' in the bay areas so I can bring in the tractor or skid steer. This made SURE the rebar was exactly where I wanted it and wasn't subject to what the concrete guys did. They laughed at me at first but afterwards they asked if I would come do the prep when they built their own building. Ha!

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When the shop was done I added a Miller MIG, a Miller TIG, and a Hypertherm plasma cutter. MAN I LOVE THAT THING! It will cut 1/2" clean but I've cut 1" with it. Cuts through rebar and stainless like it's butter. Since I got the plasma cutter I haven't fired up the acetylene torch except to bend something!

One thing I did on a whim about 20 years ago and I really like it - I made a short steel stand for the big vise that puts the top of the jaws at the perfect height for pounding and sawing.

Oh, another thing I made which adds a lot to my welding - a 20' extension cord for 50 amps. Everything uses the same plug so I made up a cord from some huge flexible cable. This has been SO handy on occasion, not only when welding the rebar for the shop but for moving a welder out in the drive next to the bobcat or the horse trailer.

This was my last big project - a restraint chute for llamas for shearing, medicating, hoof trimming, and protecting myself from injury. Llamas typically do not tolerate being touched and a big one can kick hard enough to break your hand! A commercial chute is nearly $2000 and doesn't have all the features I wanted. The side panels are hinged and easily removable (hinges made from cold-rolled rod and pipe), has quick-attach wheels for moving it around the property, and I sized the inside to hold my livestock scales. This one project justified some of the equipment!

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I put a small milling machine and metal lathe in the shop too and a buddy recently gave me a larger mill drill. I can't believe how much these add to the fun. Need a bracket, make one. Can't find the exact fitting or adapter, turn it and thread it. The welding added another dimension and the milling puts another level on top of that.

Does your SawStop have the hydraulic base? When I wanted a mobile base for the 700 lb mill drill I thought about building one until I found out about the hydraulic mobile base for the industrial SawStop. Wow, is that thing nice! I like the way it sets the machine solidly on the ground instead of leaving it on locking casters. I haven't built the stand for the mill yet but I've designed one from square tubing and sheet steel. I'll weld all this to a piece of 1/2" steel plate the same size of the industrial SawStop saw footprint.

Oops, as usual I write too much and don't know when to quit...

JKJ

[John Sanford]

Big vises and anvils, too.

It sounds to me like we are both card-carrying members of the tool junkie club (right along with a bunch of Creekers, I'm sure!)
...
Does your SawStop have the hydraulic base? When I wanted a mobile base for the 700 lb mill drill I thought about building one until I found out about the hydraulic mobile base for the industrial SawStop. Wow, is that thing nice! I like the way it sets the machine solidly on the ground instead of leaving it on locking casters. I haven't built the stand for the mill yet but I've designed one from square tubing and sheet steel. I'll weld all this to a piece of 1/2" steel plate the same size of the industrial SawStop saw footprint.

Oops, as usual I write too much and don't know when to quit...

JKJ

no need to apologize! I don't have the hydraulic MB, in fact, I wish I would have gone with the Overarm DC boom rather than the basic MB on the promo when I got my SawStop. The basic MB doesn't work very well for me because of the number of support legs my setup has combined with a less than glass smooth/level floor. The hydraulic would have the same problem, but it would at least allow spinning in place. Neither base lifts the saw high enough, a common flaw of commercial mobile bases. Which is part of why I'm building my own.

I'd love to see that vice setup you've got, kindly post some pics of it.