Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

13 Dec 2021

Greetings,
No shop time this week, spent time at the day job getting some things finished as well as spending time dodging the storms that came through our area. The good thing is that we didn't get hit by lightning this time (and didn't take out all my home network and internet service this time). Took me 5 weeks to recover fully from the last lightning strike, so in short that was 5 weeks with effort every day plus about $1500 in hardware, cable, connectors, and tools. I need to get back in the shop this week to get some things done that I've promised to have done before Christmas. I'll just say that I hope this week goes really good. The LOML still struggles a good bit over the loss of our oldest son, but we are managing...one day at a time.

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

Best of weeks to you all.

[Jim Becker]

'Glad you're headed into the shop this week, Dennis!

This weekend was the "finally move the lathe" event along with the associated "move the Big Orange Power Tool" event. It all went smoothly with the heavy stuff being lifted onto my trailer with the Kubota on Friday, parking it here overnight and then getting a 6x12 UHaul trailer with a ramp to move the tractor Saturday morning so I could unload here at this end. Other than a bunch of turning stock in the upstairs of the old shop building that I need to find new homes for, the old shop is depressingly empty. That's a good thing at this point as we accepted an offer on the property (reluctantly because it was far lower than we preferred) and need to move on. Cross your crossibles that there are no issues.

Said depressingly empty shop space...

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Loaded up to move...

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Tractor loaded...and then unloading...

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Unloading...

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And in place...then reassembled...

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I just have to change out the 20 amp twist lock for a 30 amp twist lock and the machine is ready for business.

The major downside to this whole operations was due to the weather conditions...nearly 70 degrees with the dew point "up there", so when I opened the garar...err...shop door...all the cold cast iron immediately had a coating of water condense on top of the surfaces. For the first time in nearly 25 years...I have rust to deal with. It's just surface stuff, but still...I'm really bummed about it. I never had that happen in the old shop, even before I had HVAC in there. :(

[Paul F Franklin]

Jim, congrats on the offer on your old place; hope it goes through without issue. We too had to accept an offer below (well below) what we thought was reasonable when we sold our previous home (bad timing; right when the market went to *&^* in 2008. We held on to two places for over a year hoping things would get better, but ended up swallowing hard and moving on. I'll bet you're glad to have all your stuff finally moved over.

Kitchen wise, I got all the pulls installed, and got the fridge panels and cabinet installed. That went smoother than I expected. I had to scribe both panels to the wall and both came out well on the first shot with no need for fussy fitting. I had bought scribe molding "just in case" but am glad I didn't have to use it; it never looks as clean as a well scribed panel.

The countertop folks come tomorrow to measure and template so I have to pull the temp countertops and the faucet out in the morning and them put them back since they say it will be a month before install.

Since the weather is predicted to be mild for a few days, I pulled the window sashes to recondition and paint them and the frame. I have new weatherstripping and ordered new operators and keepers. Should have done it when it was still warm, but was on a mission to get the cabinets in. All the sanding and cleanup is done; they are ready for paint. Have the opening blocked off with rigid foam for now.

I took still more cardboard to the recycler. And I started working on installing the range hood.

My buddy got the skid steer pulled out of his pond (it was in there nearly a week) and moved back to his place where he started tearing it down. What a mess. He drained over three gallons of water/oil from the engine crankcase so he was right to be worried about water in the engine. It's a bit of a race against time to get the work done before we get a hard freeze. Neither one of us has a heated space tall enough to accommodate the machine so he has to get the water out before it freezes and does serious damage. As far as we can tell, no water got into the hydraulic oil reservoir. The 5 ton winch on the back is likely toast.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, Paul. This was one of those situations where the comparables and all other evidence pointed to a much, much higher sale value than was achievable. The market spoke. We lost money over our hard investment. We move on. The nice thing is that it's the couple's first purchased home...government employees relocating from DC. I don't expect any issues, but until the check is cut at closing... ;) Glad your kitchen project is moving along!

[George Yetka]

Started assembly of this. Still have water cooling/programming/DC before testing can begin.
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[Bruce Wrenn]

No woodworking other than picking up tools from Toy for Tots workshop. Friday night wound up in ER with a mild heart attack. Spent weekend in hospital. Heart cathed on Sunday afternoon, and home on Monday AM.

[Jim Becker]

Heal quickly, Bruce!