Jim Koepke
10-19-2022, 11:15 AM
Normally my projects are posted in Neanderthal Haven. Though this project takes what might be a Neanderthal approach to a project it only incidentally involves wood and hand tools. Hopefully it may help someone in a similar situation.
Last Wednesday wasn’t one of my favorite days. It started with a jury summons and having potential jurors sitting on hard benches during the voir dire process (preliminary examination of a witness or a juror by a judge or counsel). This was strange since this is usually done with all jurors present in the courtroom. Some of the potential jurors expressed a sensitivity concerning the crimes allegedly committed by the defendant. This required many of the potential jurors to undergo voir dire in private. After about four hours, one of the bailiffs came out and informed us there were not enough people left in the jury pool for a trial. We were dismissed.
On the way out my biggest decision was which way to drive home in order to pick up a small ash can. Lowes was through town and Home Depot was on the edge of town. I decided to go around the traffic and headed to HD. I do not know if they do this at all of their stores but the one in my area parks their carts along the drive in front of the store. While turning into one of the parking lanes I ran into one of them and did a nasty crunch to the side of my pick-up truck.
The running board suffered limited damage. A couple of the insert nuts pulled out. This caused a thumping noise with the slightest vibration. It also bent one of the mounting brackets, BUMMER!
So after a bit of thinking, tinkering and looking in Lowes hardware section, it became clear something from my own parts stash was going to have to do the job:
488286
After finding a couple full thread 1/4-20 bolts it occurred some 1/4-20 inserts could do the job.
A block was made from a piece of scrap firewood. A centerline was drawn around the block and the holes where the original inserts pulled out were checked with a pair of dividers for centers:
488287
A quick layout followed by a boring session at the drill press and the inserts went in like spreading soft butter:
488289
At times I have used a bolt and jam nuts to install inserts. Last time when purchasing a supply of inserts the install tools was too low priced to pass. It is a lot easier to use than the bolt and jam nuts:
488289
The grey looking piece above the pencil is a hex drive adapter for a bit brace, purchased from Lee Valley.
While thinking of how to hold this in place while remounting the running board, a beautifully simple solution came to mind. A 3/8” hole was bored into one side of the block:
488284
A dowel was inserted into the hole to hold it in place while bolts were driven in to hold the block in place. Then a pair of 1/2” #10 flathead wood screws could be used to hold the block in place:
488285
The running board body is made of aluminum so no countersinks were harmed in this production.
The mounting bracket was in need of a little reshaping:
488290
My original reason for buying a 24” pipe wrench eludes me at the moment, but it has come in very handy a few times.
Putting it back together was easy:
488291
Now to bang out some of the other dents and look for a Wile E. Coyote silhouette decal.
jtk
Last Wednesday wasn’t one of my favorite days. It started with a jury summons and having potential jurors sitting on hard benches during the voir dire process (preliminary examination of a witness or a juror by a judge or counsel). This was strange since this is usually done with all jurors present in the courtroom. Some of the potential jurors expressed a sensitivity concerning the crimes allegedly committed by the defendant. This required many of the potential jurors to undergo voir dire in private. After about four hours, one of the bailiffs came out and informed us there were not enough people left in the jury pool for a trial. We were dismissed.
On the way out my biggest decision was which way to drive home in order to pick up a small ash can. Lowes was through town and Home Depot was on the edge of town. I decided to go around the traffic and headed to HD. I do not know if they do this at all of their stores but the one in my area parks their carts along the drive in front of the store. While turning into one of the parking lanes I ran into one of them and did a nasty crunch to the side of my pick-up truck.
The running board suffered limited damage. A couple of the insert nuts pulled out. This caused a thumping noise with the slightest vibration. It also bent one of the mounting brackets, BUMMER!
So after a bit of thinking, tinkering and looking in Lowes hardware section, it became clear something from my own parts stash was going to have to do the job:
488286
After finding a couple full thread 1/4-20 bolts it occurred some 1/4-20 inserts could do the job.
A block was made from a piece of scrap firewood. A centerline was drawn around the block and the holes where the original inserts pulled out were checked with a pair of dividers for centers:
488287
A quick layout followed by a boring session at the drill press and the inserts went in like spreading soft butter:
488289
At times I have used a bolt and jam nuts to install inserts. Last time when purchasing a supply of inserts the install tools was too low priced to pass. It is a lot easier to use than the bolt and jam nuts:
488289
The grey looking piece above the pencil is a hex drive adapter for a bit brace, purchased from Lee Valley.
While thinking of how to hold this in place while remounting the running board, a beautifully simple solution came to mind. A 3/8” hole was bored into one side of the block:
488284
A dowel was inserted into the hole to hold it in place while bolts were driven in to hold the block in place. Then a pair of 1/2” #10 flathead wood screws could be used to hold the block in place:
488285
The running board body is made of aluminum so no countersinks were harmed in this production.
The mounting bracket was in need of a little reshaping:
488290
My original reason for buying a 24” pipe wrench eludes me at the moment, but it has come in very handy a few times.
Putting it back together was easy:
488291
Now to bang out some of the other dents and look for a Wile E. Coyote silhouette decal.
jtk