- Joined
- Oct 31, 2014
- Messages
- 444
Well, this has been one helluva year.
The Covid virus put my two main projects (a Television Studio and a tavern game called the 'Kissmeter' on hold as nobody is shooting video nor kissing strangers right now -
And my 'hobby business' for the last 40+ years (a movie theatre) also succumbed to Covid. Maybe that's better for my disposition - not having to deal with landlords, business partners, teen-aged hired help and all the government interaction having employees entails has significantly lowered my stress level
And circulating my resume' as a software / firmware engineer or computer hardware designer has been a dismal failure. When hiring managers see I graduated in 1968 they can do the math and don't think they want a greybeard in their mix, plus I'm picky about how far I'm willing to commute on the highways and byways.
But I'm not ready to give it all up just yet - although a rising PSA may change those plans but for now I'm still planning on staying active and (self) employed.
So, I inventoried my skill set and the needs in my community and figured out that my 40+ year ago diploma from the Locksmithing Institute of Little Falls New Jersey might provide entertainment and even some pin money as life goes on. It has been surprising to me that locks are pretty much the same mechanical technology now as they were 40 years ago - electronics hasn't yet taken over. And I've dabbled with locks quite a bit in the interim, keeping a hand in by doing my own work on rental and commercial projects I am involved with or own.
So I got busy haunting craigslist and after about 6 weeks found an old electric company truck, probably a 'meter test' rig, in pretty good shape with some useful appurtenances:
and started equipping it for a new business starting January 4.
The truck had a workbench and cabinets already installed so it was a great starting point. Also came with a Cadet heater and an RV power converter to keep the battery charged when hooked to shore power and also served as AC and DC distribution panel. Pretty nice setup. The Cadet heater is 120 volt and only runs if the truck is hooked up to shore power so a small 'Buddy' propane heater was the first addition. Nice and toasty for field work. (If I tried to use battery power for the Cadet heater the battery would last about 20 minutes. Not so good.)
I added two inverters - a 600 watt pure sine wave one to power sensitive stuff like the computers and such and a 2,000 watt Freight Harbor Jupiter 'modified sine wave' (has a rasty looking square-ish PWM output) to power 120 VAC motors and such.
I added a bunch of 4" x 6" card files for less-popular key blanks, small parts, inventory and other 'stuff' and the external bins store larger inventory items and less used tools. I exchanged the single 12-volt standard lead acid battery in one of the exterior bins for two Trojan 6 volt deep-cycle GCA batteries to power the inverters and DC loads.
I also added a piece of pegboard to the back wall for a tool board and am filling it as needed. The truck came with the fluorescent light, I added a swing arm lamp to the bench and put a 15 watt LED (100 watt tungsten equivalent) in it. Plenty of light !
The right cabinet has popular key blanks, reference material and lock pin kits to supplement the most used ones on the workbench.
In the left cabinet are 3 key machines and a bench grinder plus anything else that needs power - the computer, radio / CD player, chargers - all running off the small pure sine wave inverter (that runs all the time - it doesn't draw much). When I need the 120 volt machines I can flip on the 2 KW inverter and I'm ready to go.
Also installed a couple of RV LED cabin lights so I could see to work on the key machines and such. Big improvement. The two more often used key cutting machines are on slide-out platforms to let me see what I'm doing and then stow away when not in use. Rather tight quarters but works pretty well so far during the 'testing' phase.
Also got a very easily remembered phone number (that's another story) and suitable signage on the truck doors So, now it's waiting for the city business license to go into effect in January - no sense paying for a half month and then paying again. I got a state contractors' license and surety bond in place (hence "Licensed, Bonded and Insured" so come January 4 I'm ready to rock and roll!
Wish me luck!
Stu
The Covid virus put my two main projects (a Television Studio and a tavern game called the 'Kissmeter' on hold as nobody is shooting video nor kissing strangers right now -
And my 'hobby business' for the last 40+ years (a movie theatre) also succumbed to Covid. Maybe that's better for my disposition - not having to deal with landlords, business partners, teen-aged hired help and all the government interaction having employees entails has significantly lowered my stress level
And circulating my resume' as a software / firmware engineer or computer hardware designer has been a dismal failure. When hiring managers see I graduated in 1968 they can do the math and don't think they want a greybeard in their mix, plus I'm picky about how far I'm willing to commute on the highways and byways.
But I'm not ready to give it all up just yet - although a rising PSA may change those plans but for now I'm still planning on staying active and (self) employed.
So, I inventoried my skill set and the needs in my community and figured out that my 40+ year ago diploma from the Locksmithing Institute of Little Falls New Jersey might provide entertainment and even some pin money as life goes on. It has been surprising to me that locks are pretty much the same mechanical technology now as they were 40 years ago - electronics hasn't yet taken over. And I've dabbled with locks quite a bit in the interim, keeping a hand in by doing my own work on rental and commercial projects I am involved with or own.
So I got busy haunting craigslist and after about 6 weeks found an old electric company truck, probably a 'meter test' rig, in pretty good shape with some useful appurtenances:
and started equipping it for a new business starting January 4.
The truck had a workbench and cabinets already installed so it was a great starting point. Also came with a Cadet heater and an RV power converter to keep the battery charged when hooked to shore power and also served as AC and DC distribution panel. Pretty nice setup. The Cadet heater is 120 volt and only runs if the truck is hooked up to shore power so a small 'Buddy' propane heater was the first addition. Nice and toasty for field work. (If I tried to use battery power for the Cadet heater the battery would last about 20 minutes. Not so good.)
I added two inverters - a 600 watt pure sine wave one to power sensitive stuff like the computers and such and a 2,000 watt Freight Harbor Jupiter 'modified sine wave' (has a rasty looking square-ish PWM output) to power 120 VAC motors and such.
I added a bunch of 4" x 6" card files for less-popular key blanks, small parts, inventory and other 'stuff' and the external bins store larger inventory items and less used tools. I exchanged the single 12-volt standard lead acid battery in one of the exterior bins for two Trojan 6 volt deep-cycle GCA batteries to power the inverters and DC loads.
I also added a piece of pegboard to the back wall for a tool board and am filling it as needed. The truck came with the fluorescent light, I added a swing arm lamp to the bench and put a 15 watt LED (100 watt tungsten equivalent) in it. Plenty of light !
The right cabinet has popular key blanks, reference material and lock pin kits to supplement the most used ones on the workbench.
In the left cabinet are 3 key machines and a bench grinder plus anything else that needs power - the computer, radio / CD player, chargers - all running off the small pure sine wave inverter (that runs all the time - it doesn't draw much). When I need the 120 volt machines I can flip on the 2 KW inverter and I'm ready to go.
Also installed a couple of RV LED cabin lights so I could see to work on the key machines and such. Big improvement. The two more often used key cutting machines are on slide-out platforms to let me see what I'm doing and then stow away when not in use. Rather tight quarters but works pretty well so far during the 'testing' phase.
Also got a very easily remembered phone number (that's another story) and suitable signage on the truck doors So, now it's waiting for the city business license to go into effect in January - no sense paying for a half month and then paying again. I got a state contractors' license and surety bond in place (hence "Licensed, Bonded and Insured" so come January 4 I'm ready to rock and roll!
Wish me luck!
Stu
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