POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

That’s a great looking machine, well done!

Only right rolls?

I must be doing things wrong...

Weldingrod1 said:

Crazy idea: my FIRST Robotics kids use Allen keys all the time. 5/32, 1/8", and 3/26" sometimes.
So, if a crazy person bought some of those $2.99 6-in-1 screwdrivers, could he mill the bits into allen keys?

The answer to this is ooooh, yeah!

And press/cross pin some cheap 3/8" sockets into the back...

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My take way here is that the value is not in converting screwdriver bits to hex keys, but the benefits of having all of (most of?) the tools one needs in their hand at the same moment. I imagine the clever creation of the special tools saves precious time and inventory control. Another aspect of value is that I imagine each kid could take their personal special with them as a memento of their experience on a FIRST Robotics team when they move on. Very nice job @Weldingrod1.

extropic said:

My takeaway here is that the value is not in converting screwdriver bits to hex keys, but the benefits of having all of (most of?) the tools one needs in their hand at the same moment. I imagine the clever creation of the special tools saves precious time and inventory control. Another aspect of value is that I imagine each kid, could take their personal special with them as a memento of their experience on a FIRST Robotics team when they move on. Very nice job @Weldingrod1.

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You couldn't be more correct. I showed our son how to change his front brake pads and rotors a month ago. I pulled my spider lug wrench off the wall; he asked why I had orange, blue, and pink duct tape wrapped near the socket ends. I explained that the wrench has 4 common sizes on it. I rotate the wrench until one slips snugly onto the lug nut and make a note of that color. That way, when the wrench gets moved around, all I do is go with the noted color; it saves the time of repeating the fitting process. He asked why I put tape on 3 of the 4 and left the 4th one bare. "Oh, there's tape there, it's just clear. . ."

BGHansen said:

You couldn't be more correct. I showed our son how to change his front brake pads and rotors a month ago. I pulled my spider lug wrench off the wall; he asked why I had orange, blue, and pink duct tape wrapped near the socket ends. I explained that the wrench has 4 common sizes on it. I rotate the wrench until one slips snugly onto the lug nut and make a note of that color. That way, when the wrench gets moved around, all I do is go with the noted color; it saves the time of repeating the fitting process. He asked why I put tape on 3 of the 4 and left the 4th one bare. "Oh, there's tape there, it's just clear. . ."

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From what I remember of your posts related to your responsibilities/activities at your career, It's not surprising that you "get it". Some people are good at improving efficiency and/or smoothing the flow. Some people . . . not so much.

Bruce, shoot us an update on the pond. How long has it been since the excavation? I remember it was filling via seepage from the river. Is that keeping it at an acceptable level? Are mosquitos a problem? Thanks.

extropic said:

My take way here is that the value is not in converting screwdriver bits to hex keys, but the benefits of having all of (most of?) the tools one needs in their hand at the same moment. I imagine the clever creation of the special tools saves precious time and inventory control. Another aspect of value is that I imagine each kid could take their personal special with them as a memento of their experience on a FIRST Robotics team when they move on. Very nice job @Weldingrod1.

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Oh , I wasn't knocking it.
I was just posturing that the cheap kit is not cheap. But it is a good kit.

woodchucker said:

Oh , I wasn't knocking it.
I was just posturing that the cheap kit is not cheap. But it is a good kit.

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You are a prolific poster and seem to have many comments, some may add value, but I'd prefer if you would ignore my posts.

If you look again, I didn't quote you or refer to you in reply #8323. However, you seem to have taken it personally. If the shoe fits, be my guest to wear it.

From my point of view, the tool is clever and "priceless".

extropic said:

You are a prolific poster and seem to have many comments, some may add value, but I'd prefer if you would ignore my posts.

If you look again, I didn't quote you or refer to you in reply #8323. However, you seem to have taken it personally. If the shoe fits, be my guest to wear it.

From my point of view, the tool is clever and "priceless".

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I will ignore you Ray

extropic said:

Bruce, shoot us an update on the pond. How long has it been since the excavation? I remember it was filling via seepage from the river. Is that keeping it at an acceptable level? Are mosquitos a problem? Thanks.

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As requested, here's how it looked as of 11/22/2024. A buddy of mine calls it "Lake Honey Do"; the name is appropriate. . . I seeded about 5 acres with Autumn Rye in late September. However, we had squat for rain in October, the Rye grass was to get some ground cover but it is pretty bare.

It's hard to tell the size from this photo; Lake Honey Do is 300' x 100' x 13-15' deep.



Here's a picture from the same window before most of the dirt got moved (~8000 yards). The trees beyond the pond (South side) were considered wetlands by our State's Environmental group which meant nothing could be dumped there. That meant the spoils could go 3/4 around the pond which made for some piles over 30' high. The contractor was using a 60' reach excavator.


Here's a view from the far side of the pond looking up at the house (mid-June before the spoils were moved):


We're really happy with the cleanliness of the water. There are a couple of deeper holes about 16' deep. We can clearly see the bottom; I lost a flipper that sunk in that hole. I had no problem spotting it and diving to retrieve it. We had a dry period from July to October with less than 1" of rain. The pond level dropped about 4" from its full level. No mosquitos to speak of, but it was hot and dry. They tend to stay in the shade when it's hot, so no problems around the pond.



We hired a good contractor to move the spoils. All of the dirt is staying on the property; no trucking was involved. He got a little aggressive with the dozer and started sliding sideways down the slope. Fortunately, he stopped well short of the water, but he was toast. The spoils in that area were 30' high. They were digging in water so it was really wet. Things sat for 3 months, but it was still a muck-hole.



It's good to have friends with big machines!


I don't want to say, "Get a clue McFly", but these shots were from a week before. I didn't take pictures of the "extraction"; our contractor (he lives a mile from us) came over with his excavator to dig out the dozer.



I don't have a picture of it, but we still have open water running into the pond from the north side. I find it hard to believe that wet dirt dumped in May would still be draining 7 months later, but I have no experience with dirt water drainage. I suspect we may have a natural spring in that area. We have springs to the east and south that keep the level pretty constant.

Part of my summer was spent on "Lake Honey Do" moving the dump water from our geothermal. Ours runs 3.5 gallons/minute or about 200 gallons per hour. I'd originally routed the line in the field south of the house; it got covered when the grading was done. I crossed my fingers that 6' of dirt from the spoils on top of my dry well wasn't going to be a problem. However, the water percolated up and made a 75' x 30' muck hole, so on to plan B. . .

I didn't show it, but I trenched a new 4" drain line from the house with a shovel and our Case 580 backhoe. I dug a 60' x 8' x 4' deep trench for the dump water. So far, so good this summer and winter with my side yard cistern.




Another summer project (once some more grading is done) will be running another geo dump line from the house down to the pond. I want the option of dumping the geo water into my cistern or Lake Honey Do. I'll do that by having two drain lines at the exit from the house; slip the appropriate one on to control where it goes.

The math on the pond level works out to 18,000 gallons of water is roughly 1" of pond level. The cooling cycle in the summer usually runs 10-12 hours a day or roughly 2000 gallons of water per day. It'd take 9 days of the geo running to raise the level of the pond by an inch. It was 4" low during the hot summer with no rain, I don't anticipate any problems with over-filling the pond, though if it's getting high, I'll route the water to the cistern.

The water temp leaving the house is 70F though it'll be running through a 100-yard buried line; I don't know if it'll heat up or cool on its way to the pond. I plan to dig a trench from the shoreline back about 20' and line it with heavy plastic sheeting and rocks. The dump line will end at the start of the trench and give us a "babbling brook" down to the shoreline.

We'll see what happens in the winter. The geo dump water on the heating cycle is 38F. The current line runs 125' from the house and doesn't freeze up. I don't know what'll happen with a 100-yard line running to the pond.

Future "Lake Honey Do" projects are clearing about 200 scrub trees in the area south of the pond. I'll do that this winter. There are mature oaks and maples that'll stay.

Once the final grading is done, we'll put in a windmill for aeration. That'll help with weeds, algae, and fish once we stock the pond. It "should" help with it icing over in the winter too. I'm hoping that 38F geo-dump water into the pond will keep that area open.

My wife has visions of a pond house too. Something around 10' x 15' for storing kayaks, a sink for cleaning fish, a composting toilet, and a firepit. We have a 10' x 12' tent that I'll set up so she can nail down the location before I start pounding nails. Naturally, I'm trying to avoid, "Oh, can we move it 3' this way or that way. . ."

I was able to do something out there today. I sharpened the aircraft drill with a 118 degree point (after making changes to my drill sharpener).



The new drill bit point :



With a sharp drill bit, I was able to drill a single hole. 1/4" in diameter, 4" long, through the center of a router spindle :



This router spindle is being re-purposed into a tiny lathe spindle for a lathe that is specific to pen turning. The lathe is a 1941 King Sealy model that is tiny (2 foot long bed, really a little toy that didn't have good bearings). I've set up bearings specific to this router adapter, so the headstock is nearly "ready". I just need to add a left-handed screw thread on the back so I can install a bearing take up nut, make the nut to match (I think I will actually add a screw across it so that it can be tightend on the thread, and then make a stepper motor mount for this headstock.

I do have plans for the tailstock, and even ordered some morse #0 reamers (the biggest I'd be able to fit) so I can make this more functional.