2016 POTD Thread Archive

Paco,

That table on wheels is nicely done, almost perfect for a lathe stand with that steel top plate. If for hire, someday I would love to commission you to build a heavy all steel stand for my ACER Trump 1236. A trip to Tucson to pick it up would be worth the short drive from Austin for such a work of art. Meeting you and Mark and a get together for a nice dinner would be the icing.

nez
 
Bamban said:
Paco,

That table on wheels is nicely done, almost perfect for a lathe stand with that steel top plate. If for hire, someday I would love to commission you to build a heavy all steel stand for my ACER Trump 1236. A trip to Tucson to pick it up would be worth the short drive from Austin for such a work of art. Meeting you and Mark and a get together for a nice dinner would be the icing.

nez
Click to expand...

Hi Nez,

Funny you should mention a "lathe stand", in fact, I started designing a rolling lathe tooling table a few months ago (in my head) to house all chucks,face plate,steady/follow rest etc, the top side will have 5C collets,QCTP rack and all 3 M/T tail stock tooling. It might be a little while before I can start another "My project" but the beauty (for me) is by the time get to it I have given the project a lot of thought as I never design on paper, sure I'll sketch a crude free hand drawing, but I build in phases with three or four "next steps" in my head. This method has proved handy for catching potential conflicts instead of re-work. I do like to follow prints/shop drawing provided by customers, but for my own stuff, I build and tweak as I go.
I would love to build your lathe stand as well as meet and break bread, I'm sure Mark would appreciate it as well. I might pick your brain on gun builds though.:cool 2:

So many talented folks here, I realize I have a long way to go but I'm constantly learning, and honing my abilities.

In closing, I had a very tragic call at work this past tour, I lost a brother from a near by FD. Someone whom I trained with and mirrored my age, years of service and skill level.
I was the first medic on scene as I'm on a pumper with two more medics arriving 2 minutes later. We gave it hell but could not clear his airway. The ER surgically removed the block deep in his airway, however was deprived of o2 for much too long. The family decided to take him off life support three days ago. I'm writing this with very wet eyes and a heavy heart as I continue to struggle with his loss and personal failure,but I want to share this with you all because if it wasn't for the shop work and the ability to create things with my mind and hands, I would be a mess. God gave me an appetite for learning and working with my hands, I choose to continue to do so despite my worn out neck, and back. If I choose to not step into the shop, then I would end up depressed, divorced and another sad statistic. Probably not the right place to write and share this event, but I just feel the need to share.
Turn and burn.....
 
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My condolences on your loss Paco. Had to be tough to be there and not be able bring him back. I can relate to the shop being a saving grace, even when the body is not so willing. Hang in there, as this too shall pass. Mike
 
I could only imagine the loss and guilt, brother. I hear the same stories of self imposed failures from my closest shooting buddy, a combat medic with the 101, 67-68 in RVN. It's been years with him, the memories of the kids he wasn't able to save still haunt him, but openly talking about helped him a lot. Glad you opened up about it.

Hang in there, brother.

On the stand, when the time comes we talk more about it. My requirement is very simple, the LxWxH, the rest let your imagination soar. Last thing, the heavier, the better.
 
Thanks so much fellas,

I tend to keep things to myself only sharing with my wife. I just wanted to encourage as many as I could to find an outlet when life throws you a screwball. It has helped me more than I can ever express. I don't need meds for coping, just some time to build something.

The services are today at 15:00, I will attend and pay my respects to a good man.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother in the field ... but glad to hear you have a method of dealing with it that does not negatively affect yourself or the ones you love. Be strong, better days are ahead.
 
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