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

[Larry$]

Coons amaze me

There are a lot of them around here. See them run into the storm drains when I'm out for a late night walk. One tore a hole through the shingles, and plywood on a house I used to live in. I feed stray cats at the shop. If they don't eat all of it the coons will clean it up, even during daylight. A few days ago one came up while the cats were eating. They scattered. Then one brave cat crept up, sat down less than a foot away from the coon and shared with the diner guest.

 

[MikeWi]

When I was 13 I was on a camping trip with as a boy scout. We had a standing box with our food that had a front cover that swung down on hinges and made a work table. It was closed with a hasp, but we didn't bother with a padlock and used a wire twist tie. That is, not until we watched a huge raccoon saunter up to it right in front of use, climb up and up calmly undid the wire twist and opened the hasp and door. Then we picked our jaws up from the floor and chased it off!

 

[Weldingrod1]

Here's the snake ultrasound... wait, no, that was just a cool name...

It's actually an AC/DC powered charging case for 9 Fire tablets and a QR scanner. For First Robotics scouting. The bling is to make other teams jealous and our scouts feel loved!

The lid is next, waiting on more tolex. I'm thinking about a back lit logo on it

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk

 

[aliva]

Finaly got around to building the clamptite tool. Had to guess at the dimensions but it works. The material is 304 and 316L SS,and a UHMW bushing for the top.

 

[pontiac428]

I've really got to set aside a Saturday and make one of those thangs! I've got lacing wire coming out of my ears, yet I'm always running out of zip ties... any idea how to fix that, hmmm?

 

[Firstram]

Here's the snake ultrasound... wait, no, that was just a cool name...

It's actually an AC/DC powered charging case for 9 Fire tablets and a QR scanner. For First Robotics scouting. The bling is to make other teams jealous and our scouts feel loved!

My Boy Scout leaders were all Viet Nam Veterans. It was an amazing and challenging experience that I wouldn't trade for the world! Kudos for passing on practical skills, keep up the good work!

 

[BGHansen]

POTD was knocking off another part(s) needed to complete the inventory of an old Erector set. The oldest (1913-1923) sets used the eloquently named "P25-S short screw" and "P25-L long screw". The short ones were 1/4", long ones 1 3/8". Screws in these sets were nickel-plated from 1913 - 1952. There are plenty of original 1/4" nickel-plated screws out there, but the 1 3/8" ones are really hard to find. The sets from 1924-62 only used at most a dozen. However, the early sets from 1913-23 used as many as 125! The set I'm putting together will look like this one when finished:





Stainless steel screws (they are 8-32 in these toys) make a nice substitution for the often rusty originals. Problem is, McMaster Carr, Graingers, Bolt Depot, Mutual Screw, etc. sell 1 1/4" and 1 1/2", but don't sell 1 3/8" screws. Obviously can't stretch a 1 1/4" up to 1 3/8", so my only option was to cut 1 1/2" screws down to 1 3/8". Here's what I came up with.

Real tough project. I measured the height of an 8-32 die and cut a bushing out of some CRS to an overall combined length of 1 3/8". The bushing was center drilled and drilled out so the 8-32 screw could slip through and thread onto the die.


CRS bushing with a clearance hole for the 8-32 screw and the 8-32 die.


Ran the screw into the die with a cordless driver



The 1/8" extra was ground off with a belt sander in about 3 seconds taking care to not hammer the surface of the die (though it's inevitable).





Back off the screw from the die with a cordless driver, and dress the end with a Scotchbrite wheel.


I started dressing the ends using the bushing to hold the screws, but ended up just holding them by hand. There was plenty to hang on to and they didn't get very hot with the Scotchbrite wheel.


LH one was dressed, RH one hasn't


About an hour of work to get through a bag of 100.



Yes, very tedious, but it's done! It took me just short of an hour to do 100 screws. I measured the stacked bushing and die after the fact at 1.370", I knocked 0.005" off the die after grinding 100 screws. I would appreciate it if anyone has a source for 1 3/8" length stainless 8-32 screws! Or, a better way to knock 1/8" off!

Thanks for looking, Bruce

 

[ChazzC]

POTD was knocking off another part(s) needed to complete the inventory of an old Erector set. The oldest (1913-1923) sets used the eloquently named "P25-S short screw" and "P25-L long screw". The short ones were 1/4", long ones 1 3/8". Screws in these sets were nickel-plated from 1913 - 1952. There are plenty of original 1/4" nickel-plated screws out there, but the 1 3/8" ones are really hard to find. The sets from 1924-62 only used at most a dozen. However, the early sets from 1913-23 used as many as 125! The set I'm putting together will look like this one when finished:


View attachment 418917


Stainless steel screws (they are 8-32 in these toys) make a nice substitution for the often rusty originals. Problem is, McMaster Carr, Graingers, Bolt Depot, Mutual Screw, etc. sell 1 1/4" and 1 1/2", but don't sell 1 3/8" screws. Obviously can't stretch a 1 1/4" up to 1 3/8", so my only option was to cut 1 1/2" screws done to 1 3/8". Here's what I came up with.

Real tough project. I measured the height of an 8-32 die and cut a bushing out of some CRS to an overall combined length of 1 3/8". The bushing was center drilled and drilled out so the 8-32 screw could slip through and thread onto the die.


CRS bushing with a clearance hole for the 8-32 screw and the 8-32 die.
View attachment 418919

Ran the screw into the die with a cordless driver
View attachment 418920


The 1/8" extra was ground off with a belt sander in about 3 seconds taking care to not hammer the surface of the die (though it's inevitable).


View attachment 418921


Back off the screw from the die with a cordless driver, and dress the end with a Scotchbrite wheel.


I started dressing the ends using the bushing to hold the screws, but ended up just holding them by hand. There was plenty to hang on to and they didn't get very hot with the Scotchbrite wheel.
View attachment 418922

LH one was dressed, RH one hasn't
View attachment 418923

About an hour of work to get through a bag of 100.
View attachment 418924


Yes, very tedious, but it's done! It took me just short of an hour to do 100 screws. I measured the stacked bushing and die after the fact at 1.370", I knocked 0.005" off the die after grinding 100 screws. I would appreciate it if anyone has a source for 1 3/8" length stainless 8-32 screws! Or, a better way to knock 1/8" off!

Thanks for looking, Bruce

Bolt Depot; not cheap as it’s an odd length, but maybe worth it:

https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=9646

Phillips Pan Head is their only option.

 

[silverhawk]

A family member brought an old, bamboo fly fishing rod and said they couldn't use it. It had missing pieces, wrappings were coming off, etc. A while back, I had removed the original thread wrappings that were still intact, scraped the finish off and removed the set. However, I wasn't even close to preparing for new thread wrappings.

Last Saturday, I turned the wood base that was under the original reel seat down to size for the reel seat.





I epoxied the new reel seat in place (I do that backwards for balance). I needed the handle to sit better (and there was nothing I could grip it on), so I turned down an aluminum boss to fit inside the bottom end of the cork handle and over the rod itself.



Now, I need to wrap everything up. Everything has been marked (hexagonal bamboo rods have 6 different spines because of their construction, but on pieces that had specific flex, I used that as the spine). It's ready to wrap and finish.

 

[DAT510]

I would appreciate it if anyone has a source for 1 3/8" length stainless 8-32 screws! Or, a better way to knock 1/8" off!

Bruce, what about something like this? Some Wire strippers have the ability to cut screws, though you might want to figure out a mechanical aid to help "squeeze" them if your going to cut a lot.