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

[Inferno]

If I referred to any action of my wife's as pork, I am pretty sure I would be in the doghouse, needing a different AC unit.

That's why men don't say such things around the other half.

 

[GoceKU]

Today my heating palette arrived, This year i bought it early, because last year i had to pay a premium price. I had about 0.5 tone left from last year, i move them to the other side of the small garage, then swiped the floor and arranged the pallets, put down plastic and started shanking the bags, after the 140 new bags i moved the old bags they are the same make on top to be used first. Now my small garage feels even smaller but its one less task to think about.

 

[pontiac428]

Calling it mission creep got me in a lot of trouble, pork would get me fired.

Actually, worse, because getting fired doesn't involve losing half of your stuff.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Didn't want to do anything major today, so did some tidying up and made three carbide boring bars.

Still have a few left to make. Doing the small ones first as they're easier and I want some practice!

 

[AGCB97]

How are the ends put on
Aaron

 

[BGHansen]

POTD was a little more work on our Case 580 backhoe. The fuel gauge hasn’t worked in 20 years. My work around had been a dowel dropped into the fuel tank to check the level. I knew what the problem was, but was too lazy at the time to fix it. Looking in an access hole above the tank, I could see mice had made a nest on top of the fuel tank and had chewed through the sender wire.


Fuel sender is below the access hole next to the fuel fill. Impossible to get to unless you pull the front of dash which supports the air filter and hydraulic system filter


Hard to see, but the sender and its chewed through wires are visible through this hole (along with a large mouse nest)


Okay, the sender has one lead, but the harness has two leads. So what am I missing?



As long as I had the engine cover off to take care of my fuel issue, I figured I might as well fix the fuel gauge too. I pulled the front of dash to get access to the top of the fuel tank and noticed a 2nd wire was chewed through also. This one ran to a pressure switch at the hydraulic filter. Threw a wet towel on top of the tank and soldered extension wires to both leads. Then ran a length of flex conduit over the leads to give future mice a bit more of a challenge.


Ah, the second lead goes to a pressure switch at the hydraulic system filter. Soldered on extensions with a wet towel over the fuel tank.


And slipped the leads into some flexible conduit. Hopefully something mice don't like the flavor of!


And all back together and ready to dig! It was 90+F today, supposed to be down to 80 early next week. I'll post some photos of the Case in action.


I didn’t show it, but I fired up the backhoe and the fuel gauge is working. Now what to do with my fuel “dipstick”?

Thanks for looking, Bruce

 

[DavidR8]

Hydro tested my Speedaire compressor tank.
Took it up to 300 psi for 30 minutes. No drop in pressure, no leaks.
Should be fine I think.

 

[BGHansen]

POTD was changing the HVAC register in our kitchen. When the house was built, the HVAC guys put in a cold air return vent instead of a register with adjustable louvers. It’s great in the winter feeling the heat on your feet, but cold on the toes in the summer. My “fix” for the summer was pulling the vent and shoving a piece of Styrofoam in the duct outlet. Yeah, I could have turned the run off in the basement if I pulled a ceiling tile, found the valve lever and shut it off.


Heater/AC register in our kitchen on the floor.

Cold air return vent with no adjustable louvers, great in the winter, but cold feet in the summer with the AC running.

Duct outlet is about 2" back from the base molding on the cabinets.



I picked up a 2x12 register with adjustable louvers that is designed to drop into the floor; it had no surface screw holes for fastening. I drilled a couple of screw holes on the Bridgeport. Then turned a punch of sorts on the lathe to countersink the surface so flat-head mounting screws would set flush.









Cut and bent a duct extension tube as the outlet of the duct was 2” from the base molding in the kitchen. Didn’t show much of it, but cut some 26-gauge galvanized sheet steel on my Tennsmith shear and bent it up with the DiAcro brake.




New register in place. Now it's as it should have been in the first place; register with a shut off valve.


Thanks for looking, Bruce

 

[mattthemuppet2]

How are the ends put on
Aaron

Silver solder/ braze. I think mine is 45% silver. Originally bought for brazing bandsaw bands.

Procedure is:

- cut head off old bar, as square as possible
- find carbide rod with square end
- clean both with degreaser
- add Harris high temp flux to both
- clamp carbide rod in bench vise and add a spiral of silver braze wire on top
- hold the head with a pair of pliers and heat both with a propane or mapp torch
- the flux will bubble and melt, then when it goes glassy and both parts are glowing red, the braze will start to melt
- plop the head on the rod in what you hope is the right spot, remove the heat and blow on the joint until it stops being red
- repeat until you actually get the head where you want it
- let it cool down and remove the melted flux with a wire wheel

Easy peesy

 

[DeadGuyAle]

Preparing to do some painting
Paint chamber is a Big Chief smoker with a $35 temperature controller.
At 95 degrees it really helps smaller parts cure in a reasonable amount of time