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

[Larry$]

I think I need more practice and better source material...

Looks like you got slag in the casting. Skim the surface just before pouring. Make a recess in the sand with a narrow channel into the sprue, Keep pouring fast enough to keep the sprue filled. Provide a riser over the heaviest part(s) of the casting to make up for shrinkage.
Did you coat the fiber insulation so you don't breath any of it? A thin slurry of Satinite. (Spelling?)

 

[piper184]

I scraped a lot of dross off the top. It was cat food cans, not pop cans but still a lot of surface area to mass ratio. Plus they were enamel lined which added to the dross. I used borax and table salt as flux, which seemed to help separate the dross from the melt.
My molds were simply brake cleaner cans that had the tops cut off. They also had a lining, which actually helped peal the can off.
That inclusion on the side isn't very deep, the real question will be what it looks like on the inside. Won't know until I try to make something out of it.
For what it's worth, it turned nicely using a cheap braised carbide tool that had no top rake. Came off in nice little curly chips with no stringiness. I suspect the cans are an alloy of some type. Perfectly suitable for making little odds and ends that really don't matter that much.
It was a good experiment.
I used a spray on stabilizer for the insulation. It has a nice crusty surface.

 

[vtcnc]

A reminder to all involved with the latest exchange of political commentary...

1) this is the Project of the Day sub-forum...shall I continue? I will...
2) we have a strict NO POLITICS rule.

There are thousands of other sites where you can go talk about those topics, this is our refuge from all of that. Please respect the rules.

 

[matthewsx]

Moved the lathe tonight. Borrowed a pallet jack and reinforced the stand. Worked exactly as planned, now I get to organize things so I can work on my project car much easier.






John

 

[coolidge]

I banged my head on the quill feed on this RF-45 type mill last week and decided to fix it.

Now go bang your head on the bottom left corner of the electrical box and cut your head open...3 times. I think the front of those mills need to be wrapped in foam or bubble wrap.

 

[Shiseiji]

that happened in the 80s here on the east coast , tri state area.
It got ugly real fast. I didn't think I would ever buy a house.
Even property without improvements were skied out. I looked at quite a few, and was having problems that way. And many fixer uppers were starting to launch to the moon, that when doing the costs (even of me doing all the work), I was having problems justifying it. It didn't make sense dollar wise short term.

I went through exactly the same thing when I was assigned to the Former FT Devens, MA in '87. When I came back in '96 DEC computer had gone bust, the post closed, and the people we bought from had to tap retirement $ to pay off their note.

 

[SouthernChap]

A reminder to all involved with the latest exchange of political commentary...

1) this is the Project of the Day sub-forum...shall I continue? I will...
2) we have a strict NO POLITICS rule.

There are thousands of other sites where you can go talk about those topics, this is our refuge from all of that. Please respect the rules.

Good call with the deletions. I probably should have avoided commenting on the yadder about tax policy and regretted doing so the moment anybody took notice of my post.

Will avoid talking of such, in future.

 

[682bear]

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a couple of tool boxes from a FB ad...

This box...





...was mounted on this...



...but didn't fit correctly. It was actually too small to fit the Kennedy Versa-Cart base.

I already had a Kennedy box that was the correct size...



This was a box that I found 'free to good home' a couple of years ago. I decided to put it on the Versa-Cart.

The big wheels on the cart were in pretty bad shape... full of swarf and cracked, they were about to fall apart...





Considering that I have very little in the cart and both boxes, I went ahead and spent the money on new wheels from Kennedy.

Last week, I disassembled the cart, de-rusted it, and painted it with a brown textured paint... that doesn't match the boxes... but will hopefully keep it from rusting.

Today, I reassembled the cart and mounted both boxes...




I can't say it looks good, but it is solid and functional, anyway. Now I need to cut a piece of plywood to fit the top for a work surface.

-Bear

 

[IHinIN]

Good call on moving the large tires to the center. The Versacarts roll easier that way with the weight balanced over them since the Kennedy casters don’t have bearing in them.

 

[woodchucker]

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a couple of tool boxes from a FB ad...

This box...

View attachment 502430

View attachment 502431

...was mounted on this...

View attachment 502432

...but didn't fit correctly. It was actually too small to fit the Kennedy Versa-Cart base.

I already had a Kennedy box that was the correct size...

View attachment 502433

This was a box that I found 'free to good home' a couple of years ago. I decided to put it on the Versa-Cart.

The big wheels on the cart were in pretty bad shape... full of swarf and cracked, they were about to fall apart...

View attachment 502434

View attachment 502435

Considering that I have very little in the cart and both boxes, I went ahead and spent the money on new wheels from Kennedy.

Last week, I disassembled the cart, de-rusted it, and painted it with a brown textured paint... that doesn't match the boxes... but will hopefully keep it from rusting.

Today, I reassembled the cart and mounted both boxes...

View attachment 502436


I can't say it looks good, but it is solid and functional, anyway. Now I need to cut a piece of plywood to fit the top for a work surface.

-Bear

those look like the wheels I got at tractor supply. 10" ?
does the bottom drawer clear the wheel?