Blog
Tuesday April 8th, 2008
Well I never would have believed it but I've been really busy building custom harps for people, and first thing I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has placed an order over the last month. It's been an absolute blast and I can't express enough how thankful I am to everyone not only for their orders but for their kind words and compliments. I've made updates to my website as I've been able to and I've added a gallery page showing the different harps I've built since I started doing this full time. You can place an order for one of my custom harps on the order page if you're interested in getting one.
I've been trying to expand what it is I can do and here in the very near future I'll start offering to gap and tune harps for customers. I've been putting in a lot of time lately working on my reed work skills and I think I'm at the point where I'm comfortable offering that to people. I also recently invested in some new pneumatic engraving equipment which I'm hoping to be able to do on harps in the future as well. I think that will really add to them, even more so than the filework, which I'm happy to say is really improving as well. All in all I'm very happy with the way things are going, and I have many nice folks out there to thank for that success.
Wednesday February 21st, 2008
Wow another long stint without any updates to my blog, so where to start. Well first off I'm no longer employed with home movie depot. I guess the company is having some financial issues and they let about 10 of us go, about half the production staff, and Tuesday they called me into the office and told me they were letting me go. So that's that part of the news. The other part is that after the really nice video review Ronnie Shellist did about the brass comb harmonica I did for him there has been a lot of interest in them. Anyway with his encouragement as well as Jeff from Cumberland Cases I've decided to give self employment a shot. I won't be doing just the harmonicas, unless I am fortunate enough to get that much business, but I'm also going to be working on some film/video related projects with my friend Mark of Midwest Telecine, I consider Mark to be one of the most brilliant people I know and my mentor when it comes to film/video related work, so I'm really excited about that. I've also got some other projects lined up so hopefully things will work out. I'm not going to get my hopes up to much but I hope it does. I've decided to give myself a certain amount of time to do this, so it will be determined by how successful the harps are.
Saturday December 29th, 2007
Spent a nice evening in my shop working on one of Grandpa's old harmonicas. I've been learning about how to work on my harmonicas from watchin Rupert Oysler's dvd's on harmonica repair and customizing. As most everyone knows I enjoy metalworking so I decided to make a new comb for the old blues harp from brass. I think it came out pretty good but there are things I could have done better. I guess that's part of the learning process. You can check out the process of making the new comb here.
Monday December 24th, 2007
I wonder how many of us out there spent tonight doing things that have nothing to do with Christmas. For me I enjoyed a night of listening to Big Walter Horton, man that guy could play the harmonica. I guess in some ways it feels a bit odd to not be watching Christmas movies, or listening to Christmas music, probably because that's how most of us grow up. But I think as adults the holiday's become more hectic than anything else, dealing with more traffic, going to the store to get groceries and having to wait in line for 30 minutes to pay for my food because the stores are full of shoppers buying up presents, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the holidays but more because I enjoy the fun that watching my niece and nephew tear open presents brings. As adults I think we lose that sense of excitement about Christmas morning, we stagger to the kitchen to get a cup of "wake me up in a hurry" and stumble through the presents with one eye still closed because it represents that half of us that wants to stay in bed and sleep in, making our way to the recliner to try and catch a few more minutes of "I don't have to work today" joy. I think like most people I don't really look foward to the days that lead up to Christmas, I still enjoy Christmas morning, but up to that point it's all headaches. Anybody else do this .... you tell yourself "I'm not going to put this off till the last minute again this year" only to put it off to the last minute, and then rush around trying to do all your Christmas shopping in one day. I'm sure I'm not the only one that was wrapping presents tonight. hahaha I'm looking forward to the morning, I get a lot of enjoyment watching the kids tear open presents and get all excited. I guess that's what makes all the hassles of the holidays worth it. So I hope everyone has a great Christmas, tear into those presents and let the paper fly, have fun with the kids, eat to much and then sit back and feel the relief of knowing that it's all over for another 12 months. :-)
Friday December 14th, 2007
Seems like I've been doing a lot of metalworking and building stuff in general at work over the last few months and it made it impossible to come home and spend any time in my shop, I guess I was getting burned out. So I decided to convert my computer room into my music room. I've been trying to get back into music but I am WAY out of practice on everything. hahaha The first instrument I ever learned to play was the harmonica, and I love blues, so I thought why not pick it back up and try and learn blues harmonica. Well it's no where as easy as the pro's make it look, of course I guess that goes without saying for most everything. But I've been trying to put in time each night to practice. I also bought a Yamaha YPT-400 keyboard, which I really like, and I've been having a ton of fun with it. Hey that rhymed. I'm a long long ways from being good at either, but it's been a great stress reliever. Not that my life is filled with a lot of stress, but it's nice to come home and have something completely different from what you do all day to spend the evenings doing. I've been recording my practice, and no I'm not going to post it here, it's just to embarassing. hahaha But maybe one of these days when I get to a point where I'm good enough to not feel so apprehensive about it.
Saturday October 27th, 2007
Just realized it's been a long long time since I've updated my blog here so I thought I'd make an entry. I'm still working on the 2x72 belt grinder. I haven't been able to get out and cast the last of the parts for a while mainly because of weather. But there really aren't that many pieces left to make, just need to get out there and get it done. I also added a page of videos and books, you can click on the links and it will take you to smartflix.com or amazon.com so you can get a copy for yourself. Smartflix has a ton of instructional videos on just about every subject you can imagine.
I've also added a page for those who might have old home movies they want to transfer to dvd. The company I work for HomeMovieDepot.com has given me a discount code so those that place an order and use my code at checkout can save 10% on their orders. We're also having a contest to see who can generate the most orders by December 31st, so if you have any home movies you would like transfered don't hesitate to send them in. We transfer 8mm, super8, super8 sound film,16mm, 35mm film negatives, slides, VHS, hi8, digital 8, and miniDV to dvd. We also have hi-definition transfer systems for 8mm, super8, and super8 sound. And don't forget we have an online archive that will allow you to share your videos with friends and family all over the world, all they need to do is go to the website and click on the archive link. So if you have home movies that you'd like transferred visit Home Movie Depot's website and at checkout enter code CR721 for your 10% discount, and remember, if you get your order in by Decmber 31st you can help me win the contest.
Sunday August 5th, 2007
Started a new project this weekend. I'm trying to build a 2x72 belt grinder for knifemaking. I've been bitten by the "let's build a grinder bug" as local knifemaker Ron Duncan put it. hahaha The plans I have for the KMG clone call for the bulk of the machine to be made from 1/2" steel but not wanting to spend the money, as usual, I decided I cast mine from aluminum making the parts 3/4" instead of 1/2". It should be plenty strong. So after deciding to cast the machine parts I started working on the casting patterns this weekend. Hope it works out.
Sunday July 22nd, 2007
So I'm sitting here working on the computer tonight and decided to check out my site stats since I hadn't done that in a long time. And I decided to check out the referring sites, sites where people have linked to mine, and I follow this link to the practical machinist forums (http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/28628.html). Apparently I'm painful to watch, stiff, a douchebag, not to mention that one person felt "It's as bad as watching gay porn", which by the way was my personal favorite hahaha, oh well you can follow the link and read it yourself. hahahah Ok so you might think I would be pissed when someone posts they want to kick me in the gut, LMAO but honestly I couldn't care less what people think of me, my site, or my projects. Ok so maybe I'm fat, hell so is what... 75% of the US population? I can live with that. And I admit, I don't even like watching my video where I'm trying to tell people how to do something. As far as the safety of the drill press converted to a milling machine goes, it is true that it can be a bit dangerous. One of the modifications that I made was I threaded my spindle where the chuck mounts instead of using the jacobs taper. And on another note I'd like to set the record straight here that I learned about converting the drill press by watching Jose Rodriquez's instructional video, only he's charging what $70 for it and I posted my info for free. So lets not get to pissy about this people. Ok, so anyway, here's why I'm not pissed about it or letting it bother me. You see if you get down to the basic message on that forum the folks main concern was with safety, and well I can't fault them for that, working with powertools and machinery can be and is dangerous and people should take care to be as safe as they can. So no I'm not upset in the least and I don't really care what they think of me as a person. However, because of all the concern over the safety of the conversion I'm going to take the video down off of the web, it was never my intention to promote something that would upset so many, nor was it my intention to promote something that could injure someone else. However I would like to take this time to thank the folks on the practical machinist forum for providing me with an evening of laughs.
Saturday July 21st. 2007
Lets see, where to start.....
Well as I mentioned before my
interest in knifemaking is really
taking off. I recently purchased a copy of The
$50 Knife Shop by Wayne Goddard
I'm also continuing to do some work on some of my inventions, I purchased some materials off of ebay this week and hopefully they'll be here this coming week. I wanted to make some prototypes before presenting them to some interested individuals. I'm also going to be using my shop to make prototypes of inventions by friends of mine, which will be nice, I like being able to help others.
As some of you may know I'm really into a lot of different hobbies, and I've watched a ton of instructional videos over the last couple of years. I've been thinking about creating a new webpage on my site, sort of a book and dvd review. There is so much great information out there and without it I probably wouldn't be able to do half the things I can. I'd like to know what people think of that idea, so if you feel like emailing me and letting me know what you think please do.
Thursday July 19th, 2007
The other day I had a job interview in Hannibal Missouri, after I got done with the interview I made a trip to south of Vandalia to meet with an inventor who was a friend of a friend. While I was there Mike was showing me around his shop and showing me some of the things he's invented and one of the coolest items was the Cord Keep'r ( www.cordkeepr.com). Man these things are handy, you can use them in all kinds of places and not just for electrical cords, I mean pretty much anything that's a cord or rope, or string, etc. can be wrapped up on these things. You should check them out.
I'm currently working on making prototypes of a few of my own inventions, one of which I'm really excited to start making. I've been itching to make one ever since I came up with the design but just didn't seem to get around to it.
I added a new machine to the shop this past weekend. I picked up a Harbor Freight mini-mill at the local Harbor Freight store. Man I love that little machine, it's the perfect companion for my Harbor Freight 8x12 metal lathe. It really does open up all kinds of possibilities in the kinds of projects I can work on now. I'll try and put up a page with some pictures of my shop.
I'm still really into the knifemaking. I've been taking it kind of slow, still working on my first knives. After I got started I started doing a bunch of reading and watching knifemaking videos and so I didn't want to rush to finsih it. I wanted to try and incorporate some of the things that I saw in the videos. So keep an eye out, I'll try and be better about updating my site.
Saturday July 7th, 2007
I'm getting really bad about not keeping my website updated, but I'll try and do better in the future. As most of you know metalworking is my passion, it's definately my favorite of all hobbies that I have. I've recently gotten into knifemaking and it's really revived my interest in metalworking. I'll try and add a page to my site about it, but since I've just started out there probably won't be to much to show. I've got two blades so far that I'm working on , well one double edged knife and a blade for a small folding knife. Brewing is still a great hobby but since I recently started on medication for my diabetes I'm staying away from the beer for a while. So far though I've been doing really good with keeping my blood sugar under control. One of the projects that I've been working on is getting the motorcycle project done. I re-cut all of the valve seats in the cylinder head and I've put in all new valves, valve springs, cams, and the tappet shims will be replaced next. I needed a way to check the gap on the tappets since I've done so much work on the head so I made some temporary shims on the lathe and made them to the specs of the thinnest shim you can get, that way I can reassmbel the head, check the gaps and then order the correct shims. I've also done some more work on the tubing bender project, including modifying the die design a bit. I'm going to have the plates for the new die cut with the waterjet process. There's a company near here that has excellent pricing on their services and in fact it would cost me about the same price I paid for the steel on the original die to get the steel and have the parts waterjet cut. So I'm looking forward to trying it out.
Things have been busy at work lately, I've been working on some cool projects like working with LED light and I've also designed a new film splicer that does 8mm, Super8, and 16mm all on the same splicer. I'm in the process of machining the prototype at the moment so it's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. Make sure and keep an eye out on the www.homemoviedepot.com website about our changes in our system, we're really working hard to provide the best film transfer service out there, and doing it for the best price anywhere according to consumer reports.
Also added some new tools to my shop today, got a 4"x36" belt sander with 6" disk sander , bought some new files, some new jewlers files, a 3 in 1 sharpening stone for my knifemaking, and a new vise which I've been needing for years. My next purchase is going to be a small milling machine, which should pretty well round out my shop. hahaha Like I'll ever stop buying tools. My drill press conversion has served me well for the last couple of years but I feel like I've outgrown it's capabilities so I'm going to go ahead and invest in the new machine here in the next few weeks. I'm also looking to build a forge for my knifemaking, my gingery furnace really doesn't work that well for forging so I'm planning on building the forge in the near future. So stay tuned and feel free to email me with questions or comments, I always like hearing from the folks who visit my website.Wednesday March 7th, 2007
Well I just finished brewing up my beer that I'm going to enter in the Samuel Adams homebrew contest tonight, and wouldn't you know it, just as I was getting ready to close up my primary fermenter the rubber washer that seals around the airlock came apart. Here it is 9pm and no place to get a replacement for it. So after giving it some thought, and asking myself what MacGyver would do I realized that the answer to my question lie with the silvery wonder tape, duct tape. I cut a piece about 8" long and split it down the middle then wrapped that around the tube on the bottom of the airlock. Sure enough it sealed it up nicely. Not what I would consider a permenant fix, but it will do until I can get to the store to get another rubber washer.
Sunday February 25th, 2007
I added a new page to my website today about homebrewing, which is one of my all time favorite hobbies. So check it out and hopefully you'll be inspired to take up the hobby yourself.
Sunday
December 24, 2006
Wow it has been a long time since I updated my blog here. I’ve really been busy with trying to get the bathroom in my house remodeled and it’s really turned out to be quite a job. I ended up taking out all the old tiles and then ended up having to replace some water damaged sheet rock. I got the new surround up around the tub and started refinishing the tub today, but unfortunately it looks like I’m going to have to redo that. I should have sprayed it which was my first intention but I decided to use the roller that came with the refinishing kit. I guess once this coat is cured I’ll smooth it out a bit and then spray it with an HVLP sprayer. One thing to note if you’re going to use the Klenk’s tub and tile refinishing kit, take those packets of cleaner and porcelain prep and toss them in the trash. Clean the surface with a decent cleaner and then wetsand the tub as instructed, but then wipe down with some MEK or acetone to get it really clean. Then spray it!
Well tomorrow’s Christmas and I’ve finally finished wrapping presents. You’d think I’d eventually learn not to wait to wrap them until Christmas Eve but hey I guess by now it’s a tradition. Hahaha I haven’t had time to work on any projects other than the house lately because of… well the house. I’m getting to the point where I’m ready for this remodeling project to be over with. The big hurdle has mainly been time since this is our busiest time of year at work. Now that we’re past the Christmas rush maybe I can take some vacation time and get the house all wrapped up… no pun intended.
Well until next time, have a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
It’s 11:30 pm and my Mother and I have just returned from the hospital. My Grandmother passed away tonight at 9:30 pm at the age of 88. I wanted to post this so those of my friends who check my site will know since I don’t get to talk to all of you on a regular basis.
Chris
Friday
October 20th, 2006
I took today off work because I've been having some issues with controlling my blood sugar lately. I didn't feel good at all yesterday and by the time I left work yesterday evening I really felt weak and shaky. I haven't been watching my blood sugar or eating the things I should in order to control my blood sugar and in the evenings when I get home from work it seems like I spend all my time sitting in front of the computer. I don't want this to become an issue so I've decided to put all my projects and tinkering on hold for the time being so I can spend less time sitting in front of the computer and doing things that I would normally do in my spare time so I can start spending more time exercising and focusing on my diet. I'm not going to be taking down the website but I'm not going to be keeping as up to date as I would otherwise, not that I've been the best at keeping it up to date lately but my adding new projects and pages will probably cease for the time being. Now that I've been promoted at work I have more responsibilities there and can't really afford to miss out on work because I don't feel well. As such that was a major factor in my decision to focus more on my health and less on my hobbies and interests. Since diabetes is on both sides of my family I'm fully aware of what it can lead to and what it can do to a persons overall health, and since it's not something I want to get worse it's really important that I focus on that.
Monday
October 2nd,
2006
Well seems like I haven't been up to much lately but things have been busy with trying to get the house ready to move into, getting rooms painted and whatnot. I do have some new projects in the works, and some on the drawing table. I'm currently working on a DIY control system for a head mounted display for RC aircraft and cars. I saw a video on google of a guy who had done just that and thought it was about the coolest thing I'd seen in a long time. So as usual lacking the cash to go all out with it I started working on a cheaper alternative way of doing it. I'm also thinking about a new cnc project, this time an EDM machine. I've also been working on some new 3d models of jet engines for RC aircraft and I've purchased a couple of compressor wheels. My hope is with the EDM machine I'll be able to machine my own compressors and turbine wheels which would make building hobby jet engines a whole heap cheaper. I still have the 16mm telecine projector project in the works. Originally I was controlling the stepper motor on the projector with my computer but after seeing a circuit my friend Mark was using where he could control his stepper motor without the computer I think that's the route I want to go with mine. It would simplify the setup and do away with one of the systems. Let's see what else, oh, I set up the LCD projector over at the new house to try it out on this big wall in the living room and I kid you not, the picture was over 10 feet wide! I'm totally psyched about getting back to working on that project more. I'm thinking of building another computer system for it and making a nice wood case for it so it looks a little nicer than just a regular computer case. All in all I have a lot on the drawing board but with other obligations they are going rather slow. Stay tuned for updates.
Friday September 22nd, 2006
I just realized how long it's been since I posted something in my blog. Things have been really busy here lately with work and other things outside of work but I have been tinkering with some projects. I recently put together a Mavric IIB microcontroller from www.bdmicro.com and I'm hoping to do some experimentation with that in the near future. I'm also working on some 3d models of micro turbines for RC jet aircraft. So stay tuned.
Sunday August 28th, 2006
Well I'm back! What a great trip! We were busy as could be and it was pretty much non-stop the whole time, really long days, constantly on our feet, miles of walking, and an absolute blast! We made some good contacts, made some friends, and I think we represented the company very well. It was also really cool getting to see all the camera and sound equipment, editing programs, cameras, etc. I'm really hoping I get to go back next year.
I will say this though, man I'm exhausted, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Sunday August 20th, 2006
Well I'm leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow so I'm going to be pretty much out of touch for the next week. I'm really looking forward to it because I've never been there. Unfortunately since it's a business trip I'm not going to get to spend all my time sight seeing but I'm sure I'll get in some.
I've got several projects that I've started up and only one more hole to drill in the tubing bender and that will finally be done. I got a Mavric IIB microcontroller kit from www.bdmicro.com this past week so I'm looking forward to starting some experimentation into robotics, I also started refurbishing an old .22 rifle that was my grandfather's when he was a boy. I also started laying out the new milling machine I want to build so stay tuned for that, it should be an interesting project and one that I would like to make an instructional video of.
Saturday August 5th, 2006
Seems like the summer is flying by and things just keep getting busier and busier. I haven't spent much time on my projects lately, I either have something else to do or just don't feel like messing with it. I'm still in the process of getting ready to move but I'm not rushing it. Things have been going well at work and I've really made some good progress on some of the projects that I've been working on. So not much new to report.
Tuesday July 18th, 2006
Wow it's amazing how little a person can get done, seems the more plans I make to do stuff the more they get pushed aside because of other things. I was hoping to move here in the very near future but that may be pushed back as well. Until then I'm still working on several of my projects but not very actively. I still need to draw up the schematic and circuit board for the 16mm film transfer project, I also need to finish the tubing bender, but most of all I really need to get out and clean up the garage. hahaha But that's not going to happen while the heat index is 103 degrees. I was also hoping to be more involved with my film hobby but again that's been pushed aside due to other things at the moment. I got that Morse G3 rewind processing tank not long ago but as of yet I haven't ordered any 16mm film or processing chemicals. Hopefully that won't be put off to much longer.
Sunday July 9th, 2006
Uploaded a new video to google video last night, it's a video of this years fireworks display in the city park. I really haven't been working on much here lately, just been to busy with other things to keep up with some of the projects. I may be moving here in the next couple of weeks, so that will also throw a wrench in the projects, although it's not like any of them have to be finished on a schedule. I've also been busy switching over to linux. I've finally started making the move away from windows.
Sunday
June 25th, 2006
I added a new page to the
website today, it shows pictures of my
second cnc
machine, this one was a hotwire machine used for cutting shapes out of
foam.
You can see it here.
I've really been focused on my video work so I haven't really put any
time in
on building anything new. I just got a new foundry book this week so
I'm hoping
to get started building a new furnace sometime in the near future. This
one
will be capable of doing cast iron.
Not much to report other than that.
Sunday June 18th, 2006
I was really busy this weekend
shooting video of different events
for our
Railroad Days event this weekend. I taped a really good lecture on the
Wabash
700 series 4-6-4 Hudson type steam locomotives. The lecture was given
by Don
Darst a local gentleman who is building a 1/5 scale 12" gauge replica
of
the engine to run on our local 12" gauge track in the city
park.
I
also finally got around to setting up an account with customflix.com
and I've
spent a good deal of time this weekend re-mastering a dvd that I did a
couple
of years ago for the local historical society, I'm hoping to have it up
for sale
within the next week or so. I'm really trying to focus more on my video
work
and producing videos to sell, as well as trying to make some
instructional
videos for both my website and for sale.
I didn't spend much time working on any of my other projects mainly
because of
my prior obligation to shoot video this weekend of the different
events, but
I'm not complaining, it was fun and there were some really good events,
like
the Railroad Follies, a show put on by locals on Friday night. Saturday
morning
I shot about an hour and a half of video of interviews and
conversations with
people that used to work on the Columbia branch of the railroad, and
they had
some really interesting stories, it was really interesting to hear them
talk
about the things they did in their jobs.
I'll try and get back to work on some of the projects I had started and
that
some of you are following, I just want to get some of this video work
out of
the way, and with working a regular 8 hour day, plus 2 hours a day on
the road
to and from work it doesn't leave much time to do anything during the
week. But
I'll get back to it as soon as I can.
I've also had a number of emails recently about my LCD project, it's
been
really cool emailing you folks out there talking about the different
projects
that we all enjoy, from electronics, to woodworking, to metalcasting,
and
metalworking in general. I hope the conversations continue.
I'm
currently
waiting on a new book that just got published over in England by a
gentleman
named Colin Peck,
it's
a new foundry book
and
it's fired on
waste oil, which is something I've been wanting to do for years as both
a means
of making my metal casting more economical, as well as putting waste
oil to use
rather than it ending up in some dump somewhere. I've had the pleasure
of
talking to him on the phone and he's a really nice guy and very
passionate
about his work on the book as well as metal casting. I'm really looking
forward
to getting it.
Well that's all for now, till next time....
Monday June 5th, 2006
It turned out to be a busy
weekend between mowing yards and moving
some
furniture and not to mention I spent all day saturday working on a
three minute
video. The video turned out pretty good, if you get a chance check the
videos
page and it's the last one, it's a three minute promo video I did about
the
miniature train ride in the park.
I did finally get the bending die for my tubing bender smoothed out,
only took
8 sanding drums to do it. hahaha I need to finish up a few things on
that and
it will be finished, but I'll probably wait for this coming weekend to
finish
it up.
Anyway not much to report, just thought I'd better make an entry into
my blog
before people think I went missing.
Tuesday May 30th, 2006
Well here we are at the end of
May, sure has gone by fast.
Some of my
projects seem to have taken a back seat to one of my favorite hobbies,
which is
videography. I just recently shot my first reel of super 8 film and I
have to
say that I'm pretty well hooked on shooting film now. I've finished
shooting my
second 50' reel and I'm trying to decide what I want to do about
processing
this time around. I've always wanted to be able to shoot and process my
own
cine film at home, I guess partly because of money savings, which I
don't think
is a reality unless you do a lot of it, but mostly because I thought it
would
be really cool to be able to do it all. I'm in the process of
trying to
buy a reflex lens for my 16mm camera and I have a bid in on a Morse G3
rewind
processing tank on ebay that I'm hoping I'll win. I've also been
working on
designing some processing equipment that can be homemade but the G3
tank would
make doing 100' reels of 16mm a lot easier.
I still haven't finished up the tubing bender, all I really need to do
is sand
out the radius to smooth it out and drill a couple of holes and it
should be
done, but I can't seem to get myself out in the garage to work on it. I
did
spend 3 hours today machining a part for a hot splicer we use at work
and it
was definately one of the most challenging parts I've made since I had
to turn
to off-center sections on it and it was already only .1875" in
diameter. I
ended up clamping the dremel tool flex-shaft to the tool post on the
lathe and
running the part backwards while the cutting disk on the dremel cut the
material, worked out really well. Had I tried to use a regular cutting
tool I
would have surely broken or bent the part.
I'm also still working on the frame by frame telecine project on both
my 16mm
and super 8 projectors. The 16mm machine is at a point where it's
useable but
it's not really finished, and I just started on the super 8 projector
this
weekend, but being a holiday and having my niece and nephew here made
it really
hard to do anything on it, I spent most of my time in the kiddie pool
with my
niece.
As I work more on the film processing stuff I'll add a page to the site
to show
some of the things I'm working on, maybe I'll get some feedback about
the
designs and be able to make something that others can reproduce.
Wednesday May 24th, 2006
Finally got around to fixing the
main page of the website. For some
reason,
not sure why, there were html tags showing up on the page when viewed
in internet
explorer. So I finally got around to fixing that problem. I didn't
really think
about it since I use netscape but a friend was looking at it on his
computer
and I realized that it had all this stuff on there that wasn't supposed
to be
on there. Long story short, it should look fine now.
I'm anxiously awaiting my first reel of super8 film to get back from
processing, I'm hoping it will be here tomorrow. Then I'll really be
psyched to
get the super8 transfer setup up and running so I can get it into the
computer
to play around with.
Wednesday May 17th, 2006
You know I was giving my site a good looking over today and I realized
that
aside from the tag line "teaching the world to build really cool
stuff" I really haven't been teaching the world to build really cool
stuff. So I'm going to try and remedy that by laying things out in a
more
instructional manner. When I can I'll try and post video clips of
different
things that might be difficult to explain so people can see how
I
did
something not just read it. I still want to produce some
instructional
videos I just haven't sat down to plan any out yet or to pick a few
interesting
subjects. Sometimes it's difficult to get in much work on the website
since I have
to work a regular job and then find time for my hobbies and interests,
the page
really came about because I just wanted a place to show off the things
I've
done and built, but I would really prefer it to take the route of being
a more
instructional website where people can lean how to do something rather
than
just see what I've done. So stay tuned, I'll try and get
things
re-organized as quickly as possible.
Sunday May 14th, 2006
Well last night I added a stuff
for sale page that has some builder
of
stuff items on it. I think you'll like them. I ended up changing the
graphics
on them today, I liked the graphics I did have but I think the new ones
are
better.
I did some more work today on the projector project and started making
a lens
holder for it but I'm still no closer to being done with the schematic
or board
layout for it. I just haven't put in the time on it that I'd hoped to
this
weekend. I guess that's one good thing about hobbies, you aren't on a
deadline.
hahaha
Saturday May 13th, 2006
Man I've really been behind on
keeping up with my website here
lately. I've
been busy working on some new projects and that has really kept me
occupied.
I'm still working on the frame by frame film transfer project and I'm
getting
close to being done. I ordered some Luxeon led's for the project and
they work
great, a big thanks goes out to my friend Mark for designing a new
driver board
for me. I'm also working on some more electronic boards for it. My goal
is to
have a control box that plugs into my projector that has the motor
control,
frame rate counter, and light control, most of the schematics I'm
using/modifying are from Jan
Demmendal's
website, and the only reason I'm making some changes is because of not
being
able to find the exact components he used.
I also added a new page to the website tonight. I added an items for
sale page and
the link
is right below the about me page link. You can order Builder of Stuff
shirts,
sweatshirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, clocks, bumper stickers, and some
other
items.
Sunday April 30th, 2006
I didn't get any work done on the either the motorcycle or the tubing
bender
this weekend, instead I spent my time converting my 16mm sound
projector to
capture film frame by frame. It shows promise but I need to put in a
diffuser
glass and get some kind of dimmer for the bulb since the heat is just
way to
much for the film at the speed I want to run it at. But like I said it
does show
promise. I'm going to try and get the tubing bender finished
up
tomorrow
night when I get home from work, the garage is a disaster area and I
really
need to get it cleaned up. In fact I think I might go out and do a bit
of
cleaning here in a few minutes. Also added a new page to the website
today
about the projector
so
folks can see what I'm talking about.
Saturday April 22nd, 2006
Wow I haven't updated my blog
for a week now. hahaha Well
let's see
what's been going on..... pretty much nothing. I didn't work
on
the
motorcycle at all this week, I did nothing on the tubing bender and I
didn't
order any of the parts for the motorcycle. I did however
purchase
some
tools I needed to get the bike finished. I bought a cylinder bore
guage, and a
valve seat cutting tool both bought off of ebay.
I don't know why I just haven't had any motivation here lately, I get
up, I go
to work, I come home, I eat dinner, I go to bed. That's pretty much it.
In fact
I have done nothing all day today. I woke up last night at 1:30am and
was up
until about 4:30am, at which time I went back to bed and then didn't
get up
until about 10:30am. I got up took a shower walked on the treadmill a
couple of
times, and then ended up napping until about 4:30pm this afternoon. So
basically I didn't do anything all day today. I guess it
could be
because
I haven't slept well all week, or it could be the really bad diet I've
been on
consisting almost entirely of fast food. I'm starting on a diet today
and I'm
really going to take it seriously this time. I'm tired of eating crap
everyday.
I've also spent about 45 minutes on the treadmill today and I think I'm
going
to go get back on it again and walk for another half hour or so. I've
definately
spent to much time laying in front of the tv this week.
Saturday April 15th, 2006
Happy tax day everyone! I know that we all live for this most joyful
day of the
year. Oh yeah... can ya feel the sarcasm? hahaha Well this
has
been an
interesting week, made some good progress on some stuff at work this
week and
came up with some new equipment designs. As far as projects go I got in
my new
metal cutting bandsaw blades this week and they worked great..... for
about 10
minutes, now they are really good at cutting hot butter and only hot
butter. The ironic thing is that the $9 pack of jigsaw blades
I
bought at
lowes seem to last longer than the two bandsaw blades I spent $46 on.
I bought a new bore guage off of ebay this week, I needed to really be
able to
accurately check the bore on my motorcycle cylinders and so I found a
new one
on ebay for a great price and decided to go ahead and get it. I'm also
going to
try and make some valve seat cutters. The things are rediculously
expensive so
I thought I'd try and make some, chances are I'll probably end up
having to buy
some of those as well and I'm not looking forward to that, since I
haven't been
able to find what I need on ebay and I just can't afford a new set,
those
things are like $500 for a set of them, and that's a small set.
I'm hoping to have the parts for the bending die cut out this weekend.
I didn't
get much done on them this weekend because of the before mentioned
bandsaw
blades and then I ended up having to run to columbia to get some other
things,
seeing as how this town seems to have nothing I need when I need it.
Monday April 10th, 2006
Well I thought I had finished with the old motorcycle
project
but it
turns out I wasn't. I still have a bad compression problem so tonight
after
work I pulled the engine apart again so I could reinspect everything. I
have
better tools for inspection this time around and with all the times
I've taken
that engine apart I could probably write a manual about how to do it.
hahahah
I did pick up the steel the other day for the new bending die but I've
kind of
put that on hold until I get the motorcycle back together.
I'm
really
itching to do some riding this year and I really want to get that bike
done so
I can move on to other projects. I just get tired of having unfinished
projects
and I can only let them set so long before it starts to bug me. I'm
also
waiting on some new bandsaw blades to come in. I have this really nice
Craftsman 10" bandsaw that was my dad's and when he passed away it
became
mine. As I found out I can't find blades for it anywhere. I've tried I
don't
know how many places to get a blade and I just can't find one anywhere.
I found
this place online Spencer
Direct
that will make blades to whatever size you need so I ordered up two new
metal
cutting blades this week. I hope they are here by the weekend but if
not that's
cool. I'll be anxious to try them out since I've never cut metal on my
bandsaw
before. Since it's only 1/8" primarily hopefully the blades will do the
job.
Saturday April 8th, 2006
I haven't been very active with my website this week, had other things
on my
mind. Today I spent 5 hours machining a part that was 10 times more
complicated
than what I needed so about 3/4th of the way through I changed my
design
entirely. hahaha I mainly focused on trying to fix my 82
Suzuki
so I
could could get it back on the road. After I made that shim holder I
ground all
the shims down so now they have the clearance they need. If that
doesn't fix
the problem with the compression then I guess it's going to mean
pulling the
cylinder block back off and having the cylinders bored out. I really
don't want
to do that, mainly because I hate to keep putting money into a bike
that isn't
worth it as far as resale is concerned.
I did pick up the 1/4" and 1/8" steel plate this week for making the
new bending die for the tubing bender and I have a good feeling about
this
design. It's going to take a heck of a lot of cutting to get all those
plates
made up, but it's a method of making it that anyone should be able to
do. Also
it's cheap, since the commercial die was $180 when you consider that
all the
steel I bought for making the new die only cost me $23. That's not bad!
Anyway
I hope to get started on that in the near future and get that
information
posted to the website. But I reall really really want to get that old
motorcycle back on the road this year.
Monday April 3rd, 2006
Well it seems I may have figured out why the old 82 Suzuki had the
compression
problem, and I'm a bit embarassed to admit to it. hahaha Last
summer I did a compression test on my old motorcycle and
realized
that
the compression was lower than what the specs said it should be. So I
pulled
the cylinder head off and decided to redo the valves. Well I couldn't
get the
valves out without making a valve compression tool, which I did, by
modifying a
large c clamp. Well I ended up replacing one valve and grinding the
rest. Well
for some reason when I put it back together it never dawned on my to
recheck
the valve clearance at the tappet shims. I guess I was in a
hurry
and it
just never crossed my mind, when I thought about it the other day it
was one of
those DOH! moments in life. So after supper tonight I decided
to
run out
and pull the valve cover off and check the gaps. Sure enough, 0
clearance on
all shims. Well luckily I have some tools now that I didn't
have
back
when I did it and I think I can figure it out a way to fix it without
having to
shell out $9 per shim. See the thing is since I have 0 clearance I
can't just
say I need X shim, because I don't know how much the cam is pushing
down on the
valve shim. So I'm gonig to have to get out the dial indicator and
check the height
of the shim at a know point with the cams out, then recheck it with the
cams
in, that will tell me how much if any they are pushing down on the
valve shims.
Then I can figure out the needed clearance from that. The
problem
is
going to be figuring out how and where to position the dial caliper
base and
where to place the reference surface. Should be interesting. I'm also
thinking
that I might be able to modify the shims and not have to buy new ones.
I
designed a fixture for my lathe to hold the valve shims. I think by
using a
toolpost grinder on the lathe I can take the shims down to the correct
thickness ,of course I don't have a toolpost grinder so I'll have to
rig
something up for that as well. Ah the life of an addicted
tinkerer.......I
wouldn't be happy any other way
Sunday April 2nd, 2006
Well I'm pleased to announce
that I've moved my site to a
commercial
hosting service. I've really been more involved with my website than I
had ever
planned and as such I'm wanting to do more and more with it and hosting
it
myself is fun but the transfer rates are to low to really do all the
things I
want to do with it. I would like to add more videos in the future when
I'm
working on a project and with the transfer rates I was getting out of
my setup
it was just to slow to really do it, I'm not sure I'd want to wait if I
was
visiting my site. hahahaha So now that www.builderofstuff.com
is
active I
hope you all enjoy the faster transfer rates.
Later that same day.......
Well I think I've finally come up with a solution to my bending die
problem
that would let me make a steel bending die and do it rather simply. So
it was a
good weekend, I broke my new bender, cleaned the garage, and then came
up with
another solution to my bending die problem. I also moved the website to
the new
hosting service so visitors wouldn't be bogged down by the slow
transfer rates
of my server here at home. So all in all I guess you could say that I
did
accomplish something. hahahahaha
Saturday April 1st, 2006
Well I had a bit of a setback
with the tubing bender project. I got
the
thing finished today and decided to make my first bend with it when I
heard
SNAP! As I figured the bending die casting wasn't strong enough around
the
1" shaft to take the loads during bending. I'm not surprised and
something
kept telling me that was going to happen, but I'll keep working at it
to find a
solution. That's one nice thing about aluminum, I can always remelt it
and cast
a new part. So I guess now it's back to the drawing board to figure out
how to
go about making this thing work. Oh, and this isn't an April fools
joke. hahaha
Wednesday March 29th, 2006
Finally finished the follow
block for the tubing bender tonight. I
shot
video of the milling process while I was working since not to many
people have
seen someone mill on the drill press. Turned out pretty good if I do
say so
myself. Now I just need to make the stand-off for it to get it to the
right
height and I'll be almost finished with the project.
Tuesday March 28th, 2006
I'm totally bummed out, I really want to get my 82 Suzuki back on the
road and
get it ready for the nice weather but there just never seems to be
enough hours
in the day. I knew I shouldn't have watched Long Way Round.
hahaha
I'm going to have to figure out why I have such a compression problem
on it.
I'm hoping that the tapet shims on the valves are the problem, I really
don't
want to have to bore it out and make new pistons for it if I don't have
to
because that would really set me back timewise. I'm almost
done
with the
tubing bender and one way or another I'll have that finished this
weekend so I
can start tearing into the bike again and get the compression problem
solved. I
have worked out a fixture design for my lathe that will let me turn new
shims
from scratch rather than having to buy them, which is cool, with all
the tools
it would be nice to be making more replacement parts from scratch
rather than
buying them, after all it is an 82 and it's not like it's worth a lot
of money.
Sunday March 26th, 2006
Made some good progress today, not much but I still made some progress.
I have
decided that the next projects I do will be a better milling machine, a
belt
sander, a power hacksaw, and a tig welder. They are all things that
I've wanted
to build for a while now and all things that would increase the
capabilities of
my metal working hobby, or at least simplify some of the tasks that are
inherent in the hobby. The power hacksaw will come in handy for cutting
metal
stock and since it uses standard hacksaw blades it should make it that
much
cheaper, the milling machine I've been planning for a while and my goal
is to
build the bulk of the machine using reinforced concrete since it would
have
great dampening qualities, it's cheap, easy to cast, and did I mention
cheap? hahaha
I've collected a ton of old articles on machines and
building
tools over
the last couple of years and some of the designs are great, I think
with a bit
of modification some of them would make great machine projects that
could be
done pretty cheap.
Saturday March 25th, 2006
I didn't make nearly as much
progress today as I'd hoped. For one I
didn't
even get out there to work on the bender till around noon, and then it
was kind
of slow going. It's not really that big of a deal it's just that I'd
hoped to
finish it this weekend. The more I thought about it the more I kept
reminding
myself that this stuff is just a hobby and it's supposed to be
relaxing, I'm
not supposed to be killing myself to try and get it done. So I did get
the
follow block cast and I started milling it down. I didn't really want
to, in
fact I was just going to run the sander over it, until that is I
realized that
I don't have a sander. Then I took some time off to try and think if
there was
anyone I knew that did have a sander, I drew a blank and so I decided
to start
milling the surfaces, one things for sure I really need to build a
better
milling machine. I've got some idea of what I want to build but I never
have
set down and tried to start laying it out. I'd also like to make a belt
sander,
I'm starting to see where that would be an indespenible piece of
equipment to
have, especially when doing metal casting because it would come in
handy when
making patterns as well as cleaning up the casting itself. Oh well,
more
projects for the future...... such is the life of the tinkering
addict......
Friday March 24th, 2006
Well I can say that the bending
die is finally finished, there was
a slight
size difference in the radius that matches the tubing diameter but I
was able
to clean that up with little effort. I turned a sanding drum from a
piece of
steel that I had and I just used spray adhesive to stick the sandpaper
to the
sanding drum. Worked out pretty good but I think when I cast the follow
block
I'll use a short piece of tubing as a chill to get the radius in the
follow
block, that should make it come out the right size and with a good
surface
finish. I'm hoping to have the bender completely finished this weekend.
I'm
going to need to make a second set of bendinging dies since I've got a
project
to do for a friend and he's using different size tubing than the
minichopper
will use. Now that I know how to go about making the die and follow
block it
should only take a day to make another set.
Tuesday March 21st, 2006
Well I got the bending die
pretty much finished. I decided to put
it on my
drillpress that I converted into a milling machine and clean up the
surfaces
and to true them up. I also wanted to see what kind of difference using
the
commercial degassing additive made in the porosity of the part. I was
really
suprised at the quality of the part, especially after milling, and when
you
consider it only took about 10 minutes to make the foam pattern for the
part
I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I am going to have to make
a tool
to clean up the radius on the die since it doesn't match the tubing
perfectly.
I had really hoped to avoid having to do that but I don't think it's
going to
be a major event. All in all I'm really happy with the way it turned
out
though.
I also made the mistake of watching the tv series Long Way Round about
Ewen
McGregor and Charlie Bormans motorcycle trip around the world. Really
makes me
want to get my old bike finished up and back on the road, loaded up and
and a
long road trip. But then I guess that wouldn't be very responsible of
me seeing
as how I don't have a celebrities bankroll, but I nice trip around
Missouri
does sound fun.
Till next time.....
Saturday March 18th, 2006
Have you ever had one of those
days where you just didn't want to
get out
of bed? Well that day was today. hahaha I had the hardest
time
getting
going today, even with half a pot of coffee in me. Which is kind of a
bummer
because I could have gotten a lot more tinkering done today if I had
just
gotten up and got started a lot sooner, but instead I just stayed in
bed. Well
eventually I did get up and get going and I did manage to make some
progress on
my tubing bender project. I've been trying to figure out how I was
going to
cast the bending die for the tubing bender project and I finally
decided to do
it as a lost foam casting. So I needed a way to create the correct
radius for
the die as well as the radius to match the tubing I'm going to bend
with it.
Well I ended up machining a special arbor for this old electric motor
I've had
floating around for years and what I was able to do was take a piece of
2"
thick foam and drill a 1" hole in it. Then I mounted that on the arbor
and
using wood turning tools I turned it to the proper diameter. I was also
able to
create the correct radius in the foam by wrapping a piece of sandpaper
around a
piece of tubing and slowly pressing that into the foam. You can see
pictures of
what I did on my new
projects page.
Thursday March 16th, 2006
Well I've had this crazy notion for about a year to build a
minichopper, which
is basically a miniature version of the custom choppers you see so
popular on
tv shows like American Chopper and Build or Bust. It turns out that a
co-worker
had an old Kohler 23 hp engine sitting in his storage shed and wouldn't
you
know it, he wanted to get rid of it, and I couldn't pass it up for the
price he
wanted..... freebie! So at 23 hp that means I'm probably going to have
to build
a slightly larger than average minichopper, the upside is that I'll
probably
end up making it street legal. I was talking with another friend of
mine and he
said that his sportster 883 was only about 50 hp so basically I've got
half the
horsepower and about half the weight for the total bike, should make a
pretty
sporty little mini. Well I'll have to do some work on the engine to get
it
running again since it's missing a carb and from what I understand has
a burned
piston, but that shouldn't be a problem since it's supposed to be
pretty easy
to get Kohler parts.
You know I'm beginning to wonder if anyone reads this blog, well I know
my
friend Mark does, at least when he's really bored. hahahaha
I've made good progress on the tubing bender and I think I've finally
figured
out how I'm going to go about casting the bending die and follow block.
This
weekend I'm going to try and get out in the garage and work on the
pattern for
the die and see if I can make some good progress on that. I can't start
on the
minichopper until that's done and a friend of mine wants me to bend up
a light
bar for his truck and possibly a new bumper.
I also updated my website tonight. I took the projects page and broke
it down
into seperate pages for each of the projects. Mainly to make it easier
to load
since there were a lot of pictures on that page and for anyone on
dail-up it
would take a good bit to load them all, alsothis way I can add a new
link each
time I do a project since current projects are under a different
section it
makes it easier for me to move them when done.
Sunday March 12, 2006
I finally got the frame for the
tubing bender welded up last night,
I think
I finished around 9pm or somewhere around there. That was pretty much a
full
day of work to get it where it is. There are pictures of my current
progress on
the new
projects
page.
This has been a fun project so far, I really enjoy working with metal,
the
flying sparks, the smell of hot metal, the crackle of the welder, it's
fun
stuff. My metal lathe has also been an indespensible piece of equipment
during
this project. I had to put a 1" hole through both verticle pieces
of
2" x 2" steel tubing for the main pin, I was able to do that on the
lathe using a hole saw on an arbor and mounting the tubing in my
milling
attachment. I still need to put a 1/2" hole through the shaft
of
the
12 ton jack which will be used to mount it to the two L-angles at the
top of
the frame. Then it's on to making the casting pattern for the bending
die and
follow block.
7:00 pm
Well I got the frame all welded up and I even got
a fresh
coat of paint on it. I was able to drill the mounting hole for the jack
by
extending the ram and placing that in the milling attachment on my
lathe, it
turned out to work really well and drilling wasn't a problem. I also
made the
two shafts from what I believe were hydraulic rams. The steel is really
high
carbon content and are super hard. Basically I had to use the cutoff
grinder
and then grind the ends smooth, for the smaller one I was able to turn
it down
on the lathe by taking really light cuts at slow speed. I tell you that
metal
lathe was one of the best investments I've ever made.
Sunday March 5, 2006
Well today I finally got started
on a project I've been wanting to
do for
some time now. I started building my hydraulic tubing bender. Yeah I
know, what
am I going to do with a hydraulic tubing bender. Well originally the
idea was
so I could build a motorcycle frame, but since getting the construction
plans
and talking with friends it would seem that there's always a need for
someone
to make a go kart frame, or a mini bike frame, or my personal favorite
a mini
chopper. I even had one friend ask about making a custom light bar and
tube
bumper for his truck. So I figured I might as well get started building
it. You
can see pictures of my weekend projects here.
I also
worked on a
new propane burner for my foundry, which didn't work worth squat, so
I'm going
to have to figure out what's wrong with it and what I need to do to
make it
work right. hahaha
Tuesday February 28, 2006
Well I finally got an FTP server up and running now, man what a
challenge,
especially for the Linux challeneged such as myself. It's been a great
learning
experience though, and it's really cool to be able to access my
computers from
anywhere and get to the files.
Sunday February 26, 2006
Well I just couldn't stand this sitting around the house anymore so
today I
spent the whole afternoon out in the garage tinkering, welding, playing
with my
foundry, and getting absolutely filthy. It was indeed a good day!
Unfortunately
I ripped my pants and now I've got to run to the store and get another
pair so
I have something to wear to work tomorrow. Since I spent the
last
two
years working in an office building and wearing more dress clothes my
collection of jeans has dwindled. Anyway I made some new foundry gear,
I
modified my steel crucible by adding a pouring spout and then I made a
new set
of lifting tongs, and a new pouring bar which allows me to be farther
away from
the molten metal when I'm pouring it, it also let's me get farther away
from
the heat. I'll be interested to see how it works out since I ran out of
time
today.
On another note the tooth is all healed up, no more pain, no more
swelling and
of course no more tooth. Feels weird eating on that side of my mouth.
Wednesday February 22, 2006
Man that darvocet is some serious medicine. I haven't felt the
slightest pain
for the last two days, unfortunately all I've wanted to do is sleep,
and that's
pretty much what I've done. Sure wish I'd taken that stuff when I had
my last
wisdom tooth taken out. And I finally ate real food for
supper
tonight.
Yep, something tells me you all were just dying to know about this.
hahahah I'm
going to quit rambling and maybe hold off on blog entries until the
medicine
wears off.
Tuesday February 21, 2006
Well I went to the dentist
today. Last night it felt like one of my
jaw
teeth cracked or broke and I ended up getting no sleep. I got
up
in the
morning and figured I'd just suck it up , take a few advil and then go
on in to
work. I made it about half way. I felt like someone had hit
me in
the
side of the face with a 2x4. I'm one of those people that really dreads
going
to the dentist but man feeling the way I did today I practically begged
them to
get me in there. I got on the call list in case someone cancelled and
about
1:15 they called and asked if I could be there at 1:30. I was
pratically out the
door before I hung up the phone. 17 minutes later and 1 tooth missing
and I was
happy as could be, of course the novocaine was still fully
functioning.
The doctor prescribed me something called darvocet and between that and
an ice
pack I don't seem to feel much of anything at the moment. So it just
goes to
show you that sometimes the things you fear most turn out to be the
most
pleasurable, not that going to the dentist will ever be pleasureable,
but it
sure beats feeling like you were hit by a 2x4.
Sunday February 19, 2006
My niece and nephew came up
today, so I got nothing done except
playing
with them, which is always my first choice. I also didn't get much done
this
weekend on the instructional video projects since I spent most of the
weekend
messing around with my linux computer. I wanted to get my webserver
back on the
linux machine and off my windows machine so that kind of took priority
this
weekend. I've collected tons of old articles off of the web over the
last
couple of years mostly old Mechanics Illustrated articles, I really
like the
old articles because they told you how to build tools and machines and
all
kinds of projects, and they were almost always built from things that
had been
discarded. I have to say that to me this approach has always made a lot
of
sense, especially now days with the concern for recycling. For those of
us who
have a passion for designing and building things building from
discarded items
not only allows us to help with recycling but it's also a great way to
save a ton
of money on projects, sure it's a lot easier to run to the store and
buy what
you need but salvaging things in my opinion is always a better way to
go, so
next time you have something from around the house that you're going to
throw
away take a minute to ask around and see if anyone wants it
first. Most
of the video projects I have planned will be based on the old Mechanics
Illustrated articles but I plan to try and update the designs a bit and
add to
them to make them better. As such the first planned video is going to
be
showing how to make a really nice belt sander for the shop.
Keep
an eye
out here for updates....
Saturday February 18, 2006
Well this is going to be my attempt at keeping a blog. Don't ask me why
just
seemed like a good thing to do, and a good way to share progress on
some of my
projects.
If you know me you know I'm a huge MacGyver fan, always have been ,
always will
be. As such I posted the Mastercard commercial with RDA here on my site
because, well I'm a MacGyver fan. hahaha
Some of my current projects are working on some instructional videos,
something
I've wanted to do for some time and it provides me with another excuse
to build
something that most people would probably just run out and buy. I'm
also considering
building a new foundry furnace since after several years of metal
casting I now
have a better idea of what I want in a foundry furnace, and it's not
something
you can just run to the hardware store and pick up. I'm also wanting to
build a
hydraulic tubing bender because I have a real passion for motorcycles
and not
long ago I bought some plans for building some minichopers. Another
project
I've got planned is building two more welders, a gas powered arc welder
and a
homebuilt tig welder, should be interesting. I'm going to try
and
post
short videos on my site from time to time as well so people can see
some of the
crazy hobbies I have and how I like to spend my free time.
Stay tuned........