What did you do today?

[Cenedd]

Does everyone on the forum have to have two houses? (smiley included) Interesting transition that roofer has to do from roof to ladder. In the UK you have to have scaffolding now, even for single storey and personally I like handrails even if I'm standing on a chair and don't think I would even wear high heels if I were a girl.

See that's the trouble right there. You've got your older generation who are either scared of heights, or should be*, and your younger generation that are indoctrinated to believe they can't so much as sneeze without parental supervision let alone climb a ladder....not that most of them would know what to do if they got there! There's only us half-old gits in the middle that are still joyfully gung-ho and cavalier with our safety. Been watching "Planet Child" on TV and they commented that the distance that modern children are allow to roam from their parent has reduced by 90%. Kind of a shame that we (rightly or wrongly) feel that way really.

That said, my brother-in-law (who's a generation younger) really needs to accept that he's just not cut out for any DIY electrician'ing! But, I suppose you don't expose them to any of that when they're younger and that's what happens. Bet you're not allowed to teach 'em to test a 9V battery with their tongue these days!

*Alright, I'll grant you that it could be just that those who have survived have learned to be wiser!

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

I just barely actually really remember but my mother tells this "story" all the time. When I was a young kid (kindergarten or maybe 1st grade -- I forget) I was aloud to play in our back yard. One day my mother heard noises on the roof so she went outside to see what was going on. She saw me running around on the roof. Apparently we had a TV antenna that that started from the ground and was attached to the side of the house. The TV antenna was either a triangle shape or a square column shape with lattices which was the perfect climbing ladder for someone small. The TV antenna started from the ground and went up past the roof. IIRC it was a ranch style house so the roof was only 1 story high and probably not very steep.

[Dave C]

That "roofer" looks like he is doing a bang up job as well. haha

I would like to watch him get on that ladder when he comes down.

[jdedmon91]

Here is the video that goes with the part picture I posted a few weeks back. https://youtu.be/3JCnUuQoA2Y


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PStechPaul]

The guy is actually a handyman who has been working (and living in) another house down the road. He walked by and met me and Mr Tibbs, and I asked him if he could do roof repair. He said he had installed complete roofs some time ago. I told him I had gotten an estimate by a local contractor, for $2600, just for that corner, and he agreed to do all three repairs for $1000. We set up the ladder on the front just to access the underside of the eaves, fascia, and soffit. He used another (8 foot) ladder in the back to get on the roof. When he came back on Wednesday we did some inside work but he felt too uneasy to get down to the edge. He had tied himself to a rope secured to a tree behind the house, but he said he had only gotten a few hours sleep the night before and didn't feel safe. When he came back yesterday he was more rested and was OK. He said he gets OCD sometimes. We also started repair of another damage spot in the middle of the back part of the roof.


Last night I bought a ladder stabilizer for the long ladder on the front, and that should allow him to more safely replace the soffit and fascia. He'll probably come by again tomorrow to finish that, and start on the section on the south end of the roof:


Yeah, the repairs are not as pretty as the contractor would have done, but this is just an old house (~1877) that I use for workshop and storage. Most of the roof is not visible from the road, so it doesn't have to be pretty. The entire roof was replaced about 15-20 years ago and may need replacing again in 5-10 years. The roof was a few years old when I bought the house in 1977 and started getting bad around 2000 IIRC. I had a friend's nephew do the whole job for around $4000, IIRC.

[Tom S]

Managed to pull the bearings from my Ames headstock this afternoon. I was waffling back and forth on whether to pull them, and had been advised to be prepared to replace them if I did. I decided to pull off the bearing covers and take a peek, glad I did. Rear bearing looks and feels ok, it's a sealed unit that was decently protected. The front bearing however, is not a sealed unit. With the way the headstock is designed this bearing is sealed up in the assembly, and has no lubrication ports or anything. Grease was all dried up and the bearing is jammed up solid with crud. I never ran this headstock under power, and am now very glad I didn't because it would most likely have seized right up. Probably time to start finding a replacement.

[Sparky_NY]

Today was the day, first test firing of .357mag gatling gun I built. Fired 30 rounds slow with one 3 shot burst. All went very good. Lot of finishing touches remain yet and a tripod. This is the second gatling I built, the first being a 22.

Sorry for no pics, I have never posted a pic here, its just too much of a pain. Later, when completed I will post a youtube video of it in action though.

[Mark Rand]

Tom:- Before you throw the beaing away, try cleaning it out with kerosene or similar to the point where you can examine the condition of the races and balls. It might be ok with just a re-greasing after that.

[J Tiers]

Tom:- Before you throw the beaing away, try cleaning it out with kerosene or similar to the point where you can examine the condition of the races and balls. It might be ok with just a re-greasing after that.

+10 on that. The goop in there now needs to all come out, which may not be easy. I have not yet found a cleaning material that works on dried grease. I tried the Pine-Sol that was recommended, but it did not remove all the dried crud, and it did discolor the (non-critical) bearing I tried it on.

I used purple cleaner, which appeared to get the bearing squeaky clean with no discoloration, but it also did not remove all the "dried" grease. However, it might have done if I left the bearing in it longer, and changed the cleaner after a bit, as the grease might have simply used up all the cleaning power..

[terry_g]

Changed out one of these, blend door actuator.

What model of car so I know never to buy one.

[gambler]

soak the bearing in agitene, that should dissolve the grease.

[gambler]

What model of car so I know never to buy one.

mercury grand marquis. however, just about all cars, and trucks use actuators for climate control. I do a lot of them. this is one of the easier ones!

[terry_g]

Probably 8 hours work or more?

[gambler]

Probably 8 hours work or more?

I'm a bit faster then that. book time is more like 6

[terry_g]

I had to pull the dash out of a Ford F750 because the defroster vents were not blowing air.
Turned out a pen had gone down the defroster vent and jammed things up.
It took 2 of us 5 hours in total. Not a fun job. Even the seats had to come out.

Terry