What did you do today?

[edbannister]

The repair of the hose nozzle lasted only a few minutes. Time for a new one. I do have an old style brass nozzle that works well, but I kinda like the trigger type with choice of spray patterns.

I bought a new hose nozzle new months ago and it didn't even last a few minutes and failed after a few seconds. I wish I remember the brand so I could warn you

[Dave C]

Was it Gilmore? I bought one that looked like a fire hose nozzle, and had the same result. I called the Gilmore co. and they sent a new one. It lasted no longer than the original.

[mattthemuppet]

Did you happen to take any pictures? Mine could benefit from a little less "fine feed" backlash.

I'm sorry Dan I didn't, just pottering around in the garage at the time. Dimensions were 6.3mm wide x 6.2mm high (ish), can't remember the length, but I'm guessing 1/2". Going by the dims I'm guessing that it should have had a 1/4" key. It's the one under the thing you screw in to engage the fine feed - I think you were actually the one that told me about that when I got the mill

Doesn't do anything about the lash in the worm/ screw or quill gear/ quill rack, but it's way better than it was. If you need pics or more accurate dimensions let me know and I'll get some over the break.

[danlb]

I'm sorry Dan I didn't, just pottering around in the garage at the time. Dimensions were 6.3mm wide x 6.2mm high (ish), can't remember the length, but I'm guessing 1/2". Going by the dims I'm guessing that it should have had a 1/4" key. It's the one under the thing you screw in to engage the fine feed - I think you were actually the one that told me about that when I got the mill

Doesn't do anything about the lash in the worm/ screw or quill gear/ quill rack, but it's way better than it was. If you need pics or more accurate dimensions let me know and I'll get some over the break.

Sometimes a hundred words are worth a picture! Thanks for the reply. I know the one you mean now. I'll check mine for play the next time I am just puttering around. I have spare 1/4" keystock in my stash, so I'll be half way there.

Dan

[Jim Stewart]

What did I do today? I got rained on.

Yeah, Seattle and Portland guys will roll their eyes, but this is a Big Deal. California has been tinder-dry for a long time and I don't need to tell anyone about the terrible fires we've seen in the last couple of years.

Right now I'm listening to the rain pouring down and it's a beautiful sound. The black cat (who has thick, luxuriant fur) pounded in through the kitty door, leaped and landed on me - knocking the wind out of me. He was soaked on the outside, probably didn't feel a thing under that luxuriant fur, and thoroughly soaked my face and sweatshirt.

Weather sites tell us that most of northern California and all of western Oregon are getting soaked. As for Seattle and environs, I doubt anyone is worried about inadequate rainfall.

Haven't gotten a clear idea from weather websites about southern California, though. Any reports from the southland?

-js

[danlb]

I'm 25 miles south of Jim Stewart. I am also being rained on.

Today I cleaned out the gutters. Amazingly they were empty because of the gale force winds. I still had to climb a ladder 6 times to check them all. Much too late I recalled that last year I used a cell phone on a selfie stick to check them. Oh well. I'll forget again next year.

I also made a padlock hasp for my generator hut so that I can secure it with a padlock. With all the power outages generators have gone from being a sign of a gullible wacko to a valuable and "in demand" piece of equipment.

Dan

[Jim Stewart]

Today I cleaned out the gutters. Amazingly they were empty because of the gale force winds. I still had to climb a ladder 6 times to check them all. Much too late I recalled that last year I used a cell phone on a selfie stick to check them. Oh well. I'll forget again next year.

Dan, you've just discovered the perfect excuse for getting a drone!

-js

[J Tiers]

Was trying for "not a darn thing", or maybe "checked out the new-to-me 30" straightedge", in answer to the "what did you do today".... But then I found out that I needed to fix the plumbing under the kitchen sink (important the day before T-day). So I got to take out the bad leaky disposal that we do not use or need, and replace it with what slip joint stuff I could find at the hardware store.

Took 3 trips to find parts that would actually do it, because there is nearly no space under there due to a radiator, and getting things in alignment is very difficult, quarter inches are important, and the old parts fit only because of the disposal. So far it appears to be working without leaks.

So much for plans. Yesterday was 9.5 hours of driving, and the two days before that were yard work at a relative's house.

[DennisCA]

Shaft repair. I decided to try and keep the shaft intact for now. I am just replacing the screw and trying to salvage the damaged part. It looks bad, but it mics at 26.98mm (nominal dimension 27mm) after I took a very shallow cut and the reamed gears fit nicely on the shaft now. So I want to keep the earlier solution as backup for now.





Now I just need to turn the new features on this piece. Then my next step is to enlarge the shaft slot from 4 to 6mm, and make it 2mm deeper (to keep overall height constant so the bearing can slip over). This will clean up the slot in the shaft.

I will also broach the gear key slots to 6mm as well, this will also fix some damage I discovered that I did to one side of the slots in the gear. And it will make the whole setup stronger.

[Cenedd]

Been trying to get change gears on my lathe to cut threads it wasn't supposed to. Think I may be able to do it by sticking another spindle on the banjo. Turns out they're available as spare parts for less money than I could be bothered to make it for So, one spinde, sleeve, key and T-nut through the post. Pressed in a 6mm oiler using the appropriate arbor press for the job *cough* bench vise *cough*




...and then found that the only parts that weren't available as spares were the hex nut and the 'Pacman' washer. Nut turned out to be just a plain old M12. And the washer, well, have lathe; will make cylindrical parts! Even got to test out the scissor-type knurling tool I bought quite some time back. It's not as heavy as the original but it doesn't really need to be.



Had fun with the thickness though. Lined up the right-hand edge of the parting tool with the face. Measured the carriage travel with a dial indicator clamped to the ways. Exactly 5mm to the 0.01mm. Parted it off.....5.1mm thick. Hence the fly-cut surface as it wouldn't fit until it was slightly below 5mm.
Cold blued by the kitchen sink.....my wife just loves me! Definitely seems to take better on a rougher surface though. The knurl came out pretty deep black. The fly-cut surface is near perfect too. The other side I tried lapping the facing marks off and it's not quite a polished finish but it's pretty good. Blueing didn't seem to take so well on that though - slightly blue (ironically) in places and a bit thin in others.
Slotting went pretty well too...with more appropriate endmills. 4mm 2-flute TiAlN-coated carbide endmill and a 7mm slot. Came out bang-on 7.00 according to the digital verynear. Much better in the more suitable lower-profile vise too.

[PStechPaul]

As mentioned above, my hose nozzle repair didn't last - but it was not the J-B-Weld that failed:


So I filed off the crappy zamak and replaced it with a threaded aluminum standoff and more J-B-Weld:

Now it feels pretty solid and works well, although I lost the spring-loaded plunger that locks the spray adjust ring in detents when rotated. Meanwhile I bought another one, essentially the same, but all plastic, which may actually be stronger.

[Cenedd]

Was having a nice beer - for medicinal purposes, you understand - in an IPA glass. Bloody thing kept sticking to the coaster (I'm married) and dropping the thing onto the table. Got the (cheap) diamond files out and had at it. They're not all that much use on steel but they come into their own on glass. Quick grove in the edge and now there's an air hole that stops it vacuuming to the coaster. Sorted!

[140mower]

Was having a nice beer - for medicinal purposes, you understand - in an IPA glass. Bloody thing kept sticking to the coaster (I'm married) and dropping the thing onto the table. Got the (cheap) diamond files out and had at it. They're not all that much use on steel but they come into their own on glass. Quick grove in the edge and now there's an air hole that stops it vacuuming to the coaster. Sorted!

And, that right there is deserving of another..........perhaps even two as the planning dept. had to engineer the appropriate repair, and then it was off to skilled labor to implement the corrective action.

[danlb]

Today I overate. Again. Damn, my wife's a good cook.

Then I spent several hours analyzing the electric rates for our utility, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). It's mind numbing. There are 106 tariffs (aka rates) for electric service on their web page. I downloaded the hourly electricity usage for the last year and ran that data through different scenarios using spreadsheets I built with the pricing rules for the most promising tariffs.

I was doing research because I recently bought a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) and had to figure out which of all of their plans would work the best if I was charging the car every few days. I eventually decided that I could use their EV TOU (time of use) plan and save 800 or so bucks a year if I shifted my car charging and other heavy uses to off peak times.

Any time I find a painless way to save a few percent of my pension it's worth looking into.

Dan

[754]

Pension ? You look like you are 46...