What did you do today?

[Bob Engelhardt]

... build some Squirrel/Rabbit/Robin retarding structures for my new Strawberries. ...

We also had chipmunk problems with our strawberries (years ago). A 1/2" hardware cloth perimeter, 6" high & partially buried, was effective.

[J Tiers]

We also had chipmunk problems with our strawberries (years ago). A 1/2" hardware cloth perimeter, 6" high & partially buried, was effective.

Did you mean 6" 6 inches or 6 feet? Because the chipmunks I know can jump over 6", and would not hesitate to climb it.

[Bob Engelhardt]

Did you mean 6" 6 inches or 6 feet? Because the chipmunks I know can jump over 6", and would not hesitate to climb it.

Yep, 6 inches. There was also netting right behind the hardware cloth to keep birds off, so jumping over it was out. Could climb it, probably, but did not.

[J Tiers]

Got back on the Benchmaster project that has been sitting around for a while waiting for me to get at it.

Finished (probably) the table surface. Having 3 t-slots really makes it a royal pain to scrape. I got about 5 spots per square inch, or better, which is OK for static contact, and I will move on to the table ways. I may or may not do another scraping pass and spotting just to clean up a couple areas that have low spot counts. Not sure how far I am willing to go for a milling machine table.

The ways as they are seem to be under a thou "out" of parallel with the top. That's the next point of attack, getting them straight and parallel.

[Tungsten dipper]

Looking good Jerry!

[J Tiers]

Thanks. I have to keep telling myself that I will be clamping stuff to that.... it's not a sliding surface. Seems wrong to leave all those "bull's eyes" just as they are.

[Cenedd]

Thanks. I have to keep telling myself that I will be clamping stuff to that.... it's not a sliding surface. Seems wrong to leave all those "bull's eyes" just as they are.

Sounds like you have a similar issue to me. Give a man a DTI and he'll get a job done. Give him a tenths gauge and he'll drive himself a bit nuts. Give him some blue that'll show microns of error and....well, at least the resulting madness results in pretty patterns! ;-)

[thaiguzzi]

Paul, very sorry to hear about your dog.
Kindest regards,
Mike.

[Dave C]

Paul, sorry for your loss. Folks who don't have pets don't understand the attachment we have with our animals. My best friend was 3 days short of 18 when we had to make that fatal decision. That was 1993 and it still hurts.

[PStechPaul]

Thanks. It does seem a lot emptier now that he is gone, since I live alone and my neighbors are not very close to me (physically or socially). And the voluntary isolation due to Covid-19 makes it even more difficult. But Mr Tibbs was showing subtle signs that he was suffering for several months, and the last few weeks it was becoming more obvious, although I was somewhat in denial. My only immediate family is my brother, who lives in SC and is estranged from me, and my sister who lives with her husband in Gaithersburg, and I only see them a couple times a year. I hate to say it, but losing my dogs is more emotionally gut-wrenching that it would be to lose my siblings. I expect that I will get another dog later this year, probably another senior. I have been considering volunteering at the local animal shelter, which may provide some human and animal socialization, and perhaps I'll find a good canine companion there.

Here are some pictures of him from 2017, when I got him at an adoption event. He looks much happier at that time:

[Tundra Twin Track]

Sorry to hear about Mr Tibbs,hope a new companion comes along.

[lynnl]

I too, extend condolences Paul. It is indeed, a painful process.
Mr Tibbs was a good looking dog.

On the subject of dogs..., did any of you happen to see a Nova PBS special recently that dealt with the domestication process, or evolution from wolf to dog? A very interesting program, which offered a lot more detailed, scientific explanation than just man inviting wolves to the dinner table (camp fire). In fact, man didn't really have much to do with it; it was more on the wolf/dog side of the equation that the change took place.

[Tungsten dipper]

Paul I know how you feel about losing a dog. Lost mine about 3 years ago, it's still tough. It's like losing a family member. This brought a tear to the eye. I hope you find a new one soon. We will be here trough this pandemic to keep the blues away. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[Galaxie]

I assembled most of the Brooks cutter grinder to see how it's looking. There's mostly only minor stuff left to do on these parts, although I do want to re-make the spindle cone pulley to reduce the speeds.

Where the real work lies now is in the wheel arbors and the workholding device(s). Oh, and painting, I hate painting.

[140mower]

I assembled most of the Brooks cutter grinder to see how it's looking.

How it's looking is, good...... It's looking real good.