What did you do today?

[mattthemuppet]

new one bolted up


shocks next weekend


edit - $h!t, looks like I got that bushing 90deg off. Crap, have to take that out next weekend

[challenger]

made a bushing pusher and receiver to remove the rear bushings from the front lower control arms on my Subaru. They tear easily and I'm about to put in new shocks, so figured I'd get this done at the same time


old bushing, you can just make out the tearing


new one in place. Took a bit of fiddling but got it in the right orientation eventually.


pusher ended up worse for the wear, but got the job done

Well done. Probably saved large coin.

[mattthemuppet]

thanks! Most repair shops will only replace the whole lower control arm, which are around $200 at mechanics prices, so probably about $5-600 depending on how many hours they quote. The bushings alone cost $45 for the pair and it probably took me around 10-12h to do the job, including making the pusher, so I think I "made" a decent hourly rate on this one My hydraulic press doesn't get used often, but it pays for itself when it does.

Doing the shocks myself will probably save a similar amount of money too.

[challenger]

I finally finished 3 bxa tool holders. They fit too which was an unexpected bonus😁

[mattthemuppet]

nice! Now you just need to make a couple more than you have tools to put in them and you'll be good for holders for at least a few weeks..

[DennisCA]

Started on the foundations for my new shed.







Cat doesn't seem to be afraid of heavy machinery, as soon as there was a lull in activity they'd be right in there, curious about everything, weird cats.....



And this is it done, earth dug out and moved around, replaced with gravel that's been compacted and leveled. Still need to get insulation that will sit under the concrete "foot" and underground drainage pipes that will circle the foundation and lead away water towards a ditch off picture. The next step is building concrete forms:


David had a swell time last night with all the big machines.

[Cenedd]

Jealous that you have the space to put up a new building when you need one, Dennis. Nothing's scary if you can climb in it and make a comfy bed! My cat's in a very odd mood today. He got locked in the office overnight - the dangers of a black cat on a black bed on a black carpet unfortunately. Now he's all out of whack with the day and really doesn't know what to do with himself.
When we poured the concrete for the office at the bottom of the garden (that's it, no more space) the cats we had at the time 'signed' it....before it rained and turned it into a moat.

[The Metal Butcher]

Picked up a roughly 20lb box of taps for $30. Most were acceptably sharp too which is nice. Got some new sizes and ones we were very low on. He had a second box for $20 that I passed. It looked like mostly repeats, but it did have an 1 1/2" pipe tap and a 1 1/4"-7, which we do not have. I guess I should have gotten it as well, as dad wanted the 1 1/2" pipe tap. Ah well. The 3/4" drawer runneth over, gotta start giving those out as stocking stuffers.

I also got the Sidney apron 85% backtogether. It sure does grow heavy as it gets assembled.

[Cenedd]

I've started trying to build a copy of Clough42's Electronic LeadScrew (ELS) project. I ordered his board and soldered the connectors in on Monday. Tuesday I offered it up to the To LaunchPad and very quickly discovered I'd soldered in both 20 pin connectors on the wrong side of the board (they should have been on the underside).
Set up desoldering them and managed to get the off. Replacement connectors in the post as they didn't survive
Also found that my lungs didn't appreciate the process either. Never had a problem soldering previously but this time I was using a rosin pen on the desoldering braid so I wonder if that's what did it. I'll definitely be making sure I have a fan clearing the air in future as yesterday evening wasn't pleasant and it's not 100% gone this morning.

[Stu]

I made up a little clamp to keep the receiver hitch from rattling. Works a treat.

[DennisCA]

Renovated a drawknife, one of two from my grandmothers place.

Started with electrolysis for rust removal.


Removed most of the dirt from the handles, see the other for an example of what they both looked like.


Stained the handles and blackened the ferrules using a blow torch and oil dip.




Then I just needed to start using it. Pine sap gets everywhere! I feel like I need to bathe in isoproply alcohol.

[Dave C]

My back hurts from looking at that log.

[DennisCA]

Leverage is the key.

Ever heard of a cant hook or a peavy? I believe it's an american invention. A friend of mine who is a timberman (builds and renovates log based constructions, a lot of the time with hand tools) mentioned those and he has renovated one from the late 1800s that some returning emigrant brought back to Finland. I only use a digging bar but one of those things would have been fantastic to have.

[Dave C]

I was referring to all the bending over and skinning the bark with a draw knife.

[mattthemuppet]

not much of a project, but a funny story. About 8 or 9 years ago I somehow lost one of the jaws of my large tap handle, probably under my bench. Spent hours looking for that thing, even when we moved and cleared out the garage, without luck. Finally got off my ar$e and made a replacement out of a little bit of 1/2" plate. Good practice filing something square too, which is harder than it appears!




also "fixed" a bad vibration in my house HVAC blower motor. Was worried that it was the motor or motor bearings going out, but in fact it was a piece of adhesive foam strip from somewhere in the cabinet that had gotten sucked into the squirrel cage.


Looked all over the inside of the cabinet and couldn't find anywhere it could have come from. Any ideas? When I get in there this Fall for a coil cleaning I'll have another poke around.