What did you do today?

[Baz]

Bented. there was a group of artists about 20 years ago who slected destinations by the throw of a dart - they kept going to larger scale maps until they had selected a location of a few yards. The last throw selected an actual point and they then made a mould of it etc to make an exact reproducton. While the end result was kind of limited value it was the process of travelling there, meeting people on the way etc that was the great experience.
Looking back, (so easy to do) I wish I had systematically gone to two states a year, ditto countries, for the last 40 years. Now there is a lot of places to go and can't.

[Arcane]

I had started making some T-nuts for my mill a little while back and today I finished making them, all seven of them. I made them a little thicker than the commercial ones I already had and I wasn't looking forwards to tapping them with a regular tap so I bought a spiral point tap and I have to say it was money well spent. The keyless chuck on my mill held it without any slippage and it was dead simple to tap them.

[Tundra Twin Track]

I had started making some T-nuts for my mill a little while back and today I finished making them, all seven of them. I made them a little thicker than the commercial ones I already had and I wasn't looking forwards to tapping them with a regular tap so I bought a spiral point tap and I have to say it was money well spent. The keyless chuck on my mill held it without any slippage and it was dead simple to tap them.

Spiral Point & Spiral Flute Taps are the best things ever I use them in Drill Press,Mill,Lathe and Hand Held Drills,chances are I will never buy another Hand Tap again.

[Bented]

On Sunday afternoons I run sail boat races at a small Yacht Club in South Jersey, what is typically called "Race Committee" in the sailing world.
This is a steel bulkhead concrete deck pier reached by a 50+ yard bridge over water, yesterday it was covered in lantern flies. There are a couple of college students that work there in the summer as Stewards, they have been keeping a record of how many of the little buggers they kill in 1 day, one set a new record on Saturday of 508. (It's a boring job)

There is no vegetation on the structure apart from the occasional weed growing from gaps in the concrete much like any sidewalk. Spraying weed killer on these is one of the Stewards jobs.
Have to wonder what makes it so attractive to the little beasts, no apparent food source or shelter, they are harmless there but will land directly on people, many find this annoying (-:

[mattthemuppet]

rebuilt 4 Jacobs chucks


finally organised my wrenches so I don't have to go rooting around in a drawer to find them


built a battery for my mower out of old cells from my bike battery. No protection on the battery as I had to bypass the protection to get it to work, but I'll make sure I'm the only one using it so it doesn't get abused

[mattthemuppet]

also fixed another mower battery that had 1 duff bank of cells. Bit of a fiddle fart to get the old cells out and 2 new(ish) cells (old bike battery cells again!) back in, but amazingly it worked just fine in the mower. Was real surprised about that.

not my prettiest repair, but my tab welder wouldn't have managed material that thick so soldering was a better solution.

[PStechPaul]

Those are some mighty complex protection boards! Did that mower also monitor the grass height and automatically run around the yard cutting the grass and then return and plug itself in for recharging? Like a lawn Roomba?

My electric mower battery pack is much simpler. I added a fuse. Now I will be installing the new motor controller for the 24V motor I used to replace the old 36 volt unit that self-destructed.

[mattthemuppet]

Those are some mighty complex protection boards! Did that mower also monitor the grass height and automatically run around the yard cutting the grass and then return and plug itself in for recharging? Like a lawn Roomba?

yeah, I wish! Only way I can get the lawn mowed without me doing it is to get the wife to mow it The protection boards are pretty neat - they monitor temperature in a couple of different places, protect against overcharging and over discharging, monitor pack balance and talk with the charger so that the battery won't charge until it's cooled down. I'll have to use the old school ear and hand for the one I built

[Mcgyver]

Unless you have a working, profitable farm or ranch, the only place people in Nebraska want to go is - pretty much anywhere else!

....


I've never been there, but I have driven through Kansas, which is much the same.

Phhht. Not even close. Kansas has got the world's biggest ball of string. Try to beat that Nebraska!

[Tungsten dipper]

Phhht. Not even close. Kansas has got the world's biggest ball of string. Try to beat that Nebraska!

You can criticize Nebraska all you want, but NEVER call out their football team!!!

[J Tiers]

Phhht. Not even close. Kansas has got the world's biggest ball of string. Try to beat that Nebraska!

Ah, I thought it was in Neb..... it suits either place equally well.

[Dave C]

There's a SAC museum near Ashland on I 80 if you are into aircraft and space. Lots to see with planes, rockets and other interesting items from the early days of aviation to today. We were treated to the tour by my daughter and family while visiting them in Lincoln last Christmas. https://sacmuseum.org/ These pics give you an idea of the size of the place. That's a real SR-71 Blackbird on display inside the building. I couldn't get far enough back to get the whole bird in one shot.

[Tim Clarke]

If you're hungry, there's a great burger place in Ogalalla. Or, there was. I haven't been thru there for 5 years. I can't seem to rember the name, but any local should be able to tell you.

[AntonLargiader]

No pics but I was trying to adapt a quick release front axle to my girl's 20" bike. A friend gave me a trailer or stroller wheel with the right length QR axle but it was for sealed bearings; it had a thicker center section that wouldn't go through the 20" wheel hub. I had just set up the 5C collet chuck and it was within a thou, so I just popped it in, applied the tailstock and zipped the diameter down to something that worked with the wheel. Works great; we just went for a ride this evening. Took hardly any time.

The QR axle gives me the option of putting it on the car in one of the fork mount rails. We have one wheel clamp rail but when we carry two 20" bikes one of them needs to go in the fork clamp.

[RB211]

Trammed my CNC mill again, installed a wireless pendant, mounted my new motor mount that I made yesterday, looked at air compressors.