What did you do today?

[PStechPaul]

It looks like a giant fly walking across the ceiling.

[Ironbearmarine]

It started with a little softness of wood at the corner of my house. A careful then aggressive inspection revealed the corner post and framing totally excavated by carpenter ants. After substantial bracing and cribbing, further inspection showed the entire northern wall to be entirely rotted out. Its been a real race to get this rebuilt before the fall rains arrive. I am the goat on this one. We live too far out to bring in a carpenter. And i figured to have the work done would have cost 30 to 50 thousand US dollars. Thank the Lord i am young enough (69) and fit enough, and smart enough to do this fix. Although A few times driven to wonder😀
Today i started closing up the new roof section and the corner that started this adventure.

[Noitoen]

Installed this ceiling fan i've been working on for a while. Rotor diameter is about 1500 mm, or a bit shy of 5 feet. It feels great to see it. I have been planning this for over twenty-five years.

Just found this 😉 https://i1.wp.com/humordointerior.co...1/85872850.jpg

[J Tiers]

Scraped and repainted the west side of the shed. It was near 80F so it was a good day for it. The job literally took every drop that was left in the can, with nothing left over. I have no idea how I managed to plan that well.

[PStechPaul]

John gave me a couple of old bikes to strip for parts or to make some sort of "Frankenbike". One is a Murray, obviously very cheaply made, but it might be possible to use the derailleur to replace the one on his 24 speed Trek, although the Murray was a 15 speed (5 sprocket rear), so might not work on an 8 sprocket.



It seems that derailleurs are somewhat complex and tricky to repair, and his may be worn out. Might try a cheap replacement.

The other bike does not have any make or model info, but appears to be (or have been) a decent MTB. I was able to strip most of the parts, but the front brakes are proving problematic. Any idea how these can be removed?



I also found three 20" bike wheels being discarded at a bike shop. The one tire and perhaps the wheel seem to be new. Might be able to cobble something together from this stuff.

[AD5MB]

I got the lighter bottom half of the LMS3990 on the bench and bolted down. tomorrow is yet another doctor day, so the top may go on Friday.

then I get to tram.

[DennisCA]

Put in a bid on a 2nd hand mig welder, 250 amps 3-phase, seller approved so tomorrow I am going to go look at it, and hopefully bring it home:

[Ridgerunner]

Planted 45 Arborvitaes over several days. I shoveled and spread 20 yards/tons of shredded topsoil in doing so. There were 7 30-40 foot tall dead pine trees I had to fall and haul away; including digging out the stumps. It took over a day to haul in the shrubs from the nursery over 20 miles away. 3 loads of 15 on a 21 foot trailer.

Dug the holes with a 44" Vermeer tree spade I have.



The shrubs come in a wire basket so I bent up some places so I could use slings to set them.



Picture of some complete.

[DS_park]

Finally fixing things to fix other things.

Mounted a phase2 AXA tool post on the Logan 10. Tool post was purchased from Enco before they announced the "Merger".

Used the 7B Shaper to reduce the mount plate to fit the Logan. Finally found and eliminated the slop in the shaper table that was causing chatter.

Now I can try out the Arthur Warner boring bar tooling picked up at NAMES.

All this to fabricate a replacement RH x axis feed support for the Logan.

Having fun but sometimes I wonder if I should have heeded the advise to buy new import hobby grade equipment.

[mattthemuppet]

Paul - most likely the inner sleeve of those brakes has seized/ rusted on to the brake pivot. Can't use heat due to the plastic, so penetrating oil and patience is your best bet. To be honest, and this makes me sound like a snob, but I hate working on cheap bikes and bike parts. Poor fit, hard to adjust and won't stay adjusted. That rear mech won't work on your friend's 8 spd, it won't have either (or both) the throw or the gear capacity (size difference between large and small sprockets). He should be able to pick one up for cheap from eBay or visit your local bike shop with a tray of doughnuts and they'll most likely give you one - they'll have a box of old parts in their workshop for exactly these kind of repairs.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Finally fixing things to fix other things.

Mounted a phase2 AXA tool post on the Logan 10. Tool post was purchased from Enco before they announced the "Merger".

Used the 7B Shaper to reduce the mount plate to fit the Logan. Finally found and eliminated the slop in the shaper table that was causing chatter.

Now I can try out the Arthur Warner boring bar tooling picked up at NAMES.

All this to fabricate a replacement RH x axis feed support for the Logan.

Having fun but sometimes I wonder if I should have heeded the advise to buy new import hobby grade equipment.

What is a phase 2 in the AXA series,I will be doing similar this Winter.Will get a Accusize brand I think,the US $ exchange & freight to Canada is not pretty.

[DS_park]

What is a phase 2 in the AXA series,I will be doing similar this Winter.Will get a Accusize brand I think,the US $ exchange & freight to Canada is not pretty.

Phase 2 or Phase II is just another brand of import Aloris clone quick change tool post. Its available in piston or wedge. ENCO had a great sale on them a number of years ago. I was hoping it was a bit better quality than the cheapest e-Bay etc imports. Seems to be a good fit and finish.

Wow, just looked at the US CAN exchange rate. Great time for a US to Canada vacation..... Oh yea, not currently possible.

I used to live in Northern Alaska. My last ALCAN highway trip the exchange rate was much closer to par and I was towing at 9 to 13 MPG. Back then it was a little breath taking to fill a dual tank F-150 at $1.26 a litre regardless of the rate.

If the US economy takes a dip after mid November, you might get a break on the rates.

[PStechPaul]

The rear brakes appear to be the same as the front, and they came off easily. The front brake arms rotate smoothly, but it almost seems like the brass bushings are swaged onto grooves in the posts. I'm going to get rid of the frames and the forks, but I thought the brakes might be handy for another bike or some other purpose. Maybe I should just use a hacksaw and cut the posts off the fork. John said the bike may have been a Mongoose, and he found it abandoned and in need of repair in the woods.

Last night John removed the chain and rear derailleur from his Trek and sprayed them with carb and choke cleaner. Today I followed up with some engine degreaser, and discovered that the sprockets of the derailleur actually had spokes, but the whole thing was thickly caked with years of grease and much. There was also a piece of wire (probably part of a frayed shifter or brake cable) wrapped around one of them. The parts cleaned up pretty well, and I was able to get the derailleur mounted, adjusted (somewhat) and working. The chain freed up quite a bit and worked OK after a few shots of chain lube, but the master link was worn and popped loose. I was able to squeeze it with some vise-grips and it seems to be holding. It was an old chain salvaged from another bike, and I had to remove some links to match what was needed for his bike (102 links). Without a chain tool I had to use a small grinder and pin punch. At least now John can ride his bike to work and the light rail stops instead of walking a mile or two.

We had stopped at the local bike shop but they did not have any chain repair kits, although they said he could bring the bike in and they would get it working. Yeah, they'd rather get $50-$100 for a repair job than sell the parts for $20. Bikes and bike parts have become scarce and expensive since the Covid-19 pandemic. Maybe when the weather gets colder there will be more available locally.

[edit]These are the rear brake arms, which slipped right off. The front ones - not so much. I'll have to look closely to see if the bushing actually rotates on the studs...and they do. So maybe somebody banged on the studs and peened them over.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Phase 2 or Phase II is just another brand of import Aloris clone quick change tool post. Its available in piston or wedge. ENCO had a great sale on them a number of years ago. I was hoping it was a bit better quality than the cheapest e-Bay etc imports. Seems to be a good fit and finish.

Wow, just looked at the US CAN exchange rate. Great time for a US to Canada vacation..... Oh yea, not currently possible.

I used to live in Northern Alaska. My last ALCAN highway trip the exchange rate was much closer to par and I was towing at 9 to 13 MPG. Back then it was a little breath taking to fill a dual tank F-150 at $1.26 a litre regardless of the rate.

If the US economy takes a dip after mid November, you might get a break on the rates.

Yes it it would be great for you guys coming up here with your strong $ ,have heard a lot of ones from US have booked and are flying up here for Winter related activities.

[Dave C]

I spent the past two days on a tractor, Bush hogging the wife's 100 acre family homestead. Several years ago, my BIL who lives on the place, got the bright idea to raise some Pot bellied pigs. He turned them loose on the place, and sold off the herd of goats that kept the weeds in check. The pigs multiplied like rats, with some growing to over 100 lbs. and they don't eat grass or weeds. I watched the weeds growing, and thought it was a funny/dumbassed mistake, until the BIL got sick, and can no longer take care of the place. He sold off the pigs, and the weeds have grown head high. Now it is my job to clip the fields, after the pigs have rooted them up and the rains have made ruts that make driving over them like jumping a continuous series of curbs. My spine, and muscles will take some time to recover from the beating, and my eyes are itching, and sinuses are plugged from exposure to pollen from Ragweed, Goldenrod and a host of unknown species of weeds. Rant over, thanks for reading.