What did you do today?

[Tungsten dipper]

Nice design of spinning wheel. But I'm also seeing wood fire, hearth with no edge lip to catch stray charcoal and a white carpet. How's that working for you? 😃

Has a gas insert.

[DS_park]

Finished repairing the motor in my old Delta Drill press. Had to decide between finding the old style extended inner race (87016) bearings or using a newer standard bearing and machining a pair of 1.7mm thick spacers. Fortunately eBay provided a set of original style (new NTN) with local pickup options. Cast iron motor housing and end bells. If the wiki on Vintage Machinery is correct, its 1946 vintage. Can find no evidence that it has been apart before, removed bearings were New Departure. They don't make things like this any more. Cleaned the centrifugal switch contacts. Will schedule its next bearing change for 2094

[Ironbearmarine]

You are right about the Curly Maple. Do you play bluegrass with your fiddle? Neither of us weave; my wife only knits. Trying to get her started on the loom, so far she just loves to spin.
Thanks for the kind words....
My "Curly" Maple for the lazy kate came from scrap pieces when I built these speaker stands and upgraded my Dahlquist speakers.

Not much bluegrass, though lots of Appalachian, Cajun, and Quebecois. Still, there is enough overlap that i can hold my own in a Bluegrass session. Strictly amateur, though lots of playing for dances and stuff until the COVID thing hit.
You have a good eye for design and use of material... very impressive speaker stands.

[swatkins]

I started posting up the videos of making a new metal gate and entrance to the shop..... I bought a Dewalt Metal Chop saw for the project and the first video show us using it PS I Love it!

[Cenedd]

Ordered a 1/4-20 die for a tripod thread the other day. Turned up this morning. Took it out the packet and discovered it's on a 1.5" die. Think I have a holder that big....just seemed surprisingly excessive for quite a small thread. Quite a lot of taper on both sides too but hopefully I should be able to undercut the piece to compensate - may have to make a thinner grooving tool than the 2mm I currently have.

[reggie_obe]

You are right about the Curly Maple. Do you play bluegrass with your fiddle? Neither of us weave; my wife only knits. Trying to get her started on the loom, so far she just loves to spin.
Thanks for the kind words....
My "Curly" Maple for the lazy kate came from scrap pieces when I built these speaker stands and upgraded my Dahlquist speakers.

DQ-10's? What upgrades did you apply to them?

[Tungsten dipper]

DQ-10's? What upgrades did you apply to them?

Just cosmetic. they sound better than my Linn Nikas have a second pair but finish with bubinga. Any upgrades you would suggest?

[danlb]

A couple days ago my roll-up garage door stalled half way up. The 30 year old Sears garage door opener made a terrible grinding sound. I had to use the emergency disconnect in order to lower the door for the night.

While I could get to the garage door opener itself, I'd have to move a bunch of equipment if I wanted to replace the whole thing with a better, more modern model. I'm reluctant to buy a new opener since California now REQUIRES that new installations must have a battery backup. I really don't need to have to replace another set of batteries every few years, only to find them too weak when I need them. So I decided to see if it was something simple enough for me to fix.

A quick peek into the guts of the machine showed the problem. The gear that is driven by the worm gear was basically smooth.



Everyone knows that gears really need teeth to work well. I found them! They were in a neat little pile inside the cover.



I immediately started to review my options. I had a nice 3 inch chunk of Delrin on hand. I could make a gear from that. I was not sure how long that would last, so I eyed a 1 inch thick 6 inch aluminum round. That's a lot of waste to remove. Did I mention that I've never cut a gear? It's sad but true. Just on a whim I looked online for replacement parts. I found that every Sears, Liftmaster and Chamberlain 1/2 hp chain drive opener made since 1984 used the same part. Further hunting found that I could get the whole shaft and gear for only $15 including delivery, and it would be here in two days.




All it took was to remove the chain, then take out the 3 screws holding that top-hat in place. The helical gear comes off the bottom when you pull off the fancy cotter pin. The whole assembly lifts out through the top and the new one goes in the reverse of the disassembly.

It now works quite well. I figure the door is used twice a month, so it should last another few decades. I never did get an opportunity to cut a gear.

Dan

[lugnut]

Dan, I think that is the same door opener I have, the numbers indicate it's a 1987 model. I have had this house for 20 years and that door gets open every day that we are here. I picked up a used one at a Garage Sale a few years ago as a spare when my opener gives up. It's also good to know there are parts available. Thanks for posting.

[Tungsten dipper]

15 bucks?? Wow what a deal! I love stories like this...

[danlb]

I forgot to mention that the best part of fixing the opener was that the only things I needed to move were a couple of welders on carts and a box! All the heavy / bulky stuff stayed in place.

[Dan Dubeau]

I let the magic smoke out of my little 1/4" Hitachi 12v Li ion driver today. I've had that thing about 15-16 years and it was a great run. That little guy has tapped thousands of holes from 4-40 to 1/4"20 for me and never let me down. I was tapping some 1/4"-20 holes in 4140-ht and made it through the first 10/12 just fine.....May have been asking a bit too much of it....lol. I'll do an autopsy this weekend and see if I can revive it. If not I may go Milwaukee 12v fuel this time. They've got a couple other tools I wouldn't mind having in that line like the little angle die grinder.

[The Metal Butcher]

Filled out paperwork for my first job. Starting Tuesday at a local engineering/manufacturing firm.

[George Bulliss]

Filled out paperwork for my first job. Starting Tuesday at a local engineering/manufacturing firm.

Congratulations! I'm sure you will do well.

[Ron43]

Fixed the coolant pump on my miller tig welder, The seal was leaking right as it goes in the bronze housing.
Shaft is 1/2 dia stainless but they get scored. Repair kit as pictured is about $125. Oberdorfer is the pump manufacturer.