What did you do today?

[danlb]

I spent the afternoon chasing a wild goose. It started with a cable modem that was randomly disconnecting from the internet. The cable company tech asked me to remove and attach the co-ax at each junction. Nothing he suggested did anything to improve anything, so I let him go. I hooked up the main house router to the DSL feed since I'm going to be out of town for a bit. Two hours later the wife tells me that both Tivos have a banner saying that they can't reach the internet. Then they say that they can't reach the DHCP server.

4 hours later I finally realize that the Tivos are connected to the main router via a nicely hidden switch that I can't reach. I eventually trace the problem back to the ethernet cable from the main router that was plugged into a patch panel just below the co-ax. It apparently made a bad connection when I jostled it for the first time in more than 15 years.

Sigh. All is well again, other than the cable modem that I will have to attack next week.

Dan

[wierdscience]

Did up a new driveshaft for the hydraulic pump on a friends crane truck. Normally there is something left of the old shaft that can be reused. Not this time,both companion flanges were shot, the slip yoke was shot, the tube yoke was shot and the splined end was missing it's poly. So $265 worth of new Spicer 3150 driveline parts and an hour later.....

[The Metal Butcher]

Good score, those small lifts are handy. I've used this guy for parts quite a bit- https://www.ebay.com/str/swiftforkliftparts. No affiliation,just a happy customer, Tom Swift the owner is very knowledgeable.

Neat, thanks. I'll need brakes for sure.

[wierdscience]

Got her home. Tired. What a day. Get to unload it tomorrow.

.

Good score, those small lifts are handy. I've used this guy for parts quite a bit- https://www.ebay.com/str/swiftforkliftparts. No affiliation,just a happy customer, Tom Swift the owner is very knowledgeable.

[Cenedd]

Well, it's been an eventful 24 hours. Everything going smoothly until Sunday evening when my son quite suddenly became ill. Long story short it turns out his class started going down with Covid over the weekend and sure enough by 7am Monday morning we have a positive result. He'll be fine - just a temperature and general 'unwell'. The bureaucracy however, has been unending.

Builder now not coming to look at groundwork for plumbing because of Covid. Don't blame him at all but still, a further delay I could have done without.

Spot of machining (projects) in the day - since on-site jobs are cancelled now. Nothing exciting though, just part to length.

Spot of downtime in the evening. Came in and so did the cat. Got inside, he flicked his head and everything in a good cubic metre was covered in blood. Ear wound and still bleeding. Bathed that in warm salt water and then spent a while cleaning the walls, cupboards, floor etc like some sort of CSI scene. Honestly, you couldn't make this sort of stuff up!

Hope everyone else has been less eventful!

[Cenedd]

7yo can be a bit dramatic sometimes....

Hate to break it to you but 8, 9, 10 aren't so much different so far!

[The Metal Butcher]

Bought a forklift. Bringing it home in 2 weeks hopefully. Runs, lifts, doesn't drive. Gotta figure that one out.

Got her home. Tired. What a day. Get to unload it tomorrow.

Axle (and probably) tranny needed fluid to move. Boom needed to be tilted forward to get access. Ignition switch failed so it wouldn't start. Turns out it didn't matter as the brakes were locked. Drug it all the way onto the trailer. Needs a lot.

1. Chrome on the upper cylinder is rusty. IDK if it matters as it's a ram.
2. I don't know if the propane system is properly closing off when off. Maybe. Had some vapors out the intake with the ignition on, that may be normal.
3. Probably have to split the machine to replace the tranny seal.
4. Brakes of course.

Gonna be an adventure. Sidney lathe round 2.

[Dan Dubeau]

OK Dan,

You have been posting on this for a few times now. We need a separate post that we ALL can follow should any of us want to do a similar project. Your posts really peak my interest in a forge and doing casting. I have watched a lot of YouTube but here we would see the complete project if you can share the time.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

I've been taking lots of pics along the way and I'll make a post when it's done. When that is, I don't know....This project is already laughing at me, and TBH this year can f&*K right off already. It has not been a good start for a variety of reasons. .

Oh, and I thought the kids were good with donating some crayons, but my daughter started playing around with it she notice and was pretty upset that I used her "only good purple crayon".......🙄. 7yo can be a bit dramatic sometimes....lol. Crisis averted, I found 3 other "purple crayons" in the big crayon bin in the living room for her so shes good now. .

[Bented]

How did you chuck the pipe? I ask because I've done something similar smugly thinking I'll just part this off in the lathe and get a nice square end....oh. Parting tool dug in - which is probably a completely inappropriate take - and things spun. I for once didn't overthink it but I'm guessing the right answer would have been a plug to fit the ID with a flange smaller than the OD and then grip that in the chuck so that the pipe is gripped between the two...?

Schedule 80 material, rather thick walls made them quite secure held in a 4 jaw and steady rest.

Part to length, .200" wide insert parting tool at 300 FPM and .006" IPR feed rate with flood coolant, the coolant is beneficial with PVC.

[Mr Fixit]

OK Dan,

You have been posting on this for a few times now. We need a separate post that we ALL can follow should any of us want to do a similar project. Your posts really peak my interest in a forge and doing casting. I have watched a lot of YouTube but here we would see the complete project if you can share the time.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

[Dan Dubeau]

I cast my ribbon burner last night from ks4v refractory. All seems to be good, but I will give it a couple days to cure, and then drill out and melt out the crayons in the bbq, and cure it at a bit higher temp. It will give me a few more days to finish the blower and gas supply, as well as the forge lining itself. Too many other projects/repairs have been creeping into my free time lately.

The kids were happy to donate some crayons to the project . Side project, I'm going to machine a mold and we're going to cast some multicolour crayons from the scraps just for something fun to do.

[Cenedd]

How did you chuck the pipe? I ask because I've done something similar smugly thinking I'll just part this off in the lathe and get a nice square end....oh. Parting tool dug in - which is probably a completely inappropriate take - and things spun. I for once didn't overthink it but I'm guessing the right answer would have been a plug to fit the ID with a flange smaller than the OD and then grip that in the chuck so that the pipe is gripped between the two...?

[Bented]

CPVC pipe in a steady rest, worked better then expected considering that the material is far from "round".

Several parts

[Ridgerunner]

My wife collects decorated eggs? She wanted to hang them overlapping on this metal tree frame but the rod spacing was wrong. I sandblasted the original then cut and welded some extra rod pieces in. She said she was not worried about there being no bumps on the new rods. If you ever sandblasted anything round you know what a pain it can be lol. First picture is original, next sandblasted, then finished.

[PStechPaul]

Also separate links with spaces or new lines.