Bob’s Other Projects

I had asked for some advice since I don’t have a gantry crane.  The advice had me scared to unload the Bridgeport I picked up a while back (long while). It’s been on the trailer in the shop taking up a BUNCH of space all this time. My first idea to just hang it from a…

The guys in the NAU Mini Baja SAE team on the local campus bought a Harbor Freight tube notcher to make be able to cut and fit the Mini Baja SAE race cart they are building for their final engineering project (and to race).  No, I didn’t go back to school.  The son is on…

The cast aluminum (or maybe zamak) handle on the Y-axis gib lock busted and fell off on the South Bend SB1028F mill a while ago. I can get by without it most of the time, and if had to I could grab the head of the screw with a pair of water pump pliers or…

Quick Easy Vise Hold Down Clamps

Some of you might recall I bought a Bridgeport CNC Mill (project) a while back.  The plan is to update it to a modern control like I did with the Hurco KMB1 many years ago.  What you might not know is its still on the trailer.  I pulled the Procraft out of the shop and…

A buddy of mine (Mike Meza) has a side hustle, hauling containers from the coast and selling them locally. He recently had a customer order three containers, but after two were delivered, they decided they didn’t need the third one, so he called me. I didn’t steal it, but it was a couple hundred dollars…

I didn’t buy all the shelving I wanted for 40ft High Cube, but I did figure out if I buy three sets of this 90x24x90 shelving I could crass link the to get five spans of storage in the container. It doesn’t look like it, but I have already started making room in the shop….

Merry Christmas to me. – TOOL SCORE!!! I bought a second machine that uses the Kwik 200 tool holders.  I didn’t really want to split up tool holders between the two machines.  Not for stuff I would routinely use.  I ran across a discount listed in the title that wasn’t shown in the actual price…

Where to find WHOLESALE Struck Coin Blanks ??? Discussion:  Struck Coins

Yes, it is another CNC machine, but I probably will not be making molds with it.  Its a gantry style CNC machine sometimes called a bridge mill.  Its less about the rigidity required for efficiently machining metal, and more about the larger foot print for machining sheet goods.  This one has a working envelope of…

My son replaced leaking hydraulic seals for me on my little tractor loader a couple years ago.  He seemed to do a good job, but after a year they started to leak again.  Pretty badly. As you may have noticed I do a lot of work myself, because a fair number of local shops and…

Bob Rants – If You Call Me Early in The Morning It Better Be An Emergency or You Better be Parked in My Driveway With Your Boat Ready to Take Me Fishing I’ve been supportive of another proprietor. I’ve sent business their way for years. When they went through a transition in their life recently…

Geometric Self Opening Die Heads I’ve made simple die heads. Some driven by a tommy bar, others by a pin in the mandrel that can be set up come out of the groove and free spin when it reaches the stopping distance. recently I started researching my $350 Lin Huan TL-25 lathe score in the…

Converted an R8 tool rack into a 4MT tool rack. First ten seconds and last minute is probably all you need to see to get it. Preferred Video Link

As I’ve posted before my dad had a lot of stuff which I am tasked with using, repurposing, or getting rid of. Things like a couple similar size generators side by side that both started on the first or second pull and ran appropriately with a load. (No, I didn’t scope them.) I have just…

I’ve got a pretty good travel tool kit my wife gave me for Christmas several years ago. It’s got enough tools it might qualify as a starter mechanics set. It’s one of the more complete all in one mechanics sets I’ve seen for a travel set. It’s also pretty heavy as you might imagine. For…

I had asked about the Weldmark 187 a while back. It says Weldmark on the front, Hobart Bros on the side, and Miller on the gun. Yesterday I needed to weld some spring centers on some new axles… long story. It would have been more work than it was worth to make space to drag…

If you have followed me for very long you know I can do a lot of things and take on a lot of projects and repairs myself.  Its not because I’m cheap or because I don’t have any money… Okay sometimes it is.  Often however if I just worked at MY JOB I’d be money…

Master Mechanic used to be Made in USA and had a great warranty. I seem to recall it was supposedly lifetime. I know in our little country store we replaced Master Mechanic tools on the spot and Cotter & Co (True Value Hardware and V&S Variety) reimbursed us periodically. Then they changed to made in…

No affiliate links here. These companies barely answer “some” customer service emails. Neither has ever given me a free product much less any money.

Its Thanksgiving day and I’m out in the shop.  No its not a bad thing… not exactly. I spent some time yesterday getting ready for the holiday, and the day before I spent probably 3 hours on the phone with a customer that will probably never spend a dime.  I had hope to spend that…

SLJ #1 – Busted Laundry Hamper – Video Yep, its just like it sounds. Guy hacks his way through a “simple” repair of a laundry hamper.