Long read, but maybe worth it Mine does too. If you are on jobs sites using it all the time it probably doesn’t suck. If you have plenty of time to take care of everything exactly the way you are supposed to, it might not suck as much, but if like me, you use your…
If You Sweep Up Every Day – DO NOT READ THIS If you sweep up every day you certainly won’t appreciate this. I normally sweep up around the mill every week or two, but a while back I blew some chips off a part and my grandfather’s Starrett six-inch rule went flying. That was months…
THE GIVING TREE Several years ago somebody (from AzBassZone) gave me a half decent boat trailer for free. I gave them a utility trailer they could use in exchange, but they didn’t know I was reciprocating until I showed up. They actually met me halfway between Phoenix and Yuma to just give me a free…
Sorry I haven’t posted any fishing information in a while. I’ve been making molds, working in/on the shop, and even working on boats, but no fishing in over two weeks. Friday the air compressor went out in my shop. Start capacitor on the motor went bad. I ordered a new start capacitor for Saturday delivery,…
It’s only 1 o’clock and I finished a personal project… well sort of. I decided to start re-carpeting (or maybe sea decking) some compartment lids for my bass boat. I had unscrewed the hinges from the boat a while ago. Yesterday I drilled out the rivets holding the hinge to the lid on one of…
I’ve just been busy. In addition to making molds and working on my own projects I have been helping the NAU Mini Baja SAE Team make a gear box for their race cart. All of those engineering students have finished their classes, gotten their degrees, and moved on to bigger and better things. Hopefully they…
Adding Handles to The Rotating Assembly #short VIDEO: https://rumble.com/shorts/v79nxmi
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…
JUST, ONLY, ALL YA HAFTA DO… Just throw a piece of metal on the machine and press start. VIDEO: https://rumble.com/shorts/v7813s6?mref=1sqt4y&mc=42lue
This may be the last big project I ever do. My dad passed away a couple years ago, and I just got rid of his (registered as a 42 Willys) 42 GPW. I decided for now to keep the 1982 Bronco. He said it was parked because it had low oil pressure. The motor has…
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…
Well as much as I would have liked to build one I bought one instead. Its compact, doesn’t have to be mounted to work, its cheap, its compact for storage, and it has a long history of DIYers using it on The Tube of U. Even the DIYers who state some other benders are superior…
Yesterday was my birthday, and my wife gave me a cheap little import drone for my Birthday. More on Drones later. I had a nice leisurely breakfast, and probably one to many cups of coffee. Then I maneuvered trailers around in the yard to make more room for my son’s BAJA SAE race team to…
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…
I bought this for a difficult job. Some old hard offroad tires. Eventually it did “help” with it, but it certainly wasn’t a magic answer. The feet on it do not line up. This makes it impossible to push in between the rim and the bead. I pulled the two fixed feet off and milled…
This is the 5th company I’ve checked out and the 4th one I actually tried. I think this 4 color embroidered logo is the best one I have received. Get It Now: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/UH2UMJ95HNC9E
I’ve always struggled as a welder, but eventually I get it most times. One thing I do when it has to work the first time is cut some stock piece the same size and make a few practices welds before welding the work piece. I did this a lot learning to MIG weld aluminum. It…
There will be plenty of people come along hoping for that big sponsor money trying to tell you how wonderful it is and everything it will do. They are welcome to see how much sell out money they can get, but I’m not into that. I paid full price for my X5 from Amazon. No…
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 cross 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….
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS – I finally found a use for the Harbor Freight pipe kinker. The pipe die was a perfect guide for the chain.
Retrofit Vevor 12000lb Jack on Gooseneck Trailer – Part 1
I wanted something for hauling a canoe or sometimes a ladder that didn’t need to stay on the truck. Its “okay” for the price. I think they say it’s good for 800 lbs. I’m skeptical, but it should be okay for the canoe I plan to carry on it. In retrospect I think I would…
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…
A NEW (to me) MACHINE IN THE SHOP For Making Soft Plastic Baits. I bought a used mini shooting star injection machine to play with in the shop. Follow my adventures using this new toy for making worms, swimbaits, creatures grubs & more. https://rumble.com/v5zmy1n-a-new-to-me-machine-in-the-shop-for-making-soft-plastic-baits.html
Making a Fixture Plate to Cut Four Parts at Once Instead of Just One If I throw a piece of material in the vise I can make one part. If I throw a fixture plate in the vise I can make as many parts as will fit in the work envelope of the machine with…
From Making Stuff For The Shop https://www.tacklemaker.info/index.php?topic=102.0
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…
Its going to get used for roughing blanks, but its going to take a lot of work to retrofit it to a modern control before I can use it. Probably the first chore will be getting it off the trailer, and onto a pallet to move it around the shop. VIDEO:
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
Before Father’s Day I had been looking at a couple Yukon (Harbor Freight) toolbox benches to replace the pair of to small US General tool carts I’ve been using as tool carts at the South Bend (Grizzly) knee mill and Precision Mathews (14×40) lathe in the back shop. I added them to the shopping cart…
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…
Okay… maybe that’s a bit of an over statement, but it needs to be repaired! Please follow along as I figure this out.
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…
Well… nothing much to get excited about. I got the old axles off. Okay they are heavy. Maybe solid. Never expected that. The old spring stacks are also much taller than the new spring stacks. I’m going to see if I can use the old springs and hardware, but the tires and wheels are slightly…
For the last tournament we fished I towed the ProCraft out to the lake with my Jeep. Its within the tow capacity (just barely), but I would rather use my truck. The AC wasn’t working in the truck, and its warming up here in Arizona. Anyway, the Jeep towed it just fine, except the hitch…
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…
I may be pulling a 351W engine out of an 82 Bronco soon. It was parked back in the late 90s or early 2000s with low oil pressure. This will make the 4th or 5th time that engine was out. First time it jumped time at just over the 26K warranty. Dealer pulled it and…
