Vacation, at last

Vacation started out great. My kid came down to visit for a few days. Nice having some company for a few days. He headed back up north yesterday. We hit a few great eateries, took in a movie and went downtown for some fireworks. Took him down to Whitakers gun store in Kentucky. We hit up a local car store that carries some really sweet classic cars. They have an immaculate 71 el Camino. Black in and out. They got in a 71 Mustang. It came in the day before we went there, and had sold that morning. They added a 71 Corvette to the inventory. Has a 454, along with an extremely high price tag. We hit up the range for a bit. Took my AR out so he could try it out. Shot my Luger I picked up a couple years back. Took out quite a few different pistols to play with. Was going to take the M1 carbine out, but, couldn't find the ammo for it. I really need to get my ammo organized. Need to do some reloading as well.

 Today, I caught up on some house chores. Tomorrow, heading to an auction at a house with a lot of tools for sale. Auction house has a few different auctions going on most of this week at various locations. I am enjoying not having to go to work for a bit.

Cool

I work not too far from the local airport. While working mid week, it sounds like a plane is about to plummet into the building. It is loud. Way beyond the sound of a thunderstorm. It passes. Shortly later, I hear it again. The small light bulb in my mind finally flickers to life. The Blue Angels are in town for the air show. I forgot all about it. Totally cool. Went out in the parking lot and they are flying VERY low in formation. We are at their turning point for looping back to the Ohio river. It is so cool to watch them fly and dive, even from a distance. Been quite a few years since they have been down here. Gave us something cool to watch during breaks.

Nice Surprise

Been working ten hour days, six day work weeks for the last few weeks. I was scheduled for tomorrow, and, after the managers had a meeting, the Saturday list was greatly reduced. I actually get a two day weekend. A rainy two day weekend, but, a two day weekend. And, supposedly, we are down to eight hour days next week. Head of the shop must have realized the price of the overtime. Need a bit of down time. Feeling a bit run down. Less than two weeks until vacation. Can't wait.

Last weekend, I hit the first local steam show of the year. Not the biggest, but well worth the four bucks to get in. This weekend, try to get caught up on some chores. If the rain doesn't stop, I am going to have to rent some goats to knock the grass down a bit. Can't believe the amount of rain we are getting.

Cool, he is back

R. Lee Ermey is back with Gunnytime on the outdoor channel. I just stumbled on it. I miss mail call. Looks like some more watermelons  are going to die. He always puts on a great show.

I have the WHOLE weekend off. Both days. Awesome. And, the next two weekends should be a minimum of a two day, if not three day weekends. One for a birthday, the other, a holiday. No gun shows that I am aware of this weekend, so I hope to play around in the garage and on the yard most of the weekend. Put most of my tools back in order last weekend, and got the lathe mounted securely to the bench. Have a few projects to peck at. Suppose to rain some over the weekend, but hopefully it will not be all day.

Very productive day

Only a one day weekend. Work is picking up again now that the weather is nice. Perfect weather. Finished picking up the last of the branches and raking up the last of the debris. Got the weedwhacker back up and going. Yard actually looks great.

After yard work was completed, I got to play in the garage for a bit. Made a special t-nut for one of the machine accessories for work. I never have time while at work for fixing some minor things. Got to play a little on my mill. I finished making the DRO (digital read out) box for the mill and lathe, and got it all installed and tuned in. It is a vast improvement. Easy to see the display as well.

                                                         Originally, with no digitals.

                              Here, I installed scales and the individual readout displays that came with it.

Here is the finished product. I used the same scales, but built a DRO box from plans on the web. It was an easy build, and very cheap. The microcontroller (it uses the texas instruments Launchpad, which is only ten bucks), a Bluetooth module ($5 on ebay), and a few micro usb plugs were all that was needed. The hardest part was downloading the software off of the Texas Instruments website to use to flash the chip. Not the most user friendly download I have done. Once built, the box can transmit the scale info to any android tablet or phone running the display app. Cool part is, it also has bolt circle, cutter offset, and bolt pattern display. If you have a 5 bolt circle you want to drill, and it has a 3 inch arc, you input that info and it displays a list of x and y coordinates for each hole location.  Very cool and cheap tool. I bought the tablet for really cheap on e-bay. It is a Samsung tablet 2, so it is quite dated, but does the job. I plan on putting scales on the lathe. I have them already, just need to install. Cool part is, I can unplug the box from mill and plug the lathe into it. I will slide tablet off mill and slide into the stand I build for the lathe as well, so it will cost nothing. The guy that made the app and designed the DRO did an awesome job. The app allows you to save settings for multiple machines, so I can tune the lathe to a different setting in app and choose which setting when I am choosing machine. Rather ingenious. I do love the net. You can find anything on it.  The web site is http://www.yuriystoys.com/  .

After getting lathe lined out, I will be adding tachometers to both machines. The box I made is set up for it already. Just need to make a pc board and put together. Have most of the components I need from radio shack before they shut down. Pick at it a little at a time.

Got everything finished up and then went for a ride in the Vette for a bit. Perfect weather. Have to enjoy it before it becomes the inferno it does in the summer time. Back to work tomorrow. Bah humbug.

Great day off

Started out going to the flea market. It was pretty decent size as the weather was perfect. Nothing interested me enough to buy, but it was still a fun walk through. Saw a lot of antiques. Unfortunately with my age, a lot of the antiques were toys I played with as a kid. Kind of cool walk down memory lane.

After the flea market, I headed to Lowes. Didn't even get out of the truck. The lot was FULL.... Not worth it. I will hit it up during the week when it is empty. Left there to see what Best Buy had going. Found a dishwasher that meets the need at a decent price. Cut out of there and saw a car show going on in the lot. It was just starting. I went home and got the Vette out and returned. There was a 1969 red Corvette convertible in immaculate condition. A Cuda, Challenger, Charger, Nova and many many more classics. My phone battery (my camera) was too low to get any pics. There were no classic mustangs, unless you want to count the 74 mustang II, which I don't. Kind of surprised me a bit.

After the car show, I played around in the garage for a bit. I turned the backing plate down for the new chuck. Drilled and tapped the hole for the clamp to retain the plate. Trued up the front and mounted the chuck. Huge difference. Went from a four inch to a six inch chuck. It will actually be usable now.

                        I mounted plate backwards and turned diameter down to match that of the lathe and put in mill and drilled and tapped hole for clamp. Clamp keeps the plate from unscrewing when doing left hand threads.

 

Mounted plate and cut diameter to fit snugly in back counterbore of chuck so it runs perfectly true. Trued up face where chuck bolts up and the OD of plate and chamfered all sharp corners.

 

 

Here is the new chuck mounted and ready. The one on the bed is the original chuck. I will hang on to it. I can reinstall if I get rid of the lathe down the line. Doesn't eat anything.

 

Enough fun for one day. Picked up a pizza and chilled out for the night. Back to work tomorrow.

Good choice

Volunteered to work today. Rain, tornado warnings, high winds, good call. Heard about the military show down town on the radio at work. Hit that after work. Lucked out and went in to work early, so I got out in time to see the show. Picked up a few odds and ends. It's always an interesting show. Lots of unusual items. They had an ambulance used in Vietnam on display, and for sale. The military jeep they had was really cool. The collectors have a variety of items for sale, and a bunch of stuff on display.

Tomorrow is suppose to be back to sunny and nice. Hitting up the flea market/antique show in the morning. Then, I want to finish mounting a bigger chuck on my lathe and work on mounting DRO. Need to wash the siding as well. Cut down a few dead trees along house, exposing moldy siding. Yard is starting to look great.