Machine Builders Network+ Forums Machine Builders Network General Discussion What odd jobs did you do today?

13 All the way. The Sonic is Right on 13 6mi North of Seaford.

Took another load of veggies to the food bank, came back and loaded out sold stuff, took tiller off the 340 and put mower on and started mowing weeds,--belt tightener spring broke a half hour later so now gotta try to get one from Woods OR figure some other way to tighten the drive belt, then cultivated more of the gardens and sprayed the cabbage and eggplants for bugs again. Set a live trap down by the fence trying to catch damn coons getting in the corn field! Big azzed day yesterday and I am still beat. Damn cancer makes me weak all the time now! Gotta keep pushing on!

I made a tool I will probably never use, for the fun of it.

It's a rotating welding ground for when you are welding something on rollers. I guess a couple of roller stands is probably next, eh?

Start with this excellent video from Kurtis over at Cutting Edge Engineering in AU:


There are two very big differences between his and mine. He does a lot of high power welding into the 500A range. I rarely get much over 150. Secondly, my junkpile doesn't look like his, so I based mine with what I had on hand. Also, mine is very much a hack job. First, a "napkin" sketch:


I had some 1/2" aluminum plate, it has hard anodize on the faces so I kind of wanted to leave that. Since I had some bits of scrap copper roof flashing, I thought those might be good for the actual contact surfaces instead. I traced a soup can (shop pencil holder) for 3" circles, leaving a couple of "tails" to be bent up later.

I cut two aluminum circles with a 3" hole saw, then drilled the center out 27/64 and tapped them 1/2-13. Threaded those on a bolt with a washer between them so I could deburr the edges on the lathe without unmounting them. Turned the outsides until they just cleaned up. Removed from bolt and drilled one out 5/8 for 5/8-1/2 flanged bronze bushing, which was pushed in with the vise.

To mount the flashing rounds I cut a couple of flats about 3/4" wide on 2 edges of both disks, then cleaned that up with a file, being sure to round over the "inside" corners so they wouldn't tear the copper. Drilled the copper 1/2" and sandwiched them between the disks, then filed them down to the level of the disks, except the tabs which were bent over into the flats. I had inset the flats a little so hopefully the edges of the copper won't cut your hands as you handle it.

I then drilled a pair of 1/8" holes in each tab and anchored them with screws. I used self-tappers because I was impatient. One more cleanup with files of the excess on the tabs.

Then, assembly, like so.



All that filing messed up the turned surface of the disks, I think if I make more of these I will try to find a better way to do that step.

Have fun, and between mine and Kurtis's maybe you'll be inspired to make one.

Thanks for the idea Glyford..I have a rotary weld table I always wanted to make a rotary ground for it..for now I just flop the #2 ground off to one side of the table, its a PITA to have to keep moving it as I go around in a circle..this would be the hit.

Looks like a handy item to have!

Would have been nice to have when I was making my own drive shafts. I'll have to remember that for the next project I have like that.

'Nother little oddball tool build. I actually use this one, though.

For every track saw on sale, there's probably a build video someone has done of how you can build one instead of buying.

I have been enviously eyeing some of these saws for a while, but every time the cheapskate in me says "not yet". Rather than take a prybar to the wallet, I decided I'd try and follow one of these build videos and see what I get.

My personal criteria for this was as thin as possible to reduce loss of cut depth, and as minimally invasive to the saw frame as possible, ideally allowing most non-track uses as is, and the rest by being able to take off the track guide modifications with a minimum of fuss.

I have forgotten which video or article I finally used, but here is what I ended up with:

The base is a section of one of the better grades 1/8" hardwood ply, about a foot wide and about 5' long. The track bit is a chunk of extrusion that used to be a guide for a pocket door. It is mounted to the center of the ply with countersunk machine screws up from the bottom, and nuts on top.




The saw guide is made from several chunks of hard maple in a U-shape. The leg that goes inside the base is shorter by the thickness of the metal. The distance from the saw base to the inside edge of the U was set to be a sliding fit over the extrusion. The inside edge of the base side of the U also has a groove that accepts the lip of the saw base. The single mounting bolt location was picked so that it would not interfere with the motor. The back edge of the U is mitered to just clear the motor housing when it is set all the way down.



Once you have the track guide made and sliding well, lower the blade and cut off the edge of the base ply. You can now line up the track right on your marks where you want to cut.

This worked okay, but it was missing one of the features I really like about the commercial versions, the ability to use it without clamping.

I recently saw another build that had a good answer for this, even if I didn't like a lot of the rest of their build...stair edge traction tape. I grabbed a roll of the gray rubbery 3M stuff from the box store, rather than the more abrasive black stuff to hopefully minimize marks on the work. So far it does a very good job of holding the track in place.

Looks great! cuttin free hand is always impossible and this would help stay on the line!

nice work, I often thought of making one

shoveled SNOW today!!! Damn shit! ----- dont think it will last long but its just the idea of it!! LOL!
11/26/23

in front of the barn on the pad, torch burned a couple big old metal attachment steel crates into handle-able sections..with nothing but 2 good 5ft lengths of 2"angle to be salvaged..burned more torch gas than it's worth
too muddy to operate on or do much else so it's back into the shop.
10:40AM EST
11/27/2023

Visited my mother yesterday. Celebrated her 99th Birthday. in Florida for two weeks. Going to pour some cement while here for a back patio. Need to make bigger gates so I can get into the back yard with a trailer. Workcation again but we enjoy it.

Tell mom we all said Happy Birthday!!!! The vacation work is different than the "GOTTA DO" work! lol! --- lets you enjoy it more!
Still have snow/ice on the ground here, --- 14* last night, that will firm things up, also no more parsnip diggin for a while.
Gotta dig out a tractor from the parking area to get ready to load it on the buyers trailer Saturday.
The guy that wants 2 corn pickers is still making plans to come get them too, so might make more room to park other stuff that dont sell. Still selling stuff little by little, every item sold helps pay the banker.
Did get a few passes fall plowed for the onion rows in March when the plants come. Have to do some work on the plow,---not hanging straight on the cub for some reason.
Got a couple more generators running and need a couple more in case the power goes out for a long time. Drained everything that had water in it yesterday
11/28/23 10:06 am

got another generator cleaned up and running today, slid a tractor out for a guy to pick up Sat., got part of the plow cut off and new piece ready to weld on, AND got the 3-pt snowthrower ready to put on the 340 when it gets deep! 11/30/23 6:pm

started digging into a customer generator, 20kw Deutz diesel on a trailer, customer stated they couldnt get 240V on the receptacles..dug into it and one SqD QO 60amp breaker had one lead wire loose the other was hanging, lug screw musta backed off due to vibration-action..never had to put Loctite on SqD breaker lug screws before..not really recommended but there's always a first time.

Clear and chilly, but December is here..fuel oil is 3.70/Gal
9:11 AM EST
12/1/2023

MY Vacation at the house in Florida.
1. Install bigger gate so I can get the trailer and the Harley in the back yard. (not taking it back to Va).


Make the gate on the other side of the house double wide. (pole will be removable). will allow me to drive the bike around the house rather than have to try & turn it around in the soft sand here.

Kathy pulled up all the pavers we had laid out here for a patio to make ready to pour a slab.


I Stacked up all the bags of ready mix. while she pulled up the pavers. Was going to rent a mixer but for what it was going to cost I decided to buy a HF special.


Some ASSY required.


81 bags later




Termites are eating the floor out of the laundry shed so eventually, I'm going to pour a slab & set the shed on it. another reason I decided to Buy another mixer.

wife put the pavers back down on the end of the slab after spending a whole day leveling.. Finished project......

Lookin good there Jim! Neighbor bought 2 of them mixers a couple years ago on an auction,--- they had never been used, he likes them. Says they are a handy size.

About 40* here today, ---- think some nasties are on the way, ---- a few more workable days left maybe. Rain all night again, ---- no more dirt diggin! Dont want to get the tracks full of mud then freeze. got it and the 420 up on boards now so they dont freeze down again.
Mini-ex. will squeeze in the back shed for the winter, 420 wont so its outside, still need to pull the motor and put an engine clutch in it, then on to check the steering clutches and see if they work or not.
12/5/23 9:36 am

Mixer is handy sized. I like it better than the one I have back up in VA. because it's Balanced well for dumping. the one I have in Va pivots from the back of the drum and it's a bitch because you have to hold it up and fight the weight. this one wants to point straight up with mix in it so you pull down to dump. much easier on the back.

The old ones I have are the killers too! Ya, I noticed the design is different on these! Glad it works better for you!

nice work on the pad Jim, good idea on the HF mixer..easy to use and when u get down to bein done with it, put it up on Marketplace half price and it'l go quick..a lot to be said for a small mixer, easy to move around and use.
I bought a quick-tach mixer for my skid steer, kinda regret spending the money now, its a PITA to use and requires two people to use it.

Installing a garage door rotary torsion spring, its a kit that replaces the long extension springs to lift a simple garage door..I bought the kit months ago, had to special order it..of course life got in the way and installation was delayed so it sat in the box on the shop floor...so today I go to unbox and install it and discover many parts missing..no refunds because its been over 30days since purchased...so now I have to MAKE parts to fix a simple garage door..well the damn welding C-Clamp on the door track that held the door up for 25 years 'cuz the springs were wore out sure worked easy and didnt cost $165 like the spring kit did <INSERT GROWL HERE>

That sucks! Missing parts are getting common nowdays on stuff! Sad too!

when unboxing the spring hardware kit I noticed the simple cast aluminum spools that wind the cable up on each end say "China" on them..now thats just disgusting that we can't make those here in the USA

We could make everything here, BUT people have gotten too lazy, OR want $200 per hour , which no company can pay, ,so chimna now owns us! Sad but true!

so one of the 1"OD across-door spring pipes were missing and some spring hardware..I found a section of 1" Sched.40 pipe,turned it down to the right diameter so it would fit the bearing holder and cable drum, that fixed the missing pipe issue but one cable was missing too so I found some 1/8" aircraft cable in the back tool room and cut it /crimped it up..all in a days work..so now I also got a welding clamp out of the deal cuz I dont hold the door up with it anymore LOL

Well stayed busy right to the end. NO rest for the weary. tried to jack up the sinking corner of the laundry shed at the Florida house. NOT GOOD..... drywood termites


two walls gone.



new door & siding on pt lumber

Interior panoramic view

yes the termites are relentless here in MD, lucky my home is on a concrete foundation 2ft high with no wood on soil but out back near the barn anything wooden on ground they will eat..I had a section of steel plate resting on some 2x4 wood skids to keep it off the ground and they ate that inside of 6months..unbelivable..but they don't seem to touch pressure treated wood

There bad in certain areas around here too. So far at this place none BUT damn carpenter ants and bees are bad!
Looks great Jim! Ya there is always something needing fixed it seams!

friggen termites will eat the whole bottom out of a forklift pallet, so for storage I use pallets because sometimes things sit for months before I can get back to it..new pallets get the whole bottom of the runners eaten..so now I put 2pcs treated 2x4 across the bottom for ground contact,termites dont seem to bother the treated wood

got 30 or so more pallets stacked with blocks today. Not sure how many more we can get!

finished a 5hp 3ph compressor job, fitted it with a 10hp Vevor VFD drive for 1phase operation..
it was gonna be either a $1,000 new 5hp single phase motor or a $200 VFD drive to run the original 3ph motor on this compressor..
so the $200 VFD drive is unbelieveable what it can do..easy to program
12/21/2023
7:19AM EST 33degF(freedom units)
Merry Christmas to all

Time to look for some plastic pallets?

yes I have looked at them for my use but they are slippery like in the equipment slides right off the top surface if the pallet gets even slightly tipped during movement..maybe a wood top on top of the plastic pallet??..so far the wooden ones are holding up good against the termites once I put the treated wood on the bottom skids..I see the plastic pallets for sale locally here around $10 each

4:21Pm EST 1/10/2024
assembled two aux hydraulic hose assemblies today-
one for the backhoe attachment cylinder profiled in another thread here and one set for a top clamp demo bucket..the backhoe hoses were too short and some kinda stripped out metric s#$% so I replaced them with NPT..
the other hoses for the demo bucket were too short and right angle couplers which hit the window on the skid steer door..so now we have straight couplers..5minute easy job to install on the bucket.
windy as hell here, lucky so far no trees coming down like last year..fingers crossed

I sent ya the wind!!! Had it here yesterday and all night last night!

wheel bearing hub replacement on a Ford Explorer, hub was frozen into the steering knuckle, had to burn it out with oxy-acet torch..fought me every step of the way..what a PITA

2 wheel drive or 4??? my 98 is shiftable full time 4 wd. It is nice --- gets me out of some nasty places!
1/11/24 4:54 pm

2015 2WD(front wheel drive)..next one would be 4wd without a doubt as this one gets stuck in wet grass..but its been OK for 100K..might ride it for another 25k or so

Have to do an engine swap in my work van, so I picked up a cap for the pickup of marketplace so I can keep my tools dry while I have the van down. Got a hell of a deal on a leer. $50.00. Has a couple of broken windows so I went to get Plexi and it cost $109.00. Still worth it. Cap came off a 08 Silverado. and it doesn't fit my 97 Cheyanne right but it'll keep my stuff dry so I can continue working while my van is O.O.C.
leaking head gasket and turnaround time is out there to get the heads done so I have another LS-6L to stick in it while I get the original engine right. 355,000 on it so can't complain.




I'll follow up when I get the windows in. Going to see if setting it up on a 1X3 will allow me to get is far enough forward so the cap door will keep the tailgate from opening when locked. if not, I'll have to figure out a way to lock the tailgate separately.