March Update

I need a fore and aft anchor. Anyone got a couple spares? It needs to hold against a gale, not a little lunch hook. It has been nutty this month...

 Project Updates

Der Ferd F-150 

Finally got the headliner in the Ferd installed.  First time I've ever done one.  Worked very well.  Next time, I'll know to let the fabric rest for quite a while unfolded.  I have a couple wrinkles, but I don't give a rip about that.  It looks really nice in spite of it.  And if I'm driving in it, I don't even notice!

Seat hole is stuffed full of foam, and I'm sewing a patch over the top.  After that is finished, new seat cover goes on.  I probably need some hog rings and pliers to do it right.

Shop

I gave the old LeBlond away.  I'd given my word to do that and I fulfilled it.  Not sure if it's appreciated or not, but that is beside the point.  Cleaned up a little bit in the shop to fit in the Sheldon 15 inch lathe.  I hired my nephew a while back to help me out, but he wasn't available when I needed this done.  Rain was coming and I wanted it covered before Noah and the Ark floated by!!!!  What should have been a single day when I was "in my prime!!!"  became almost a week of tiny moves, followed by long rest breaks.

Ten years ago, they were getting rid of these rollers at work.  I have a couple sets.  They are key to me being able to move this stuff through the sand I live in.  I leap frog them to get things where they belong.

Several  years ago, I planted about three feet of pvc in the ground vertically.  It's right in front of the shop door.  I have a piece of drill stem that fits perfectly in it.  It's my removable tree.  I use it to pull stuff right to the door.  Then it's rollers under the machine to get it where it belongs.

I took the LeBlond out the same way.  It was about 1200 lbs.  The Sheldon is 2000-ish.  I bought a forty dollar boat trailer winch, stuck it on some channel iron and used that to motivate the machine to the shop down the long sandy stretch.  

LeBlond on a lift bed trailer from the rental place.  I wish I had one of my own!

LeBlond keeps great records.  I asked if they had any information about the old girl after I bought her, and they delivered.  Somehow, all the parts listed stayed with it till I bought it.  Amazing.  I mean, even the cracked three jaw chuck that scared the britches of'n me was there.  It's a Horton by the way.  Probably an S-32 on page 21 of the catalog.

Power for the Sheldon is going to be a VFD and a contactor.  I found a good one at Wolf Automation.

I'll pull power from my rotary phase converter.  Having a three phase input made it a bit cheaper than a single phase 220V input.

I'm gonna make this up on a backboard to be sure I have it right, then mount in a Hoffman box attached to the lathe.

Tool and Cutter Grinder 

I got a smoking deal from my mentor on a cutter grinder.  I got it in the shop before the Sheldon came in.  It's a KO Lee.  Reconditioned by the master mentor.  I still have to purge the oil bath and clean and refill it, but it's under cover in the shop, so I'm not too worried about it yet.

stock photo

And the manual is here.

More to follow.....  much much more, as I learn about this beasty....

 

Life stuff

.gov threw a crowbar at a family member.  Hit me in the gullet.  I had to step up to help out.  Sheesh.  Hopefully, we can clear this in 120 days.

My insurance threw a chicken bone.  Hit me in the gullet.  Just got even more paperwork done today. Now waiting on .gov to act.  ("Be patient, it'll take upwards of six months, then possibly a five month pause, then, if the stars align and the blood sacrifice is accepted by Ba----et......")

 

More accurate than I care to admit

 

Had a lung doctor appointment.  Got great news there.  My lungs actually increased a tiny bit in capacity.  And the nebulizer actually helped this time.  Still a long way off from where I was, but God's doing His thing in there.  And I'm happy to let Him work.  I'm doing my little bit, but without His work, it wouldn't matter a lick.

Had an eye doctor appointment.  My left eye is back to where it was when I was ten.  20-15.  Both are correctable to 20-10.  Right eye isn't quite as close to uncorrected perfect as that.  Man, that was exciting to see.

Blogeration

When I started this, I wasn't sure how often I'd update it.  It has been a battle to just live lately.  Hopefully I'll get my ditty bag sorted out and keep a little better account of my time.

Thanks for stopping by the house, and fer sure more to follow...

STxAR