Polishing Alcoa wheels

Our Alcoa aluminium wheels are 10 years old and needed a good polishing. I had polished them before by hand but that wasn't doing it any more. Got after them with the official stuff and they look much better. About 5-10 minutes each after they are on the ground so you can get at them.

I used Zephyr products. A 10 inch wheel kit with polish bar, 2 inch extender and safety flanges. Links below

Zephyr wheel kit

www.zephyrpro40.com

best price was at
4 State truck

Lithium ion boost

Got a new dash cam and the battery wouldn't charge. Read on the net that if the resting voltage was too low the chargers won't charge, a safety deal. This battery had been sitting too long and the voltage was 2.2 instead of 3.7. Read that they can be boosted manually and that might get them going. I figured what the heck nothing to loose. Used a 4.7 ohm series resister and a 12 volt bench power supply. It took only about 20 seconds... This did work and now the battery charges. The dash cam is a Ebay deal from China. Very pleased with it My first cam lasted more than 5 years before the lighter plug power adapter quit. This cam has gapless recording model DVR-207GS and HD.
DASH CAM LINK

TH 425 governor loose yoke

Here is a couple TH 425 governors that have the yoke coming loose.

 Yoke brazed back in place. I submerge most of the shaft in water so none of the fits get hot and change dimension.

 Some of the new gears are different and need shimmed. Got caught on this last time. Got die button shims on order which should work. Need to get these done and back to Jim K.

Another quirk, this governor has an additional spring between the bottom of the spool and gear. First time seen this.

Lego head propane tanks

                                      These tanks crack me up

Stove Polish

Our antique wood stove got polished. This is what I used from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Stove-Grill-Liquid-Polish/dp/B001AWFJTE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1406036241&sr=8-4&keywords=stove+polish

It took less than a hour and used about 1/3 of the bottle.

I like how the flat and sheen highlight the castings details

Tree 2uvr-c quill handle, z clutch

Honeywell gas valve lasts almost 60 years

Repaired a GE gas furnace that was installed in the 50's. The gas valve wouldn't shut all the way off....

Honeywell gas valve and replacement on top. This furnace does not have a "safety pilot cut off" and the gas to the pilot is on all the time. The pilot is proven by a bi-metal switch. You can see the switch and pilot in the lower center. The main gas valve is just that with no thermocouple or pilot stuff. Valve does have a pressure regulator.

Here is the old valve apart. You can see the flapper has not been hitting the seat on center. Sometimes it missed and got hung up on the washer letting some gas through. Sometimes one burner row would stay on a little...

Here is the flaps attachment to the solenoid, the swage has come loose.

I can move the flap to the correct position with my finger but it won't stay.

Swaged connection has been working loose for a while. Time to replace the valve with new.

Making a thumbscrew

The Tree mill was missing a thumbscrew on the table dial lock so I made one.

Thread is 1/4 -28, most of the ones I found online were 1/4-20. Going to use an allen head fastener and press on a knurled ring. Original thumbscrew from the other side.

        Middle size knurl looks about a match to the original

        Knurled a piece of hot rolled round, then face and drill .005 undersize.

           faced drilled and cut off.

  ready to grind off remains of cut

      Pressing ring on, it was pretty tight

    That knurled ring isn't going to come off

          Ready to use

    Made a wooden toolbox to fit on the ram.

Mini Split heatpump install

Installed a mini split heat pump in the garage. Got it from Amazon. Very pleased.
link below.

Pioneer Heat Pump-Dehumidifier

Here is what it looks like unboxed. It came by truck, I picked it up at CEVA's terminal with a Yaris hatchback.

                              Comes with r410A precharged in the condensor

             Mount for evaporator. I hung it from the ceiling.

           Condensor wall brackets came with sleeve anchors for brick.

     Drilled a two inch hole through the wall for freon lines and control power to evaporator. The power supply connects to the condensor only.  The instructions said to use a three inch hole but I'm not going to run the condensate drain tube through with the freon lines. The tube connectors will fit through two inch.

    A couple more inches to go...never hit rebar and I'm glad.

  Aluminium flashing used for a hole liner for a smooth passage. Supplied tube was too big in diameter and too short.

    

         Evaporator takes no wall or floor space

      Vacuuming the lines and evaporator. I know the blue and yellow hoses are reversed. It's 410a so no EPA issue yet. These have a 5/16 port you get to buy and adapter for that too. I ran the condensate through the tube that runs along the ground and drains an existing dehumidifier. Fitting are flare, I read to lube the back of the nuts and use a backup wrench when installing. Tube was preflared and looked polished.

   Mini split uses a remote control to tell it what to do, comes with a wall pocket to hold it. The unit is really quiet compared to a window air conditioner.

Roadmaster baseplate to Blue Ox towbar adapters

A while back I made a set of adapters to go the other way for tow bracket adapters. This time I'm making a set to go from a Roadmaster baseplate to a Blue Ox towbar. Made from 1.500 solid key stock they will never bend.

Silver tabs are Blue Ox, square tabs fit Roadmaster tow brackets and a Blue Ox towbar.

                          Test fit in Blue Ox style towbar connector

                                                      Bevel the ends

                                             Set zero with the table

                                Set 45 degrees in relation to the table and spindle

                            poor man's surface plate and scribe

   Nexus carbide end mill holder with APTK inserts, these have the correct geometry compared to triangle insert end mills. It will reach down in there! Very pleased with this cutter.

                                                             Deep slots