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

Racoon trap rescreen and repair. Triangle insert end mill

Neighbor  Jim loaned his racoon trap to a friend  Jim's friend shot the racoons in the trap and in the process shredded the screen to where the trap wouldn't keep them inside. I got it in pieces with a new screen to install.

Took a while to figure out how it was originally.

    Wanted to get it fixed before I lost shade and the sun baked me.

    It was brazed together originally which made welding fun with the fizz of vaporizing brass. Jim says he doesn't remember how old it it is at least 40 years. Should be good for another 40 unless it gets shot up again.

Making custom roadmaster tow bracket arms for a friend. This angle measureing device is the cats meow to set and check angles.

Triangle insert end mill in action. Not real fast and the geometry is not positive like the insert is made for but it works. Got a APKT style end mill coming next week.

Shriner car clutch repair

Buddy  Jim's shriner car clutch failed so we decided to fix it.

                                      On the lift for diagnosis

      Jim's car uses a lawn tractor 4 speed transmission with a centrifugal clutch

            We dropped the rear end for clearance to work

           easy to get to the clutch now, missing a motor mount bolt too.

    The clutch was pressed together and has come apart, lost press fit because it spun. Think I can weld it back together.

  Plan to fill the hub with water before welding so the bushing will live on. A 35 mm film can lid fit the bore to seal it and hold the water. Sanded off paint where mig spot welds will go. Nothing to loose if it doesn't work.

  Spot welded back together. water boiling. Put strap iron around clutch face to keep weld splatter off of it. Bushing seems to be OK.

      Ready to reinstall. Seems to be fixed

Going back we needed to extend the motor mount slots and replace the missing bolt.

                                             Road test seems OK!