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By Dave, January 26, 2012 10:14 pm

May end up just filling it from the outside wall back to the door. But first have to empty it. For now coffee calls…

Going to see how many of the books can be packed back in it in banana boxes with a banana box wide walk way around the outside.

Came back over for more caffeine before going back to try to get the book room floor completely emptied.

Feels like I was over there for more than an hour. 🙁 Got a few things moved around and a sort of a path into the book room.

Think I will walk back over that way and start moving stuff around in preperation to putting shelving back in to store the Piedmont stuff.

Removed the flue and covered the hole for now. Once I get the porch roof built I’ll put it back in. For now am not heating the place so…

Removed some 1×4 molding that was pulling loose & causing water to go behind it & down the wall. Cut a piece of metal and put in its place.

Worked on fixing some leaks on the storage trailer over by the other gate. Got a patch put on the roof and ran out of butyl caulk. 🙁

Calamities of Nature – Civilized http://t.co/lSZuc554 Nuff said…

Nokia ringtone during concert of classical music – YouTube http://t.co/GHyBpnyo This is GREAT!

BEST MADE PROJECTS • Axe Restoration Redux: Electrolysis Rust… http://t.co/HyEJ0aob Been meaning to try this.

Bread is cooling on the racks. Looks and smells quite good & the simplest I have ever made too. Will see how it tastes in about 20 minutes.

Lids just came off. 15 minutes and they come out of the oven, then get to cool for 20 to 30 minutes. If I can stand it they get to cool. 🙂

Bread just went into the oven. Not sure it was quite ready but will see in about an hour.

State of the Energy Union: Obama shows way forward, GOP are stuck in the past http://t.co/VCQkU093

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By Dave, January 25, 2012 6:55 pm

Then piled the stuff up and let it grow up. Clearing it off and moving the scrap to another location and building the sawmill there now.

After starting to clear the area, remembered that was where I had planned on putting the saw mill when I cleared it the last time.

Had to come back to get more fuel for the tractor and meself. Had not realized that the junkyard had grown up quite so much.

After a couple of hours on the tractor clearing brush, briers, and small trees, can at least see some of the stuff I am trying to get to.

Now to go look at the piles of scrap and see what I’ve got to build this monster out of.

Looks like a $6 difference in cost between 13′ 6″ and 17′ blades so thinking 36″ fixed length and adjustable idler side blade guide.

Guess if I make one wheel (moble home axle and wheels) movable can just change blade sizes as needed for larger or smaller logs.

Now to figure out a few more specifics and get started on construction. Big thing is whether to make it so it will cut 36″ or 24″ clear.

Thinking (again) about building a sawmill. Bandsaw mill to be more precise. Got the general design in my head and most of the bits to do it.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread – New York Times http://t.co/Fa8rfuVl Got 2 loaves started, which should be ready to go in the oven at 2pm tomorrow.

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By Dave, January 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Was planning to make the Calcis run today but going to put it off till tomorrow due to the storms that came through the state last night.

Got a few patches of standing water in it but not near as much as I thought I’d see this morning.

Area on the north side of the trailer/east of the Q-hut that I’m clearing & leveling for new construction had enough slope to handle runoff.

Wide/deeper ditch on the south side of the buildings handled the overnight rain well. Not that we got that much here.

Spent the day yesterday reworking the ditching and moving a few tons of dirt with the tractor. My back is feeling it today.

Investigate Chris Dodd and the MPAA for bribery after he publicly admited to bribing politicans to pass legislation. http://t.co/YHlQgGa9

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By Dave, January 22, 2012 12:21 am

After MONTHS of having a backlog of 1000’s of posts in Google Reader, just got the unread post count down to 0! Not that it will last long.

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By Dave, January 21, 2012 11:16 pm

“Better Read That Contract, Mister I-Wanna-Be-In-The-iBooks Store” http://t.co/gwm3zBib One more reason to avoid Apple products. Arsehats!!!

And to have room to set it up need to build the extension on the front of the Q-hut.

Needs to be a little longer and wider at the base. Guess it’s time to make a propane forge as I need much more heat to work metal that way.

Also changed the angle on the sides of the blade a bit. After a repolish it cuts much better. Gonna have to make one of heaver metal.

Played with the knife this morning. Cut OK but not great. Dug out a chain saw diamond sharpener for the rotary tool and resharpened it.

Side blade view showing the curve. http://t.co/J9ge2fUO

Full view of the spoon (curved) knife. http://t.co/sNt1T1Cw

Though it’s a bit shorter I think it will work just fine. If this one works out I’m going to make several different shapes to use carving.

Screwed the ferrule into place and cleaned the excess epoxy off of everything before it set. Will wait till tomorrow to try it again. 🙂

Kneaded a batch of stick epoxy and worked it into the slot in the handle and then forced the blade into place, working the epoxy back in.

Drilled a small hole in the handle a 1/4″ up from the bottom of the slot and inserted a piece of brass wire to hold the bottom of the blade.

With a cutting disk in the rotary tool cut the bottom of the blade square, then cut a 1/4″ long slot in the center of the bottom.

Heated the ferrule over the alcohol lamp to break the epoxy loose & removed it. Pulled the blade out & sawed the epoxy out of the slot.

Well, the epoxy was too weak or I was in too big of a hurry. Possibly both. Blade moved from side to side when cutting.

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By Dave, January 20, 2012 10:05 pm

Got it pretty sharp. Shaved hair off the back of my hand. Giving it a bit longer to set good and then will try it on the bowl of the spoon.

And epoxied the blade in and ferrule on. Wated a few minutes for the epoxy to cure a bit and then polished the blade on the leather hone.

Heated it to a nice blue and quenched it in Marvel Mystery Oil. Turned a handle out of pine. Reshaped a 1/4″ flare nut as a ferrule.

Annealed it in the flame of the alcohol lamp. Reshaped the end. Rough sharpened it. Bent the blade to the curve I wanted.

Needed to curve the end. Tried with a hammer without heating it and broke the end of the blade off. 🙁 Figured it would but wanted to try.

Then realized I didn’t have an easy way to carve the bowl of the spoon. So ground a jigsaw blade roughly the shape I wanted.

Started carving on a piece of cedar with a hatchet. Got a spoon roughed out. Shaped up the back and handle with a spoke shave.

Got the rest of the wire hung on the end of the trailer. Started raining while I was putting it up earlier so had to quit.

Lights don’t go almost out when I turn the miter saw on now. 😉

Put in a power outlet on the east end of the compound where I’m building the camper. Can remove the 100 ft extension cord to the back porch.

And the other side. Piece of leather it’s sitting on is the blade cover. Handle is cedar. http://t.co/RNGOG4vh

Picture of the marking knife for anyone interested. http://t.co/5fw2g91I

Just spent an hour+ making a leather honing disk to sharpen tools. The marking knife I made earlier is now sharp enough to shave with. 🙂

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By Dave, January 19, 2012 9:24 pm

Senators behind PIPA are a bunch of copyright infringers – Boing Boing http://t.co/0Nb2Qaaa

Need to go to WW to get some stuff but not sure how long I can 1. Stand up 2. Put up with the crazies in that place…

Worn out/broken jigsaw blade located, ground into shape, sharpened, and epoxied into the handle. Now to find another non-essential project.

Now to find a worn out jig saw blade and make the blade. Still no energy so doing mostly mindless stuff to keep from going back to bed.

Found a handle for it and got it moved out of the way of the lathe. Then spent way too long making a handle for a marking knife.

Got the Niagara Machine & Tool Works shear and punch back together. At least the punch end of it anyway. Shear blades have not been done.

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By Dave, January 18, 2012 7:48 pm

Total lack of energy today. So much needs doing and ain’t gonna get done. Keep thinking about taking a walk over to the cedar thicket.

Got too many projects going/in planning right now. But seem to be slowly moving ahead with at least some of them so will keep on keeping on.

Got the 10×20 and 10×10 side walls back up so I can work under them. With the wind hoping the ground will dry out pretty quickly today.

Need to go to the woods and cut timbers to build supports for the barn loft. Got a support wall that has rotted out that has to be fixed.

Shoveled out the woodburner. Cleaned the flue. Drank coffee. Ate breakfast. Built a fire. Now more coffee.

@jephjacques http://t.co/l4Fw6oPq is one option.

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By Dave, January 17, 2012 10:26 pm

Hoping with all the preperations we won’t need any of them. Am worn out. Think I’m gonna take a lie down for a bit, so till later folks…

Got the side wall of the 10×20 and the west end awning of the 10×10 battened down and all the stuff outside moved to dry locations.

After lunch went to WW and got some sandwich meat for lunch tomorrow, and if the coming storm knocks power out, supper tonight.

Cleaned it up, chucked it into the lathe, ans took about .001″ off an area on one side about an inch long. Fits and works smooth now.

As it moved up kept adding stuff below the rod till it forced the ram out of the hole. Took about 4 hours today to get the pin and ram out.

Turning a pice of rod down to fit through the hole below the anvil and using the weight of the shear to force the ram up.

Got the ram out finally. Ended up putting the lever arm back on and forcing it to move several times, than taking the arm back off.

Then took a break. Been at it for 2+ hours already this morning. Amazing how much time gets eaten up working on old equipment.

Turned a piece of old shaft down on one end to fit the hole in the ram and have managed (again with much pounding) to rotate it half a turn.

Mainly removed the enlarged ends where it had been pounded on both by me and someone else who treated it much worse than I did.

After much filing and pounding got the pin out and lever off. Put the 3 jaw chuck in the lathe and turned the pin down just enough to fit.

Have oiled, filed and sanded the lever pin & got it moving with much reluctance. Going to let it soak overnight and see how it is tomorrow.

Not sure what treatment it had prior to my buying it 7 or 8 years ago, but it hasn’t been treated very well in many years.

Actually have to do that anyway but the wrong way around may be the reason it’s so hard to get to moving. Along with 3+ years in the rain.

Just noted a broken off bolt on one side. The ram has a flat but it’s on the opposite side. So have to get the lever out to remove the ram.

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By Dave, January 16, 2012 11:19 pm

And move it as it’s in the way of the lathe move. Coffee should be ready, then back to the sequential vortex this project has turned into…

May see if it will fit on the work table the machinists vise is mounted on. It’ll hold it, but will need to clear the stuff on it off first.

Not inside but at least to the front porch. Gonna have to clear an area inside to store it. Want to mount on a table it so I can use it.

More clearing got me to a manual shear and punch that weighs in over 300 lbs. Got it on the hand trucks and managed to get it to the Q-hut.

Pulled it out and moved it around to the 10 x 20 where I’m gonna put a top on it for the miter saw to bolt on to.

Got more stuff cleared out at the barn, but outside this time. Cleared the briers to where I could get to a metal table frame.

Also got to move the lathe in the Q-hut along with everything else on that wall. Most likely another 8+ hours of work. Now to go get milk…

Got most of one side cleared off. Now to get the benchtop cleared off and drawers and bottom shelves cleaned out.

Changed projects of the day. Been clearing off shelving in the barn in preparation to move a work bench from there to the Q-hut.

Like I need another project. 🙁 Problem is I don’t have room to work now. Too much junk in the way. Time to get at it. Back later…

Which means moving the south wall of said porch out a bit. Thinking 3 to 4 feet will give another bench along that side which may be enough.

Need to bolt the saw on a solid platform to stabilize it. Looks like it’s time to extend the work area on the back porch.

Miter saw is somewhat calibrated. Could be better but only with another fence. The cast aluminum one it has is a weak piece of crap.

Tis now time for breakfast (or past), after which I’m gonna go out and finish up some of the other projects started yesterday… 😉

Got off on other projects and then had a friend come by for a bit just prior to dark at which time I didn’t feel like finishing the cleanup.

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By Dave, January 14, 2012 7:07 pm

Spent the morning turning broach and file handles out of cedar. Decided raiding the firewood pile would cost less than buying dowels.

Refreshed the page and there were about 25 or so actual new posts since I had last looked. Been doing that a lot lately.

Twitter acting weird today. Told me I had 270+ new tweets to read. Hit the new tweets button and scrolled down a screen to 7 hr old stuff.

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By Dave, January 13, 2012 1:58 am

DuckDuckGo http://t.co/YBKrLx6x Not sure if I’ll stay with it but after using it for a day or so seems like a pretty good search engine.

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By Dave, January 12, 2012 4:01 am

Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | An Appalling Idea, Even by Washington Standards http://t.co/fGiNOJJc

Wikileaks revealed US espionage of Indigenous Peoples in 2011 | Climate Connections http://t.co/FId2UvHA

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By Dave, January 10, 2012 9:47 pm

Doesn’t look much like the one I patterned it by but such is life. They have the same size pin at the bottom and are the same length. 😉

Got it roughed out with the metal tools and then switched to the wood turning chisels. Finished out pretty good. Stain is drying now.

Got it on and have it close to in time. Just finished turning a new finial for the top of the case. Used the metal lathe to turn it on.

Made the new brass hanger for the pendulum rod. Only broke one saw blade cutting the brass. New one cut much better anyway. 😉

For now am calling it a night and hitting the sack, so till later, folks… 😉

Have either 3 or 4 clocks left to fix. Gaining on the back log. And getting a little faster with them too. Think I may do the Sessions next.

Going to make a adjustable rod for it in the morning. May disassemble & bush one hole on the strike side. Will decide after it runs a bit.

The one I worked on today has a home made temporary pendulum on it as it was missing its original one when I got it.

Just had 3 clocks strike midnight together. Think I have them regulated about right. 🙂 The Korean clocks were 2 of them.

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By Dave, January 9, 2012 7:21 pm

Think I have spent about 4 hours now just chipping and cleaning epoxy off of things. Was SO not worth repairing, but I HAVE learned a lot.

Only problem it seems to have had was the idiot that poured epoxy on the minute hand to glue it on instead of replacing the hand nut. :-0

After lunch will polish the pivots, peg the holes, clean one more time and reassemble it. Or that’s the plan. Don’t see any worn holes.

Had one riveted wheel on the front plate with epoxy under it, so had to file the shaft, drive it out, clean the epoxy off and rerivet it.

Rinsed the cleaned pieces off and then put in alcohol to displace any remaining water, took them out one at a time and dried them off.

Came in and scrubbed the plates and assorted parts that needed it and put the ones that needed it back in the us for a bit longer.

Took the springs off the winding shafts. Cleaned the grease and gunk, and chipped the epoxy off, then lubed and reinstalled them.

Already had it disassembled enough to go into the ultrasonic. Got the bits started in there and moved on to the springs.

Woke up with a worse cold than I went to bed with. 🙁 After coffee got to working on the other Korean clock anyway.

Lamar Smith Can’t Hear You – Boing Boing http://t.co/z9wHVeiK Lamar Smith – Arsehat!

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By Dave, January 8, 2012 1:39 am

And someone keeps straightening it up, just (I feel sure) to help. Which causes it stop. Will take it down & bring it home to correct soon.

Wound the clocks and got them in beat. Need to adjust the pendulum on one of them as the clock has to be crooked for it to be in beat.

Very long day. Fair amount got done, and even sold a few things, so guess it was an overall success. Especially since the books balanced…

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By Dave, January 7, 2012 4:50 am

Need to call it a night. Got to get up and go at it in the earlier am than I am used to lately, so till later, folks… 😉

And it’s back up with no problems that I see. Nice!

And it says it’s done. Guess its time to reboot and see if it comes back up…

In the process of upgrading the new Debian system from Squeeze to Wheezy. Hoping it all works out.

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By Dave, January 6, 2012 11:59 pm

And now am really beat. Time to sit, unlax, and browse for a bit.

Assorted tools and items that rain could hurt are under cover. Hoping precautions not necessary but will be working at the mall tomorrow.

Both outside firewood piles that were uncovered are recovered as well as the pile of building materials. Rest of the table parts now inside.

Hoping the stuff I have got to get done is now done. Rest of wood unloaded from trailer. Back porch wood pile replenished.

Now to go out and see if I can get the other legs done. After coffee…

Stuff mostly done. Am much tireder now than before I went over to the other trailer, but got the shelving in the back of the truck.

Got one leg done. Kinda sorta. 3 more to go. And totally worn out with stuff I still gotta do before tomorrow. Guess I need to get at it…

Guess this is just one of those days. Gonna eat lunch and start on the table again…

Hammered the hole down a bit and drove it back in. Went to find the locktite. No joy. Neither bottle. 🙁 Found super glue, used that.

Went to put the 1/4 inch in the drill and the chuck key cross handle fell out. You know, on the new one I just put on the chain. 🙁

Found dowel centers in the 4th or 5th toolbox I looked in. Then the hunt for the drills was on. Found them after a short (5 minute) hunt.

The table was assembled with nails & glue originally, so not really sure why I’m even trying, but if it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing.

Now to find the bag of dowel centers so I can do all the other doweling that I’m gonna have to do to finish the reassembly correctly.

Find the drill bits. Locate the dowels. And the glue. And the clamps. Finally after about an hour get the leg doweled, and clamped down.

On the small diameter leg they won’t work. Grind the points to the same length and then resharpen. Find the center on both pieces.

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By Dave, January 5, 2012 1:49 am

Now to update and install some additional software.

Was also one of the fastest installs I have seen. I figured something had screwed up but seems to all be working fine. 😉

Got it (Debian LXDE) installed on a hard drive now and it’s actually not quite as fast (on first boot anyway) as on the usb drive.

Gmail doesn’t like Iceweasel. Course I am liking Google anything less and less, so piss on em…

Well that the FASTEST I have rebooted into a new OS on this or any machine!

Going to reboot into Debian Live on usb thumb drive and see how it looks. Hope to be back in a bit… 😉

Think I’ll tear into the other Korean mech next as it’s the same as the one I just finished.

Which makes 4 clocks ticking away in the room around me. Which leaves either 5 or 6 more to get going.

Got one of the 31 day Korean clocks ticking away after much filing & notching of teeth. Along with replacing 3 bushings & polishing pivots.

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By Dave, January 4, 2012 5:17 am

live http://t.co/D9uNwYa9 Gonna have to try this out. They have cd, dvd, and usb images. Cool!

Suspect I’ll have to disassemble it and do a through cleaning soon. Lots of crud around the pivots. Gonna let it run a while first though.

Got the Russian Submarine clock down from the wall upstairs, took it apart, oiled it, and got it running again. Tis ticking away nicely. 😉

Still under the weather. Been playing around with Puppy Linux most of the day. Tis extremely fast on this machine running from thumb drive.