Its been over 110F every single day for about 3 weeks now. I tried to
work outside on an old boat a couple days, but even under a popup shade
it was pretty miserable. My wife said it was 118F yesterday. Walking
out to the mail box for my latest prize scored off eBay has been a real chore. Not worth it for the bills and junk mail.
I don't know exactly what is going on in the back shop. For some reason
its not as hot as I remember it in past years with similar outside temperatures. The office and little machine room are air conditioned,
but the back shop where the bigger lathe mills are is not. Oh, its hot
back there, but not as stifflingly miserable as I recall.
Tomorrow is my day off this week, so I'm going to try and fit a new sole
out of a sheet of aluminum into "Another Boat Project That May Never Get Finished" in the morning, and work on a machine in the shop in the
afternoon.
I have not yet decided which machine. You guys can vote on which one if
you like. I may ignore you like a true politician, but you can vote
anyway.
1. I've got a 3 phase Taiwanese turret lathe I'd like to get running.
Phase converter (VFD), dirt (stiff action), and some new cover panels.
This one may be the easiest to get into running trim. Its also setting
on dollies and its small enough I could roll it inside the little
machine room where its cooler to work on... after I sweep a path through
the chips.
2. Hurco KMB1 with a catastrophic ball screw failure. Went from .001 baklash to .030-.040 backlash in the middle of a job. This would
probably be the most profitable to fix, and most expensive since I
probably have to buy new screws for two axis. Maybe I'll get lucky and
its only a bearing failure.
3. CNC bridge mill/router build... this one will be the most work
since I have barely started on it. Its also likely to be the most fun
(in the end) since I plan to use it for mostly odd projects like license plate plaques (for states that only require one plate in the back)
awards plaques, machined labels for stuff in the shop (looks cooler than
it sounds), signs and other things that are not part of my regular
product line.
Alternatively I have started a 1911 build from a partially machined
frame. The plan is NOT to build another 45ACP. The plan is to build a 1911-22 using a German Sport Gun .22 slide assembly and magazine. I
already tested the parts on a very good replica 1911A1 (preban Norinco)
and it seems to work reliably with good .22 ammo. The frame is 7075 aluminum so it should make a nice relatively light weight .22 plinker. I
have been playing with the fit so far (no machining yet), and I think it
can be fitted up and made functional without machining out the barrel
seat. This would reduce the likelihood of some future heir trying to convert into a 45ACP, although some people do build 45s on this frame. I might work on that.
On 7/26/2023 10:25 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
Its been over 110F every single day for about 3 weeks now. I tried to
work outside on an old boat a couple days, but even under a popup
shade it was pretty miserable. My wife said it was 118F yesterday.
Walking out to the mail box for my latest prize scored off eBay has
been a real chore. Not worth it for the bills and junk mail.
I don't know exactly what is going on in the back shop. For some
reason its not as hot as I remember it in past years with similar
outside temperatures. The office and little machine room are air
conditioned, but the back shop where the bigger lathe mills are is
not. Oh, its hot back there, but not as stifflingly miserable as I
recall.
Tomorrow is my day off this week, so I'm going to try and fit a new
sole out of a sheet of aluminum into "Another Boat Project That May
Never Get Finished" in the morning, and work on a machine in the shop
in the afternoon.
I have not yet decided which machine. You guys can vote on which one
if you like. I may ignore you like a true politician, but you can
vote anyway.
1. I've got a 3 phase Taiwanese turret lathe I'd like to get running.
Phase converter (VFD), dirt (stiff action), and some new cover panels.
This one may be the easiest to get into running trim. Its also setting
on dollies and its small enough I could roll it inside the little
machine room where its cooler to work on... after I sweep a path
through the chips.
2. Hurco KMB1 with a catastrophic ball screw failure. Went from .001
baklash to .030-.040 backlash in the middle of a job. This would
probably be the most profitable to fix, and most expensive since I
probably have to buy new screws for two axis. Maybe I'll get lucky and
its only a bearing failure.
3. CNC bridge mill/router build... this one will be the most work
since I have barely started on it. Its also likely to be the most fun
(in the end) since I plan to use it for mostly odd projects like
license plate plaques (for states that only require one plate in the
back) awards plaques, machined labels for stuff in the shop (looks
cooler than it sounds), signs and other things that are not part of my
regular product line.
Alternatively I have started a 1911 build from a partially machined
frame. The plan is NOT to build another 45ACP. The plan is to build
a 1911-22 using a German Sport Gun .22 slide assembly and magazine. I
already tested the parts on a very good replica 1911A1 (preban
Norinco) and it seems to work reliably with good .22 ammo. The frame
is 7075 aluminum so it should make a nice relatively light weight .22
plinker. I have been playing with the fit so far (no machining yet),
and I think it can be fitted up and made functional without machining
out the barrel seat. This would reduce the likelihood of some future
heir trying to convert into a 45ACP, although some people do build 45s
on this frame. I might work on that.
I probably won't work on the switches after braking the dash on the 2007 Silverado. Those parts have not arrived yet.
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9rkup$1i3t0$1@dont-email.me...
I have not yet decided which machine. You guys can vote on which one if
you like. I may ignore you like a true politician, but you can vote
anyway.
---------------------------
I'd go with the Hurco if you can quickly find the problem and order the parts. When I was a project's manager as well as its builder I pushed as
much as possible outside the critical path that way. Also I bought what
I could and built only the parts that would require too much explanation
to send out.
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9shma$1l2dk$1@dont-email.me... Quickly... That is unknown, and its not an easy machine to get the ball
nuts and screws out of. I probably can't afford OEM replacements
anyway. I figured to machine my own screws to fit if it needs new
screws. I've had the Y out before, and when I got all the garbage out
of the ball nut the backlash increased. Oops. LOL. I have an aftermarket screw/nut for it already, but I also want to replace the end bearings and change it to a direct drive instead of a belt drive. The biggest thing is its in the not air conditioned part of the shop, and
its way to big to move into the small machine room.
Bob La Londe
--------------------------
https://gtispindle.com/ball-screw-repair/
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9u3fh$1tkh9$1@dont-email.me...
My plans have changed for my day off...
----------------------
At the custom test equipment company "Oh, by the way.." was the code
phrase for changes requested after the contract had been signed.
Apparently it's common in the auto industry to keep changing new designs
and we had to keep up. I learned not to do anything I couldn't undo.
On 7/27/2023 9:41 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9u3fh$1tkh9$1@dont-email.me...
My plans have changed for my day off...
----------------------
At the custom test equipment company "Oh, by the way.." was the code
phrase for changes requested after the contract had been signed.
Apparently it's common in the auto industry to keep changing new
designs and we had to keep up. I learned not to do anything I couldn't
undo.
"Oh, by the way," is often a part of a negotiating tactic to get more
work for free. I used to run into it all the time in contracting. What
I would do when writing estimates is take notes as I went, list the work included, and write down the price all right in front of the customer.
Then when they added on more things I put them below the price and
billed them time and materials for the extras. When they would throw a temper tantrum I'd show them my notebook. "See, this is what we agreed
to at this price. You saw me write it down. All this is extra stuff
you asked for after agreeing with my price for 'this' work." After a
while I wrote full contracts for everything. Even little T&M jobs.
General contractors will use a different one, "We need you to help us
out on this one, and we don't have it in the budget." They wouldn't
even have an excuse for why they didn't budget for the extra free work
they were asking for. I quit working for general contractors and my
income increased dramatically.
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9u3fh$1tkh9$1@dont-email.me...
My plans have changed for my day off...
----------------------
At the custom test equipment company "Oh, by the way.." was the code phrase >for changes requested after the contract had been signed. Apparently it's >common in the auto industry to keep changing new designs and we had to keep >up. I learned not to do anything I couldn't undo.
On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:41:15 -0400
"Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:u9u3fh$1tkh9$1@dont-email.me...
My plans have changed for my day off...
----------------------
At the custom test equipment company "Oh, by the way.." was the code phrase >> for changes requested after the contract had been signed. Apparently it's
common in the auto industry to keep changing new designs and we had to keep >> up. I learned not to do anything I couldn't undo.
Mine was "while you are here". Used to repair two-way radios...
Customer Acme would request a service call for vehicles 24 and 32
not working. So I get dispatched to work on the two vehicles and maybe
stop at a couple other customers in the area. Check with the dispatcher
when I arrive and they say "Oh yeah and while you are here would you
take a look at 12, 22 and maybe 36 if it's in the yard" AND while your working on these a driver comes up and asks if you're here to check 9, because it doesn't work right 🙄
I've been the business owner most of my career(s), so I didn't mind the >extras if they paid for it. I quit working for those who would expect
me to just throw in some extra work. One of the things I did a lot was >change out alarm batteries. I would ask if there was anything else they
need done, and tell them if it was just a battery swap I just charged
for the battery, but if I have to look at a device or take a tool out of
my pouch its a full service call plus the battery. That way, on site if
they hit me with an, "oh by the way," they knew I was charging for it.
It was honest, and they actually got a pretty good deal if all they
really needed was a lead slap.
On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 10:28:31 -0700
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
<snip>
I've been the business owner most of my career(s), so I didn't mind the
extras if they paid for it. I quit working for those who would expect
me to just throw in some extra work. One of the things I did a lot was
change out alarm batteries. I would ask if there was anything else they
need done, and tell them if it was just a battery swap I just charged
for the battery, but if I have to look at a device or take a tool out of
my pouch its a full service call plus the battery. That way, on site if
they hit me with an, "oh by the way," they knew I was charging for it.
It was honest, and they actually got a pretty good deal if all they
really needed was a lead slap.
Yeah, the difference of being the "owner" rather than the pissant (me)
doing the work. It was a contract customer, so they paid a monthly fee
for us to maintain their system. It just messed with your day. Spend
too much unallocated time on their stuff and still have to visit the
other customers you promised see in the area. If they would have been
upfront with how many vehicles needed work you could have planned the
day accordingly. Just got used to it. Planned on them being jerks...
Yeah, some customers would take advantage of service contracts, or in
some cases be wreckless and careless because damage didn't cost them >anything. When a tire shop chops through an armored cable with a heavy
bead breaker its time to fire that customer. A few times I walked in to >talk to see a manager and explain that I don't cover damage caused by >negligence and abuse. One tried to tell me they would get somebody else >then.
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