Hurrying in the shop

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2893
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    Hurrying in the shop

    Yesterday I was trying to get about 150' of trim sanded and hoped to get at least one coat of poly on it before leaving for the airport. So instead of spraying a piece, moving it to the drying rack and doing the next one, I thought I'd "Save some time." I set up a couple of banquet tables and threw canvas drop cloths over them as well as my bench layed everyting out and started to spray. The first piece went fine, on the second, my gun was dripping and I wasn't getting coverage. This is what the next hour looked like:
    • The gun must be clogged so I cleaned the tip and tried again
    • I must not have thinned the the poly correctly although I thin it very little if at all, so I drained the gun, added some thinner and tried again.
    • Now I'm seeing poly backed up in the pressure tube so I replace that
    • Still nothing so I drain the gun, take the whole thing apart, clean everything and reassemble, still nothing.
    • I'm now out of time so I'm just going to run some thinner through it and deal with it next weekend, except that the thinner isn't coming through either.
    • I pull the hose from the turbine and I have almost no air flow and immediately think I have a problem with my turbine.
    • I disconnect the hose at the turbine and plenty of air coming out of the turbine, just not making through the hose.
    • Look at the hose and find that the leg of one of the tables is sitting squarely on the hose and pinching it.
    • Lifted the table, kicked the hose, cleaned the gun and went to the airport.


    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.
  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8429
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    #2
    I hate that when that happens!

    In the last two or three years, in situations like this, I have gotten to the point that after checking the immediate end problem, I instinctively look for the whole and then go down to the details. I have done what you did toooooo many times.

    Air equipment, check the end nozzle; look back at the air compressor, look at hoses, look back at the end problem - usually in that order.
    Electric: check the switch, look back at the outlet to see if plugged in, look up at lights to see if they are on, check the motor - usually in that order.

    I have lost so much time doing stuff like that until out of habit - I have finally changed my approach to problem solving.
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

    Comment

    • capncarl
      Veteran Member
      • Jan 2007
      • 3564
      • Leesburg Georgia USA
      • SawStop CTS

      #3
      Don’t you just hate it when that happens! One big paint job I had set up outside under the shed, the siphon gun started acting up and I did like you described and fiddled away an hour or so of daylight. When I went back into the shop for some tools my compressor was still running like crazy and smelling like it was burning up. Short story, it had blown a head gasket and could not keep up with the demand and nearly cooked itself. All my trouble was with the lack of air, not the gun or the fluid mix.
      Last edited by capncarl; 11-13-2017, 11:07 PM. Reason: Auto correct was wrong

      Comment

      • JimD
        Veteran Member
        • Feb 2003
        • 4187
        • Lexington, SC.

        #4
        Getting into a hurry, usually unnecessarily, is one of my trouble signs. Nothing good happens for me when I start thinking that way. Even worse is hurrying when tired. That, for me, has led to stiches (although not for >4 years). I am over the hump on my home improvement stuff, for the moment so I don't need to press. I need to get a bunch of crown up but stopped last night after one short piece. It was dark and cold and I just didn't want to be doing it so I stopped. I hope to finish at least the kitchen stuff tomorrow.

        Comment

        • cwsmith
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 2737
          • NY Southern Tier, USA.
          • BT3100-1

          #5
          I don't hurry in the shop! Plain and simple, that can lead to disasters, like lost fingers, damaged tools, and worse, somebody else hurt.

          I've had a couple of close calls over the decades and while I've learned from other people's mistakes (like seeing my father loose two fingers to a table saw when I was fourteen), it seems that every now and then I get in a hurry or am tired, or both and that always leads to a mistake. Fortunately, I think I have and Angel... a few sobering misses, but mostly just lost time or damaged projects.

          Thankfully,

          CWS
          Think it Through Before You Do!

          Comment

          Working...