What did you do today?

[dbhost]

AC Compressor, Expansion valve and receiver / dryer showed up. Have to run into Houston on Saturday so will likely tear into it Sunday or Monday.

Doing some online desk chair shopping since the options for a guy my size in store are next to none, or are funky gaming chairs that, well... no.

My current desk chair is sized for someone that has a LOT longer thighs than I do, and after a while it gets uncomfortable... And since I WFH, I might as well be as comfortable as I can so a literal pain in the butt doesn't distract my work...

Kreg bandsaw fence is out for delivery within the next 2.5 hours...

[dbhost]

Installed the Kreg fence on the Central Machinery band saw. I should have tapped the bolt holes 1/4-28 but thought 1/4-20 was right. I need some bolts to replace phillips head screws now... Going to try to find black oxide bolts... Thanks for the suggestion of the Kreg fence Loring. This thing is solid as a rock.

[twistsol]

Installed the sod we got from the neighbor at my daughter's house. Then came home and hooked the leaf blower up to the dryer vent from the inside to blow a birds nest out. Ended up with a mass of grass, twigs and paper that didn't quite make it all the way out so I still had to get on the ladder since the laundry room is on the second floor. The dryer is working much better now.

[dbhost]

twistsol I think I need to get a dryer duct cleaning service out here. I can't manage roof heights any more and I am pretty sure the ducts are getting funky as my duct auger just doesn't go that far...

For those following, I ran to Harbor Freight after work and snagged a simple assortment of nuts, bolts and washers. All of the #10, 1/4 and 5/16" stuff I have been running out of. I figure it was cheaper this way than buying piecemal at Home Depot. Honestly I probably ought to see about just ordering a box of say 60pc of each of my common sizes and stowing them in my small aprts bins.

Yanked the phillips screws out of the bandsaw fence rail and swapped in proper bolts that actually fit...

Set the fence at 3/4". took a hunk o 2x4 sideways through it, and sure enough, 3/4 it was, tracked straight, no wander. The fence should do what I want...

[jussi]

Started installation of Byrd head on my planer. Hardest part was getting the pulley and bearings on and off. Instructions said the pulley should slide right off but that wasn’t the case for me. Had to borrow a puller from auto store. Also since I don’t have a press getting the new bearings on resulted in me putting the cutter head in a freezer. Unfortunately I seemed to have lost a bolt so I couldn’t quite finish the install. Will get a replacement bolt later this week.

[dbhost]

Nice upgrade to an already very nice machine!

[twistsol]

Over the weekend, took the the truck up north (Superior, WI) and son-in-law and I replaced the front deck on my daughter's house while my wife and daughter painted the master bathroom

The four of us pried, levered, and lifted a 4'x5'x3" slab of concrete with and packed sand under it to re-level it. That was a couple of hours of trial and error with different levers and fulcrums. Eventually an 8' 2x6 with a large retaining wall block was able to lift the front edge. We packed in sand and then lifted the back edge and did it again. Finally levered it back into position with about a 1/2" slope away from the house. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to settle back into the clay. Then built stairs to the newly leveled slab

Finally replaced a bunch of boards on the back deck and built stair rails (this deck never had rails on the stairs). Once the pressure treated wool dries out a bit, they're ready to strip the painted areas of the deck and refinish it.

All of this was done in the rain 40-45 degree temps. Once we got to the top of the hill in Duluth and away from Lake Superior the temps rose to the low 80's

[dbhost]

Need to build a screen for the back bedroom / 2nd home office so we can open that window and let the room air out. I need to spray on some texture in there to fix some fixes, and my wife HATES the chemical smell of the aerosol texturizer, and I am not wanting to mix up a hopper full of texture and drag the gun ahd hoses through the house... The window frame where the screen used to be has some rock hard puttiy in the screen track like the former homehowner might have tried to cement the screen for that bedroom in place. FWIW, that was when the former owners had this house, the bedroom of a rather trouble prone teenage boy, so yeah, odds are they were trying to keep him inside...

As soon as the texture is done, and dry on the walls, touch up the paint where the Texture is being fixed, and then I get to tear the desk in my office apart, move it into her office, assemble the desk in there, putting her computer up in place, AND build my new desk, putting my computer in place, including the dual monitor stand configuration. This will have to be a weekend job for sure, but she wants me to fix the AC in teh car as well. SO at some point this week I need to pick up the car, put it on jack stands, and then pull the AC clutch connector and meter out the clutch pack. IF it is not open, then I need to meter the wires back to the relay panel.

Simply put, the AC compressor clutch is not cycling on, Not even enough to get a reading of pressures. So low side high, high side low, Jumping the relay did not give me the click I expected so now I see if it is the clutch. Which is squirrely, the part number AC delco says works with my car, Amazon does NOT agree, and next to NO local parts houses carry the clutch, just entire compressor / clutch assemblies. If I can avoid pulling the compressor itself I will because, ugh... For starters the freon recovery is a pain...

[dbhost]

Got t6he miter saw bench extensions to the point of adding hte tapes. Yes I REALLY need to clean the bench off. Ignore the mess please....



I have 1 full, and 2 partial sticks of T track left, plus some miter slot material and way too many T bolts and star knobs And yes, that is all scrap that went into this thing aside from the hardware, and the screws even are reclaimed..

[capncarl]

db, sooooo many times I’ve seen people replace ac clutches, and various other parts that didn’t need replacing. Not saying that clutches don’t go out, but usually the problem is a tiny Freon leak somewhere and the low pressure switch is just doing it’s job and keeping the clutch from activating.
Figure out how to jump out the clutch and see if it works before starting replacing parts.
I would venture to say that 90% of automotive ac problems are actually low Freon. Ac shops make a good living replacing parts that don’t need replacing.
Right now I have a F150 and a Miata with slow Freon leaks. The truck will go 2 yrs before I have to vacuum it out and replace the Freon and the Miata is leaking a little faster and I get about 14 months out of it. I could repair them If I put my mind to it, but it’s only about an hour each to recharge the systems so I’m not in a hurry to get that dirty and involved.

[dbhost]

That is why I am testing the clutch. Not yanking and just stabbing a new one in. My worry is honestly like I said, low side high, high side low, and the worst part, my old textbooks with the AC troubleshooting guides isn't findable any more. I think my wife donated them.... Mind you I went to tech school close to 35 years ago now,a nd changed careers / went back to college after that, so a LOT of that knowledge fell out of my ears easily 25 years ago... Use it or lose it sort of thing, but I found the Nissens chart showing the Low side too high, high side too low scenario and they agree, low freon charge. I am just skittish about adding to the system for fear of overcharging. No guts no glory right?

[capncarl]

Over the years I’ve gotten sloppy with my ac servicing, or maybe I’ve hung around with the wrong people. For the last 10 years or so I haven’t referred to any of my ac reference books unless it was looking for parts placement. I refer to the factory ac placard under the auto hood, suck out the Freon and dump in what the factory says its capacity is. If the system is empty I’ll add a can of Freon oil. If the sys is just low and not cooling properly, or just low enough to trip the pressure switch I’ll just dump a can of Freon in the sys. It usually requires a bucket of warm water to force the Freon in. So far I’ve found that the ac has to be pretty low to trip the pressure switch so it will take a full can. Gauges look good, not dangerous high or low. Like I said, it just works.

If it didn’t work every auto parts counter would not sell the full it up yourself Freon/adapters kit.

[dbhost]

I think what is bugging me is that I got one of those cans with just the adapter / hose / low side gauge and I can't see what the high side is doing when I add to the system. And yes a bucket of warm water will help the gas expand and enter the system. Oddly enough I have not even thought to need to top up / service my auto AC for years, it just works. Typically unless it is leaking, or you have a catastrophic failure, there is little that goes wrong with these...

Gonna jam some R134a into it and see what the pressures do. Hoping the clutch engages, brings low side down and high side up... If I can empty this can and still need to adjust I have a manifold gauge set and a few cans without that stupid gauge top.

[dbhost]

Ran the portable AC in the shop yesterday, and discovered that since the old blanket insulation that I used to have (Literally my ex wifes old fleece blanket she left when, well she left....) is lo noger there, not sure where it went, the hot discharge side hose is just basically radiating heat back into the shop making for a not very efficient cooling. I need to find a way to insulate that 5" hose...

[leehljp]

I did this last week, Outside in the yard when the temps were in the mid 70's, but I am just now posting it. I needed a table heavy enough to use a wood vise and a shop vise. I have three of those plastic tables that fold up and put up quick but they are not steady or heavy. I have not had a good solid work table since I have been back from Japan (Dec. 2010.) The one below is not super heavy but it weighs in at over 150 lbs and will be near 200 by the time I finish it with a couple of shelves. With the two vises, one on each end, it will be close to 225 to 250.

The wood is from yellow pine 2x4s that are at least 50 years old and fairly dense and heavy, as compared to soft pine in HD and Lowes. Put together with screws and TightBond premium glue.

[capncarl]

I do hope that you intend to move the workbench in your shop, less you will become a sweaty snack for hungry mosquitoes!

[leehljp]

It is going into the shop this weekend, probably Friday. I have some lift rollers to put on them once I get it in there.

[dbhost]

Juiced up the AC in the Malibu today. High side high now, as well as the low side. Clutch DOES kick in, but followed by a noise that sounds a bit like a Star Trek The Next Generation warp core....

I've got the compressor, kit complete with O rings, orafice tube etc... Waiting on a condenser. Need to figure out at home DIY line flush...

[capncarl]

Dura flush. I think I saw small bottles at Autozone. We use to use mineral spirits followed up by Acetone. The “experts” warned it would eat up the rubber o rings. It probably did, but it must have been long after the auto was in the junk yard.
if it is as hot in League City as it is in south Ga. A broken AC will get you motivated to get it repaired quickly!

[dbhost]

Condenser is not available locally, at least for a price I want to pay, and yes I REALLY need to get this fixed now. I have the condenser on order but it won't be here until late next week stupid shipping...

[capncarl]

I spent most of the morning trying to pull out nails from some old growth pine removed from some old peanut warehouses. Some of the 1 1/2” white painted siding boards had 3-4 nails of various sizes per foot. The large nails were no problem but they must have used this wall to hang signs or tarps. The small nails were the problem, especially the old fluted drywall nails. Since pulling nails before I plane any boards I recently purchase a Lee Valley Nail Hunter nail puller. So far it seems like a good tool for the job, and is pretty stout with the ability to pound the pulled under the nail. but nothing makes pulling a nail that has been pounded below the surface of the wood easy. This is not an endorsement of Lee Valley, just a tool I purchased from them online.

[dbhost]

Realized my wife has put to use the old end table that I stashed in the attic from my old 1980s living room set (you know hte one, big poofy cusions on a frame of 2x4s stained walnut sort of ...)

I need a table roughly 24x20 not sure how high, but stable / steady for the 3D printer to live on.

I need to maniac clean the shop but don't have time to do it right now. And once done, I am going to have to dive into building an acceptable table for the printer... Nothing fancy, but I think since I have th eKreg fence on it, and it is cutting arrow straight, using the bandsaw for some M&T joints> Good part, The tables / tlip stops are on the miter saw and should make the process easy and accurate.

The bad side. I am out of scrap 2x4 stock, and honestly want to build with that. Will probably go to my local McCoys as they turn over their lumber stock a LOT slower than Home Depot and tend to not sell the junk wood that HD does... I know still lower grade than saw white oak, but I am working with pine furnishings already anyway...