What did you do today?

[dbhost]

The plastic indicator cap on my Central Pnuematic dessicant dryer / filter blew itself into little bits when I pressurized the system today. And Harbor Freight is discontinuing them. I have to go to Pasadena TX to get one. Bleh...

Took the grinder / wolverine jig off the sharpening station. Sanded the mount board / radiused the corners and top / bottom edge so it is all a "soft feel". I could have gone overboard, but I just sanded it over to ease the corners, didn't bother with the router.

Painted the bottom of the station halfway up the post. Allowing it to dry. Sized up the pieces for the cup / quenching bath holder , will make sawdust tomorrow after the paint dries so I don't get any sawdust in the paint...

I started coming up with a list of materials, and upgrades I want to do so I can work on laying out a budget.

I am honestly looking at around $500.00 in plywood, I want to build a cutoff / sheet goods cart, 2 flip top stands, finish the miter saw cabinet, lathe cabinet and drill press cabinet. Oh, and finish the build of the wide drum sander started oh so painfully long ago. The fun part is going to be setting up the table raise / lower mechanism...

Probably $130.00 in lighting.

ASSUMING my friend is still willing to offload his S&D 6" surplus from his project, probably $150.00 in misc parts to go from 5 with 2 4 inch branches, to a single 6" split to 2 then 4" right at or as close as possible to the blast gates... I believe I will at that point need mostly 45s, 6x4 bell reducers, and the 6" impeller intake flange.

Assuming no go on the donated surplus, I will have to go with 6" metal HVAC duct to keep it affordable, which means I am about $350.00 in for that...

And if I act now and grab one while they are on clearance from Harbor Freight, I need to get another dessicant dryer for the compressed air system since my existing one blew out. $40.00

I keep flogging on the drill press issue and I know I shouldn't.

I will also be spending some quality time with the sander tomorrow buzzing some surface rust on the band saw down before I slather on some primer and paint... This hunter green is going to get a workout!

[dbhost]

Finished the cup holder / quenching bath holder and got the grinder / sharpening station in paint. Ended up wearing a bit of that paint, need a shower now...

I need to go to Pasadena TX, but will check with my wife on if she wants to go with... The Webster TX Harbor Freight is out of the Dessicant Dryer assemblies. Harbor Freight is clearancing the Central Pnuematics off in favor of the new "Merlin" brand. I am not sure the Dessicant Dryer would mount up using the bridge pieces / o-ring like the Central Pneumatics, and honestly, other brands ARE more expensive even than the Merlin...

Anxious for the paint to dry...

[LCHIEN]

...
Anxious for the paint to dry...

Aren't we all.

Working on taxes, trying to see what year end moves I need to do, took care of wife's RMD.
Roth conversions! Are taxes going up (rhetorical! don't answer that, too political)? How long will I live?

Wife making me clean some stuff.

Screwing around in the shop with the drill press for fun - lookie:.

Started working on a table for the patio.

[twistsol]

Working on taxes, trying to see what year end moves I need to do, ...

Last year a client of mine dropped an $80k payment into my business account on December 31st for invoices due in January and February. Since I run my S-Corp on a cash basis, I had to pay personal income taxes on that for 2020 as well as pay out the vast majority of it as payroll over the next couple of months. Completely screwed over my tax plan for last year.

Tax planning is a continuous process, but I'll start working on the actual filing in February. For the record, I'm not a fan of taxes or tax season.

[dbhost]

So far, been trying to juggle some shop cleanup time with work, and spousal time demands. Managed to get the new filter / dessicant dryer installed with the regulator. The mount board managed to pull itself away from the wall in the process. Need to fix that now. Yay...

Decided to bypass the mount board, ran screws through the filters mount bracket straight into the wall stud at the corner. It's going nowhere...

I guess I shouldn't feel bad that the original failed after more than 10 years or use, frequent use at that. The O rings and plastics were just disintegrating... In years past in my youth, the units we used back then were aluminum and glass, / brass, o rings would fail on those as well, glass would break and the units were at that point, useless...

If I get 10 years out of this set, that gets me to within just a couple of years from retirement. Maybe I might want to upgrade then...

Slapped on a second coat on the thinly coated spots on the sharpening station. The issue of the grinder speed came up, well I brought it up. As a reminder, the original instructions that OneWay published when I bought the VariGrind jig, and my prior experience from back in the 80s all said to use full speed grinders. The recommendation for a low speed ginder was brought to my attention after I got the Ryobi 8". I do not regret the Ryobi, it does what i need it to. It's all in how you do it I think. I was taught very light touch, very light passes, and quick dunks in the cooling bath. No problem...

[dbhost]

Here is hoping it works. Ordered the Porter Cable bandsaw dust port that fits in the same area as the Central Machinery. Except the PC has a 2.5" port instead of the funky 1.25" port the HF came with stock. Ordered a generic 2.5" port for the lower blade shroud... And lastly, checked on drying paint...

So far a lazy saturday. Spending time cleaning up the shop as I can wiggle the room to do it. Weather is pretty foul though. I didn't want to be in the shop with lights flickering so I came back inside...

[dbhost]

Busy day, not much in the way of shop work. However I did manage to get the 2.5" port installed in the bandsaw lower wheel guard.

[LCHIEN]

Two hour lunch with former oil industry coworkers now mostly laid off although two just got hired back on.
Two hours commute to lunch, used to have to drive all that way every day Glad I am retired.
Cut two leg bases for my patio table. Slow going project!

ordered ham for Christmas day, ordered turkey for Christmas eve.
Buying sodas and presents for Christmas.
With out of town guests and a new grandchild being delivered Wednesday and having to watch the other grandkid siblings we will be busy.

And cleaning up per the bosses orders.

Jumped in my car today to go to lunch and it wouldn't start. Actually the doors wouldn't unlock. Thought the battery went dead. Took the other car. But upon inspection the entire key fob was dead, my other worked OK, it's not the fob battery. Ordered key fob off eBay but it will have to be programmed. I hear locksmiths have the ability and equipment to do it other than the dealer.

[dbhost]

I haven't used the fob for my Malibu is 5 years. Not even sure what drawer it is in now... Not worth it to me. Honestly I would love to go back to some old school features, like keys...

FWIW, we ordered our whole take & bake Christmas dinner from La Madeline. I don't want to fuss, just jam it in the oven and be done. Although I WILL have to do candied sweet potatoes since they didn't offer any...

Going to make a ham and some veggie dish for Christmas eve. I need ham chunks for our new years dishes... I should start defrosting now...

[mpc]

Often the key fobs fail because moisture collects in the membrane key switches. Popping them open, then undoing itty-bitty screws, lets you remove the circuit board. The switches will be on the other side. Dry them off, or clean with a little alcohol or TV tuner cleaner/electrical contact cleaner if you have some, and use a damp towel to clean the pads on the membrane. Let it all dry out, then re-assemble. The same thing happens to TV remote controls too.

For some cars, the fob isn't programmed individually to the car - instead both fobs and the car have to be "paired" simultaneously. This also makes any other old fobs incompatible with the car; if you loose a fob it'll be useless once you do the car+2 fob pairing cycle. I know my Genesis is this way. It can have only 2 fobs paired with it too; adding a 3rd is not possible. Other cars have a code for the fob that should have been included in the paperwork when you bought the car. The ones I have seen have been small tags zip-tied to one of the fobs that you're supposed to store in a safe place inside your house - not in the car.

mpc

[LCHIEN]

No chance for moisture to get in since the last use, and all the keys don't work. Not just one failure.

[dbhost]

Somehow got roped into filling out still more Christmas cards and wrapping presents. I thought I was done. The whole busy about this is making me understand Scrooge a bit more...

Did some updating of my shop upgrades wishlist on Amazon. Mostly notes for me... The top items are...

Double ended ballast bypass LED shop light tubes. Found some top rated ones on Amazon. Wiring is straight forward, and no need to change out the tombstones. Looks like a win all the ay around. A pack of 16 runs under $100.00 which would allow me to upgrade all of my fixtures )7 total) and have a couple spares...

6" Split ducting, misc fittings including reducers to 4" and 2.5". Plus the Active Air flange to replace the impeller inlet cover, so I don't have to carve out my OE impeller cover...

Wen variable speed 8" bench grinder. Cheaper than the Rikon, and to be honest, just looks better. Although I do wish it had the over the wheels mounted lights like the Ryobi... I figure if I upgrade to this, I can put the old gray wheels back on the Ryobi and put it back to metal shaping work instead of sharpening. Metal shaping is SUPER tough on the white oxide wheels...

Not many here are going to agree with this, but it suits my work and the way I work. Wahuda 10" benchtop jointer. I know people cringed when I said benchtop. I don't have room for a long bed floor model, and regularly produce smooth, FLAT boards up to 6' with properly rigged infeed / outfeed tables. And have you SEEN the prices on long bed spiral cutterhead 10" jointers? EEK!

Sadly Hitachi is no longer doing the woodworking tools thing, but instead gone to Metabo HPT. So Metabo HPT 12" double bevel compact sliding miter saw. Basically the Hitachi with slightly different colors...

I am sick and tired of the space the ladders have been taking up in the shop, so I removed the ceiling hooks for them. They will be stored out in the back / side yard under s tarp. And I am fishing around for stud locations. Planning on adding a direct stud attached mount board for the hose reel, between the overhead door tracks. And running the plumbing up there. LOTS of measuring has to happen as the piping needs to stay between the tracks so as to not interfere with the door...

More cleaning, more purging of junk from the shop....

[LCHIEN]

what is the amazon link to the LED tubes?

[twistsol]

My wife's younger sister got married this weekend. Relatives started arriving on Wednesday last week and the last of them left today. It was good seeing everyone since they're scattered from Norfolk to Anchorage and we don't get together very often. I have a month's supply of leftovers in the fridge and just need a nap.

[capncarl]

I rebuilt my large Big Green Egg today. Been putting it off for months. Their lifetime warranty replaces any damaged parts. What parts of a ceramic grill gets damages? Most all of the internal ceramic parts crack. The bottom barrel developed a hairline crack almost completely around it. The dealer said mine was only the second one he had seen that in, so he gave me a replacement. The fire box and fire ring had both cracked and broken into several parts, so they gave me replacements for them as well. A couple of hours and the shop crane and the Egg is like new again. I loaded it up with charcoal and set it on low heat and let it run until it runs out. I’ll put it through its paces the next 4 days with one overnight low and slow cook.

[dbhost]

Those BGEs are nice, but boy are they expensive! I am running a 30 year old Weber BB Kettle that I got off of Craigslist for $25.00 with all the accessories... The previous owner had decided to go with gas...

[Dedpedal]

Got board and made a bowl.

[LCHIEN]

Watching the GKs today. Parent sent over some breakfast food they like

But Engineer meets packaging designer. Result not good. Product packaging fail.

Trying to follow directions. Works well (NOT).

Big news: Daughter delivered a 5 lb. 9 oz daughter at 1 PM today both are doing OK but questionable if they will be here for Christmas. Watching her two other kids for a few days. Haven't figured out the mechanics of Santa Claus and informing him of the address change. I guess he is all knowing, though, just like he knows if you've been bad or good and exactly what you wanted..

[twistsol]

I still haven't started organizing my hardware cabinet and instead ordered the plywood for my office cabinets. It is being delivered tomorrow so I can get the sheets into the shop to acclimate while I'm in South Dakota for Christmas. I have next week off so I should be able to get a decent start on the cabinets.

My sheet goods storage in the shop is sagging badly after less than a year. I overloaded it, I knew I overloaded it, and I kept overloading it. Since the top of it was supposed to double as an assembly table, the nearly 3/4" sag over an 8'4" span is unacceptable and it will need to be rebuilt.

[twistsol]

The delivery of the plywood was cancelled and rescheduled. The third delivery update just pushed it out until the end of January. I guess I'll keep using the falling apart Ikea college furniture in my office that my kids didn't want in their nice new houses when they graduated.