Hey , I have been wheeling and dealing for 5 days now and I am full up. I used to be able to go all day everyday and know where everything that was for sale was laid . I found some building materials on the cheap for a friend of a friend and then got myself sucked into putting up a building for him ! All I wanted was machine parts and a bit of extra money for the build . Now there is 3 ton of lumber in my driveway waiting for me to build something with . I will build it here and then transport to the site . That way I can still be a dad and build at my leisure . I have already did the training for this gig so it is gravy time now . If they want me it will cost them . I am going to frame tomorrow , something I miss badly . Come the weekend I will sling the walls up and then rafters . I can see a roof by Sunday as long as they don't try and help me lol.

Hey , I am happy to tell you that I have thought, thought , rethought and then scrapped all those thoughts just so I could come up with new machine building plans ! I have spent an amazing amount of time just pondering different ideas and it is sitting well with me . I haven't designed anything like this toy in a long time and the cobwebs are slipping away from my mechano brain . I have come up with a design that will keep me happy for awhile and I won't outgrow it in two months . I have wanted a huge lathe since I was a boy and spun my first piece of lumber so I will take my time and think this out and weld once.

 

I have designed a multi shaft / multi center lathe with a transmission . The clutch / jackshaft will be a safety deadman style in case it gets away from the operator . I am currently heavier than the $ 30, 000 machine of my dreams and the turner is building this so it will possess all the qualities that I want . The neighbor asked me why I keep staring at the machine and haven't done much to it and I told him that I will think it through and then build it . I have built enough stuff that I know you can waste serious time and money plowing through something .

 

Ain't she sweet ?

 

Well I managed to pay for my machine with a single turning today and feel pretty good about the deal !! The guy that had these parts had seen my turning work and had made a deal yesterday on them . Today I thought I would sweeten the deal for him . If he liked a turning he could swap the parts for a turning . He made a cell phone call to the boss and asked her to come over . She came and flipped out when she seen them and then proceeded to pick something . I told her to take her time but she was so hyped that I thought she would faint when I told her that I was keeping her pieces and she couldn't have them until I finished them .  . She chose the water pitcher / basin set and then didn't want to part with them . I told her to take "Nova" home and we would swap when I finished her set . So I am ecstatic , she is delirious and redecorating her house around her new find and Joe is content . My new machine is home and I am wondering if maybe she is too fat ...nah .

 

 

Ok kids this am I started to harvest all the goodies that I will need for my new lathe and my friend sweetened the pot even more . I can now have more than I originally wanted and that means 10 x what I actually need . So now I will build a monster !! These pics are a glimpse of how monstrous she will be and the little parts are  pieces that I use on my current machine . The main shaft has a drum that wieghs 600 lbs on it and I think I will keep it assembled . The drum is covered with 1/2 inch  of rubber and I think if I do it properly it will act as a shock absorber and will calm the logs that are spinning on it . Once it is done I will endanger myself and neighbors by using it all day everyday !!! Oh baby I haven't been this excited for a long time. I am going to escape shortly to cut the drums up to make my new faceplates for this machine . This just makes sense because these drums were made to fit the shafts . The big sprocket in the pics is my big face plate and it wieghs 40 lbs with it's hub . Cool ! See why I am so excited ? Now all I have to do is pay for it ......

 

 Current faceplate next to new faceplate

 

 

 New shafts next to current size and these are the little ones!!!

 

 

 

Hey , I realized today that is has been a full year today that I have been pecking at a keyboard throwing my version of what actually happened out there . All the highs and lows that come with this Space thing . The Mentals , Scuzbuckets , turning , being a Dad and mechano . Its all here or most of it . Thanks to all my dedicated readers out there and I appreciate the support for this site. I wish more of my readers would leave comments (you know who you are ) because I have noticed that I have way more readers than comments . Anyways I will try to keep it real and entertaining for you and thanks for stopping by .

Hey these were done today and this new approach is awesome ! I think if I were selling these pieces I would offer this finish as an option . Only the odd one will be done like this because of the cost . This finish is crystal clear and hard as hell . This wood is extremely wormy and therefore bumpy but this urethane chased the holes effectively and laid down smooth .

 

Hey , I have been thinking/scheming/planning a new machine for a long time and the sun broke cover on it  this am . I was at  friends shop and one of my pair of eyes came in with good news . It seems a local company installed a liquid nitrogen furnace/finishing machine in their plant and never used it . Something about not being able to get permits and the motors never turned a single revolution . So they scrapped it ! After investing 1.5 million dollars in this brand new machine they sold it for $5000 as scrap . My friend bought the machine and is parting it out . He has already sold $20,000 worth of parts off her and there is still 60 ft or so to go . My new lathe is in there ! All I have to do is get it off . There is more flange bearings , 80 schedule sprockets and pillow blocks than you can shake a stick at !!! I hit the jackpot so now my machine is going to be biggest , fattest from the start. Oh ya enough brand new painted thick wall steel to drive even the sanest Toad crazy !!I may disappear from the horizon for awhile and that is what I will be doing . I am going to build my new girl so fat it will be retarded and I would like to thank industry and the pointy heads for getting my parts for me . Oh ya baby!!!!

Hey ,  I started finishing this piece with polyurethane and then this am I phoned a friend at the body shop. I ended up bringing two pieces in to experiment with finishes and they laid down some clear coat . It looked fantastic when first sprayed and we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it takes . Automotive finishes dry far harder than furniture finishes and the gloss is way brighter . If this works I will be changing the way I finish my turnings . It will be three times more expensive than what I am currently doing but the odd really nice piece can be done in this matter.

 

This pic is in between coats of poly and this piece absorbed alot of finish.

 

 

This is after one coat of clear and the camera just doesn't get it .

 

 

 

 

Hey , good day . I started off this am completely childless and with no plans . Sunday morn with no kids , well that hasn't happened in awhile so it caught me off guard with nothing to do . So I cleaned , ya cleaned and I infected my wife with the cleaning bug . Well sort of , she cleaned the bathroom and then bailed on me . She "had " to go to church . Ok now what the floors have been swept and mopped , the laundry thrown down the stairs , what am I going to do ? I know , knock on the neighbors door and ask why he hasn't started fixing his car when it is getting past 8:30 in the morning . The neighbor and I managed to break only one bolt clean off ripping the front end off his car and he then got the task of cleaning the rust from the parts before we put it  all back together .

 

I then got the urge to do something that I have been avoiding all winter . You see I have a dog and this dog is large and eats alot . I mean alot and this dog is outside all day or as long a time as he can schmooze from us . He does stuff outside that most dogs do and I have been fortunate that he doesn't do these things indoors. I started off by donning disposable gloves and grabbing four grocery bags and a milkbag . The milkbag is thick and it is used to grab the stuff and fire it in the grocery bags . I filled all the bags I had and then kicked on my sidedoor with heel of my shoe to get more . An hour later I was done , no there is still stuff on the ground I was done picking it up for the day . I managed to fill 8 grocery bags and then put them in two doubled up garbage bags . I heaved it on the trailer and a conservative estimate would be 100 lbs . Now who out there can honestly beat that for an outing ? And no you cannot borrow my dog in order to best me ......