What did YOU do today?

[scotts90ranger]

Did mow the leaves, then put in the rest of the screws for the wood shed walls, just need to screw on another 2x4 for thickness on one and drill the 12" through the two 4x6's and one 2x4 layer and put in either 3/8" or 1/2" threaded rod (haven't decided yet, have both, either will work fine, depends on what drill bit I find first that will drill deep enough) and that project will be DONE.

After that I finally replaced the clothes drier, only had the replacement for like 2 years, don't rush me... , they're both Roper's, got the replacement at an auction for like $15 and was hoping it would work, we'll give it a few cycles before I decide it works better, the old one would stall on startup like 1/3 the time, not sure if it's belt slip or something else... so far the replacement works

Also drug a folding table from the back shed to the shop to butcher the deer tomorrow night.

Next is to clean the shop more, got some reorganizing to do before the loft goes in the week after Chritstmas... would be simpler if I didn't plan on replacing the kitchen counters Thanksgiving weekend... only talked myself into that since the replacement countertops are in the way of the loft (hey, clearance prices on countertops drive sales... don't remember if it was last year or the year before that I got them...)

 

[broncc]

Track day in the Capri! It's nice to finally have a fast car. Miatas aren't passing me at every turn now



I only broke the car just shy of being unable to drive home so its a win.

The entire power steering system went into full melt down and now the rack is full of solidified plastic.

Posting here because no one wants to talk to me on the mustang forum

 

[JoshT]

Track day in the Capri! It's nice to finally have a fast car. Miatas aren't passing me at every turn now

View attachment 120054

I only broke the car just shy of being unable to drive home so its a win.

View attachment 120055 The entire power steering system went into full melt down and now the rack is full of solidified plastic.

Posting here because no one wants to talk to me on the mustang forum

Nice! I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Capri, but I'd prefer the older pre-fox platform version.

Yeah, those mustang forum guys can be snobby, elitist @$$h0!es. My experience is that they love being gatekeepers. If you aren't working on something with a mustang badge or building it the way they think you should, they have no interest in helping you. Doesn't matter how much parts your project and a mustang might have in common (in your case almost everything).

 

[MaicoDoug]

I wished you all Happy Veterans Day!!! Take a Vet out for a free meal. Thanks for your service!!!
If you get more than one together, all bets are off~

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I need to start collecting some of those, they make excellent target backers. I need to go with his competition though. Don't worry, nothing hate related there. It's just that considering that candidate dodged three "assassination" attempts, I feel like using his signs as a target backer might be setting myself up for failure on the target range.

Better yet. Find ones placed by companies that they have left for months on end.

A roofing company came through my neighborhood about a year ago and did a few repairs on a neighbor’s roof. They left 3 signs, two in public easements and one on the edge of a lot that was owned by the homeowner next to it but never developed. About three months go by and they still haven’t taken them down, and it’s starting to bug me. I ask my dad one night over dinner, “so, hypothetically speaking, you know those roofing signs that have been up for like 3 months? Hypothetically, would it be illegal for me to go and pull the ones on the easement down? All hypothetical of course.” My dad proceeds to give me the characteristic mischievous dad grin, and simply says “no, no it wouldn’t be illegal, hypothetically of course”.
Wouldn’t you know it, the next day on my way home from work the signs had been taken down. Who would have thought?

 

[racsan]

I love the huge 4’x8’ sheets, clip the zip ties & load ‘em up. It’s pretty heavy duty corregated stuff too.

 

[scotts90ranger]

After work tonight my buddy came over and helped me butcher the deer, went pretty smooth, the 3 of us were able to get it done in about 2 hours (we're not professionals...). Not sure but I think around 50 pounds of meat? A bunch of grind I'll take somewhere to make into pepperoni sticks (I'm too busy to try to figure that out on my own this year, maybe next time) then some roasts and tenderloins and back strap and the wife made a bunch of cubes for stew meat... the coyotes can get the rest... Lost some shoulder meat but could have been worse

 

[racsan]

Finally got all of my latest rock auto order in so I parked the ‘11 awd escape in the garage in preparation for the weekend of work on it, also brought into the garage the winter tires to put on. As usual they’ve lost air over the 7 months of storage. Im about done with 2 sets of tires anymore, not sure if its old age or what but Id just rather not bother with swapping sets, most winters anymore haven’t amounted to much. If its “that” bad out I doubt Id go anywhere. I dont even have a winter set for my ‘09 fwd, still have the hhr set & the original rims from the ‘11 awd I could swap over but in the event the ‘11 needs “to go”, Id rather not get rid of it with good tires but put the original wheels back on it with the nearly bald tires that still hold air.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Didn't have much in me tonight, took it off from doing most things... in I think July I went to an auction and got an old key duplicator, last week I finally bought some blanks, got a 50 pack of Schlague (sp) for like $17 since it's what the house takes and tonight I took a crack at it and made 5 keys (started with one then tested then made the other 4) and they all even work! Pretty quick and not bad for like $0.32 each plus the $5 the duplicator cost... maybe tomorrow I'll work up the nerve to try the dual sided $7 blanks for the F350 and '97 Ranger. Might pick up a 50 pack of Kwikset blanks next so I can have more for the shop. It's not something that will pay for itself super quick but I'm not deep in it either, not sure why I have a hard time talking myself into paying for keys to be made, been almost 11 years and only had one key for the F350 and 5 years with one key for the '97 Ranger...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Didn't have much in me tonight, took it off from doing most things... in I think July I went to an auction and got an old key duplicator, last week I finally bought some blanks, got a 50 pack of Schlague (sp) for like $17 since it's what the house takes and tonight I took a crack at it and made 5 keys (started with one then tested then made the other 4) and they all even work! Pretty quick and not bad for like $0.32 each plus the $5 the duplicator cost... maybe tomorrow I'll work up the nerve to try the dual sided $7 blanks for the F350 and '97 Ranger. Might pick up a 50 pack of Kwikset blanks next so I can have more for the shop. It's not something that will pay for itself super quick but I'm not deep in it either, not sure why I have a hard time talking myself into paying for keys to be made, been almost 11 years and only had one key for the F350 and 5 years with one key for the '97 Ranger...

I bought two key machines so far, one is the standard duplicator that used to be in like every hardware store years ago before these new automated machines. The other is a Foley-Belsaw “code” cutter that locksmithing courses use. It will duplicate but more importantly it has the ability to cut by code if you know what micrometer settings to use. I don’t really know what settings to use but I did buy three sets of coded keys; Schlage, Kwickset, and MasterLock M1. The sets of coded keys are each key blank is cut to all of a certain pin depth, like all #1 pins on one key, all #2 cuts on another, basically makes for a poor-man’s code so you can pin your own locks and cut a key to match. Wish I could get my hands on some code books. There’s some online resources but big $$$.

Most of my key blanks I get from either Key Kraze or Lockpicks.com, you can even find Ford logo blanks there and all sorts of stuff. I’ve done a few keys here and there for people so far, it isn’t something that really makes me any money but between that and Forscan it’s more than paid for itself with making chip keys for myself and my parents.

 

[Rick W]

Didn't have much in me tonight, took it off from doing most things... in I think July I went to an auction and got an old key duplicator, last week I finally bought some blanks, got a 50 pack of Schlague (sp) for like $17 since it's what the house takes and tonight I took a crack at it and made 5 keys (started with one then tested then made the other 4) and they all even work! Pretty quick and not bad for like $0.32 each plus the $5 the duplicator cost... maybe tomorrow I'll work up the nerve to try the dual sided $7 blanks for the F350 and '97 Ranger. Might pick up a 50 pack of Kwikset blanks next so I can have more for the shop. It's not something that will pay for itself super quick but I'm not deep in it either, not sure why I have a hard time talking myself into paying for keys to be made, been almost 11 years and only had one key for the F350 and 5 years with one key for the '97 Ranger...

i’ve traded countless cars over the years, and years ago I learned the hard way a couple times that if the car comes with one key, the next stop is going to the store and getting a back up key. The Smart locksmith I use now tells me to take the original key and put it up, and use the copy key, so you always have the original to make more copies.

And you probably know this, but on keys like the quickset, you line it up from the notch that’s up by the thumb grip. A lot of the double sided keys you line up by the tip of the key and not the notch if it has one.

in my last bit of advice, from when I worked in the hardware store 60 years ago, is tune in your head or maybe put a flag up or something like that so you always put the key and the blank in the right positions. I never did it, but a couple of the kids that worked in the hardware store would load them backwards, and take the only key to something or other and shave all the teeth off it to match the blank. Guy who owned the store didn’t like that much

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's what I'd figured out on the setup... pretty simple really at least so far. Looks like my machine is a Norton from looking up pictures, there's no tag on it...

 

[mikkelstuff]

Finished rebuilding one furnace run.

This is a really nice house - bought by the wife before we met up again. Nice house but horrible duct work design. Built on the cheap and easy.

I have slowly externally insulated the hot/cold air trunk line and all but one of the runs to each room. This last is a 40 foot long run of 6" round metal duct feeding off near the end of the main trunk. This heats/cools a second bedroom which the wife uses for an office.

As is, that length of 6" sheet metal run feeds very little air and all down to basement temperature after 40 feet of duct.

So I disassembled all, reinstalled with a substantial variable speed booster fan and covered with insulation - what a pain! Seemed there was a wire cable crossing under that duct about every 3 feet.

This duct work design should all have been built for balanced heating/cooling in the house with internally insulated duct work - but no, cheap and easy.

I did look for a replacement round duct made of insulating material but failed to find anything. I refuse to use that crap they sell in the big box stores made of thin plastic wrapped around a spiral wire. It is insulated but friends tell me it does not endure.

The outcome for this is improved and the wife is pleased (I put this off about 7 years). There is still too much heat loss in that 40 foot run to suit me but at least, with the blower fan, .there is warm air exiting the floor register.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Here's my key machine, old and simple...

Left side is key cutting, right side has a wire brush for deburring.

Tonight I stripped the old drier and found $0.15 so I'm rich! lol, not sure what's wrong with the thing, doesn't have a start capacitor but ~10% of the time or so it stalled on startup so there's a problem somewhere in the controller... It's sitting in a pile in the shop driveway at the moment so it's not a current worry...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Here's my key machine, old and simple...

View attachment 120141

Left side is key cutting, right side has a wire brush for deburring.

Tonight I stripped the old drier and found $0.15 so I'm rich! lol, not sure what's wrong with the thing, doesn't have a start capacitor but ~10% of the time or so it stalled on startup so there's a problem somewhere in the controller... It's sitting in a pile in the shop driveway at the moment so it's not a current worry...

Yeah, that’s a little different from mine but probably would be better for cutting some of the chip keys, some of them don’t really fit on either of my machines.

Couple other thoughts…

Get a set of alignment keys, they’re like a house key with one big V-notch in each (pair), they are used to true up the alignment between the cutting blade and the guide. Shouldn’t really need to use them except when changing a blade or something. But they make sure your cuts are proper spacing and cutting depth. I leave the machine unplugged when I’m setting/verifying that it’s set properly and just spin the blade by hand since you need to find the highest cutting tooth when you’re doing this because you’re dealing with relatively precise tolerances in a decent quality lock.

Also, look up Bosnian Bill and The Lockpicking Lawyer on YouTube , they both have really good videos on locksmithing stuff