What did YOU do today?

[2011Supercab]

Do they make a stainless self tapping screw?

How about self drilling and tapping, a little expensive, but a time saver

12-24 x 2-1/2 in. Trailer-Deck Screws - 410 SS, Square, Nibs - Qty:100

12-24 x 2-1/2 in. Trailer-Deck 410 Stainless Steel, Square - Qty:100 Use this screw has wings, used for securing wood, plywood and fiber cement to steel

www.mcfeelys.com

 

[JohnnyO]

Do they make a stainless self tapping screw? I thought stainless would be too soft. But I guess there are all sorts of alloys. I'll take a look, thanks for the suggestion.

They make galvanized decking screws, they look like coated drywall screws. For a car hauler I'd use galvanized thru-bolts though. Unpainted plywood doesn't weather real well.

 

[sgtsandman]

View attachment 132065
So… those metal cutting circular saw blades…

Having that chip exhaust thing on the saw was really nice too, I could aim most of the debris away from me. Worked really slick, right up until I tried a few plunge cuts. The third plunge cut killed it. Well, it cuts still, but not well at all. I managed to force it through the last few cuts. Gonna buy another blade though and just remember that plunge cuts need to be done with a death wheel.

I didn't know we has Antifa members here.

 

[sgtsandman]

Went and taught a fellow gulf war veteran how to submit claims to the va for medical issues from his service time.

I really like helping my fellow vets with doing this. Its not that they arent capable of figuring it out but most people are scared of messing it up and getting denied help. I have done a bunch of claims for myself and others so i am really comfortable navigating the website.

I also learn things about my time while doing it. Helping them remember things and showing them how to write their issues out sometimes brings memories to me that i have covered/forgotten because of how stressful they were. Today, helping my buddy from work, made me really anxious because i remembered things i have blocked for 30+ years about training events and schools where things happened. I left his house with my chest feeling very tight and breathing very shallowly. I still feel on edge, now, and its been over an hour since i left.

I am thankful to have learned what i have and to be able to share this with guys like me, who got out before they gave the va training while outprocessing. We kind of learn on our own, it seems, so getting help for mental and physical issues sometimes never happens which leads to guys committing suicide or becoming hooked on drugs and alcohol.

Its definitely going to be a sleeping medicine night though

As soon as I'm out processed for retirement, I need to start working on that stuff. I wonder how many years it will take to get all the issues through the process?

 

[sgtsandman]

I got the edge protection completed on the right half of the deck. Since I have a county sportsman's league meeting tonight, and certain people really love to beat that dead horse, I doubt any progress will be made on the left side.

I need to have both sides done before I can locate the machine screws that will be holding everything where it should be. Being that everything is hand fitted, one can't just go off of measurements and start drilling.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I didn't know we has Antifa members here.

You take that back… that is one of my Arborist face protectors to keep saw chips out of places they shouldn’t be. I was melting in that dang PPE, had to make a couple cuts, take it off and take a break, then don it all again and repeat.

 

[sgtsandman]

You take that back… that is one of my Arborist face protectors to keep saw chips out of places they shouldn’t be. I was melting in that dang PPE, had to make a couple cuts, take it off and take a break, then don it all again and repeat.

Yep, Antifa. It gets triggered at the drop of a hat too....

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Started tearing off the deck on my car hauler. Many years ago I used 2x8 and 2x6 spaced about 1.25" apart then covered with 1/2" plywood. The last car I hauled I noticed that the front tire was sitting about an inch below where it should be. The deck was soft. I scored a bunch of pressure treated 2x10 and 2x12 for $100, so its time. The pic is of the trailer hauling the lumber home...
You can see the plywood is seperating. And under the seams the 2x is rotting.
I'll have to figure a way to attach them. Using self tapping screws won't last long because the treating is corrosive. And I don't want to drill and bolt if I can help it. But that's what I'll probably have to do.
View attachment 132075View attachment 132076

So I found some tek screws with a rust proof coating similar to ACQ screws at a localish bolt supplier. Reasonable price at $C22/100 screws, 2.5" long.

 

[mikkelstuff]

Finally, after wasting a good 8 hours, I fixed the basement light circuit problem. It all started simple enough, rewiring for a single flood light bulb but that killed all of the basement lights. I figured one bad light switch and there was, a bad 3-way switch but I lost track of what wire went where.
I know how I wire two 3-way switches but that was not the way this house was wired. I did finally understand what was done and reconnected the 3-way switches.
But then there were all these wild effects - light dimming, lights blinking off and on, shutting off one switch only to have other bulbs turn on.
Geez, it all worked before.
Then it occurred to me to start checking the neutrals. Sure enough several junction boxes back I found where a neutral had slipped out of the wire nut when I installed it a couple of years back.
Naturally this fixed it all but how it ever worked is beyond me.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yep, Antifa. It gets triggered at the drop of a hat too....

I decide to wear proper protective gear for a change and this is how I get treated? Accused of such absurdity? I feel like Rodney Dangerfield. I don’t get any respect I tell ya…

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Finished tearing off the old deck. This trailer had a car on top burn up. I was told this before I bought it. The repairs done are meh at best, and terrible in the main. The welds that is. I had done some repairs last time I had the deck off. Now I'll finish fixing the welds as best I can. I might make the propane tanks usable as an air reservoir. I'll put a small 12V compressor in my tool box. And a Schrader valve so I can fill it up quick. The tool box also houses a 10,000lb winch, as well as chains, straps, bungie cords and other misc.

 

[scotts90ranger]

At work today I ended up on a jetboat trying to get a cruise control system working better, PITA but I made a decent step forward... annoyingly with a brand new engine the high pressure electric pump let go at about an hour run time! Lame! It would run (there are technically 3 fuel pumps on the thing being direct injected...) but wouldn't idle, down to say 20psi instead of 60psi... thought there was water in the fuel tank since the boat hasn't been ran in like 18 months... but no, was an actual bad new component... Then when we got back to the shop I made arrangements to go to San Antonio next week for work (PM me if local, I'll likely be open Tuesday through Thursday evenings).

Tonight I worked on a project for my boss, he's had a stripped gas golf cart since before I started (been there almost 19 years) and he's finally working on it, he got a Harbor Freight engine and a centrifugal clutch, figured out the rear end ratio and I calculated a sprocket count for the transmission (has a forward/reverse box) so tonight I made an adapter to weld to the input shaft of the transmission (apparently the bolt broke off, whatever, top speed of that shaft is 1200 rpm). Since I cut a piece of 1/4" plate with a hole saw the center hole was off center a bit, helped that with a rat tail file then got it to 3/4". Center to outside is about .030" offset but once I drilled and tapped the 3 mounting holes it's only .010" so that's fine, that much out of balance isn't going to hurt anything... He wants it to be usable with the grand kids and such so I set the top speed around 6mph at 3600rpm engine speed if I was told the right axle ratio... didn't want to overdo the clutch, it's just a monkey bike sprocket with a 3 bolt pattern so can go down teeth if needed, going from 29 to 25 teeth should get it to like 11mph, or was it 9, whatever, it's fixable...

 

[vonD1025]

Tore apart my passenger side exhaust manifold cuz she was getting loud with me… found this beautiful sight hiding under the manifold cover… just finished welding it back together and we will see tomorrow if it still fits… Cast iron sure is fun welding

 

[sgtsandman]

I started doing the aluminum angle edge protection for the right side deck.. Doing the pieces for around the hump for the fillter neck was giving me some trouble but I got it done. The rest should go smoother since everything else is 45* angles as far as the end cuts go.