Alphatig Review: Building a welding cart #1

A little late, since the cart is almost done, but not too late to change some things so if you see anything that needs to be reworked, I'd love to hear it!!!

I bought my Alphatig a while ago, and am tired of it getting tripped over in the welding booth. I've had a plan in the back of my mind for a while, but now its time to execute it. Plus, I suck at welding so this'll be a good chance for me to get a little practice in.

Choppy choppy.







Got angles and measurements all figured out, time to goober it all together. Gotta make sure you're in the appropriate welding attire though...









Thats the main frame. Obviously, the welder will sit on the angled bars. Argon tank will go between the uprights, and I'll have a drawer underneath the welder.

This Old House #12: Baby, its COLD outside!

So the thermometer this morning said -12. Pretty, but YUCK.























Interestingly enough- the shop is STILL sitting at about 32 degrees. Havent lit the fire in there in like 2 weeks...



It was so cold that even our two kitties, who normally won't get within 10 feet of each other, decided to let past feuds lie for the moment...



The outside temps mean the upstairs temps get a little low. Started checking things with the infrared gun. The one storage room upstairs with the door closed was a*little* chilly.



I musta not been naughty enough for Santa, so I had to have a friend give me a bucket of coal to try out in the stove.



Didn't take much to get it going,



Threw in a couple of scoops of coal and viola!

HEAT!



Stove works great with coal, which I guess isn't surprising since that's what it was designed for... Going to pick up a few buckets of free coal tomorrow. We'll see how well it works over this week while we're home.

Metal Earth laser-cut model review- Avro Lancaster.

Stumbled across this laser cut miniature model a few weeks ago while on the Cali trip with my eighth graders.  These are made by Metal Earth, and are VERY detailed and fun to put together, although they are NOT what I would call easy to assemble.

I paid quite a bit more than amazon is asking for the same kit here ($6.64):  http://www.amazon.com/Fascinations-Metal-Earth-Laser-Model/dp/B00FFCI2XU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436406536&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=metalearth+lancaster

Very small package.  They claim to have 360 degree views to help assemble the models here: http://www.fascinations.com/metalearth/gallery360 but I was unable to find the Lancaster there.



Laser cut, very detailed, and dang challenging to put together. Fairly simple when you look at the directions and parts...



But looks can be deceiving.





These little engine pods were a pain to build. If you can find a rod about the diameter of what you need its pretty easy to curl the metal around it.





Starting to come together!





Done.





Part of what makes it so hard to do is the size- pretty dad gum small.








So overall this was a WAY fun project.  Took me maybe an hour and a half start to finish.  It was challenging enough to make it exciting but not so hard I got frustrated with it.  Definitely NOT for begginers or very easy.  I do think they have a few simpler models that might be great to try and see if you like it. 

I *definitely* recommend this to any model builders or people who like to work with their hands.  I think they are a bargain at the prices you see them on amazon, and there is a HUGE variety- planes, tanks BUILDINGS, Transformers, and even STAR WARS ships!!!

Here are a few of the others:

 

 

And my PERSONAL favourite- The John Deere model B!

There are *hundreds* more to choose from.  Enjoy!

Busy much?

Stumbled across these two articles the other day.

Why psychologist say you should ban busy from your vocabulary.

and

Busy is a sickness.

If I had to pick one word to describe me, it would be busy.  When asked how I am, or whats been going on- my response:  Busy.

Very interesting read because the last couple of months I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything that goes on in life, and it seems like I keep throwing fuel on the fire trying to sneak in a few extra projects here and there.

Just recently, for the first time in a long time (ever?), I turned away some "extra" work.  I still feel bad about having to say no but on the other hand it sure feels nice to not have my To Do list expanding at 5 times the speed that I can check things off.  Since then, I've been able to bring myself to tell a few more people I just can't handle more projects right now.

Has it helped?  We'll see.  Still feel light years behind in trying to get our house sold, and have customer projects left over from last year, but I'm making headway.  The play ends this week and that will open up a lot of time to catch up on everything I feel behind in which will be nice.

The key here I think is to "just keep swimming".  It's like trying to fill a can with rocks, gravel, and sand.  If you put the sand in first, the rocks won't fit.  Stuff the rocks in first, then let the gravel and sand fill in the gaps and everything fits.  Spend time with the family, have some time to do things that keep you sane (i.e.- ride a motorcycle or build a Hot Wheel), and here's the tricky one because it seems so backwards- donate some of your time to help others, and THEN all of those required jobs and responsibilities seem to fit right in.

Is life BUSY?  No.  Its just... Full.  And that's a good thing!

ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity!

Because, I hope to never, ever be in another play again!  At least not when life is so crazy and I don't ever see life getting less crazy so there you go.  A once in a lifetime opportunity!

I was drafted / conscripted politely invited by my lovely wife to be in a play with her.  We won't go into details about how I politley but firmly refused for 3 days, but was drug to the auditions with the promise of "Just show up and you wont have to do anything" then "oh, by the way you have to sing a song and read something for them"...  I'm not bitter.  :)

Opening night is this Friday!  The play is "The Pirates of Penzance", showing this weekend and the next.




Couple of pics from a dress rehersal:






It has been a royal pain, all of the practices and whatnot... But it has been sorta fun.  I think it's going to turn out great, LOTS of funny business, swords, fight scenes, etc.  Y'all should come and join us for an evening at the historic Nuart Theatre in Blackfoot!

http://blackfootcommunityplayers.com/

Custom Hot Wheels- Lickety Split #4

Back to work. Once I figured out the front end with working steering, my 11 yr old son said I should make it with an actual steering wheel that worked. I kinda scoffed at him and said it would be really hard to do after he explained his idea, but it got me thinking- and I simplified it a lot and came up with this!

The start- steering column with shaft.



Short vid of it sort of working.



Steering wheel cut on the lathe, and the center hub for it made out of a teensy piece of pipe.



The first iteration.



Assembled column.



There was one major flaw with this setup. Anyone spot it?



Guess I should have thought a little more about it before I tried that out... Easy fix. Sorta.