Operation Spring Break 2016 #2- Spring IS here!

And in other news, spring *is* getting here...



And I really need to clean out the flower beds.



and finish pruning the apple trees...





And rip this stump out of the ground...



Wait- the boys already did that for me. They've been hacking on it for the last 2 weeks with their knives. They finally noticed it was really rotten and kicked it right out of the ground- its supposed to be over where that pile of sawdust is.

Operation Spring Break 2016!

SPRING BREAK! The time teachers use to catch up on everything they fall behind on around the house during the school year... Of course we wake up to an inch of snow on the ground after some really nice weather.



It melted off quick though. Got Operation: Spring Break 2016, task one finished up. We are *officially* done moving all of our crap over here. Cleaned out the last of the storage shed.

Got grandpas truck drug over,



And all of the heavy crap was moved with this ooolllllddddd cart. Worked great.



Storage shed empty!

Custom Hot Wheels Buildoff: Steampunk!

Back at it again, here is the current set of builds! 

Please visit the gallery here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1526483330994308.1073741836.1459737441002231&type=1 and vote by LIKING your favourite! Please DO NOT try to figure out who built what, just pick your favourite and like it!

dorkpunch Does Instagram.

That pretty much sums it up... I'm now live on Instagram.  Right now its pretty much solely custom hot wheels builds, but there's the occasional Z50, tractor, or welding junk on there too. 

Look me up:  @rustyphoenixmotors

Check out my new shirts!!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/rusty-phoenix-motors Connect with me here! https://www.youtube.com/c/RustyPhoenixMotors https://www.facebook.com/rustyphoenixmotors https://www.instagram.com/dorkpunch_rustyphoenixmotors/?hl=en https://www.instructables.com/member/Rusty%20Phoenix%20Motors/

Santa's coming... Again?

Little late this year, but the December Hot Wheels Build Off is here!

Come vote on the latest custom Hot Wheel build! Please DO NOT try and figure out who built what, just pick your favourite and vote by "liking" the pic! Winner to be announced on Monday!

Vote here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1506673976308577.1073741833.1459737441002231&type=3

Almost there!

Hey all, I'm running out of time! I'm *REALLY* close to having this project funded. PLEASE SHARE even if you can't donate! There is a promo code that will match your donation- if you donate $5, they will donate $5 more! The promo code is EVERYGIFTMATTERS. Thank you so much to all of you that have already donated!

Donate now - Donors Choose!

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.

Custom Hot Wheels: Steampunk 2-4-2 #4

Made the stack with a little piece of copper pipe and flared it with a flaring tool.



Not sure about using the hood.



Time for some nitty-gritty figurin'. Enter the glass and sharpies! Planning phase on how to bolt it all together.This was my first idea- laid it all out, bent it all up and didn't end up liking it.



The goal was to hopefully get something along the lines of my penny engine in there so it could actually be POWERED...



The first attempt at the frame:



Looks like a pooper scooper.

Attempt #2. Frame rails.



Liking this- lots more room to tweak and adjust as I go, and I think in this case less is more.



Yeah. Starting to dig that.