• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.

Welcome to Westwood Metalworks, What is he building in there?

Probably going to take a couple days before I start making chips again but there's progress.

Tramp oil, or distant galaxy....you tell me....I mean, that's almost art it's so beautiful.....
yV8dYE7.jpeg


Yummy stuff.....
whteC4v.jpeg

Vz4IuvR.jpeg
rgHyd5Y.jpeg

J7h4IzZ.jpeg
H2kGnUM.jpeg

8JVioos.jpeg



No wonder the coolant system wasn't working......Anyway, a bit of elbow grease later I got it all cleaned up. I've always found the best solvent for coolant, was always the coolant itself, but even that wasn't touching it, this was too far gone. Brake cleaner didn't budge it either. Tried a few things, but WD40 of all things worked the best. Most of it slid right off, and I picked, scraped, and brushed the hard stuff that wouldn't. Then it was brake cleaner to clean the wd off, which worked great. Wish I had a big ultrasonic to just toss them in....

Good as used.
AFSPM6N.jpeg


Had to laugh at this though, that can't be good.....No damage, or repair marks anywhere else, so I'm assuming it happened prior to machining at the factory. Ship it.....
FWx2zwu.jpeg


Took a couple shots of penicillin afterwards, so I might only come down with a mild case of syphilis from this.

I still need to clean the actual sump, which shouldn't be too bad, and I'm going to do away with the fabulous Tormach shower hose and replumb the entire line and nozzles. I think the entire machine needs a good cleaning too. I wasn't going to, but I really don't want any of the old stuff contaminating the new stuff, so it's going to be worth it to take the extra time to do it right and start from scratch. This coolant pump is also pretty terrible and a very common upgrade, so I'll start shopping around now. I'd also like to add an oil skimmer or aerator (or both) as well.

I wish I had a better air compressor as I'd go with a mist setup. Would love to have a mobile setup i could use on each machine where needed eventually. But getting this up and running with the std flood setup is top priority right now. Should be able to get something pumping tomorrow hopefully.
 
A few months back I watched a video on Deboss garage, about a friend of his buying, and reviving a Canadian Boot manufacturer Tatra. I wasn't really in the market for boots at the time, but I love a good story about a Canadian business, and will always support one whenever I can. I've been browsing their site periodically since, but they never seemed to have my size in stock in a style I want, until the other day, so I ordered a pair in the morning, and I had them in my possession the following afternoon. Couldn't believe that actually, it was pretty impressive. Tonight was the first time I wore them, and I gotta say, they're pretty damn comfy. My first time wearing a zippered boot, and I really like it. Always been a fan of slip ons since ditching lace ups years ago. They have a pretty hard sole, but I always run double insoles, and don't even have one in these yet, so maybe I'm just not used to that anymore.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case anybody was in the market for workboots. Give em a try. I'll probably keep these for just out in the garage, whenever I'm not wearing my safety crocs....So they'll probably lead an easy life compared to my normal ones. But I might buy another pair for just in case.

https://shop.tatra.ca/products/bucks-ryder
wNbxU6b.jpeg


Maybe I should start a new thread about some Canadian manufactures I've found and support. Tomorrow.....
 
Dan Dubeau said:
A few months back I watched a video on Deboss garage, about a friend of his buying, and reviving a Canadian Boot manufacturer Tatra. I wasn't really in the market for boots at the time, but I love a good story about a Canadian business, and will always support one whenever I can. I've been browsing their site periodically since, but they never seemed to have my size in stock in a style I want, until the other day, so I ordered a pair in the morning, and I had them in my possession the following afternoon. Couldn't believe that actually, it was pretty impressive. Tonight was the first time I wore them, and I gotta say, they're pretty damn comfy. My first time wearing a zippered boot, and I really like it. Always been a fan of slip ons since ditching lace ups years ago. They have a pretty hard sole, but I always run double insoles, and don't even have one in these yet, so maybe I'm just not used to that anymore.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case anybody was in the market for workboots. Give em a try. I'll probably keep these for just out in the garage, whenever I'm not wearing my safety crocs....So they'll probably lead an easy life compared to my normal ones. But I might buy another pair for just in case.

https://shop.tatra.ca/products/bucks-ryder
View attachment 58373

Maybe I should start a new thread about some Canadian manufactures I've found and support. Tomorrow.....
Click to expand...
I get my jeans out of Quebec, the are Big Bill and are very much like Carhartt, except they actually last. And, yes, made in Canada. I think the outfit is called Gost work wear.
 
I've had a few pairs of big bill coveralls over the years. I think I might still have a pair somewhere, but they probably don't fit anymore.......Shrinking fabric. And yes, they're better than Carhartt, and you won't look like an instagram influencer/tick toc'r, that just wears the brand for street cred along with their timberland boots with the tongue sticking out lol.

I own a lot of shirts from Jerico too. They wear and fit very well too.
 
Got called in for a breakdown last Tuesday morning with my coffee in hand as I was heading out the door to run some errands, and it turned into a week+ long adventure.....So, now I'm finally back on the sump cleanout. Procrastinated most of the morning holding the couch down, toying with some cad modeling until the fedex guy showed up with some parts for a project. One I need the CNC for, so I figured I better put some rubber gloves back on and get at it.....

First I put the pump back together, and then skimmed the oil/flubber off the top into a separate tub. Then I used the pump to drain what was left of the old coolant into a pail.
hc0No27.jpeg


Yummy stuff. Wish I would have done this way back when I bought it, but I was in a hurry to make stuff, and one thing lead to another......but here I am.....

There was about 1/4"-3/4" of sludge/chips on the bottom of the sump, I scraped off into the garbage can.
ECFGDfc.jpeg
qpmehzf.jpeg


Mmmmm, Taco Tuesday.....
NBC9Nsk.jpeg


Next was the wd40 to break up the remaining stuff stuck to the sides/bottom, followed by a couple rounds of brake/parts cleaner.
eDbdMHz.jpeg


Good as new.

I need to pull the pump apart again and clean it again, as it gummed up pumping the the leftovers off. It really has no tolerance for digesting crap. Should be a lot easier this time....

I also bought a few things to completely redo the coolant system here, and build a central coolant sump for multiple machines should I need it. I will wait till warmer weather for that, and put this one back together as is for the meantime. I have too many projects on the go right now, and just need to start finishing them before adding another......
 
I actually made some physical progress on the grinder today. I've been designing, and redesigning for what seems like forever. Trying to add as many features as I can while future proof myself from silly mistakes that might pop up with later designed attachments, but I think I finally have a solid enough base that I can start building. Last night I again changed back to a very early design of my hinge because of clearance issues something else caused. It's a pretty involved design, way more complicated than is necessary and that was the reason I went away from it at the start, but the more I added, the more I realized it was the lesser of 10 evils. Oh well, it'll look cool, and be fun to machine......:D.

Teaser pics of my tubes welded up. I initially went with doubled up pop cans on each side (0.009-0.010" total), and found them too tight for my liking so I cut half apart, and went with a single slice of steel banding strap @ 0.018" as a shim. IMO they seem about perfect. If I had something at 0.015" I think that would have been just right.

h3QOfXK.jpeg
w400KLY.jpeg


Now I have to sit down and finalize my hinge design to the material I dug out that should work, and will get to machine them this week. Those are the big ticket items, and once done, the rest should be pretty straight forward.
 
One of the reasons I wanted to get going on welding those up, was to simply get them off my bench because I needed to tackle another project. My little Honda Fit comes standard in North America with a 151r battery. Tiny little thing, that struggles in the deep cold sometimes. I've had enough of needing my booster pack, or bumpstarting the past couple weeks because it won't crank over, and not wanting to just put in another new 151, I bought a 51r battery instead. Which is standard in Europe and Japan for some reason, but not here. Long story short, I was just going to make a bigger battery tray to hold it, as I figured buying the factory part would have been prohibitively expensive (I have a grinder project that needs that money.....), and why buy something for $200 when I can build it for $400.... I didn't even bother searching for it, until last night.......https://www.newegg.ca/p/0JF-05RE-00KZ7

$24, free shipping, no tax.......I also checked Honda, and other sources and they were from $75 to $180. But $24? I've never bought time so cheaply......I'm sure it's not as great as a genuine Honda part, but I'll make it work.

My stubbornness to want to build everything is my own worst enemy sometimes, but on the bright side, I just free'd up my day to work on the grinder instead of a battery tray :D
 
Had gene pool removal surgery last Wednesday, and Doc said to wait at least a week before doing anything too physical. Finally felt pretty good yesterday (also battling a lingering cold), so after a nice visit from @Stuart Samuel (Thanks again Stu, My Stew Loved it, and can't wait to set it up and use it!) I spent a few hours in the shop making a bunch of the little details that just take time, and no one really notices but yourself lol. I'm paying for it today though......It's been a couch and ice day, but I did manage to sort through my clothes like the Wife has been nagging me for months about, and ended up with 2 bags of shop rags from old work shirts, and lots more shelf space.....
QNTD8El.jpeg

ShYrYyy.jpeg

1mr66p7.jpeg


All the main tubes, hinges, and rotational stops are done too, and are just waiting to be welded up. I'm still flip flopping on my motor mount plate design and don't want to weld it all up yet as I might need to hold the main tube again for some machining to mount it. Should get that sorted out hopefully tonight, and maybe Monday or Tuesday start welding it all up solid depending on how I feel.

Seeing it start to come together is encouraging, especially considering I went with a bit different hinge design, and I wasn't sure was going to work. I'll show it when I start the actual build thread, and get a bit further along. There's still a fair bit of work involved in building the main flat platen attachment and tension arm which I haven't started, and I also still need to cast a drive wheel which will be my first adventure in lost foam.....But at least there's progress...... Little by little.....
 
Tom O said:
Do you have a picture with the collar on?
View attachment 59520
Click to expand...
:p I almost asked the Doc if I had to wear one, but he was all business, and clearly in no mood for joking....despite being quick and straight forward I didn't want to spend anymore time in there than necessary....I did decide to hit a the restore quick afterwards to see if there were any deals (there were not) before heading home (35min drive). Bad decision, as the freezing started to wear off half way home. The last part of the drive down my bumpy country road was not something I'd ever like to experience again. Funny now, but I wasn't laughing then lol.
 
I had a biopsy done a couple years ago, and when the doctor called to tell me all was clear and the biopsy wasn't going to lead to an autopsy, in as serious a voice as I could......... "I see, well, under the circumstances, can I get you to call my wife and break the news to her?" :rolleyes:
 
lol, I always joke too, I think this might be the first time I didn't request a mirror so I can watch though. Always used to freak out the Doc's rolling in there and asking for a mirror so I can watch them sew me up, or work on/in me. They always tell you to look away, and I'm always like "why? that's the coolest part, it's not everyday you get to see inside yourself" :D.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top