Weekend Blog - April 2nd

[john]

This was a fairly productive weekend.

First the shop was cleaned and the adjoining area cleared of all tools and other items in preparation for the installation of a sump pump tomorrow. Not a moment too soon as the rain has started and the old basement is letting water seep in through the foundation footings.

Next came a good cleaning, waxing, and lubrication of the SS. As mentioned previously, this was long overdue.

I also got started on orders for two doll cradlles made of pine.

So, how was your weekend?

John

[dusty]

Thanks for asking but you don't want to know. I am attempting to convert a 510 table to an outfeed table. I need my autocad for drawings, dimensions, etc and it failed. I have a backup autocad on another computer; the harddrive there failed. I decided to work on a rearview camera on my RV and I wired the DC voltage to the monitor backwards and blew the monitor.

I watched TV the rest of the weekend and nothing else went wrong. Today is another day but I haven't tried to do much; therefore, so far, today has been better.

I did manage to recover the backup harddrive using a borrowed laptop. At least I still have a registered copy of autocad.

[john]

Dusty:

I'm almost sorry I asked!

Hopefully the rest of the week will go smoother.

John

[paulmcohen]

So, how was your weekend?

John

I replaced my old, dim but working 25 watt florescent shop lights with new 40 Watt, daylight ones that just flicker. I have three fictures 2 in the garage (with two bulbs each) and one in the shop with four bulbs). Garage everything works, but in the shop all I get is dim flickering. I have swapped bulbs and the problem follows the ficture. I have also put the old ones back in and they work fine. I am lost, anyone know about lighting?

[james.miller]

Sometimes the ballast goes bad or even the ends that you put the tubes into. Both can be replaced.

Jim in Tucson

[john]

I don't know much about them but I believe some of the newer fluoresent bulbs are made for newer fixtures only. They may be a little thinner or have a label stating theare for a certain fixture so you might want to verify that. I had some that flickered as well then went back to an older model and that solved the problem.

Good luck.

John

[a1gutterman]

paulmcohen,

Older fixtures have a starter in them that can go bad. Do you see a small diameter, perhaps 1/2" or 5/8", metal drum hanging down out of the fixture anywhere? If so, replace it and try your bulbs again; otherwise, like what was already said: The ballast or sockets may need replaced.

[albie]

My weekend was a bust with left over computer work. Ugh!

As far as the flourescents are concerned; with today's energy effiecnt lamps, try leaving the new lamps on to "burn-in" for several hours or overnight to eliminate the flicker.

[easterngray]

This is a fun thread... my weekend was pretty productive. I received my vintage saw guard in the mail and set to work scraping and painting it. I started with the lower guard and got it cleaned up nicely. I applied two coats of Rustoleum Hammered Finish gold paint to match my machine and it looks great. I also spent several hours removing rust form various fittings including saw arbors and the Jacobs chuck. After some time spent sitting on the steps with the chuck and a scotchbrite pad it occured to me that if I mounted it on the SS and fired it up it would go alot faster... worked great and my chuck is looking good. After I put everything away I grabbed a 12' piece of SPF strapping and made all sort of cuts on the saw just to put her through her paces. The SS cuts beautifully. I think we're gonna get along just fine! This coming weekend I intend to dissasemble the entire machine in order to paint the base assemby, support tubes and headstock. Alec

[8iowa]

I spent the week-end cleaning, organizing, and covering up my Shopsmith and accessories. We will leave for the U.P. in a little over a week so I'm packing up the items & tools that I want to take with me . My garage is now air-conditioned and insulated so I won't have to worry about rust developing during the hot and humid Gainesville summers.

Our kitchen and family room is undergoing renovation, and as acting general contractor and architect I've spent a lot of time at the drawing board - great fun for an old engineer. I've even dusted off the old slide rule.

In closing, I also need to mention that this was a very exciting week-end in Gainesville. We live just a few blocks from the University of Florida campus. I guess I will have to be very careful driving through Ohio in my "Gator Country" Dodge truck. If anyone would like to have a Gator T shirt send me a PM.