There were projects that I have been wanting to accomplish that are fun. Some of the things I needed to finish were under the direction of the commander in chief of the house. Some [...]]]> Like all weekends I started out with a list that I could not possibly get done in the time frame allotted.

There were projects that I have been wanting to accomplish that are fun. Some of the things I needed to finish were under the direction of the commander in chief of the house. Some projects are necessary to finish the VG1-5 project. And some just needed to be done.

I started my Saturday morning with trying to get the pistol grip of the AR-16 rifle 3D printed. The PLA that came with the 3D printer is old but seemed to work on the first few projects. That was not going to be the case this weekend. The material did nothing but continue to break off in the feed tubes. After spending a few hours on this I just threw my hands but and ordered some new material.

I hope to back on this project next weekend.

On to the next project. This is doing a little upgrade to by duplicator. I have always found it to set to low for me so I wanted to raise it and changed where is sat slightly. I was able to put the risers on it after a little adaptive engineering.

However, when I went to look for my Johnson bad and skates, about an hour of looking, I could not find them anywhere. A friend borrowed and I will have them back on Tuesday. Then like a fool I tried moving it with out them and not such a good idea. More on this later.

So now off to another project and that is one of the trees at the house has been a little sick and needed to come down, this was a project handed down from the commander. So the task was set into motion. All the limbs had been cut down and taken to the dump all that was left to do was use the backhoe and remove the rest of the stump.

The backhoe decided to take the weekend off. Nothing would get it to start.

I wanted to install new A/C units in the wood shop and machine shop. With the temperatures that we have been having there is no joy in working in the shops. To do this in the machine shop I needed to take down the evap cooler first. This little project took several hours and was not the least bit of fun in the 110 degree heat.

However the A/C guy called about 2 in the afternoon to inform me that he did not pick up the units and it would be next weekend before they would be out. It was okay as I still needed to run the new electric line for the A/C’s and while I was at it I would change the wiring around a little. I also needed to install a return air duct. To do this work I first had to move the bead blaster.Then cut the osb and sheet rock off the wall.

Then the wiring was run for a new 40 amp circuit and set up out side with a new disconnect.

I went to use the small air compressor in the wood shop, the big one needs a new motor and that is another project for another day. It has been acting a little iffy lately so a new pressure switch was ordered and received on Friday.

Once again Murphy came back to visit. The switch that was ordered and suppose to work was not the correct type.

Once again the weekend did not go as planed. In addition to all the fun I had in the 110 degree heat some where along the line I pulled my back and could hardly walk,sit or lay down without being in great pain. Not sure if it was the trying to move the duplicator, taking down the evap, dealing with the tree or running the new electric. At that point I just threw in the town and took my wife to the movies.

With the backhoe cylinders back it time to get it working again. New bushings were made as well as the tooling necessary to press them in. This project is completed, or so I thought.

After we [...]]]> Well the weekend is over and once again it has been a fun filled good time around gun lab.

With the backhoe cylinders back it time to get it working again. New bushings were made as well as the tooling necessary to press them in. This project is completed, or so I thought.

After we started it up it seems that I am getting diesel fuel into the oil system. So now I get to determine what is causing that.

I finished the lights for the wood shop.

We also got to play on the cnc router a little.

I just about finished the air system in the Fab shop.

The big news is that to finish the air system I needed to clean it up. It had actually gotten out of hand and you could not even walk in it.

All the fun I could handle.

My old back hoe started leaking oil on two of the cylinders. So the project for Sunday was to remove the cylinders to take them down to the hydraulic repair shop. As with all plans things just do not go as easy as they sound. [...]]]> Not everything is as much fun as this was.

My old back hoe started leaking oil on two of the cylinders. So the project for Sunday was to remove the cylinders to take them down to the hydraulic repair shop. As with all plans things just do not go as easy as they sound. The bushings had shattered and would not allow the cylinders to come out. The pins could move but the bushings needed to be driven out. So a special tool was made for this task. The pin was machined to fit the inside of the bushing and be the exact same diameter as the bushing.

Then all the tools necessary to remove the bushings were gathered together.

So there were two cylinders and 12 bushings to remove. This is the video of the last one.

It took the better part of Sunday to finish this job.

The cylinders are on the way.

It is always fun here.