Down with the old & Up with the new

[Cheese]

Looking really good!

Aluminum fence? Cut with track saw?

OT  I like the tight figure/grain on that sheet of plywood.

Thanks Michael.  [smile]

No track saw...just marked each one and cut them individually with a cold saw. I had to disassemble the fence section anyway to drill individual holes in each picket to accept the .160" diameter rods that are pictured at the top of that photo. Those small rods really hold the fence together well and allow for the sections to be angled on sloping terrain.

So, I think I mentioned earlier of installing a common water line and a 120V electrical outlet next to each other in the garden. The water line connects to a water line inside the garage while the electrical outlet, is supplied from the garage. I know some folks will have a knee-jerk reaction to installing both of these services so close to each other but fear not...it will be fine.

The water line in the garden allows for the watering of flowers and the back yard while also supplying water to the garage and the 120V will power a heat tape that will keep a 4" drain clear for drainage of melting snow in the spring. As of now, the 120V line has to be run across the steps and the sidewalk and will be a real safety issue for a couple of older folks. The new 120V location solves that issue.

Here's where both exit the ground.

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I'm building a 12" x 12" x 24" gabion to enclose both of the services. It will be filled with gabion granite stones or more likely gabion glass stone that can be back-lit. I'll fabricate a blue-stone base of some sort to act as a drip surface and that will match the blue-stone sidewalk, steps and patio. This is just a general idea on how it will be situated. With frozen ground, this will now become a spring project.  [smile]

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Here's an example of what I was referring to earlier. Everything is focused around the drain, the water runoff from the faucet, the snow melt in the spring from the sidewalk and more importantly, the electrical line for the heat tape installed in the drain will not be laying across the sidewalk and the steps & become nothing more than a tripping hazard. All serious things to consider as we age.  [smile]

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[rvieceli]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Looks great.

Is that fitting coming out the side of the tee an air fitting so you can blow the water out for winter prep?

Ron

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Looks great.

Is that fitting coming out the side of the tee an air fitting so you can blow the water out for winter prep?

Ron

Ya Ron, you're all over that one.  [smile]  The frost line in the Twin Cities extends to about the 54" depth level but that frost line can be driven down further if there is a lot of heavy street traffic.

For city installed water & DWV lines, they're usually buried at the 8' level so that they don't need any additional babysitting. I can run stuff underground at the 4' level but that will need a heat tape or two just to make sure it survives the winter.

Now here's an oddball job.  [eek]

I have these glasses which I absolutely love but unfortunately, they were previously machine washed with the incorrect detergent and with the incorrect salt level. The result is that after many washings, the glass surface became etched and clouded. This is a warning.  [tongue] [tongue] [tongue]

These are great Margarita, Sangria or Bloody Mary glasses but unfortunately they are no longer available on the primary market. They were made by Iittala and when available on the secondary market, trade for around $100 per stem...used. A couple of these glasses only come around every 3-4 years to purchase.

So it came down to I either needed to fix the 6 glasses we own or toss the glasses. The tossing part became an issue with me so I decided to try to correct the situation. I purchased a bottle of 3M Cerium Oxide and decided to fire up the RO 90 with a blue sponge pad. These are the results. 

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[Cheese]

So, here's another project that's been hanging around for years that I now get to complete.  [smile]  I'm mounting a short section of aluminum I-beam in the ceiling of the garage that will hold a 2 ton hoist trolley. I expect it to be able to hold about 1000# over a short 8' distance. Perfect for motorcycle projects or for lifting auto engines or small machine tools. The aluminum I-beam is light, easy to install and is inexpensive.

I was fortunate to find a new 2 ton Milwaukee trolley about 16 years ago when Milwaukee was discontinuing the product line. The trolley was unused but was in pretty rough condition.

After some bead-blasting and powder coating this is the result.

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[Michael Kellough]

Looks brand spanking new!

 

[Cheese]

I'm making a 12" x 12" x 24" stone filled galvanized wire gabion that will hold a water bib and an electrical box. I wanted to mount the Arlington electrical box to the gabion using a small stainless electrical box frame. I was going to purchase the stainless sheet from a local metal wholesaler but soon realized that I could purchase fabricated frames from SendCutSend for less than the material itself.  [huh]

The stainless sheet for 2 frames was around $28 while the fabricated frames, laser cut, deburred & inspected were $10.35 each.

Here's the recent timeline of events from SendCutSend. What great customer service and the manufactured items are spot-on and look lovely.

1/22 @ 1:25 PM...I send SCS a hand sketch to be converted (at an added cost) to a .dxf file for fabricating the stainless frames.
1/22 @ 4:04 PM...SCS has reviewed my sketch for accuracy and is starting the drawing conversion process.
1/22 @ 5:37 PM...The drawing conversion process has been completed and I need to approve the .dxf file.
1/22 @ 7:48 PM...I approve the file and I order the fabricated parts.

1/23 @ 7:45 AM...SCS has received the order and is sending me a tracking link for the fabricated parts.
1/23 @ 7:46 AM...I receive the tracking link and my parts are now part of the production queue.
1/23 @ 11:51 AM...The parts are now being manufactured and will proceed to deburring and a final QA inspection.

1/24 @ 12:50 PM...Your Order Has Shipped!

1/27 @ 2:23 PM...Your Order Has Been Delivered!

Wow...what's not to like about that kind of service? From a sketch on a napkin to completed parts received at home in 5 days.

The stainless frames were banded together and then vacuum sealed to a thick piece of cardboard. The "sandwich" is completed by placing another piece of cardboard on top and then wrapping everything with bubblewrap. Here's what the parts look like. I'd originally inquired if these parts could have a #4 finish rather than the standard #2B finish. I was told that the option was not available, yet, this is what I received...looks like a #4 finish to me. What a great experience.

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[festal]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] very nice. I didn't know you can send them sketches.  What did the scatch look like that you sent in?  i'm still learning CAD so it might be easier to do what you did

 

[rvieceli]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] very nice as usual.

Quick question though, need me to send you a few stainless steel button head screws? Have some stainless washers and stainless nylocs as well.  [tongue]  [tongue]  [big grin]

Ron

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] very nice. I didn't know you can send them sketches.  What did the scatch look like that you sent in?  i'm still learning CAD so it might be easier to do what you did

Hey [member=71889]festal[/member] , the conversion fee is $49 which is pretty reasonable for a few items or if you need production sized lots of a single product. It worked out well for this application but each application is different. The other item to note is that SCS "owns" the converted .dfx file. I attempted to get a copy of it from them but no-go. Oh well...I suspected as much with that price tag.  [smile]

Here's the sketch I sent to SCS on graph paper which is what they prefer. It's simply a scan of the actual drawing from a printer which produces a .pdf file.  SCS will accept these file formats for conversion, jpg, gif, pdf, png, tiff & jpeg.  The 2nd photo is simply a copy of the converted file from SCS without all of the data.

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[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] very nice as usual.

Quick question though, need me to send you a few stainless steel button head screws? Have some stainless washers and stainless nylocs as well.  [tongue]  [tongue]  [big grin]

Ron

LOL [member=3192]rvieceli[/member]
Caught you on that one Ron  [poke]  [big grin]

Those are 304 SST button head screws but they're black oxide coated. Strictly a decorative thing but it found its origins in the semiconductor industry when molding carbon black filled materials. A coating that's durable as heck because it alters just the surface material rather than adding an additional layer of material that could flake or peel. No peeling = no particles...the semiconductor folks love that.  [cool]

I had some of each style and just liked the oxide coated ones better.  [smile]

 

[rvieceli]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] figured as much, but couldn’t resist.  [big grin]

Which weatherproof box is that one? Arlington makes a bunch of them.

Thanks

Ron

 

[Cheese]

An Arlington DBVM1C, used them on the outside of both the garage and the house.
https://www.aifittings.com/catalog/...cco-textured-surfaces-and-rigid-siding/DBVM1C

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[Cheese]

Cool festal…who’d have thunk.  [smile]

 

[festal]

I'll send you the dxf once I figure this out.  Deleted my original post as i couldn't figure out how to adjust the image.
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[Sparktrician]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member], I really like that gabion idea.  It would only be better if I could put my ex-spouse inside it before you fill it with rocks...and weld the top on.  [big grin]

 

[festal]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] am i on the right track? 

 

[Packard]

Gabions are more common than most people think.  The company where I used to work made wire accessories for the assembly of gabions.  We made several sizes and produced them in lots of 250,000 to 500,000 pieces.

We had two customers for these and there were a few more users out there, so lots of gabions were being made.  Gabions walls are extremely durable when compared to cast concrete block walls because of their superior water drainage capacity.

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member], I really like that gabion idea.  It would only be better if I could put my ex-spouse inside it before you fill it with rocks...and weld the top on.  [big grin]

Always willing to help a guy out Sparky....[big grin]....but unless she's really, really short....

 

[rst]

If compacting is necessary just think Fargo

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] am i on the right track?

Ya you are  [smile]  those 2 each .44" dimensions are actually .48" instead, that's the reason I crossed them out. For anyone else that's following along  [smile], those .2969" diameter holes are actually 19/64 drill holes.

However, not knowing if those holes were going to be drilled, punched or lasered, I decided to use a standard drill bit size which would also be used if they were punched. Now having the parts in-hand, I can see they were lasered so a standard diameter callout of .296" or even .300" would be better here.

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