Good morning!!!!

[rswyan]

43F with alternating sun and clouds @ 13:00, Woman said that we were having that snow mixed with rain a little bit ago.

Currently under a Freeze Warning for tonight, calling for a low of 31F.

Dogwoods and Hawthorns have joined the Redbud and Magnolia in the Spring Bloom Parade.

Made good progress up in the shop yesterday.

Got all of the metal pieces/parts I had soaking in the vinegar bath scrubbed off and rinsed:

Used a small fine-bristle stainless steel brush by hand while they were still wet.

After that I stuck them in the vise and hit them with a wire cup brush I had in the old slide-switch Harbor Freight angle grinder that I was running at half speed (so it wouldn't throw wires):

Managed to crater the gearbox on it (orange one in pic below) while I was doing that, think it was over 20 years old ... so I can't complain too much:

I'm less happy about the dark blue one ... think it's the 2nd one of those and is considerably newer ... but it's about to launch as well:

​

Meanwhile, the old Milwaukee just keeps on ticking ... albeit somewhat noisily (knock on wood ...)

All in all, the clean up turned out fairly well:

Last thing I did before knocking off just before 01:00 for the night was to cut a piece of steel to resolve the "no full swivel" issue on the caster and stick in the tub for descaling. Will clean that one up today.

UPS delivered the shoulder bolts and self-locking nuts from McMaster for the wheels a little bit ago so I'll start working on getting all the holes drilled (10 of them I think), do a minor bit of additional trimming, and probably lay out the parts and start tacking things up later today.

Woman headed off for an appointment @ the Eye Doctor's here in a little bit ... so I'll be able to sneak up without any complaints from The Shop Widow ...

Hope everyone is having a great Monday ...

 

[LouNY]

success with the Gravely.
not sure I can blame it totally on this but when inspecting the pack of four new
Champion plugs I bought, I noticed two of them were way misgapped, very tight like something had wacked on to the end of them.
So I found the two new ones that were gapped properly, and put them in.
Started immediately.
but did not purr.
some popping and burbling, I think more than usual.
probably due to lack of use and maybe some gumminess in carb jets. Vanguard 23 twin
or perhaps 25...I think that chrome exhaust tip has to add at least two horsepower.

my cheapo spark plug gap setter, from Craftsman by way of northern Mongolia, could not fix the two since the gap was about .15, too low for the beginning opening.
Need to secure them and pry apart, well not pry, am sure that's not good on center electrode. Set those two aside to give to my favorite mechanic.

I was fooled, first one I inspected looked perfect so one right next to it must be right too?... So I didn't check the gap on the second one and it was almost flat.

I find my pocket knife is good to start a plug gap.

 

[sodamo]

Jay, happy birthday to Mrs Jay.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

With the right ladder, changing the projector wasn’t too bad. Picking it up and returning it took the longest time.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Happy birthday mrs Jay.

 

[wngsprd]

Happy Birthday, Mrs. J

 

[buckeyefarmer]

What the wood boring bees did to brick molding on my old garage door.

 

[m7040]

Finished the service on the ZD lawn mower. One of the blades was bent almost a 1/4 inch so replaced it and sharpened and balanced them. Replaced the 6 cupped washers since the cupping was out of the old ones and replaced one of the cans covering the spindle,


The ZD's are not built for service for sure. Grease nipples are hard to get to and draining the power deck gearbox is a pain because you can not hold a container under the plug. Found the vacuum suction gizmo and used that instead. The fuel filters are just poorly positioned and have to dismantle and take battery etc out. Calibrated the Milwaukee torque impact and found it to be close to the required torque at the second position with two lights showing. So not planning to use the torque wrench next time. The transmission oil did not need to be changed for another 200 hrs only one of the filters was due for change.

 

[txdon]

Found the vacuum suction gizmo and used that instead.

Where did you find that?

 

[Buppies]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mrs Jay (Peg)

 

[Buppies]

My last shoulder surgery impingement the same one that is screwed up now

 

[daugen]

I find my pocket knife is good to start a plug gap.

what a good idea
I had a slim screwdriver and just shook my head
I'll try the knife blade and try not to touch the electrode

 

[Thomas]

Strong thoughts prayers for your friend Jay.

 

[Thomas]

Wishing Mrs. Jay many many more trips around the sun.

 

[Thomas]

Please don't send that white s___ our way.

 

[Thomas]

What the wood boring bees did to brick molding on my old garage door. View attachment 797383

Dang...they ate well.

 

[Thomas]

Good Morning.. 58 here headed to 68 - very nice day. My wife wanted to redo the front flower garden this year. So we bought some rose bushes, 5 hydrangea plants, many hostas.
We waited to put them out. put them out about 10 days ago. Then the low temp Sat and Sunday went to 30. We brought hanging plants in and covered the ones ground planted. They look good now. Those hydrangeas are expensive. Think we spent about $400 on 5 of them. Have a good day.

Welcome and front porch light always on here.

Got good idea what your going thur for Mrs. doing same,no hostas to many deer hanging around.

 

[Popgadget]

Good Afternoon
Somehow I forgot to check in this morning after reading all the posts.
Old age must be catching up with me.
It was in the 30’s when I got up, it’s only 54 now.
Yesterday was consumed by traveling and the related paperwork. Today I got a good start, and did some wood shedding with a bass, figuring that I’ll have to play this Friday after a month off. Got the oil changed in the Prius, some barn chores done and cleaned up a bit in the shop. My DIL used it for a set for a photo shoot with my grandson, as it’s one of his favorite places. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here.

Tonight is Zoe’s second night of school after moving up from puppy kindergarten.

I can’t believe how the grass is growing, I need to get the Progressive hooked up again tomorrow and put it to work. It sure makes a nice cut, even at a 16 foot cutting width. Nicer than the 90” Landpride.

 

[Thomas]

39F showers down pours 10mins ice yup mix bag,should be ending around 7pm.

Got everything done I wanted before noon after lunch spent almost 4 hours washing outside of house,if all goes well do the other half tomorrow.

Dinner warming in stove..shepard pie .. rest evening feet up couple recliner exercises now and than.
Enjoy your evening all.

 

[Thomas]

Good Afternoon
Somehow I forgot to check in this morning after reading all the posts.
Old age must be catching up with me.
It was in the 30’s when I got up, it’s only 54 now.
Yesterday was consumed by traveling and the related paperwork. Today I got a good start, and did some wood shedding with a bass, figuring that I’ll have to play this Friday after a month off. Got the oil changed in the Prius, some barn chores done and cleaned up a bit in the shop. My DIL used it for a set for a photo shoot with my grandson, as it’s one of his favorite places. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here.

View attachment 797407
View attachment 797408

Tonight is Zoe’s second night of school after moving up from puppy kindergarten.

I can’t believe how the grass is growing, I need to get the Progressive hooked up again tomorrow and put it to work. It sure makes a nice cut, even at a 16 foot cutting width. Nicer than the 90” Landpride.

Young lad waking in grandpa foot steps.