Still scraping, but I also do a little lapping on my granite straight edge. Also, using the Automatic Generation of Gages to prove flatness. This installment may be found here.
I've spent most of my freetime in the last month working in the garage with a scraper in my hand.I've made some progress on the surface grinder, but I also made amistake. You can read about it here.
After spending the last yearreading about machine repair and scraping and doing LOTS of scraping, Ihave finally gotten to the point that I am going to attempt a largescraping project. The project is a 1967 DoAll D624-8 surface grinder.The first installment may be found here.
It has been a while since Iupdated anything here, but there seems to be a lot of email askingquestions on how I like the Grizzly Mill after a year of having it. SoI came out of hiding long enough to do a small piece on the mill. Youcan find it here.
Before I take a bit of abreak from the workshop to do some spring clean-up on our home, I buyan old South Bend lathe and give it some TLC. A new tool is always fun.
I finish up the Shumatech DROwith the addition of a Jenix scale and adding some ball bearings to oneof the calipers. You can take a look here.
I've been busy in theworkshop adding a digital readout to the mill. I've finished thefirst stage of the project and am quite pleased with the results. ShumaTech Dro-350 Digital Readout
I found another littleannoyance with the mill. This one got a temporary fix that isworking out well, for the time being. SpindleNoises
There's a new piece on moving the mill into the workshop.
There's an update in the Workshop section.
My wife Susie has been volunteering at a localorganization that finds homes for homeless animals. I had theopportunity to tag along last weekend. I must say that I was impressedwith FOHA. They are located nearthe border of Prince William county, in Loudon county, and serve theNorthern Virginia and metropolitan Washington DC area. They have beenhelping animals find good homes for decades and currently have about180 dogs and cats in residence. The kennels, complete with runs, forthe dogs and cottages for the cats are all air conditioned! Thecottage for the FIV positive cats even has a comfy couch so yours trulycould kick back and spend some time getting to know all the residents.
Susie had told me that she had fallen in love with a bunch of the catsand wanted to adopt at least one of them. We currently have one cat andhe's not used to sharing his home, so we decided that we would become a"foster family" for one of the cats and see how our cat Petey handled some company. We chose a catnamedNubby who has a little problem with one of his hind legs as we thoughtthat he wouldn't stand as good of a chance in finding a home as theothers. He's a great little guy with a super personality. Petey isfeeling a bit threatened by his new roommate, but he's getting a littlemore comfortable as the days go by.
Click to EnlargeSo why am I telling you this? The answeris that FOHA has been helping with the rescue and boarding of some ofthe animals displaced by the flooding in the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina and they have more animals than usual to find homes for. FOHAreally needs good homes for their dogs and cats.
If an animal is unlucky enough to be homeless,but lucky enough to wind up at FOHA, they are very well takencare of. All of the dogs and cats receive a visit with a veterinarianto get their shots and get checked over for health issues. Thevolunteers make sure that all the cats get plenty of petting andbrushing and the dogs get walked through the beautiful woodedcountryside around FOHA (they have many acres) and get washed, groomedand played with as much as possible.
If you reside in the Washington DC metro areaand have been thinking about getting a dog, cat, or kitten, I recommendFOHA highly. Please visit their website at http://www.foha.org/ or give them acall for general information at 703-385-0224 or shoot them an email at info@foha.org Their website even has pictures and a "BIO" on each of the animals.
Thanks if you can help out.
~ Jim
P.S. If you are near Sterling, Virginia on SundaySeptember 18th...
Friends of Homeless Animalspresents our 3rd Annual Barktoberfest
Music and Pet AdoptionFestival
This event is for the entire family.Bring your blankets and lawn chairs for a day of the area’s finestmusic on two stages, games, delicious food, and an opportunity to meetFOHA animals up for adoption.
- Six Live Bands
- Games and Kids’ Activities
- Dog and Cat Adoption Booth
- Silent Auction
Admission: FREE
(Donations gladly accepted to benefit FOHA)
When: 12 noon to 6pm Sunday September18, 2005
Rain date: Sunday September25, 2005
Where: Melodee Music – OutdoorAmphitheater
46077 Lake Center Plaza
Sterling, VA 20165
(More info on FOHAsite.) |
Geez it's been a long time since I have posted. A lot of stuff has been going on and I am still doing projects.It is just that the subject of the projects has changed. The latestprojects involve a security camera for the house. I have been wantingto do this for a long time and finally got started on it a year agoAugust. There was a lot to learn, especially with the electronics sideof it. I spent a few months playing with preamplifier circuits andtrying to become somewhat proficient with circuit design software. Iended up with a pretty nice little preamp for my old sound card to upthe clarity a bit. Some time in the future I will be incorporating thepreamp/sound card setup to help control my latest project, a tilt-pancamera mount for my infrared assisted security camera. You can take alook at the first tilt-pan mount and the preamp here.At this point, I am about to start on the thirdprototype of the tilt/pan device. This one should be a fun project as Ihave finally broken down and purchased a milling machine. I have beenwanting a mill for ages, so this is really a neat thing.
I have cleaned up the site a bit and hope tostart documenting a few of the projects I have planned for the comingmonths. On top of building another tilt and pan mount, I will be doingsome modifications to the new mill. I also want to build a computercontrolled circuit board cutting and drilling device using the leftover stepper motors from the first tilt and pan mount. The secondtilt-pan mount was moved with servos, as will be the third, so I havethese extra stepper motors and a controller... well, you know how thatworks... I can't just let them sit and collect dust.
Well, the mill is supposed to arrive tomorrow andI'll try to document the delivery and the subsequent move of this beastinto the basement workshop. That ought to be worth a laugh or two. Thisthing is heavy!
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more to come.
