LabFiles at LightningRod Labs

This is my latest project as it looked on completion. My son found a deal on a nice mount bracket that takes little table room. we ran into a problem as you can see

dual mount monitures

from the following pictures. the new brackets are made to hold a monitor from the center of the back and these monitors had a mount point on the lower edge with very different mounting holes.         I would have needed longer screws if I had modified the new mount bracket. Also the mount seemed a bit unstable that way. (I did try). Rather than drive the 10 miles into town and search for Chinese metric screws I decided go the rout shown below. I knew that would be sturdy plus I could use what I had on hand.

This is the original mount that took up much desk space and was a bit unstable

Above is the new mount as you can see,  it is very different where it attaches to the monitor. Next shows the 3/16  sheet  iron plate I made to attach to the monitor, next is the new mount bracket and the 3/16 thick sheet  iron I used, The iron I used is all salvage, cut from junk or left over from projects. The last picture in the row is finished plate with the holes drilled to match the new mount bracket, note the marker and the up arrow on the iron plate. Nothing worse than to spend the time to cut and drill a piece and then to turn it wrong on the welding table and screw it up permanently. Easy to do with grey pencil marks on grey iron or trusting your eyes.

On the left above is the one inch by 1/4 iron bar on the anvil with the hammer that shaped it. The bar is also from my junk pile, much stronger than needed, but it is what I found quickly  on a cold winter day. The anvil was my fathers and I think my Grandfathers, which makes it over a 100 years old.  Even though  its shows its age it’s perfect for shaping iron with a hammer. I wonder if my Grandfather, when he hammered out plow shares or shaped horse shoes on it, could ever have imagined what I used it for today.

The next picture shows laying out the irons to determine the size. On this type of project I find it best to constantly check for size and fit. The third picture shows the iron cut to size and marks for  fit up.  Next we are back to the welding table, because I was concerned about alignment I clamped the pieces down. My weld isn’t the most beautiful work that I have done but my welding shop is unheated.  The lens in my helmet would fog up even if I held my breath. You need to see the puddle of molten metal to make a good weld and so I erred on the safe side by letting the puddle get a bit high.

No problem with some extra weld metal, the big hand grinder takes it down fast. You can barley see my nine inch yellow grinder in back of the vice.  The second picture shows us back inside checking alignment again. Than back to the welding shop  and forming a matching bracket for the second monitor. They must be the same to look right. the last picture in the above line shows the jig I made to hold parts in line for welding and to assure that the brackets match.

Above you can see all the metal work is done. In the next picture  we try it and it looks ” good enough for a town this size”. It is  now safe to finish the second bracket.  Next we take things apart and hang the brackets up and paint them as you can see in the third photo. Because it is cold outside, I paint in the wash room in the lab which get pretty strong smelling . I did have an exhaust fan set up but that blows too much heat out. The solution I have found best is to paint it than go for coffee.

The forth shows the finished brackets final attachment to the monitor, almost factory looking.

Below is the finale test mount. Next to it is the finished product, very stable as it is clamped to the table.

Below is my Son and Grandson enjoying the finished setup.

The cost of the project? Two 6013 welding rods, A couple pounds of scrap iron, some spray paint and bolts from my junk drawer.  Less than the cost of a good cup of java, plus a bit of time.

The first Saterday of each month the Willmar Car Club has a breakfast get together.  Nothing formal, it’s a gathering of people from all walks of life who like cars.  If its nice we drive our rides. If our ride isn’t running or it is still in the dream stage we come anyway, and join the conversation. I always enjoy the stories people tell, and I have found most car people like to talk about cars. Check the locations and schedule at the following link, then drop in and join us, you will be welcome.  www.willmarcarclub.com/calendar.htm

Now we always have lots of door prizes which adds to the fun. As you can see from the following picture, some are extra nice.  The way we do things, a table is filled with prizes and each lucky person gets to chose the one they like best.

The last Breakfast, Lady Luck smiled on me. My name was the first name drawn, so I had first choice. Check the picture below and note the headlight bezel clock on my shop wall. Sharp isn’t it, can you name the car it came from?

These are hand made by Brian Pearson of New London MN. They are not cheap plastic but solid metal,  made from the real headlight bezels. He makes a wide variety and can be reached at pearsongs@charter.net. Brian also does some other interesting things. Check this site  at www.aabaca.com/pearsong.html

Car Clock

I just attended my 50 year class reunion this week end. I had a good time and it brought back lots of memories. Out of a class of about 260 their were, I;m guessing, some over 110 members present. A good turnout but it was somewhat disappointing that a lot of the people I chumed around with weren’t there. I ran with the guys that liked cars. and most of my friends joined the blue collar world after school.
It was an impressive bunch at the banquet, preachers, lawyers, engineers, professors. Many people with impressive resumes. I’m proud to have known them and it was fun visiting with everyone. Probably best was the forgotten memory’s it brought back. It made me think hard about my life and the choices I have made.
School was tolerable, but hardly the best time of my life, I was eager to move on. I got pretty good grades but almost never studied. I had some good teachers and I enjoyed those classes. Then their was Russ the coach who could make an interesting subject like history unbelievably dull. I loved to read, still do, read all my text books cover to cover by the end of the first quarter.
I received about six and one half percent of my education in high school the rest of my education has been spread over the my life time. I found that education costs money whether you get it in the “Halls of Ivy” or on the street as I did.
I am satisfied with the way life turned out and I wouldn’t trade with anyone. I would be the first to admit I made a lot of mistakes and did a few stupid things. Even if I could I wouldn’t go back and change a thing, it might screw up the end result. I have traveled as much as I desire, Europe, all 50 States and Canada. Along the way I learned I would rather listen to people, than instruct them. I have found most people are friendly, weather on the streets of London, or New York, or a small town in rural America, and if you do find a hostile person, its not you they are angry at, but the problems in their own life. One thing is certain they all have interesting stories to tell.
I have been very fortunate in that my best friend in life is my wife of almost 48 years. I have a great family, My two children have done much better in life then I ever did, all this in a world that is much more difficult. I believe my grand children are very capable and are being well equipped to deal with the future.
As for the future, I have been hearing that the world is “going to hell in a hand basket” as long as I can remember. It was always from old people and it hasn’t happened yet.  I’ll admit I feel that way myself sometimes but then I think how good I have it. I believe that feeling is just a symptom of old age and the fear of change.
That the world is changing there  is no doubt. Some change is bad,  some is good but most is just different. Change is also opportunity, as a fellow I worked for pointed out to me. The cruel fact is No one looses money without some one else gaining it.
If anyone from the class of “59″ reads this, I would be happy to hear from you. Conversation is something I truly enjoy.

This is my grandson Gunnar Anderson on the day I gave him Donald. He is not quite two years old. Gunnar soon learned to scoot down the side walk in front of their house and loved to ride alongside me as we walked to the neighbourhood park.  Two years later when  My  Grandson came to me with his favourite toy and showed me the worn-out  wheels,  I tried to explain that Donald  was old ,well worn and almost too small for him. The “please fix the wheels, you can fix anything, Grandpa” was more than I could resist.

Upon examination  I could see the worn-out wheels were cheaply made and beyond  repair.

A search of  my back room found a set of new wheels from who knows where. They probably came from a swap meet several years ago, one of those “deals” you can’t resist even though you don’t know what you will do with it.

The old wheels were held on by retainers driven on the shaft. They are often difficult to remove without destroying everything. I used a tool I made in 1966, a simple slide hammer. The axles in Donald were too small for the new wheels so the search for new axles began. I wanted something stronger than mild steel, so after determining  diameter, I took my old calliper and began searching the junk pile. I always search the used iron pile first before I go buy new iron. It was nice years ago when I worked at a place with a big rack of new iron, just go over and pick what you need. The plus side is looking through discarded and broken machines and things gives one ideas.

I found a pair of old screen door closers whose centre rod fit the bill.Enough length, right diameter and good steel. The cylinders are definately not designed to be dissembled.

Note the picture’s of cutting the cylinders apart. the cylinders had a fairly strong spring inside of them. when I cut them open I had a violent reaction. This is why it is best to be alone when doing this type of thing. The red lines indicate where on the floor the parts ended up when they stopped bouncing.

The rest was simple as the pictures show. Test assemble to determine length, remove and cut with hack saw, then grind the  end smooth. I used some drive on caps that I had on hand to hold the wheels on. I believe they were purchased for pedal tractor repair. below are the pictures of me putting them on and the finished project.

Below is one Happy Grandson, I don’t think Donald will last very long as Gunnar is too big for it already. he can go lightning fast down the side walk but I had to say no when he took it up to the top of the slide.  No matter how long it lasts, that smile below was More than worth the effort I put into it.

Update for September Gunnar has discovered the tricycle—–although he can still go faster down grade on Donald.

Ever since High School I have known that shiny red convertibles attract pretty Girls. Many things have changed in the 50 years that have passed since those carefree days. As the picture shows that belief still holds much truth. True they would rather drive than ride but than I always did and they don’t need Grandpa along any more than I did back then.
Seeing the excitement in their eyes and the smile on their faces as I hand them the keys is a pleasure thats every bit as good as what I felt back in 1959.

Spring has been slow to come but I keep busy as you can see in the Photo. I put together the computer sitting on the card table out of old parts. It has an 800 MHz processor so it is fairly usable. A 19 inch monitor I saved from the scrap-man makes it a fun Machine. I loaded Ubuntu on it and a full suite of software including lots of kid games. With the GIMP software you can do magic with digital pictures. Open Office makes working with all word documents and spreadsheets easy.
I have no use for it, so will sell sell it or give it to someone who doesn’t have a computer. Better than landfilling parts—-and I learn a few things along the way. It was also a lot more fun than cleaning the junk out of my shop.

I haven’t added anything to the page for a long time. The reason is shown below. The wife is shown with her Sister Doreen and Brother-in-law Sam. You have to say they are great people when they can put up with me for several days in a row.

We had a great time, you can see the weather when we left Minnesota. As a friend says even the ducks know enough to go south in the winter.

I have a great shop, it is kept comfortable year around. my tools are there, I spend a lot of time in it. One of the best things is nobody complains when I make a mess even if something explodes. I have had a computer out there of course, with one shortcoming. I couldn’t reach my network as I was about 120 feet from my router in my house office . Digging a cable in is possible but hard work. Being the shop building is metal sheathed Wireless would work only if I stood in front of the only window. Not handy for doing much work. My son the wizard came up with the solution. Two Belkin wireless G+ routers. The first picture is in my house office and The second is in my shop. Note both are by windows, also they are in line of sight. The third picture shows the mounting material I used, an old clear plastic clipboard about 1/4 inch thick.

This was chosen not only because it was on hand but it wouldn’t interfere with the signal on the window mount. Picture 4 shows the clear mount sheet in place. this allows the router to be mounted so the front is visible and the signal has a clear path. picture 5 shows the 50 feet of cable to get to my work bench. picture 5 shows distribution router on the shelf above my work bench.

The system works great, I understand the two wireless routers need to be identical. The only thing I bought was the wireless routers, the rest was salvage.The additional router by my bench allows me to plug in a laptop or a computer I’m working on.

I want to thank my Son the wizard for the technical knowledge that made this possible

The best laid plans of Mice and men often go astray

They said this can’t happen but it did. I’m glad I didn’t leave it on the front seat of my truck.

Our new refrigerator has had problems with shelves sagging under normal usage. After looking things over it became obvious that the design had been cheapened. The thin hollow plastic support was just not enough and I feared for the glass shelf. searching my salvage pile, I found a piece of extruded Aluminum from a old storm window that was the right size

With a little sawing and filing we soon had a good fit. The brace metal fits under the plastic and is not visible with out laying on the floor and looking up.

I think the plastic support was originally intended to have a metal brace inside, much like I fabricated.

Undoubtedly a MBA had the final decision and it’s rarely they do anything right.