Softly Scrambled

The Decline of Some Once Great Brands.

2012-02-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

The decline of some once great brands. It's nothing really new. Many of you may have noticed it too, but may not talk about it. Sometimes it outrages me but, mostly it just saddens me. I think some of it is driven by the Wal-Mart mentality, where we have been trained by our culture to value a low price above all other factors when making a purchasing decision. I'm sure some of it is simply driven by corporate greed to show continuous growth and profitability, not that profit and growth are bad. Mostly I think it is just shortsightedness on the part of corporate leadership.

A couple of years ago, I set out to buy a new push mower for our little corner of green, here in the suburbs. A little research with the leading consumer magazine led me to investigate a Cub Cadet mower. I soon learned that Cub Cadet is now owned by MTD and the engine is no longer a Briggs & Stratton, or other quality brand, but is a Chinese import. I promptly went home and repaired my then 23 year old Homelite, another once proud brand that is now owned by a Chinese conglomerate known as TTI. I then wrote a letter to the Quality director and Marketing director of MTD expressing my disappointment with a Chinese engine on their product. As expected, I never received a reply. Clearly profits are more important than any quality concern from a potential customer. By the way, the old Homelite is now in it's 25th year and continues to serve me well.

My latest disappointment is with a Stanley Thermos Bottle I received as a Christmas gift. There was a time, when Stanley Thermos bottles were made in Tennessee. The Stanley bottle was always a bit more expensive than the competition, but they were guaranteed for life and were known to be a quality brand. I think I paid $20.00 for one back in the early '80s. Quite a bit at the time, when a cheap no-name bottle could be had for less than $10.00. I finally tossed it out (big mistake) because it was so beaten up that I was ashamed to be seen carrying it, but it still kept my coffee hot! Of course my new Stanley thermos was made in China. As of last week it no longer keeps my coffee hot. The brand value of Stanley is now much lower in my mind. I may as well just buy a cheap vacuum bottle at Wal-Mart, since the Stanley is simply another cheap Chinese copy of the original. No point anymore in paying extra for the brand.

Now it has come to my attention that a local manufacturer is moving one of it's most important product lines to Malaysia. I'm sure this will result in a short term cost savings, but what will be the damage to the brand? This manufacturer is well know as a producer of innovative products designed and made in the USA. Will this company become another on the list of once great brands? Will consumers begin to associate this brand with other cheap commodity products from that region of the world? I don't know, but I think the answer is as close as the nOSE on your face. As for the laid off workers, I hope something good comes their way so they will be Better Off Somewhere Else.

Random Thing In No Particular Order

2011-09-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

I've had a folder with some photo's I would like to share. Many of them are not related, but I think I will throw them all into one post. So get ready. This will be random and I will just jump from topic to topic.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTO WILL CONTAIN ROADKILL WILDLIFE!

Back in the spring of this year I spotted something odd on the side of the highway while going to work. At first I thought it was a stuffed animal, but a second look revealed what looked like a large cat. I looped around and stopped to take a closer look. It was an adult female bobcat. She was hit on a section of interstate that passes through some farmland adjacent to the Congaree river. I hated to see she was killed by the traffic, but felt lucky to have seen such a beautiful creature up close. It is my understanding that these animals have adapted well to living close to humans and are sometimes spotted in urban areas after dark. I thought this was interesting and unusual enough to post on the blog and share with others. I hope you find it interesting as well.

Now for something of beauty. Fall is just around the corner in our part of the world, and I have noticed many of the insects of summer are near the end of their life cycle and are slowing down in their final days. This afternoon I spotted an almost perfect butterfly in the back yard. It even allowed me to get close and take some snapshots.

I have also been wanting to talk about some kitchen knives I like to use. My favorite knives are what some people would call "those ugly old knives". I'm sure many of you may recall similar knives in the kitchens of an elderly Aunt or your Grandma's kitchen drawer. If you were lucky enough to inherit some and smart enough not to toss them out, then you probably know why they are my favorites. These old high carbon steel knives are easy to sharpen and take a wonderful edge. The downside is, they will rust if not properly cared for. That means you can't run them through the dishwasher. They must be hand washed and dried before putting them away. I know that most people prefer the modern stainless steel knives that are shiny and can go through the dishwasher, but I just don't like them. Stainless is hard to sharpen and I can never get an acceptable edge. With the old high carbon steel knives, all I have to do to get a fresh sharp edge is about three strokes on each side of the blade across a sharpening steel and the blade is sharp. Here is a photo of my "old ugly knives". A couple I purchased and the others were made by my Grandfather. His favorite material for knife blades was old saw blades. I hope to pass these on to my son, and I hope he learns to cherish them as much as I do.

Some Things That are Cheaper and Better Now Than In the Past

2011-09-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis will know of my fondness for older items that were designed well and built to last, but there are some things that have actually improved over the years. In some cases these items are much better thanks to modern materials and computer aided design. Some things that immediately come to mind are automobile tires and batteries. The last battery I replaced in my old Nissan lasted more than 7 years and was not an expensive high-line battery. Quite amazing I think. When I first started driving back in the 1970's it was considered good to get 3 years out of even an expensive battery. Today's tires also perform better, stop shorter, are less likely to hydroplane, return better fuel mileage and last much longer. When I was a teen' it was considered good to get 40000 miles out of a set of tires. Today even the cheapest tires will easily last that long while outperforming even the best tires of the '70s. More expensive tires often last up to 80000 miles or more if properly maintained.

And while many of the older electronic devices were well designed and manufactured with care, some of the components available to designers today are nothing short of phenomenal. Capacitors have always been a weak part of many designs and electrolytics in particular are prone to failure or loss of capacitance as they age. The MCS 3275 receiver I have been repairing is no exception. I will be replacing all the electrolytics in that device while I have it on the bench. The power amplifier voltage supply is filtered by a pair of Rubicon 10000uF 63 volt caps. A good quality part when it was made and probably one of the more expensive passive devices in the set. One of the challenges faced when sourcing a replacement is finding a part that is physically large enough to fit in the original mount without having too much capacitance. The replacements I chose are Panasonic CE THA of 15000uf at 63 volts. The new part is considerably shorter than the original, but the critical mounting dimension is the diameter, so this one will fit without modification. The capacitance is higher than original, but still close enough that it won't require any circuit modifications. It should actually perform better.

Oh, I almost forgot. The power amplifier repair on the 3275 was successful. Good clean audio from both channels and no smoke.

More of my recent activities

2011-08-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have also made some time to work on some of the electronics projects that have been gathering dust.
I recently repaired a Sansui AU710 Integrated Amplifier. This is an export unit and is essentially the same as the US spec. AU717 except the AU710 has a dual voltage power transformers and is derated by 5 watts for 50Hz operation. These are really nice Direct Coupled amplifiers with dual power supplies. One of the nicest designs from the Japanese stereo craze of the 1970s. They are conservatively rated at 90 watts per channel on the AU717 and 85 watts per channel on the AU710. One issue that is common to any Sansui products from this period is glue rot on the printed circuit boards. Sansui used a brown adhesive to stabilize the larger capacitors on the boards so they would better withstand the shock and vibration of shipping. Unfortunately as the adhesive continued to out-gas and dry to a brittle state, it becomes hydrophilic and begins to absorb moisture from the atmosphere creating galvanic corrosion of the surrounding components.

The good news is the boards in the AU710 are all single sided, so none of the PWB wire traces are affected. I carefully scraped away the offending adhesive and replaced any damaged components. This was required on both power amplifier driver boards and the power supply/protection boards. Once all that was taken care of, the unit was reassembled and tested. After allowing the amp to warm up by playing a cd for about an hour, I set the bias current in the outputs and reattached the cover.

The most recent project on the electronics bench is a MCS-3275 stereo receiver. This particular unit was made by NEC. The black face NEC version is model number AUR 8075.

While not as nice as the Sansui, this is still a formidable unit at 75 watts per channel, plus it is a big fancy silver dial unit that most of us remember from the 1970s. The final PA power transistors were shorted in the left channel. These are obsolete NEC devices; 2SDA588 and 2SB618. I replaced these with ONSemi MJL3281A and MJL1302A. These are much more rugged, but it did require some modification to the heatsinks and the mounting scheme. I also replaced the driver transistors and recapped both boards. If this repair is successful I will then recap the rest of the unit.

Update On My Activities.

2011-08-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Back in June, my assignment with the temp agency came to an end. So, what have I been doing, you might ask? Well I have been keeping myself very busy. Come along and let's have a look at what I do when I am allowed to run amok.
I spent some time working out in the garag....Er...Ugh I mean shop, and built this neat little adjustable box joint jig from plans in a magazine I have been holding on to for about 20 years. Mine was built from whatever stock I had on hand, so it is not as pretty as the varnished maple version in the magazine, but is every bit as functional. I made a test joint on some scrap and was able to stand on it without the joint breaking.

I have also been able to get some paint on some of the parts from the old DeWalt model GR Radial arm saw I have been restoring. For those just tuning in, this old beast was built in 1948 and swings a 14" blade. The old girl is 3 phase, so I will need to build a rotary phase converter, but not to worry; I will take lots of pics and provide a bunch of details so anyone that wants to play along at home can join the fun.

I have also started building a dust collection system for my smaller radial arm saw. It consist of an angled box that mounts behind the blade. There will be a narrow slot at the rear and a tapered chute where the vacuum will attach. The idea is to keep the vacuum slot at the rear narrow so the flow velocity remains high. Initially this will simply be screwed together without glue so that I may make changes as needed. If this initial design does not work well, I will open up the throat in the back so that gravity can assist with the dust collection.

Some Things I like.

2011-05-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today I took some snapshots of some of the things I like. Mostly it's things that work well and get the job done. None of them are particularly valuable, but they are priceless to me because they work well.

One is my old radial arm saw. It's an old DeWalt made in 1958. I got it for free, as it was destined for the landfill if no one wanted it. I took it, cleaned it up and have been using it ever since. Sure, I have more modern tools that are more powerful, but the little DeWalt is so darn handy to use that it calls to me often for a variety of task.

Another favorite is my old Gravely Model LI two wheel tractor. Made in 1971, this is a design that dates back to the 1930's. Heavy castings with a pressure lubricated gear drive, this little tractor is built to last. Gravely built this same basic model until about 2006. I haven't found any grass or brush this machine can't handle. It can even handle saplings up to 2". Every time I use it it pleases me and I am always a little sad when I think that these great machines are no longer made.

My little white GE radio is another one of the simple little things that I enjoy every time I turn it on. A cheap little AA5 tube set, it was a cheap little radio when new, and still is not worth much, but I like it a lot. I replaced all the old electrolytic caps and the wax paper caps, about 18 years ago, and she never lets me down.

Briggs & Stratton engines are another favorite of mine. Cheap, simple little aluminum motors that always seem to respond well to a little maintenance and care. My oldest mower is over 25 years old and still works like new. My latest is a trash picked mower built in 2008. Cleaning out the carburetor and gas tank fixed her up and I even gave her an oil change. I've never liked the foam air cleaners the cheap ones use. They are a wet filter and tend to clog easily, requiring lots of cleaning. I decided to add a dry pre-filter to mine. It's just a scrub pad from the dollar store cut to fit. I like the cheap ones because they are thin. So far it is working well.

Blogger Silence

2011-03-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Warning! Rant ahead. I was recently told that today is Blogger Silence day or some such non-sense, in response to the disastrous events recently in Japan. Now, don't misunderstand and think I am uncaring. I really do feel bad for the misery inflicted upon the Japanese people by recent events, but remaining silent, or having a Blogger Silence day does nothing, but make a bunch of self appointed net-nannies feel important and morally superior to others. Therefore, I am officially calling "Bullshit" by blogging away as normal. If you wish to do something to help Japan, then I would suggest doing something tangible such as a donation to the Red Cross or other reputable international aid agencies. If I hurt anyone's feelings, then perhaps you should walk away from your computer and stand in the rain with a candle and sing a sad little song.

On a brighter note, While out for lunch the other day, I happened to notice some plants in bloom around an empty lot where an old house once stood. I took a few minutes from lunch to walk around and shoot a few pictures. There were daffodils, flowering almond, spirea, hawthorn, and forsythia. Further back on the property were the remnants of an old apple orchard. The old plants were still putting on quite a good show almost coquettish in there display. It looks like the property may soon be developed. Sort of a shame to see it turned into another strip mall or some other example of suburban sprawl. I went back the next day and got some cuttings to try and root. Enjoy the pics.

Something from the shop.

2011-03-15T03:58:00.000-07:00

I've recently been going through some of my things out in the radio room and came across this little analog multimeter. I picked it up at an AWA meet a few years ago for $5.00. A very well made little Bakelite meter with a mirrored scale. Reasonably good impedance for an old analog job; 30000 ohms/volt DC, 15000 ohms/volt AC. I'm sort of a sucker for a mirrored scale so I had to bring the little guy home. The little meter works just fine and looks like new inside and out. There are no maker's marks anywhere to be found; just "Part Number 145-0254" and sn 772. This meter looks to be typical of the high quality Japanese electronics that began flooding the US market in the 1970s. I wonder where it came from? Was it a kit, something from a correspondence course, or just an inexpensive meter from one of the many mail order houses that catered to hams and electronic hobbyist? I may never know, but it sure has been fun wondering and doing a little searching. Pretty good fun for only $5.00.

Made In the USA. It matters

2011-03-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Today I needed to purchase a water pump for one of our vehicles. I went down to the local Advance Auto Parts store since one is only a couple miles from the house. Once the clerk had looked up the part, I asked where it was made. Her reply was Taiwan. I told her I did not want Chinese or Taiwanese parts for my car and asked if there were any USA made parts available. Her reply was no and that's just how it is in this country now. I declined to purchase the parts and went to their competitor Auto Zone. Much to my delight, Auto Zone had a new USA manufactured part available and it was $1.00 less than the Advance part. I simply refuse to put Chinese parts on any of my vehicles. Yes, there are some good Chinese suppliers and they are getting better every day, but for every good supplier there are thousands of bad or terrible ones. I simply have no way to tell what the qualification standard are for a parts store vendor. In Advance defense, Taiwanese manufacturers tend to be considerably better than the mainland manufacturers, but still it is not a North American manufactured part. If you are at all concerned about the reliability and safety of any replacement parts, then it pays to ask. I have even gone to the trouble of purchasing some parts directly from the auto dealer in order to get the quality and performance I desire.

Urban Homesteading! Suburban Homesteading!

2011-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

Like many folks these days we are trying our best to economize. Of course economizing ties in well with the concept of Urban Homesteading, or in our case suburban homesteading. We try our best to re-use, re-purpose, or recycle as much as we can. Almost no food is allowed to spoil or waste. Leftovers are sent out as lunch the next day and any other leftover bits and pieces are incorporated in new dishes or new meals. Anything that cannot be consumed is recycled into compost for the garden. Glass containers that can be re-used for canning are cleaned and set aside for blackberry jam, green tomato chow-chow, and canned tomatoes. Currently we have several beds in hard-neck and soft-neck garlic varieties. It won't be long now before we are setting out tomato plants and other garden delights. I've also been trying to figure out a way to keep some chickens without being discovered by the neighbors. I would love to have some backyard poultry to have my own supply of fresh eggs like the ones we periodically get from my in-laws, but it is currently against city ordinance to keep backyard poultry. Keeping a few birds would be very beneficial to the suburban homestead for the protein as well as the nutrient rich litter for the compost pile. If any of you have any good ideas on flying under the city radar with around five birds, I would love to hear about it.

On our morning walk, we decided to just walk along the power line right of way that runs between the neighborhood and the Congaree Land Trust nature preserve. Along the right of way there is an area where some folks from the neighborhood have been dumping yard debris that caught my attention. Now normally it would anger me to see this illegal dumping, but one of the unintended benefits of this activity is the brushy undergrowth that has taken over this area is providing good habitat to the local wild bird population. In just a few minutes I was able to spot over a dozen small birds taking advantage of the cover provided by the brush, so even though this spot may look a bit untidy, it is an important part of the local wild bird habitat. Along the way, we also spotted a very nice brushy plant in full bloom that looks very similar to spirea along with some yucca that were discarded by some local homeowner. Then it was on to the neighborhood streets and back home.

Thanks for visiting.

A sewing machine named Faye

2011-02-06T19:31:00.000-08:00

Several years ago we spotted a sewing machine on the side of the road in a trash pile. Being one that can never walk away from perfectly serviceable machinery, I had to stop and save it from the dump. If it's free, it's for me. The first thing I noticed was the weight. This thing is heavy! Lots of iron castings and steel. The machine is a Morse, one of the Japanese machines popular in the '60s and '70s. Sometime during it's history, someone etched Faye in the main casting, so we've decided she is the Morse named Faye. Faye was completely locked up and rather grimy. With some WD-40, sewing machine oil and elbow grease, I got it working again. The wooden base was falling apart, so I made some replacement pieces, and glued that back together. Life then got in the way and Faye was set aside while other projects and task took our time. Recently we pulled her out again and did another cleanup and lube. Soon she was ready to work again. Somehow, I just couldn't see putting her back in that ugly old base and grimy case, so I recovered the base with some imitation leather, repainted the hardware, and gave the case a thorough scrubbing. I think she turned out rather nice. I think she has earned a space in the sewing room as a backup machine. A little research turned up some interesting facts. The old Morse machines were actually made by Toyota. Yes, the same Toyota that now builds quality automobiles. It seems that part of the MacArthur recovery plan after WWII, was to convert the Japanese war machine to the production of consumer goods for the US and European markets. Sewing machines were identified as one such consumer good that would be in demand, providing a ready market for the Japanese manufacturers. There is a Yahoo group called vintagejapansewingmachines dedicated to these old Japanese machines. It is simply amazing to view all the different brands colors and styles that were imported. Enjoy the pictures of Faye.

Winter Ramblings

2010-12-26T15:29:00.000-08:00

This I believe has been our best Christmas ever. I just feel happy and at peace with my situation. We had a bit of snow today, which is very unusual for SC and certainly unusual for December, as we usually only see frozen precipitation in late January, early February. Becky and I took a walk down by the river to enjoy the fresh fallen snow and took a few snapshots. While running some errands I spotted some pigeons on a wire looking terribly cold and miserable. Once we got home from our errands, we decided that some homemade chicken noodle soup would go well with the cold weather. We use a recipe from Consumers Reports that is just wonderful. I like some tortilla chips with mine. We both put away 2 bowls we were so hungry. I took a few moments to check on my little garlic patch and was glad to see they are doing just fine under their blanket of snow. As you can see, I planted both some softneck and hardneck varieties. I had some free time yesterday and was able to move my smaller radial arm saw to the base I built and bolt it down. Now I need to build some drawers for the base to gain some much needed storage.

A Perfect Saturday With My Sweetie

2010-10-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect day with my wonderful wife Becky. I slept in till about 9:00 and then had a wonderful home cooked breakfast. We then spent about an hour just walking along a section of Old State Road taking some pictures of the wildflowers, weeds, and grasses as they get in their last hurray of the season before winter. Most people would never bother taking the time to look closely at these plants, as, after all, they are just weeds, but I find there is something beautiful in their coloration as the seasons change. The wild ageratum and goldenrod were covered with butterflies, bee, wasp, and other insects. The grasses have all set their seed and some are quite spectacular with their red, burnt orange and brown seeds glistening in the morning sun. After a relaxed lunch at the house, we then went to the Congaree Bluegrass festival at the municipal park. This is always a nice show, and this year was no exception. I particularly enjoyed watching the young children running and playing. I strongly suspect that many of our children do not get enough unsupervised outdoor time to run wild and just be kids. Later that evening we went for a walk at the river, where I got in a good run. Until next time, here are some pics for your enjoyment.

Some Well Needed Exercise

2010-08-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling a bit lethargic and have missed my daily run/walk for the last several days due to some evening thundershowers. This evening I just couldn't stand it anymore, so we went down to the riverwalk and got in a vigorous walk/run. We had to cut it a little short this time, but we mixed it up with a lot of short, fast sprints that were very invigorating. I'm looking forward to a shower and an early night to bed.

PawPaws, Work, and a Riding Mower

2010-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

During our periodic walk/runs down by the river, we have noticed a little patch of pawpaws growing along the path. I brought one home recently and gave it a try. The meat is very sweet like a banana. A little research on wikipedia reveals that the pawpaw is North America's only native tropical and the meat of the fruit contains a lot of protein. Pawpaws can be substituted in most any recipe that calls for bananas.

I currently have some temporary work and it is nice to have a little income. Even if it's not my idea of the perfect job, I am still learning some things and will come away from this as a positive experience.

On to another topic, I recently rescued a push mower from someone's trash and found that all it needed was a clean air filter and an oil change. The machine is only 2 years old and runs like a top. I think I will keep it. I parked it beside my 25 year old Homelight mower that still works fine. I have also been gifted an old Craftsman riding mower. It is a 2003 model with a 17.5HP Briggs & Stratton. The Exhaust lobe was wiped off the cam due to a lack of lubrication. Parts are on order and I will soon have it back together.

In the woodshop, I have reassembled my little Dewalt MBF with the higher HP frame 236 motor that I salvaged from an old model 7770. I have been carefully performing an alignment and will soon be back to using that wonderful machine.

Nature's Canvas

2010-06-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year when the sycamore trees are in their growth cycle and are shedding their outer bark. Afternoon thunderstorms also help peel away the bark and blow it about. The big blotches of bark are very flexible when moist and almost feel leather-like in one's hand. The patterns and shapes are really quite pleasant to observe, and I have often thought they would make an interesting canvas for a nature painting by anyone with more artistic ability than my own.

During our walk/run this morning, we spotted a copperhead along the trail below the CSX trestle. He darted for cover before I could get a good picture, but if you look carefully you can see the orange side of it's head.

Accidental Garlic Farmer

2010-05-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

A few years ago we noticed some garlic plants growing adjacent to our garden. I don't know how they got there, maybe the previous owners had planted them. These were a hard-neck variety, so I don't think these were accidentally planted by someone throwing out some cloves from the grocery store. Anyway, I think it was 3 plants total, so I dug them up and the bulbs were HUGE! Not knowing anything about growing or harvesting garlic, I managed to dry the plants and we started using the cloves in the kitchen. That fall I had some cloves left over, so I planted them out in the garden and they thrived. The next spring. I had plenty of wonderful hard-neck plants to harvest. I have been hooked on growing garlic ever since. This past fall I planted some soft-neck cloves from the grocery store along with my usual hard-neck variety. They also thrived. I have already harvested most of my little crop, but it is the best harvest ever from my little plot. Becky helped me braid the leaves; well, she braided all of them, and they are hanging in the shed to dry. I found a really nice book on the subject in the library and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

Happenings....

2010-05-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

Things have been rather busy here at Softly Scrambled. Becky and I have both decided to take charge of our health and wellness, and that means changing our diets and making exercise a priority. We have been walking/running, twice a day down at the River-walk. Later this week we plan on working in the Abs of Steel workout to give us some variety. On Monday I fixed us a nice low-fat Chicken Pineapple stir-fry that we served over a small portion of rice. It was really easy and only took about 20 minutes to make.
Whenever we go to the river, We always like to take a camera with us because we never know what we will see while we are out. I got some shots of some kids swimming, jumping off the old locks. It looks like a lot of fun even if it is a bit dangerous.
Flea season is once again upon us, and our old fat tomcat was starting to suffer, so Becky gave him a flea bath this afternoon. It may take Tesla a couple of days before he can forgive us. I believe his only comment on the matter was, "how rude".
My garlic that was planted last fall is near maturity and I went ahead and pulled several of the soft neck variety to dry as we are almost out of last years crop. This year I have both hard neck and soft neck varieties and am very pleased with how they have grown. I also put out some watermelon seeds on the lower side of the lot. I have never had much luck with melons, but I keep trying anyway.
On the employment front, I did not get the job I interviewed for in Orangeburg. I am still applying like crazy and things are starting to pick up. I have a phone interview tomorrow and another one on Friday. Both are with solid companies.

One of those really wonderfull mornings.

2010-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

I got an early start on the day this morning. Breakfast was shrimp and grits with scrambled eggs and black coffee. Mmmm, thanks Becky. I went outside and decided to walk the yard. The garlic and onions in the garden are looking good and will soon be ready to harvest. Our roses are in bloom and everything around us has leafed out and is growing like crazy. I could not resist snapping some picture of all the plants in bloom and things of beauty. We don't keep our plantings cut back and shaped like many of our neighbors. I'm sure the garden club will never award us yard of the month and the neighborhood association probably has my name on a hit list, but what the hell, I like things to look natural and a little shabby. Besides, it provides lots of cover and habitat for birds and I like that. Every neighborhood has one and in mine, I'm him. In a few more weeks, once everything has stopped blooming, we will trim things up a bit, mainly to keep the plants healthy and to avoid some of the larger plantings from shading the smaller stuff. Enjoy the pictures.

Nature All Around Us

2010-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

I am constantly amazed with the diversity of wildlife that can be found practically underfoot in urban and suburban areas. This evening while returning from our walk at the Cayce River-walk, we could hear some little voices off in the brush between the walkway and the railroad siding. Kit-wau! Kit-wau! As we got closer to the sound a gray fox darted out into the middle of the walk and then turned around darting back into the brush. We found ourselves between her and her kits. After a moment of indecision, we quickly walked past where her kits were crying, while looking back to watch for her to cross. Of course the mother fox was too clever to reveal the location of her den and she walked another 25 feet or so further down the path keeping a wary eye on us before disappearing into the brush. Within a second or two of her disappearing into the brush, her kits quited and we knew mother fox was back with her young. I returned home feeling just a little more at peace after a reminder that nature continues to take it's course and mothers continue to nurture their young. Wikepedia has a nice article on the Gray fox here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_fox

Trash Pickings

2010-04-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today while driving to the riverwalk for some well deserved recreation I spotted one of those cheap pedestal fans out by the road for trash pick-up. These are the el-cheapo type that are frequently offered by the discount retailers. I grabbed it up and took it home. Typical of these cheap Chinese fans, the motor bearings are a simple sleeve bearing. I don't even think they are bronze. Of course the rotor would barely turn. I pulled the little motor apart, chucked the rotor in my drill press and polished the shaft where the bearings ride. I then lubed the shaft with some light oil and put everything back together. Works like a champ and even came with a remote.

Pollen Pollen Pollen!

2010-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

It is pollen season here in South Carolina, and I think this is the worst year in recent memory. The pollen from the pines is so thick it creates a yellow/green haze in the air that settles on everything and gets everywhere. I'm looking forward to some rain to get some relief. Here is a picture of my pollen coated car.

Wet Furry Beaver Pics

2010-04-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Before anyone gets all upset; Yes this is still a family friendly blog. This afternoon we went to check out a site near the house where some beavers have set up residence. I was quite surprised to see them in this location. There is a busy rail line on one side of their little pond, and a bustling residential neighborhood on the other side. Just beyond the rail line is a cold roll steel mill and a busy highway overpass is above. I parked the car and we took a little stroll up the tracks to have a look. Much to my delight I got a good look at two of the residents. One was quite curious and swam right up to us to check us out. It's really amazing the amount of wildlife that is right under our noses if we just slow down to take a look.

We then went for a stroll at the river walk. Everything is starting to green up and bloom. The wisteria is in bloom and the air is heavy with it's sweet scent. Tomorrow we plan on getting an early start on some garden chores. Perhaps I will post some pics from that project if we are not too tired.

Antique Radio's and New push block.

2010-03-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

4103.1

Tomorrow is the last day of this year's AWA Carolinas spring meet in Charlotte. Activities started on Thursday, with the flea market opening Friday morning. I have attended this meet for many years, but just couldn't justify the cost of the hotel and meals for the full 3 days this year. Since we have a family related event we need to attend in Spartanburg, I don't feel too bad about running up to Charlotte early in the morning to look over the last of the flea market vendors before heading down to Spartanburg. Who knows, maybe I will find some minor treasure to bring home. Here are some pictures from last year's meet.

I built a new Rip Push Block today with some scrap I had laying around. I patterned it roughly after one I saw in the De-Cristoforo book. Mine is a little bigger than the original. I sized it based on what works well with my hand size. I made the vertical part tall enough to hit the end of the blade guard without slipping under. I made the base long enough for the work to completely clear the cut, but short enough to mis the anti-kickback pawls. The base is detachable so it can be replaced as it wears. A nice little project that didn't take much time, but will add a degree of safety when ripping on the radial arm saw.

Welding Table

2010-03-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

The weather has finally started to warm and I got a couple things done out in the shop. I have a little Miller buzz box welder that I occasionally use for repairs or to build a new gadget. Up until now, I have been struggling to weld things on a small little platform of channel iron on the concrete floor. I already had a small frame and legs from a machine I scrapped a couple of years ago, so I picked up some old vertical pieces of pallet racking at the scrap yard and had them cut to length and welded them up on some angle iron I had in the shop from some trash pickings. The end result is this very functional little welding table. Now I can get up off the concrete and give my back a rest whenever I need to do a little welding. Not bad for $45.00 of scrap plus some junk I already had taking up space. I'm so pleased with it I may add some wheels and a shelf for the welder.

Cold and Snow

2010-02-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

The weather remains cold and now it is snowing. Snow is a rare occurrence in SC and few people know how to drive in it, so we are staying indoors. Progress on the GR radial saw has slowed to a crawl due to the cold weather. My shop is not heated so it is rather uncomfortable to work on the saw. I was able to deliver the thrust cap, bearings, elevation screw and handle to the machine shop for modification of the thrust cap to work with the new bearings. I should have those back next week.

I have been able to work on some small indoor projects. I just finished rebuilding a DoAll Selectron magnetic chuck controller. This was previously used in a corrosive environment, So the biggest challenge was removing rusty frozen hardware. All the components under the tube sockets were corroded to the point of falling apart and the rheostat was shot. I replaced the tube sockets, all components under the tube sockets, the rheostat, both toggle switches and the output capacitor. It looks a little rough, but will probably work well for another 30 years.

My employment situation is still not where I would like. I am still applying like crazy, but only get a few bites. Hopefully something will turn up soon.

Cold, Rain, or Both

2010-01-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

The weather here has been cold, rainy or both for the last few days with more cold weather forecast for the next few days. Since I work in an unheated garage, I have just resigned myself to work on other task indoors until better weather comes my way. I ordered a number of items from McMaster-Carr. Most of them were small hardware items for the saw with a few parts thrown in to build a mobile base. I am including it all in my total cost since I would have no need for a mobile base without the saw. Total for the McMaster-Car order was $96.14. I also bought another rattle can of etching primer at $6.30. This brings my new total to 605.72. I estimate I can complete the mobile base for another $150.00 and The motor will need new bearings. At this point I am estimating I can complete the saw for less than $1000.00. Since rebuilt machines of this capacity generally sell in the $2500.00 to $3000.00 range, I think I will be OK even if I exceed the $1000.00 mark by a little.

Originally the old GR saw used a hardened steel thrust washers between the thrust surface of the arm elevation screw and the thrust cap, plus some steel shim washers between the top of the trust cap and the elevation crank. I plan on using a needle thrust bearing set under the thrust cap and a bronze oilite thrust washer under the handle. This will require cutting a relief in the underside of the thrust cap in order to ensure that there is adequate shaft length protruding for attachment of the elevation handle. Since there is a lot of meat in the thrust cap casting, it should be no problem to relieve the cap. While we're at the machine shop we may as well face the thrust surface of the elevation screw, face the top of the thrust cap and true up the bottom surface of the elevation crank. That should leave us with a smooth operating arm elevation mechanism that will work well for many years.

If you look carefully, you can see a small round chrome feature in one of the recesses in the thrust cap. That little device is an oil port, containing a steel ball backed by a low tension spring. It is just large enough to insert the end of a small oiler to lubricate the thrust bearing under the cap. It's these little details that I really like about old iron. Made In the USA and made to last.

I am also on the lookout for a vintage motor starter or start/stop station that will look appropriate on a machine of this vintage. I just can't bring myself to hang some cheesy Chinese made plastic junk on this saw. Enclosed are some pictures of some vintage controls. The original electrics were from Arrow-Hart & Hegeman, but something from the right era by Cutler-Hammer, Allen-Bradley, Square-D, GE, Westinghouse, or Furnac would be acceptable.

Nice Legs!

2009-12-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

The weather has cooperated nicely the last few days, so I was able to spend a little time out in the shop. Two more of the legs have been de-rusted and the final leg is in the bath as I type adding it's rust to the soup. Three of the 4 legs have been primed with etching primer and I used some body filler to fill the grinding marks left from welding and grinding smooth the holes previous owners have drilled in the legs.

I was also able to work a little on my MBF Frankensaw project. By using the yoke and roller-head assembly from a model 925 I can use the frame 236 motor I am salvaging from a model 7770 on my little MBF. I will save the frame and column mount from the 7770 for another project, and will part out the rest of the saw. Today I separated the roller-head from the yoke. The difficult part of this piece is removing the set screw pin that locks the king bolt in place. The pin is hardened steel and the yoke is aluminum. Over the years the pin freezes to the aluminum due to galvanic corrosion. I have been soaking the threads in PB Blaster for about a week and was able to back the pin out with the application of a little heat from my propane torch. I really got lucky with this one. I have had problems with others where the head of the screw would snap off leaving me no choice but to pay a machinist to remove the pin. I also have several other project waiting for my attention: Gravely tractor repairs, replace the chipbreaker on my planer, finish my welding table and tune up my jointer. There are also several other projects in the queue, but I will save that for another time. I don't want to overwealm myself and shutdown. I also have an update on cost for some additional parts and supplies, but I think I will go over that tomorrow. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. I am so thankful for my wonderful family as we gather to celebrate the holidays.

Electrolysis results

2009-12-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to pull a couple of the legs from the soup and snap some photos. Once the parts are removed to dry they will flash over with a light coating of surface rust almost immediately. The rusted areas will be coated in a flakey black oxide. I allow the parts to air dry, knock off the surface rust and black oxide with a wire cup on my side grinder and then scrub the parts down thouroughly with a brown 3M finishing pad and some hot soapy water. I then towel them dry and set in a warm oven or in a closed warm car in the sunshine. This results in a part that is free from any rust and grime and is ready for primer. I will then fill any of the small defects left from welding closed the holes that were drilled in the piece. Sometimes I use the kitchen oven to process parts. SHHH! Don't tell Becky.

A trip to the river walk

2009-12-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Cayce end of the river walk along the Congaree is closed due to flooding, so we went upstream to the West Columbia entrance to get a little exercise and walk the dog. It was cool and breezy, but still a very pleasant outing. We stopped and admired a sturdy bayberry bush that was heavy with berries, and Becky spotted a black lizard trying very hard to go unnoticed as it warmed itself in the sun just off the trail. That's all for today as I need to do some studying.

A Nice Weekend Off to Relax and Play

2009-12-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a beautiful sunny day here in the Midlands of SC. I went up on the roof and patched a small area around the chimney that has started leaking. I found that some of the old caulking had dried and pulled away from the flashing, so I sealed it up with the last of some old roofing cement I bought many years ago. It's sort of ugly, but I have never had to re-do any repairs where I used the old roofing cement. It's basically a black tarry asphalt emulsion with some fibre content to give it some additional strength. I placed another of the DeWalt GR saw legs in the de-rusting bath and then did some shopping. I have purchased the finishing supplies I will need to re-paint this saw. I settled on a custom color that matches the old Oliver Machinery Teal that was used in the 1960's. I purchased the paint and the compatible primer from Sherwin-Williams. The smallest quantity available was in gallon cans, so I'm sure there will be additional machines painted Oliver teal from my shop. The paint is Sher-Kem High Gloss enamel and the primer is Kem-Flash primer. I also purchased a gallon of reducer, sandpapers, filler, and sanding primer fillers. Total for the paints and finishing supplies comes to $146.98. Now I know you can get a perfectly acceptable finish for much less with rattle cans, but I really want this machine to look like a professional restoration. The total is now $503.28. The cost starts to add up fast once you start counting every $5 to $35 dollar purchase. That's all for now.

Parts for a rotary Phase Converter

2009-12-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

This evening I picked up a brand new 5HP 3PH motor to use in the construction of a rotary phase converter. This will give me 3 Phase capability in the shop so I can run the big radial saw or any other 3 phase machines that may come my way... hehe hehe. I ran a wanted ad on craig's list and picked up this motor for only $40.00. Since I will use the phase converter on multiple machines, I will not be adding it to the restoration cost of the saw. I will add that I picked up a rattle can of etching primer and that will be added to the cost of the saw refurb. Etching primer from Advance Auto Parts, $6.30 including tax. My total saw investment thus far is $356.30. I also pulled the first saw frame legs from the electrolysis bath. It is paint and rust free, but coated with a black oxide residue. I need to clean it up with a green pad and water and check to see how bad the rust pitting is at the bottom of the leg. I will post some more pics once I get a chance. I may not get a chance to get back on this project for a few days due to a motherboard failure on my wifes desktop. This shouldn't be too bad since I have another MB on hand and her linux system will most likely handle it with little trouble.

Removing Rust

2009-11-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I set up my electrolysis rust removal system. The reversal of the plating process. This consist of a 12 amp 24 volt adjustable dc power supply, a plastic tub from the dollar store and some scrap iron to use as the sacrificial anode. I keep the workpiece slightly raised off the bottom of the tub with a couple of bricks. The electrolyte solution is simply tap water with sodium carbonate (washing soda). Hook the negative lead to the workpiece and the positive to the sacrificial anode. I like to keep the battery clips out of the solution as the negative lead will lose it's plating and the positive will rapidly erode if they are submerged in the solution. The electron flow is from negative to positive, and the electrons will scrub off the oxides, paint and anything else coating the workpiece. The byproduct is rusty water with old paint and hydrogen gas. Yes, this does produce some hydrogen gas, so only do this in a well ventilated area. Avoid any sources of sparks or flame while running this process, and of course, No Smoking. You shouldn't be smoking anyway unless you happen to be on fire. A day or two in the "soup" will usually result in a perfectly clean part ready for primer after a vigorous cleaning with a green pad and tap water. This process is only for ferrous metals and should not be used on yellow metals or aluminum as they will disolve away. Rusty water with sodium carbonate is not particularly nasty for the environment on its own, but since I don't know what may be in the paint, I like to let the water evaporate and then dispose of the rust and paint in a well sealed plastic bag for the trash. I also avoid using stainless steel for the sacrificial anode as it contains chromium which is toxic to the environment.

2009-11-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

The helpful folks at Original Saw Company were able to decode the serial number on my GR and determined this machine was made in 1948. A well deserved thank you goes out to the helpful folks at Original Saw and Wolfe Machinery for making the parts that help keep these great old machines running.

First Post and some of my projects.

2009-11-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

Since I always enjoy sharing things from our life and my various projects, I have decided to start documenting these things in a blog. I am currently working on refurbishing a DeWalt model GR radial arm saw. I found this saw on Craigslist and went to have a look as it was identified as a model GP in the ad. A model GP is an older 12 inch saw that is a very nice size for a home shop. Heavy duty iron castings and plenty of power for most projects. Once I had a chance to look the saw over I discovered it to actually be a Model GR; a much larger industrial machine, with a 14 inch blade capacity and 3 phase, 3HP motor. I was not sure of the actual age of this machine, but it was clearly from the 1940's or early '50's at the latest. A deal was struck and I was the new owner for $225.00. One thing I would like to do is begin documenting the actual cost of my little projects and see just how deep in the hole I have to go to resurect some old iron. Disassembly revealed a broken miter index on the column and a poor fitting replacement elevation handle. A quick search of some of my favorite old woodworking machine sites secured an elevation handle $25.00 and column $100.00. Totals so far are $350.00. I spent most of yesterday welding closed all the extra holes in the saw frame that have been drilled over the years. Here are some pictures for your enjoyement.