Rick was out tonight, at a late business meeting, so I was on my own. My assignment: prepare a replacement panel to cover the hole left when we took the furnace out two years ago. Since then, we’ve covered the hole up with plastic–which isn’t really a roadworthy solution.
Today, I used a new tool [...]
There is a deep satisfaction from recognizing that I have gained an atypical skill…that I am becoming proficient in something that isn’t retiring and girly.
For me, that seems to be grinding. After cutting bolts, bar stock and flat steel…I don’t feel much hesitation at all in putting on the goggles, whipping out the grinder [...]
Winter improvements have been tough, due mostly to work that keeps me 130 miles away from home on weekdays (and a life that has kept me spending most weekends attending funerals)…
But things are shaping up (and thankfully fewer people are dying).
My biggest token victory came Saturday morning. An incipient leak was finally blocked (yeah!) after [...]
Work went forward this weekend, though with little observable results. We tore another hole in the floor, this time tearing up most of the wood at the doorway. I am realizing that while Rick is expert at the strength tasks like tearout, I am growing a talent for grinding metal–out rust, out bolts, etc. It’s [...]
We got really cranking the past two days. We ripped out the rest of the front and kitchen area flooring and cut out a replacement pieces. For the right front section, we worked from a cardboard template Rick had made from wood he ripped out when he replaced the left side of the front. Work [...]
Last night I finally figured out how to use the Alumiweld system! As the instructions say, you heat up the metal you are welding very hot, remove the torch and melt in the alumiweld stick. The tough part, it turned out, was getting the broken window frame hot enough to melt alumiweld.
I first started by [...]
What a weekend!
Saturday started off early. Stuart Natoff came over to weld the front of our frame. He fabricated a beautiful replacement segment, then welded it right in. Turns out, Rick didn’t have to recut the damaged part flush with the frame, but the new piece was so well made, it slotted in there easily. [...]
As promised, here is a diagram showing the damage to the frame. The near end of the frame bars are painted brown, while the front end (which is further away in the diagram) is grey. The remnant of the cross bars are red (although in real life, these are just rust colored). There are two [...]
