POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

Quicker to propel your plane with a 2-1 hp to weight combo and yank the plane up in the air. :dunno:

Here’s a couple of mine.

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actually until Turbine Jets came along, the fastest planes were gliders, and in dynamic soaring, they are pushing 600mph. I don't know what the current record is, but this one is 548mph

 
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I used to . I was competitive in F3B, and the USA's Thermal Duration.
I never flew competition but I have built and flown a number of different sail planes. I started flying combat and acrobatic U-Control in the 1970's, K&B .35 and Fox .35 on Carl Goldberg Voodoos and Ring Masters then in 1979 I got a Sig Cadet with a Fox .36 and a 3 Channel Futaba and learned to fly RC. I have owned many RC airplanes since but the planes I enjoyed flying the most were Sail Planes launched with a high start. The Spirit 101 I have has rudder, elevator, ailerons, Flaps and spoilers, the ailerons and flaps are setup in the radio with a mixer allowing ailerons to both go up with flaps down so it can be set down in the box.

Sorry didn't mean to get off topic....
Quicker to propel your plane with a 2-1 hp to weight combo and yank the plane up in the air. :dunno:
 
Couple little projects completed yesterday that have been waiting.

Finally got an arbor made for a slitting saw. Used 1144 and got a really nice fit between the cap/saw/arbor to help minimize runout. Learned what I will do differently next time.
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And made this work-holding mandrel for turning the rod journals on a 1/8 scale V8 crankshaft. Main journals (concentric) will be turned first without the mandrel. Mandrel has the 0.800 bore a quarter of an inch off center. By clocking the blank on 90 degree intervals, should be able to turn each of the respective rod journals, resulting in a 1/2" stroke. This is part of a small V8 engine block model I've been working on as a sort of fidget-toy to sit on a desk or whatever. You'll be able to turn the crankshaft by the flywheel and see the rods and pistons going through their cycle. No valve train or heads - just a block with a crankshaft, 8 brass rods, and 8 pistons. Should be a neat little conversation piece. I am considering making the block partially cutaway too, to better view the various parts movements.

The mandrel:

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Rods & block (lots to do yet on the block)

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On the home stretch now with the crane parts. Machining the square drive tube for pockets for the rollers. First step was a bunch of holes drilled and most tapped. Then some power tapping on the CNC mill... LOL! :)
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Luckily it all turned out OK, and didn't break a tap. Only one tap, and 32 holes to tap. The untapped holes are the start point for the milling operation.

Milling was a bit pucker inducing, but wanted to give this a try. Full depth of cut of 1/4" steel plate, 1/8" carbide, Trochoidal pocket, 5700 RPM, 4.5 IPM. By predrilling a start point, the endmill didn't need to plunge at all. It just started 'peeling' out ugly chips, with some air flush to keep them out of the way.
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By going all the way down on the endmill, the end stays 'fresh', so has nice sharp corners and flutes for the finish pass. (5700 RPM, 7.5IPM, 0.015 Radial, and .065 axial DOC) Overall very happy with this surface finish, although the overcut corners were a little 'chattery'.
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Based on recommendations from this site, I installed a six pack of Barrina LED lights in the shop/garage. This space had single bulb sockets that the garage door would bust the bulbs out when opened:( For the money spent the led's are pretty impressive! And plenty of clearance for the door.
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While I was in the enlightened state of being mode, installed Baja Design's backup light kit on the truck. Backing up the boat trailer in the dark will be much less of an ordeal now.
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Hopefully loosing all that weight was a good thing. (Not health issues, or something like that!)

I'll be worth it getting something set up at home. Not having to drive that far to access a gym and not having to share equipment is really nice. Keep us updated on what you do. FYI, I have a buddy that poured concrete weights during covid so he could work out at home. It doesn't take a lot of expensive equipment. Also shopping around for used, or getting 'good enough' cheap import stuff is good too.

Oddly enough, I worked on gym space today too. Ordered an incline bench, and finally assembled it today. It's just a cheap chinese import from amazon, but it works. I can see how I want to modify it already, but not having to make all those parts from scratch makes it worth while. It fits in the squat rack so I can safely do incline bench by myself.
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The gym space isn't very large, but it's adequate for the wife and I to workout together. Most of this stuff was used stuff I picked up just before covid hit (when prices were still really good). About 8 cents on the dollar compared to new. I think the stall mats for the floor may have been the single most expensive part (It's really nice to be able to drop or set weight down and not hurt anything! Dead lift, bent over rows, etc.)
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It's that time in my life where i needed to start eating healthy and pay attention on my looks, having you stomak exit a door a foot in front of you isn't a good look. Now i do feel a bit better and less tired when on my feet.
 
I picked up a 120 gallon air compressor a few weeks ago. It’s rated for 20CFM at 125PSI and weights over 1,500lbs. It had a bad 5hp baldor so it was super cheap. It’s got an ingersoll rand 253 two stage pump. The thing is massive. I’ve got a 7.5hp three phase with the same RPM so I’m throwing that on it. It’s got the same exact bolt pattern luckily but I did need to bore the pulley out slightly. I wired up the contacter but still need to connect the motor. 5lb dead blow for scale. I like the look of it with the new motor over the finless baldor.IMG_6869.jpeg
 
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