2023...

[Moneybox]

Here we go again. Hopefully we're in for another great year in 2023. Not that last year was a great year for gold but we made the best of it so that makes it a great year .

I took on a few projects throughout the year and polished them off but Mrs M is still flogging away at her final project in 2022.

.

She certainly took on a challenge. In fact she started trying to organise the junk in my shed quite a long time back. That included new shelving, new lights and a lot of sorting out of the nuts, bolts, rivets and screws along with a lot of other things. Towards the end of 2022 she decided to get all my tools onto shadow boards. I guess they don't look much when they are bundled up in tool boxes, on the benches, on the floor and in the vehicles but she's been hunting them down. She still has a problem with the multiples of each size, there are a lot of odds and ends left over from what were bought as sets many moons ago and some of these will end up back in the tool boxes.

Of course she can't hang all types, some are simply too big or heavy and some are just too difficult to fix to a board and some seem to have gone to that great tool box in the cloud

I don't know how long I can keep it looking like this but so far she's done a terrific job and I'm sure she's not done but hopefully she'll leave the rest until next year......

 

[Simmo]

Awesome mate, and can't wait to hear of your 2023 exploits!

 

[RM Outback]

Yeah we need a 2024 start up post, so I reckon your on too it early Phil Sandra you are a legend well done.

 

[Moneybox]

Today I started a fight with China, not the whole country but one of the fabulous machines they produced.



The machine steers by articulation on two centre pivot pins. The difficulty with this repair is that once these pins are removed the whole frame is in two pieces. It's the sort of job that needs to be done on a good concrete floor but we don't have one of those.



When they produce these machines they nearly get it right. There's so much engineering for your money but it's the little things that let you down. In this case the 30x2mm thread on this nut is stripped. It even looks ok and so does the pin but the nut diameter is too large for the pin so it just spins on the spot.



When I went to remove the drive shaft I noticed the brake drum was loose. Both the retainer bolts had come out and were floating about inside. They are such little faults but can cause an awful lot of pain.

I considered recutting the thread inside the nut and then building up the end of the pin and then cut an oversize thread on it. I've never cut a thread on the lathe so I had a crack at it but I was not happy with the result. I have a new pin coming.

 

[user 22230]

Ye

Today I started a fight with China, not the whole country but one of the fabulous machines they produced.

View attachment 7143

The machine steers by articulation on two centre pivot pins. The difficulty with this repair is that once these pins are removed the whole frame is in two pieces. It's the sort of job that needs to be done on a good concrete floor but we don't have one of those.

View attachment 7144

When they produce these machines they nearly get it right. There's so much engineering for your money but it's the little things that let you down. In this case the 30x2mm thread on this nut is stripped. It even looks ok and so does the pin but the nut diameter is too large for the pin so it just spins on the spot.

View attachment 7145

When I went to remove the drive shaft I noticed the brake drum was loose. Both the retainer bolts had come out and were floating about inside. They are such little faults but can cause an awful lot of pain.

I considered recutting the thread inside the nut and then building up the end of the pin and then cut an oversize thread on it. I've never cut a thread on the lathe so I had a crack at it but I was not happy with the result. I have a new pin coming.

Yes MB looks like 2023 is off to a flying start

 

[Moneybox]

Late last year I burned out my old 125mm Bosch angle grinder. It was old so not worth considering repair and I saw a new Bosh Professional angle grinder on Ebay auction. It was new but had been opened. I set my final price and in the end won it at a bit more than I was hoping for but it was still less than half price.



It arrived a couple of days back and I realised why it was a new one auctioned off cheap. The discs are fastened by the new Xlock so no spanners needed. The problem is that all the old grinding, cutting and flap discs won't fit and the new ones are quite expensive.



I slipped out to the shed this morning a noticed the Mrs M had hung the vice grips and then I looked down and spotted new Xlock cutting and flap disks. Mrs M has been on the ball



I've been busy trying to fit the quick-hitch assembly together for China's new bucket. I have a hydraulic press somewhere but it's not here so it was down to a lot of banging with a copper hammer.



The link has been out in the sun and I chilled the bushes in some iced water but they were still a battle to get in.

 

[Mackka]

Bloody hell mate your battles are never ending. Congrats Sandra on a magnificent job on the tool boards. Excellent. Mackka

 

[Moneybox]

This morning I thought Mrs M was back to work but somehow she managed another day off. Anyway by the time she crawled out of bed I'd been out giving the new Grizzly a workout.



I had to sort that huge pile of rocks to get that little (perhaps 15 tonne) pile of fine material. I was feeling a bit like I was wasting my time so I gave up at 7:30am and walked home to get the truck so that I could empty the concentrates. By the time I'd put them through the sluice Mrs M was up and about but I went ahead and panned out 6g of nice fine gold. I was happy then to help her knock off a few jobs about the house.

I do my best to work quietly here because we're in a residential area and I don't want any trouble from the shire. I don't want to be told that I have to be working out of the industrial area. This afternoon I feel I had a little win, I was working away quietly, well as quietly as you can with an oxy cutter and welder, when two ladies called me from the driveway. They were from the shire work depot. The first thing I thought of was that somebody had complained about noise. As it happened they needed help.

View attachment Auger1.MOV

Their post hole auger had snapped off at the flange and needed to be repaired. They said "We've got a lathe but nobody to work it". So that blew the last couple of hours of the day but I guess if the shire workshop is going to bring me their work they are unlikely to complain about me working here



I made sure I got that sorted out quickly. Now there's just that little problem that I'm not listed as a supplier but I'm sure we can work something out.

 

[Simmo]

That win is as good as gold mate!

 

[user 22230]

MB as you well know, the many doors that open when one becomes an asset to have around is nothing short of astounding I've found? Is indeed that key that unlocks many gates

 

[Moneybox]

I friend dropped in and asked me to do a little job that included drilling some 1" and 1¼" holes in 5/8" plate.



I don't have a pedestal drill and I don't enjoy spinning around with my legs wrapped up in an electrical cable so once he left I got the oxy cutter out



It still took me a while because propane doesn't preheat very well but it was a lot safer than trying to hang on to a big drill.

 

[Mackka]

You don’t have a pedestal drill? I am sure the Council do

 

[Simmo]

Get a mag drill Phil!
Best thing ever!
Bruce lent me one before he died and I drilled a new grader blade edge for my bucket with it! Insane bit of kit!

 

[Moneybox]

Get a mag drill Phil!
Best thing ever!
Bruce lent me one before he died and I drilled a new grader blade edge for my bucket with it! Insane bit of kit!

Yes I'd like one with those new Annular cutters. The setup cost is the problem when you don't use them much.

 

[Simmo]

Yes I'd like one with those new Annular cutters. The setup cost is the problem when you don't use them much.

Yeah, Bruce bought his when he was building a shed. He needed hmmm inch?? holes drilled everywhere and didn't have the gear so called a mob in. They quoted him like $1.50 per hole from memory and there were hundreds to do, so he bought the mag drill and did it himself!
I tried welding the grader blade edge to my bucket and it snapped off in the first 10 minutes!
Talking to him about it he says bolt it on!!
So thats what we did!

 

[Flash Jack]

Here we go again. Hopefully we're in for another great year in 2023. Not that last year was a great year for gold but we made the best of it so that makes it a great year .

I took on a few projects throughout the year and polished them off but Mrs M is still flogging away at her final project in 2022.

View attachment 7095

She certainly took on a challenge. In fact she started trying to organise the junk in my shed quite a long time back. That included new shelving, new lights and a lot of sorting out of the nuts, bolts, rivets and screws along with a lot of other things. Towards the end of 2022 she decided to get all my tools onto shadow boards. I guess they don't look much when they are bundled up in tool boxes, on the benches, on the floor and in the vehicles but she's been hunting them down. She still has a problem with the multiples of each size, there are a lot of odds and ends left over from what were bought as sets many moons ago and some of these will end up back in the tool boxes.

Of course she can't hang all types, some are simply too big or heavy and some are just too difficult to fix to a board and some seem to have gone to that great tool box in the cloud

I don't know how long I can keep it looking like this but so far she's done a terrific job and I'm sure she's not done but hopefully she'll leave the rest until next year......

Mrs M did all this for you!! Geez, I need a new Mrs FJ!

 

[Mackka]

Be careful what ya wish for FJ !

 

[Moneybox]

Mrs M did all this for you!! Geez, I need a new Mrs FJ!

You can usually pick them up cheap but it can cost more than you have to get rid of the old one

 

[Moneybox]

Don't you just love it when you open a mechanical part and a few bits fall out



These bolts were in the end of the gearbox output shaft on China. When I looked at it the other day I thought the bolts had just unscrewed and fallen out.



Drilling in that hole was a bit of a challenge and then I have no idea where my Easy-outs are. They never turned up while Mrs M was collecting up the tools so I guess somebody else owns them now

Anyway, if you ever get caught out, I've found that a Torx key works just as well. Your drill hole size needs to be spot-on but after drilling a hole as close to centre as you can just drive the spline tool down the drill hole and wind it out

 

[Moneybox]

Just before Christmas and pretty much on its one year anniversary the Oztrail Commercial Delux car cover disintegrated.

It was a windy day but the fabric had just broken down as you can see by the stretch marks.



The frame was still ok so I bought a new skin and secured the legs with bolts into concrete footings. Then I put SS cables instead of the flimsy string supplied.

View attachment Oztrail.mp4

It lasted a month until yesterday's storm. I ducked out in the rain and strapped it down to a pallet of rocks.



This morning the pole with the snapped foot was the least of my problems....



The other side had collected all that water that was coming in sideways and all that stopped it hitting the ground was Mrs M's van underneath.

All I needed right now was another little job