Sunday, July 8, 2012

Simple Job!

I had a couple of simple jobs to do today. One was to manufacture some pins for the car dolly to keep the platform in place when traveling. This platform tilts down to allow the car to be driven on and off. It is held in place by a pin. The dolly came with one when we bought it but it got left behind in some RV park the first year. I could not find an easy replacement so I decided to make my own. I found a 5/8 X 6” bolt, drilled a hole in it for the safety pin and I was set. It worked fine until I lost it as well.

Today I drove down to the hardware store and bought three more bolts, washers and pins. I was assured they were not hardened metal (they were) and set about drilling the holes. Three should keep me supplied for a year or two.

This is what I wanted:
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This is what I ended up with. Just what I need:
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These are the bits I broke trying to drill through those &%^$# bolts:
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It was a good thing I had lots of bits!

Job Two:
Next on the list was to mount a Starchoice (I still can’t get around to calling it Shaw Direct) dish on the end of the garden shed for use in the motorhome when it is parked. We use the motorhome as a motel room when we have guests and it would be nice for them to be able to watch TV out there. I had an old dish in the shop. It was the one that got blown over and broken in Zacatecas, Mexico several years ago. I fixed it by cementing a block of wood to the back of it to reinforce the broken pieces. It looks ugly but works fine. The job went without a hitch. I am actually getting a better signal there than we are getting in the house.
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I had an audience while I worked. Mom and one of her brand new babies. Norma did not notice them (luckily for them):
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7 comments:

  1. BobJuly 8, 2012 at 10:32 PM

    They look like grade 5 bolts (the three marks on the ends). You did well to only break that many bits. Had you not, any left over would have been pretty dull anyway, and best thrown out. They overheat and lose their temper (hardness).

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  2. RickJuly 9, 2012 at 7:27 AM

    Wow! That's a lot of bits to break on 3 bolts. Good job, though.

    We have Starchoice piped into our rig for guests as well.

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  3. normJuly 9, 2012 at 8:00 AM

    Next time you're in farm country, look for pins in the farm supply stores. Most farm machinery have about 50 different pins that tend to fall out or break so those stores have them by the buckets.

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  4. CalypsoJuly 9, 2012 at 8:08 AM

    Really - there are tractor pins already with hole - save those bits.

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  5. CroftJuly 9, 2012 at 8:22 AM

    I will watch for a farm supply store. Remember when we used to get bits resharpened? My dad always had stuff at the sharpeners. Bits, hand saws. saw blades, chisels....

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  6. ContessaJuly 9, 2012 at 8:30 AM

    Hey Croft...the deer just wanted to watch TV!!

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  7. René and Jeanette GenereuxJuly 9, 2012 at 5:41 PM

    OK, let me put in my two bits! Yes, farm supply stores generally have the pins with holes already in them.

    Nice work of that Shaw Dish!

    ReplyDelete