The Gustavus Thread

[miked]

As a reserve, could you tap into the river with a small pump and pump it up to the house to a water tank?? Might be another option.

Could be used just for tolet flushing if nothing else. I grew up using the outhouse and in the winter that was far less than pleasant. I guess the summer time wasn't all that pleasant for other reasons. Mike.

[gustavus]

Could be used just for tolet flushing if nothing else. I grew up using the outhouse and in the winter that was far less than pleasant. I guess the summer time wasn't all that pleasant for other reasons. Mike.

it's not that bad really since the invention of high density Styrofoam seating has become a pleasure.

[BurlyGuys]

Can't believe I spent most of Christmas day reading this, but what a fascinating thread. Read it because I was interested in your car scrapping adventures, but your transitions have been very interesting as well. Thank you Gus!

[Bear]

I wasn't hangin up mad, I was just hangin up, haha ; ) I'm sorry to hear about your friend, guys like that are few, and far between
Morning people certainly have the advantage, I just happened to be a slow starter, but stay at it till it's done, even if it's 3am. I've never been inclined to call anyone before 9am, or after 9pm, unless it's been pre-arranged.
My mornings are generally spent sorting, figuring, and mapping things out, and it's sort of a distraction having the phone ringing. Maybe my getting older, sort of got a one track mind, but really prefer any distractions to be in the mid to late afternoon, and that's usually when I make what phone calls I have to make, generally, and hopefully, a day ahead

[gustavus]

I wasn't hangin up mad, I was just hangin up, haha ; ) I'm sorry to hear about your friend, guys like that are few, and far between
Morning people certainly have the advantage, I just happened to be a slow starter, but stay at it till it's done, even if it's 3am. I've never been inclined to call anyone before 9am, or after 9pm, unless it's been pre-arranged.
My mornings are generally spent sorting, figuring, and mapping things out, and it's sort of a distraction having the phone ringing. Maybe my getting older, sort of got a one track mind, but really prefer any distractions to be in the mid to late afternoon, and that's usually when I make what phone calls I have to make, generally, and hopefully, a day ahead

When my father was alive time was never a consideration, a 3:00 am was call was answered the same had it been 3:00 pm.

I myself find it best to deal with letters, email and telephone communications first thing in the morning while people are still sucking back that first cup of coffee, there used to be a time when you could almost catch someone home but in todays world it's not uncommon for both mother and father to be out working to support the family.

Whenever I'm calling about scrap it's always before the kids are off to school while an adult is still available to take the call. I find that most people prefer a morning call as to an evening when they consider this their down time.

[Re-cycler]

Merry Christmas Gill and all!
This is the only thread I read on this forum any more.
Having your shop at home is a great thing you can pick and choose your jobs and if you want to take on projects for others they can bring it to you.
Best wishes for the new season!
;?)

[gustavus]

Merry Christmas Gill and all!
This is the only thread I read on this forum any more.
Having your shop at home is a great thing you can pick and choose your jobs and if you want to take on projects for others they can bring it to you.
Best wishes for the new season!
;?)

The only folk that come to me for repairs are those that do not have any money, there was a day a fellow could take it out in trade. If they have cash they go to Canadian Tire.

When I first got married there was this woman who constantly broke down in front of our house, living rural you always want to help folks out. But when the same face shows up on your doorstep every second day the wife gets suspicious of your actions even if nothing is going on.

Shop is strictly hobby, I met a retired school teacher a few weeks back at the mail drop he wants to get into wood turning but does not want to mess up his garage so i got to thinking why not invite him into my shop on a share basis. He could pay $50.00 a month towards electricity and heat, maybe things like sandpaper and glue.

In the new year i will approace him with the idea, otherwise I may put an ad up a the mail drop to see if any other old goats are willing to participate in a community work shop. Who knows I may find a master craftsman who is able to teach me some new stuff about wood and metal working.

I have a 14" x 40 " metal lathe that I purchased new a few years back but this does not make me a machinist, sure I can make things round and bore a hole larger but would like to learn how to put a sleeve into a sled or outboard cylinder or build working model steam engines.

One weekend my son made over $1200.00 picking beer bottles and cans up at a mud run event, he bought a basket case KDX 80 that was seized, we sent the cylinder out for sleeving then when it came back ported and polished the ports installed wiseco rod and piston it was the hottest little Kawasaki on the track.

I love doing stuff like this.

I will give you a quote on postage once I find the rest of the TIG electrodes.

[gustavus]

Started in my kaleidoscope last night by gluing some scrap pieces of wood together, I cheated by using the metal lathe to turn my blanks round next step is to bore a hole in the centre for my mirrors.

Dabbed on some linseed oil to bring out the grain, I made these blanks of for the experimental model. Next time I will get more creative with the different types of wood used in the glue up, some scrap pallets should give me some nice coloured hardwoods.

The centre core is Hemlock while the outside pieces are Ash, the mirrors I've been saving from large photo copiers.

Edit for update on mirrors, just finished taping my mirrors together after looking through found that my prism is way off, will have to do more research on sizing.

Go figure the woman figured out the problem when your looking through the morrors the object your looking at has a sweet spot in the focal plane.

[gustavus]

Before boring the hole cut off an 1 1/2" from each end so that the grain in the wood can be matched up once it is glued back into place, one will be the eye piece the other to cover the oil filled objective.

The inside of the cylinder is rather rough but this wont matter as the hole is only to hold and hide the mirrors. From the bits I cut off one will be a cover for the oil filled trash can while the other becomes the eyepiece.

[gustavus]

Cut the mirrors then ground the corners for that perfect fit, no tape.

Not near finished yet but some cool pictures.

[gustavus]

Here's lookin at you in the New Year.

[Patriot76]

New to the forum and did not respond until I read your entire thread. I have been reading the threads on this forum for over three weeks and learned more from your theads than all of the rest combined. Your transitions from scrapping metal to the woodworking and photography is amazing. I would have thanked you numerous times, but was caught up in the novel. You are an amazing individual with a wealth of knowledge. I envey your knowledge, lifestyle, and quality of life. The best compliment I could give you is to copy many of your adventures in my own life. I share many of your interests and you have motivated many members. There is no doubt in my mind, you are are a valuable member of this forum with many other members contributing as valuable assets. Thank you for your contributions.

With the deepest of respect,

[gustavus]

My small pocket sized drill and tap chart had become so worn it was time to renew, found some on the net then decided to print a new one up to hang on the shop wall.

Since I'm going through a framing craze made a frame today, then decided to cut a piece of glass I had been saving - it turns out to be safety glass which shattered into tiny fragments. Ended up using museum no glare glass.

If you know the source of your glass and can assure that its not safety glass its easy to cut, if there are any professional glaziers out there I'm sure that they will inform you that my method is not entirely correct.

Using a t-square I scribed the score line, for thicker glass you may want to tap the underside of the score to assist with separation, if your working with stained glass and you have irregular shaped pieces it is always advisable to tap the underside of the score.

Your irregular shaped pieces of stained glass the scores are done freehand.

On straight cuts, bring the score mark over a sharp edge where your now going to give the overhanging piece a very quick push, like magic the glass separates on the score, wear safety goggles and gloves.

If you have to grind the glass to fit, use a carborundum stone on your grinder they come in many different grits. The preferable way to grind is wet, if dry keep the piece moving as not to generate to much heat.

My favourite glass cutter has an oil filled handle which lubricates the cutting wheel, it's been a few years since I last seen that cutter. When your scoring the glass pit even firm pressure onto the cutter, never make a second pass.

[skylinejack]

Gus, you never cease to amaze me! I'm gonna go back and read this whole thread from start to finish. I know I'll learn a few useful things from you.

[gustavus]

Back in the days when i was just a poor boy raising a family had to improvise, 63 years later.

If i had to hone a brake master or brake or clutch slave cylinder that was larger than my hone I would grab or make a wood dowel then cut a slit into one end to hold the sand paper in place. The slit has to be wide enough to accept folded paper otherwise one side of your makeshift hone will be the backside from one side will be the backside of the paper without grit.

I needed to sand the inside of my kaleidoscope shell and this is the setup I used, of course if your honing a brake cylinder your going to use a drill.

With the lathe running I hold onto the tube then work it back and forth on the mandrel.

The black inside the tube is charcoal, I've used to torch to blacken the inside to absorb any stray light sources, it's not finished yet more burning to do. The mirrors will also be painted black on the backsides and edges.

[gustavus]

Yup another kaleidoscope this one made from brass, the large brass casing came from a submersible water pump.

While working on the latest scope my metal lathe quit, the electrical box with all the relays is located behind the machine so it had to be moved away from the wall. Later this evening I will go out and pull some wires from that piece of Chinese junk and see if i can figure out the problem.

[gustavus]

Seems that my whole life I've been dependent on other people discards, the black oil transfer pump was picked from a scrap bin all that was wrong with it was someone an employee did not know there was a fine wire mesh screen that needed cleaning now and then. Pump is worth $1200.00 new at the local Co-op.

That fine wire mesh screen does a great job of filtering the crude out from the veggie oil I use to fire the boiler, that old cast iron radiator came from the trash as well. That one radiator is enough to heat the whole shop.

[landmine]

Man i like your oil pump

All i have is a dinky 4gpm takes a looooong time to fill the house

[gustavus]

Man i like your oil pump

All i have is a dinky 4gpm takes a looooong time to fill the house

Me Too, the pump has a built in by-pass enabling you to use a nozzle on the end of the hose, so you don’t have to shut the pump down to stop the oil flow. Best part was the pump was a trash find, they did however break off the plastic fan on the end of the motor.

[gustavus]

From that ugly piece of brass pipe it's now becoming a thing of beauty.

When the lathe quit it was to be found a faulty micro switch located on the combination stop switch foot brake.

My poor little 3/4 HP buffer had a tough time handling these large buffing wheels so I made an arbour to chuck into the lathe, now I can really lay into the piece I'm buffing with out stalling the motor.

A lot of things that I put up for auction will get a few minutes of buffing, especially the glass door knobs. Tripples the final value.