Its the start of another new year, and its the time of the year where everyone makes all manner of resolutions that they will have forgotten by the first of February. I’ve never been fond of resolutions as they always end too lofty and vague to actually keep going. Not to mention that my needs and goals tend to shift throughout the year anyways. Rather than making resolutions for things I’d “like” to do this year, I decided to sit down and restructure some things and actually make some changes right now. I look at this as an evolutionary process. This will probably change as the year progresses, so I’ll make every effort to update this as things change. For now, this is how I’ve structured things.
Outside my window.
10/16/2009 By Leave a Comment
Just another reason I like living with a little space around the house.
My latest work project
5/19/2009 By Leave a Comment
“Or how little I like working with reflective material.”
Usually I don’t post too terribly much about work related things here, but this has been consuming a good chunk of my time, and its turning out pretty nice if I do say so myself. This is my latest client project. We are creating a “replica” AZ Department of Public Safety Car for a collector overseas. All of the logos and striping are completely custom to avoid issues with the “real” cars. (Which are still in service) Although all of the graphics are similar enough to confuse everyone that has seen the car in person. Almost every part of the car has something on it. From small striping above the windows and on A-pillars and bumper ends, to the gigantic stripes and logos, roof lettering, trunk panels, and a million little parts here and there. It should look pretty good when it goes home though. And after dark, it lights up like a Christmas tree. I am looking forward to sending this on its way and getting back to some basic projects with regular material that is easier to work with. 
Its been an interesting project though.
Business, Illness, and other random stuff.
4/21/2009 By Leave a Comment
Been away from the blog for while working on other projects here and there. so I figured I’d just recap the last few weeks for anyone that cared.
Thrashed for several days in a row to get the Ambulance put back together and managed to get it done just in time for the Super Chevy Show at the beginning of April here locally. Had a blast out at the drag strip for 2 days. Spent most of Saturday wandering around and watching the various racing going on. (a 1/4 mile run that is done on 2 wheels at over 130mph is INSANE BTW. The guy the drives the wheel-stander does not make enough money doing that sort of thing.) Sadly it was windy and fairly cold most of the day. Still enjoyed myself though. Little bit of drama near the end of the day when one of the jet powered dragster drivers crashed near the end of the track. Found out later that he was “OK” and after some surgery and therapy they expect him to drive again. Pretty amazing when you consider he was moving at more than 230mph when he crashed.  Ended up coming home Saturday night slightly congested from the wind and the dust.
Bluesmobile fun
1/23/2009 By 3 Comments
I have a Bluesmobile replica. Its something that I’ve been working on slowly over the last few years in between other projects. And its a nice relaxing project usually. Just about as low pressure as you can get when building a car. Not to say it isn’t difficult. In some ways its actually harder than some of my other vehicle projects. With most projects you have to figure out how to do something, and then do it. On a Bluesmobile, there is an extra step. You figure out how to do something, you do it, and then you have to figure out how to make it look old and crusty. Which often times is more difficult than the actual project you started on.
Finished!
1/10/2009 By Leave a Comment
After some additional engineering… and some more welding.. and a little more painting.. And a little muttering under my breath. The trellis is up and complete. Its freestanding, and actually pretty stable, and ready for the rose to be trimmed back and trained up the front panels. It took significantly longer than I had hoped, but it turned out really nice considering it was my first real welding project. (I kinda went into this with the theory that if you Aim low, you can avoid disappointment.) You can see in the photos that the roses have sort of exploded. Which is why we needed the trellis to begin with. The roses are too big to just let grow wild. They need some structure or we risk losing a good chunk of the end of the porch. Hopefully this will provide a decent base for them to grow on. And it turned out pretty cool looking as well.
On to the photos:
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- Front view of the finished trellis
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- rear view of the finished trellis
Something different.
1/8/2009 By Leave a Comment
My musical tastes tend to run to the eclectic. Anything from Devo and PSB to Glenn Miller and Yello. Of late though, I’ve been wandering about the musical shores of other continents. I’ve been through French Pop, some harder Euro Trance, and ended up most recently with Electronic Tango. Which I will admit tends to sound a little odd at first read. Think of some of the Tango inspired Yello tracks with a slightly more traditional flair and you are close. All in all, quite a nice musical diversion. From what I can gather, these folks are on the cutting edge of the movement. Quite catchy, it sticks in your head and you find yourself humming along with it.
Gotan Project – Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)
Done, Finished, complete! Almost…
1/3/2009 By Leave a Comment
Finally. After hours and hours and hours of cutting, grinding, welding, cleaning, priming and painting, the trellis is finally finished…  Almost.  All of the parts are completed and painted. All that is needed now is to set all the parts in place, drill my last few holes and bolt it all together. With any luck, assembly will be today and finished photos will follow.
For now, I have a couple of photos of one of the finished front panels, and a shot of the painted front panels. Painting of the last panel was finished after dark last night, so photos of the roof panel and the rear bracket in final paint will have to be taken later today.
All in all I’m very pleased with how the panels turned out, and I’m very excited to see it all assembled and in place. Overall I was very impressed with the capabilities and the ease of use of the Millermatic 140 Welder. I’m planning on writing up a full review in the next few weeks. But I’ll tell you right now that for a little 110V welder that you can plug in almost anywhere, its a very capable machine.
Onward to the photos.
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- Single trellis panel. Finished
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- Finished front Trellis panels
