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Tom -- Beautiful job on the wash stand. Did you cut your dovetails by hand or use a jig? I am working towards woodwork like that. Today I just worked on my new computer table I'm making out of scrap lumber I pick up at job sites.

John, I just love those joints with cutting 3 directions to make a really solid connection.

Thanks Wayne. I had seen that joint in an online video. Took me several tries to learn it. Tonight, I finished my mortising with my cobbled together mortising machine. Slow going but the results were worth it. I still cut the tenons by hand with an antique dovetail saw

I bought this little 1948 vintage Bridgeport a few months ago. Terrible paint in multiple layers, rusty and crud everywhere, worn spindle, bad bearings, but basically complete. I took it apart, scraped paint and rust, replaced bearings, repaired the splines, and repainted it. I just got it back together today and looking for the next project.

The next project is to build something with your Bridgeport!

Is that the factory color?

How much does it weigh and how do you transport and move something like that?

That is a nice little J head. I have one that I started rebuilding before my wife's health problems really kicked into high gear. It is about 85% back together now, waiting for me to make some time for it.

Yours looks much nicer.

Otto: The factory color for that era was a green/blue color that I did not care for. This is a color that I had the paint store custom mix for me. The paint is PPG oil base gloss and I used a Rustoleum white clean metal primer. The machine weighs about 1600 lb and I built a couple sets of wheels, sometimes called skates in the trade, to move it around in the shop. Of course I hired a rigging company to move it to my shop.

Jason: This is an "M" head machine, somewhat smaller than the "J" head. My understanding is the early round ram machines did not have the J head available. The whole machine is smaller than yours, Y travel is only about 9 inches. The table is full size. Its a more lightweight machine, certainly not for any heavy duty machining. Collets are Brown and Sharp #7 which only go up to 1/2 inch size. I like that you took yours apart to rebuild it. I did not remove the knee or saddle, I was not that ambitious. Did you scrape the dovetail ways for accuracy?

Mark

Nice job Mark. We used to have a round ram Bridgeport many (25+) years ago. It utilized R8 collets which I assume would have made it a "J" head machine. Bridgeports are very handy machines. Good score.

John

Thanks John. My first mill when we started our business in 1975 was very similar to this one. It served us well for many years. You just have to recognize its limitations.

Mark

Outstanding. Nothing better than refurbishing old machines and using them. Something to be proud of.

Hi John. I made a jig for those dovetails. That tiger maple was too nice to make a mistake. I made three of the upper sections in pine as mock-ups before I cut them in the tiger maple as a means to dial it in. The reason being, there are two angles to the upper pieces. They splay outward from the bottom to the top, and the sides are angular the front section shorter than the back section. Cutting multiple angle dovetails by hand is a still a stretch for me.

The drawer however has hand cut dovetails. I was working on that when I took the picture. That cherry was harvested here in the yard.

In the end? Cutting them by hand would have been a real button bustin proud moment - and I am working up to that skill level. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

But John, what I am really needing from you is your perspective and insight. I grew up in Ohio᠁ and not a Yankee. But since living here, I crane My neck looking at curbside throwaways , I go through the metal bin at the Town dump on Saturdays looking for throw away, when I go to Tractor Supply I lust after those new blue plastic tarps - thinking: “those have to be cheaper than a putting on a new roof!” Am I a Yankee now? and is this my purgatory born from a past life indiscretion? Can I be saved? Just yesterday I saw a refrigerator dumped in a pond and I said: “ another good eelpout smoker and lost opportunity for somebody᠁” I lie awake at night thinking of these great imponderables and it’s a curse that I’ll be darned is undeserved.

Tom ... just what part of NH do you live it?? No need to answer that publicly ...

Although we DownEast Yankees pride ourselves on our thrift, it's hardly something that's unique to us. I think being a "good ole boy" who recognizes the remaining value is others' "throw aways" knows no regional boundaries. Nor does it recognize gender, race, socio-economic demarcations, or any artificial label be they well-defined or subjective.

I believe it is a state of enlightenment achieved by those who eschew the vagaries of pride, esoteric (and ultimately shallow) notions of social station and other such vague and ill-defined empty self definitions of worth and value to cleave to the self-determined satisfaction arising from getting one's own hands busy with the micro industry of "making" or "fixing" rather than "buying."

Hence, Peggy's and my Life Verse is 1st Thessalonians 4:11 -- "...Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands."

Among my very closest friends are folks from some *very* different nationalities, regions, social strata, races and even genders. Yet we all share this. Shoot -- look at Jerry and I. There are few people I hold in higher regard. I truly consider him as close as a brother (maybe even an uncle -- far be it for me to claim to be his peer). Yet, had we been born in a different time, we'd have tried to kill each other. But, even though I was born and bred a true New England Yankee, and still pretty much identify as such (I don't like to be hugged and I will probably let someone else do most of the the talking ... unless the only person I am with is Hambone and then is is simply not much conversation going on ...), Life's vagaries have led me on a path that has brought me through a lot of different places, cultures and experiences such that I have come to *begin* to see that the quality of personality to which you refer is not endemic to any particular region -- it is the most common thread that seems to be the foundation, and if I may be so bold as to claim the bedrock, of this site and all that unites us and makes us vibrant.

As Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote:

"For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known — cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honoured of them all —
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy,
I am a part of all that I have met."

In short -- I have transcended Yankee thrift. Good Ole Boys abound everywhere. Be proud that you are one!

I have always liked Hank Jr's song, "A Country Boy Can Survive." It doesn't matter if you are North, South, East, West, Urban or Country ... It's a state of mind (Zen, perhaps).

And you are starting to see that "there is no spoon."



Morpheus/Ulysses

Yes. It had a stuck/broken gib for the knee when I got it. I tore it down, put in a new gib, scraped everything, and started reassembling it. I wanted to do a ballscrew conversion on it but ended up doing a new anti-backlash nut instead.

One of these days I will finish it.

I finished my boat trailer. Before and after

I see you lowered the front cradle and put full length pads on it. I guess this wasn't the trailer that the boat lived on in it's former, unrestored life?

It's the trailer I got with the boat. It wasn't set up for the boat, so I adjusted it.

Nice job it looks like new.

John

I like the turquoise on the fenders. Will Vern be pulling this boat?

It's called Sea Foam Green. Same color as the boat deck.
Yes I'm planning to show it off behind my 38.

My Tundra will take it to the river and to the lake.

Figured I'd start a new thread on this.

My daughter and son-in-law (who was instrumental in finding my '51 3100 8 years ago - OMG has it been that long?) bought me a 3100 model for Christmas, so I've been working on getting it put together and painted to match what my regular stovebolt will look like when done. My wife says I've been spending hours and hours on it (but I haven't told her how many hours I have in on the regular bolt. )

Eagle eye Stovebolters will see that the photo on the box isn't a '50, but a "51 because it has wing windows, but the contents were indeed '50 or earlier, as it didn't have wing windows and had a side cowl vent. My truck is a standard cab, and the model is a 5-window, so I installed the corner windows and smoothed over them with some spot putty. Did the same to the cowl side vent area. Also cut some wing windows out of clear plastic and installed them so it matches my big truck. I had all the paint for my regular bolt, so painted the parts with that (Interior, steering column, exterior). I custom mixed some maroon for the seats to match that.

Anyway, here's some pics of progress.

Getting paint on the mini-bolt the last few days. Just about ready to install the cab (previous pic was just set in place to check fit.) The cab needs another coat of Omaha Orange, then I can get to installing the lights, etc. I made decals to match the original logos on the doors, and a Department of Interior License Plate, which I'll install when painting is done.

Love it! Looking great!

Looking good Kevin! Love the decals! I see you spent the time to fill in the corner windows. Nice touch!

My good friend gave me one she picked up from a flea market. I built it last year to look like what I would like our truck to look like when I’m done. Pretty tedious for my tired eyes and hands!

nice job, I love modeling, not as much money as the real thing!

... and no arguments about which carb is better.

Yep, it’s the plastic one that comes in the box. 😁
Nice job, Phil! I see you didn’t get any glue on the windshield. 👍

Wasn’t an easy task. You can buy applicator tips to make it much easier to get the glue on what you want. [Link].

freakin awsome !!!!! love models, ben doing them since 5yrs old. very cool sir!

A couple years ago I decided to build models of all the vehicles I called "mine". Had to combine 3 kits for the El Camino and some of the others are 1 year off but no one but me knows the difference. It's something to do when I want to stay inside.

Very cool Harold.

Just a note to all that per guidance from HQ, this thread (The Mini-bolt project) has been moved to merge with the "Tinkering..." thread in The Tool Chest - Workshops and Garages sub-forum.

Hope everyone can continue to enjoy it in this spot.

Respectfully,

Dan (GTT Mod)

Harold41, is that a Toyota Corolla?

Yes, a '74 Corolla I think the first 5 speed they made. Traded a '72 El Camino for it during the 70's gas shortage. Always regretted it. The model kit came from Japan with instructions in Japanese.

Aahhh so!

At first I thought it was a Ford Cortina but the raised cowl vents said otherwise.

Did you own a Ford GT 40?

Finished the new computer table for the Stovebolt office and brought it in this evening.

Thanks Mark for the mortising tool!!

Oh no, never owned a GT40. That lower shelf has some of the first models I did back in the 60's.
Cars I admired; Granatelli's STP turbine Indy car, GT40 markII, '32 Cadillac. Ferrari 250 GTO slot car, and a couple boyhood toys.

Very nice work John!

Miss Peggy looks pretty tickled to have such a nice large work surface to enjoy. Lots more space for to-do piles, sticky notes and such - haha!

Dan

John! Looks fantastic! Glad you could make use of it!