Bustednuckles

There’s no rest for the wicked I hear.

I’m beginning to think I was Genghis Kahn in a previous life.

It took me a while to get going yesterday. Last week was a stone cold bitch and not just for me.

My buddy on Day Shift worked his ass off all week too.

So I was tired and sore when I woke up. I took my time and finally got out in the garage about Noon.

Since I got the electronic Tach installed and working on my little Milling Machine, there are now wires all over the place. A cord for the power on the mill control panel, another one for the new tach and a bunch coming out of the control panel.

I want to tidy that mess up and wind up with only one power cord to plug in, plus an Emergency Stop switch so I can shut it off in a hurry if needed.

I took stock of what I had on hand, what I could get locally and what I was needing to order online.

I had a hunk of 3/16’s Flat bar for a mount and I thought I had all the fasteners I would ever need but I found out different later on.

I cut the flat bar and stuck it in the vise.

It’s mounting to the base of the column where the existing bar is for the control panel plus the rubber accordion cover for the ways.

I wanted a slight twist in it at one end where the Gang Box for all the wiring connections and the E-Stop is going to be.

I tried heating it up with a bottle of MAPP Gas but that didn’t work so I drug out the little Oxy/Acetylene torch I bought from my Dad many years ago.

I also dug deep in one of my tool boxes and dug out an Antique adjustable wrench my friend Food Grower gave me a couple years ago so I could apply some serious torque to that flat bar.

There’s a brand new 6 ton hydraulic press in that box waiting to be put together.

Then I drilled some holes in it to mount things and wound up being off on one of them that mounts it to the mill. So I used the mill to slot the holes a bit. Handy thing that mill, I’m tellin’ ya.

Then I took the control panel off and tried test fitting the bar. That’s when I found out I needed some longer bolts, which made a trip to the hardware store necessary.

While I was out, I stopped at Lowes and grabbed a junction box, a couple covers and the cord connectors..

They didn’t have everything I wanted in the size I needed of course.

I got what I could and came home and dug through my crap for the rest.

After much trial and error, I finally got the bar, the control panel and the junction box mounted with 2 of 3 cords put in.

I had to order a couple of E-Stops off Amazon that should be here sometime tomorrow.

I’ll use a carbide tipped hole saw to drill the hole to mount it with in the plate that covers up that junction box and finish wiring it up when it gets here.

Another hour or two and that little project will be done.

Not like there aren’t 478 more waiting…

I also did a bit of clean up from last weeks doings when I got done.. Unhooked all the airlines scatterd across the floor, wound them up and put them away and generally kicked a path back through. I’m thinking Jesse might be coming over and he always helps clean up a bit when he is over.

It definitely needs it.

Again.