In other words, I am a combination of crazy, fearless and completely fucking stupid.

You guys are gonna love this.

But first, a little update on the drill press plate project.

I would like to extend my very heart felt thanks to the people who not only read what I write but are interested enough to take the time to leave comments. Some of you guys are really sharp and offered up some very good suggestions on how to tackle my little conundrum of repairing the huge gouge in the center of the drill press plate.

I wound up using the cut to fit toilet paper roll wrapped in wax paper method and it looks like it is going to be plenty good enough of a fix to suit my needs.

I scoured the shelves at the local Wally World looking for some floor wax but there was n’t even a hint of any having ever been there since they opened the doors.

Then I thought I had some old Turtle Wax stashed away somewhere but I think that got tossed in the move a couple of years ago so I wound up just using the wax paper and it came right off right before I left for work yesterday afternoon.

I still have to sand it down again but can’t be doing that at two in the morning so I will get to it when I can.

I’ll trim that lip down and then sand the piss out of the whole thing again.

That should be good enough for my needs. A quick coat of something like semi gloss black paint should be it then.

So, now for the next new project.

Someone get the number for Bellevue handy.

I scored a large drill press vise from work today after asking my boss if I could have it.

You will see why they were getting rid of it here shortly. It’s been sitting on a shelf for the last six years that I know of anyway.

It looks a little rough here but not too bad.

Wait for it….

Wait for it…

Oh it gets better,

There we go.

I am going to say that hands down, this is the most fucked up and abused drill press vise I have ever laid eyes on.

There are a couple of saving graces here though.

One, the screw only has a very slight bend in it that should straighten right out and Two, there are two thin plates that the jaw slides on that can be taken off and replaced that will greatly improve the condition of the vise its self.

After that, it will be the same trick as the plate on the drill press. Clean it up and fill in the holes with J.B. Weld.

I also need to find a pair of vise jaw plates but that should be pretty easy on Ebay or even Amazon. It’s a pretty standard sized drill press vise.

Some of the retaining screws got drilled through but I will get them out one way or another. After that it will just be a matter of finding some 1/8th by inch and a half stock, cutting it to length, re-drilling new holes and putting new screws in it.

That will cover up a whole bunch of that mess.

Told ya I was fucking crazy, didn’t I?

You thought maybe I was kidding?

What the heck, the price was right and it kills my soul to see something get thrown away that could possibly be fixed and gotten some use out of.

It’s a character flaw, I know.

So stay tuned, the fun never ends around here.

You know it’s bad when even Satan’s minions are having to find part time work to make ends meet.

You will recall the extremely generous fellow who sent me all the tools and supplies last month out of the goodness of his heart. Well, he also turned me on to another Blog and I just got through scrolling through and reading dozens of posts that interested me.

All the way to the very first post back in 2011

Interest may be understated. More like fascinated maybe.

This guy is a lot like me in some ways. He has a huge variety of interests but his entire blog is a chronicle of his exploits dragging home rusty and broken machinery and tools and then cleaning, fixing and repairing them to work again.

From flea market ratchets to full blown vintage mills, lathes and metal saws.

It is amazing all of the different things this guy can fix!

I am putting him on my Blogroll so I can keep up with his latest adventures because we share the same mental illness that causes us to spend inordinate amounts of time, money and effort dragging home what most people would consider junk and making it functional and valuable again.

He has me out classed by a factor of ten with his knowledge, space and tooling but we share the same passion for old machinery and tools for sure.

I very rarely post about other peoples blogs but this one is going to be an exception.

A Blog Devoted to my Many Hobbies

You won’t be disappointed if you spend some time looking at some of the things this gentleman has done.

Judging by the way she is dancing around.

A little update on the drill press table status. First, a little recap of what I am working with here.

This is what it looked like shortly after I started in on it.

I had forgotten just how ugly it was.

After the initial rust removal.

Yesterday, after the first attempt.

Last night after a quick sanding and another application and a skin coat.

Just a few minutes ago.

Somebody just flat fucking abused this plate.

The Arc De Idiotte on the far side is much, much better. The side closest here is going to need at least one more coat and that big fucked up hole in the middle is going to be a challenge.

I have a couple of ideas and you are going to love one I thought of.

I am going to need something to stick in that hole to be able to pour the epoxy around, that won’t stick to it so I can get it back out.

I pondered on that for some time yesterday. The first thought I had, was something like medicine bottle that I could just break out when it was dry. Then I thought maybe a wooden dowel, with a rubber on it, covered with Vaseline.

The epoxy shouldn’t stick to the Vaseline, the rubber should just peel out and off the dowel. Should work, right?

(Cue the sick jokes here you bastards. I know they are coming and will be disappointed if I don’t see several after teeing up such a softball like that.)

None of these three items I have on hand though.

Then the thought of what it would look like plopping those three items down on the counter at the local BiMart would look like and I thought , maybe no after all.

I ain’t making two or even three stops to get that stuff either.

Then I thought maybe getting a cast iron piece of bar stock and turning it to a slight press fit, getting it in the hole good and flush, epoxying around it and then just drill it back out.

A lot of work in other words.

I’m still trying to figure out what I am going to plug that hole up with either way.

It took overnight for that epoxy to cure up enough to be able to start sanding on it so I am going to go mix up another batch and get it on there so I can semi finish this little project tomorrow.

All in all, I am going to say that this is a very viable fix for this kind of problem in case you run into something like this in the future.

If I was of a mind to, a quick coat of paint on it and you wouldn’t even know that it had been repaired when I get finished finally.

It’s Saturday, the list is long and time is short.

I’ll be back later.

In the mean time, keep yourself occupied.

The Wifely Unit really gets into this Christmas bullshit.

It makes me crazy.

I can’t just tell her what I want for Christmas, oh no no no no no.

That’s too fucking easy.

I gotta make A List so she can pick something off of it and surprise me.

So I sent her an email with a picture of Harbor Freights POS 20 ton press along with a link.

Normally around $185-$200, they have a coupon and she could get it for about $140.

I bought one of these for an outfit that I used to work for and I can tell you from experience that 20 tons is an EXTREMELY optimistic rating on these things.

The hydraulic jack may be rated for it but that frame sure as FUCK isn’t.

I actually bent the top cross bar on it trying to press a damn bearing off of a shaft and those spindly little Chinesium angle iron  feet are the very first thing that have to be upgraded because they want to fold up and then the damn thing wants to tip over.

But hey, it would be nice to have for those occasional jobs and the footprint is small enough that I could tuck it away somewhere.

I seriously have my doubts that is what she is going to get me because

A, they are big and heavy, especially in the box they come in and

B, she has to stuff whatever she gets into the trunk of a fucking Ford Focus and then get it back out.

So that one is a stretch.

Not to be discouraged though, I just sent her this too,

A little 9 inch band saw could be handy and this one is exactly the same one that some major brand names sell with a different sticker on it. They have really good reviews and it would be interesting to see how long it takes for me to fuck it all up.

Because I know me.

Then just for shits and grins, I sent her this one.

That old Walk Behind tractor occasionally calls my name as it quietly rusts away out in the garden shed. This should be a direct bolt on and even if it isn’t, shouldn’t be too hard to make fit.

Another long shot.

So I finally had mercy on the poor girl and sent her this one,

A 20 volt Hammer/Drill.

These also have pretty good reviews and the 20 year old Ryobi 18 volt set that I have is in need of replacement finally. I actually smoked the drill a couple of years ago but lucked out and found a brand new one in a bin at Home depot for $20. Just the drill motor.

The switch has a bad spot in it though and is a PITA.

Harbor Freight has greatly improved a couple of entire lines of their power tools and these are supposed to be as good or better than the DeWalt one.

Last year I went through hell buying  new batteries for the Ryobi set because I couldn’t find the old style then had to go back and buy a new fucking charger for them too.  I now have $150 sunk into that. More than one person left the suggestion that you can get the old style on EBay all damn day long but I didn’t even think about that until the deed was done.

I think I have a Son In Law who could use the Ryobi stuff and then I would have the excuse I need to go buy other new shit.

It’s all in the timing and presentation baby.

My Master Plan is coming along nicely.

• Thank God It’s MY Friday

I swear, I feel just like this little dog anymore lately.