That picture over there to the left was when I was 19. Couple of my friends called me hair, teeth and eyeballs! Never dreamed that I'd be joining in on a discussion about geezer-izing our shops! And I had the use of a 24x60 garage back then, and small barn for the winter months. It was easier to heat! Of course I didn't have most of the tools I have acquired, but I made do...
I am old, just made 75, in sept. I have been fastening wheels to every thing I can in my shop. I have a 30 year old Milwaukee band saw. I always was a rather stout fellow. I could hold the saw with one hand and extend my reach no problem. Now I struggle just use it at my table. I also don't ride my Harley much any longer due to balance issues. Thia is greatly annoying especially regarding I am an Ironworker by trade. Walking steel at elevations was what I did for 50 years. This year I returned to work for a special project. After six months when the project was complete I do realize why guys my age are retired! Frankly I think all those years of perpetual motion has stood me in good steed physically. These days I spent as much time in the shop as I can muster. Stay active Sir. Once a person of age stops it seems that it very difficult to regain enthusiasm to ramp up activities again. That is what I have observed in friends and acquaintances of vintage DOB. You appear to managing the whole affair well.
Mike, I always take interest when you start posting pics of your shop space. Lots of good ideas to learn from. I like that you stencil painted where everything goes instead of using those printed labels. More work, but I like the industrial look.
@ekimneirbo , just make sure to explain that the cheater bar is not to force the drill into the work! That's for loosening and tightening the locks on the table, right?
If I had only known better back when I worked in the small machine company back in the 70's. I could have made phenolic plastic name plates for labeling things. We had an engraving machine, and I was its operator. And I had plenty of s**** material!
It's good, I knew your work habits didn't include that! I saw that your feed handles have the little balls on the end, so the cheater wouldn't fit anyway. It's just one of those things that keeps a new person from seeing it and not fully thinking it through! Every drill press and drill normally spin clockwise looking down. Meaning that if it grabs, the part spins away from the operator and toward the stand IF it's sticking out to the left. I take care to hold the item being drilled so that the open part of my grip allows the part to pull free, not pull me in. One of those things you either learn the hard way or listen to a one minute explanation. Many pro presses have reverse and left hand drills exist, but hopefully by then the operator knows to take this into account. I also prefer the belt slip rather than the full torque of the motor be transferred! This may sound like the first day in shop cl*** with Safety 101, but it's good to remind even this group of grizzled old veterans that safety stands and fire extinguishers along with basic tool handling are important.
Learned the drill press duck in a slightly different way. One of the old timers way back when I worked for the machine company in the 70s was "demonstrating" the way he stirred up stuff, like Neverseez, you know the giant industrial size where the oil separates out of the silver goop. He'd chuck an Allen key in the drill press and hold the can up over the slowly spinning hex key. Only problem wad, he didn't turn the speed down! And the hex key bit into the side of the can, flinging Neverseez all over both of us! Yeah, I never tried it on my own... Do you know how to get Neverseez out of a beard? Yeah, neither do I! That was about the same time as the picture over there to the left. Grizzly Adams had nothing on me, beardwise
Bet your beard didn't get stuck in anything for quite a while! There's a joke in there about things in the '70s it could get stuck in, but I'm not touching that!
This sounds like a good idea, but when I tried it, the piece of plywood just prevented the basket (or whatever) from coming up all the way. The way it is now, the basket nestles right in the corner of the mezzanine railing, which actually stabilizes it for loading/unloading.
Okay, so Susie is okay then? ...the mud, the blood and the beer... So your son is named Bill or George, anything but Sue?
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