Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

While responding to a thread from @krylon32 I remembered this old remedy.
So thought I'd hustle over to leave it here.
When cars with plastic fuses became common, one of my delivery van Buddy's blew a fuse in his older glass tube equiped Ford.
The load has to roll and lighting is key to a ticketless day.
We deduced that taking a plastic fuse and forcing it piggyback ( w/old fuse) into the old glass tube panel was the Bomb

 

Fffnn electric cords. I finally had enough of these Fffnn electric cobwebs all over my work bench. Dugout a dried up 2x6, run over it with the power planer. Then carved out the back.

 

Keep an eye on the temperature of the cords as they can't dissipate heat anymore.

 

They can also function like a coil. I hate excess cords & hoses in the shop.

 

Thats a 2-wire cord, so current going both ways, it won't create an electromagnet or coil, but it will get hot being wound up and recessed into the wood.

 

Good to know. Thanks!

 

Likely not enough load to heat much.

Rated draw on my identical DCB107 charger is 0.5 amps.

According to the National Electrical Code (NEC), 18 AWG copper wire has an ampacity of 7 amps. However, the overcurrent protection for 18 AWG copper conductors should not exceed 5.6 amps for continuous loads. This means the maximum allowable current a fuse or circuit breaker protecting 18 AWG wire can be is 5.6 amps.

Some of you guys act like old women working in a Civil Service office. So sour after 20 years and so bored that you can find nothing to do but pick at each other and look for ways to feel superior and important. Personally, I think @Onemansjunk came up with a good and elegant solution to a problem that bothered him and executed it at very minimal cost. Isn't that what this forum is based on?

 

Well said Sir....

 

How strange you bring that up. I just recently began to identify as an old woman working at a Civil Service office.

 

Haha, I think the DMV develops some of those same personality traits over long careers, except they target the public.

 

A word of caution, I left some linseed oil soaked rags on my workbench. The next day I smelled some thing smoldering and saw smoke coming from the rags. I threw them outside and they burst into flames. I now properly dispose of them right after using.

 

Since oldpl8s brought up smoldering/fire I'll relate something stupid I did a while back:

I used to cut nylon/plastic rope/string with a knife and then melt the ends to keep it from fraying. A while back I started putting the end in a vise and using a butane lighter to melt it in half. I did that recently and went about my business using the rope that I had cut off. I left the shop and went to use the rope. A while later I went back into the shop and the end I had left in the vise smoldered (I guess) and eventually caught on fire. The plastic reel it was on also caught on fire. It had burned and melted down the front leg of the bench and had charred the leg about 1/4" deep. The vise also had a coating of black that didn't come off easily.

Fortunately the leg was 4x4 and structurally it wasn't really hurt. I scraped the leg and used a DA to clean it up. I also disassembled the vise, sandblasted the pieces, repainted it, reassembled it, and reinstalled it.

It's just lucky God was watching over me when I was too stupid to watch out for myself that led me to go back into the shop before the whole thing burned down.

Lesson learned: I may still use the same way to cut rope but I'll dip the end in the water bucket attached to the leg of the grinder stand nearby to make sure it'll never burn again.

 

I just don't ever bring linseed oil into my shop..........and everybody that has some sitting somewhere might want to consider getting rid of it. At the very least..........put a tag on the container reminding yourself about its spontaneous combustion when mixed with rags.

 

I went to the Carson City NV DMV to renew my license yesterday. To my amazement I was in and out in less that 30 minutes. All 3 people I talked to were friendly, polite, and helpful. I had to sit in my pickup for as few minutes to think about what had just happened. I even got out a walked back in to make sure I had gone to the right place. When I got up this morning I rechecked all the paper work and evidently it really happened.

 

I saw an ad on TV last week for a new comedy coming out next fall about a DMV office, so it must be painful to go in those places everywhere.

 

What was the animated movie where sloths ran the DMV? Zootopia? Funny as hell!

 

When I first moved here to the Prescott area and went to the MVD, I was pleasantly surprised. Short line, knowledgeable staff.
This has degraded over time. The staff are still helpful, there are just as many, but the slaughterhouse treatment of patrons has been ramped up. An online kiosk at the front (if I could do it online, I wouldn't have driven here), followed by a self check-in which asks questions and spits out a number to stand in a twisting line that herds you toward the front slowly. The last one, the clerk took my paperwork and disappeared for 10 minutes. When she returned, she explained it was to train another person in how to spot fakes. So no explanation to start, a long wait, then an alarming twist. After that, she then said everything was okay. I was not happy, but sure didn't want to press the matter.
They also collect and sell your data without ANY Terms Of Service. warning or disclaimer.
Note the title, then what is in the article
https://azmirror.com/briefs/arizona-mvd-doesnt-sell-records-to-third-parties/
In Arizona, a little more than 762,000 requests for driver license records were made to the motor vehicle division from Sept. 10, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2019, according to Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman Doug Nick. The requests brought in more than $2.3 million for the agency.

 

Thanks!

 

Here’s a tip for to increase the longevity and function of those generic casters from all the big box stores (aside from lubricating the axles).

Squirt some grease in the swivel bearings and wrap it with an o-ring.

It may not swivel as easily at first but it won’t fill up with dust, preserving the action for miles of smiles.

 

Hand smack to forehead, “why didn’t I think of that!” Moment…

 

Been waiting awhile to do this one until I got some pics to explain; Here's what I came up with to create a hose barb on a metal line for the cooler lines on a T400. I use a brass compression fitting ferrule. Just the ferrule. I crank the fitting down, take it apart and carefully cut off the nut. Voila! just be sure to give it a test tug to ensure it will stay put. Works for me, and costs a lot less than a tool to bead the tube. I've used them lots of places.

 

Very cool, Steve.

 

Since I’ve been so busy procrastinating on making a 5/16” bead tool, maybe I’ll do it this way instead.

 

When I had my shop it was inspected by the fire department about every three years but one time the chief was in getting his wife’s car repaired and noticed that the wall clock in my office had its cord still wound up he made me unwind it on the spot and said he’d seen an actual house fire start that way. About a week later I was inspected again and of course the clock in the shop, bench grinder and something else had to be taken care of. They didn’t like how I had the power cord permanently attached to the welder and draped around the tank until I showed them how I had to remove it to use it anywhere in the shop. I never understood how low draw clock would be a problem but they said they would rather see the cord cut off and a new plug installed on it.
I don’t know

 

dis he actually have the address of the burned house....?

 

Nobody who asks tough questions like that lasts long employed by the government.

 

Don’t do squats in a asparagus patch!