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Fred R Clark & Son Machineworks

The chip pan for the Monarch lathe is nearly completed now.
The idea was to contain some of the chips from machining on it and to mitigate the oil stains on the concrete floor.

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Well since the weather decided to be user friendly again, I spent a few more days camping in the shop.

Monday evening and Tuesday morning:
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Wednesday hit a daytime high of 72, so it was time for a steak and some pork chops on the charcoal grill
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I had a project I wanted to jump on,
The dividing head I purchased this winter was in it's original cardboard box and the styrofoam packing.
Can't have that when you have a slight amount of Sunday wood-butchering skills, so it was off to the sawmill for materials.
(one should never let a machinist/fabricator type near any wood unless you are cold and want a fire) :p

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Sort of close enough, but I won't take the blame for it, Lee has to for running the sawmill :p
Cool, the styrofoam insert still fits
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The partition inside of the box will house the loose parts that were originally in the top section of foam.
Enough for the first session, it can be finished in the morning.
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Day two, and outside in the light and warmth.
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I zipped around the top of the box with my circular saw to square it up a little then cut the mitered lid frame.
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Careful layouts of the fasteners is very important to a machinist, so I went a little overboard so to speak ;)
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Damned near done, fill it up

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All that is left now are a couple of brass hinges, a catch and a carrying handle.

We got this :p
 
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Put quite a few miles on the Horse too.
What the hay, it was warm out.
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The bicycle got a workout and I walked the grounds a lot too.
Have to burn off some of that hibernation, steak and chops fat. :p
 
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Another project was started where I am making a setup on our #3 Cincinati horizontal milling machine.
I freed up the overarm support this week and was able to move it out of the way. (four hours of my life I will never get back)
(To quote Neil Young, rust never sleeps and to quote me, is never your friend)
The final iteration will be a 1928 Ford Model A engine block set up to have the cylinders bored.
I have the block mostly prepped and started to make a custom boring bar arbor on our Diamond 22 milling machine.
So far, the machinework on the bar is looking pretty good.
(it only takes one whoops to change all of that)
It should be pretty spiffy when it all comes together.
Oh, and since the mill is too bulky to run on our other lineshafts, it will get it's own dedicated one with it own motor to drive it.
No pix I want to share yet, but trust me, they are coming.

Another alteration to the shop will be removing a belt driven grinder and replacing it with our Rhoads 7 inch shaper.
After that is done, I want to move the old cast iron pot-belly stove to another area in the shop.

There are going to be a ton of busy days ahead, so stay tuned ;)
 
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It was another work weekend up at the showgrounds.
Saturday was spent outside working in the steam powered rock crushing display.
First up was to do the final adjustment in the conveyor belt.
Previously, another couple of members removed two of the belt links to tension it properly.
That required an adjustment on the roller chain that drives it.
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Output end of the conveyor that dumps into a small rail car:
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After the work was completed, it was time to rebuild the safety fence that was rotten and falling down.
We scrounged aroud the sawmill area and another area on the grounds to find weathered wood.

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The rock crushing display is a favorite for the kiddos.
They get to take bigger rocks out of a pile and feed them to a crusher.
From there, they get to see the end results as it comes out on the conveyor and dumps into the rail car.
The barricades are in place for safety purposes.

This is the steam engine that drives the conveyor:
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This is the crusher the kids feed:
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This just looks like a fun place to be.

I didn't realize that you all had an entire 0-6-0 locomotive sitting around either. Pretty cool display, almost like a museum come to life with all the workshop exhibits.
 
This just looks like a fun place to be.

I didn't realize that you all had an entire 0-6-0 locomotive sitting around either. Pretty cool display, almost like a museum come to life with all the workshop exhibits.
It is an awesome place to be.
There is so much history on our grounds it is unbelievable.
 
This just looks like a fun place to be.

I didn't realize that you all had an entire 0-6-0 locomotive sitting around either. Pretty cool display, almost like a museum come to life with all the workshop exhibits.
The old Porter now sleeps about 50 miles from where she was born.
Pittsburgh Pa, based H.K. Porter once held the distinction of building the most lightweight steam locomotives in the world
 
The old Porter now sleeps about 50 miles from where she was born.
Pittsburgh Pa, based H.K. Porter once held the distinction of building the most lightweight steam locomotives in the world
I know where a 3' gauge Porter 2-8-0 Consolidation is at. It's in Hardeeville SC, under a building as static display. That is Argent Lumber Company No. 7, and No. 4, a similar Consolidation also by Porter, is sitting in Connecticut at the present.

Usually you think of a tiny engine when you think of Porter products, but the little 2-8-0's are neat looking locomotives in their own right. Very primitive designs though.

The 0-6-0 is awesome, just a nice big locomotive.
 
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The Horse and trailer parked beside a Terex pan
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19.6 liters of raw diesel power in this 73 year old gal
 
Guessing the size of something for sale is always difficult online. Reminds me of the number of times people turned up to collect a lathe they bought on ebay with a tiny trailer. Often the lathe was something large, a couple of tons large!

Of course, then you get adverts like this with a useless sizing reference....

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Guessing the size of something for sale is always difficult online. Reminds me of the number of times people turned up to collect a lathe they bought on ebay with a tiny trailer. Often the lathe was something large, a couple of tons large!

Of course, then you get adverts like this with a useless sizing reference....

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I wonder if that is a EU standard size carrot or some obscure local size.
 
Time for a post, and I hope I have a good leg to stand on.
Project: turn a replacement leg for an antique bed.

Lets start on the Monarch lathe with a piece of pine hacked out of a 6x6.
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Rough turned OD
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the antiquated 3 jaw Skinner chuck I refurbished
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turning the base radius
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The old lathe was too slow to do the finish work, so I did the rest at home on my Logan 922:
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It's not perfect and the color match is off, but as we say, close enough for government work.
I'm sure the dust bunnies will be ok with it :p
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(beats the heck out of a stack of phone books)
 
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