It Is Me

Cant believe this part of the forum has only used once.
I will use it a second time. As on the profile page soon to be 58 forced retirement at 55 due to illness. I am happy to say steadily recovering from the life threatening part. I have what to me is a great shop that I have been putting together for 35 years. For now I am a bit limited in my endurance and mobility so I only get a very few hours a week in it. THAT IS CHANGING.
This forum and the new project that it entails has been the first real project since the illness.
I thank all of you and look forward to this one.
I am new to this but not if you know what I mean. I have a 1983 copy of the charcoal foundry by Dave Gingerly. A quick GED along with a can do attitude built most of the things in the book along with a furnace made of a 5 gallon bucket in a 15 gallon can out of clay from the basement of this house. Later lined with refractory and converted to electric kiln style.
As with my usual thoughts back then every thing was super sized.
Back then with no internet I poured a lot of really bad stuff with cans. I learned the hard way about alloys but in the end poured a few very nice items. The biggest not over 15 Lb. It was a motorized rotatory table. Over the years I have built many large machines both for myself and industry.
My first real build was an ultrahigh airplane. It was built in the house and assembled on the lawn.
I taught myself to fly but never got a pilots license. Later after building a barn come more complex ultra lights 3 total and 1 experimental. That was the airplane years. Then come the well driller years. I will warn you. DON’T READ THE BACK PAGES OF POPULAR MECHANICS!
I seen an add for a Deep rock drill that used a 3.5 hp engine and 3/4 inch water pipe along with a small trash pump so. I built a 12 hp hydriolic version on a trailer with a 20 hp pump.
Studied up and got a license, then went drilling. It worked and work was what it was. It was to small to handle rock so the next drill out of the shop was a 20 ton monster that could have drilled oil wells. It had a 400 ci Chevy running the drill. That one made us some money but set up and tear down time was excessive. Then number 3 lighter, a lot of changes on the hydraulics and P.T.O. driven. It was to be a drill designed for the terrain.
It was at 90% complete when my health began to fail, then thefts struck. Uninsured they stole everything not nailed down and a couple of things that were. The projects stopped. They stole a large portion of my tooling for the price of scrap I am sure and several ton of steel stock along with the steel rack nuts bolts and bins they were in. Shit happens, O well.
Now I still have a great shop, a great wife of 36 years, 2 children and 2 grand children. and a lot of really good stuff to play with. More than I could have ever ask for.
Life is good!
My motto is. Service with a snarl. The door is always open, white, black, yellow, red, or green and yes I do believe “they are out there”.
If I have food to eat your welcome at my table.
Joe

 

Glad to hear you are making a comeback.
I went through some health problems just a few years ago, and could hardly get out of bed for several years.
Discovered it was food allergies, and am doing 1000% better these days on a very limited diet.
Life does have its ups and downs.

You have done some interesting stuff for sure.
I got to fly an ultralight one time, and I really liked it, but never got around to building my own.

Good to see you posting here.
Casting is lots of fun even when things go wrong, but much more fun when it goes right.

 

Thanks Pat

 

Great write up! And even better that you intend to keep going and use your skills. The thefts had to be hard. I've had a few small burglaries and it is so frustrating. The big losses must be super tough. I can tell your furnace will do fine.

 

My ass doesn't leave the ground in anything that doesn't come with an airworthiness certificate backed by a corporation my wife can sue. I've lost too many friends flying crap they built in their hangars. I'll let you guys in on a little secret. This aviator is not crazy about heights! Sitting behind an instrument panel looking out the windows, no problem. Climb up a 16ft ladder to change a light bulb on the tail, NOT HAPPY!

Nothing worse in this world than a thief. Thieves will be shot on sight, dragged inside and disposed of in my furnace. That's less work than answering the cop's questions.

 

It is funny Jason,. I have realized that as I have grown older. My cohonies have gotten smaller while my brain has gotten minimally larger.
Joe

 

yes it is! thanks Kelly

 

Life goes on, just a bump in the road that can be patched.