What Projects are People Working On/Wanting to Work On?

I enjoy reading about what projects people are working on.
Sometimes people don't want to start a thread of their own.
So, please feel free to add:
-what you are working on AND/OR
-what you'd rather be working on (it's good to plan/dream/lament a little)
Feel free to add links and pictures if desired

-Currently I am working on a series of lead drafting spline weights

https://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/sandcasting-larger-lead-weights.2743/

-I'd rather be working on completing my A10 furnace to manage bigger aluminum pours and the small sailboat I want to 'race' this summer, been constrained by recent knee surgery and cold temps in the garage.

https://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/sandcasting-larger-lead-weights.2743/

 

It's not a casting project but... Building another sawmill. Mainly because I already had a bunch of parts made for it. Might as well work on it instead of letting it gather rust. I think the idea came from Popular Mechanics years ago. kind of like the early Wood Mizer.

 

Since you didn't specify casting projects...
Last week when it was above freezing, one day was doing site prep for a 10 x 20 carport to park the Kubota under. That involved moving and leveling 6 tons of crush and run.
A day and a half was cleaning up and rearranging my mess beside one of the outbuildings.
Two days were devoted to cleaning out and arranging the back room of the outbuilding to make it my dedicated electrical supply spot.
Saturday was grandkids day.
Today, with an inch of snow, no wind and in the low 20's, it was a good day to go burn a couple slash piles. Stopped by the volunteer fire dept and let them know, fired the first one and decided the second one was too close to some pines so drug that to the fire. Then cut a couple more dead pines and piled them on. Got the coals out at dark and felt comfortable leaving the dirt covered root ball smoldering since we're due another inch of snow tonight.
Saw a couple coyotes sneaking past me deeper in the woods.
I have been dreaming about doing some casting.

 

Very ambitious projects Forest and 'Bonz! Thanks for posting up. All plans and projects are welcome here.

 

Im going to try and be nice, My social Media followers have been getting a little pushy asking for things, I have politely explained to them, that from the point I thing out loud "ill Make a _____" is 2-9 months before a finished piece hits the buffer, that being said I normally have about a dozen pokers in the fire, to keep things moving,

I'm about 5 pieces from finishing the rating badge plaques , I wrapped another Belt buckle project up, Im working on a Dixie Cup Bottle opener, I recently had to add another Fake rafter to hang Matchplates, I'm over 125 , best way to see what I'm doing is to follow me on facebook or instagram HT1metalworks
Oh Im buying an Ipad so I can film and edit so im hoping to move into long format Youtube on a regular basis.

V/r HT

P.S. I should probably get back onto My pattern thread, but a flatback matchplate is pretty boring and that is what most my pieces are

 

I moved and built a new shop last year. Now comes the wiring, and getting things out of boxes. But to get it out of the boxes you have to buy or build places to put it (workbenches, cabinets, shelves, etc.) My casting and related projects are on long term hold. Got 5-6 patterns (bronze and Aluminum) done just no time or place to test them out.

 

New flask and a bigger pattern and matchplate for a lead duck. The alignment pins are 3D printed from a link in @Riley Alfred 's new member post. The plate is for a different flask. I might attempt to make it compatible to the new one, would need to figure that out somehow.

 

Facebook marketplace got me, now I have a whole new learning curve. I have joined the 21st century...

 

I stared putting up a foundry shed but the weather turned too cold and wet for me for now. Then I stumbled across this and was inspired by his young man's ingenuity. Started thinking of a practical mechanical walker yard tractor to pull a heavy cart around. Got three good gas engines sitting here. So have been investigating the various mechanical walking linkages, there's about four common ones, to see which gives the most bang for the buck, that is which has the best pulling force. This in turn lead me to the world of LEGO Technic for prototyping. Here's a source that's been really helpful on that. https://www.diywalkers.com/ So that's what I've been doing. Maybe I'll eventually get some yard work done.

 

Hey! That looks pretty good! I've still gotta clean mine up. My current project is fabricating my lifting tongs and pouring shank (Thread here), and refurbishing my used furnaces (Thread here).

 

Was asked to help restore another forgotten cemetery.
This one was kinda puckering. Took a 20 foot tripod to lift this tapered spire.
The strap kept wanting to slip until I jammed some wood in it.
All the males buried here were steamboat pilots. Asa Jr was killed when their boiler blew up.
Wealthy people in the day. They had 500 acres where they're buried. 1850's
I've got the upper part of the mother's headstone on the bench repairing it.

 

What materials are used for the repairs?

 

Stone epoxy to join the pieces and lime mortar to fill the cracks and rebuild the missing chunk in the middle.
The mortar is white cement, lime and finely ground white marble sand which I'll brew.
Deb's stone is in 8 pieces. Bottom couple inches are still in the base which we'll leave and epoxy the other two pieces which I've joined and left on site. When the top is finished, we'll place that on and do the final infill.

 

Finished Deb's top and carved the missing letters. This is weighing in at about 100 lbs.



Had a dry, 50*F day to get it to the cemetery which is 400 yds out a wooded path to a shelf on the hillside.
Back in their time it would have overlooked a wide flat unpopulated valley.



With the wife's help we got these two back up.
Sprayed them with D/2 biologic solution to start the whitening process.



The bottom piece was sprayed with D/2 when I set it in the base a month ago.

 

I was on Forge Side Chat podcast. so if you waant to hear 2.5 hours of me thats the place to be

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Pcis1yhlrzMuQTh5oXfE6?si=BAuollkDTnCAxPF1H7iadg

 

Simple little project and helped in clearing off my workbench. I've got room to work now.

 

I went to go and make a pattern for a foundry 'pig' weight. I lost my sheet with the dimensions and so winged it in CAD until I got a reasonable form and target weight. Spent most of one afternoon at the maker space building it. Got it home and realized that my gloved hand would not fit into the cavity for the handle. Did a re-design and debated 'editing' the original pattern. After discussion it was determined it would be better to remake. Nice weather today so worked at home with the garage door open. It also took most of the afternoon and I did not have to drive there and back. There is still lots of filleting and fairing to do, the new one is smoother wood to outside and better brad nailing so that should help.

Pics: montage of pig weights and my two attempts. I probably should have mocked up the form in cardboard once before committing it to wood. Patterns are laser-cut heavy paper. 5 degrees draft, bevels on table saw and straight cuts done using a miter fence on either a band saw (maker space) or table saw (home). Glad I did not commit to a multi-day 3D print with the smaller version.

 

The pig mold is through sanding, Bondo fills and fillets, more sanding, a coat of epoxy with barrier coat additive, and even more sanding.
The epoxy ran something fierce but sanded out pretty good. First coats of paint are on with obligatory runs and reveal of pinholes. Thoughts are forming about buying better plywood to start and/or coating with epoxy before cutting out the shapes and rounding over the corners.

 

I decided not to let the original pig pattern become scrap. I made the 'edits' to make it more like the second one (+3/4" wide handhold/overall, + 1/4" height of handhold, -1/4" base [+19mm/+6.4mm/-6.4mm]). It was going good until I tried using the power planer in a fashion that destroyed the plywood caps on one corner. Heroes of the project were the antique miter box and a Japanese pull/flush trim saw. New pieces assembled with Titebond 3 and 18ga brad nails. The internal handle is a feature on both patterns. The 2 different pig patterns I molded last month were from less durable materials and a closed volume without a sturdy extraction method.