#designsbyandrew

[designsbyandrew]

Holy cow it's dumping buckets of rain. We got 2.5 inches of rain yesterday in the rain gauge and are getting hammered again at the moment. It's raining when it's flying sideways and the rain is louder in the shop on the metal roof than running an air die grinder. The yard has rivers flowing through it and lakes forming. Might need to build me a boat soon. The best part is I'm wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt and it's almost Christmas. Strange weather! #designsbyandrew #december #summerweatherindecember #flooding #elnino #sidewaysrain

[designsbyandrew]

Got the new 3.73 Yukon gears and bearing kit for my 64 Bel Air. The hole in the bottom of the cast iron 3rd member case has been tig welded shut. Getting ready to set up the pattern on the gears once they are installed in place. The car should be a heck of a lot quicker with 3.73 gears over the stock 3.36 gears. Look out Hemi Chargers. I could hang with you before, now I might just walk away from you. 😆 #designsbyandrew #60smuscle #64belair #chevrolet #chevroletbelair #3rdmember #yukongear #ringandpinion #gearchange #tigwelded

[designsbyandrew]

Got the shop wood stove burning today without waste oil running. I peaked in to check on the stove and the cherry wood I put in last is showing some blue in the flame. Nice and toasty even with the doors wide open while welding. Supposed to drop down in temperature over the weekend. Nowhere near as cold as other places in the states. Happy Friday! #designsbyandrew #shopheat #wasteoilheater #woodstove #winterwarmth #blueflame #cherrywood

[designsbyandrew]

Just fired up the wood stove because it's such a damp cold due to the rain today. I dumped a couple of cups of olive oil in the waste oil tank from last night's dinner. Surprisingly it burns really hot so I closed the damper down after getting it burning well. Usually I use old engine oil, transmission fluid etc from the local automotive repair shop. Using waste oil cuts the amount of wood used by about a third if tuned right. Free wood, free oil, free heat. #designsbyandrew #shopheat #wasteoilheater #woodstove #winterwarmth

[designsbyandrew]

Did some imitation lumberjacking today to earn my keep and help out a neighbor while getting free firewood. I cut up about 35 feet of what I believe was a popular tree (green saw dust) that fell in the neighbor's yard last year. My chainsaw has an 18 inch bar and the widest part of the tree is about 26 inches or so in diameter. Finally got to test out the rating on the dump trailer I built a couple of years ago. The wheels are rated at 600 lbs each with a 1 inch solid axle. Poor tractor was like what did you hook to me pulling the trailer up and out of the incline in her yard. Rather than strain myself lifting the heavy logs at about 15 or so inches long, I finally cut them shorter. Being cut shorter they still weigh close to 70 lbs or so as they are wet. I tried to center most of the weight over the axle to go easy on the tractor. Worked out well. Still have another 50 feet left to cut up along with an oak tree that is about 80+ feet that fell down earlier this summer. She has a couple more trees that are dead that need to be cut also. They are about a foot in diameter. Luckily I'm only going across the street to transport them to my backyard. Work, never hurt anyone unless you do something dumb. Be safe. Happy hump day! #designsbyandrew #lumberjack #firewood #dumptrailer #chainsaw #workcutoutforme #excercise #firewoodwarmsyoutwice

[designsbyandrew]

Agreed. Lots more than just a simple description for a color. #designsbyandrew #truth #color #artist #colorcharted

[designsbyandrew]

Forgot about this vintage cobbler shoe horn I had picked up from the scrap yard about a year ago. From what I gather it's from the early 1900s. It has some ding marks in the surface from use. I was thinking of welding on some plates to use it as a forming stake for sheet metal but I think I'll offer it for sale to someone rather than modifying a piece of history. Any ideas on the date it might have been made? EBay has a few around $25. It is a Dragon number 2. If interested in purchasing it, let me know. #designsbyandrew #vintagetools #vintageshoehorn #early1900s #castiron

[designsbyandrew]

I was asked about the scar on my left hand after I posted about the hand injury. Fully functional and barely noticeable along with a little dirt from work today. So glad to have full use as it could have been much worse. #designsbyandrew #greatful #scar #grinderinjury #fullyhealed #ppeisnojoke

[designsbyandrew]

We had over 2 inches of rain yesterday and the doorway in front of my shop turned into a big mud bog. I picked up crush and run and spread it out with the old tractor and blade I built. Much easier spreading it with the tractor than by hand. Unfortunately I still had to unload it out of the truck. Good exercise and never hurts anyone. I'll do some more grading for a diversion to divert water from flowing by the doorway. I hope to pick up another load of crush and run eventually to replace the wood ramp that is degrading also. All its takes is money. Seems to be the main requirement for all in life. 😆 #designsbyandrew #mudbog #mudhole #crushandrun #tractor #landscaping

[designsbyandrew]

Just playing with some 22 gauge aluminum sheet metal today. Been running it through the English wheel and using the maple imitation slab for a stump. I have a lot to learn about dishing sheet metal but playing around is a good way to learn. I annealed the aluminum a couple of times and its makes it much easier to work with. Definitely not sure Ron Covell by any means but an interesting skill to work on. #designsbyandrew #metalworking #metalworkingnation #sheetmetal #sheetmetal101 #sheetmetalshaping

[designsbyandrew]

Some days you just feel like a pootoo bird. #designsbyandrew #pootoobird #isitfridayyet #monday #workweek

[designsbyandrew]

The start of a handful of heater box gaskets I have to create to finish up the heater unit for my 64 Bel Air. I purchased a heater unit gasket kit a couple of weeks ago and found out that all of the restoration parts houses sell the same one that only has two usable gaskets in the whole kit. My car came factory with ac and only two work out of the handful in the bag. Back to the drawing board. I searched high and low for thin foam to create the gaskets out of. The sheet of foam is from Hobby Lobby and is 5mm thick. It costs about $1.27 a sheet versus the $24.99 for the heater kit. I have one big gasket for the outer blower motor housing that I will have to build in sections as its bigger than the 12" X 24" foam sheet. I found that a carbide bit works well at slow speed in the die grinder to clean up the edges. Sometimes you just have to improvise and figure out how to get the job done. #designsbyandrew #bella #64belair #restoration #xframe #bbody #chevroletbelair #chevrolet #64belair #heaterbox

[designsbyandrew]

Tonight's sunset with no filters. #designsbyandrew #sunset #sunsets #nofilter #natureiscool #nature_perfection #nature

[designsbyandrew]

Tonight's sunset with no filters. #designsbyandrew #sunset #sunsets #nofilter #natureiscool #nature_perfection #nature

[designsbyandrew]

Mig Monday. Working on fabricating the welder cart for the shop. #designsbyandrew #metalworking #metalworkingnation #welding #fabrication #fab101 #migmonkey #migmonday

[designsbyandrew]

Seems to be the story for common sizes even when you have 12 of the same size including screwdrivers. Always missing or just hidden enough to cause searching for another. #designsbyandrew #tools #fabrication #garagelife