#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]

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]

I picked up the Klutch Plasma 375i cutter this morning along with a dryer and an 6-50R ac receptacle. I already had a 14-50R plug for the oven I use to bake parts in and found out on a Saturday you are limited to the electrical parts needed to connect to receptacles to each other. If all else fails, mount them back to back and weld the metal housing plates together carefully without melting the plastic contact blocks. For my own use I don't have a problem doing that but I advise against doing that for anyone else as you are asking for trouble in case something happens. No need to add yourself in the equation of someone else's mistakes. I have a dedicated circuit for 120v and 220v so I won't be tripping breakers while other stuff is on. I also made a whip that allows my dedicated outlets to move if I have to slide machinery down out of the way plus the outlets are less likely to get blocked as that tends to happen in shops. I picked up a filter dryer combo to put inline of the air supply as we had lots of humidity here in NC. I originally wanted to purchase the Miller 375 extreme plasma cutter machine and kept savings upon for it but my funds would get robbed and makes $1400 to come up with difficult. I'm facing either getting more ideas becoming a reality with the need of a plasma cutter or loosing everything if I wait. Bills have to be paid so I sacrificed and picked up the Klutch unit for half of the price. I'm sure it doesn't have quite the longevity and precision as the Miller but it will get the ball rolling so I can always upgrade to the Miller later on. I have always been one to save for the upper end tools but sometimes you just have to go with it. I have only used a plasma cutter once Andrew will say once you use one you are hooked. I set up a 55 gallon drum with a grate on top today catch the sparks. I feel like a kid in the candy store having this thing. Yeah my attempted writing in a piece of 16 gauge stainless steel looks a bit like a drunk but practice should improve that. I hope to get the new wave of ideas becoming reality soon. Thank again for your support. Now it's time to go play with the new toy. 😍😍😀😀😆😆 #designsbyandrew

[designsbyandrew]

Making transmission cooler lines today using the Mastercool universal hydraulic flaring tool. This tool makes flaring tubing so much easier and produces consistent flares unlike the cheaper half clam set up using wing nuts to hold it together. You start out deburing the end of the tubing inside and outside. There are different dies in the set that clamp it to hold it in place. There is a small slide handle bar that keeps the dies positioned. The first step is using the inverted flare die that is held in place by the piston assembly. This forms a bit of a bubble in the first stage. The next step is to use the tapered die to finish pressing the flare shape into the end of the tubing. Simple as that. No hassle with lopsided flares that won't seal. The flaring set will also do ac lines along with other fuel line flare styles such as the bubble in the end of the tubing for the quick disconnect lines used on fuel injection. If you plan on building custom lines for your project or build lines as part of your business, this tool is worth every penny. #designsbyandrew #transmissioncoolerlines #flaringtools #automotivetools #tooljunkie #tools #mastercooltools #mastercool #steeltubing #customlines

[designsbyandrew]

Score of the day. A neighbor pushed his old zero turn and tractor out to the road to get rid of them. The walk behind zero turn is a 46 inch deck with a 2 cylinder Briggs 20hp that was upgraded from a 14hp. It needs tires, belts, probably deck parts as they don't move along with a battery. The craftsman tractor has a 14.5hp Briggs upgrade from the 12hp and is a 38 inch deck. It needs tires, belts, a battery but runs. The oil is clean in both which is surprising as most people don't take care of lawn equipment. I will have to take the gear box apart on the zero turn as he said it won't turn right but still moves freely in neutral. One or both will be a nice back up mower or possibly a source of a couple of bucks to sell when fixed. Can't ask for a better deal even though some elbow grease and tlc will be needed to get them back running. #designsbyandrew #dealoftheday #briggsandstratton #lawntractor #gardentractor #onemanstrashanothermanstreasure #freebies #rescuedfromcrusher #flipagram made with @flipagram See full video at flipagram.com/DesignsByAndrew