Thing have been busy...

The Fadal has been earning it's keep...

Talk about overpackaging....

No wonder why shipping was so expensive....

 

All that space for two lousy endmills...

Mr. Turtle and His Friend....

Last week, I came across an add on Craigslist for a piece of vintage playground equipment.  I emailed the guy to see what he had and it turned out to be a turtle spring rider.  And so of course...I had to have it.  A deal was struck and the turtle was off to a new home.  As I was loading it in my car, the guy mentioned that his 24 year old son was heart broken to see "Mr. Turtle" leave.

 I like turtles...

Having one spring rider is fairly cool on it's own, but when I saw another one lying on the ground at the Canfield Swap Meet last Saturday....well...two are always better than one...right?  So now, Mr Turtle has a friend, Mr Duck.

More Hammers...

While perusing the goods at the Canfield Swap Meet,  I stumbled across a box full of old body hammers.  For $25, I just had to buy them all.  Three are Martin, two are vintage Proto, three are unknown and the last is a Matco ball peen.  To seal the deal, the guy threw in the body file and the red thingy do-hicker.

We figured that the red thing is for applying tire patches.  The top element is electric and can only assume it heated up.  Regardless, it will make a great frame for a small English wheel for gas tanks and such...

1030-1C....

I went to go attempt to download a new program to the Fadal last week and all that I got was a communication error.  Apparently with everything turned off, even the computer, a power surge can come though the RS232 port and take out the 1030 communications board.  Guess it's time to invest into one of these....I never knew you could get a RS232 surge protector.

I was able to find another board...actually two of them...from the west coast and it showed up yesterday.  It didn't take any time to install and I was back up running.  Thanks Jon!

The original board was re-manufactured at one point.  I suspect this isn't the first time this has happened.  I am going to send it to fadalvmcparts.com to see if it can be repaired.  I have dealt with these guys previously and would recommend them to anyone with Fadal issues.  They have great support and fast turn around.

Misc...

Some random pics from a day at the drags...

Dashing....

I finally got around to installing the dash in the '40.  It's only been on the list of thing to do for the last year...

Match Race...

Saturday! Saturday! Saturday!

Famous Local Blowout Extravaganza!

At The Drag Strip of Magnolia

Featured Event:

Tim “I’ll Kick Your Ass” Farwell

Vs.

Jason “Bring it on Bitch!” Bonecutter

Race Fans, make your way to the pits to meet the drivers! - Get your picture in their cars! -Get their autographs! -Touch them! -Let them touch you!!

BE THERE!!

After years of everyone having to hear these two argue back and forth about who's car is the fastest, it was was finally settled on the track.

Magnolia Dragstrip has been around for a long time.  Originally a 1/4 track, it was converted to an 1/8 mile strip some time ago.  It's a great atmosphere and a throwback of sorts to the golden age of drag racing.  The owners and staff were way too gracious to help accommodate our match race during their weekly Saturday races.

It was Jason Boncutter's "Bonecrusher" against Tim Farwell's "Lil Pépé"....Ford vs. Ford with a Chevy...big block vs. small block.  The format was to be two time trials and then the best 2 out of 3 runs....winner take all.

 

In the end, it was the Bonecrusher that was victorious with a 8.30sec and a 7.99sec pass.  On both of the runs, Tim has issues with rolling the beams and red lighting.  It was over before it even started. 

Useful yard art....

My dad bought an old post vise years ago at an auction that he planned to keep outside.  I can remember wondering to myself why in the world he would ever want to do that....I might have even made fun of him a little bit.  However, as he has done so many times before, he proved me wrong and made me realize that an outside vise is such a nice convenience, especially for grinding.

So, here is my interpretation of his vise...

I love old hammers....

I realize that I have a fetish for old hammers.  After all, one can never really have too many, right?    The one in the lower left I just picked up at a yard sale for $1.  Most of them have been collected at swap meets and antique stores over the years.  I don't know what it is, but there is just something about the feel of a vintage USA made hammer that the new ones on the right are lacking.