JLP Blacksmith Teaching Center.

[jlpservicesinc]

For sure.. That was the whole plan..   fire proof and fairly easy to fix should a panel get destroyed or if the metal needs modification. 

There are actually quite a few things I would like to do, but from a time stand point. It is running out. 

I mean at least before winter truly comes in. 

Had a garage door guy come by today to get a quote.. 

On the back door.. I have come to the conclusion  I do want it to open but I decided that I will make a movable wall. 

Yup you heard it correctly  " A movable wall"..    I will make a full on framed wall 6ft X 12 ft  each so will split the 12X12 opening in half..    I will then make some double hinges in a U shape and once I figure out the golden spot the U shape will allow for the wall sections to move straight in and out and then pivot in an arc.. 

This means I can double seal them on all 4 sides and if done correctly once the last door is pushed back in it will completely seal and still offer an R value around the same as a solid wall. 

I have noticed that about 2PM the sun shines in the back door and not only warms in the interior but it pretty. 

This will also allow use of the back opening if should want to. 

Today I made some progress on the left side. 

I then unloaded 45 bales of hay and started to forge some section pieces for a grate that goes in a vintage wood stove. 

[Old Crew]

Jennifer

Your shop is looking very good and I am very glad and also proud of you for pushing so hard to get the walls and roof before the weather gets to crappy.

I have a full insulated sliding wall in my shop which makes it very easy to move large things in and out . It is 11' tall by 23' wide and slides to one side. I built it with a rectangular tube steel frame for support. Then metal stud framed it and used 3" thick rigid poly-iso board insulation with the same wall sheets as the rest of the building on the outside. In the center I installed an insulated  metal building man door.  There are 4' wide insulated metal building doors available if you don't want build your own.

David

[Frosty]

I'm exhausted after reading your updates Jennifer!

It's looking and sounding better every time. Way to go!

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Old Crew..   That sounds like a great door..  I'm me "GREAT DOOR"..  Wow, how do you move it in and out? 

I understand now after our talk about the Fitted Steel building mandoor now. 

Without your help The project would have taken so much longer.   You gave me guidance and help freely and can't thank you enough for helping me in the tough spots..   Means a load of difference having someone to reach out to and getting help even from afar. 

Thanks..  

Frosty.    Thanks for the support.  Yup every day a little closer and the weather here right now has been nice.  I work faster when it's warmer out.  Less bulkl and all. 

I did make some pretty good progress today but sadly I did not take any progress photos.   I was able to get the part on the right front corner finished up and the window frame/port in. 

Old crew and I had a great talk and he pointed me to ( Steel building doors ) which actually come in the correct frame type for a steel building..   I called a bunch of steel building places but all had closed up for the weekend. 

I'll investigate again Monday. 

With this in mind I did start to look at framing out for a regular building commercial door as I really wanted to get it finished.   We will have to see what the Steel building door go for money wise..   

 

[jlpservicesinc]

So the last few days have been trying.  Lots of little fiddle faddle stuff. 

I had the window in and then decided it should be tighter so had to figure that out.  

Anyhow,  I have the right side front wall just about done.  

I called the steel building place and it will take a few weeks to get a door from them.  I'm still waiting on a price. 

I might have to finish the door I have until the other door arrives..  Because of the frame spacing originally with the large window the 4ft door would not work..  Not enough room.   

But, I think now I have the spacing correct and can just fit it.   Well sorta. 

What I can do is tomorrow I will get the flanges in place around the front shed dormer beams so the siding will sit against it and seal out the elements.  Then I can install a few panels and get the corner trim on.. 

Dick L. brought over this excellent rolling metal stand..  Such a great addition for the shop..  What a great gift. Great design to copy too. 

 

 

 

[jlpservicesinc]

So banner day today..  I was able to get the top sections at the front dormer section figure out.. 

It only took me a few hours to dial it in. 

On the 2 middle ones  I cut off the outside shoulders (strips) but did not need to.  LIve and learn.. I have 1 more to make and also have to do the same fix to the left side.. 

 

[pnut]

It's definitely coming along. I'm looking forward to seeing you finish it. Nothing like getting to see someone accomplish a goal to motivate me to perform a posteriectomy¹ on my recliner. 

Pnut

¹surgically removing a posterior from it's resting place. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Slow and steady I guess..  Way slower than I'd like to see.  

Lotta engineering going on..  It's crazy just how difficult it is to get in and figure out a good way to do things like this. 

I figured out the way I like the best for the middle ones now and the end ones are figured out too.  It is a process for sure. 

the center flanges were screwed together so there was no gap like in the photo. 

I then put the thermal barrier on and put the insulation closures in..  I also installed the some of the trim pieces.. 

 

[Rojo Pedro]

Nice fab skills

[ThomasPowers]

And by the time you get it all down pat; there's no more to be done!  Just think how lucky you are to have both the metal working skills and tools to be able to do your own mods!

[jlpservicesinc]

Rojo Pedro thanks..  

Thomas, you said a mouthful there..   My mind skills used to be much faster at arriving at a design I approve of.. Now I make something that is OK instead of great only to see it 10minutes after the fact of making and installing it. Only to regret it.. 

Both the new middle and the right side one are what I would consider a good job.. Solid, covers all the bases as for being strong, a great surface to seal against (having a great seal both weather wise and critter wise) is so important to me. 

Lucky???  well not sure about that one.   You figure its been over 40 years of being in the metals trade and a lot of sweat equity.  Nothing has ever come easy to me..  Just a lot of hard work and book learning.. 

It's interesting in that the guy who got me into doing hardware reached out 5 or so years ago after losing contact for all these years..  

I've been thinking about him and reached out and his first response was one of amazement since he knows my history and has known me since I was 16..  

Can do attutide is number 1.. 

[ThomasPowers]

One thing we have to overcome is the mindset that the way the manufacturer did it must be the BEST way.  Usually it's the CHEAPEST way they could get away with.  It generally takes some experience to get this pounded into our heads. I've had folks even push back over modifying a wooden hammer handle to work better for THEIR hand.

I think this trend is getting worse as folks are told NOT to fix or work on their own equipment. I cheer on the folks who posted the self repair manifesto: (Moderators: please feel free to delete this.)

 

 

[George N. M.]

Thomas:  This has been a real problem in recent years with farm equipment.  The problem is made worse by the distance/time that a repair technician has to travel to get to the site and then may or may not have the parts and diagnostic tools on the first trip.  This can put a critical piece of machinery down in a critical time frame. The bean counters came up with the idea to sell the piece of machinery with a minimum profit and then make money on parts and repairs. A few companies are recognizing that repairability and parts availability can be a sales feature.

I'd never sign a sales agreement that prohibited me from doing repairs or that I was only leasing a portion of it such as an operating system.  I'd pay more or wait longer for delivery and I'd tell the sales person that they had lost a sale and a repeat customer because of it.

You are seeing some of the same trends when it comes to cars, too.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."  

[jlpservicesinc]

I love that "Repair Manifesto"..   Everything I own is older.    Lotta times now though is limited parts after the 15 years and though MFG's for cars are required by law, they don't do it..  They produce a certain number with a projected outcome and then that is it..  High failure rate part..  Oh, well source is all used up. 

I was not a Fan of BMW until I got a BMW motorcycle..  1977 R100RS..   BMW is still making a lot of parts for these older matchines and can order stuff direct from the dealer at a reasonable price.   If something is ordered and not in stock it will give a time frame or some sort as to when..   In production now,  NA, etc, etc.   

This really gives a sense of the value to the end user.    The Audi on the other hand they run the full 15 years and change.. 

I was super surprised that Ford is doing the make it and oops we ran out..  I needed a new glow plug relay for the 2001 7.3L and an emergency brake cable..  NA..   

The aftermarket guys step up, but the parts are junk..  cheap zinc plated cables vs stainless steel and I have been thru 3 aftermarket relays. 

Anyhow, I do love that fix it ideal.    

Maybe because I never made enough money to throw stuff away..   

[Red Shed Forge]

Intentional obsolescence! You see it everywhere: toys, tools, electronics i.e. cell phones, cars etc. Just the other day at the office we had a repair guy come out for our large photocopier. Was just a routine cleaning and checkup in preparation for tax season, but this time he suggested that we start shopping for a new one soon as "this one is getting old."

"What? it's only 5 years old."

"Yeah but they upgraded and don't make this one anymore, so parts will be harder to find an more expensive. You can sign a new maintenance contract on it, but it will be more expensive to fix if it needs to be. The new one has all these bells and whistles you don't need, but you should buy this instead." 

I wish I had started tinkering and fixing earlier in life because I agree with the manifesto as well.... just not very mechanically skilled (yet)! 

[ThomasPowers]

Out here the local scrapyard does a lot of business in autoparts even though they are a scrapyard first and foremost.  As cars don't rust out here it's fairly common to see ones 40+ years old on the road.  As far as machinery goes; a lot of older machinery was built for repair. They expected the owners to replace bearings and other pieces over the life of the machine. (One reason the Little Giant powerhammer  is popular is that you can still buy parts for them!)

I'm not too amused with the current trend that everything software is "subscription" nowadays; perhaps because I'm part of managing a bunch of it from the end user side of things.

One of my best friend bought a brand new Toyota Pickup; 4 door and fancy; he had over 235K miles on his previous vehicle, a PT cruiser, so he was pretty good about taking care of cars.  Well in the first year of ownership it spent 4 months in the shop waiting for part covered by warranty.  (I finally talked him into demanding a loaner after month 1). They didn't even do the regular maintenance on it while waiting and after he took it back for that; the skid plate is now missing... Meanwhile my 2004 Toyota pickup hasn't has any shop time in the last year and I certainly won't be taking it to the dealership in the city he went to.  I'll use the local repair shop that does things like let me pick it up after hours and pay for it the next time I'm in town.

Of course for major machinery the US tax code plays a part where the fact that you can depreciate your equipment can make it a better idea to junk a completely paid off machine making parts exactly to spec for an exactly same one that is new and can be depreciated on their taxes. (I had great trouble wrapping my head around that one in Econ class---how a paid off machine, still working great, was losing you money compared to one you owed a million on. I finally could see it but it still seems WRONG from my engineering background.) No need to spend extra time making them last or easily repaired  if that is what will happen with them.

[SLAG]

Folks,

Many countries in Europe have adopted  "right to repair" legislation for consumer goods.

This after there was an outcry by many citizens.

An example of the abuse is an example form the Netherlands. Manufacturers of house lights started selling lamps that had the bulbs permanently attached to the device. In other words, when the bulb burned out the whole lamp had to trashed.

SLAG.

[Deimos]

Jup, we do that a lot. And i hate it. When i was a cycle mender i refused to sell bikes from a brand named "Gazelle" because they designed their bikes in way that made it impossible to repair anything, you could only replace stock factory parts, not even off brand versions (front fender with integrated light would cost someone about 80 euro).

We just love to throw everything away and destroy it is quick as possible.

[Red Shed Forge]

Thomas, great point. Tax depreciation is an enabler, for sure. But, that does not mean the new machine that is replacing the now fully depreciated former machine has to be factory new. For example, a blacksmith could purchase a power hammer that is generations older than themselves, but because it is new to the business, the business can start depreciating it. 

A small win-win I suppose: continue the longevity of a great machine that was built to last and still reap the tax benefits (however shorter they may be).  

[arkie]

We bought a new GE refrigerator last year.  The thing has several LED lights in it.  Upon reading the user manual, I discovered that NONE of the LED bulbs are user replaceable!!!  You have to have a service repairman come out to replace them!  What a crock of ****.  I gotta check into a shadetree option for that.

[jlpservicesinc]

I bought a vintage bandsaw blade welder from 1974 Stryco MF3..   It was delivered today..  My vintage DoAll one stopped working.. It has a clockwork motor inside that ran at 60Hz for timings..   This older machine 1950's vintage has this gorgous setup.. But, I called DoAll and they no longer keep or have the parts in stock.  They to jumped on the band wagon on throwing the old stuff out. 

Now, I'm not a corporate big wig..  And as Thomas pointed out the financial that corps get away with is crazy..  The model for taxes is much ran like the government. 

I took a class and was told that if I have 3000.00 left at the end of the year to go buy a 25K machine..   I show a debt of 22K, but the company is worth more because I now have a machine that added 22K to the companies worth. 

While I understand the thought behind it,   If someone did this at home, they would not have a home in 6months. 

Also few realize that Corps pay less taxes per thousand then someone who is at the poverty level. 

With this said.   All business branchs from the bottom line and cheap labor brings corps to the area and builds countries. 

then industrial accidents or sickness forces the corp to look for cheaper labor somewhere else.. etc, etc, etc. 

This topic is a slippery slope for sure but cause I personally have never understood the gold standard as gold to me is great for fillings, or for storage vessels, electrical contacts..  But as far as value it holds less value then steel..  Steel can at least be made into tools and such. 

So, All we can do is play the game, try to do the best by others and find some sort of peace..  

I'm fortunate enough to have been on a road that has brought me to this point.. 

I love to teach and to demonstrate and my revival into smithing with reaching out to groups has brought me to be a demonstrator with ABANA and the NEB and a whole bunch of other events.  

Someday, I do believe that common sense will win out and instead of seeing differences in gender, race, creed, color, status etc, etc.  We will see all as children under the same sun and only be here to support each other. 

[JHCC]

I’ve been having the worst time finding spare parts for my treadle hammer. I must have a word with the manufacturer. 

[jlpservicesinc]

John,  My boss is the worse boss I know..  Everything is work faster, be smarter,  suck it up lollypop.. Etc, etc.  

I hope you get better results from yours. 

[ThomasPowers]

John, Castigate him Soundly!  But watch out if you think of taking him out for a drink afterwards!

Working from home next two weeks save for scheduled hands on work at work.

[Jasent]

It’s looking great Jennifer.   You should be proud