Just Between You, Me, and the Bingo Card: Life Lessons from the Assisted Living Facility

Ok but I'm a little disappointed in your bridge.
I'm sure it'll work fine in your little scale model but scale it up and it's a disaster.
Can we get some trelli or buttresses or some sort of engineering?

 

You are correct, shit would go south irl. But I'm not quite done yet.
There will be a support cable along the bottom as well as support beams incorporated into the sides of the cliff. But other things need to happen before those obstructions are installed.
#modelerslicense.

 

Why am I up so damn early?
Used a stain instead of painting it.

 

All his Gov't jobs are wearing off on his Train engineering!

 

Everybody's a critic.
*Armchair engineers...

 

So I added some more engineering and shit. Not sure if I like the thread or the wire cable.

 

Where is the mail hanging?

 

didn't like the wire or the thread. found a roll of artificial sinew in my whip stuff and I think it looks pretty good.
Enough with the bridges.

 

Thank you for adding the engineering.
You're gonna get laid for sure now. Chicks dig artificial sinew.

 

The BS thread sux.
Building a better mouse trap. Not a new design, just my design using crap I have laying around.
This is a valve cover racer. Back when cars had valve covers we used to race them.
It has been sitting on the top garage shelf for the better part of two decades.
It contains key components to my mouse trap, one wheel and the bearings robbed from the others.

The wheel will hold the bait.

Added some more bearings to make it more challenging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMBhAfsGlPY
I think the idea is clear, bait on the spinny wheel, they climb a rudimentary plank to get to the rollers. If they make it across the rollers, they may taste momentary victory before being dropped into the water below.
Will have to bait it tonight before bedtime to keep the dog from taking the bait. Setting it up on the back deck by the dog door that they seem to be coming thru.

 

Tossed a mini Aprokovic on the mini bike for funsies. Need to make a suitable mount before it can be ridden. Actually runs better/quieter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ8TGrWxpf4

 

During one year of being stored on edge, the "water" has been slowly flowing out of the lake.

 

TSUNAMI!

 

Needs a surfboard to ride the wave, or maybe a windsurfer since it's a lake.

 

Set it on the opposite edge next year

 

new project to waste time and money on but it does expand the mind and keep an old guy sharp. Plus it's fun to play with things that can potentially burn your house down.
Hit and miss engine that runs on gas. Engine came pre-assembled, it's up to me to make a passable base to mount it on.
I need to get into woodworking, could prolly do a better looking job. Let's call this a mock up. Just to see if it runs and is worth wasting more time on.




Paint is barely dry...


Barrel in the "back" is the fuel tank and unscrews from the top. I'll secure it with some double side tape and it should be fine. Don't want to scratch it with a clamp. Fuel line runs thru a hole in the base and comes back up to the carb.



Needs a battery pack (I supplied) for the igniter/coil, (yellow box), then mounted as neatly as possible underneath the engine. It has the cutest little spark plug. Says it needs between 6.6 and 7.4 volts. I'll try a 4 cell pack first at 6 volts and see if it fires. Not sure about the possibility of burning up the coil pack with higher voltage. If it doesn't fire, Then I'll hook a 2 cell lipo to it and let it rip. Would rather use alkaline though as there is no battery monitor for a lipo.


There is a magnet that triggers the coil as it spins. They did send an extra sensor, not sure why that would be prone to failure, would have liked a spare plug instead.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPQARqsHIU

 

Redid the paint , went with that hammered finish. The other paint didn't play well with the fuel and oil this thing slings around. I think I like the black color better though.
Added a fuel tank mount. The lid from a dispensary container fit perfect. Turns out it's necessary to remove the tank for cleaning out the oil from the rear of the piston and around the crank.

Drilled a slot to route the spark sensor wire.

Added a skirt to clean it up and give easy access.


So far I have run 4 tanks thru it with no issue, one was a 50/50 mix of lighter fluid and moonshine, just to see what it would do. Couldn't tell any difference.

 

Found some crap from my nitro days. Primer bulb and fuel filter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5kmRXEAa48

I have another engine coming in kit form. All parts, no instructions. Should be fun to document that here and see if it runs when finished.

Thinking of a steam donkey sled to mount it to. Not sure if steam donkeys came with hit and miss engines, but this one will. They look kind of similar but not really.

 

Painted the little sterling. Wasn't meant to be festive colors, just happened to be what I had in an industrial paint. International Harvester Green and the same in gloss red.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvwAW1AcC5c