Just Between You, Me, and the Cottonwood Tree: Life Lessons from the Cabin

Now if you go and engineer a shaft drive, that'll put you right up on my hero list with @SilverGhost

 

hello can i please join your club in here?

 

Installing that little gizmo allowed me to see better where the chain is riding on the sprocket. It's obviously not centered as well as I thought. The other side is tight, this side shows space. Will eat the sprocket if nothing else. Gotta yank the motor now and widen the slots a bit on one side to move it just a bit.

 

Looks like a finely calibrated spring. I like it!

did you spin the wheel to make sure you don't just have runout on the sprocket?

 

any room for a spacer on the other side at the axle?

 

Never spun the wheel once. Static test only.
Sprocket is close, but not exactly centered with the wheel. And It ain't gettin any closer. At least not tonight.

I did toy with that option, I could move the sprocket away from the wheel and that would line it up, but getting that thing to be round with the wheel is not easy. I made it on the garage floor, so it's far from perfect. Plus it would crowd the brake drum.

So I carved the motor slots 1/4" wider, made some 1 1/4" square goof plates so the nut wouldn't slip through the bigger holes. Kind of like strapping a board to the ass.
Got her all back together and need a break from the heat before anything else happens.

No pics tonight. Still looks like the pics above, just moved over 1/4"

 

Have you picked out the tassels for the handlebars yet?

 

He definitely needs to go barbie pink with a little but of sparkle.

 

Needs a hula girl on the handle bars.

 

Just sayin…

 

subbed for the cabin stories that will be coming

 

Since we have cold weather coming, decided to finish up the layout from a few years back.
Mainly needed the final water feature and some random landscaping.
So last night an island was created, and then a shoreline. The actual water will be after this shit dries.






Currently at the bar to pass the drying time...

 

YEA! Chooo- Chooo time has returned!

 

DUDE! This is some cool shit!

 

I feel like there are too many rocks on the shoreline, but it makes an easy transition, so it is what it is.

 

Put some grass in the cracks.

 

ducks, pier, row boats, marshplants

 

My old reliable coffee pot of two + decades gave up the ghost this morning. Luckily i had another one that I ussed to make tea in b uit no longer drink tea so it's been sitting around for a decade plus and was finally put in to service today. But the hotplate was still working, so i naturally dertached the upper portion and retained the hotplate function and had an idea...


The "water" that i'm using for this phase is a heat and serve style, that if overheated, will turn brown. So having a sacrificial pot that just happens to fit the hot plate, and because science, thought I would see if it would get hot enough to melt the water beads to molten enough to pour. so a sample platter...

 

It's not going to be even close enough to melt it, but It may be enough to keep it hot while i pour/work with it.
so i spent a few minutes with a dry brush and blended some paint to hopefully give the effect of shallow vs depth after the epoxy is poured.

That won't happen until tomorrow, the paint has to dry, then a coating of diluted white glue, then the epoxy goes down.

 

So it dried quick with a fan on it.
Took two pours, the full 16oz bag, to fill it and then about 30 minutes with a heat gun to get the bubbles out and smooth it up.






not too bad, but prolly won't use that particular type again.
Says low fumes, but def not non-toxic, set off the smoke alarm during the process.