Apex, NC

I took the day off from work yesterday to take Bob to his endocrinology appointment at Chapel Hill.

We are renting a white Kia Soul four door until the Ram has been repaired.  It's pretty roomy inside for such a small car.

In the morning I took him to Great Clips so that he could get a haircut.  Right after the haircut we went to Caliber Collision to check on the Ram.

The reason I wanted to talk to the body shop is because they sent me an emailed update telling me that the expected completion date was July 31, 2025.  I could not understand why it would take that long to make the repairs.

When I got there the receptionist looked my account up and then went to get Tyler, my service adviser.  He came out all smiles and told me to forget that date.  They needed to put a date in as a place holder, and the system sent the update to me.

Tyler said that he expects the door skin, gaskets, trim, grommets, and Ram brand badge to be delivered today or tomorrow.  When the parts come in, they will have a better idea of when the job will be completed.  The truck was already inside the shop and they were working on the back door and the rear fender.  

When they send the repaired truck to be painted, he said that it will take two days.  The first day the truck is masked off and sanded down.  The paint and clear coat are sprayed on the second day.

Bob's appointment was at 2:30, so we left around 1:00 pm so that we would get there in time.

The doctor did not know what to make of Bob's symptoms.  She'd never heard of someone will his problems, but she ordered blood tests to measure hormone levels to ensure that the growth on his right adrenal gland is not producing hormones, and to check that his pituitary gland is making hormones.  He also has to do a 24-hour urine collection.

It was after 5 pm when we got back home.  I immediately took Hercules out for his walk and fed him.

After we settled, I set up my home aluminum anodizing kit in the garage.  I cleaned two different pieces
of aluminum with hot water and Simple Green degreaser.  I hooked up the battery charger and hung the first part with titanium wire and submerged it in the battery acid.

I let the current run for about 20 minutes while I was upstairs mixing and heating the dye.  I used Rit fabric dye mixed with distilled water.  I chose Dark Green.  

After the time finished, I disconnected the power and lifted the part from the solution.  I rinsed the part in distilled water and took it upstairs to put it into the dye.  The dye was on the stove and kept at 120 - 140 F.  It soaked in the dye for 15 minutes.

When it came out of the dye, I rinsed it with more distilled water, and then submerged it in boiling water for 30 minutes to seal the color in.

It turned out pretty good!   I wish the color had turned out darker, but there were only two small defects on the back of the part.

I anodized a second part too, but it did not turn out very good.  I suspect that all of the milling machine coolant was not cleaned off of it.  Next time I will bake the parts at 400 F for 30 minutes, then dip the part in a Sodium Hydroxide solution, then rinse and clean with acetone, and finally rinse with distilled water before starting the anodizing.

The only way to learn is to get out there and just try!

Post 2905

Today was a hot 95° F day.  Probably about right for the first day of Summer.

I cleared all of our personal belongings out of the truck and put them into a box in preparation for dropping the truck off at the body shop on Monday.

Then I put the garage door down and finished up my portable powder coating spray booth project.  I cut halfway through the plastic panels where I wanted "hinges" to bend.  I reinforced the joints with white Gorilla tape.

Later I went to Lowe's and picked up some adhesive-backed Velcro™ strips.  I applied these to the panels to hold them in the closed position when I am storing the folded up spray booth.

Eastwood.com offers a similar booth for about $100, plus shipping.  Theirs does not include the box fan.  I spent about $50 - $60 on mine (including the fan).

This booth will be used for spraying powder coat, and it can also be used for regular spray painting.  I will mount it on the table with newspaper or a trash bag under it and the fan blowing out of the garage door.  This should keep the paint or powder confined to the table and keep the garage shop clean.

After Lowe's we picked up a small lunch from Wendy's and then went to Food Lion for our weekly groceries. 

Now we have our groceries put away and I am relaxing.  I am debating whether I should start my next project:  anodizing aluminum parts in my home shop.

Bob continues to struggle with feelings of anxiety and bad nystagmus.  He can't wait for his consultation with UNC Endocrinology on Tuesday.  I encourage him to rest during the day because he has not been sleeping at night.

 

Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year.  First day of Summer.

The Ram is going to be repaired next week.   Caliber Collision will do about $5500 in repairs, and Geico Insurance (the other driver's carrier) will be paying for it.  I will have to rent a small car next week so that I can travel to work, and take Bob to his doctor appointment on Tuesday.

Yesterday was Juneteenth holiday and it was a day off for HexaTech.  I took PTO today, so I have four days off.  I will be in late on Monday because I have to take the truck to the body shop.  Then I have Tuesday off.

I made progress on my portable powder coating spray booth.  My spray booth is fashioned around an inexpensive box fan.  To the back of the fan I attached aluminum angles to hold a 20x20 furnace filter.  The same screws that hold the angles to the fan also hold double-walled plastic sheets that form that sides.  The top is held down by the screws that attach the handle to the top of the fan.  The sides have tabs on the top of them, and the top has slots cut in the sides to hold the assembly open during use.  The booth folds up for
compact storage when it isn't being used.

I used a can of baby powder to test the draft in the booth.  It works!  There is a gentle draft that pulled the powder to the back to the filter.  Initially I had planned to install a baffle in front of the filter, but it slowed the airflow too much -- I couldn't detect any air flow with it installed.

A rod of all-thread passes through holes in the left and right sides.  I will hang the work from the threaded rod and clip the power supply to the threaded rod.

As I spray the plastic powder toward the work, the electric charge will draw the powder to the work, and any extra powder will be contained in the booth or on the filter.   The purpose of the spray booth is to keep the garage workshop clean and keep the powder contained.  Collected powder that is still clean can be reused.

Another project I am working on is home anodization of aluminum parts.  I have battery acid, a battery charger, titanium wire, a sheet of lead metal, plastic containers, baking soda, and lots of distilled water.

Friday the 13th

After work I made a quick stop at Walmart to get bottles of flavored sparkling water.  I could see dark clouds gathering and I knew it was going to rain.

I got onto NC-540 and headed south toward Apex.   On the way down it began to rain.  It was heavy at times and the traffic slowed down.  When we passed Morrisville Parkway, the right lane was closed, so everyone had to merge into the middle and left lane.  This slowed everyone down even more.

I took Exit 59C off of NC-540 and descended the ramp to US-64 West.  It was about 2:50 pm.  My intention was to remain in the exit lane and take the exit ramp up to Kelly Road.

Just as I was moving parallel to US-64 West, I could see the front of a car out of the corner of my eye and it was moving right into the side of my truck!  There was really nothing I could do.  The car hit me with a heavy thudding sound on my door.  I applied the brakes and pulled over to the shoulder.  The car that hit me pulled over about 50 yards down the road.   I put my flashing hazard lights on and left the engine idling.

I picked up my phone and called 9-1-1 to report the accident.  I was transferred to NC State Highway Patrol office and an officer was dispatched.

The car in front of me was a black 2017 Lexus SUV with NC plates.  The driver, a slender black female, got out at one point to survey the damage to the right front of her car, and then she got back inside.

When the officer arrived, it was pouring down rain.  He walked up to my window and I explained what happened, then he walked up to the passenger-side window on the other car and spoke with that driver.  I am sure that she was trying to say that I failed to yield or that I was someplace I should not have been, but examining the damage to the left side of my truck (driver's door, left rear door, left rear fender), and the damage to the right front fender of her car, it was clear that our cars collided, and it was clear that she had not overtaken me when she attempted to merge into the exit lane to Kelly Road.

The officer returned to my truck and he told me that he was getting two different stories from both of us.  He was going to go back in his patrol car to examine the roadway where the collision took place for evidence that she was driving in the verge between US-64 and the exit lane.

He came back a short time later and since both vehicles were still drivable, he asked us to slowly back up along the shoulder until we were all parked under the Kelly Road bridge.  Here he would explain to both of us how he would file his report and he would exchange contact information for both of us.

The lady was trying to tell the officer that I did not yield when I came off of the exit ramp, and he told her that this right turn is free-flowing, and I am not required to stop or yield.  He had to gently point out to her that the evidence that he could see supports my version of the events.  

It doesn't make her a bad person or anything like that, it was just an accident.

I took some pictures of the damage on both cars, and after about 30 minutes the officer sent us on our way.  I am surprised that I was able to remain calm.  It is upsetting when this happens, and especially when the truck is only 2 months old with about 3000 miles on it.

The good thing is that nobody was hurt and the damage can be repaired.

After I returned home, I checked the mail, and here is the ironic part - in the mail was a box from Chrysler Jeep Ram containing a touch-up ink pen for the truck!   

I told Bob that I did not have any appetite for dinner.  

I called USAA and got my claim started.   The NC DMV issues accident reports electronically now, and the information exchange sheet lists a URL that you visit to get a copy of the accident report.  I will get that on Monday.

Also, on Monday, after work, I have an appointment with Caliber Collision to have the work estimate completed.  With the estimate, we can schedule a time to have the repair work done.  I do not know whether the door has to be replaced, but I do know that body shops can do some very good work.

Mill Column Cap

My mini milling machine came with a plastic cap on the column that appears to have been pressed on while the metal was hot.  I had to remove the cap to install the gas spring on the head and the cover has never remained on the column for long since.   It became very annoying to me.

After I completed the DRO installation and re-installed the way covers, I decided to do something about this loose column cap.  I created a model in Onshape.com that I then 3D printed.  This model would cover the top of the column to keep debris out, and it had tabs on the bottom that would seat against the inside of the column to hold the cap in place.

I printed this cap on my Flashforge Dreamer NX printer.  It took about 90 minutes to print.  I test fit it on the column and then adjusted the fit with the grinding wheel on my Dremel.

After I got the cap to fit snug, I spray painted it black to match the rest of the of machine, and popped it into the top of the column.   It almost looks like the machine was shipped with it!

June 1

Large format raster image for the poster.

Just as I promised, I vacuumed the carpet upstairs and then ran the carpet shampooer.   After breakfast on
Saturday, we filled the gas tank (it took 6 gallons), and then I went to the auto parts store to get bug and tar remover.  We went to the car wash and sprayed the bug dissolver on the grille, hood, windshield, bumper, and front of the mirrors.  After the car wash the truck looked good.  I vacuumed the truck out thoroughly on Saturday afternoon.

Groceries were shopped for and bought yesterday.

This morning I trimmed the rubber accordion way covers and reattached them.  I put the dial test indicator into the drill chuck and inserted this into the
spindle.  I began to get measurements of the table from right-to-left and front-to-back.  Measurements varied from 0.0025 to -0.0035 on the x-axis, and -0.0005 to -0.0040 on the y-axis.  I think that is good enough for the casual machining I will be doing.  If I have to, I will shim the vise.

I went into the DRO display and changed the direction of operation for the y-axis and z-axis so that as the table goes backwards, the display shows lower numbers and negative numbers.  I did the same thing for the z-axis.  As the table moves backward, it is the same thing as the cutting tool moving forward, and this would be in the negative direction on the y-axis.

Original image.

I still have to calibrate each axis so that the displayed distance moved equals the actual distance moved.  This involves moving the table while a DTI measures how much it moved, comparing it to the displayed distance moved, and entering a correction factor for each axis.

Next step for the milling machine - I am going to model the plastic column cover and 3D print it.  The existing cover was simply glued on, and my new one will snap in.

I am also making a poster of Bob and me on our Pacuare River rafting trip with a printed raster pattern (shown in the picture on this post).  I have trimmed all of the sheets, and glued them together.  I would like to color the poster with watercolors before I glue the poster to a canvas and seal it.

Back to work tomorrow.  I am sure tomorrow will be full of surprises for me.