Ace-Garageguy

OK, I'm corrected. But the means by which the lathe jaws on the Unimat and the Sherline are adjusted, among a few other things, appear to be absolutely identical. That wasn't coincidence (though I haven't disassembled anything on the Sherline to see how far the similarity goes).

Yup. I've had a full size gap-bed lathe (16" max OD workpiece) since 1995. And a full size Bridgeport clone. Bought a Unimat lathe and mill maybe 6 or 7 years back, about a 1969 issue, and subsequently collected a lot of tooling, parts, upgrades. Great little machine, good for model and other small precision work, but not sufficient power to efficiently work as large pieces as it will accommodate. Bought a pretty complete used Sherline lathe and mill setup with a LOT of tooling back in February of 2024. First time I've really needed it was this week, and it's impressive: well thought out and plenty powerful. And very obviously influenced by the little Unimat.

Austrian. The Unimat.

A learning experience. I set up the Sherline, for the first time, in the shop where I'm finishing up the Chevelle build. Needed to turn multiple parts, some of which have to be hand fitted, so taking the tool to the shop was the most efficient way to do it. Interesting...to anyone who owns a Unimat too, it's obvious that the Sherline's designers had looked very carefully at the Unimat before they put pen to paper.

"Joke, is this a?" is my first reaction watching most news stories these days.

DELETE...WRONG THREAD. DUH.

Late model Ford vans: We do bodywork for vehicles operated by Lockheed here. One common failure is the front door hinge attach points literally ripping out of the pillar at about 30k miles. We developed a reinforcing retrofit that solves the problem permanently. Fleet vehicles...like stripper vans...get used and abused hard by people who just don't care. Seems like Ford might have taken that into consideration during the design phase. Just a little thicker steel in the pillar shell...and maybe a 50 cent doubler plate inside the pillar shell...and there never would have been an issue in the first place. But I guess their billion-dollar computer simulations never simulated the effect of careless operators repeatedly slinging the doors open against the stops. Some human with a reality-aware functioning brain has to tell the simulator what to simulate. The Isuzu Luv trucks had an almost identical problem back in the late '80s-early '90s, which I saw a lot of in my shop, running fleet repair/maintenance for the largest Domino's Pizza franchise on the planet when they still operated small pickups with the 30 minute delivery guarantee. Back then, by the way, the little Toyota pickups were almost indestructible, well outperforming the little Fords, Isuzus, and Mitsubishis in a variety of areas.

Writing with a pen is becoming a lost art.

102F in the shop today at 4:30 PM. Honestly, really not too bad. Glad I'm heat tolerant. Probably drank a gallon of water though.

"Unwell" almost ranks up there with doubleplusungood for clarity.

I just won't spend much on daily transportation. I recently purchased a one-family-owned (real car people) '96 Blazer 2wd 4dr, well maintained but not perfect. Runs and drives like new except for the inop AC (works fine but leaks refrigerant) which is OK by me, as I have no heat-intolerant offspring or wives to deal with, and I prefer having the windows down most of the time if it's not raining or really cold anyway. 15MPG in town, about 20 on the highway. Even handles decent for a top-heavy SUV. Heavily optioned when new, including leather, and the interior is still quite nice. Practical little hauler in town, surprisingly comfortable on the road, one of my favorite all time vehicles. As good as this thing is, I'm surprised I don't see more of them...though there seem to be a fair few of the pickups still running. Like this but different. The '89 GMC longbed 5-speed single-cab fleet stripper still runs fine too. Another one of my all-time favorites, mostly because she has so much heart. Saved her from the crusher for $100, did the top of the engine and a timing chain, a radiator, and after 10 years another new battery, and she just runs and runs and runs. I did have to replace the failed EFI with a 60-year-old 2bbl carb, but she gets the same fuel economy as before, and still starts on the first turn of the key after sitting for weeks. Her engine is getting a little tired (300,000 plus now), but I have another 305 on the stand that just needs to be resealed, so she'll most likely run forever. Two people have crashed into her since I got her maybe 15 years ago, and she has surface rust where the infamous self-stripping GM paint has done its thing, but I have everything to make her pretty again too. Only thing I don't like is her lack of posi, but it's only been an issue once, so... Like this, but on the cheap steel wheels. Just an old truck, and a good one.

Forecast high 98F. Currently 80 with 94% humidity.

Interior appointments for the "Van Candy" vans weren't very luxurious, not helpful for a franchise that was doomed from the start.

"Relaxing" is something I need to get back to more frequently, but it's been tough for the last couple years with demands and obligations pulling me in opposite directions.

Well suh, lack of talent didn't seem to be a part of the equation. I saved it, did a neat 360, and continued on in the original direction. No impact. When we got home the only gripe she had was that her lovely ash-blonde hair was so ratted she couldn't comb it out and had to cut a lot of it off. It grew back.

Ruin a paint job by sprinkling ants or beetles or flies or moths on it.

Myself has discovered that a high percentage of those who harp on "communication" have very little to say beyond mindless gossip and self-interest, and religiously avoid any topics that require thought or knowledge of much of anything beyond consumerism and celebrity worship.

"Confused" is what several women have told me they were, and looking back I'd have to agree with them; make up your mind and don't waste my time.

Fins on 1950s cars were more for fashion than function.

Needed a day off from world events, personal BS piled high and deep, and work...so I went out for breakfast, then to the ACME meeting. Showed an in-progress model I've posted on this board and introduced a fiberglass technique those guys hadn't seen previously. What a nice bunch they are. Came home with 4 decent rebuilders (3 of my favorite kits and one forlorn '34 Rolls nobody else wanted) for $20 too. I finally figured out where that extra resin Merlin I have is going... Far as the other rebuilders go, the little Revell pickup wants to look something like this but with a mild chop... The '36 Ford 5-window has its heart set on this look... And the '48 Ford really wants to be a gasser...

Meow, James Meow...

Thanks. I need a couple.

Platforms of the sneaker variety are not at the top of my list for visually appealing footwear.

As I tend to have multiple builds going and let projects go dormant for a long time, I have quite often had to refer to my WIPs here to jog my memory.

The issues come and go for no apparent reason from my perspective, but performance is definitely different depending on what browser and ISP and privacy settings I use..