Reply to Pat in WI:
Bill,
Parts look great! Steve made most of my sheetmetal too. Steve is a wealth of knowledge and talent. He helped me many times with questions I had when I was restoring my TEN.
Now you have to get back to work! Cassie is going to have one fine TEN to operate! I wish my wife appreciated "precious metal" like yours does!!
I have to tell you that apartment life...well it is not for me! I miss my shop horribly!! It was my sancuary...my place to hang out and tinker. Now all I have is this darn laptop to entertain me and we don't see eye to eye most days. Nothing like going out and getting your hands dirty and bringing something back to life!
Keep the pictures coming...it is a joy seeing your project come together!
Pat
[quote="Pat in WI"]Bill,
Parts look great! Steve made most of my sheetmetal too. Steve is a wealth of knowledge and talent. He helped me many times with questions I had when I was restoring my TEN.
Now you have to get back to work! Cassie is going to have one fine TEN to operate! I wish my wife appreciated "precious metal" like yours does!!
I have to tell you that apartment life...well it is not for me! I miss my shop horribly!! It was my sancuary...my place to hang out and tinker. Now all I have is this darn laptop to entertain me and we don't see eye to eye most days. Nothing like going out and getting your hands dirty and bringing something back to life!
Keep the pictures coming...it is a joy seeing your project come together!
Pat[/quote]
It sounds like you are missing your workshop Pat, do you have a buddy with a shop you can work on a project or two? Here in Australia I'm seeing more and more "Men's Sheds" being created in our communities, usually by a City Hall, sometimes by a Church, where men, usually retired, but some unemployed too, can get together in a community workshop and either work on their own project, or work on one as a group, such as restoring a old tractor, or make benches for a local park for example, but mostly give these men a reason to get up in the morning.
Depression and suicide have become bigger problems in all our communities the past 20 years, and it was recognised that many men do need the opportunity in their regular lives once retired with changed living circumstances, to have a shed or workshop with the right tools to tinker in where they can fix or create things in the company of other like minded men, and they have been very successful, a local ACMOC Chapter if nearby could offer similar opportunities I'm sure where good folks get together to wrench on a old Cat. or two.
I recently met a retired gentleman in my local country town who had a great little workshop out the back of his house, he was a farmer all his life and when they moved into town off the farm he lost his big workshop and the opportunity to fix big things, but in his little workshop I could see it was a neat and well loved, and importantly to me it had a small lathe in the corner as I had a badly bent fuel transfer pump off my D4 7J I needed to try and straighten, or else get a new one made because Cat. want about $330 for another one.
Anyways I stopped by his house, met his lovely wife, who led me out to his little workshop, and after about 30 minutes he managed to straighten that shaft, I was stoked, and so was he, because he doubted he could do it, and as I was leaving I was insisting I pay him for his time, or else I would never feel comfortable asking his help again, but with a big smile he said "No Mike, just get me a bottle of red wine, I don't want any money". So I did Pat, and when I gave that bottle of red wine to him he told me how much he really enjoyed having that mechanical problem to solve and to come back anytime at all if I had another small lathe related problem, I got the clear impression he really appreciated helping me, and more importantly having something to do in his little workshop, maybe helping justify it's existence to his family, and himself.
Our communities are full of those skilled men aren't they, who miss being needed by their business, or Employer, or families.
Regards
Mike