Murray 3904 Steering Sector Hunt

Part number is 21692.  Found a listing for it but it is sold out.  Recording this hear to make the search easier in the future. The pinion 21492 is also with a bracket.

This is the DR Trimmer   Model 64020 acquired in July of 2019.   Unlike most of the other power equipment I use this one was purchased.   It uses the same engine as the trash picked push mower we use around the yard.  It has its own story which I will relate in another post.

Had not used it much as I did not have string for it.   Purchased a spool of  (fill this in)  early summer.  The thing worked for a few hours then stopped.   The carb had the white deposits. Cleaned the carb but used one I had cleaned and stored earlier, looked identical.  But this only got another hour out of it.   Cleaned the jet, fuel tank and installed one of the clear plastic filters with the paper filter element.  

That worked up till yesterday.   It just stopped while running but not in use.   Figured it was the fuel filter.  Pulled off the air cleaner and it was solid with green plant dust.  They may have been the cause.   But I had already loosened the nut on the fuel bowl so I swapped out the jet for one I recently clean.

What was wrong?  Most likely the poor thing was starved for air.   Either that or the jet plugged which is possible but unlikely with the paper fuel filter.

Another problem with this machine is that it throws its strings.   The string is installed as shown in the following image.

The strings are supposed to be cut to 23 inches.   I found that making them a bit longer and then tying a knot in the strings where they exit the mow head generally keeps them in place up till everything up to and including the knot is gone.

It could well be that DR Trimmer brand strings/line will work better.  

Update

Seems I have been ignoring this blog.   The foundry stuff have moved to https://nmlfoundry.blogspot.com.

It is mid August 2021 and the weeds on our 2 acres have gotten away from me.

The DYT4000 has a blow head gasket since last year.
Have the DR Trimmer working but stops after a while seems to be overheating.   May take it down to the car wash and clean the fins.  They are open but may have a coating of weed goo that is insulating.

The BX has several small hydraulic leaks but they add up and at $60 the hydraulic fluid gets expensive.  A while back I started changing the old leaky quick connectors for the loader with new ones that are incompatible with the old.  Still have one connector that has not come loose.  Thinking maybe cut slits in it with the dremel and peel it off.  But it also looks like the hose end where the quick connector screws on is bad.  So will try to get it off on the other end and replace the hose too.

The old push mower has not been working.   Spark problem.   Thinking next step is to pull the new coil again and file the coil mounting posts down to new metal.   

Update:
The DYT4000 head gasket was good.  Should have done a leak down test.  Now it does need a head gasket.  Have 2 gaskets in stock but are the wrong number.   Not sure what that is about.

On the BX replaced the 3 steel lines that connect to the loader.  Removed the line with the stuck connector and put it in the vice.    There is still one connector to chance on the loader.  It is still leaking under the floor pan.  Oil on the radiator screen.
  
The mower works great after freshening up the coil mount posts!

Briggs 8HP Gear Reduction 170452 0549 01

 I had two digits transposed in the original post for this engine.  170542 instead of 170452.

17 ci
0 series
4 Horizontal, Flow Jet, Belt drive   ... well horizontal for sure
5 Gear reduction 6:1
9 Mechanical starter

Link to reference
Numerical Number System

Thinking about putting this engine on the sand muller.
Say we run the engine a 2000 RPM
The 6:1 output is 333 RPM
A 10:1 right angle gearbox would result in 33 RPM which is about right IIRC.  Need to look.
But I don't see an affordable gearbox.
So a mule drive would do the right angle thing.     Maybe some of the reduction too.
Need to look back at the earlier work I did on the muller in the Foundry blog.
Not seeing much advantage as complexity is similar.
Well at least I got the model number figured out.

It a gas engine is the choice a vertical shaft engine would be the way to go even if it needs one more belt.  Not fond of using a mule drive.  And 8 HP is over kill.   There is a small electric start mower in the junk that might be a better choice.

Craftsman GT is in the shop

Moved the Craftsman GT into the workshop today.
Thinking I will steal the from the silver LT1000.  Its a 21HP Intek.
Another possibility would be to use a oppy but I don't have a vertical in good condition and don't want to mess with converting the good horizontal to a vertical.  

I was worried that the mule drive was not there but it and the belt are still on the tractor. One of the rear tires has a serious leak.  The tranny is a hydrostatic which is great for yard tugs.

Need to figure out how to wire up a Intek in place of a kohler twin.

Got tired of walking around it and put it back into storage.....

3-39004 catalog picture

Need to get working on this baby

It has a ways to go :)

12000 lb Car Trailer Rebuild

Located a milling machine in Ohmaha NE.   Have not ID'ed it so I don't have a weight.  But it has a 48x10 or so table so it will be a bit of a load.  Only senseable way to go after it is with the car trailer.  But it has a broken spring.  So I looked into new ones.

The places on the net say to measure between the eyes.  Well it came out to 27" and such springs exist but are not plentiful.   Meaning they are a bit more money.

But after a bit of thinking I realized that he center pivoting bit is pivoted due to the  flattening of the old springs.   So I am guessing that the more common 25 1/4" springs are the ticket.

But having gone out and looked again I realized these are 5 leaf springs!  Good and bad.  Means its like a beefier trailer but springs are $$$.  Not quite too bad found 3000lb 5 leaf springs for $35.50 a Libra Trailer Parts. so $142 for the set.  And maybe no tax.  That means I get 12K lbs of springs.  Should be able to haul any lathe or mill on that.

Hit the suspension bolts with PB Blaster.  And rechecked that 25 1/4 springs will fit. Looks like it would.  The rear shackle moves back and forth to accommodate change in spring length.  Need to get pictures of that.

Discovered the bolts are welded to the spring perches and shackles on the back side.  Need to raise the trailer on blocks to gain access to the welds and grind them off.  One of the equalizers is hosed.  But it and the shackles are made from 1/8" plate so I should be able to make new ones.  This will also allow me to make adjustment to the shackle length if needed.

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Cut off a few bolts to remove the old suspension.

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1/8 is too thick for the press to bend.  Ordered an entire suspension kit.   Have the axles and fenders off the trailer.  Too windy to flip it over.  Put 2 car tires from the green town car on trailer wheels and mounted them on an axle.  Plan is to flip over the trailer and move it on this axle.

Found cheap trailer on simplyTire.com.  $63.96 each
Called them and they said the tires can be up to 3 years old.   But returns without question are on them.

https://simpletire.com/trailer-king-st225-75r15-rst53t-tires

Maybe it would be a good idea to fix up the engine power compressor and mount it to the pickup bed.  That way I could mount tires on the road.  Have several 15 in tires but all old.


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Saturday

Did the trailer flip.  Working from the bottom will make it easier to remove and replace the spring perches.

This bolt is typical of the worn out trailer suspension.

Removed the two rear spring perches.  They were looks which connected to shackles.   The new setup has both shackles on the equalizer with the front of the front and back of the back spring eyes in perches.

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Sunday April 12th

Too cold just above freezing.   I have acclimated to warmer temperatures.

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Monday was too cold to be out.  Today, Tuesday was cold too but I did remove one of the front spring perches.   Still have the other side front and both center perches.   The centers maybe more difficult because they have a side support.  If possible I would like to retain that.

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Thursday April 16

Found this site has suggestions for welding on the spring perches.
Best to weld them to a strip of metal welded to the frame to reduce stress.
https://mechanicalelements.com/mounting-trailer-axle-springs/

Brown & Sharp No 6 Screw Machine

A conversation on hobby-machinist resulted in this image of the turret lathe.

From vintagemachinery.org this was added 02/03/2020.  Which explains why I did not see it when I obtained the lathe.

Also includes specs but nothing else.

Ergo Scrap Wood Push Stick

While working on another project I got feed up with my old push sticks and make this one.  Except for time required for the glue to dry it was only a few minutes.

The wood already had a large dado in it.   I alternated which side it was on and it worked out to be a great grip with just a bit of work on the belt sander.

When the bottom is used up I can just glue on a new one.  Should last as long as I need it.

Started with this stock.  Some sort of sticker or such tossed out by the lumber yard.

Ubuntu VirtualBox Windows7 "Make The Cut" Cricut

Because I purchased "Make The Cut" prior to the author getting sued by provocraft I can use MTC with my cricut expression.

Installed VirtualBox, VirtualBox-ext-pack, and VirtualBox-guest-additions from the ubuntu package manager Synaptic.     Do not use the installation from within virtual box.

Enabled the USB and COM3 (in my case).  This has to be done with the windows 7 virtual machine stopped.

Downloaded the driver from within MTC.   Help>Advanced>Download and Install FTDI XXXX drivers.

Select cut project

"Do not use serial port" should be unchecked.

"COM3(FTDI Serial Port)" should be selected.

That is all I remember.   Need to create a new virtual machine and document the steps better some time.

Apparently MTC has not been updated in 6 years and the author was last on the forum 3 years ago.

Burn out oven repair

In the mean time I tested my sodium silicate.  Measured out .01lb of SS and added it to .24lb of play sand for a 4% mix.  Mixed sand with a plastic spoon on a paper plate.  Nuked for 60s, 30s,  cooled, then another 120s.   Total 3m 30s.

Results were very good.  Wonder why it did not work well last time I tried it.

Antique Dresser With Knapp Joints

See a YouTube vid on Knapp joints a few days later I found them on an old dresser I was about to toss.  Turns out they were only used from 1870 to 1900.

Maybe its a keeper

First step in dust collection.

I have had this jet 1.5HP dust collector for 15 or so years.   When I moved from the big shop to the 2 car garage there was not enough floor space.   I have gotten to the point where I really miss it.

I have started mounting it in the rafters next to the gable end away from the house.  Initially I will be blowing the dust and chips to the open air.   If that don't work and I don't think it will I can add the bags or a cyclone on the outside wall.

At this point the blower has been hoisted to the rafters using a come-a-long and a snatch block bolted into the roof sheeting.   Had just enough clearance to make it work.  Had I bolted it to the rafters I would have come up short.


The blower is resting on 2 2x6's.  Need to screw them down then bolt the blower to them.   Cut a hole in the outside wall and hook up the 2 4" flex hoses on the inside.   Thinking both will go to the table saw.  One to clear the chips from the saw's body and the other suspended above the blade.  That will be nice especially when resawing the old redwood fence boards to remove the paint and top layer of weathered wood.

Start of a hole to the outside. A few false starts on where to put it but the extra drill holes ended up in the disk I cut out.

The fly cutter had stripped positioning bolts.  Touched up the M5 bolts and used M5 bolts with external nuts to jam aka jam nuts.

Next Day

Exhaust hose recycled from the portable setup.

The switch is not a magnetic contractor.  It stays on even if power to it is lost.























Screwed down the 2x6 supports and bolted the blower unit to them.

The six inch to twin 4 inch connector never fit well.   I have strapped it in place with a bungy cord.

Connection to bottom of the table saw.  Yes the hose is connected to a up cycled tin can.

A mess but it illustrates that one leg of the connector will pull dust from the blade and the one on the back right of the table connect to the dust collection port under the table.

Kitchen Cabinets Restoration

The south house needs a lot of works.   Without a lot of money to toss at it there are still some things I can do.   First on this list is the kitchen cabinets.  They have enough paint on them that they do not operate correctly.

Prior to starting.

Current state.  Storing stripped doors on countertops to keep them flat.


I have removed the paint from the front and back of 13, about half of the doors.  The uppers came clean to the wood.   The lowers are retaining some paint in the grain. The 2nd door from the rear is a lower.

The doors are the easy part.   The drawers then the rest of the cabinets will be harder.

I am setting up the living room to use for painting.  Current plan is to spray with Alkyd Enamel.  Maybe with a hardener.

Mostly missing a heater atm.   When I get to spraying paint with a gun I need to bring the compressor over and setup a fresh air supply hood or resperiator.

Update:
pulled the rest of the doors and all the drawers on the kitchen units.  Still need to pull the dozen or so doors on the pantry.

s63nxjgc=7625 evaporative cooler motor

Working on evaporative cooler motor that does not start,

Update:  Starter windings are toast.

Peach Harvest

Harvested our peach tree today.

Fruit was not thinned so it is mostly on the small side.

Total yield was something over 30 gallons.  20 will be frozen whole.  5 will be dehydrated by a friend and 5 is compost quality.

The fruit to be frozen is ripening in store bags.  When ready it will be washed.  Frozen whole then bagged and put back in the freezer.  It will mostly be used a smoothie base.\

The hope is that by picking early we avoided most of the bird and wasp damage.  This tree is called contender.  The fruit is quite sweet and delicious.  Lets see how the  bag ripened fruit compares to that ripened on the tree.







Update:  After a week or so the peaches were ripe.  Started to smell like peaches even.  Moved the paper bags to the deep freeze.

Fairly easy to use them for smoothies or baking.  A light thaw allows them to be cut and the stone removed.  A quick dunk in boiling water should remove skins.  Note that these are frozen unwashed.

Doors

I have been working of couple of doors.  The walk door on my garage/woodshop was a modern POS consisting of a wood frame stuffed with compressed wood chips sandwiched between two thin sheets of plywood.  The previous owners installed a cat door.  Moisture entered the wood chips via the modification and ruined the door.  I had planned on reskinning it but it was too far gone.

Rather than buy a new door I borrowed one from an old building.  The hinges were on the wrong side so I am flipping the hardware to make it work.

I have temporally hung the door.  It is a reasonably good fit for the opening but the opening itself needs to be shimmed in on the left top.

The old paint was so tick it was hiding the details on the trim.   I am using scrapers, citrustrip, and steel wool.  A light application of sand paper after that

If it were not for this gorgeous handle I may not have thought about using this old door.  The thumb latch mechanism needed cleaning.  It still maybe a challenge to get it all working.







I am also working on this modern door.  It uses a wood frame with a styrofoam core and sheet metal sides.  The wood frame is rotted on two side from use in a greenhouse.   I am chiseling back the rotted wood.  With some luck I can use it to to temporaly replace the front door while I restore it.










High temperatures are still in the 90s so I have cobbled up an evaporative cooler in the wood shop.

Both the pump and fan are powered via a GFI.














Routed out the rotted wood on the hinge end of the modern door.  About a foot on each end was rotten down to the Styrofoam core.  Glued replacement wood there and routed the entire thing again to make it level.  Glued a new wood edge on with Loctite premium construction adhesive.  

Removed the grills and the double pane window.  Window was horrid dirty.  Scraped much of the deposits off it but the inside seems to be dirty too.  It will never look clean but OK for a shop or garage.  

Found an old unopened can of Krylon fusion white paint.   Clogged in the first minute.  Running the can on the HF pneumatic paint shaker for 10 minutes and blowing out the nozzle made it usable.

Want to get back to the wood door.  So the plan is to mount this in the shop door way so I can get the wood one off to work on.  The latch hardware is still a mystery to me so it maybe in backwards for a while as I am swapping stuff around to make it hinge on the correct side just like the wood one.

Update:  Making progress.  Here it still need 1 more coat of paint and glazzing.

Prior to painting the mutins were loose.  No more.

Did some plugging and drilling to reverse the door.  Inside now outside sort of thing.

Glued up some redwood to extend the bottom of the door.  Pinned with 3 dowels. 

1990 Troy Built Trail Blazer Sickle Mower

Qwners Manual not sure if its the right year.
Service Manual for 1990
Thread on renewing the sickle                             

Today I traded a large flex shaft for this.   The motor has no compression and the oil is milky.  It has a vertical motor with a side shaft to drive the wheels.      Need to check.  The wheels seem tilted in the above images.

Thinking Pulsa-Jet  Carb

The IC has a cast iron sleeve.  A very good thing.

Some parts are still available.  Stens has std pistons for $20.  Briggs are  near $100 and only .020 rings can be had on first glance.