Comments on: Slow progress on many projects

By: Brandon Ives

Brandon Ives — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:48:01 +0000

It’’s really great to see someone biting the DIY bit with such tenacity. One of the things Guy Lautard told me when we used to hangout was ”don”t take the work out of the lathe unless you must.” He would do a lot of the tapping/threading in the lathe and turned either the head or tail-stock by hand.

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:08:35 +0000

Ramp in the drawing, stairs in reality. That isn”t the final plan, it is just the one I had pictures of.

The stones down the right side of the house are turning into a gravel path too.

By: Rory

Rory — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:57:56 +0000

is that a ramp, and not stairs???

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:20:25 +0000

I originally ran the die but hand, but had trouble holding it straight. My threaded bits just weren”t ending up even. My lathe came with some die olders, but none were the right OD for 1″ hex dies (the norm these days). It didn”t take long to modify one to work.

The ramp got cut (we couldn”t get the slope low enough), but the stairs will be wider and shallower. It”ll be much easier to get bikes in and out of here.

By: Alistair

Alistair — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:40:50 +0000

Alex, nice photo sequence on how you made the stay fastener. I”d never considered holding a threading die in the tailstock. Cool.
The plans for your landscaping look impressive. I”m especially a fan of what looks to be a bicycle friendly ramp leading in from the alley.