Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the snatch
block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle to
straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6 x 10
timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to ratchet
that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got one of the
young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet that thing with
one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight and happily in it's
permanent home. I was still sweating my ass off from the four clicks I
did. Then I drilled holes through the timbers and into the floor a few
inches and pined the press in place with lengths of 3/4" rebar.
Swinging that sledge knocked the rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

Tom Gardner wrote:
Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the
snatch block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle to
straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6 x 10
timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to ratchet
that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got one of the
young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet that thing with
one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight and happily in
it's permanent home. I was still sweating my ass off from the four
clicks I did. Then I drilled holes through the timbers and into the
floor a few inches and pined the press in place with lengths of 3/4"
rebar. Swinging that sledge knocked the rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

I spent yesterday digging up my front yard . Got about 14 feet of old
terra cotta drain pipe exposed for replacement later today . It's about 3
feet down , and the ground is hard . My back hurts . Diggin' wasn't anywhere
near this hard when I was young ...
I haven't bought the new pipe yet , but I'm ready for the sticker shock .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

"Snag" on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:50:41 -0600 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Tom Gardner wrote:
Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the
snatch block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle to
straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6 x 10
timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to ratchet
that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got one of the
young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet that thing with
one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight and happily in
it's permanent home. I was still sweating my ass off from the four
clicks I did. Then I drilled holes through the timbers and into the
floor a few inches and pined the press in place with lengths of 3/4"
rebar. Swinging that sledge knocked the rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

I spent yesterday digging up my front yard . Got about 14 feet of old
terra cotta drain pipe exposed for replacement later today . It's about 3
feet down , and the ground is hard . My back hurts . Diggin' wasn't anywhere
near this hard when I was young ...
I haven't bought the new pipe yet , but I'm ready for the sticker shock .

You just think you are ... B-)

tschus
pyotr

--
pyotr
Go not to the Net for answers, for it will tell you Yes and no. And
you are a bloody fool, only an ignorant cretin would even ask the
question, forty two, 47, the second door, and how many blonde lawyers
does it take to change a lightbulb.

pyotr filipivich wrote:
"Snag" on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:50:41 -0600 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Tom Gardner wrote:
Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the
snatch block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle
to straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6
x 10 timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to
ratchet that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got
one of the young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet
that thing with one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight
and happily in it's permanent home. I was still sweating my ass
off from the four clicks I did. Then I drilled holes through the
timbers and into the floor a few inches and pined the press in
place with lengths of 3/4" rebar. Swinging that sledge knocked the
rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

I spent yesterday digging up my front yard . Got about 14 feet of
old terra cotta drain pipe exposed for replacement later today .
It's about 3 feet down , and the ground is hard . My back hurts .
Diggin' wasn't anywhere near this hard when I was young ...
I haven't bought the new pipe yet , but I'm ready for the sticker
shock .

You just think you are ... B-)

tschus
pyotr

Actually I was surprised at how inexpensive it turned out to be . Total
for materials was under a hundred bucks , the guy that helped me [works for
my BIL the plumber] is gonna be another c-note . Had I contracted with a
plumber to do this it would have ran at least 2500 bucks ... and that's for
the cheap plumber !
--
Snag
But my back
still hurts ...

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:34:57 -0600, "Snag"
wrote:

pyotr filipivich wrote:
"Snag" on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:50:41 -0600 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Tom Gardner wrote:
Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the
snatch block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle
to straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6
x 10 timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to
ratchet that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got
one of the young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet
that thing with one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight
and happily in it's permanent home. I was still sweating my ass
off from the four clicks I did. Then I drilled holes through the
timbers and into the floor a few inches and pined the press in
place with lengths of 3/4" rebar. Swinging that sledge knocked the
rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

I spent yesterday digging up my front yard . Got about 14 feet of
old terra cotta drain pipe exposed for replacement later today .
It's about 3 feet down , and the ground is hard . My back hurts .
Diggin' wasn't anywhere near this hard when I was young ...
I haven't bought the new pipe yet , but I'm ready for the sticker
shock .

You just think you are ... B-)

tschus
pyotr

Actually I was surprised at how inexpensive it turned out to be . Total
for materials was under a hundred bucks , the guy that helped me [works for
my BIL the plumber] is gonna be another c-note . Had I contracted with a
plumber to do this it would have ran at least 2500 bucks ... and that's for
the cheap plumber !

$2,500 would have been about right with them supplying all the labor
to dig the hole and expose the line, fix the pipe, and then fill the
hole back in when they were done.

You supplied the grunt labor and shagged down the repair parts for
them, so that makes their job quick and easy, and then you fill the
hole back in. That makes the bill a lot nicer, because they only have
to come do the actual skilled labor part.

We offer that all the time to our customers, especially ones that
already have a full-time grounds crew on regular payroll that is used
to fixing the sprinklers and planting trees - and one Summer Camp
where the older campers volunteer to make the place better for the
next generation, rather than just make macrame keychains...

We'll mark the path, let them dig the trench, then we'll come drop in
the electrical conduits and run the wire, they back-fill.

All of a sudden the bill drops like a rock, because they aren't paying
me (or my Assistant who isn't a Spring Chicken anymore either) to dig
a trench. And frankly, that's not on the top of either of our Fun
Things To Do lists - we like finding and fixing.

-- Bruce --

"Snag" on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:34:57 -0600 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
pyotr filipivich wrote:
"Snag" on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:50:41 -0600 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Tom Gardner wrote:
Well, after 20 years or so my 60 ton press kinda' walked sideways a
couple of feet. I took an 8-ton come-along with a snatch block and
attached it to a chain around the base of a post and attached the
snatch block to a front leg of the press. It was the perfect angle
to straighten out the press. The press is bolted to two massive 6
x 10 timbers but was never attached to the floor. Well, I tried to
ratchet that thing and got about 4 clicks before I gave up and got
one of the young bucks. That 21yo kid could practically ratchet
that thing with one hand. Two minutes later the press was straight
and happily in it's permanent home. I was still sweating my ass
off from the four clicks I did. Then I drilled holes through the
timbers and into the floor a few inches and pined the press in
place with lengths of 3/4" rebar. Swinging that sledge knocked the
rest of the **** out of me.

I paid $19 for a 20' length of 3/4" rebar...I thought that was
outrageously high, no?

I spent yesterday digging up my front yard . Got about 14 feet of
old terra cotta drain pipe exposed for replacement later today .
It's about 3 feet down , and the ground is hard . My back hurts .
Diggin' wasn't anywhere near this hard when I was young ...
I haven't bought the new pipe yet , but I'm ready for the sticker
shock .

You just think you are ... B-)

tschus
pyotr

Actually I was surprised at how inexpensive it turned out to be . Total
for materials was under a hundred bucks , the guy that helped me [works for
my BIL the plumber] is gonna be another c-note . Had I contracted with a
plumber to do this it would have ran at least 2500 bucks ... and that's for
the cheap plumber !

I stand amazed. Wow. "Such a deal." (Frozen pipe last winter
cost me ~900 bucks, between the repair bill, and the water bill.
--
pyotr
Go not to the Net for answers, for it will tell you Yes and no. And
you are a bloody fool, only an ignorant cretin would even ask the
question, forty two, 47, the second door, and how many blonde lawyers
does it take to change a lightbulb.

"Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable)"
on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:57:29 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

We offer that all the time to our customers, especially ones that
already have a full-time grounds crew on regular payroll that is used
to fixing the sprinklers and planting trees - and one Summer Camp
where the older campers volunteer to make the place better for the
next generation, rather than just make macrame keychains...

We'll mark the path, let them dig the trench, then we'll come drop in
the electrical conduits and run the wire, they back-fill.

All of a sudden the bill drops like a rock, because they aren't paying
me (or my Assistant who isn't a Spring Chicken anymore either) to dig
a trench. And frankly, that's not on the top of either of our Fun
Things To Do lists - we like finding and fixing.

And it does seem to be one of those things that you can brag about
later. As in "Oh yeah, we dug trenches when I was at summer camp ..."

I was doing that one summer (the digging) when my friend the
Doctor told of digging a ditch at home in Virginia, when he was 17.
His pappy rode up on a horse and stopped, said"Charles, there is two
sorts of work in this world. What you are doing, and what I am doing.
And believe you me, this pays a whole lot better,too." and rode off.

tschus
pyotr

--
pyotr
Go not to the Net for answers, for it will tell you Yes and no. And
you are a bloody fool, only an ignorant cretin would even ask the
question, forty two, 47, the second door, and how many blonde lawyers
does it take to change a lightbulb.

pyotr filipivich wrote:
"Snag" on Sun, 13 Nov 2011
Actually I was surprised at how inexpensive it turned out to be .
Total for materials was under a hundred bucks , the guy that helped
me [works for my BIL the plumber] is gonna be another c-note . Had I
contracted with a plumber to do this it would have ran at least 2500
bucks ... and that's for the cheap plumber !

I stand amazed. Wow. "Such a deal." (Frozen pipe last winter
cost me ~900 bucks, between the repair bill, and the water bill.

I have always been a do it yourself kinda guy . The big plus is that my
father was that way too , and probably one of the smartest people I ever met
.. I learned a lot from him , the most important thing being that I can learn
anything I want to know if I'm willing to put forth the effort .
That has turned into a large quantity of tooling for several trades and a
better standard of living because I don't pay other people to fix my stuff
(except automagic transmissions !) as a rule . BTW , the guy that helped me
is a 2nd year apprentice , and his contribution was the same as mine - man a
shovel , swing a pick , cut & glue pipe , etc . He was in the trench right
with me for the whole thing , and asked for a lot less than I'm paying him .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !