#salvagepunk — Public Fediverse posts

How to turn a €8 tape measure into a €61 forestry tape measure.

Small bit of stainless steel scrap from a dead deep well jet pump, cut, grind, drill.

Two M3 stainless bolts, grind one pointy, fix into the scrap with a nyloc nut and the other to attach scrap to measuring tape.

Works and yes, you can release it from the far side by flicking the tape, just like the expensive one.

I'll add a carabiner and probably a safety cork to keep the pointy bit secure.

#DIY #Tools #Forestry #Tape #Measure #SalvagePunk #ToolMaking

3/3 Und #ChinaMiéville führt mit David Naimon von »Between the Covers« einen langen und extrem ergiebigen Dialog zu »The Rouse«, #Salvagepunk, #Marxismus und #Monster, apophatische Theologie und das Wesen des Bewusstseins, das Versagen und die Macht der Sprache, das Gruselige (eerie) und das Gespenstische (spooky).

Ungewöhnlich tiefschürfendes Gespräch, in dem einige Aspekte von »The Rouse« gespoilert werden.

Podcast-Vorgeplänkel endet bei ca. 4:22:

https://youtu.be/dBWI8mHkpQE

The chimney for the bedroom stove is open to the sky and rain just falls in. That's been bothering me a lot and now that I have the ladders to get up there, I can fix it.

So another quick scrapmetal art project: A chimney hood.

Bang a nail into a piece of old sheet metal, mark a circle, snip along, cut a slit, overlap into a conical hat, drill holes, rivet together.

Rusty round bar bent around a bucket, ends welded together, three flat bar legs bent in the vise joined onto that.

Finally tangs with holes for riveting the hat on top and stops to keep the feet from sliding down.

Having an cracked chimney pipe section helped a lot with dry fitting.

Ducking out some rain and when that's dried it can go up there.

#Chimney #DIY #Homestead #Welding #Metalworking #Hood #SalvagePunk #Heating

Prototyping hard. I guess I'm a kolkhoz level farm mechanic now.

Found a bunch of clamps in the treasure shack and just used those, with some "spacers" instead of spending time I don't have to make my own clamps.

It works after some fine tuning of depth and angle of attack, but there is a significant problem - it doesn't lift high enough to reposition. For that I need to extend the frame further outwards. Oops.

I think we'll manage like this for this season and fix it before next. I'm sure in a rush again.

The soil is far too wet today and I still need to lob off the potato tops and weeds anyways, so I just tested on the already harvested garlic bed.

#DIY #PotatoDigger #TractorAttachment #SalvagePunk #Metalworking #Homestead

Sparkled the top fitting onto the frame and after thinking up various more or less convoluted clamp designs I went for a rummage in the tractor parts shed and found some almost suitable clamps.

Just one backing plate short. I'll find something or make one and we should be ready for a test drive. The weather is being quite wet again so its not potato digging time.

#PotatoDigger #TractorAttachment #DIY #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk

Spiked!

A few designs have the spikes bent upwards at the ends but I don't see what that is supposed to achieve.

The spikes are for guiding the potatoes up while the soil falls between them and then drop them on top for easy picking. Any upward bend will just get them stuck.

So that's basically it. The angle of attack looks too steep now, before it looked too shallow. But since it goes on a three-point hitch, I can adjust it some by tilting the frame.

Next for some clamps to attach it to said frame.

#PotatoDigger #TractorAttachment #DIY #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk

@withaveeay Wonderful, a #SalvagePunk pissoir!

Thumb test drive.

Works great! Picks up logs and concrete beams and even delicate stuff such as steel beams. I'm well pleased with the result 😸

The huge concrete beam weighs somewhere beyond 8 tons and is too heavy for our little digger, but it can grip it and drag it around. The thumb and fangs easily withstand the full force of the bucket curl cylinder.

#DIY #ExcavatorThumb #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk #Drilling

Thumb ready. Finished making the pins and adjuster holes.

Didn't weld tubes inside the other holes. We'll see how they hold up. If they do oval out I can still do that, for the ones I use a lot.

I see now why nobody sells adjustable thumbs. This was a lot of extra work that would make it too expensive. Only DIYers get to have it :)

Only primer on there yet, still need to paint it but only have orange, blue and green available, none of which match well here.

#DIY #ExcavatorThumb #Welding
#Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk #Maker

Thumb is getting there. Cut off the corners, flipped them around and welded them back on as reinforcements, now the whole thing looks more streamlined. I think it'll be strong enough without doubling up the thickness near the fangs.

If they break I'll do it :)

Also made two pins out of three. This is the dullest job in the world, drilling a 8mm hole through 25mm solid rod, but the pins I bought weren't long enough after some design tweaks. At least it's not stainless steel!

#DIY #ExcavatorThumb #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk #Drilling

Teeth! Got some spare teeth for a spring-tooth harrow. So in theory they should be pretty durable.

Special challenge: Cutting curves with an angle grinder 😆

My tack welds did not withstand hydraulic gripping power and the teeth flew off at the first test, so I welded them on properly to try picking up a small concrete beam.

Clearly when its done I will need some practice with this new thumb as I picked up way too much soil with the beam. The thumb works though 🥳

Bunch more detail work to do, make holes for the other adjustment points, finish the pins, cut excess material off the sides and weld reinforcement pieces for the fangs. Maybe some serrated "back teeth".

#DIY #ExcavatorThumb #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk

Finally could resume work on the thumb after an unexpected shortage of welding wire. 😳

First job was to add in the connecting pieces between the two sides. A thick piece of flat bar at the top to leave space for the support leg when extended. And a box section to handle shear forces near the tips when grabbing an asymmetricl item such as a rock.

Wire brushed and finish welded the body of the thumb without distorting it too much.

Then I started on the adjustment holes for the sliding support leg. Welded in a reinforcement tube, which is a lot of work. It'll be a lot more holes to saw for the other adjustment points later. Perhaps I overdesigned it a little, but hopefully I'll get some use out of the adjustability.

#DIY #ExcavatorThumb #Welding #Metalworking #Homestead #SalvagePunk

"You can't weld cast iron!!!111" the internet says.

Well, it was half right. The big nut cracked when tightening. The other part, which is a sort of bushing fixed into the wheel that had both ends broken off remains intact, even with the impact driver tightening the bolts.

The wheel nut is not strictly necessary on these wheels, so unless I find a suitable replacement nut laying around somewhere I'll consider my log hauling contraption wheel repaired.

#Wheel #Steel #Welding #CastIron #Homestead #SalvagePunk

#ExcavatorThumb progress:

Clamped and aligned the thumb sides with the help of two bricks that happened to be the right width, then tack welded the tubes on.

Next part was the adjustable support leg. Figuring out the length of both parts was easy, swing the thumb up and down, measure distance between pins and copy it to the two parts on the workbench.

Making the inner part slide smoothly into the outer took ages as I had to grind down the thickness of the entire outer surface, then polish it smooth.

Solved the problem of the outer tube having a seam weld inside by hammering on the inner one until it bowed inwards just enough to allow space for that seam.

Fits very nicely now and almost no play.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding

Thumb update:

Made the thumb wider so it fits better between the bucket teeth, which required cutting new reinforcements. Cut the ones for the support leg as well and decided where to attach it to the thumb.

Then worked on the adjustable support leg. A cylinder each welded to the end of a box section. The lower fitting was easy, just an approximate half-circle with three shallow cuts of the angle grinder and then bend it back and forth until it breaks out.

The upper fitting having the added challenge of being narrower than the box section, so it got tapered a bit by cutting some wedges out and banging on it with a hammer.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding

Always keep your hole saw plugs, in case you need to Ctrl-Z a hole you just cut so you can make it bigger 😆

Sure wish there had been room for the drill press in the car last time we went to the old place!

Four biggish holes were cut through 10mm plate, eventually. Of the right size this time.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #DrillBabyDrill

Slides, more or less.

The outer one has an annoying seam inside, so we'll see what to do about that when I've figured out the lengths.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking

Today's progress on the thumb:

A tube section and restored pin for the support. Since the pin is kinda long, I could make some more tube sections on the outside as well.

And two beefy pieces of thick plate with a hole in them for the thumb, plus two more tube sections for reinforcement. One with a groove to keep the quick-release pin from rotating and sticking out.

That's it. Recycling is slow work. Spent a lot of time running around looking for two pieces to fit inside of each other for the support.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking

Next project: A thumb for the mini-excavator.

Because I've been kinda needing it for a while and now I do even more.

In case you don't know what it is, it's the same as yours - an opposable thumb for gripping things. Try lifting a pencil without using your thumb. Or a concrete beam or a log.

The cardboard mockup I made last year, but I wasn't really happy with it and with some more excavator experience under my belt I did think of several improvements, like making it adjustable.

Sifted through my scrap metal and found some suitable steel.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb #SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking

Difficult extraction.

This is the wheel bearing for a steel wheel that has an old, cut-off shaft stuck in it.

At first it wouldn't budge at all, so I threw it on the sauna oven embers for a couple hours and then let it cool for a day.

Now it moved, with some serious pounding before it finally came out. One of the rare cases where a bearing press might've been useful.

Now I can hopefully fix up the tree hauling contraption I quickly threw together last autumn to move the two douglas spruces out of the front yard without cutting them up. Back then I just used two pipes as sleeves, but they didn't fit too well and the wheel wobbled a lot 😆

#DIY #Homestead #Improvisation #Extraction #Steel #Wheel #Bearing #Hammering #SalvagePunk

Homemade scrapmetal #Palletfork complete. Seems I got the measurements right, picks up and drops pallets from the ground perfectly. Either length- or sideways.

Very pleased. This will be so useful for hauling stuff around the farm.

Slight limitation in how high I can lift them, but it's sufficient. Might modify it if the need for more height arises, but it's a yard hauler, not a forklift.

Now I just need to get more pallets 😁

#Homestead #DIY #Welding #Metalworking #Tractor #ScrapMetal #SalvagePunk

The homemade #PalletFork is starting to look like money. These sell for €300 to €500 if you buy one instead of welding it from scrap steel found around the farm.

Let's see what this cost us (rough numbers):
€11 fittings
€26 paint (only used half though)
€5 power
€12 fluxcore wire
€3 cutting/grinding wheels etc.
====
€57

Bargain! And it was more fun than buying. And much more satisfying 🤩

This paint dries slowly. One more coat, hopefully tomorrow.

#DIY #Welding #Tractor #MetalWorking #SalvagePunk #ScrapMetal #Homestead #Paint

Progress on the #PalletFork

Working with reclaimed steel is a lot slower. I was cleaning up rust and dirt, welding shut some holes where the fence wire used to go through and painting rust converter on where it would be difficult later.

After much measuring and aligning, I cut the frame and tack-welded it together.

Then a filler plate into the top.

In between, some angle grinder repair (broken wire) and of course the fluxcore reel ran out and needed swapping.

#Tractor #Welding #DIY #SalvagePunk #ScrapMetal #Homestead #Fluxcore

Slapped together a shelf for storing tools and supplies in house.

Made from parts of the previous owner's bed and some studs salvaged from the toilet cubicle I tore out.

No finished picture because I immediately loaded it full with stuff (hence the need for a shelf).

Total cost: A couple screws, one sawblade and a few kWh of angle grinder use to sand the studs (optional).

#Shelf #Furniture #DIY #Homestead #Salvage #SalvagePunk #Recycling

Hacking together a quick & dirty log hauling thing from this axle with one wheel and one wheel with cut off axle I found in the junk piles a while ago.

Wanted to do nicer but I need it now :)

#Farm #Hack #DIY #Logging #Forestry #Homestead #Steel #Junk #SalvagePunk

Germany: Our car industry is dying!

Me: Impossible! Your Volkswagen garlic curing racks were legendary!

#Garlic #Harvest #Curing #Volkswagen #SalvagePunk #Homestead #CarIndustry

I present you the rarest of animals on our little homestead: A finished project!

A fence-straddling firewood store for the sauna on the other side and some nice fruit tree logs for the #wheelbarbie on this side.

Also currently onion+garlic drying station. It's so good at that, I'll definitely keep the feature.

Made from old concrete pylons I pulled out of the garden, some scrap steel, some logs that were destined to be firewood, a couple recycled shack planks, a lot of old sheet metal riveted together and an ancient roll of tar paper.

Total cost about €30, mostly for paints and a few screws. Bonus: Less junk laying around!

#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Firewood #DIY #Construction #Recycling #ReUse

Pulled out the rest of the onions and garlic, apart from a few that are going to produce seeds for keeping.

Ran out of space on the ladder drying rack so I looked around what else I can use.

Obvious choice: Car parts!

The broken Astra grille and a Golf 2 one that the old man left us, probably from when he had his last crash and they took away his driving license, greatly impairing his lifestyle but making the roads safer 🤔

Anyways, perfect for putting garlic and small onions in to cure.

#Gardening #Onion #Garlic #Harvest #Automotive #Homestead #SalvagePunk #ReUse