off topic winter projects

This is my winter project.

Just acquired for next summer, a 1997 Fiat Barchetta, a 1.8ltr classic Italian design sports car.
Barchetta means 'little boat' in Italian. It was collected from the previous owner on the Martinique trailer. Took the beds off, laid some ladders on the frame and some planks on these so it could be driven on and off.

It has been abused by previous owners, but nothing terminal that TLC can't sort out.

Jllogan wrote: [QUOTE=81nautique]    here are my manley snappers QUOTE] Are those EL84s?

yes sir, I have a NOS set of Svetlana winged 34's coming!!!    

Jllogan wrote: Something else to sink serious money into. They can be a money pit. Nothing compared to a boat though. Is that a plastic bridge btw? edit: NM I reread you post, that was a dumb design? So much tension on a piece of plastic. Are you replacing with wood?

It's a terrible design. I found a guy online who makes replacement, identical bridges in rosewood with bone saddles for these LG models. 45.00 shipped to my door! Amazing! These "Little Guitar" models are really gaining a cult following these days and are worth a decent buck. Very simple construction- all mahogany, ladder bracing. My mom bought this new back in the day but it's been a wreck for the past 20 years or so. Time to bring back the sound.

Well if I get the time my winter project besides the Hurricane is going to be to build a new set of speakers for the home 2 channel system. I've been slowly adding to my system over the last 5 years or so and with the addition of a pair of Manley 100w tube monoblocks my components have now surpassed my speakers.

here are my manley snappers


With a limited budget the speakers I WANT will never be affordable so I did a bunch of homework and settled on a DIY design from a speaker designer in Denmark. I just received all the components so now it's down to finding the time.

Each speaker has 2 -10" woofers, 8" mid and a 1" waveguide tweeter. They are both front and rear firing and presurize a central open bottom transmission line horn.   All the feedback says these are reference level speakers so I'm excited to get started.

Here's some pictures of a set a guy in Italy made. Mine will be similar except I prefer a piano black finish and will add Cherry wood inserts to match our current room furnishings. Think I'll start a thread once I get going.



Ps. This hobby is as addicting as collecting correct crafts.

Something else to sink serious money into. They can be a money pit. Nothing compared to a boat though.

Is that a plastic bridge btw?

edit: NM I reread you post, that was a dumb design? So much tension on a piece of plastic. Are you replacing with wood?

Interesting.

I'm replacing the saddle on this 1965 Gibson LG-0. Gibson used hollow plastic bridges for these at the time, and, as you can imagine- they were bad then and are even worse now.

Gotta get me some deep-C clamps and a pin reamer- Harbor Freight! Then I'll have to fab up some cauls. Should be interesting.

You should go visit Brad.

Feels like winter, time to bump this thread. Anyone working on anything or planning to work on something.

Getting up there, my stamina sure isn't what it used to be so, I just took a little extra step with all the woodworking equipment I've been restoring. Yup, the lazy guy "push stick".





I set up the stock feeder to both run on my table saw and shaper. It will get used since I have that couple thousand BF of V grove paneling to clean up/repurpose.

The feeder it self I got from a private seller off Ebay. The base was off Ebay as well but it came from CPO outlets. It was a "recon" unit I got pretty cheap.

Hey Pete, I drove by this in a small town parking lot today. No one there to ask about it. I thought it was cool. I should have snapped a pic from the front. It has a very narrow beam. Any idea what it was originally used for?

Roger,
Thanks. I have been looking at a ring gaurd that's on ebay now. I've also been looking at stock feeders - I lost the Delta that ended past my bed time last evening!! I bid on it but it wasn't high enough.

I'm ready as soon as some cutters come in. Today I got the spindle back from the Pro! There is a preload on them that I didn't want to mess with. For $45 including bearings, it just wasn't worth it.

Some better pictures:






The VFD:

Jack,
Thanks for the input on the shaper cutters. It's been a few years since I've put lots of time in on one. Most was when I worked at a custom cabinet shop supplementing my college education. Before that it was learning the basics in high school wood shop. I know there is more to it than just RPM. Wood type, number of wings on the cutter, climb cutting and feed rates all come to play. However, I do remember slowing down the big diameter panel raising cutters.

Here's some interesting info:
"The proper spindle speed and feed rate will vary depending on the size of the cutter you are using, the type of wood you are cutting, and if you are hand feeding or power feeding.

The preferred method of determining the most efficient spindle speed and feed rate is to determine the number of knife cuts per inch you need, and set your RPM and feed rate off of that. A good starting point for knife cuts per inch is 17-19. To figure your cuts per inch, take your spindle RPM and divide by your feed rate in inches per minute. If you are running at 7000 RPM, and feeding at 25 feet per minute (300 inches), your knife cuts per inch would be 23 (7000/300). This may, or may not be too many cuts per inch. Take a look at the quality of the cut, and adjust accordingly. Remember, as cuts per inch increase, you run the risk of burning the wood and decreasing your cutter life."

I will not be using large diameter cutters anyway - the largest it will swing is about 4". Most all cutters are showing diameters in the 3.5" range.

Greg,
Thanks. I know it's going to get plenty of usage. I have lots of V tongue and grooved 3/4" Aspen paneling that I plan on recycling though the planer and shaper.

The VFD (variable frequency drive) I used is my fourth (plenty at the plant) that I've installed. They really perform well on equipment where you need more speed adjustment such as the lathe and shaper. The beauty of the VFD is they produce a constant motor torque below the nominal 60 HZ of the motor.

The shaper is done and all that's needed is getting the spindle back from getting the bearings replaced. The original manual motor starter is wired into the start on the VFD and the original forward reverse switch is wired into the forward reverse of the VFD.







Now onto the big costs - cutters!!!