6.6.2021

 Jim continued his work in the moulding factory this morning - getting pieces ready to be glued...

Drying.  Including this, he'll have about 200' of boards ready to start the cutting process for the cap moulding!

In the afternoon, it was time to start getting ready to put the car lift posts in place!  Jim mounted his adaptor to the Bobcat forks...

He had to clamp a piece of steel in between the posts where he will be lifting to take stress off the post sides...

He first brought the Bobcat in and lifted the post enough that he could slide the dolly out of the way and put some plywood underneath so the posts wouldn't scratch the floor...

He hooked the chain on and started lifting the post up...

Going up...

And up...

It was a tight squeeze not to hit the garage doors - at this point, he was able to shut the garage door partway to give him more room...

He got it up off the floor just a bit, enough that he could maneuver the post into position...

Plywood out, post in place and Bobcat out of the garage!  Amazing planning - it really went smoothly!

There are two configurations you can use for the lift - narrow and wide.  Our first drawings were for the narrow but Jim wanted to try doing the wide configuration.  Measuring...

Making new marks on the floor...

Getting the other post ready with the steel piece in for lifting...

Rolling the post into position...

Bobcat in and post lifted so I could roll dolly out and Jim could set the end on the plywood...

Attaching the chain...

Lifting it up...

It's vertical!

Plywood out and maneuvering it into position...

Unhooking the Bobcat...

Wow - how amazing and professional does this look?  Such a huge accomplishment to get these up in place.  Lots more challenges to come but this is big!

Another view...

The Mini fits in just fine with plenty of room so there's no worry about opening doors...

Jim did some trimming in the yard before coming in - he definitely deserves a toast tonight!

High 86/Low 63

6.5.2021

Jim worked in the wood shop this morning, gluing up more wood... 

He's got a great start on cap moulding wood...

This morning, we looked out the kitchen window and saw a groundhog burrowing under our rock wall!  He dug up the whole area in front of his new home and had gone inside through this little space at the bottom...

So we filled that hole up with lots of small rocks...

Then Jim shoveled the loose dirt around the bottom of the wall...

Time to uncover the excavator after winter...

Jim put the new battery in and it started up right away...

He moved it to the side - one of Jim's summer projects is to build a lean-to next to the pole barn.  It always makes me nervous to watch Jim go down big bumps like this in the machines but he takes it slow and knows what to do.

Jim bought a new pin for the bucket - the pin that was on there wasn't the correct pin and causes issues.  He'll be working on that.  After Jim moved the excavator, he was making sure there weren't any parts that had fallen off so he brought out the metal detector.  That's always fun to do and we haven't done it in awhile so we were playing a bit.  Didn't find anything interesting except a couple screws and an old bracket.

Power spraying the bucket mechanism...

Jim did a little more lawn mowing before coming in to get ready for church.

High 86/Low 66

6.4.2021

This morning, we headed out for a road trip!  We first went to the Albany area where Jim bought two batteries - one for the Bobcat and one for the excavator.

Then we headed to Ghent to the lumberyard.  Jim going through the soft maple...

Definitely like a kid in a candy store - they brought out this whole new stack of pine for him to go through...

It was a beautiful day - we packed lunch but stopped at a little place for ice cream on our way home.  A nice treat!

Here's the stash...

Jim carried all the wood into the shop and then used the rest of his time to do some grass cutting.

High 78/Low 59 - beautiful!

6.3.2021

I had errands to run this morning - Jim was busy in the wood shop while I was gone.  He got the baseboard plywood pieces primed...

More primed pieces drying...

More pieces in the gluing stage...

Jim did some electric work in the pole barn - he has the sub panel box mounted...

Then he started running wire...

Wire is run for both the lights and receptacle into the switch box...

Jim spent time tracking down parts orders today - some days that seems like a full-time job.  The lawn mower parts finally came but it didn't include any of the pins he needed to wire it.  He called and spent time with the company but to no avail.  He has another source so hopefully he can get it ordered.  

High 68/Low 59

6.2.2021

 Jim worked in the wood shop this morning, continuing to work on baseboard pieces.  Jointing the wood to make it perfectly straight...

He glued up another section.  In the background you can see wood stacked up that is ready to be cut for the moulding caps...

We lost power for about 30 minutes this afternoon.  It was a nice day so it wasn't weather related; they may have been doing some maintenance.  But the generator kicks on almost before you realize the power is out!

We did a little outside work this afternoon.  We picked up another load of rotting wood to be thrown away - it already looks so much better!

Since he had the Bobcat out, he did a little flattening of the driveway for awhile.  I did some cleanup of rogue trees growing up among our pine trees.  Jim finished out the day in the metal shop on the last bit of welding on the Bobcat lift adaptor.

High 73/Low 55

6.1.2021

 Jim worked on more wood prep for moulding pieces - here he's cutting the plywood backing pieces...

Stack of cut plywood pieces...

Putting the glued piece of wood through the jointer...

Gluing up more wood...

Jim put a coat of polyurethane on the top sill today...

Jim is starting to unpack his old softball trophies - they now have a spot in the pole barn!

Jim also started working on fitting the conduit he shaped into place...

Jim knocked off a bit early - he first went to the Bobcat store to pick up a filter.  Then he drove into Saratoga to meet a guy for a craigslist sale before heading into both Lowe's and Home Depot for a few list items.

High 69/Low 48 - beautiful!