$1 tool rescue

Had a moment last week, so we strolled the flea market. A woman had a pile of rusty tools "anything $1!" and so I dug through it and found those channel locks.  Then, in conversation, she seemed like she didn't want to pack the stuff back up, so I managed to get the 2 chisel heads for free.  So, 3 tools, $1. (scissors shown for color)

A bit of work later - like 20 minutes - and I've removed the rust and made a handle for the big 2" chisel head.  I love rescuing old tools.  

Granite in place

While I still need to glue and grout them, they don't look too bad.  

Here it is with the back splash. 

cleaning up the free granite

Got a good batch of free kitchen counter granite off of CL the other day.   First I had to pull off the 3/4 inch plywood that was glued onto it:

Then clean up the paint off the edges 

And *grind* off the old glue, after using a chisel to get the big chunks off.  In this shadowy photo, you can see some that I've done and a bunch that still need doing:

Cabin shower pan getting in place

Actually, kind of happy about this progress.  It needed to be up so the drain trap will fit. 

Little Window sill challenge

 Window sills at the cabin are going to be spiffed up ceiling rafters.  They don't look too bad... from above:

But underneath, the drywall and plaster didn't quite get all the way up.  I was thinking about putting some other trim piece in, but that will start to look weird. 

So, instead, I dug out 1/2" of the underside:

and now it settles down pretty close to covering the crack.  This is the worse one:

into the world of piston! Lister 6/1 piston cleaning.

Once again diving into an area I don't know enough about, I've pulled the cylinder off the Lister to see if there's something wrong with the piston (I was not getting compression)

Here's what it looked like when I pulled off the cylinder:

Here it is cleaned up a bit, basically the oil wiped off, but still attached:

Here it is in the sun, after I cleaned it up as best I could. I hope by cleaning it, I didn't mess anything up. All the rings seem to be working well. 

Here's the cylinder, that doesn't seem to look that bad:

Scenes of Sheet Rock

Pieces are slowly covering up the lumber.  

set backs and progress

Turns out the circuit box that was on the cabin only holds SIX circuits.  I need 8.  I guess I have to buy a new box.  darn. 

Managed to get some rigid foam in between the 2x4 studs of the loft, between the crawl space and the main room.  I feel that's enough insulation.  Now to get the drywall up over this stuff. 

Home rigged vise

I needed to squeeze this cable, and luckily I had a bar clamp nearby, and a saw table.  Got it done. 

Burner crud success

Kind of amazing.  This is the before and after.  Just leave them in a closed bag with a tablespoon of ammonia (it's got to be the fumes) and the next day,  a light brushing with a small metal brush just cleaned them right off.  crazy.

Removed Blackberries, prepped for Raspberries

Of course I forgot to do the 'before' picture, but this is the future spot for two rows of raspberries.  My blackberries got some disease that, while still looking fabulously healthy, they didn't fruit.  So, out they go!  

Gen challenges - carbon build up

I had to take the diesel gen apart yesterday, to try and figure out how bad the carbon build up was, and how to fix it.  It was bad.   This is the 'head' the top of the gen where the piston hits:

This is the top of the piston, with a copper gasket around it.  

This is the piston head after I spent time cleaning it off.  Here's hoping I didn't screw something up with my cleaning efforts: