Passover seder last night was, by far, the speediest I’d ever been to. I guess I know I’m getting older, ’cause I actually hoped it would go a bit longer. I went to the downstairs neighbors’ for the occasion, and it was their first time with new haggadah’s – hence the speedy version (they just skipped ahead when they didn’t know what to do). One cup of wine and some matzah later, we were done with the ritual and on to the meal. Oh well…
More work with the lathe (a camlock for the tailstock) on tap for tonight after dinner with Steve & TJ.
posted March 28, 2002 – 1:03 pm
Nathaniel & TJ came over on Saturday morning and we had some fun welding & lathe times. We welded some big steel plates together, and also made some simple wire sculptures. On the lathe, we made an adapter for a wire brush to go on the bench grinder (the hole through the wire brush wheel was a bunch bigger than the arbor on the bench grinder). Fun fun!
Off to San Diego in a few weeks for work – what’s good out there? I’ve heard lots about the fish tacos, but not much else.
posted March 25, 2002 – 10:44 am
Last night I finished my leadscrew handle for the lathe. I took a cut along the outside of a piece of inch and a half aluminum using the handle to move the carriage, and it was beautiful! It came out very smooth with a nice, shiny finish. It is kinda hard to turn the crank, so I think I’ve overtightened the bearings that hold the leadscrew – when I’ve got more time, I’ll check. Look for pictures soon. Next up on the lathe projects docket, a saddle lock.
Tonight, I’m off to the Boston Tea Party for a spot of dancing – my first since Toronto. Should be fun, with plenty of out-of-towners around.
posted March 22, 2002 – 6:15 am
The Pi(e) Party (my birthday = March 14 = 3/14 = 3.14 = pi!) last night was a blast. Nice mix of people, lots of pie (several Pi pies) – much rejoicing. It was also nice to have my brother around for the week. He got himself a job offer & is moving up to Boston this summer. Can the Somerville/Cambridge area handle two Zuckers? Stay tuned…
posted March 17, 2002 – 2:53 pm
Happy birthday to me! Yep, it’s the big day (actually not really very big at all – 24 is another lame birthday year), also notable because of the following historic events:
- In 1879, Albert Einstein was born.
- In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent on the cotton gin.
- In 1933, Quincy Jones was born.
- In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected president of Russia.
Plans for today include chocolate martinis at the Good Life, in Central Square, and dinner at Central Kitchen. Yum.
posted March 14, 2002 – 9:01 am
Last Thursday evening, Mike & I finished the backplate for the four jaw chuck, and when I got back from Toronto yesterday, I had just enough time before dance rehearsal to get it mounted up on the spindle. At first glance, it looks pretty good – the runout on the side of the chuck is around 0.003″ (I haven’t checked the faceplate runout). More experiments soon.
Toronto was a blast – Steven & Virginie were as good as ever and I had a great time getting to know some of the dancers up there better. I wasn’t super-impressed by the city itself, but it also wasn’t bad, by any means (nor did I have tons of time to explore). The weather was pretty similar to Boston, and I had a nice time wandering around downtown Toronto on Friday. In short, I’d go back, especially if something fun was happening again.
posted March 12, 2002 – 12:57 pm
Off to Toronto on Friday morning for a lindy hop workshop. If you have any good recommendations for things to do there, tell me.
In the meantime, I’m building a handle to go on the leadscrew on the lathe – it’ll make long cuts a lot smoother (because I’ll be able to move the carriage slower & more smoothly). The four jaw chuck backplate should also get finished this week, so by the time I get back from Toronto, I’ll be pretty well outfitted. Any ideas for a good first project? I’ll probably end up building a simple steam engine unless something better comes to mind.
posted March 6, 2002 – 10:37 am