Midimonkey Update

[frederic]

I haven't posted in a while, I also haven't been around for a while (due to work travel), and I haven't done a whole hell of a lot either regarding my garage loft studio. Sad, very sad.

But yesterday I took the afternoon and evening off and moved a lot of the junk out of here. It appears I've been using my unfinished studio as a temporary machine shop. So, got the drill press, the vertical mill, the table saw, the two dremels, and the air compresser out of here and into the garage where they belong. All the automotive parts (like cylinder heads which I've been porting a little each day) are out of here, and the 10 or so boxes of wiring harnesses are gone too.

The two boxes of SCA scsi hard drives are in the attic, the four or five boxes of prefabbed snake cables are up there also, and now its a matter of picking up all the hand tools and wrenches scattered all over the floor as well as this laptop and shove them somewhere too.

I'm really not sure how my unfinished studio became a machine shop, but it did. So before I can start sanding the spackle (mud), I probably ought to vaccum up the aluminum dust/filings that are pretty much everywhere.

Its amazing how fast junk collects in corners. Though after cleaning this room out, I did find another dremel I didn't know I had, and noticed that a fire extinguisher had gone off in the corner underneath a bunch of boxes that I somehow never noticed.

What a mess.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Its amazing how fast junk collects in corners.

Not in my house. Its normal. With my wifes ebay stuff, my collecting wood at work everyday, my studio.....ha, whats amazing is we can walk through the house But like you said, this weekend has already been BEAUTIFUL. After 4 months of constant rain, what a great day. Started out early this morning and got all the "honey do's out of the way. Tomorrow is MINE!! Already cleaned the shop, got the texture spraying out of the way today, so tomorrow I'm going to clean the studio and get to work. My console has been unfinished for the whole winter. No inscentive this winter. But now its back. So I'm right there with you frederic. Only I have lots more to do than you do. LOTS MORE

fitZ

 

[frederic]

I hear that!

Unfortunately my wife is sick of my studio gear (or some of it) sitting in her home office along with a huge pile of construction stuff (wood, boxes of screws, my TIG welder, monitor brackets, rack rails, patch bays, old coffee cups!), so I had to spend some serious time in the attic to move the gear thats up there to the perimeter of the attic, then clean out her office, then my studio so I can start sanding a little more seriously.

Just never ends.

I just keep too many projects going on at one time, so my success rate in completing things on time is rather low.

But when something is finished, it is pretty cool.

Eventually

So what do you think, can I do a 12' span with black pipe and a lot of gear? heh-heh

 

[Michael Jones]

What does it mean to port a cylinder head?
I try not to even open the hood of a car anymore.
If you can't set the points with a dwell meter, then, I have no idea what's going on.
I rebuilt the engine in a Subaru once, well... twice actually.
I've heard of milling heads, and grinding valves, but porting a head?

What do you want to span 12'?

I finally got my framing inspections signed off.
Monday I'm having a bunch of rockwool delivered, so I can insulate this bad boy and move on to sheetrockin'!

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

What do you think Michael....will it fly?

Hey guys....heres the plan. Span 144" clear with a 3D truss. 2" exhaust pipe (or .09" wall?), truss diagonals out of 1/2" pipe(conduit) welded to the 2" chords. Weld up 1 1/2"x 2"(1/8" wall) end frames as shown. Weld 1"x1" wrist pad supports @ 24"oc. Weld pivots for support brackets however is easiest. This is per Frederics original plan and Vertical section design. Well, what do ya think, will it fly
fitZ

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Here is a plan view, of each side of the truss.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Here is the vertical section of the truss.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Then fasten a wood or sheetmetal cover on the front face of the truss. Use the truss as a cable trough. Suspend another pipe or weld it in the center of the truss for tie off. BTW, the big pipes are 3"d lightwall, just to support the mixers. They can be welded at the ends, or the bottom one welded to the wrist supports. OR>...weld up assembly brackets for bolts and nuts for assembly in the studio. What ever works. If you like it frederic, I'd be happy to detail it down to the bolt. Anyway, an exercise in drawing is all it is.
fitZ

 

[frederic]

Michael - milling a head usually implies making the deck, the part that faces the block, as flat as possible, usually to 0.001".

Porting, is essentially removal of material (of the head) in the intake and exhaust tunnels, to make them larger to allow more airflow, as well as changing the shape to remove casting irregularities, promoting a smoother flow with less turbulance.

The heads I am using are off a 460cid ford engine, and are "eeeeh" as far as performance. They are okay for low RPM truck motors, but for high performance applications, like the 600cid stroker motor I'm building, well, the ports and runners are just to darn small. So, heads, meet Mr. Dremel. Mr. Dremel, meet heads.

And cool on arriving at the insulation stage, for me, thats where I really started to feel like I've made some progress.


Rick - thanks for the designs... no need to go to the bolt level just yet, I think I figured out how to do the center section, since it will be different than the two sides, and the TMD1000's will be on the wings iwth this new design. I'll sketch it this week, scan it, and uploade it to illustrate the idea.