Re: Rat repair.
 

That was a score on a crack free wheel, so what's up you going to get your shoulder worked on?

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I have a torn rotator, tore it 3 times in april and may, 3 or 4 bone spurs and a severed Bicep that i'm having reattached. I actually have torn the the right one this year before the left some time about march, but the right side will wait. basicly anything i do anything physical be it lifting or sanding ect both shoulders start screaming at me (cramping up) to stop. I'll be out of work until about November 8th (tentatively) I check in at 11:15 today (about 2.5 hours from now)

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I didn't notice right away but the column housing is rubbing on the bottom of the steering wheel, i emailed the guy that rebuilt the column and he has no idea why its rubbing, i was hoping there may be a couple screws i could access to loosen the housing and reposition it.. The pictures were taken before i tightened the wheel down all the way, it still rubs a little after tightening but it does not interfere with turning the wheel.

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Maybe the steering wheel? You might try pulling the wheel and seeing how it fits on the original column.

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That was the same thing the guy said in his reply, try a different wheel, I'll look into it later.

There was a mishap during shipping, the column in its crate was apparently tossed a little hard somewhere on the trip here, the lower shaft broke thru the end cap which allowed the upper shaft to come out of the hole, so the weight of the column was resting on the bottom of the housing, visually the column looked to be fine so i didn't worry about it, i did show the seller the pic's tho thinking he may want to reinforce the end caps with a little sheet of plywood. So it could be the wheel, it could be a slightly tweaked housing that i cannot see, it does not look to be egg shapped at the opening, no dents on the outside..

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That's a really nice wheel you got. If you can't get it to work, you can just send it to me, and I'll "dispose" of it for you. :lol:

Did you send the column out to be rebuilt or did you buy a rebuilt one? Given the questions and concerns you had (the missing tab, the shipping issues), would you still recommend him to rebuild a column? May I ask how much you paid for the column?

I have a column that it would prob not be a bad idea to have it rebuilt; have not decided yet, and I'm not that the point where I need to worry about it. But it's good to have the information.

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Hope surgery went well and you heal quickly.

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I don't mind saying..... this stuff don't feel too good even with the pain killers! lol! Couldn't even sleep last night so i'm sure a nap is on order some time today before the Seahawks play.

So my drive is still alive, what can i carefully continue on as a one armed bandit as time lets me, even if its just buying supplys for now.

Which leads me to a question, the opening in the back of my H/F blast cabinet for the hose is 1" or 1 1/4", will have to recheck, rather than feed a long hose thru that hole and have a shot mess allover the place i would like to find some kind of fittings that will thread solid to capture the hole, kinda like a fitting with a nut that has internal threads so i can screw my air hose fittings and or brass fittings to, my plan is to buy a better short air hose for the inside ether 3' or 4' X 3/8" and thread it to this fitting, want to stay away from pipe fittings of possible but won't rule pipe put. .

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Something kinda like this but i'm not sure if the inner threads are NPT... and it has to be pressure compliant

chttp://pvcpipesupplies.com/pvc-fittings/schedule-80-cpvc-fittings/schedule-80-cpvc-bulkheads

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Hey, hope you are doing better. I know how you feel. When do you start physical therapy? My doc literally made me go from the surgery right to PT. I left the hospital and went to see the therapist. It actually helped a lot in the recovery process.

Of course, you also had a lot more work done than I did. Take it easy with the work; you don't want to shift or bump your arm by mistake.

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The Dr just gave me some motion movements to work on for now but said don't try and overdue it, its only been two days.

found and ordered the bulkhead for the air fittings and ordered a short hose for inside the cabinet, i have a light plan but haven't bought anything yet, probably go to home depot next week.

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This is a bit off topic, but since the blast cabinet is something you can tinker with while you recover from surgery, I figure a few photos might be in order. I have a HF cabinet also and have had to do some mods to make it more user friendly.

I added a small vacuum cleaner as a dust collector, because the real ones cost big bucks. The problem with this is that it not only pulls the dust, but also a lot of media out of the cabinet. Not having a dust collector quickly makes it impossible to see your work piece so that isn't a choice. To fix the media issue, I moved the exhaust cutout to the roof of the cabinet and added a tapered chute that lets the media settle out of the airstream before it hits the vacuum hose. I tried hanging a filter at the exhaust opening, but it caked up with dust and media and had to be changed too often.

I used an outdoor flood light for illumination. Placed an electrical box with an outlet and switch on the exterior of the cabinet that activates both the light and the vacuum when switched on.

I've also invested in some better gloves that make it easier to pick up small items like bolts. Speaking of which, HF also sells a magnetic stainless dish that works great for holding onto small ferrous items while you blast them. Saves the thumb and forefinger from wearing out so quickly on the left glove. Also be sure to put a water trap close to the inlet air hose to remove any traces of moisture. Wet media isn't the hot tip. I keep a couple of desiccant packs in an out of the way corner. If you need some, let me know, as I had to buy a 5 gallon container of them and they keep forever.

TP Tools and some other outlets sell the plastic shields for the glass. You don't ever want to blast without one covering the glass as it will frost the window muy pronto and make it very hard to see your work. The plastic shields come with adhesive strips to hold them to the glass, but I also use 3/4" masking tape to provide additional sealing around the edge. Keeps out the dust and lets you work longer between shield replacements.

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Thanks for the tips Vic! I found TP Tools late last night and also watching Youtube i found another popular company that sells mods for these cabinets called Tacoma Company. They don't have much in the way of a webpage but the guy runs a media blasting business and has come up with both blasting cabinet mods and lighting as well. i like your vacuum outlet mod being at the top and the baffle, i'll concider moving the location of mine as well..

http://www.tacomacompany.com/

I did however buy the smaller bench top model cabinet and as much as i like the flood lamp setups both TP tools and Tacoma Company sells and i know they are proven to work very well i am concerned about how far down they will hang, leaves me wondering if i can find shorter flood bulbs that still have a good wattage? I am also looking at my kitchen under cabinet Xenon lighting and wondering if it would be durable and or bright enough? especially after they get frosted by the media, the glass is probably not tempered tho. The same company also has a 20" LED that is 380 lumen and a 10" thats 190.

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/xeno...ask-light.html

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/led-...ower-cord.html

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/led-...ower-cord.html

Home Depot sells a vacuum head for a 5 gallon bucket called a Bucket Head, i bought one to remove unburned pellets from my Traeger smoker, fairly inexpensive, some of the blast cabinet guys have used one in conjunction with a cyclone type media separator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuDRh7ALis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFUYl6Z6w9I

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-He...0100/202017218

I'm moving about trying to not sit on my butt to much, still pretty sore and doing small therapy movements, actually got to hop in the shower and shave tonight so starting to feel human again. Biggest gripe is sleeping in my recliner, what i'd give to be able to take a nap while sitting in a massage chair like ya see at fairs or just sleep in my bed LOL!

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Tacoma Company is the source for the gloves I buy off eBay. Small world. The flat light might be a good choice given the smaller confines of the table top model. All I know is, the more light you can get in there, the better off you'll be. Post up your mods when you get it rolling. Hope your recovery is quick. My wife had to sleep sitting up on the couch when she cracked some ribs recently. She was positively thrilled when she was finally able to lay down again.

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Hang in there Mike! I like the cabinet mods you're considering. Wish I'd done them to my cabinet, maybe it would have gotten used more. Without the upgrades, it is difficult to see your work. I just never got around to prioritizing the time and money for upgrades over time and money for the truck. Also I've read of a number of folks who upgraded from the HF gun, but mine was working ok if I use correct media.

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Great info on the cabinets. Never heard of Tacoma company before. Good to know.

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Vic, Rick and Nonhog, for some reason i'm not getting message notifications for my thread in my inbox again, Thanks for the replies! I'm dealing with it but already getting annoyed LOL!

Well, I called Mike at Tacoma company Monday and we had a good chat, he wanted me to ask myself what parts i may want to blast on the future and really think about if the things i want to blast will fit into this bench top cabinet, also keep in mind not just fit but the ability to move the part so i can get the ends of it and see what i'm doing when doing it. Having a look around its pretty plain to see that i'd be limited to small brackets, nuts and bolts, pulleys ect, there is no real way to do something like valve covers, air cleaners, intake manifolds or Oil pans ect.

The H/F stand up model is 36 3/16"W X 23"D VS the bench top 26"W X 18 3/8"D Absolutely the size of the stand up is what i need minimum, looking at my ever shrinking foot print in my garage i think i can squeeze it in there. So being as H/F has a 90 day return policy i think the bench top model is going to have to be returned and exchanged for the stand up one. But that isn't going to happen for a while.

Mike at Tacoma Company has a number of mods, 4 stages of lighting, a quick removal kit for the window to change the inside film easier, a couple different gun/pedal and regulator setups that work on a different principal than the gravity fed guns from H/F. It kinda depends on how much money you throw at it but his point is that the cost of the cabinet from H/F plus his most expensive mod kit at about $500 and you end up with a cabinet costing $650-700 that performs like a cabinet that would cost much more.

More reading material. http://mediablastauto.com/default.asp

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I know how you feel sleeping in a recliner did that for awhile a year ago when I dislocated both shoulders.it sucks. I was off work for 7 weeks,about went crazy not being able to do anything.

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Great info on blast cabinet mods Mike, your making me want one! :metal:

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Its been a while so a small follow up, I'm getting better but not back to work yet, i started P/T this week tho, going 2 days a week but i'm still wearing a sling to protect my bicep when out and about, Dr says only passive movement, no weight bearing. I have been able to graduate to sleeping in the bed but I'm still lucky to get 4 hours a night in a straight shot, i usually find myself falling asleep in the chair a couple hours here and there to supplement.

Back to the blaster my wife helped me return the counter top unit last weekend and got a refund, low and behold about 4 days later i got a coupon for 25% off a single item on the mail, went back today and picked up the stand alone unit, Of course i had to have the store employee load it for me, got it home and with my good arm and wife's help on the other end its now resting on my work table. The bench unit was $120 without a coupon, this unit was $199-25%= $149. I'm glad i did this.

Going to call Mike at Tacoma company to talk more about upgrades Monday, i know I'll buy a light setup and quick change window and maybe even the upgraded blast nozzle and regulator but still debating if i should at least try the stock setup first. Above all, i know its too early for me to assemble this thing.

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Before i forget, This truck has been sitting here with a for sale sign on it for a few months now, the floor and front fenders look to be ok but i think there may be a couple dents above the rear window but overall its pretty straight, no price listed just a phone number, I'm tempted to see what they want for it then go buy a rolling and running S10 chassis to put it on, Or just pull the racks and build better ones.. Only question's i would have is 1) what its worth, and 2) what the hell do i want with yet another project LOL! :D

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I have that same benchtop blaster you took back, and it is crap in its "as-delivered" form! The light worked for about 10 minutes, and I definitely need to get a bulkhead for the dust extraction.

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Believe it or not, I'm still using the original blast nozzle that came with the HF unit after many years. I've replaced the ceramic insert once or twice, but it's a pretty tough unit. The quick change window would be nice, but it only takes a few extra minutes to zip the screws out and back in. The light, extra plastic shields for the window and upgraded gloves would be my first priority along with a decent dust extractor.

Glad to hear you're recovering from the surgery. Slow but steady and don't give up on the PT. You really need it to end up with a full range of motion. Good luck!!

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Thanks Vic! Yea my arm is only about a 45 degree angle above my shoulder right now, last week i could barely get to level with the shoulder.

Do you have a better way of buying the shield material?

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I'm currently in camping mode so I see a big ol' camper on the back of that AD rig. :metal: