of Drill bits and tool boxes

3 hours

A tale of two tasks, It was the best of times it was the worst of times...

best of times: I redid the glass fibre toolbox as the first attempt was not very good. Much better second time around, all smooth and as it should be.. so move on, one more part done only another couple of hundred to go before we start the real build.

worst of times: the moral of this one is keep you drill bits sharp and your metal cool. Had real trouble drilling a 9/16th hole the metal is prone to 'work hardening' if your not careful, I was not careful and made repeated botches. I now need some more metal and sharper bits.

you live and learn.

Frustrating Session

2 hours

aaarrgghhh.

Nothing went right this session, cut some sheet metal and the last bandsaw blade gave up the ghost. Tried to finish off the cut will a grinder. Slipped and marked the metal so that became us. Moved on to drilling some holes in metal. I needed to work slowly and build up to holes just over half inch diameter, two of the four are not going well (work hardending I suspect) so I have stopped that one.

I suppose you have those days and it is best to just walk away from them.

Go back another day and all will be well.....

Laying up Glassfibre

1.30 hours

I took advantage of a warm day, and a warm workshop to do the glass layup of the tool box. Using the mold I made previously I needed to lay down one sheet of bi-directional glass fibre to add some strength to the box. This seemed to go well and although tricky I felt happy with the outcome. I left it for about 3 hours and then trimmed up the fible to the edges of the box.

However when I had a look at the final product the next day I was far from happy with the quality of the finish. I could leave it as is, it is structurally sound but not pretty. For nearly all of its life it will be hidden from view.

I know its there....

So I will redo it, I have enough materials available so lets try again.