Fox's Mercantile

09/17/2020

I made a mistake when I put my Teletype machine back together. In addition to the general "coat everything" lubrication, there are three covered oil cups.
I missed one of them. It ran for about 5 minutes and seized up.
The one I missed is at one end of the main drive shaft that runs everything else.

08/15/2020

It hurts to ask for help.

I'm on a fixed income. Social Security Retirement Benefits. I've fallen behind on my taxes and they … Fox's Mercantile needs your support for Save our Shop

02/27/2020

With the whirlpool bath out of the way, things are progressing on the kitchenette project upstairs.

12/14/2019

One more bastard panel removed and the correct mounting box installed for the network

11/13/2019

Teeny baby steps.
Last week I ran a pair of cables to the garage at the house, today I ran a pair to the office upstairs over the garage.
We has phone lines and Internet now in both locations.
Last month I put an 8-port switch in the room now designated as the "Telco/Network" room.

09/30/2019

I have a friend visiting. He asked if I had a place to park his trailer.
This was a bit more than I expected.
But it fit.

09/26/2019

So, I picked up a 1982-83 vintage Jet R-13 Bench top drill press for free a few weeks ago. The motor o it was a real piece of work, wrong sized shaft and seized up. So I bought a correct used motor on eBay. One minor detail, it turns the wrong direction. Ok I guess if I want to buy a set of left hand drills. (Not) So off to Google to see what to do about this.
Aha! Just reverse the start winding. Cool, simple enough.
Yes and no, it's buried inside the motor with crimped connections. It's going to be tedious, but it IS doable.
Left (Black) to Starter Capacitor (start winding)
Middle (Red) to AC1 (run winding and start winding)
Right (Blue) to AC2 (run winding)

09/20/2019

Since I apparently can't stop buying things at the Good Will and the 1/4 store, at least now I have something to sort all my treasures in.

09/11/2019

I was given a '02 Dodge Dakota SLT Quadcab 4-wheel drive pickup truck about 3 years ago.
The 2nd or 3rd week I had it, the top bolt on the upper hinge had the head pop off. Subsequently, the door has been sagging down more and more, becoming increasingly difficult to close it properly.
Today I decided enough is enough and took the door off.
First thing was to take a cutting torch and blow the broken tap out of the bolt hole that happened two years ago when I tried to fix it the first time.
Next was to drill it out to 25/64" for a new 3/8" bolt.
Then I had to weld up the cracks in the sheet metal.
Finally I got the door back on and aligned.

09/07/2019

More fun and games with Cisco IP phones.
And had a Cisco Catalyst 3560G switch fall into my lap.

08/12/2019

More fun and games at the shop.
While trying to get a particular phone at the shop to work, I found out I'd miswired the phone jack 9 years ago.
The confusing part was that it had worked perfectly with the Panasonic KX-t61610 PBX all this time.

06/22/2019

The new compressor is resting happily, bolted to the floor where the old one was. It starts up, runs and makes air.