Welcome to my brain. It’s messy. It’s interesting. And it’s all connected if you stick around long enough. "Believe Nothing: no matter who said it, even if I have said it, except it agree with your own reason and common sense. Siddhartha Guatamo, the Buddha.

scritch,scritch,scritch

The sounds of removing metal in very small amounts,,,,

Fred asked for details, and I provided him some, but after doing so, Figured, ‘y’know self? Mehbe ya aughta post that,,,”

Using a mill file (the cut of the teeth determines the style)

Showing use of an actual scraper, and no, I ain’t doing it “Right” since I was also trying to hold the fone More trying to give someone an idea of what the process is.

NOW,,, I am gonna say this. It looks simple, IS in all actual physics, but it IS most definitely a SKILL and ART in more ways that I could explain. I mentioned to Fred in one of my emails to him “TRUST YOUR FINGERTIPS” Most people won’t believe you when you tell them you can feel the difference in a .001″ shelf. Seriously, with a little experiance, I can feel a difference of around .0005″ I use a surface indicator for that level of change, but I find I can feel it easier using a fingernail. (no setting up gauges and arm geegaws,,, just drag a finger nail across it.) No, thats not “Science” as in no I didn’t measure it: that makes it ART! Things get too wonky, then the gauges come out and the machinists blue and test surfaces, but a fingernail is the first go to.

And yes, you can feel when the surface is starting to take on curvature/dome shape. (that was why I switched to the files,,, easier to maintian level with that draw-knife action.)

Am I done yet? OH, hell no. Am I done with scraping that part? I think so. I did put 2 and 4 back in, and checked both times with a torque wrench (the digital so I can see preload) All the con-rods bolted in, Mains 1,3,5 in, Preload was 26ft#,,, Add in the real#2 and it went up to 27ft# Add in the new #4 (the busted cap replacement) and it raised all of 1ft# to 28.

Now this is NOT torqued in yet. This is just me using the air ratchet (electric actually, but it acts just like an air ratchet) which seats things roughly 15ft# Thats my first step in the torque sequence. But 27ft# of preload is completely acceptable. I am going to get some plastigauge and double check both caps/bearings. But I honestly feel both are well and good at this point.

Maybe not scientifically correct, or race car level Anal Retentive, but more than enough to get a couple more years out of this block and prepare for complete replacement later down the road.

Note the cap on the left of the pic, and there is a ledge on the far left edge,,, That was from the Mill and when I decided “Hand-fit it is!”. The Bearing doesn’t ride on that part so its not critical. My jig had ‘wiggled’ just enough that as I was going to make a second pass,,, that ledge was created. NOPE, not a gonna fubar a $35 part,,, May have two in back up, but thats no excuse,,, Do it by hand and BE SURE.

SO, I get some plastigauge this week (and only two because the local parts house that carries it charges $5 for ONE strip (from a pack of 10!!! Frellin $50 for a pack of the stuff is what they are getting and WILL NOT sell the package.) I’ll double check my work on Christmas eve or Christmas day, and then begin ‘fixing’ any issues I may find (not enough/too much clearance) OR begin final assembly towards RUNNING BLOO TWUCK,,,, Fingers are crossed, blessings begged, and prayers flying as if from a belt fed prayer gun.

And until then, I has a J.O.B. that needs attended to, a shortened week paycheck at the rough end, and some time to keep questioning myself and sanity.

y’all take care,,

LIVE

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This entry was posted on December 21, 2025 by . It was filed under Uncategorized .

4 responses

  1. Mike in FLA's avatar
    Mike in FLA

    Looks like ya got this well in hand, me Bro. Sounds like the preload with the mains in place is good. The ‘tell’ will be when ya torque everthing – as ya know.

    Holy sheep sheeiitt! $5 for 1 strip of plastigage!!??😵‍💫😲 That’s plumb freakin’ amazin’, it is! Wow. Didn’t realize that it was being made out of gold nowadays. Still cheap insurance, and still worth it for the peace of mind, though.

    Keep on keepin’ on!

    Y’all take care,
    Mike in FLA.

    Liked by 1 person

    December 22, 2025 at 6:20 am

  2. Spud's avatar
    Spud

    I can relate. Back in the day , I worked for Atlantic Gulf as a millwright installing co generation steam turbines with Siemens generators. The Babbitt bearings were all hand scarfed to fit , and these were on 24″ shafts. You wanna talk about time and major amounts of patience…

    all machines and tools were built via stone knives and axes. Though like all things in this digital world, the skills are rapidly being lost as us old farts sail over the horizon.

    Never underestimate what a man can do with stone knives and axes. I fear that AI will destroy those capabilities…

    Liked by 2 people

    December 22, 2025 at 6:22 am

    • diogenesoftherifle's avatar
      diogenesoftherifle

      “Never underestimate what a man can do with stone knives and axes” ABSO-FRICKIN-LUTELY!!! We wouldn’t be here today if it werent for some ‘Smaht-guy’ banging the rocks together.
      As for the AI pessimism,,,, I was on board with your until lately, and I did do a podcast about it. I don’t think its the DemiGorgon monstrosity anymore. First off, it takes WAY TOO MUCH POWER and resources, like cooling towers, to run the real beasts. EVEN IF, we started building nuke plants at every place they want to build a ‘center’, it will be 50 years or more before they are ‘online’,,, the current common thread are ‘not’ AI, they are LLM’s, not even smart enough to get out of their own way. They have to be trained, and yes, they can use that training to learn more, BUT ONLY WITH WHAT THEY ARE SUPPLIED, they can’t search outside of thier realms: not allowed to. They learned the hardway with GPT1 what happens with unrestricted info: it became racist and anit-semetic in less than a week,,,,
      BOTH are a tool, but the one that really scares people is, so far, a dream that is eating lots and lots of capitol up, and eventually, the investors are going to get a clue and pull out.
      As for how the government wants to use it,,, Thats a different animal and that DOES scare me some.
      But they also want to put AI centers into orbit, on the understanding they would have ‘infinite’ power via the sun. Only problem, Vacuum SUCKS as a conductor of heat, and those processors generate enough heat that they need cooling towers llke a Nuke plant uses, or copious amounts of FREE FLOWING WATER (where are the bigger centers? Cali,,, what does Cali NOT have much of? Yah,,,, )

      Liked by 1 person

      December 22, 2025 at 6:06 pm

      • Spud's avatar
        Spud

        you are absolutely correct IMO about AI. All it is , is an electronic mimic, capable only of quick retrieval of previously stored info.

        I’d already come to the conclusion that the effort will soon die, for lack of funding. It will need the assistance of fusion power, which seems to be forever on hold for lack of proper containment. Kinda like trying to contain Trump’s ego…always just out of reach….

        Liked by 1 person

        December 23, 2025 at 5:47 am