Now that the radial engine is completed I am ready for a new project. With the long weekend for the Holiday, We spent time pulling weeds, doing yard work and cleaning both inside and out. Being that I had a day off, I needed something creative to do. It didn't take me long to find something.
As we were cleaning we had an old milk can sitting on the back porch. It was old and showing it's age. It was ready for a makeover. I took it over to the shop and took the wire brush to it and then sprayed it with some paint that I had.
I pulled a tractor seat out of my pile of tractor seats. I have five of them. You never know when you may need one. I placed it on top to see how it would look. I liked the idea but wasn't a big fan of my color choice.
Later in the day, we stopped by Home Depot and I picked up a lag bolt so that I could mount the seat to the can. While there we stood in front of the paints going back and forth on colors. As we are standing there a man walks by and he is wearing a shirt with the Colorado Flag on it. Seeing his shirt pretty much made our decision on what colors to go with. I still need to add the C and Sun colors
Saturday night about 9 PM, I fired up the smoker. I had a 20-pound brisket that had been marinated in a dry rub for 24 hours. The fire was ready about 10 PM and put the brisket on the smoker.
I headed off to bed for the night. Left the bedroom door open so that I could keep an eye on things. Woke up about 7 AM and pulled the brisket off the smoker and wrapped it in tin foil, tight. Placed it in the oven at 225 and let it cook for the rest of the day.
While the meat was cooking, we made a seven layer salad (Actually Candy made it). We stuffed some Jalapeno's and made some dinner rolls.
Our guests showed up around 5 PM and we ended up eating around 6 PM. Not to pat myself on the back, but this was probably one of the best briskets I have cooked. It was super moist and everyone loved it. Had so much meat that we sent everyone home with a bag.
With the leftovers we had sandwiches and for dinner, we made brisket nachos. I see brisket stew in my future.
I finished my radial engine and it looks great. This was a fun project and I am glad to see it to completion. I can't say that I have seen something like it. I am happy that I found a place to hang it. We ended up hanging it in my office, which was a challenge because of the weight.
I ended making a cleat to hang it, which I learned from Google. Was a first for me and worked really well. I love that the propeller actually turns. Thanks to using Lazy Susan hardware.
Last week when I was driving to work I came across a Turkey Vulture who had found a recently deceased Squirell. I had to take a picture as I can't say that I come across too many of these.
Slowly my radial engine project is coming together. I am getting closer but still have several things to figure out. I have finished the crankcase and got all the holes drilled for the lifters and the spark plug wire. I cut all the copper tubing that I will need.
Painted the crankcase gray and sprayed with sealer. Once they dried, then I mounted a cylinder head to each hexagon section. I used glue and then three screws underneath. That should hold together.
Now I am adding my copper tubing and spark plug. Once I have all the heads done, then I will work to screw together the crankcase. Like I said slowly but surely and so far it is looking pretty good.
I am still trying to figure out, what I will do for the back side so that it will be able to hang from the wall. It's going to be pretty heavy once completed and then adding the propeller, I am guessing it will be close to 24 to 28 pounds. I could still be off, will see if I can weigh it.
If you know me, you know that I am not afraid of hard work and getting my hands dirty. My parents are rebuilding there deck and I went out and helped out for a couple of days.
My Dad and I spent three pretty full days working on it. I think the hardest part, was removing the old wood and the overall amount of time we spent on our knee's either tearing out wood, cutting wood or screwing the new wood down.
I was in bed early each day and I can tell you I was pretty sore each morning. It was a pretty big job. My pops still had a lot to do even after my help. It looked pretty nice. If we go visit for the 4th of July, I look forward to seeing how he finished it up.
I had a couple of my Uncles come through town and they stopped by the house for a visit. It was great to catch up with them. We spent most of the day on our patio, just catching up.
From left to right: Jan Clark, Me, Pat Clark, Mike Clark.
Been very busy these last couple of weeks. With work and with some personal time. I had to be in DC. for meetings and had Candy fly out and spend Friday and Saturday with me.
We did some hiking both days and had a great time. We went and hiked around the Great Falls one day and then stopped by the air and space museum out by Dulles airport.
On Saturday we drove west from DC. and caught a section of the Appalachian Trail. We did three miles up and then turned around and headed back. the weather was great and it was nice to be outside. Even visited a couple of thrift stores along the way.
We spent much of Sunday traveling home. Got home around 4 PM and unpacked and got ready for the start of the week.
The Air and Space Museum was pretty awesome. It is out by the Dulles Airport and you can watch the planes landing from a control tower at the museum.
Some pretty awesome history packed into this building. Was great to be able to see it. Snapped a few pictures but they don't really show how expansive the building is.
As we were cleaning we had an old milk can sitting on the back porch. It was old and showing it's age. It was ready for a makeover. I took it over to the shop and took the wire brush to it and then sprayed it with some paint that I had.
Later in the day, we stopped by Home Depot and I picked up a lag bolt so that I could mount the seat to the can. While there we stood in front of the paints going back and forth on colors. As we are standing there a man walks by and he is wearing a shirt with the Colorado Flag on it. Seeing his shirt pretty much made our decision on what colors to go with. I still need to add the C and Sun colors
