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The Sander is one of those tools I've looked at for a while but haven't splurged on yet. That and the Sensi-press/Riveter combo. I've got the cash on hand right now but I'm in no great need for these tools yet so I'll hold off until Micro-Mark has a good sale going. Of course by then I'll have blown the wad and won't be ready to purchase! 
Pictures up next...
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Every year at Trainfest, in Milwaukee, The Tool Man, has a vendor area, and I've made it an "annual event", to stop by and purchase "something". One year I bought the "sander" and have used it extensively for scratch built, and kit projects. I bought my "Chopper" there too.
We always learn far more from our own mistakes, than we will ever learn from another's advice.
The greatest place to live life, is on the sharp leading edge of a learning curve.
Lead me not into temptation.....I can find it myself!
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Well, all I can say is in-laws visited, Easter & Holy Week happened, and my wife hosted a very successful my31 bag party in the midst of it all. Got a few home improvement projects done but ultimately it sidetracked me from working on this delightful little kit. I am happy to report I'm back on the horse.
Here's the latest:
[album]3782[/album]
All diagonal braces are installed and I'm beginning to add the knee brace blocks to the vertical members along with the top splice plate and bottom gusset. After these little dudes are in place I can drill, baby, drill  and add nbw's. The destructions say to cut more blocks than you need since they're sproing-prone and may even split when the holes are drilled for the nbws. Plus you are supposed to stain them before adding to the bridge. I suppose this is to keep glue from seeping into the unstained ends and preventing stain from taking. I precut MOST of the parts but forgot to make 4 splice plates and made only 2 so I'll have to make another couple. Not sure if I'm going to take the time to prestain them or just touch-up the stain when that step comes near the end of construction.
Okay...back to the glue puddle!
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Just a quick follow-up to the last post. Didn't take long to install the blocks & gussets. Now it's time to walk away and let it dry fully. The yellow glue I'm using doesn't take long to set but I'd like to give it plenty of time before I put the drill to it. Maybe later tonight...we'll see.
I have the day off today so I'm enjoying the freedom of being able to work on something...or not. 
I think I'll go have a sprite & oj.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Galen,
your work is coming along very nicely, have fun with all the details!!!
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Thanks Greg! I have begun drilling holes for the nbws. Tedious but the result is sure nice.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Sprite and OJ ... really! A mixed drink?
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
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P5se Camelback Wrote:Sprite and OJ ... really! A mixed drink?
Yep, that's me - livin' on the edge & breakin' all the rules.
I call it my 'cold buster' since it usually works to put down any simple common cold if I'm careful to rest and drink plenty. I pour a can of sprite in a quart jar then fill the rest with orange juice. Drink and repeat as much as you can stand to pee until it comes out clear. (TMI?) I don't have a cold now but sometimes I just get a jones for the taste. Real Sprite and 100% OJ generally works best but generic and oj from concentrate will work also. At least it does for me!
Drilled holes but haven't mounted the little buggers yet...wanted to be awake and alert so that I didn't get too frustrated. Plus the wife remembered she had a meeting at church tonight so I ended up fixing dinner for the kiddos and putting them to bed. :|
More work tomorrow, I guess.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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ocalicreek Wrote:... the wife remembered she had a meeting at church tonight so I ended up fixing dinner for the kiddos and putting them to bed. ... Galen
... they always say something like that when they want to "just get away" from it all for an evening!
Just joking, Galen, but mine always "remembered" that kind of thing at the
"last minute" and anything I had planned was out the window as I was then
the Chief Cook, Bottle Washer, Formula Maker, Diaper Changer ...
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
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[albumimg]3800[/albumimg]
You are looking at a slightly grainy picture of a completed set of arch bridge sides. By completed I mean fully nbw'd.
I have also cut the 7 cross braces, but before I can install them I need to create a rig in order to set the sides upside down and space them correctly. A couple 2x4's (1:1 variety) oughta do the trick. I'll be sure to get a picture of that once it's set up. If you've got one of these kits and have been playing along at home, I've just finished step 12, and I skipped 9, 10 & 11 because I'm not building the trestle bents.
So far so good. I only lost one nbw to the dreaded sproing gremlin, and had no trouble with the brace blocks splitting although a couple did pop loose from the side as I was drilling. I think this had to do with the tackiness of the glue when I originally applied them.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Galen,
That is really coming along nicely!!
With these sections mostly done I look forward to your next step, please keep us posted on your progress!!!
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Thanks,Greg. And btw, nice job on your latest article.
I realized that I don't have any rubber cement. :o You'd think that somewhere in all my modeling shopping and craft store visits I'd have picked some up, but no. My wife may have some in her craft things...I'll have to ask her later. It'd be easier to ask than to go digging. Even though she is WAY more organized than I am, her craft/scrapbooking/sewing items are still in flux. Oh, give her an a free afternoon without too many other chores and a pair of attention-grabbing kiddos and it would all be stashed away neat as you please. I may manage to get my needle files put away in the same amount of time.
Anyway, the rubber cement will be for holding the side frames in position securely while I glue the crossbraces in place.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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[albumimg]3803[/albumimg]
Here's the rig I built to support the side frames while I glued on the bottom cross braces. By 'built', I really mean one 2x4 is rubber cemented to the workbench and the other is free to move. I measured from the plan the distance that should be between each side and marked the 2x4s accordingly. Then I applied rubber cement to the long members of the side frames and set them in place. Before the cement got too tacky I quickly measured from opposite corners in order to determine if the sides were square. Then I let the glue set for a minute before proceeding to measure, mark, and glue the cross braces in place. I did this in the morning and was able to proceed to the next step that night.
Seems like it worked well except for one thing...I didn't take into account the slight variance in length of the side frames. That is, the 'feet' or shoes on the frames are actually not all the same length. The instructions say to cut them oversize but I couldn't see why. Anyway, as a result my side frames are not parallel. However it is only a slight variance, not noticable to the naked eye, and did not affect the rest of the construction so far. Diagonal measuring is still the correct way to determine squareness or trueness of a 4 sided shape but only if parallel sides are equal length. Good 'ole geometry.
Up next will be the floor beams after I get that step completed and photographed.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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OH - and the rubber cement? Yep, she had some and it was right in plain sight on a shelf in the closet. I could've just looked first. Oh well. Wouldn't have had time to work on it anyway! 
The floor is nearly finished. I should have pictures up by tonight.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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Galen,
That is a clever use of 2X4's i will ahve to keep that in mind if I ever loose my mind and decide to build a wooden bridge like yours.
Like most everything it is always the last place you look 
Please post your updates soon!!!
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