Fixing Our Broken Christmas Tree

Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Easy

Process:
So today was the day we were going to set up the Christmas tree for this year. Unfortunately, after so many times hauling it up and down the stairs each year, the top part of the Christmas tree got bent one too many times and broke off 1.500" into the top most piece.

After analyzing the situation, I realized that I couldn't just weld the pipe together because there was too much greenery, string and hot glue from when they originally made the tree so I had to look for an alternative.

After some thought I figured it would be a perfect project for my lathe. I had been sick all week and hadn't been out in the shop at all and I still wasn't 100% but my wife and kids were eagerly waiting inside so I cut off the broken piece of steel pipe out of the center of the tree and cleaned it up, then hauled out a piece of 5/8" cold rolled steel, turned a 1.500" length of the one side down to 0.450" and a 1.500" length of the other side down to just a little under 5/8". Lastly, I drilled a 1.500" deep hole at 0.450" on the thicker end, hammered this newly finished piece of metal into the Christmas tree pipe and voila, the tree was fixed.

After I put the tree back together I realized that two of the rubber feet had fallen off the tree stand which we were going to fix for the last few years but never got around to, so I figured I might as well take another 20 minutes and make 4 new tree stand feet out of teflon. That part was pretty easy: Clean up the pipe, turn 0.500" of one side down to 0.450" and 0.250" of the other side to about 0.750". All I then had to do is hammer the 4 little feet into the tree stand and now I can slide the tree around on my hard wood floor without scratching it up.

Pictures:

The top end of the bottom piece of the tree

Measuring the width

The broken off piece of pipe that was part of the top of the tree

Where the bending had taken its toll

Rounding/stretching the cleaned up piece

Close-up of the cleaned up piece of pipe at the center of the tree

5/8" cold rolled steel

Turning one side down to make a press-fit into the inside of the pipe for the top piece

Turning the other side down just a bit to clean up the metal

Drilling the larger end of the piece to fit over top of the protruding piece of metal that belongs to the bottom of the tree

Close-up of the drilled out piece (1.500" deep)

The finished adapter to fix the broken off piece of pipe

The tree stand with the last two rubber feet removed

After the feet were cleaned up a bit

Turning down some 1" teflon

The small end (0.450") will get pressed into each foot of the tree stand

One of the finished feet

Another view

The tree stand with 4 new anti-scratch feet

The finished tree with the creative help of the kiddos

Tools:
Metal Band Saw
Metal Lathe and accessories
Cordless drill
Hammer
Tapered chisel

Materials:
3" of 5/8" cold rolled steel
4" of 1" teflon

Cost:
$0.00

Time:
1hr

Savings:
$250.00

Conclusion:
Tree looks great and should last another 10 years!

Making a Bag Pipe Drone Stock

Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Easy

Process:
A gentleman from Moncton contacted me if I could make him some bag pipe drone stocks on my lathe and after looking at a sample he brought I took some measurements and started replicating. The steps were as follows:

1. Cut 6" pieces out of 2" solid Acetal
2. Chuck and indicate, then center drill the stock
3. Turn the outside down about 0.015" for a nice surface finish
4. Drill 4.500" deep, 1" wide
5. Bore 4.500" deep, 1.580" wide
6. Part off at 4.500"
7. Face the remaining 1.500" long piece
8. Turn it down about 0.015" for a nice surface finish
9. Flip it around and face the other side
10. Turn down 0.900" to a diameter of 1.560"
11. Thread at 32 TPI for the hemp to have something to grab on to
12. Flip it around and use a profile cutter to cut the curvature
13. Drill three 5/8" diameter holes spaced equally into the face

Videos:

 
Pictures:

Turning the outside to 1.850"

The outside is finished

About half-way through with turning the outside

Done turning the outside

Drilling to 5/8"

Then drilling to 1.000"

Cooling the drill bits in flood coolant between usage

Almost done drilling

Another view

Boring 4.500" deep to 1.590" inside diameter

The parted off parts

Tools of the trade

Threading the 1.500" wide piece so the hemp will adhere better

Another step completed

Ready for the profiling

Using a custom-made profiling tool to cut the contour

The contoured piece

Getting ready to drill the 3 holes

In the midst of drilling the holes

Close-up of the drilling process

The finished part

Another view

View from the front

View from the top

Another view

Done

Tools:
Metal lathe & accessories
Metal band saw
Cordless drill

Materials:
6" of 2" diameter acetal

Time:
16 hrs

Conclusion:
This was a fun job. I love my lathe!

Temporary Fix for Leaking Hot Water Heater

Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Easy

Process:
So I got up Monday morning, turned on the shower and waited for the water to get warm. And waited. And waited. After a few minutes I realized there was something wrong so I got out of the shower and made my way to our utility room where I heard this faint 'pshhhhhh' sound. At first I thought it was the natural gas but after some investigation I realized there was a little pin hole in the middle of the water tank, about 4" from the top right where the hot air ascends to heat the water.

Unfortunately, I had to go to work so I showered in ice cold water (which was NOT pleasant, but very quick) and started thinking about my options.

I called Enbridge Gas NB who told me that since I owned the hot water tank I could simply subscribe to their $20/month plan and they'd take care of it and we'd have hot water again before the end of the day.

They reluctantly admitted that there was a 10 year warranty on that tank (ours is only 8 years old), but that apparently the company that does the install can take up to a month to get it done AND I'd have to pay them $700 bucks for the installation, PLUS $100 for the gas permit PLUS $100 for freight.

Forget that!

So I called the distributor in town who said that they could provide the replacement hot water heater, but that I'd have to get a certified natural gas installer to do the install, BUT that if I did it that way, the warranty would cover everything.

Well, of course I'd rather spend some time phoning around and save $1000 than spending $2500 bucks over 10 years for the rental.

Unfortunately, after 3 days with no hot water plus some stove-heated-warm-water-watering-can-showers later, it was getting just a little bit too much hassle so I decided to lower the air agitator (not sure what exactly it's called) down the flue 4", cut a piece of 1/2" aluminum to the widh and radius of the 3.800" flue and jamb it cross-wise into the flue with some silicone baking pan material that I had bought for my Cappuccino Maker Leak. This fixed the pin hole leak and allowed me to turn the heater back on and hopefully will hold for a day or two until we get the new heater installed.

Man, it's amazing how much it affects your life to not have hot water in the house and to think that not too long in the past this is how normal families lived is hard to imagine.

Although I don't have the hot water back to normal, at least it's a temporary fix until tomorrow (hopefully)

Update:
So after 4 long days of making phone calls back and forth between:

1. Enbridge Gas NB
2. Bob's Heating (installer)
3. Kerr Controls (distributer)
4. Giant (manufacturer)
5. Cornerstone (extended warranty provider)

they were able to confirm that my 10 year warranty apparently is "pro-rated" which means that after 8 years, I'll get exactly $209 paid towards the purchase of a new hot water heater and does NOT include any installation or parts. Well, that really sucks, so after calculating that the purchase of a new water heater would run me about $2000 and the rental (through Enbridge) would cost me $2500 over 10 years (free maintenance and repairs throughout the rental period) we decided that we'd just rent one, and wouldn't you know it, 12 hours later we had a brand new heater installed and ready....Ughh...

Since we had purchased the original hot water heater, I decided that I was going to keep it and have Nathaniel help me take it apart. We spent about an hour and a half in the shop taking it apart and scavenging it for parts, the rest of it went to the scrap yard and I even got $3.50 for the metal. Yeah...

Having a further look at the area that was leaking it was definite corrosion. The sacrificial anode (which they conveniently made inaccessible) was completely eaten away. If they had made it accessible, I would have checked and replaced it 3 years ago (I even called Enbridge to ask them where the anode was located and they said that they didn't have any...yeah right!)...

Anyways, the hot water is back on and our bill has increased by $20/month. Not a lot, but definitely something I was hoping to avoid considering I had this wonderful "extended warranty"...

Videos:

 
Pictures:

R10 insulation around the water tank

A small amount of water that leaked out of the catch pan

The vent and fan removed

Hot water tank info

The cut open hot water heater tank

The stalakites (or stalagmites?) at the top of the heater from all the calcium in the water

Close-up of the disgusting hot water heater insides

The leaking area cleaned off

Close-up of the corroded pipe with the hole that was leaking

Scavenged gas control module & heating probe

Tools:
Drill
Screw driver
Pliers
Metal lathe and accessories
Metal band saw
Flashlight
Dry/wet vacuum

Materials:
10" of metal wire
4" of 1/2" aluminum rod
1 piece of silicone baking pan material

Cost:
$0.00

Time:
1hr

Savings:
$1000

Conclusion:
Taking warm showers is so nice!!!