messing around with a 1925 Buick

For the past week I have been in the man cave trying to get the buick to run.
It seems the starter was not working. This car has a unique electric starter.
It is both a starter and generator.
To start the car you set a series of switches which spin the starter.
Then you press a peddle to the floor.
This releases a thing called the "Third Brush"
This piece of carbon lands on the armature of the starter motor and spins the motor slowly into a gear box that hits the fly wheel and cranks the engine.

Once the engine starts you release the peddle and a shaft called a power take off spin the starter and charges the battery.
Modern cars have 2 system instead of one.
A modern car produces electricity with a generator or alternator and uses a second motor to start the car.
Well this old car wore out the third brush and i had to make one of a carbon block.
That was successful but... I forgot to reattach a simple wire to my horn.
When i started the cari shorted out some thing in the electrical system.
So i am back to square one.
Findingf the shorted wire or fuse and thenreplaces it.
The wires are so old and such a mess i am thinking of replacing all of them and starting from scratch.
This is a picture of the wires and switches under the dash board.
Wish me luck.

setting the mast and seas

Yesterday I spent several hours sanding the mast for my sloop.
The mast is in 2 pieces joined by thread and white glue
the bottle is a maples syrup bottle .
the seas are blue clay.
I enjoy spending time experimenting with these little models.

building masts

Today i was working on a mast for my newest ship.
The problem was that my wooden dowels were to thick. In order to decrease the size I mounted a brass cutting die on some erector set pieces. I then turned the wood with an electric drill.
The erector set keeps the dowel from moving and changing position.

sorting out the past

Last year i bought an antique erector set.
When i was 5 years old i got an erector set for christmas.
I was a very busy little boy always making things. I remember making cars ferris wheels and bridges..
The plans were basically a single drawing. You had to figure out how the thing was put together.
I loved seeing all the nuts and bolts and working for hours trying to recreate the object in the book.
Heck I couldn't read but I could see how these things were put together.
This is a picutre of a 1916 erector set. I sorted the parts out and tested the motor it still works.
I need a manual and some extra pieces.
Look out Ebay

Decorating a man cave

I thought about the garage i would visit when i was a boy. The men that worked on cars allways seemed to decorate the wall with pictures of semi nude women. I did not want that.
I remeber one older man who used own a hardware store. He was retied his name to us was Gramps.
Gramps had a garage with a pot belly stove and thousands of tools.
The decorations he had were things that were personal to him.
I remember one picture of a young man swinging from a trapeze.
It was his son, who had died in an accident in the circus.
I decided to decorate with picutres from life.
My cars , my students, my family.
It makes the cave a warm place.

Time with my buddy Emma

I like to visit my man cave with my dog Emma. I sit and work on things and she sits there with me.
Once in a while she wakens to lick or nudge my hand .
I pet her and all is well

Settling into the man cave

Last Spring I built a garage for my two buicks. Its a bit larger than a three car size.
I wanted a place I could do projects in.
When I was a boy I built many models from cars to flying planes .
I loved the time I spent alone in thought just working with my hands.
This is a revisit to that time of creativity.