Console Table

It rained on and off all day today so I had to take a quick photo in between rain showers.  We really needed the rain so I can't complain about it raining.

I'm going to shorten the rods by 8 inches.  That will give an overhang of glass about 4 inches on each side.  I figured that I might need to shorten the rods and that is why I left them as long as possible. Better to cut twice then cut too much off once.

We also want to add another rod but first we will concentrate on the length and then add the third rod.  R says there is one area where he thinks there is enough material that we can drill another hole.  

Japanese beetle trap update.

The traps are still catching beetles but at a much slower rate.  I am still not finding any beetles on my roses or plum trees so that is good.  Next summer should be interesting to see if the number of beetles are less than average.  

Also, I did not win the Powerball tonight.  But I did get a check in the mail for 36 bucks.  About 6 months ago I read an article about class action suits.  It says that a lot of people miss out on $$$ that is owed to them.  So now whenever I get an email about a class action suit, I fill out the form and email it back.  So far I have received 4 checks.  

Granted they are not big. One was for malware software that was bogus and I received a full refund of $19.99, another one was for a memory card that I bought for a laptop a long long time ago, there was also the Ticketmaster suit but I didn't even try to get my discounted tickets because I read they were gone almost immediately.  There was another one for $20 bucks but I can't remember what it was for and today's was the $36 dollar check for magazines.  I didn't really read it carefully.  I just looked at the magazines and went yup I subscribed to that one and that one and that one.  

At one time I was receiving a lot of magazines but then the recession hit and a lot of them went out of publication and they would substitute another magazine in it's place.  One time I renewed a two year subscription for R to a weekly newspaper about racing. Within a month they folded.  This was a well known paper owned by Chris Economaki and he died soon after they folded.  The weekly paper was picked up by another person but changed to a monthly with glossy paper.  R never liked it.  He liked the weekly format because they covered some of the smaller racing series and he could see his name and my son's name in the paper every week.  I ran across a stack of those papers in the garage just the other day.  So anyways, fill out those forms and you may get a check in the mail, too.  Free unexpected money is always the best.

Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

BTW if you used Rustoleum's Restore on your deck and did not like the results, I understand that they are close to settling that class action suit.  Search the Internet and you will find several forums dedicated to that problem and what to do to get your money back.  The product wasn't cheap and it looks like it didn't work too well.  That really surprises me because I love their spray paint.

Cutting Threads in a Steel Rod

I wasn't going to cover cutting threads in a steel rod but a miscalculation on my part caused me to haul out my button dies, so here goes.

When I started assembling my console table I realized that I forgot to buy jam nuts and because I didn't buy jam nuts my calculation on how much threaded area was needed was incorrect.  I needed at least another half inch of threads on each end of the thicker rod.  So I hauled out my button dies.

Button dies are the round disc that cuts the threads on pipe or rod or you can sometimes use them to correct a damaged area on a bolt.  More than likely the average homeowner won't have a variety of button dies or corresponding taps but I used them when I was working so I dusted off the old toolbox and found my stash of button dies.  I also realized someone has been in my toolbox because I have a method to storing my tools and I found wrenches in my socket drawer and basically everything was a mess. This screams R all over it.

I keep my button dies and some of my taps in a metal box.  I have another plastic container with my tiny taps, and then of course I have my three tap and drill indexes.  But what I needed today was a button die and a die handle (some call them a holder or wrench).

Each button die is marked with the type of thread such as NC, NF, NPT, and NPS.  NC is national coarse, NF is national fine, NPT national pipe thread taper, and NPS national pipe thread straight. There are others but since I wasn't threading pipe I was only concerned with NC and NF button dies.

A quick look at the threaded rod, bolt or nut should tell you whether it is a fine thread or coarse thread.  Now you measure the rod or bolt to get a size.  I purchased the rod so I knew it was 3/8th.  So I know it's 3/8th and it NC.  But I also need to know how many thread per inch.  This is important because if the thread count is off then the pitch of the threads will not be correct and match your nut or match the threads if you are adding threads like I was today.

eBay

You can use a thread gauge or in my case I had the rod with the threads already cut and just needed to match up a die.  Because of my past experience I did grab the correct button die to begin with, which was a 3/8 NC 16.  This translates into a 3/8th stock, national course threads, 16 threads per inch.

To double check, try spinning the button die onto the rod or bolt.  If it is correct it should easily spin on.  If you have to try and try to get it started and it snags along the way it is the incorrect thread count. DO NOT FORCE.

Next you put the button die in the die handle.  You will notice a little indent on the die.  Line this up with the set screw and tighten the set screw.  

Now look for your bottle of thread cutting oil or compound.  I gave up after 15 minutes and just used some 3 in 1 oil that was sitting on the workbench.  Now if I was doing precision work I would have looked until I found my bottle because I would need the nicest threads possible.  

Place your rod in a vise and clamp tightly.  You can place your rod either straight up and down or horizontal.  It just depends on how you like to work.  I'm a straight up and down person because I find it easier to keep my button die handle level in this position..  Next lubricate your rod with cutting oil.  

The first couple of threads will be the hardest and the first thread may even be crooked but by the time you finish, it will be OK.  It's important to keep the handle level until you have several threads cut.  After that the die will keep the handle in the correct position. 

Turn your handle a half of turn and then back about a 1/4 turn, then forward a half of turn, and repeat the process,  When you go backwards it removes the waste metal (shavings) out of the way.  If the metal looks dry or the cutting is difficult, add more oil or compound.  You cannot add too much oil.

If you are doing multiple pieces and you want the threaded area to be the same length you will need to count the revolutions.  Today I needed to add 9 revolutions to each end to get the desired additional thread length that I needed.  16 threads per inch and I needed 1/2 inch more threads so I chose 9 revolutions.  8 would have been 1/2 inch but I added one revolution for good measure....LOL

Now I could assemble the base.  First screw on the jam nut.  The jam nut goes on all the way until you run out of threads.  Next put the rod through the base and screw on the brass acorn nut until it bottoms out.  To tighten, hold acorn nut in place with a wrench or socket and use another wrench to tighten the jam nut against the cast iron.  Repeat process on the other end.  I have two rods to install and they are different size rods because the existing holes I had to work with were different sizes but the process is the same.

I added these vinyl pads to the top of the base to cushion the glass and to help hold the glass in place. 

I shot this photo with my phone and it makes the base look like it is askew but trust me the sides are straight up and down.  Tomorrow I will clean the glass, take a better photo, and I'll have a console table to use on my deck. 

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Repurposing a Cast Iron Sewing Machine Base

I was beginning to think that I had dreamt that I bought a cast iron sewing machine base.  I must have made 10 trips through the house and barn looking for it.  I walked through cobwebs and through the barn loft until I thought I would faint.

Finally I gave up looking.  R and I were busy today changing out the well pressure tank and replacing some sections of ill installed copper pipe.  Exactly who uses short sections and elbows galore when a straight piece 8 feet long would work perfect?  It was during one of my many trips through the basement and out the basement door that something caught my eye.  There it was.....just where I put it 2 years ago.  

It was 630PM and my local ACE Hardware closes at 7PM.  So I threw one side into my vehicle and took off to buy solid steel rods and acorn nuts.

The rods came in 48 inch lengths which believe it or not was just the length that I thought would work perfect with the glass top.  The base needed to be wider to support the glass top but not so wide that the proportions would look odd.

Dan, my hardware guy, cut threads in the steel rods for me but only after we figured out which size acorn nuts would work best.  He than checked out the thread count and pitch so that he could cut the threads to match.  He used a button die to cut the threads.  I have a complete set in my tool box but I thought he had a thread cutting machine in the back.  It was only after he cut them that I found out he just used button dies.

We double checked the acorn nuts to make sure they worked.....and they did.  Good job Dan.  The cost was a little over 17 bucks.

Tomorrow I'll clean up the base and spray paint it satin black.  I won't need to sandblast it as it doesn't have much rust that can't be removed with a brass brush. It appears that the base was only painted one time, so there is very little loss of detail that happens when multiple layers of paint fill in voids and obscures subtle details.

I'll need to clean the rods with alcohol or paint thinner to remove the protective coating of oil so that the paint will stick.  The only detail that I need to figure out is what I am going to put on the top of the base where it contacts the glass.  Probably some sort of rubber or foam with a sticky back.

By tomorrow night I should have a console table made out of a free piece of tempered glass and a 16 dollar vintage cast iron sewing machine base.

BTW within 1 hour of placing the two table bases out to the curb, they were picked up by a scrapper.

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