Cheap Bits, Change of Route and Slow Progress

Our Location today is McGregor, Ontario, Canada. 

After spending my afternoon outside in the cool fresh air when it came time to go to bed I remembered laying down then noticing the sun shining along the windows edge. Kathy wasn’t so lucky it seemed in the short time we were amongst a throng of shoppers in Walmart and the No-Frills grocery store she seemed to have caught a bug that kept her up most of the night. At the breakfast table, she said it was like her stomach was flipping and she didn’t want a mess in the bedroom. 

When I opened the dining room curtains I noted the glistening of Frost on our neighbours car windows and the whiter shade to the grass. Looking at our outside temperature gauge it showed us at the freezing mark. We chose to finish drinking our coffees while doing our morning reading on the computers and being that it had hardly warmed I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. 

Kathy planned to continue with her research for our upcoming trip while I was out the door before 10:00 in an attempt to finish our project. As mentioned in yesterday’s post I needed to do additional welding but I also saw the need to add more holes in the Supporting Arms on the Carrier. When drilling larger holes it’s always wise to drill a smaller hole as a pilot so the larger holes will remain where you want them. The smaller holes went in easy and even the medium sized holes bored through the light angle iron with no problem. When it came time to drill the half inch holes the drills weren’t going anywhere. 

Kathy called me for lunch and we discussed a slight change in the route she wanted to make. We also discussed the problem I was having with the larger drills where the cutting edges just seemed to be rounding instead of doing their job. 

Back outside I managed to get the new brackets all drilled to the medium sized holes but when it came to the larger holes even with the Cobalt Drill it was a no-go. I asked Kathy if she could go to the McGregor Home Hardware while I continued working on other pieces.

She was back within twenty minutes having bought the last two drill bits that were in stock. Thoughts that I’d be one step closer to finishing were soon dashed as these brand-new drill bits only made one hole each before loosing their edge. The only alternative was to buy new bits again. Kathy said I knew more about the drill bits than she did so I should take the time to go. 

Having called to verify they had drills in stock I headed to the Home Hardware Building Center in Essex. When I left Home, I’d brought the new bits with the worn edges and the receipt. The could see the cutting edge had failed and there was no other sign of wear on the bits. They didn’t have any more of the same bits but they did have the better Titanium Bits in stock. They credited the other bits and I purchased the last two Titanium bits they had. 

Back Home I was back in my coveralls in no time knowing my time was disappearing. The first thing I did was to finish drilling the last four holes. I managed to drill 1.8 holes with each Titanium Drill Bit before their cutting edges failed as well. Taking a chance, I used a round file which easily removed the rest of the material needed to create the four holes. That old file had no problem finishing those holes but the new bits that will be going back to the store failed. 

Now it was time to weld the new pieces to the bumper brackets. I placed them in the firepit to cool down when I finished just before Kathy called me for supper. 

We each had one and a half burgers but I so hungry
that I'd already ate the half before taking the picture.

She was about to cook the last three Brisket Burgers in the fry pan when I said I’d grill them on the Weber Q. We’ve been so busy lately we haven’t used the grill in over a month and I was starting to go through withdrawals. It felt good even if it was just flipping burgers and they tasted better than if they had been done on the stove. 

After supper, I continued working outside filing the tubing brackets until nearly 8:00 when our new neighbour Corry pulled in. I mentioned the problem I had with the larger bits and he said most are being made in China these days and are not holding up. 

With all that fresh-air I was nearly falling asleep taking my shoes off. Kathy suggested that taking my shower early would probably wake me up as usual and she was right.  

Tomorrow we have lots to do and it won’t be on the Bicycle Carrier. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

You Might Be a Redneck If 

You've mentioned body odor in a eulogy.