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"This whole project started out like this:"

Kasey

Gunny Sergeant
Commercial Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 3, 2003
1,489
878
www.accu-shot.com
I read where member Thunderbolt68 wrote; ""This whole project started out like this:". And thought wow, how many guys here, that have the "Can-Do" gene in their DNA say that same thing.

So if inclined, tell us your best/worst project and how it started.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

LOL, ***winner***

I wanted to buy a drag bag and thought to myself, "Christ Almighty, what I would spend on a drag bag, I could buy a sewing machine, and all the materials to make it."

Still debating if this is the best or worst...
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Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

Best so far was a protective cage for a boiler inspection borescope, Navy actually drew up formal plans on that one.

Worst...hold on and let me sketch something out in MS paint for ya
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Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I have a long list of stuff I've "tried" to make.

I just buy them now...they are cheaper and built better that way.

I was dead set on buying a lathe and making my own can for a while, then I looked at my safety history with my Dremel and figured that I liked all my fingers....suppressors are cheap compared to fingers.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I got something started, too soon which direction it will go, I can either end up wealthy, or very poor and disgraced lol.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

Trying the Match setup currently....wioll let you know how it went after this weekend!!! Seems to be looking great so far but there is a lot of work getting everything together!!! Not sure if I would advise others to put their own match on!!!
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Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

Designed and built a RC Slope Soarer, 60" foam core balsa sheeted wing, fiberglass body. Flew surprisingly well. I had to make one mod and cut the ailerons deeper into the wing so it would be more responsive, but it was a very stable flying plane. Quite surprised me.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

"This whole project started out like this:"
January 2003 I recieved a catalog from FAC(Federal Arms Corporation) by mistake. Thumbing through it I saw the coolest gun I had ever laid eyes on; a Austrian STG-58. I had to have one. The only problem was that it was in a parts kit form.The only kits I had ever built were plastic model kits as a kid.My wife and family practically laughed me out of the house when it arrived and I explained I was going to build a rifle from the parts and pieces. No tools, no gunsmithing experience, and I'm a guy who's had cars in the dwy for 2 days trying to get a bolt back into a starter. Well, I researched, downloaded files, joined gun boards, shopped, borrowed tools, and behold by May,it was time for a test drive. I have a gravel pit across the street so that was the place. Brought 25 foot of string to attach to the trigger and an milk crate, rocks, and bungee cords for a mount.My wife insisted on coming (thinking this was a hold my beer moment) and as we were leaving the house, she had to run back in. I asked her what for and she said she had to grab her cell phone in case she needed to call 911. Well the first 3 rounds were problem free and on to the shoulder for a mag dump. It was just the beginning of a great relationship with this FN FAL. Good looker and a great shooter, winning me a 1st place at a match one weekend shooting at 300 meters w/the original irons.
This was a start of a great new hobby as I built 2 more FN's, several AK's, and AR"s for all my family and friends. Even ventured into a custom 1911 for myself. Built up a nice little workplace in the basement (my lab) and the long and short of it is that a project can be life changing; it can head you in a direction that was a totally unpredictable. All of this (and more, much, much more) was the direct result of a small little picture from an ad in a catalog sent to me by mistake.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I built a VATS bypass for my corvette, works pretty slick.

I'm in the process of assembling a high-idle controller for my cummins dodge, I will have it done in the next day or two. Pretty good for a pile of misc junk out of the bins at radioshack.


My worst project came in the form of a Jeep, and the series of parts jeeps I bought to cobble together, and sell the rest. I made money and lost money, mostly it's a time sink that i'm upside down in for a couple grand I know I wont get back out. Here I am, at 25 and having owned more vehicles than years I have lived. No shit, i've been through that many. The life of a gearhead was interesting for a while, now i'm stuck with things I have money in but don't want to build.

Then there was the "nice looking" Lincoln plasma cutter that I bought on ebay... it was WELL used (read: beat to shit) and fedex proceeded to further damage it then deny it. I've done more cutting and repairing on that POS than on any project i've used it on. Might have to put it back on egay and call it a spade. Of course, now that i've gone through it, it seems to work OK. Note to self: low feedback + cheap plasma cutter = bad mojo!

ohh... and that 396 BBC that's sitting in my garage with a Rod in the pan... guess I should learn not to drive like an asshole. I'm older and wiser now. I WAS going to sink money in it, but now I know better and i'll just junk it.

Worst by far was the pepsi machine we took from a friend's shop to another buddy's house. Sure sounded awesome to have a beer vending machine in the den... POS didn't get cold, ended up selling it for $50 on craigslist. The shitty part is that moving it got me a bulged L5 disc and lots of chiropractic bills. It's never healed right and will eventually require something more drastic like cortizone shots or surgery. Lucky me.

Live and learn, avoid stupid shit when possible.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I needed a car trailer a few years ago and knew exactly what I wanted. I could have had it made but nobody had one sitting on a lot that was even decent and custom trailers are BIG $$$$. So I built one, wasn't happy, sold it and built another. Wasn't happy, sold it and built a third. Ended up about $2500 up at the end of three months and had the exact trailer I wanted.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I was trying to think how I could get cheaper cigars for myself, and I had a promise to start a business to my Mom when she passed. Panty 6 says,"Why not start a cigar business" Me, I jumped in with both feet, not but the lightest research and then got broadsided with how much I DIDN'T know. It took the first two years to figure out the basics, then the next year to get into a comfortable place. That was about the time we hit our first growth spurt($5k - $10k business). That one caught me way off guard, but speed and quick thinking along with a good Credit Union saved us.
This time around we are going the slow, easy route with all the best research we can muster. A message has been sent to a large company to see if they want to sponser a brick and mortar cigar lounge somewhat like the current Diamond Crown Cigar Lounges.
We are considering both ways of doing business as a home based, and as a brick and mortar stand alone. I know VA will help with some start up and initial operating grants and if P6 is on deck as 50% there will be a little from her 'Female, Pacific Islander' to help out.
The dream is brick and mortar, billiards table, leather club chairs, lots of dark wood, walk in humidor, you know, BIG DREAMS!
Go large or don't go at all, because the world hates toe first seeking candy asses. It loves those who jump in with both feet first who hold the tenacity and zest of life to succeed no matter how much adversity they face
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I wanted a set of light weight tactical scope rings one time for my hunting rifle. this is after letting a huge whitetail walk because the x brand had come loose...so i built some out of aluminum and things kind of exploded from there.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

Leather rifle slings....I wanted something without buckles, hooks or snaps, easy to keep tight and fast to adjust....things worked out good when Cabela's called.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I made all kinds of little parts for R/C cars when I was racing. I would see a part and see how much a company wanted for it and I said I could make that just a little different cause thats not exactly what I want.

I made a chassis out of a piece of diamond plate aluminum for a Traxxas T Maxx that was stretched 3 inches and had a .21 size motor on it. It was bad ass.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I helped my dad start a produce farm. Started out 30-40k/year now streching to hit 100k/year. It was just me, my grandfather, and my dad. He now employs 10. It was one of those hey I can do that ideas that snowed balled into something huge.
 
Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

I spend way too much time on 'projects'.

1980 International Scout II, before:
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After:
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Click for build thread

Basically, I cut out the rust in the tub, welded in replacement panels and herculined the tub. Then I did a spring over, reverse shackle, hi steer, replaced everything from the knuckles out on the front with a combination of Chevy and Ford parts, and converted the rear brakes to disks. No kit was used, it's mostly all fabricated. It looks like it's about to go on the chopping block again for a cage, one ton axles, and big fender trimming. I hate to mess it up, but I'm not using it much as it is.


My first house I bought, with half an acre of land, for $25K. It had been moved from down the street, so the brick exterior was gone, the plumbing underneath was ripped out, the garage including the panel box was gone, and the end of the house where the fireplace had been just had plywood nailed over it. I completely redid that house inside and out, put a 10x10 addition on for a washroom, and lived in it a couple of years. I don't have any pics online, I need to scan them in, the difference is pretty impressive. Now I'm renting it out.

My current house has a 24x48 shop out back, the roof was in bad shape when I bought it. A year and a half ago I tore the roof off, raised the block walls to 10 feet, and put a 10' door in the side so I can get vehicles in to work on them. I built new steel joists, and erected them and a steel decking roof over the Independence Day weekend. I still have a lot of work to do, painting, rewiring, insulating, and replacing doors, but it's coming along nicely.

Now, I'm looking for a mill and lathe, then I'll truly be dangerous.
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Re: "This whole project started out like this:"

My first AR build (before the election of Obama when everyone went nuts).

I found a pencil, mid-length 14.5" barrel from M4Carbine.net and it was the final piece of the puzzle (had all the parts).

Forgot that I had a very expensive clamp-style VLTOR gas-block made for an M4-profile barrel and a carbine-length gas tube sitting at the house (changed up since I couldn't get an M4 barrel for like a year since everyone had gone nuts because of the election).

So I got my DD Lite rail system and some how the mounting-nut was wrong, all wrong (like it didn't match up with the 6 bolt-holes on the FF rail). It was for an AR-10.

I then twice bought a mid-length gas tube off of the Internet only to have it shipped to my house and realize that it was carbine-length.

Almost had it happen in two different stores, but I made them bust out the tape-measure and found that both were carbine-length and the people working there were idiots.

Found a Mid-length gas-tube 6-hours away and drove there to make sure it was what it was.

In all that time it took, my new gas-block finally came in and I had the flash-suppressor soldered on.

Went home and figured out that the DD barrel nut wouldn't clear the VLTOR gas-block because I "had to have the clamp-style".

Returned to the smith (who immediately said, "why didn't I catch that" and then charged me to remove/re-soldier).

The time, money, and frustration involved would have justified waiting on the M4 barrel I had ordered in the first place.

Since then, I've been hooked on ARs.