Picture Frames

We've got some new artwork that I would like to frame - some of it was picked up on our Southern States tour, and some of it has been waiting to be framed for a couple of years. This was a great opportunity to get back into my wood shop -  most of the last year has been devoted to automotive projects and I was ready for a change.

I started with an oak panel which came from an old CRT TV cabinet we acquired when we bought our house: 

The panel was cut into strips on the cabinet saw:

The oak strips were jointed, trimmed to final width and planed to give material of uniform dimensions (about 5/8" x 1 1/2").

I don't have a proper router table at the moment so I made a temporary setup next to the miter saw station. I'm hoping to get a nice router table for my next birthday, so watch this space.

A 1/4" x 3/16" rabbit was cut into all the material:

I used the coving bit to cut grooves in the molding at both sides:

All the frame pieces were cut on the miter saw:

I've had what I call an underpinner for a long time; this one is pretty basic and requires loading the wedges/V-nails manually: 

Frames assembled:

After sanding, the frames were stained either English chestnut or flat black and left to dry overnight:

The frames were finished with Rubio, which removed some of the flat black stain, but did not appear to affect the English chestnut.

While the Rubio was curing, I found one more poster that I wanted to frame, but I didn't really want to go back to cutting up oak paneling. Instead, I  had a hunt around in my wood rack, and found some suitable trim pieces. I think this material came from an old table or a dresser that I recycled.

I cut a rabbit into the material, but otherwise I just mitered the pieces and used it "as-is" without any staining or re-finishing.

I picked up a couple of sheets of ivory mount card from Blick on Broadway, and I got my glass from one of those big box stores that don't need any publicity. That was all I had to buy for this project.

Cutting rectangular pieces of mount card for each frame:

Cutting mounts - After years of trying to do this with a ruler, I finally splurged on a very basic mount cutter:

I bought several 24" x 36" sheets of glass and started by cutting all of them in half. This gave a stack of 18" x 24" pieces which can be trimmed to fit each frame. My glass cutting setup is the most basic:

Glass cleaned and frames assembled:

Installed D-rings and picture wire:

I was a beautiful late November day, and I had the shop window open while I was working:

This is a few days later: 

 

Autolite/Motorcraft 2100 Carburetor Rebuild

The engine swap in the '67 F250 is essentially complete, but I have been struggling to get the timing and the vacuum advance dialed in...and the motor is running very rich. I had a friend from BAMA come by to try and help me, and it became obvious that the carburetor wasn't performing as it should and would need more than minor adjustment.

The carburetor is a Ford branded 2100 model, either Autolite or Motorcraft, and has two barrels. This is a very common carburetor and finding a rebuild kit was easy.

The first step is taking the carburetor apart so that all the parts will fit into a one (1) gallon paint can. I took a lot of photos while I was doing this...

Following disassembly, every single part, screw, nut and spring was soaked for 48 hours in the GUNK™ parts cleaner solution.

After soaking, further cleaning/scrubbing with warm soapy water, rinsing and drying with compressed air:

Ready for reassembly:

All the gaskets and other small parts are available in a kit. Even so, I was careful not to throw away any of the original parts.

I've never rebuilt a carburetor before, so I found an appropriate tutorial on youtube and followed that. Part way through I realized that my carb was missing the primary float assist spring, which does not come with the rebuild kit. The absence of this spring could well be the cause of my problem because without it the float position cannot be set, never mind set accurately. This is yet another issue with the F250 which makes my original successful journey home all the more remarkable. 

The photo below shows what a primary float assist spring looks like; this one came mail order, so the rebuild was on hold for over a week.

Autolite 2100 after rebuild: 

I'm taking the opportunity to replace the throttle linkage since the threads a stripped out on the old one. 

The replacement is adjustable - I chopped 3/4 of an inch off one end to replicate the old part:

This is after re-installation of the carburetor...

....and the new throttle linkage:

The big picture, after I installed the new blue spark plug wires:

I actually had a serious issue with the carburetor after the rebuild - while fuel was getting into the float bowl, it wasn't getting any further. The route to diagnosing this issue was starting fluid: when the fluid was squirted into the business end of the carb, the motor fired right up....but without starting fluid, well, no dice.

After some back and forth, I decided to send the carburetor away for a professional rebuild. It turned out that my carb was not ideal for the manifold/engine combination I have, so I purchased one that was. The next picture shows how the replacement carb looks after installation and connection of the fuel lines and throttle linkage etc. With the new carburetor dialed in, it was straightforward to set the engine timing and the vacuum advance. 

I have a chrome air cleaner which either came off the Mustang or came from one of the guys in BAMA and I purchased an appropriate "302" decal from NPD.  

Air cleaner installed:

This is how the engine sounds with a very dodgy exhaust. Hopefully it will get me to the muffler shop!

BAMA Trip to Arnold, CA

Round, round, get around, I get around....We were only just unpacked from the Southern States tour when it was time to head out to Arnold, CA with the folks from BAMA.

The first stop was the Angels Camp Museum & Carriage House, in Angels Camp CA.

Stevenot Winery in Murphys, CA: 

We stayed at the Black Bear Inn in Arnold, CA. BAMA booked out all the rooms so we had exclusive use of the lounge areas and patio, hot tub etc.

Day two at the Sierra Logging Museum, just up the road from Arnold, CA

The (not very) imaginatively named White Pines Lake is right next to the logging museum.

Hanging out and gambling at the Black Bear Inn: