My new junkyard dog

I had decided that a security system is ok, but having a killer dog is even better. I discussed this with my wife and she didn't seem to mind the idea. I spoke to a friend of ours who breeds dogs and did the deal and brought home the Mexican Wolf.

In the above picture he looks enormous. Lets add something for scale shall we?

He is very alert and despite his tiny stature, he has a heart of a lion crammed into that scrawny little chest of his. To top it off he loves the kids so it's a tick in every box. Scooter has become one of the family and does his best to keep kidnappers away from the children when he's not guarding the workshop.

The great part of having a micro dog is that his "bombs" are so tiny they blow away in the wind. Brilliant!

Stay safe.

My new Thörns T2 tool cutter and surface grinder

I have gotten my lathe to a point where I am happy to use it. I have finally made way wipers for the Colchester Chipmaster and they work very well. I am also getting my garage to a point where I am happy with it and the amount of space I have. So when my friend from Denmark messaged me with a proposal to buy his Thörns T2, I couldn't refuse.

I have known Erik for about 18 months and in that time we have talked about our Colchester Chipmasters and solutions to various problems we have had. Erik is a fellow machine nut like myself and I knew that when he said, "the machine is a quality piece of equipment", I knew he was telling the truth. Having experience with other Swedish machines, I knew this grinder would not disappoint!

From the front

We agreed on the time and place, which was Ystad in Sweden. This meant Erik had to take the ferry from Denmark and I drove from Norway. We met at 21:30 and started the procedure of moving the 550 kg beast from his horse trailer to my dinky little trailer. Although I had reinforced the floor, it was not sufficient and my trailer began to sag under the weight. Playing it safe I left the machine and trailer chocked up and strapped down at the local petrol station and proceeded to a camping ground where I set up the tent and mattresses for my kids and I. By the time I hit the hay it was 02:00.

At a more reasonable hour I packed everything up and fed the kids. Arriving at the petrol station I was relieved to see the machine and the trailer were still there. With some assistance I backed up the car to the tow hitch and made my way at a snails pace to the local hardware store to borrow a forklift and buy some 22mm plywood board.

XL Bygg in Ystad has the nicest guys around as they were very friendly and only to happy to help me secure everything in a safer manner. Once the trailer was reinforced they loaded the machine back on with a forklift and I was off. After breakfast, then a swim with the kids at the beach, we left for the 700 km trip home. This took us 12 hours with toilet stops and dinner / play time at IKEA.

The trip was reasonably uneventful except for some pillock expecting me to pull over on an unsupported shoulder on a mountain side so he could get home in time to watch Ugly Betty. He tailgated me for 15 km then when he was able to, he overtook me on a blind turn while honking and waving the one-fingered salute. I smiled and gave him a friendly wave, hoping not to see him kill anyone unfortunate enough to be coming the other way around the turn. He was driving a BMW. SUV.

This machine will be a work in progress as it needs some attention. The majority of work is cosmetic and I hope to get a good jump on it in the next week or so. I am in no rush so I will take it easy since there is a lot of body work and electrics to change to 220 volt 3 phase.

From the back - with dual controls visible

The table has built in protractors and is able to pivot 

I bought a lot of flanges so I should have no problem getting wheels to fit

 The machine needs some work but that is half of the fun. Thanks again to Erik who did me an excellent deal on the machine. Stay tuned for work-in-progress updates as I chip away at this new project.

Stay safe.