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Today's magneto work was wrapping all sixteen double coils with half inch fiberglass tape. I discovered that I had assembled one of them backwards, so I had to unwrap it, unsolder the halves and switch them around, solder them back together, and wrap the double coil again. I still managed to get them all wrapped, and sprayed clear insulating varnish on the first dozen. Tomorrow I'll varnish the last four, check them all for continuity, and start assembling them on the ring.

Friday, January 8, 2021

Today Shorty had an appointment to get her booster shots. Covid-19 protocols were in effect. When we got to the vet's office I phoned inside. The office manager came out to the car, took her in on a leash, and in a few minutes brought her back out to the car. I will pay the bill by phone. This evening I made corn bread again to use up some of the milk and eggs still left from last week. Last week I used the amount of salt the recipe called for, and it was too much. So this time I left it out, and decided when I tasted the result that there does need to be some. So next time I'll use half the recipe amount and see how that goes.

Saturday, January 9, 2021

The local recycling center is open Friday and Saturday mornings, so today's first job was taking a box of plastic containers and two boxes of glass jars and bottles to the center. In this case center is a geographically appropriate term, as it's halfway between Arkansas City and Winfield.

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Drat! After posting pictures of my magneto coil work on the Model T forum I received an email from a more experienced T guy letting me know that the acidic flux I used for soldering is for body solder on steel, and will corrode copper. So today I unwrapped all those newly wrapped coils and bought denatured alcohol, battery cleaner, and preservative to remove any acid that may still be present and to preserve the copper. I'm glad I got the warning, and that I have plenty of tape to wrap the coils again after cleaning. It would be quite a bummer to get the magneto back into the car and then have it fail.

Monday, January 11, 2021

So this was coil clean-up day. I scrubbed the soldered area of each double coil with alcohol, rinsed with distilled water and another toothbrush, and dried with paper towels. Then I cleaned each one again with battery cleaner. It's supposed to turn pink if any acid is present, and I was happy to see that it didn't. Next will be treating each one with preservative, then re-wrapping all the coils with new fiberglass tape.

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Today I was supposed to see my doc about blood pressure, but I never made it into the clinic. I talked to him by phone from the parking lot, and when he heard that I've had a slight persistent lung congestion for a month and had two sessions on the throne yesterday, he sent me to the hospital for a covid test. I parked in the ambulance bay and a nurse came out in her space suit and stuck a swab up my nose. The doc thought I would get the test results today, but the call never came. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow if I'm infected. On the way home I stopped at the Walmart to get some salt and found the shelf empty. Apparently salt is the new toilet paper. My afternoon chore was splitting and bringing in some firewood. The forecast says tomorrow will be a good day for outside work, so I aim to harvest a lot more wood.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Busy day. In the morning I received a phone call informing me that my covid test was negative, then I got to work. First up was taking the truck and the chain saw down the lane to cut up some dead trees and haul the wood up to the splitter. At one I went to the clinic, and since I'm not infectious they let me in the building to see my doc. He said the hypertension indicates heart disease in the form of an enlarged heart. I didn't panic over that because my dad had the same thing and lived many years with it. I took an EKG today, and in a couple of weeks will go for an ultrasound to have a better idea of what's going on. When I got home I spent the rest of the afternoon splitting wood, boxing it, and bringing it inside. I think what I brought in today is enough to last a couple of weeks. This evening I got back to those magneto coils, treating the soldered joints with preservative. After that dries overnight I'll start wrapping the coils with new fiberglass tape.

Thursday, January 14, 2021

The wind was from the north, but the high around 50º didn't feel bad out of the wind. I brought up two truckloads of kindling and stacked them east of the house, along with some medium sized branches to cut up later. Some of the kindling (dried cedar twigs and small branches) will go into paper bags to stay dry in the garage for use on wet days. In the shop the preservative on the magneto coils was dry, and I wrapped them all with new tape and sprayed them with two coats of insulating varnish. They will get more varnish tomorrow.

Friday, January 15, 2021

The project of the day was making insulators to go between the coils and the mag ring. I really don't understand the season for them, but Ford used them so I will too. I also gave the wrapped coils a third and fourth coat of insulating varnish. Soon I'll be installing them on the ring.

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Today's big adventure was a visit to the hospital for an ultrasound. The persistent high blood pressure I've had for the past year or so prompted my doc to order that and an EKG. He also referred me to a cardiologist, which means another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. The mail has brought me several pages of paperwork to fill out for that one. Meanwhile, I'm having a cataract removed next week, so the same mail brought me several more pages to fill out for that. About the only work I got done today was spraying those insulators and watering all the seedlings so they won't be dead sticks when spring arrives.

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Not much work done today. Dieter Mitchell came to check out my mowing tractor that's been sitting dead since October. He thinks it has a loose or broken rod, which is what I suspected. He happens to have an Allis Model B with an engine he rebuilt. His offer was to install the rebuilt engine in my tractor and sell me his whole Model B as part of the deal. The price is right, so that's what we'll do. We spent a couple of hours blathering about other stuff, and with time out for grocery shopping the only work I got done was installing those insulators on the magneto ring.

Monday, January 18, 2021

Have you ever gone into a room and asked, "Why did I come in here?" Today was like that. I'm sitting here wondering, "What did I do today?" I remember putting up the flag for the patriotic holiday. I remember going to town and checking my blood pressure at the pharmacy, buying a copper rivet at the hardware store (for $1.02!!!), and buying celery at the grocery store. I remember removing the mower from the mowing tractor. I remember laying the evening fires in the kitchen stove and the living room fireplace. But apparently whatever else I did wasn't worth remembering.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Today I set about loading the dead tractor on the trailer to haul it over to Dieter's place, but didn't quote get it done. The battery in the Suburban was deader than King Tut, and I had to go to town for a replacement. Fortunately the dead battery was just sixteen months old, so there was no charge for the new one. I got the trailer in position to drag the tractor onto it, but then I couldn't find a tow chain. I suppose it's lying out where I last used it, but I have no clue where that would be.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

One of my pet peeves is filling out forms with lots of space for one or two words but little short space for a complete address. That was my big job today, filling out and mailing a form of several pages for the cardiologist who is to do my ultrasound next week. It cost me $1.20 to mail the form because it was in a "big envelope". The doctor's office sent it to me in an envelope just as big, and paid 80¢. The world is full of large and small crazy things.

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Schmoozing on Facebook, discussing on the Model T forum, and paying the vet bill for Shorty's booster shots ate up my morning. In the afternoon I loaded the tractor on the trailer. Years ago I would have done it in half an hour, but today it took a couple of hours. Being old, feeble, and clumsy is annoying, but I don't know of any cure for it. It doesn't help that I don't use ratchet straps often enough to have any skill at it. Anyway, I got it loaded and then got busy with the chain saw turning branches into firewood. I expect I'll do more of that tomorrow to get more wood under cover before the next rain arrives and gets everything wet. The forecast claims there's a good chance of it this weekend.

Friday, January 22, 2021

Another day with no big projects, just piddling little chores. Bagging kindling to stay dry in the garage, shopping for groceries, airing up tires on the Suburban, trailer, and Camry... Maybe I'll get something bigger done tomorrow.

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Disaster! For my Saturday treat night I had tostadas and ran out of jalapeño slices. The tostadas were still good, but lacked the little bite I prefer. I'll be sure to restock before next time. Being down to my last two pairs of clean sox, I started the day with washing a load. I shouldn't have wasted the time, but I spent an hour or so this morning trolling a scammer on Facebook. Against my better judgement I accepted his friend request because of eighteen mutual friends, even though he had no posts or anything else on his page. I didn't have to wait long to hear from him, and I played the game for awhile. In the afternoon I cut and split five boxes of firewood and brought them inside to miss the predicted wet weather that's supposed to arrive tonight. I even remembered to put a tarp over the splitter.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Had to go to the pharmacy today for eye drops, and stopped at the hardware store to get a couple of machine screws and a rivet burr for the mag ring. Those three little bits of metal cost $1.57. I buy a lot of hardware at the farm supply to avoid paying Ace prices, but there are some things Orscheln doesn't have.

Monday, January 25, 2021

Today I finished making and installing the mag ring contact. Not having an odd size long rivet like the original, I put it on with a machine screw. I'll put a nut on the back, trim off most of the screw, and solder the nut to keep it in place. A solder blob will go over the top screw for the mag post to stab. Can you believe that little copper washer cost 57¢? Amazing. With the advice of a more experienced Model T guy, I'll make a slight change and put the ribbon under the washer and make the hole in the washer a little bigger so the screw will sit a little lower.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Today's big deal was a shopping trip to Wichita. I stopped at three different Dillons stores and bought a dozen twelve packs of Diet Squirt. Why so much? Because I seldom get to Wichita, and when I do the stuff is often out of stock. The second thing was sliced cabbage 김치. I usually get the big gallon jars of kimchi, but Grace market was out, so I bought a couple of five pound jars at Lucky Asian Market. The last Wichita stop was at Grainger to pick up a can of clear insulating varnish I ordered yesterday. On the way home I stopped at the local Walmart to order more blood pressure pills and pick up some jalapeño cheese. Since the pandemic hit, that cheese is one of the products that's sometimes out of stock, so when I get down to two packages in the fridge I buy another one.

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Today I worked on the mag ring a little more, but the main activity was a drive to Winfield. I had several things to do in the county seat. 1 Got my first Covid shot. So far, I have no side effects. Not even the sore arm a lot of people get. I'll go back for the second shot in a month. 2 Went to the court house annex and paid the registration on my trailer. 3 Went to a real bank and restocked with the $2 bills and dollar coins I like to use. Most of the local banks usually have few or none of either. 4 Stopped at the Walmart and bought five 6 oz boxes of toffee popcorn, no longer sold at the Arkansas City "super center". Those will last until March. That's my customary dessert for my Saturday treat night. On the way home I stopped at the pharmacy and picked up blood pressure pills, though I question their efficacy. I've been taking them and my pressure is still high. Are they just not working, or would my pressure be even worse without them? I don't know, but I do not appreciate the high readings.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Dammit, dammit, dammit! I was cutting firewood behind the shop this afternoon when the chain and bar fell off the saw. Either the nut holding everything together worked loose or I forgot to tighten it when I adjusted the chain. Probably the latter. Of course the nut is lost, and a normal 5/16" nut doesn't fit, so I suppose it's metric. I'll have to take the saw to the hardware store tomorrow and find a nut that fits. Meanwhile there's the leak over the south door of the shop that I was going to caulk today. When I got up to the roof and swept away the leaves, acorns, and branches, I found that there will be more to the job than just squirting some caulk. I'll also need to screw down a couple of loose roofing panels. It was too close to quitting time to start that today, so maybe I can get it done tomorrow.

Friday, January 29, 2021

Change of plans. I spent a couple of hours on the mag ring, getting the coils ready for soldering them together, when Dieter called and said he was ready for me to bring him my sick mowing tractor. So I did that, and we chewed the fat for awhile. After bringing the Suburban and the trailer home I went to the hardware store with my chain saw and found a replacement for the lost nut, and bought it and a couple of extras. And yes, it's metric. After a stop at the market for apples, when I got home it was time to lay the evening fires, light the kitchen stove, bring in the mail, feed the cats, and feed myself.

Saturday, January 30, 2021

It was a good soaker, beginning after midnight and ending after noon. The rain gauge ended up with about .95". I got back to work on the magneto, wire brushing the copper to get it good and clean for soldering. I started to solder the coils together, but soon quit in disgust. The $26 I spent on a soldering iron was a waste of money. The sorry piece of junk just wouldn't heat the copper ribbons enough to melt solder. So after going online for a bit of research I drove down to the Harbor Freight store in Ponca City and bought a butane micro torch. It cost me ten bucks less than the soldering iron, and it actually works. There is a bit of a learning curve in figuring out how to operate it, but it will do the job.

Wire brushing copper ribbons.

Soldering. I made sheet metal shields to keep the flame away from the coil insulation.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Another lazy Sunday. I played online a lot, but I did get a little work done. I finished soldering mag ring coils together. Checking continuity of the circuit, I found it good. I was going to test it for function, but the battery in my shop doesn't put out enough juice to do the job. I'm leaving a charger on it overnight, but at over seven years it may be too old to take a charge. I'll find out tomorrow