Pencil Holder

[Don52]

At work we use custom Aluminum extrusions to connect two of the robot rails together across the assembly line. In the first picture you can see the Aluminum extrusion. Notice that there are air lines and cables passing through the Aluminum extrusion. In the second picture you can see a close up of the Aluminum extrusion. In this picture you can see some of the rubber extrusion that we install on the end of the Aluminum extrusion to protect the hoses and cables from the sharp edge of the extrusion. I used a piece of scrap Aluminum extrusion cut from the end of a cross brace to make a pencil holder. The third Picture shows a weld on the separator. The fourth picture show some TIG welds that attach the bottom plate.

Don

[Don52]

The sixth picture shows the felt installed on the bottom and the last picture shows the pencil holder in use. It is nice and heavy so it won't tip over.

[MMW]

Taking scrap & making it into something useful. Pretty cool.

[Don52]

45 years ago during the summer, I worked with my relatives for my uncle's asphalt paving company. After hours and on Saturday, I would work with my cousins especially my oldest cousin, Howie, repairing the equipment. I learned how to stick weld with 7018AC rod and eventually I did all the welding that was required for my uncle's company. My uncle paid me really well. The dollar amount doesn't sound like much now, but at the time it was three times minimum wage. I think I may have been the highest-paid kid in my high school class. In addition I stayed with my cousin Howie and his family, which covered my room and board. The five years that I worked for my uncle during the summer, really help me to save a lot of money for college. At the time I was between 14 and 19 years which are formative years. My cousin always treated me really well and I learned a lot from him. Recently my cousin had an an open heart operation and I wanted to give him a present. I chose the pencil holder because it really ties it all together. It involved welding like I used to do for the paving company and it is rugged like everything tried to do. It is also made from scrap from some equipment that I designed, which is what I've been doing for the past 40 years. So it is symbolic in a number of ways.

Don

[ryanjones2150]

Cool story Don. More young men these days need someone to guide them in their budding years. At least something better than the interweb and faceboop.<br />
<br />
How's your cousin doin now that he's had someone monkey around inside his chest cavity?

[Don52]

Cool story Don. More young men these days need someone to guide them in their budding years. At least something better than the interweb and faceboop.<br />
<br />
How's your cousin doing now that he's had someone monkey around inside his chest cavity?

My cousin is doing great since his operation.
I will see all of my relatives including Howie, when I attend our family reunion in Connecticut in August.

Don

[ryanjones2150]

Glad to hear he's recovering nicely. That's a cool pencil holder too. Does he work in an office these days?

[Don52]

In 2008 just before the downturn, my three cousins auctioned off all of their equipment from the Asphalt paving company and sold their building and land to a bus company that owned all of the adjacent land. Once the prices all fell, after the downturn, my cousin Howie bought a small chain of about 8 restaurants. He has managers for each restaurant. I guess he oversees the operation. I'm not sure if you would call it an office job or an investment.