Which way was it going (the front)? If it was heading East, then we in the UK should get a month of uninterrupted rain starting next week... (we usually get your east-bound leftovers...)
Oh it headed east all right. We get them second hand from Don.
Mill is back in one piece and leveled.
I cut a 5" x 18" rectangular hole in the ceiling between two joists, shoved a 4-1/2 foot 4 by 4 through the slot so it spanned four of them and hung the come along from that over the spot where I wanted to reassemble the mill. Then just ratcheted the pieces up one by one.
Now I can really see all the cracks and flakes in the rotten paint job that mill had, now that it's a centerpiece of the shop in good light. Humidity got to the undercoat and cracked half the paint off. Ugh. Chipped many more flakes off as I was moving it. The paint was a dark blue grey, but it was over some kind of slathered bondo, the color of red lead. Or have I got that backwards? Looked horrendous. Like a flayed whale.
Too ugly to let stand. So I tried sanding the thing, had a drop cloth over the slides, but didn't yield a proper job at all. Big cracks and flakes obvious. I Just had to get some grey paint over it.
It really ought to be taken down stripped or blasted. But not this year. I've got to get moving on about ten different fronts before winter gets here, including 7 cords of wood to cut and split. And of course finishing up the shed project.
Well at least humidity will not get to the mill any more. And it's great to see it in the shop opposite the lathe. Luxury!
