mc2hill

I do this all the time.  Badges, emblems, race car graphics, clear film......This is the stuff the people in the vinyl industry use.
 
http://www.rapidtac.com/rapid-remover.html

Milky Way with a plane flying through


 
Air traffic finally gone

 
 

Sorry Phil, I forgot to take the pics last weekend. 
 
The mounting arm is a piece of pre-punch tube from the hardware store.
 

 
 
I attached it to the wall with two angle brackets.  I picked brackets that had a hole pattern that matched the tube.
 

 
 
I also supported the arm from the existing garage door track using a bolt and a spacer tube.
 

 
 
I used some rubber, vinyl and steel washers between the fan mount and the arm, and also under the head of the bolt so it would pivot easily.  I ran the cord inside of the tube and then down the wall to an outlet.
 

 
 
Any questions?

Welcome Sean!  I am also a big fan of BG.

We had some more Northern Lights in the morning when I went to work. I always enjoy watching them dance across the sky.
 

 

Rest assured no beer went neglected.  I have multiple koozies...
 

Shoemaker's children......lol
 
The Flex isn't down long enough these days to even get put back in the drawer!  

We have learned proper lighting is important when chasing swirls. I have been using a pair of 500w halogen lamps on a stand for several years. These work great, and are nice to be around in the winter, but they are brutal in the warmer months. I have seen the LED work lights (pic below) with a similar setup. They are much cooler to work around, but the light is not as bright as the halogens and do not show imperfections as well.

 
I have seen a few different DIY LED light stand builds on other forums, and after seeing Sizzle Chest’s setup I decided to give it a try. Most of the parts are fairly inexpensive, using lightweight photography equipment, but the bulbs are pricey!
 
I started with a stand that included a carrying bag - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DYHRH4?
psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

 
This stand has a minimum height of 53”, and a maximum of 100”. It works great for hoods, roofs, and trunks, but just OK for sides. For that reason I am looking at 2 other stands:
 
This one that has a minimum of 33”, max of 80” - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003PEUA30/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2W8PMFWAIX1V2&coliid=I2S0K4VP91Z62V&psc=1

 
 
Or this one that is much shorter – Min 17”, max 40”
http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Collapsible-Aluminium-Photography-Portrait/dp/B00X5GCG12/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1433004584&sr=1-5

 
 
The second stand includes a ‘stud’ that is attached to the lower leg to allow a second light head to be attached. The downside is the stud must be removed to collapse the stand. There are clamps available to allow you to mount a light head almost anywhere and if I go with the first stand I would add one of these – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00355GFMO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2W8PMFWAIX1V2&coliid=IB3IMSHH6UKOR

 
 
The light ‘head’ is the simple part. It is a double mount bracket, with an on/off switch for each lamp, and a short 9’ cord. This just slides over the top of the stand and is tightened down. There are other fiddly bits on the bracket, but as I am not a photographer, I have no idea what they are for.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZUVX8G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2W8PMFWAIX1V2&coliid=I1UB3VZ74Z4A4V

 
 
So far so good, less than $30 (light head $10.99 + stand $15.99).
 
Now about the light bulbs: There are lots and lots of different types of LED light bulbs out there but to replicate the sun you need a daylight bulb – somewhere around 5000 kelvin on the color temp scale.
 

 
I was able to find my bulb at Lowe’s, but it seems to be an item they are discontinuing –
http://www.lowes.com/pd_150661-75774-LPAR3814005KLEDG5___?productId=50107550&pl=1&Ntt=led+par38+daylight
 

 
It is a size PAR38, 23W (120W equivalent), 5000K, Daylight, Dimmable floodlight bulb. The only store in my area that carried them was the near my house and I picked up 4. Even on ‘closeout’ they were $25.99 EACH! The upside to these bulbs is they have a life of 25,000 hours, so unless you break them, they should last a long, long time.
 
Speaking of breaking them, this setup is very top heavy. The first time I used it I had the stand set at about 6’, bumped into it, and it fell on to the trunk of the A8 I was polishing! After a few choice words, my stomach dropped when I saw white marks on the paint! The heat fins from the bulb had marked the paint. Luckily it was just paint transfer and was quickly removed with the polisher, with no further damage to the car or the lights. After that I decided to look for a simple fix and found it at a local thrift store:
Discarded ankle weights!
 

 
I paid $3 for one at the thrift store, but they are about $17 new (I bought a pair when I got tired of driving around to the Goodwill’s).  This is one I found (they only had one), and it easily fits over the upright part of the stand, and provides just enough weight to offset the bulbs. I removed 2 of the weight packs, so it is probably at 4 pounds. The plus with these is they wrap around the light stand when it is folded. 

 
 
So now we are up to $80
Stand          $15.99
Light head    10.99
2 LED bulbs  50.00
Weights           3.00
Not too bad and much cheaper than a pair of the LED work lights with a stand.
Here is what you get:

 
 
So how well do they work?
A shot of both lights on full: The halogen mounting bracket puts them farther apart than the LED bracket, but that is not really an issue:

 
LED:


 
Halogen:


 
 
Why are they better then Halogens?
Front of lights

 
vs.

 
Now the temp at the back:

 
vs.

 
Other options:
You could add a boom to put the light over a flat surface (hood, roof, etc.)  
 

 
 
Conclusions:
I really enjoy working with the LED lights. They are more comfortable to work around, and I prefer the whiter light they produce.  I think they show more defects too.
They also draw less power, so no more worry about tripping a fuse when using the lights and the polisher.
 
 
Please feel free to ask questions or suggest improvements. I am not a photographer, nor an electrical engineer, so there are probably better ways to do this!
 

Excellent...and welcome back!

Happy with the results even on a overcast day!

It works great, but it is a double-edged sword - you can SEE all the swirls, but you can see ALL the swirls! 

Thanks for having me

I have been wanting one of these for awhile so I order it with some other stuff during the labor day sale. Very well made and made in the U.S.A. works well for door jams, mirrors and trunks plus anything else. I use a electric leaf blower but for the more detailed and refined stuff this is the ticket. After the first use I could not believe how I have been getting by without it, you can feel the torque in your hand decent power for sure.

No.  He is a rattlesnake of some sort.  He was big.  We (brother and I) found him in the Grand Canyon.  He was sunning himself in front of a small rock ledge that my brother stepped over.  He almost stepped on him.  After that episode, everything that moved was a potential rattlesnake.  There are 6 species of rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon.  Thinking the one in the picture is a Grand Canyon pink rattlesnake.  We could hear another one a couple days later down the trail, but couldn't see him.  And we weren't about to go poking in the rocks to find him.
 
As far as the pickle picture, that was kinda funny.  My brother is always coming up with nutty stuff.  That is him in the picture as I'm always taking pictures.  Doesn't matter where I'am or whom I'am with, I'am the picture taker.  Anyhow, he wanted to portray he was at the spa with a mud mask on.  Brought a white towel to wrap his head in too.  The place that we stayed at the night before had a restaurant that we hung out at and ate and had a drink or two, the waitress gave us pickles as she didn't have any cucumbers.  
 
That trip was a lot of fun, but hot.  Five days of that last picture, and no place to hide.  Up on top temps at night dropped below freezing.  And got into the mid 80's during the day.  Had to find our own water too.  A lot of people think that you can walk to the river at any point and get water which isn't the case.  I think in the 50 miles we hiked, there were 3 places that you could get to the river.  Some places we couldn't drink the water unless it was life and death situation due to radioactivity.  Interesting fact is that the most highly radioactive uranium ever mined in North America was pulled out of the Grand Canyon.  My wife thinks the below picture is disgusting.  It was a pool of water that we found in the rocks that was loaded with tad poles.  This was early in the morning and we were out of water.  We were drinking about 2 gallons a day each.  We had a good idea where we could find water as I had done 9 months of research before this trip.  
 

 

 
This years trip kinda got scrubbed as he was hit on his motorcycle in June.  He had surgery number 5 last week.  I did go for a few days by myself on a trip and included a couple pictures from that trip above.  Looking forward to future trips.  Looking back thru these pictures last night made me look forward to getting lost again.

Did a 'beyond the standard' weekly cleaning on my wife's Accord.  Sprayed the engine compartment with Rinseless wash (at wash strength) in a pump-up sprayer, and wiped it down with a warehouse MF towel.  Treated the plastic and hoses to VRT 'milk' (50% SVRT & 50% water) and wiped that in with a another work MF towel.  
Pulled the front floor carpet mats and pre-treated them by rubbing horizontal then vertical with a non-Adams carpet brush, then vacuumed them. Wiped the the inside with TID, and vacuumed the seats and floor.  
Finally a Rinseless wash of the car, then used the leftovers in the Wash bucket to clean the wheels, then the tires.  

Called my buddy (that I acquired this car from) last night. He showed many of these photos to the previous owner that now wants the car back. I don't think so.

Couple of pics....????????

My dad decided to paint and let's just say I spent the afternoon removing overspray from the paint, glass and wheels.
 
The majority of the car has been HGG as a stand alone with Liquid paint sealant only on the hood.
 
50/50 of what I was dealing with.
 

 
Paint on the clay bar
 

 
Sealed with HGG.  Works great as a stand alone product as well. 
 

Just some random pictures from some hikes that I have done.
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
If you look closely in the below picture, you will see my brother on the trail to the right.
 

 

 

 

Some of my Route 66 pictures, between Tulsa and Vinita Oklahoma...
The Blue Whale was a famous swimming hole back in the day.
The Gas station is an old DX station, that has been converted to a museum. My tail lights started out nice and clean. By the time we arrived here, the were dirty...
Views of what's left of the original road.

gallons is a good question.
 
I do a lot of waterless washes, so I buy Rinseless Wash (to dilute as waterless) and Waterless Wash by the
gallon. Also buy Detail Spray, APC and Glass Cleaner by the gallon. (My gallon of Shampoo may be too much
Shampoo for me.)
 
I also have Total Interior and MFR Cleaner gallons that may be too much for me.
 
With carbon ceramic rotors, I only use Deep Wheel Cleaner when the wheels are off the car. Super VRT,
Leather Conditioner, Leather Cleaner, Carpet/Upholstery Cleaner, H2O G&G joins the list of non-gallon buys for me.
 
Financially, gallons are a no-brainer...BUT shelf life and product obsolescence needs to be considered. If I can use a gallon in 2 years, I'll definitely buy the gallon. Much longer than that might not make sense.

Personally, since it's parked in a garage and driven when it's nice, I would put LPS down followed by glaze and Americana or Patriot (or buttery if you don't have the former 2). I would then use the H20 G&G as a maintenance product once every 2 months based on your description of wash frequency and amount driven.
 
What color is the SRT?

Finally had time to watch it, and great video!
 
I cannot bring myself to use a single bucket, but do only have a Grit Guard in the rinse bucket.  
 
An FYI: While testing HGG I did a Rinseless wash and let the wash solution dry, then went over the car with HGG as Adam did in the video.  It came out great and saved a step.   

Just add a little Brilliant Glaze, Im loving this product

The only place SVRT might be better than LC on the interior is on the door panels as SVRT is water resistant meaning it will have no issues when you open your door in the rain.