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Cesiumsponge is back!

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Cesiumsponge

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:07AM

Registered Member #397 Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:56AM
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 125

I have returned...now with more MSG, sweet jebus!

Some already know I've been offline for nearly (if not more than) a year in duration and I apologize for the sudden disappearance but a host of unrelated events led to my time being cut short and Internet access slim at best until a month or two ago. Many are personal and family related so I wonâ€™t bother mentioning/gossiping/boring with those details. Anyhow several of you knew I was returning and I've finally gotten to registering on the forums again because I guess it reset or swapped to a new format during my hiatus so I couldnâ€™t salvage my previous account. I also need to track down chat software eventually so don't let me lax on that!

To quickly summarize my current doings, Iâ€™m basically working 50-60 hour weeks working at a CNC machining firm oriented towards government/commercial contracts so itâ€™s a lot of hours, and the work (and machinery) is expensive if you screw up so Iâ€™ve been intensely focused on it. Not much spare time for fun but I managed to have some now and then. Iâ€™ve included one example of such fun in pictorial format below.

Some neat stuff worthy of mentioning to the 4hv.org community is that about 2500 pieces of LLNLâ€™s National Ignition Facility were finished by me personally, and itâ€™s not just a bolt on a bulkhead or floor grate. Theyâ€™ll make up over half of many PMN actuators in adaptive deformable mirror assemblies in the main optical amplifier cavity so Iâ€™ve got a hand in building the worldâ€™s coolest 500 trillion watt â€œtoyâ€. Also Iâ€™ve learned that when people say â€œgood enough for government workâ€, donâ€™t believe them because government parts are THE pickiest and most demandingâ€¦to the point of impossibility.

Many F-22 Raptor parts as well, and 737 to 777 parts, so ride a plane if you trust me or stay away from those Boeing jets if you donâ€™t trust me. Boeing is in the process of getting a larger multi-billion dollar order too so if business is good for them, itâ€™ll be great for us. Other stuff would be building a majority of system parts for the largest abrasive and pure waterjet company, and a smaller competitor as well. Itâ€™s fun to see how similar/dissimilar two particular parts are from competing companiesâ€¦in fact itâ€™s downright surprising but I wonâ€™t say much more on that.

Anyhow enough dry and tedious ranting about myself. Thanks and a re-hello for those who knew me from before and hello to those new faces that weren't around a year ago. I hope to participate much more than I have for the last year (haha) albiet it likely won't be to the extent that I once was immersed. I hope to moderate once again eventually once I get a schedule down in checking up on the forums and chat. I'm sure I will though as it's as addictive as crack, and at zero the cost.

Give my regards to the Interweb!

Desmogod

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:12AM

Registered Member #139 Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 11:01AM
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 358

OMG, that's a 'Cuda... 340, 440 or do you have an almighty in it?

Chris Russell

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:16AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Welcome back, Eric! We missed having you around! A lot of members have embarked on interesting projects lately. Don't miss Chris F's latest work on the projects board!

And remember, the first time is always free...

Dave Marshall

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:19AM

Registered Member #16 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554

Dude! Its the Sponge!!! Welcome back CS, its good to have you back.

Dave

Alex

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:20AM

Geometrically Frustrated
Registered Member #6 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 04:18AM
Location: Bowdoin, Maine
Posts: 373

Welcome back, CS! Your return has been greatly anticipated!

Cesiumsponge

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:30AM

Registered Member #397 Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:56AM
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 125

I'll have to put the new format to memory and peruse that projects board, woohoo! I'll have to catch up with all the big projects everyone's been working on during the last year. On a side note, does mIRC still need a *authorization/registration code* (not password, doh) to enable full use of the software or is there still a freeware version floating about? I want to get back into the chatting as well.

The vehicle in that picture is one of several original, #'s matching 1970 E-bodies that belongs to a Mopar friend of mine. It's actually a 340-6bbl motor which differs from the standard 340 as the vehicle is a single-year-offered TransAmerican AAR-edition race car. I will atually construct an exact clone of that in Lemon Twist yellow but with a bored 440-6 and several tweaks as soon as I can find a suitable donor body . ~5 year project...everyone needs a long term project. :) And I want to get mine done before midlife crisis or juggle a family.

The real deal AAR 'Cuda (ie that one) and T/A Challengers have now pushed into the 100k range. The 440's are pushing 100-250k, and the 426 hemi's are pushing 250k-upwards. One sold at Barrett Jackson for $2.1M recently. I'm not remotely wealthy enough to throw money around like that; I'd get a house first.

Chris

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:37AM

Registered Member #8 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 04:34AM
Location: Harlowton, MT, United States
Posts: 214

Yay! Welcome back Eric!!

It's great to have you around again.

AndrewM

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:39AM

Registered Member #49 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:05AM
Location: Bigass Pile of Penguins
Posts: 362

Welcome back CS.

Cesiumsponge

Wed Apr 19 2006, 02:41AM

Registered Member #397 Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:56AM
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 125

Great to be back! Glad to see the forums are putting along fast as ever. Unfortunately I have no real 4hv-related projects as most everything got put on hold when I didn't have access to my horde of stuff but I hope to ease back into those habits now and then. I'll have to invest in some home CNC machinery eventually if I'm to ever get back into the hobby as it's something I can't live without now that I've been exposed to it. I think I've abused that drill press enough by doing things it was never meant to for.

I'm currently looking at your project Chris. I see Rhino is still kicking around and you're still building large, monsterous-looking contracptions, and I love it!

What will you plan to do with the end product? Save up a monsterous-looking lump and throw it into a lake?

Ben

Wed Apr 19 2006, 03:00AM

Vigilatny
Registered Member #17 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:47PM
Location: NL
Posts: 158

Nice to see you back Eric.

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