Half a Sunday

 "Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man." - Bertrand Russell

 I was recently gifted a R-0 blade for a General Electric 7FA gas turbine.  The R-0 is the first set of rotating blades on the compressor, and hence the largest and longest of them.  The base is a beefy trapezoid of metal that sits in a slot on the rotor.

Unfortunately the blade was originally coated with a layer of black gunk - which probably would have come right off with a citrus-based cleaner like Simple Green.  More unfortunately, the guy who gave me the blade had removed the black gunk with his wire wheel, which gouged the metal.

Yesterday I had a go at the blade, with the intention of removing the wire wheel scuffing.  It took a couple of hours with scotchbrite pads and a high-speed air tool to remove the bulk of it.  I ran out of patience and time before the blade ran out of wire wheel marks, sadly.  It looks much better now.

It was a difficult process, because the blade has a twist.  As you apply pressure, it tends to flip a bit. thus the blocks of wood propping up the side that is up in the air.

Below:  Most of the gouges have been dealt with.

In the end, I got it looking reasonably good, even if there are a few remaining scuffs.

 There we have it!  Front:  22nd stage compressor rotating blade from an Alstom GT24B, unknown stage and nickel plated stationary compressor stationary blade from a General Electric 7FA.03, and a First stage rotating compressor blade from a General Electric 7FA.03

I also put some air in the S600 tires, started it up, and adjusted the ride height so that the struts would pump up.  It's not looking quite so ghetto now.

I never did mention the thoughtful Christmas gifts that I received this year.  Nothing was too extravagant, since we had just replaced half our kitchen appliances and the wife's SUV with a new Ford Explorer :(

The cute "fireworks" light bulb and vintage looking cage.  No motion from the bulb, alas.

A set of very nice sounding illuminated speakers for work.  The ventilation system there is ungodly noisy, and the tinny speakers on the monitor weren't up to the task.

A set of insulated screwdrivers, useful for poking around in energized tube radio circuits for tuning.

A set of tamper-proof screwdriver bits!  Would have been handy when I was installing the microwave oven.

I also got some new safety signs for the shop.

As well as some much-needed downtime.  Yes I hang out in my pajamas and socks with the dog - snow, rain or shine.