Monthly Archives: July 2015

Mike Makes an X-Carve Lift/Work Bench/Out Feed Table (Drill Powered Thingy)

Today I finished making my adjustable height work bench with drill powered X-Carve CNC machine lift. I made the lift out of 2 trailer jacks flipped upside down connected by a 1/2″ rod.

Lift Mechanism Video – https://goo.gl/V2577x

I made the top shelf removable so when I need to use the CNC machine, I simply “lift” the middle shelf up to bench level. You could use the same design to build an adjustable height desk by removing the 4 outside legs. I still need to add a hand crank and adjustable feet.

drill powered lift table

Mike Makes an Adjustable Height Workbench (Lifting Mechanism)

I’m building an adjustable height workbench but I needed a lifting mechanism to raise and lower the middle shelf. I decided to use 2 trailer jacks (Curt 28204) and 1/2″ rod to connect them. This same design could be used to make an adjustable height desk.

No one part of this project was difficult, but everything took a little longer than expected. The end result seems very sturdy and is a good foundation to build a workbench/out feed table from.

Financial Rules Meant to Be Broken

Sometimes common financial wisdom isn’t so wise. Occasionally, rules of thumb are meant to be broken. In this video we discuss the personal finance rules that we break.

Most of the time, the money advice you’ll hear on TV and magazines is so bad you’ll end up in debt because debt is normal for most Americans. We think just because it’s normal doesn’t make it OK.

If you follow the golden rule, spend less than you earn, you have a much better argument for breaking traditional advice.

Mike Makes a Safety Gear Cabinet

I bought a bunch of woodworking safety gear on Amazon a few weeks ago. I’ve been working with it and my only problem is everything gets too dusty in the shop.

I decided to build a safety gear cabinet with a plexiglass door so it stays dust free and always on my mind. I also do a review of a few items including: 3M safety glasses, Uvex s1600x bandit glasses, 3M Peltor H10A and the 3M TEKK worktunes hearing protection.

Investing for Beginners

We don’t talk about investing for the first time enough. We take for granted that investing in the stock market has become second nature to us. There is also a lot of bad information out there on YouTube.

So, we decided to make a quick overview of the basics of investing. Instead of explaining everything all in one video, we describe how we invest in the stock market and have links below so you can read more about each step:

Can Everyone Retire A Millionaire? https://goo.gl/xmJbno
The 4% Rule – https://goo.gl/4kW3zS
Pay Yourself First – https://goo.gl/Q5AyrD
Automate Your Finances – https://goo.gl/unc3Zc
Why We Chose IRA – https://goo.gl/JF27H3
IRA vs. Roth IRA vs. 401k – https://goo.gl/qD5yBh
Why Vanguard – https://goo.gl/ZoSp6a
Why Index Funds – https://goo.gl/GO1Sy6
Why Index Funds, Again – https://goo.gl/kj0i3E
The Stock Market Always Goes Up – https://goo.gl/1TJWtP

Progress on the Mercedes

We spent 4th of July on the beach so there wasn’t enough time to complete a project in the shop. We thought instead of no video, we’d share our afternoon together working on the Mercedes A/C system.

I bought the kit to convert the ACCII climate control to electronic on eBay for $250 bucks. Unfortunately, it was missing a part, so we couldn’t getting working for you in this video. We’ll post a short update whenever it’s fully functional.

What About Health Care!?!

One of the biggest criticisms of early retirement is health care. How are we going to afford it? What about getting older? Now we?re forced to buy it!

Our plan for health care in early retirement is the ACA (Obamacare), medical tourism, and preventative care. What most people don?t know is that the United States is not a forerunner in quality of health care. By utilizing our ability to travel, we can get better care overseas for less money.

Why is Health Care So Expensive? https://goo.gl/oSafux
Go Curry Cracker – https://goo.gl/m5hyZx
Retire Early Lifestyle – https://goo.gl/R8n8lj