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Tools.  We got ’em, we use ’em, and we get to know them pretty good.  In the last few years have had some interesting experiences picking up stuff for the shop.  Want to know what we’ve bought, we’ve tested and we like?  Read on…

This was the big purchase of the Spring – the Lincoln  TIG 200.  Honestly, we didn’t choose this because of price, but because of several recommendations from accomplished pros who know welders.  Suffice to say, it meets and exceeds all of our expectations.  It’s easy for beginners to get started, with simple-to-use controls, but very capable in the hands of an experienced welder.

Not too sexy, but you need it for your new welder – an argon tank with regulator and valves…  you can get this from your local welding supply shop, but you can also get it online, here, with good pricing even including shipping.  

You’re also going to need rods, and again, online is a good source, here.  Welding City seems like they have stuff pretty well dialed, great service and fast delivery.

OK, we can’t say enough about this next little trinket.  Over at Welding Tips and Tricks, Jody has this little invention of his called TIG Fingers.  Simple little things, really, but they allow you to get your little pinkies really close to the torch, giving you a solid guide for working on that perfect bead.  Want to learn more about how they work?  Don’t miss his videos and newsletter!

Let’s see…  That covers it for now, for our recent welding purchases…  stay tuned for some of our more miscellaneous stuff, including electronics, and more!

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(Disclaimer: Yes, we’ve become an Amazon Affiliate.  This means if you buy through our links on Amazon, not only do you get a really good price, but you support The Brickyard Collaborative through their affiliate program.  Please consider supporting us in this way, and have fun with your new tools!)

We’ve had some slightly over-enthusiastic, well-intentioned but misleading posts made on social media that, unfortunately, are misrepresenting the MGCC grant we were awarded in December.  Here are the facts:

We were awarded $100,000 to work with various partners in the city to help small businesses in Lynn cope with the challenges of COVID.  Details of that grant are here: The MGCC Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program

We originally worked with Lynn Main Streets to put the proposal together and have included several other Lynn organizations to implement the project.  To date, we’ve had an amazing amount of support and interest from the small businesses in Lynn, especially the target group: businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans in low-and moderate-income and underserved communities.

The program was intended to start in August of 2020, but the inevitable delays within MGCC led to it launching in December.  It’s slated for final wrap-up on June 24th.  A second round of awards was announced in March of 2021, and we’re waiting to hear how we did.  That program would reach into December of 2021.

As with most grants, there is a very specific project proposal which was created last year by the team, and accepted by MGCC.  There’s not a lot of room for changes or re-direction – in fact, that would put the entire program at risk.  We’ve got to do what we said we’d do.  That said, we’ve been enormously successful implementing our project, and hope we can continue.

To read more, here’s a story on the Daily Item: BRICKYARD COLLABORATING WITH LYNN BUSINESSES

We also posted about it back in January: Time to Get to Work!   To see what we’ve done, see this post: The Brickyard COVID Response: The Project List

Thanks for all the support and help, and we encourage anyone with suggestions or ideas to contact us!

Where there are Makers, there’s a way!

Last week we heard about a massive amount of food available through the World Farmers in Lancaster, and the clock was ticking.  The deal expires on May 28th.  We contacted them, we took 5 pallets of 30lb boxes – 42 each, over 1200lbs per pallet for a total of over 6000lbs of food, or just over 3 tons.

You know…  ’cause we can.

A few phone calls (yup, old-school) and some emails and a couple of face-to-face visits, as well as some creative re-use of styrofoam panels from Hergon, our neighbors, plastic sheeting and some random refrigeration re-purposed, and a day later, and we got it done.  We placed 210 boxes of food in homes in Lynn just before the weekend.

We made some new friends, too…  the wonderful folks at St. Stephen’s, the Food Security Task Force at City Hall, the guys at UHaul on the Lynnway…  good times!

Thanks to everybody who helped out, and stay tuned, we have some fun planned for next week!