Recent content by Kactiguy

Hi all, It has been many years since I last posted but I have been lurking around. I inherited an old set of castings for an air compressor but it didn’t come with any plans. I think they came from a place called Casting Specialists but, as you can see in the photo, it’s hard to tell. Can anyone...

A few weeks ago I put up a post about casting aluminum with Birk (oldmechthings). Well, he fired up the furnace once again, but for a totally different purpose. Birk heard that one of my 5 year old sons "fun" ideas for summer was to have the whole family visit Birk. Sounds fun to me. So, Birk...

Hook, line and sinker. You have a great Fathers Day too Birk. You deserve it.

Thanks for all of the comments. I am really glad I know Birk. He is much more than a great craftsman, but he is also a great friend and example. I wish I could answer the questions about casting stuff. I just don't know enough. What I can say is that it is much easier than I thought it would...

My boys (and one nephew) had a great experience the other day. Birk (oldmechthings) offered to show us the casting process first hand. He has 40 years of experience so we were in good hands. He had many patterns that he had made over the years and he let us choose a few to cast. He let us make...

My son and I started a couple finger engines a while ago and I thought I'd show some of our progress. I started by building this little model out of foam core and toothpicks to get an idea of what I wanted to build. It was a lot like building a finger engine for our competition. It worked, but...

That was fast Birk. The last time I saw him he was still missing an arm, now he is done. Painted and everything. He looks great. Looking forward to what's next.

Baked beans gas engine... very funny Steve. BTW, it's a bit late, but I realized your engine could be called a quarter pounder. Maybe not so funny. Anyway, thanks again.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm deeply honored. Thank you John for putting this competition together. Thank you to all of those who participated. Your engines were fabulous. Better than mine in my opinion. And thank you to those who voted. I want to give back to the forum and let all of...

John, I didn't give blood, but I got a nasty blister from using some cruddy pliers to bend the hanger wire. Does that count?

Now that's an engine. Very rustic and it runs great. If you were a boy scout you could have earned your pioneering merit badge for this baby. Showing off you lashings and knots, not to mention your whittling skills. Nicely done.

Dave-e, nice clean soap engine. Definitely thinking out of the box. Okay, this is my last one. Anyone like some Spaghetti-O's? It went together pretty quick, about 45 min. The parts include the can, hanger, a scrap piece of channel material pulled from an old printer and a penny (all that I had...

I must have these finger engines on the brain. Everything I look at becomes a engine in my head. I was looking for something, saw this old hard drive and thought..."hmmmm". I drilled one hole and bent a wire. Total time-- about 3 minutes. I don't think this one counts, but I thought I'd show it...

Thanks for the comments guys. Bog- I had loads of fun doing it. I avoided 45 minutes of work. It's always fun to do that. I already have an idea for another one (if I can find the time). Tim- great minds thinks alike :). Mine actually had a flywheel on both sides but one of them snapped off. I...

I'm in. Actually, I'm done. I think I followed the rules. 45 min using round wire coathanger. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDoOm9pQHhw&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed...