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Just a short comment. Make sure that you eye doctor knows what you are doing and why closeup vision is important to you. Looking at surface finish is not the same as reading a book. When I told the Doc that my vision got fuzzy at about 6" he wanted to know why that was important. When I told...

I am not going to show anyone how to work cast iron. I am going to see what I can learn about turning cast iron with my lathe, a 9 x 20 import. Mine is an older Harbor Freight version (they are all the same under the paint) that I bought used. It has two non-stock accessories that are highly...

I'm not going to tell the whole story here. I'm sure you have already heard it. It is told in almost every culture in the world through out history. This not about the creation myth that is also universal but is about a later development. I'll just cut to the chapter that is later in the story...

When my shop time was all about wood, it was common practice to produce a curved edge on a workpiece using a router or a spindle shaper to follow a profile pattern, and I have seen profile pattern followers on a lathe. Is there an approved method to produce a regular, compound curve (see...

Open for discussion I'm not ready to build this yet but I think it is possible. I just thought I would put it up here for discussion. Jerry

Einstein would have you believe that nothing can exceed the speed of light. E=mc2 and all that. Apparently, in all his observation he never observed things going south. I don't have the ability to measure that accurately, but in my shop, when things head south, there is no speed limit, easily...

If, like me, you like to eat, and if, like me, you have problems with acid reflux or indigestion, you may have, like me, come to rely on Prilosec or other acid reducers. I have been depending on acid reducers for well over a year, in spite of clear package warnings to use for only 14 days. I...

Searching through the scrap yard, I came across this piece of 1/8" aluminum plate. I dont think I have ever seen the "streched" specification before. The most notable thing about this plate is that it is very flat. Every other piece of thin plat that I have seen has had a considerable bow in...

I don't know why it starts out black, but its a video. Click on it! David Letterman has a recurring segment on his show where he looks at stuff and wonders if its worth pursuing. This is a design that occurred to me and gave me some restless nights until I put it to the modeling process and...

... will I put a #2-56 HSS tap into brass or aluminum. It's just asking for trouble. And I don't need to. I'll use this: That is a piece of #2-56 all thread turned into a thread forming tap. I just grind a flat on the end like making a D-bit. It may cut a little bit but it doesn't make chips...

I think my next major project is going to be an engine that was not built in the late 1880's even though it could have been and maybe should have been. Those were great times for steam engines. Lots of visible action. simple mechanical principles, and form was at least as important as function...

I just got in from the shop. All day to make two little globe valves. One is 180 degrees and the other is 90 degrees. Like this: I took some pictures and I will try to organize them for a post tonight. Jerry

Two enter - One leaves! This has been my primary occupation for the last month. A thirty year old concrete pool that needed serious resurfacing and painting. The end result is shown above and points out a major safety hazard when dealing with 2 part epoxy paint in a closed environment. I...

I haven't been in the shop for weeks but today I had a few free hours so I went to the shop intent on making the D-valve for the vertical overcrank engine. I got a piece of cast iron cut down to size and milled the valve cavity with no problems. Then I turned the part over in the vice with the...

I'm starting a new project. I'm either going to build this engine: Or I'm going to build this engine: Here are a animations of the two engines: http://screencast.com/t/lBLrfnGypa http://screencast.com/t/iegJUGdOk The two engines are not very different so if I can keep my head straight...

I am thinking about building a steam engine without using brass. I also cannot locate a big enough piece of cast iron for the cylinder but can find smaller pieces for the piston and D-valve if needed. Plenty of SS for rods and shafts and flat CRS of 1/4" or less. Now my question is if I use...

I needed some extra mass to get the internal friction plates to engage and disengage quickly on this one-way clutch. Aluminum wouldn't do it so I added a cast iron rim. It added enough inertia to make the clutch work nicely and in that respect it is acting as a flywheel. I stumbled on this...

Today I assembled a planetary gear box salvaged from a discarded portable drill. I didn't get any pictures of the process because there was no real plan, and lots of frustration and grief. I was only interested in the gears so the chuck and motor were just sawed off. The gearing in the drill...

Hi All! This is an offshoot from an older thread from 2008 that got revived because of a more current thread about finger engines. I thought it more appropriate to start a new thread because it has taken a different course. The parent thread can be found at...

I got out one of my older engines to play with and this is how it started. This is on of my favorite engines for a number of reasons but mainly because it works so well. It is reliably self starting. It turns slowly at almost no PSI. It is well balanced and runs at high speed with little...