equipment

Adding another machine to the shop…..

Adding another machine to the shop…..

I do a lot of work on antiques and custom projects, so a lot of times I need to either produce or reproduce parts made of plastic. My go to technique has always been casting resins, but many times they don't have the 'feel' of plastic parts even if they look the part. Sometimes there just is nothing like an injected plastic part. I started work on a David Gingery style home made plastic injector a couple years ago, but I was never happy with the way the ram was designed. I purchased…Read more …
Gold mirrors….. magic?

Gold mirrors….. magic?

I have been following Russ Sadler's series on Youtube for a while now, learning everything I can about my clone laser cutter. I honestly, watched about 3 hours of vids before I even uncrated it to make sure I didn't mess anything up. In a recent video Russ showed some charts on wavelength reflectivity while trying to achieve maximum output from his laser tube. It seems not all mirrors reflect equally, and the material the mirror is made from makes a large difference in how much power makes it to the cutting board.…Read more …
New toy….. I mean tool…..

New toy….. I mean tool…..

I'm still trying to figure out which it is. Maybe it's both... a grown-up toy that's a cool tool. I have to admit I was pretty excited when the delivery guy pulled up out front and rolled up the door on the trailer. I took the day off just to make sure I was there. We got it off the truck and stashed it in the garage and that is when I realized... That this is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Yeah, 4 feet long and over 2 feet…Read more …
Hi everyone……

Hi everyone……

Work has been keeping me busy, so I haven't even thought of posting. Now that I have a new position in the company and am no longer head of the Maintenance department and the sole Parts person I can post occasionally again. Yay! Lately I've been keeping my eye out for a grain mill, one of those things that takes wheat and turns it into flour and things like that. I had been holding out for the Cadillac of grain mills, a Diamant D525. Turns out I really don't like the thought of…Read more …
Melting metal…. with charcoal

Melting metal…. with charcoal

Yup, anyone who knows me well knows I like to do stupid dangerous stuff. Things like really hot metal make me happy. Yes, I've burned myself (many times) and had some really really close calls but I never seem to learn my lesson. So if hot metal is good, molten metal is WAY better. I have a small kiln I use to melt down gold and silver for doing jewelry casting, but nothing big enough to do a decent pour in aluminum. Off to the internet I went and found plans to fabricate…Read more …
HTI Hydropack

HTI Hydropack

This weekend I went up and took a Wild Edibles class from Hammer Stryke Self-Reliance in Mariposa, Ca. (I'll do a separate post on the class later) After the class I was talking with the instructor about water when you are out in areas not equipped with a faucet. I mentioned that I was a big fan of HTI Hydropacks, and no one else had heard of them before. I first heard about HTI products right after (or during) hurricane Katrina, there was talk of using hydropacks in the nasty water in the…Read more …
UV Paqlites

UV Paqlites

I was reading through some of my favorite webs the other day and came across SurvivalBlogs review of UV Paqlites . I was intrigued since I have a thing for tritium markers, and make a few things in the machine shop for personal use with them. After reading the review I went to  UV Paqlites and ordered the Scout Pack, which is kind of a Paqlite sample kit. I like light sources that don't require batteries, don't wear out over time, aren't one time use, and are reusable. There have been a few times…Read more …