Recent content by dhill001

I worry that some day I'll look at the TV at the gym and see I've been featured on a hoarders reality show or some such. But there is so much really INTERESTING tech in the world and so much of it is just thrown out by the typical consumer. There is also a variant of Murphy's which says that...

My vise is a Parker. It is marked: C.Parker Co. Meridan Ct on one side and 489 1/2 on the other. I got it at an estate sale for $20. It had cracked somehow. The crack was welded up, but had failed again on one side of the repair. My (Lincoln, 120V MIG 70A) welder wasn't up to the task so I...

Last fall I bought a compressor at auction. The pump is a Quincy 306 and the receiver was built in 1948 by the Pressed Steel Tank Company. This fall, I got working on it. I tried to hydrotest the receiver with a grease gun. No luck. But while struggling with that, I flashed on a plan to...

Found a nice solderless connector crimper once. It was broken but fixable. I don't know if it was lost or tossed. Now works fine.

I'm with bluebolt & Flathead Tommy. 1) When you open the front with tools leaning on it, they spill out and will jam when you try to close the door again. Leaning on the door to close it against a jam will spring the piano hinge. 2) I don't see anything providing bracing across the front door...

Private certificate w/ Commercial Glider rating. ~500 hr. Not current. Started flying in '96 and quit ~'08. For me, flying has 2 purposes: 1) getting somewhere 2) having fun. I can't afford a plane fast enough to make good transportation. It is easily most practical for me to fly commercial...

I've had good luck using full strength high quality dish soap undiluted. It is thick enough to stay in place at fittings and the bubbles don't pop too soon to see them. You might see foam rather than a single bubble. My back of the envelope calculation of 125psi (8.5atm) times 60gal divided by...

Got here late: Responding to Davefr about the bevel geared ratchet at #31. Useful tool in some special circumstances. In my case that is in dis/assembling gliders (aircraft type) when the designers put nut/bolt pairs in positions where there isn't enough room to swing a regular ratchet, box or...

Badgers??? BADGERS!!!!! I don't have to show you no badgers. We don't need no stinking badgers!!!! Thanks for the welcome Dave

Taking the forum advice to introduce myself here. Just another clean shaven greybeard from Minnesota. Retired in Wisconsin to enjoy hiding in the woods. Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Did mechanical design for a packaging equipment company for 20 years. Go figure. Own four cars because I...

Just found this forum and read this entire thread. Your comments are insightful and intelligent (ie they agreed with mine) So I joined. I believe the emergent system is at fault, not the individual players. Here's my timeline for a product perhaps from several companies, much like the scenario...