On the subject of fingers --- In one of my engineering jobs I was responsible for a small workshop that the engineers and techs could use. It had a floor standing drill press. My simple rule on work h

On the subject of power tools, has anyone here gotten familiar with any of the new breed of portable band saws? I want something for the hobby room that I can set up with a good 24 tooth Lenox bimetal

Dale - You are spot on. But for every crazy high price there is a bargain on eBay. Here's a tip for finding them. Do an "HOn3" search on eBay at around 9-10pm eastern time and narrow it to only "buy i

When you work in HOn3 the laws of physics are on your side. The highest stresses, those that take the material past the yield threshold, come from only few sources: 1. Handling by outsized giant being

Think about building a cutoff "saw" using 3” x .03” x 3/8” Cut-Off Wheels by Black Hawk Abrasives driven by a 25,000 rpm die grinder instead of low speed metal blades that can't cut hardened steel and

Mike - Thank you for the homeshopmachinist forum link. Ed W

Bill - Thanks for a positive reply. The forums devoted to tools and such simply are not interested in ideas. They want to see actual hardware. When I have hardware I'll show it off in those places if

I have a motive for talking about this here in this forum. It is to raise awareness of the subject and maybe someone INTERESTED IN HON3 will get involved. In the last 60 years dozens of beautiful bras

AAAAAAAARG!!!! I want to talk about how to make gears. If some of you guys want to have an intergenerational reproductive organ metrology discussion please do it under a different subject line. Ed W

Wayne - I much appreciate your detailed description of the NWSL gear hobbing process. I'm not interested in getting into the gear making business (don't have that many round tuits left in my life.) Bu

Jeff - I spent a little time on the Cowells website. It was all pretty new to me. This is fine quality profession tooling. And while the prices suggest that one might need a good reason to make that k

I have both Sherline and Taig equipment. I feel that the Taig lathe is a more versatile platform for special machines for a number of reasons. One of which is the present availability of special large

I'm beginning to think I ought to get working on my project to convert a Taig lathe into a gear cutter. If I live long enough to get the design on paper I'll share it. All I have now is a collection o

Another thought on this is the creation of "lots" in scenic areas. Each with its own insert. So a vacant lot with some weeds and a bit of trash added would be a quickie project. You make and shape two

Some layout builders will leave scenery bare and unfinished and let the finished model scenery and buildings slowly creep across the benchwork, a process that can take years for the fussy modeler. Oth

Dusty - I'd be cautious about using Armour All around models. There is a good bit of talk on the internet about what's in it and how it acts on plastic and rubber surfaces. In the hands of a meticulou

I'm looking for a good high resolution image of the internal construction of a rotary plow's machinery. The best I can find so far is on page 135 of the Alco Light Locomotive Parts and General Product

Dale - Thanks for your work on this subject. It gets me to wondering just how small a radius can we get away with. In my case everything I build in HO scale has to be portable which rules out wyes in

Model Railroading can be many things to different model railroaders. It can be high art. As such the "art" should tell a story. A famous example is Da Vinci's Mona Lisa which also has that element of

Dave - Will your pickle business be selling pickle chips? My wife got me on to this "new thing" I accidentally bought the wrong kind of pickles and when I suggested we turn them into chips she refused