The Home Machinist!

Sad news, RIP Dave. . . your wit and wisdom will be missed by all.

b4autodark

Harold, thanks for posting this. Big Dave, I had open heart surgery 6 weeks ago and it's no picnic. You will get through it. Hug your pillow and try not to sneeze! The best part is when your body hair grows back and you feel human again.

Hang in there fellow putz,
b4autodark

That is cool, it even shows why we have blizzard warnings today in western Minnesota!

Used to use the brass screw c-clamps at work all the time for welding. Some were old and some brand new but none ever had the shield. That's a new one on me.
b4autodark

Thanks for the link, very interesting.

They bypassed the safety switches! And they weren't just using PVC for air...they were using it for an explosive gas! That's Darwin territory. In fairness, I would imagine hydrogen would also blow iron pipe into smithereens. Not surprised that it happened at a university. Common sense and the kind ...

Thanks for the link toddalin, sure looks like a fun time.
b4

toddalin,

Thanks for the info, I googled Fillmore to Santa Paula speeders and got a hit . The March 8 2018 edition of the Santa Paula Times has a front page article about a group of over 30 speeders that just made that run. It appears the hobby is alive and thriving on the west coast.

b4

RN: Thank you for such an informative response! I couldn't have learned that much from a book even if I could find a book on speeders. Nothing like "real life" experience. I like that you preferred the old poppers, and why. They must have been pretty reliable. Thanks again for sharing , I've got a l...

RN, Glad to hear you have so many good memories of your speeder experience. NARCOA still makes it's members buy insurance, nothing wrong with that in my opinion. It does seem that the great majority of existing speeders are Fairmonts. I didn't know they had 2 cycle engines as what little research I'...

Looks like the North Central Railcars assn is still a viable group and is associated with NACOA. It looks like their scheduled runs for this year are in Maryland and Pennsylvania. There is a run scheduled out of Larimore ND towards the end of May that is only a couple hours from where I live, I plan...

Thanks for the response. What brand of speeders are you familiar with? Did you belong to NACOA and participate in their excursions? It seems that is about the only option I have been able to find. I like the idea of restoring a speeder, looks like a fun project. I've done several tractors and trucks...