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That is such a good idea Dean. Low tech solutions I like. Agricultural engineering used to have lots of grease nipples, when I was young I did a week helping a farm mechanic, he was so keen on his...

Found the table for black pipe, they are in the old Blackwoods catalogue. I knew that I had hung on to it for a reason!

Thanks, I'll ask around. I'm off to the scrappie tomorrow, see what he has lying around. At least I know what to ask for now!

Well that's very encouraging. A cement mixer uses lots of sand, so if it was going to wear out it would. Did you run it dry with no lube?

Aha! I learnt a trick from a farm mechanic to fix this little problem. Put a length of rod in your drill chuck. Tie a bundle of rags to the end slightly larger than the pipe. Then tie some strips of...

I know George White. Where I work we design industrial power supplies and the workshop guys are always popping over for some copper shim or sheet. I have bought lots of scraps from their scrap bin in...

Another method of cutting sheet is to get an old circular saw blade and put it in the saw BACKWARDS. It seems to cut sheet even better, makes enough noise to wake the dead, but does leave a bit of a...

Greetings.

I want to build a large orrery (mechanical display of the planets orbits, google it) and I find that I need 3 independant rotating motions on the one axis. This is usually done in...

Not finished yet, but you can see the idea...308554

Yes, today the welding bench, tomorrow the WORLD! BRu Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Lovely job, like a pro. Just look at mine, but I'm looking for the rustic look! Not finished yet. Good way of using up all those scraps of pipe around the back of the shed.
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I use them for planters, since succulents love growing on rusty steel, just look at the flowers and colours on this beauty!
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Everyone has seen these, scraps of steel welded together to make a ball, I have seen specimens 2m diameter, priced at over $1500!

How do you make them? I was going to try with a metal bowl which...

Always do. I pick up half rolls of this from all the rubbish that gets thrown away when a new house is built, so I always have some handy.

Good point about the drifting. One edge will be an existing garden bed edge made with real railway sleepers, so the bearers will be tied to this, that should nail down one edge. Star pickets to stop...

Greetings,

I need to lay a deck over some scrappy ground but the deck needs to be only 100mm from the surface, so no room for the usual joists & bearers. What I am thinking is to rip some old...

Thanks, I'll go take a look, they are in Mornington. Do you know if they do offcuts.

Greetings,

Just got hold of a scroll saw, so I have decided to make a wooden clock. I was going to gut the gears out of plywood for my first attempt. What do people recommend for the plywood? I...

Sort of thing knifemakers use, they sharpen the blades on the wheel, not the flat part of the belt I think. I've never seen a machine like this, it looks like it was professionally fabricated, and...

Greetings.

Picked this little beauty up on the way to work. I reckon it's a belt sander/linisher, but what's the scrubbing brush in the middle of the belt? Whatever it was doing it worked hard as...

Greetings

I am having a clear out, one of the tools in the cleansing operation is a small 5 speed Ryobi drill press, model HBD6E. These were discounted at Bunnings a few years ago for $70 or so....

The bolt bloke gave me a very old fashioned look "You want a Nylock? You'll be be lucky if we got that size at all. Sure yo don't want a BSW?". The only nut he could get was a steel, and cost me 50c...

I don't think that these will work for me, as the stud has a slot through it lengthwise, and the collar might just close up the slot. Of course, I could always put a shim in the slot to keep in open....

Worth a go, I'm off to the local Bolt Bloke this lunchtime. Great idea, the engineers at work were on about machining it off and inserting a new stud, or building it up with a welder and then using a...

Greetings,

I am fixing up a pedestal drill which was put out on hard rubbish (!). One of the handles has broken off, the table is full of holes but I have had lots of practice fixing these...

I remember reading in a book on the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co. (of which I own a number of beautifully laquered meters) that the finishing process on brass involved one old man, a secret...

I just find it rather disappointing, there is so much open source software out there (a miniscule amount written by me!), that people have written and then distribute for free. Many commercial...

I asked SC, they will not be distributing the source code, so modifying the software will be impossible. A real shame as the hardware looks good. How can you learn about electronics if all the brains...

Tough words but true. A cheap Chinese lathe eg from Hare & Forbes ALG50A 230mm x 500mm with 3 & 4 jaw chucks, Jacobs chuck, gears for metric/imperial threads is only $1090 inc gst. Plus I get a...

It's an imperial with a plain bearing headstock. I like plain bearings, easy to get hold of, and you can always machine your own (once you have a lathe of course!). Simple lantern toolpost, with...

Greetings,

I want to my local oddjob man for a spare wheel for the trailer, we didn't find one but we got talking, and he mentioned that he had an old Hercus model "B" lathe. We had a look, the...

Greetings.

My first post after lurking for a while. I have recently built a great table from garden grade 8" x 2" redgum sleepers that have been lying around for at least 5 years and have seasoned...