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Thread: Time Machines of uncommon construction

  1. #1
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
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    Time Machines of uncommon construction

    Or, "How life got behind me in an instant".

    Many of us have a diverse set of hobbies and pursuits apart from amateur radio and electronics in general. For as long as I can remember I've been involved with making things. Metal and woodworking, welding...creating from raw materials. Before I got involved with radio communications on a whole-scale basis, most of my leisure time was spent crafting fine-scale models. The lion's share of these were railroad oriented. Rolling stock, structures...one needs tools to build this stuff.

    One of the favorites of the 70s era was a Dremel "Moto Shop". This saw and accompanying accessories were also sold under the Montgomery Wards "Powr-Kraft" and Sears trademarks.

    IMG_3373-1.JPG

    My mother got the Ward's version of the saw for me for my 14th Christmas. The (coincidental) birthday present was the accessory kit - flexible shaft, extra blades, grinding and sanding points, a buffing wheel. The kit was back-ordered from Wards' warehouse and literally took three months to finally arrive at my doorstep. Every day I'd run home from school and check the front porch to see if the postman had dropped it off. It was around this time of year that the long-anticipated package finally showed up. I could finally get to work.

    A lot of models were made with the help of that Moto-Shop. When I began playing with electronics, the outfit got pressed into making the odd component, cutting and finishing PCBs...it even saw duty doing some motorcycle-repair activities.

    Alas, "commercial duty" it isn't. Eventually, the coupler on the flexible shaft broke and the sanding arbor froze itself to the PTO, rendering the saw useless as anything but a saw. When its motor finally gave out - around the time I began to reconfigure my workshop in the late 2000s - the saw was thrown away. The remaining bits, points, collets and other useful items were kept and stored with my newer Moto Tools, of which a decent collection had been acquired.

    'DSG's father passed away in 2011 and I "inherited" his Powr-Kraft saw along with a lot of his other power tools. Same as mine but an earlier - possibly a little more robust - model, and in excellent shape. But no related accessories save the sanding arbor and disc were to be found in his old workshop, and Dremel has long since discontinued the kit.

    eBay's your buddy, though. In searching for blades for the saw (also discontinued) I came across a Sears-branded accessory kit from an estate sale.

    Walking around the house this morning, I spotted a package left on the front porch. As when I received the first kit, I opened it up and took careful inventory of the parts. And like the first, none of the various drums, discs, bits and points have ever been used.

    40 years passed in the blink of an eye. Or so it would seem.

    Maybe this is why we like our old radios, cars and similar items: They take us back.
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  2. #2
    Whacker Knot WØTKX's Avatar
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    I occasionally see Erector sets in great condition on eBay.
    "Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
    of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman



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    Tribal Warrior AA1OH's Avatar
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    I have seen that old cars/electronics/radio/clocks and cameras seem to follow the same orbits.
    I thought religions were prophet based organizations.
    What do you mean I am out of money? I still have checks!
    Remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

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    Tribal Warrior n0km's Avatar
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    I want a 3D printer that can replicate a 3D printer......

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    "Island Bartender" KG4CGC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by n0km View Post
    I want a 3D printer that can replicate a 3D printer......
    What you want is nanobots.

  6. #6
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    I don't know if there's anything from that time period that would do that for me - I have a few things I built from that time period in my life that I'd like to hang on to, but the tools didn't hold any value on their own for me.

    I grew up past the era of classic tube rigs, so I appreciate the design of them, but they hold no personal nostalgia.
    Jim
    The machine does not isolate us from the great problems of nature but plunges us more deeply into them. - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



  7. #7
    Pope Carlo l NQ6U's Avatar
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    Drake 4-line radios were like that for me. When I finally got a set of twins, though, I found them less compelling that I'd remembered. I did sell them at a significant profit, at least.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

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    Orca Whisperer
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    A RatShack 160-in-one kit, in the wooden box would do the same for me...

    Ah, building my first transmitter: A spark gap, using the code key, a relay, and a capacitor...
    Big Giant Meteor 2020 - We need to make Earth Great Again

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  9. #9
    "Island Bartender" KG4CGC's Avatar
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    OK. I think I get it now. Before my time but the Zenith TO does it for me. 1952 through 1956 manufacture years. Cut my teeth on one at age 3. Last time I used one was for the magnetic phono preamp with a guitar plugged into it. Couldn't really get the tube hot enough and it made a continual phaser effect. That's the guitar phaser effect not the SciFi ray gun sound.

    The Hammarlund SP600-J.

    P-Box kits.

    60s and 70s era pocket radios.

    The smell of hot solder and rosin.

  10. #10
    Orca Whisperer n2ize's Avatar
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    I guess you could say I'm a bit of a vintage/antique collector. Lot of old radio equipment from the 40's, 50's, 60's (mostly transmitters). Most are older than me but I kind of like using things that have been around as long or longer than I. I have my collection of old pocket watches, various assorted antique appliances. Last old add on was an antique pencil sharpener dating somewhere back from around 1910-1920. Since I use pencils a lot it is pretty handy to have on the desk here and it's cast iron and metal covered in patina adds a nice touch in addition to its functionality, Pencils and the way we sharpen them hasn't changed much in over 100 years. I guess what I am saying is that I like antique and vintage stuff but I also like it to be functional. So most of he old things I have collected are in working order and are put into regular use.
    I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.

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