Somebody Make Something

Hmm. Sounds like a missing corpus callosum. Return to manufacturer.

Joe

--------------------------- I've had failing parts of my head replaced but nothing that complicated.

I have struggled. I haven't even managed to get up and clear the gutters after leaf-fall. On Saturday (17th) we had the first life-giving sunshine of 2026. The mood of everyone lifted. People sat facing the sun in a state of bliss at the outward end of their walk along the beach. My friend and I finally lit a cigar she had bought on the 22nd of December and spent an hour there just feeling life and joy returning. At the cafe, before and after the walk, people were sat outside in the sunshine joyfully - first time of the year after a couple of months under a leadened sky with drizzle coming down most of the time if not rain. So please don't feel bad. We (in Britain) had a bad 'flu this year in that it debilitated people for weeks with a post-viral extreme shortage of energy. Doubly please don't feel bad. Best wishes, Rich Smith

Comment 2

Your government, "the beltway", "the Versailles on the Potomac", is good at making a mess the size of a Shakesperian tragedy, of everything it touches at the moment - does that count?! :-)

Look - I do see that the one president is inheriting a vast "kicking the can down the road" mess. I won't decree absolution ;-) - but I do see an impossible situation to resolve.

I have this winter watched videos of American mining enthusiasts going out into the wilderness finding gold and other resources. Bright, experienced and practically skilled. Only enough findings to hopefully cover costs and maybe make a few bucks on-top, but my goodness they are alive and that is where hope for America resides - that spirit.

Best wishes

I have this winter watched videos of American mining enthusiasts going out into the wilderness finding gold and other resources. Bright, experienced and practically skilled. Only enough findings to hopefully cover costs and maybe make a few bucks on-top, but my goodness they are alive and that is where hope for America resides - that spirit.

Best wishes

------------------------------- It seems to me that the percentage with that spirit is declining and most settle for fitting into in the herd. The small local sources for hobby metalworking and even woodworking tools and supplies have largely vanished since the 1980's. DIY rooftop TV antenna installations to avoid the $200 monthly fee for cable are very rare.

The small local sources for hobby metalworking and even woodworking tools and supplies have largely vanished since the 1980's.

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A few decades ago an old lathe like this for $800 would list for at least $2500 without the valuable accessories. New ones cost $12,000.

At the current price of gold even a small amount can be profitable. Its tempting to pack up all of my dad's old hobby prospecting gear and head out into the desert.

I know a hard dry clay (caliche) bank on bedrock above a wash that did not get worked out by the Chinese gold crews that worked the wash bottoms down to the bedrock in that area. We found where a lens had been worked out just above that clay bank, and a friend of my dad's knew the guy who sunk a tunnel into that clay bank along the bed rock in the

There is a lot of gold in the USA that will never be worked due to various restrictions. One section of creek up near Prescott is designated a recreational prospecting area. Nearly everybody who gives it a go finds a little flower gold in the sand. Imagine what you could find just dredging the creek for a mile or two. Not legal. Shovel and pan only. Maybe a small sluice, but I don't think so. There was some land up stream that had proven for lode claims, but they are all patent, legitimately private, or no prospecting national forest. One claim belonged to a friend of my dad's (Virgil Corly sp), and we had permission to placer the creek there, but we mostly just went camping in the woods. Mr Corly and my dad have both passed away, and I am sure his permission doesn't extend to me with Mr Corly's Heirs. Mr Corly retired fairly wealthy, but he did it by parleying his gold findings in the stock market and hitting a vein of good luck in wise stock choices.

I never really got the gold bug, but I do have a little gear. Haven't picked up a pan except to move it to a different shelf in 40 years. I have wielded a shovel a bit... for digging ditches and repairing plumbing. There are still plenty of opportunities in the US for gold. Particularly for "recreational" prospectors, but those gold shows don't show you the legal mine field that can be sown in your path if you get serious. One fellow I knew played the game hard. He didn't even really prospect. He just filed lode claims over top of other people's placer claims. I didn't really study the law to know how that worked, but one semi serious recreational prospector I knew was pretty sore about it. Made a point of telling me how he despised the guy for it.

I have a small 6 x 12 surface grinder, and I have used it.... for flattening and squaring vise jaws so I can dial in the fixed jaw or the removable jaw on a mill table. I tried it for some hardened knife steel and the heat warping made it a useless waste of time. I've gotten a lot more use out of my D-Bit grinder, not always for its intended purpose.

I have a small 6 x 12 surface grinder, and I have used it.... for flattening and squaring vise jaws so I can dial in the fixed jaw or the removable jaw on a mill table. I tried it for some hardened knife steel and the heat warping made it a useless waste of time. I've gotten a lot more use out of my D-Bit grinder, not always for its intended purpose.

Bob La Londe

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My surface grinder has been useful, I sharpened jointer blades on the arbor and cleaned up the top of my anvil with it, plus salvaging dull brand-name endmills and large taps (between centers) bought cheap. It has probably paid back its $100 price by regrinding good endmills. The choice between a surface grinder and a 6 jaw lathe chuck would be difficult, I use both, neither is essential. The smaller 6 jaw on a 5C mount in a hex collet block is good for milling wrench flats on short pieces that don't fit a collet and can slip in a 3 jaw.