Cheap/Homemade tools

Lathe chisels. Although not cheap (range from $70 to $90 each) I thought I would add them here. At the top is a Sorby chisel with two tips. The offset design lets me cut the inside of a curved-top bowl.

Second down is a bowl scraper. The blade is heavy and has just a slightly beveled edge. It's heavier weight helps to dampen vibration while it cleans up tool marks from the other chisels.

Third down is a bowl gouge with a 1/2" fingernail shaped tip. This is used for initial cutting and shaping. It will remove wood quickly, but will leave tool marks that will need to be cleaned up.

On the bottom is a 3/4" parting tool. This is used for cutting the bowl away from the waste wood that mounts the bowl to the lathe's chuck. I usually only cut part way through and then take the bowl off the lathe and finish the cut with a flush saw. I had one bowl that came off before I was ready and it bounced happily across the shop floor.
When I priced Thickness Sanders ($400 - $500) I decided I had better build my own. I made a simple box to fit over my Mini lathe and put an adjustable platen in it that I can raise up or down. Simple hinges on the back side and a turnbuckle in front allow the adjustment. Another board is used to carry the wood through the sander. The sanding drum was made from Peg's rolling pin. I cut the handles off and ran it across the table saw to put a 1/8th" groove in it.

The sandpaper is cut to fit, wrapped around the rolling pin and folded into the groove. A small rubber tube (used to put screening in windows) is pressed into the groove to hold the paper.
This is the rear view of my disk sander, showing the mounting block and lathe chuck. The disk is (this one anyway) is made from MDF. I have two, one with 80 grit paper and one with 120 grit. I use the 120 grit for sharpening my lathe chisels.

Front view of the disk sander. The work table is simply a piece of MDF glued/screwed to a 2x6. There are a couple of strips down the sides to keep it stable. For sanding bowl rings, the table is removed to give full access to the disk.

Visit to the Pima Air & Space Museum

C-130 landing at Chu Lai, South Viet Nam
I put this picture here because I've posted one of a C-130 that rests at the Museum. It's a shame that a great old warbird was allowed to deteriorate like the one on display has. See below.
My old Marine Corps buddy came for a visit and we went to the museum again to revisit some of the displays that we had missed last year when he visited. Here are some of my favorites.

F-102

I worked on the F-102 while I worked for the Wisconsin Air National Guard. It was nearly obsolete back then (early 70's) but was still used for training. It wasn't all that good in a dog fight, because if the pilot tried to make a sudden steep climb, he would cut the airflow off to the intake and the engine would stall. A jet without the jet engine becomes a rock and this one flew like a rock.

C-119

This is the aircraft that I was first appointed a Crew Chief on. I was a young 19 year old, but apparently I had the mechanical know-how that they were looking for. It was primarily used to train Reserve pilots in flying slow transports. I have a lot of stories about the adventures I had while flying in these things. The troops transported on them, called them "Shuddering Shithouse".

Rear view of C-119 also known as the R4Q
DC-3
The DC-3 is probably recognized as the most reliable aircraft ever built. At least until the C-130 came along. I was a Crew Chief on this one also. It too, was used primarily to keep pilots current in their transport flying skills.
Another view of the DC-3
C-130 Hercules
This picture makes me sad to see such a wonderful old bird, in this state of disrepair. I flew many missions into and out of Viet Nam and the aircraft was shot full of holes, but never let us down. I posted another picture I have of one of my squadron's C-130 making a landing in Chu Lai. Unfortunately, the system always puts the new pictures at the top, so all I can do is say look up there for it.

C-45
This was a trusty old soul! It couldn't carry a whole lot, but it was a workhorse. I worked on these while employed by Midwest Aviation in Wisconsin. They were pretty spartan and the method of primeing the fuel pressure was done with a hand pump. Same method was used for a Model T.
SR-71 Blackbird supersonic
It flew coast to coast in the U.S. in one hour. It was a supersonic observation plane that could
take a picture of your license plate from 81,000 feet, while flying at 2,000 mph. There is a
short slide show by a pilot at www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm