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April 2010 Group Picture
There are hobby machinist groups scattered around the USA including a small HSM group in Connecticut. Our CTHSM group is congenial and freewheeling:
no rules, no dues, just people getting together to learn new techniques plus share thoughts on machining and other topics that arise. Meetings are held in member shops, nominally on the second Sunday of the month at 2pm. Anyone interested in attending a meeting please contact me
(via the link below on this page) for more info and travel directions.
The June 8th meeting was at Ralph's shop in New Hartford, CT.
Ralph's locomotive was in his shop but will be moved to Southwick shortly for operation on their track. Ralph is working on a gondola and has made the castings for the trucks. Eventually he intends to use this gondola for a propane tank which will replace the coal currently used to power the locomotive.
Paul displayed his wood plane, where the sides are dove tailed to the sole plate. The wood is Cocobolo, lending a further touch of elegance.
Paul also showed tools he acquired for flaring automotive brake lines; he found flaring stainless lines very difficult and suggested copper/nickel lines are easier to deal with. He also showed another flaring tool used when installing the heat pump for his shop; despite his best effort the freon was lost in one year from a miniscule leak. Leaks this size can't be found with soapy water, a professional (expensive) electronic leak detector is needed.
This is an exercise for the new machinist that doesn't use much material. It requires turning, drilling, boring, cutoff, and precise fitting so the cover of the tiny container is a press fit.
Here's an interesting variation on using the Kant Twist clamp parts available to CTHSM members.
See: Kant Twist Knurler at HSM
The August 10, 2025 meeting will be at my shop in Newtown, CT.
Parts for Kant Twist clamps will be available at this meeting.
As usual, bring items for demonstration and/or discussion. Plus items for the sale/swap/free table.
Home shop machining is often a solitary hobby, as are most hobbies now according to "Bowling Alone".
The CTHSM group is an attempt to get area HSM's to know one another and thus make our hobby a little less solitary.
The much larger NEMES HSM group is 2-3 hours away so we share some members and occasionally have visitors from that group.
The CTHSM group has been meeting since November 2008, mostly on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 2pm, but we deviate from this with some regularity. The January meeting is not held since Cabin Fever conflicts, February has seen a couple meetings cancelled due to weather, the May meeting is on the 3rd Sunday to avoid a conflict with Mother's Day, and we don't meet in July because many members are on vacation. Over time our meeting schedule has become predictably irregular...
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Pictures from our unusual "Music Machine Meetings"
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