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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 August 8th 2021 meeting was at my shop in Newtown, CT. This was our third meeting since Covid began and, again, it was nice to see and speak with old friends we haven't seen lately. About 100 pounds of miscellaneous flat and round steel stock found a new home at this meeting. Plus we managet to give away several more sets of the flat parts for the Kant Twist clamps; these are from the group project that was disrupted somewhat by the Covid pandemic.
Frank made this special wrench for a square shaft located in a hole, making it hard to access. Just below the wrench is the broach used to convert the round hole to square.
Paul made this "Universal Pillar Tool" designed by Geo. Thomas. This tool has many capabilities, most of which require optional atachments. As seen in the picture, Paul has made many of these attachments, each of which is a project in itself.
The rectangular steel block just to the left of the UPT was used to melt the ends of the plastic drive belt together so it's not an attachment for the UPT.
The September 12, 2021 meeting will be at Paul's shop in Darien at about 2PM. Per the COVID guidance, all attendees should be vaccinated. Parts for Kant Twist clamps will be available at this meeting, another reason to prefer real meetings ;-)
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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