I was staring into the scrap bin thinking “man i just bought 2 of those valves for my last build and they were expensive, i should grab those” and then i grabbed all of it just incase the next build needs something haha
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tone, thanks for pictures…a very intelligent solution!!! shure your own invention!
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hello marcus ,my son also looks always for plumbing pieces…every time he is in a shop he buy one or two valves, he cannot resist, we have a lot, but at least they are useful…
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Looks like we’re all a bunch of opertunist, yep some folks see junk. We see dollar signs and potential. 
I pulled these off just yesterday, ran them threw the steam cleaner today before bringing them home. Practically good as new!!
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One thing I like to do with those brass ball valves is crack them loose just a hair more if I need something to turn easier. Good for temporary air adjustment. Sometimes those valves are almost too tight.
Just wrench from both sides, you only need to loosen it a little bit.
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Smart. I would grab them too. They are expensive to buy new. But you almost never see them, because I swear either people are stockpiling them or getting them for scrap metal.
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Made a big investment today for my mental toolkit.
I bought the Gingery book, combines all of his “Build Your Own” home shop books into an absolute tome.
70 dollars for the hardback, but at least I won’t have to worry about a hard drive being corrupted or my internet being out to access the book. 70 dollars isn’t a lot to some people, but it sure is to me.
I bought it mostly so I can build my own lathe.
Sold out on Amazon, I got one of the last ones for now, I’m sure they’ll put more up.
@JocundJake if y’all don’t already have this book I think you should find a copy. The last project is a Metal Shaper and is perfect for boring internal keyways and cutting precise gears.
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Hi Cody- how thick of plate will those diamon blades- cut- will they cut 1/8" or 1/4" plate.I use the 14" stone cut off wheels- though they can be dangerous brakeing off the arbor a few times i have.AND how may i ask do you loosen up a ball valve for wood gas water drains,THANKS.
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I don’t have any experience with water drains yet, but Wayne says he cracks his loose so the spring can pull it closed easy. Ball valves have a rubber or silicone seal that stays pretty airtight even when you loosen it a little.
Also I know for sure the Lenox blade can cut 1/4" if you’re patient with it. Just treat it like you would a regular cutoff disc and let the weight of the grinder do the work, all you’re doing is guiding it.
Just remember that blade has slits in it, and if it catches on those it will jump. I never start on the edge of a plate with my diamond wheel. I start a bit before the edge and work my way out to it.
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Now, my friends, lot of signs of spring here! When spring is delayed, it really “explodes”
Today wild-fire detection flight passed over training (a little early, i believe, can’t even light a campfire with kerosene in this wet woods)
coltsfoot, blu anemone, and wood anemone arrived at the same time this week.
And: wheel change period is almost over 
, my back feels like an big, open, wound.
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It’s 81F here. I had to quit working outside because I was too hot. Might get some snow Monday they say. I have a very narrow comfort zone.
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valid points. I think I have them all in PDF, but I think they are too large to upload. you would have to PM me.
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I already bought the book, but thanks for the offer. I knew they were available online since the books been out for so long.
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Yes I figured but @JocundJake or others may not want to hunt them down. They were covered under copyright laws, but I am unsure as to whether they STILL are covered under copyright. They may be in the public domain now.
I actually prefer PDFs because I can print off the pages I want and bring them into the shop. and if they get grease or dirt on them, it doesn’t matter. But everyone has their own little system. 
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Some spring-pic’s
Blue anemone
Woods anemone
Was a nice evening walk, spring in the air.
As a final dog rubbed herself in fresh badger-sh*t… yummy…
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I have one of the old Singer straight stich machines. 111w151 if I recall correctly. As said - fast. It’s a walking foot - needle feed machine. They were commonly used by the military for sewing parachutes. They have an adjustable length straight stitch. You kind of get used to operating the clutch but for the work most of us would do - a belt reduction or speed controller to reduce the speed to 1/3 capability would be helpful for the novice user.
I bought it 30 years ago to be able to sew canvas for my living history stuff but that never happened. I used it a few times but life is changing. It needs a new home.
Last year I bought 2 different Singer 401A machines like my mom’s that I grew up with. The first was incomplete and while I kept bidding on ebay for parts I found a really nice example. Mom could adjust her’s to sew naugahyde to silk. She made some very large been bag chairs from naugahide with it to suits and dresses. It’s not a walking foot machine but will do most anything I need it to do.short of possibly wishing it could match the wide zig-zag stitch used for sewing ultralight sails. I used it for sewing a curtain for my motorhome last fall. I had a pretty steep learning/reacquaintance curve as it’s been nearly 40 years since I left home. I’d also never sewn such a large project. I normally just repaired or hemmed my own clothes.
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They appear to be a nice machine that uses a cam system for stitches. and use the singer slant foot design…
You might be able to hack it to get a wider zig zag stitch. It is call the bite amplitude adjustment, but the adjustment thing just moves two small brackets that act as stops so it MIGHT be able to be modified by modifying those.
The 200 featherweight series had some sort of mechanical device to do zigzag. But I don’t know how that actually worked. All I remember is I tried it and got chewed out for breaking a needle when I was like 4
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Here is the page, and I am posting the page because it mentions they made TWO versions of the featherweight because they changed how the foot attaches to the shank between models of the featherweights. The newer version uses the ‘slant shank’ which is what your machine has. It seems redundant because your machine has the oscillating shank BUT modification of the external attachment to change the cam sizes would be buttloads easier. Especially given your tool skills. In fact, there is a diagram somewhere on the net with the parts, and you could probably build your own.
PS If you ever want to talk about grudges, I am still banned from using that featherweight. To be slightly fair, blew up the plug and scorched the wall above the outlet when I was 2, and got caught tearing it apart when I was like 3.
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Sis and I started out sewing a lot of paper. Gosh how bored I would get while mom picked out patterns and supplies at Fenstermakers. in Battle Creek MI. She actually would put on classes teaching how to adjust and maintain machines back in the early 70’s.
I’d not thought of trying to adjust the stitch width range. The feed should match the width so I’m not sure if how well it would work. I bought one of the spring operated presser feet that helps feed material on the top. It’s not the same as a needle feed but does appear to make a bit of a difference. The next aspect is thread weight. I was looking a year ago for information on what weight thread was used and had finally found the info. I was using my old computer that had the virus as I don’t see any of the information on this computer.
I’ve purchased fabric for making a cover for parts of one of the planes. It’s not as heavy as used for sails. I’ve not been able to go work on the plane. I accomplish so little with my health issues now,
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