Several years ago at GE in the Tool & Die shop during a slow spell of work we made brass dreidels to keep busy. They were machined so perfect that you can spin them on a granite surface for almost 3 minutesThis one is spinning at over 1000 rpm and with the Vivitar 285HV flash set at lowest power it gives shortest flash duration (1/30,000 sec.).We played the game last night but had to do it on a rough surface to speed the game up. 3 minutes for a spin to stop is much to much.20 seconds is better and with a red solo cup in hand the wait isn't that bad.---charliezap

[patrick9]

Interesting effect on the last one. I am curious.How do you figure the speed? nice series

[charliezap]

Interesting effect on the last one. I am curious.How do you figure the speed? nice series

We had a portable speed analyzer in the shop and a good spin was over 1000 rpm.--charliezap

[Ex Finn.]

That is neat, you should have set a diamond in the tip for even longer spin time.

[LaurenOE]

Hmmm...neat. Maybe I should make one too

[Den]

No wonder my GE stock tanked!
Cool images and an entertaining story.

[Bob Harris]

precession just like the jet engines you built. Keeps on Going...The flash sure works good on hummingbirds as you know.

[Rupert]

Those are neat shots Charlie! I have one of those too, came in a little bag. Mrs Rupert gave it to me a couple of years ago. I've never used it, I thought it might be a high tech toothpick? Good to know what it is for!
Regards!

[charliezap]

That is neat, you should have set a diamond in the tip for even longer spin time.

Hmmm...neat. Maybe I should make one too

No wonder my GE stock tanked!
Cool images and an entertaining story.

We had to order more 1" brass in the following week.The tip has a very small radius that allows it to spin for what seems forever.It has 8 sides that tells you what to put in or take out after your turn.--charliezap

[imaspy]

These aqre fantastic shots which, honestly, would stand up completely fine on their own without the almost MS-word-esque 'special effects'... of course it won't be to everybody's taste. otherwise great work!

[wombat2go]

I got a bag of scrap brass which was edm electrodes- cheap and very useful for small jobs ( below) , so I'll take the liberty to copy Charlie's design and make (2) for the boys.
I don't think I have a fast enough flash.
But my little old lawn tractor with its snow blade had a front wheel disaster yesterday; today i got some low cost generic wheels with tires and BEFORE NEXT SNOW I will have to machine some bushings.
on the 1936 South Bend

[LaurenOE]

on the 1936 South Bend

Sweet!

[charliezap]

precession just like the jet engines you built. Keeps on Going...The flash sure works good on hummingbirds as you know.

Those are neat shots Charlie! I have one of those too, came in a little bag. Mrs Rupert gave it to me a couple of years ago. I've never used it, I thought it might be a high tech toothpick? Good to know what it is for!
Regards!

Thanks guys.I always liked the Vivitar non dedicated flash units and for $89 it's a great unit with plenty of settings for different light outputs.I used flashbulbs years ago so a manual flash for me is a no brainer.--charliezap

[charliezap]

I got a bag of scrap brass which was edm electrodes- cheap and very useful for small jobs ( below) , so I'll take the liberty to copy Charlie's design and make (2) for the boys.
I don't think I have a fast enough flash.
But my little old lawn tractor with its snow blade had a front wheel disaster yesterday; today i got some low cost generic wheels with tires and BEFORE NEXT SNOW I will have to machine some bushings.
on the 1936 South Bend

It looks like that you are single pointing a 3/8"-16 thread on that lathe.it does bring back memories.--charliezap

[tim60]

I got a bag of scrap brass which was edm electrodes- cheap and very useful for small jobs ( below) , so I'll take the liberty to copy Charlie's design and make (2) for the boys.
I don't think I have a fast enough flash.
But my little old lawn tractor with its snow blade had a front wheel disaster yesterday; today i got some low cost generic wheels with tires and BEFORE NEXT SNOW I will have to machine some bushings.
on the 1936 South Bend

Brings back memories of turning 5/8 Whit and 7/8 Whit threads in brass and 316 Stainless at my previous job. The stainless was nasty to work. The brass was nice, we used rendered mutton fat for lubricant, so it smelled like a BBQ, but the brass produced splinters not swarf, and the splinters in the skin took a few days to get infected just enough to slide out nicely. I was using a small Hercus lathe (made in Adelaide). The other lathe was a bigger Honden (from Taichung, Taiwan) which was used mainly for facing surfaces on rusty cast iron parts brought in from many years in the field for repairs. They were dangerous in the 4-jaw chuck.

I like pictures of machine tools like that. Sometimes when I go to a die casting works I am close to I get out the back to take pictures of the tools.