Hi all--

I had a brief moment of shock and horror yesterday.

I mentioned these "new" Starrett micrometers in a previous note--
http://pdknz.live
journal.com/pics/catalog/952/289149

They have been lying on the windowsill for the last few weeks--sort of on
display, sort of because I don't want to banish them back to my shop.

Twice recently, someone has complemented the nice--wait for it--
"clamps."

It's surprising how much that hurts, but I guess it says a lot about--I
dunno--something.  Us or them, I guess.  Take your choice.

Digressing-- I may get to use the mikes again pretty soon.  I tried to make
a trip up river with my flood ride snowgo, and the engine seized up after
about 20 miles.  Sigh.  Burning down a snowgo isn't that big a deal--it
happens almost every year, but I'm concerned for my hermit buddy Andy, who
has one almost exactly like it.  Makes me wonder how he's doing in this
freaky warm weather.  I was lucky and didn't have to walk very far, but
still.

Digressing even farther.  The Iron Dogs went through Galena yesterday, and
are expected back about Thursday.  The Iron Dog 2000 is an annual snowgo
race that normally goes from Anchorage to Nome, then back to Fairbanks.
It's normal that they pass through Galena both ways, but this year they had
to move the entire race a few hundred miles north--

The Iditarod is coming along in a week or two, and they have the same
problem.  There's not enough snow in the entire southern half of Alaska for
the winter races because you people down south and east got it this year.
I can't even use the wood stove some days because the weather is too warm.

PK
Suffering from the sunny weather and the slings of irony.

Phil wrote:
> I mentioned these "new" Starrett micrometers in a previous note--
> http://pdknz.li
vejournal.com/pics/catalog/952/289149
> ...
> Twice recently, someone has complemented the nice--wait for it--
> "clamps."

And I can kinda picture Phil dragging out an F clamp, carefully
adjusting it around a snogo piston to take it's diameter, and using
his tape measure for the readout.

cur - in sunny and nearly snowless Oregon, waiting for the consequent
jump in food prices and obesity.

I must say that those are some might fine lookin' mic's. Being the bottom feeder
that I am, most of mine look like they have been through a war, and a couple
have.
I must also admit that I have an old mic that I use as a clamp. It has an 8
gauge lead attached and I use it as a welding work lead for thin material, as
the standard work lead can make a real mess of the thin stuff. I tell people it
is my precision clamp for precision welds. It came ti me with a pre-bent frame,
and was unusable for original purpose....

On 2/24/2015 6:52 PM, Erik Levin via OldTools wrote:
> I have an old mic that I use as a [welding ground] clamp


HA HA HA HA HA HA   Just be sure you never roll the  mouth open and 
closed by rolling it along your sleeve.   Bad for the precision threads 
ya know.

Phil,

They should hold the Iditarod in Boston this year -- 8 feet of snow in the
last 4 weeks.  With the entire transit system crippled, commuting to work
via dogsled would just be wicked pissah.

Paul Fuss

On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 5:57 PM, Phil Koontz  wrote:

>
> The Iditarod is coming along in a week or two, and they have the same
> problem.  There's not enough snow in the entire southern half of Alaska for
> the winter races because you people down south and east got it this year.
>
>