Continuing Education

This might compare with the process called "flashing the field" to restore residual magnetism in some types of brushless gensets. No guarantee, but maybe worth investigating.

In the distant past Bill Fay of http://www.frenchriverland.com made a few postings on CR4. If you take a look at his web site you will get the impression that he will probably know the answer. His web site seems friendly and informative.

Thanks BruceFl. That is an amazing site. Amazing company too. I thought that I needed to "flash" but my available Company resource was useless. Bill had the same problem on a build, and that was his solution. I thank you all for your time and help.

If anyone has access to the Erie Canal System, Look for a lock with an intact powerhouse and ask to see it. It will make you appreciate the old timers and how they did it.

Happy to help. Anything Bill does is orders of magnitude beyond my work but I still treat his web site a little like the way a 8 year old treats the toy catalog in November. Anyone with a lathe you need a ladder to get to the top of and an end mill with a 10 foot bed has to be classified as "cool".

May I suggest you continue to drop by CR4 once in a while. There are a dozen or so consistent and many more inconsistent CR4 people that do interesting things and work on interesting problems from time to time. I think you would fit in well.

Bruce

Is the public normally allowed inside a working Erie Canal System power house?

Once upon a time my parents were showing us the Erie Canal and other historical sites. We somehow got into an old factory that was still run as a working factory by a couple of guys. There was a water wheel (at the dam on a river, not actual Erie Canal) that drove overhead shafts in both the first and second story of the factory.

There were dozens of big wide belts that transferred power from the overhead shafts to floor mounted equipment. There were huge levers that were used to engage and disengage the belts. Wooden floors with gaps in the planks, moving belts with no belt guards, big holes in the floor for belts or materials to pass through, overall an OSHA inspectors wet dream. I can't believe we got in there, I can't believe we were allowed to wander around for about an hour and I can't believe we all lived through it. But, it was amazing.

With permission and a guide from the lock, most lockkeepers will open the powerhouse for visitors. Part of the tourism thing in NYS. I know lock 23 in brewerton is all there, and I think 18 in mohawk is complete.

The "Frenchriverland" web site has been on my favorite list for a few years now. I think that what you folks can do and know is amazing. I've learned much and will continue to do so I am sure.

I manufacture wood bearings for these old hydro facilities still using Lignum and Impregnated Maple so I see quite a few of these old power houses, especially at the old paper mills here in Maine.

Keep up the good work and pay no intention to the negative moderator.

Well said... A GA from me...

Welcome back and please keep coming back. Your site and work is very interesting and shared very well.

I generally keep out of the line of fire and I still get my feathers ruffled every now and then on CR4. I just don't come back for a few days and don't think about the posting that has disappeared from the front page. It works for me. There is too much good here to walk away.

Welcome back,
Bruce

Bill,

What glue do you use for lignum vitae? I haven't found anything yet that will hold under even minimal loads. When I build the quarter blocks, I typically true up my end grain blocks individually, drill two holes through each for through bolting, and finish bore each quarter block segment individually. After assembling the quarters I cut my chamfers. I've had great luck with these staying aligned. and once installed, the castings hold everything in place.