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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 March 8th meeting was at Frank's shop in Plainville, CT. The February 8th meeting was cancelled because of snow.
Paul is working on a .60 glo-plug model airplane engine. He has converted the plans to a CAD model, allowing him to visualize how the parts interact. The picture shows the jig used to machine the crankcase. Also shown are the connecting rod and cylinder liner plus the laps used on the cylinder liner.
The frame for Ralph's gondola is wood and includes a large number of metal parts some of which are visible in this top view. Eventually this will be covered with decking and stakes will be installed in the holders seen on the sides; these stakes will retain the wooden sides.
Here's an interesting variation on using the Kant Twist clamp parts available to CTHSM members.
See: Kant Twist Knurler at HSM
The April 12, 2026 meeting will be at my shop in Newtown, CT.
Parts for Kant Twist clamps will be available at this meeting.
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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