Many of the people around the area know that I have a lathe and a mill, and will generally do a small job if asked nicely for free. I am not over-ran with people wanting free work done, in fact, it's nice to have people drop by for the company they give. You can't walk into my office/shop without seeing model steam and i.c. engines setting on every shelf, bookcase, desk corner---I'm over ran by the damned things. Everyone always comments, admires, and gets to see a "test run" of the engine of their choice if I am not pressed for time. Today a fellow stopped by with something he thought I might be able to use. This is something that has been around his fathers farm as long as he can remember. It appears to be a 50 pound weight of solid brass. It is about 7 1/2" tall, 6" wide, and has "50" stamped on the top of it. I gave it a scrape on top with a file, and yep, it looks like solid brass. Baby, there's a LOT of trim pieces and flywheels in that chunk!!! I've no idea how much money it's worth, but based on what I have to pay at my local metal supplier, I could probably trade it, straight up, for a small island in the Caribbean!!!
