Hello from Fargo

[Richard Hed]

I've been lurking around here for a bit, but I don't think I did an introduction. I pickup up a HF mini lathe >10 years ago and have access to a bridgeport at work and I learned the basics. I just picked up a HF 33686 mill for a price that I had no choice but to buy it. I have been messing with RC planes and helis lately, but that itch is not as bad anymore and I am getting back into machining small engine projects. I've always been into engines and all things mechanical and I've been into electronics as a hobby and professionally since I was a kid (I'm in the neighborhood of 50 now). I have many interests and I do lots for DIY projects that the voices in my wife's head tell me to do.
Scott

What do you mean--"when you were a kid"--you still are. I bet you even know how to use one of those new fangled cell phones!

 

[Richard Hed]

Hi. I am originally from Belfield, ND. Now in Amherst, NH. Also messing around with conversion of Griz G0759 to CNC. Hung up a little on doing all the oil passages. G9972Z and Emco Comapct 5 Lathe. Interested in Kozo K27 live steam locomotive but still working on first issue. Just starting in ham radio and SDR KC1MNM

Richard

Hold on a sec-- I thot "Emco" was a European brand. We used to have "Enco" but they were bought out by MSC or somebody like that. Do you really have an Emco? do you have a photo you could send, I'd like to see what it looks like. I have a crappy little Enco and the only thing good about it is that it is better than not having one at all. Making threads with it is the most horrible task one can imagine in machining.

 

[rkadrmas]

Yes, it is an Emco 5" made in Austria. I have done metric thread on it.

 

[Richard Hed]

Yes, it is an Emco 5" made in Austria. I have done metric thread on it.

Huh! That's very interestink. Many of the Brits have these and of course other Europeans but I never have heard of one in America. Thanx for showing the photo. How is it? My Enco has these tiny belts less than a quarter inch wide that are extremely expensive and, of course, they break once in a while. I found some on ebay for 2/3rds the price but STILL expensive, as I thimmk they are only worth about 3$ each. I buy them if I can find them cheaper just to have a few in the cabinet. However, there is another belt 5/8ths " wide that I recently destroyed and had an even more difficult time to find replacements. Now I'm always on the llook out for these types of belts. they are very much like vacuum cleaner belts (the flat, ridged type) but only longer. When I bought the Enco, I failed to notice that it didn't do left hand threads, which is a large part of the reason I bought a new lathe! Two months later, I discovered GRIZZLY. They had a nearly identical lathe, a few $$ cheaper and IT did LH threads. Was I PIST! AND Grizz could have shipt it from my own state direct to my door!

 

[rkadrmas]

I got it from Campbell Tools Co., Springfield Ohio many years ago (no longer in business). Blue Ridge Machinery Machinery for Home and Industrial Machine Shops - Blue Ridge Machinery and Tools | Hurricane WV also has parts. It has small belts also. I also got the drill head for it.

 

[William May]

Wait, wait wait! I want to hear that story.

Well, if you want to hear it, then it'll be your problem. (If you fall asleep during part of it, just go back and read it louder.)

A couple years back, I made a trip the the Benson Ford Research Center. This is located on the grounds of the "Henry Ford Museum", which used to be known as Greenfield Village.
I was interested in doing some research on the Ford Model S. For those who don't know, this is the car that actually cemented the foundation of the Ford Motor Co. with sales so good that it made it possible for them to push the Model T towards completion. This model of car (One real car group, but which comprised the Model N, Model R, and the Model S, were all similar, with the same chassis, transmissions, and engines, and only slight changes to the exterior features such as the fenders and running boards. (You can google them and read about them, they are quite interesting.)
I had a Model N-R-S frame, which was in poor shape, had been modified (to become a stationary wood saw, I believe) welded on, and was just generally pretty bedraggled.. I wanted to look at the original drawings, to see what was correct, what I could cut off or un-rivet as unnecessary, and what I would need to make the frame serviceable as a base for an actual restoration.
This is NO PROBLEM! The BFRC gives free access to all of the Ford archives. If it is in regards to your own project or restoration, you only pay for copies. If you want to get a drawing in order to produce a part, such as something for a Model A ("Yeah, no one is making the "magic frammis", so I think I'll go into production on it and supply all the Model A owners!), you can do that as well, but then you have to go through the Ford Licensing Office. They approve and control drawings used for reproduction parts. Understandably, they want to keep a close watch on products that bear the official FORD name.
The only requirement for the BFRC is to give them a few days notice, so they can pull the records you need to examine. When you get there, they have a box of records for your area of interest, sitting on a table for you, and you just go to it.
Ford records are basically of 2 types. There are paper cards that give information about any particular part, that is just written out. There are also micro-fiche records, that show the original drawings. There are no longer any original drawings from the early days of Ford. They transferred all the early drawings onto microfiche sheets, and the originals were then discarded. Also, some drawings have simply been lost. (Virtually everything from the Model T and Model A is intact and present, even the odd, unusual, experimental, and developmental drawings. But drawings from the earlier days are more of a problem.) (If you want to go there to see how they attached the headliner in your 1952 Ford Crown Victoria, those prints exist and are available, and you can go see them).
In any case, I requested the drawings for the Model N-R-S. (They are all in one group, and in one box)
The people who work at the BFRC are absolutely TOP NOTCH! I could not praise them more highly. There are a lot of ins and outs in the records, and they know some of the most obscure things you could want to know. The people there VERY helpful, and gave me a lot of assistance in finding the things I was looking for.
So now you have a box of little microfiche cards in front of you.
The first thing is that even though every Ford part has a number, that does NOT mean it is on just one drawings. There is a unique and individual drawing for EACH component that makes up that part. So when you look for a part drawing, you may actually be looking for 15 different drawings.
That is your first challenge.
The next challenge is that the old microfiche was photographed just as it existed. If the drawing was damaged, then it shows on the microfiche drawing. There is nothing you can do about that, except search through other drawings to see if there might be something that clarifies the area that is in doubt. This usually can be done, because there are also ASSEMBLY drawings, which show how each component was to be put together to make a completed part. At the time the fiche material was made, the old drawings were not that important. I am sure that no one back then ever thought that people would be arguing to the death over when a certain bracket was used in production, and which way the hardware attaching it was oriented.
Fortunately for me, one of the members of the Early Ford Registry, compiled a "Finder List" of drawings, so that if you are looking for the water pump, you can get in the range of the correct drawings, or, as in my case, the range of drawings that showed all the frame parts. I had a copy of his list, and I was GLAD that I had brought it along.
Many of the drawings are EXTREMELY difficult to read. I literally had to blow details up 20 times to get them to the point where I could make out what the actual dimension was. You are looking at VERY FAINT white lettering, on a completely black background. At times it was hard to even follow the outlines of the parts.
I spent a day there, and didn't even get all the frame drawings I needed. I got a lot of the info, but I will have to go back again, and the next time, I will be spending a week there, because a single day was too short, unless you are only interested in a single part. I spent $73.00 just for the day's copies that I needed.
So someone who is showing a Ford drawing, I GUARANTEE they have spent at least a couple of days, and you have to include the copy charges, (which aren't bad, but you need to copy everything that is important) the hotel stay, the gas, the trip to get there first, food, etc. etc. Doing research at the BFRC is NOT cheap. Someone who has uncovered an entire project, like the Henry Ford Sink engine, has probably spent $500 or more, just to get the info they needed to write the article, or come up with the designs. And on top of that, I think that the Ford Quadricycle and the Ford Kitchen Sink engine had either very few or no drawings at all. I know the drawings for the Ford Quadricycle project were done at the direction of the Ford Motor Company, when they wanted to build a replica, and this was in the 1950's at some time. Those were done by George D'Angelis, who worked in the Ford Engineering Dept. at the time. I have no idea at all how Mr. Ridenour got the drawings for the kitchen sink engine. I assume he asked for access, and actually took dimensions off the original kitchen sink engine in the museum.

 

[Richard Hed]

Well, if you want to hear it, then it'll be your problem. (If you fall asleep during part of it, just go back and read it louder.)

A couple years back, I made a trip the the Benson Ford Research Center. This is located on the grounds of the "Henry Ford Museum", which used to be known as Greenfield Village.
I was interested in doing some research on the Ford Model S. For those who don't know, this is the car that actually cemented the foundation of the Ford Motor Co. with sales so good that it made it possible for them to push the Model T towards completion. This model of car (One real car group, but which comprised the Model N, Model R, and the Model S, were all similar, with the same chassis, transmissions, and engines, and only slight changes to the exterior features such as the fenders and running boards. (You can google them and read about them, they are quite interesting.)
I had a Model N-R-S frame, which was in poor shape, had been modified (to become a stationary wood saw, I believe) welded on, and was just generally pretty bedraggled.. I wanted to look at the original drawings, to see what was correct, what I could cut off or un-rivet as unnecessary, and what I would need to make the frame serviceable as a base for an actual restoration.
This is NO PROBLEM! The BFRC gives free access to all of the Ford archives. If it is in regards to your own project or restoration, you only pay for copies. If you want to get a drawing in order to produce a part, such as something for a Model A ("Yeah, no one is making the "magic frammis", so I think I'll go into production on it and supply all the Model A owners!), you can do that as well, but then you have to go through the Ford Licensing Office. They approve and control drawings used for reproduction parts. Understandably, they want to keep a close watch on products that bear the official FORD name.
The only requirement for the BFRC is to give them a few days notice, so they can pull the records you need to examine. When you get there, they have a box of records for your area of interest, sitting on a table for you, and you just go to it.
Ford records are basically of 2 types. There are paper cards that give information about any particular part, that is just written out. There are also micro-fiche records, that show the original drawings. There are no longer any original drawings from the early days of Ford. They transferred all the early drawings onto microfiche sheets, and the originals were then discarded. Also, some drawings have simply been lost. (Virtually everything from the Model T and Model A is intact and present, even the odd, unusual, experimental, and developmental drawings. But drawings from the earlier days are more of a problem.) (If you want to go there to see how they attached the headliner in your 1952 Ford Crown Victoria, those prints exist and are available, and you can go see them).
In any case, I requested the drawings for the Model N-R-S. (They are all in one group, and in one box)
The people who work at the BFRC are absolutely TOP NOTCH! I could not praise them more highly. There are a lot of ins and outs in the records, and they know some of the most obscure things you could want to know. The people there VERY helpful, and gave me a lot of assistance in finding the things I was looking for.
So now you have a box of little microfiche cards in front of you.
The first thing is that even though every Ford part has a number, that does NOT mean it is on just one drawings. There is a unique and individual drawing for EACH component that makes up that part. So when you look for a part drawing, you may actually be looking for 15 different drawings.
That is your first challenge.
The next challenge is that the old microfiche was photographed just as it existed. If the drawing was damaged, then it shows on the microfiche drawing. There is nothing you can do about that, except search through other drawings to see if there might be something that clarifies the area that is in doubt. This usually can be done, because there are also ASSEMBLY drawings, which show how each component was to be put together to make a completed part. At the time the fiche material was made, the old drawings were not that important. I am sure that no one back then ever thought that people would be arguing to the death over when a certain bracket was used in production, and which way the hardware attaching it was oriented.
Fortunately for me, one of the members of the Early Ford Registry, compiled a "Finder List" of drawings, so that if you are looking for the water pump, you can get in the range of the correct drawings, or, as in my case, the range of drawings that showed all the frame parts. I had a copy of his list, and I was GLAD that I had brought it along.
Many of the drawings are EXTREMELY difficult to read. I literally had to blow details up 20 times to get them to the point where I could make out what the actual dimension was. You are looking at VERY FAINT white lettering, on a completely black background. At times it was hard to even follow the outlines of the parts.
I spent a day there, and didn't even get all the frame drawings I needed. I got a lot of the info, but I will have to go back again, and the next time, I will be spending a week there, because a single day was too short, unless you are only interested in a single part. I spent $73.00 just for the day's copies that I needed.
So someone who is showing a Ford drawing, I GUARANTEE they have spent at least a couple of days, and you have to include the copy charges, (which aren't bad, but you need to copy everything that is important) the hotel stay, the gas, the trip to get there first, food, etc. etc. Doing research at the BFRC is NOT cheap. Someone who has uncovered an entire project, like the Henry Ford Sink engine, has probably spent $500 or more, just to get the info they needed to write the article, or come up with the designs. And on top of that, I think that the Ford Quadricycle and the Ford Kitchen Sink engine had either very few or no drawings at all. I know the drawings for the Ford Quadricycle project were done at the direction of the Ford Motor Company, when they wanted to build a replica, and this was in the 1950's at some time. Those were done by George D'Angelis, who worked in the Ford Engineering Dept. at the time. I have no idea at all how Mr. Ridenour got the drawings for the kitchen sink engine. I assume he asked for access, and actually took dimensions off the original kitchen sink engine in the museum.

That wasn't so bad. I didn't fall asleep either. I am doing some drawings from an old mag where about 1/4 the important dims are missing, have to look for it in other parts or just invent it so I know what it is like trying to enlarge somethign to read the dim.

 

[William May]

That wasn't so bad. I didn't fall asleep either. I am doing some drawings from an old mag where about 1/4 the important dims are missing, have to look for it in other parts or just invent it so I know what it is like trying to enlarge somethign to read the dim.

I hope your drawings come out well! It is a LOT of work, as I'm sure you know.
One of my pet projects is collecting drawings regarding the Brush Runabout Automobile. Over the years, many people have made drawings from original parts, and most of them are extraordinarily good. You can tell it was a labor of love for them. I have about 1/4 of the car in drawings, and i hope to contribute my share to that collection, so that eventually there are available drawing of every part. I hope you have plans for your drawing's disposition, so they don't just get tossed. You can bet there is someone out there who needs them badly for a project.

 

[Richard Hed]

I hope your drawings come out well! It is a LOT of work, as I'm sure you know.
One of my pet projects is collecting drawings regarding the Brush Runabout Automobile. Over the years, many people have made drawings from original parts, and most of them are extraordinarily good. You can tell it was a labor of love for them. I have about 1/4 of the car in drawings, and i hope to contribute my share to that collection, so that eventually there are available drawing of every part. I hope you have plans for your drawing's disposition, so they don't just get tossed. You can bet there is someone out there who needs them badly for a project.

Just if anyone is interested it is a 2-cylinder compound steam with a condensing pump. It's got one portion of the bed that I consider impossible to cast so I am thimking that eventually, I will redesign it to be castable with a core. the dwg I have is REALLY difficult to understand. In order to even draw the bed, I had to make some other parts first just so I could tell what was going on . I have most of the parts done now and am pasting them into one master assembly just to see how the bed works. Still can't see how it fits correctly. Part of my problem is I just have a lap-top screen which is really too small to be doing this kind of work.

 

[William May]

Just if anyone is interested it is a 2-cylinder compound steam with a condensing pump. It's got one portion of the bed that I consider impossible to cast so I am thimking that eventually, I will redesign it to be castable with a core. the dwg I have is REALLY difficult to understand. In order to even draw the bed, I had to make some other parts first just so I could tell what was going on . I have most of the parts done now and am pasting them into one master assembly just to see how the bed works. Still can't see how it fits correctly. Part of my problem is I just have a lap-top screen which is really too small to be doing this kind of work.

What you could do is take the laptop down to a place that does commercial blueprints. They turn out blueprints for building projects, government projects, etc. I take whatever info I have down to mine on a disc, or little thumb drive (Whatever I can get it to load on, I am not good with computers)
My place is ARC Document Solutions in Tucson.
One of the good things about the computer revolution is that everyone has stopped doing manual drawings.
A. There is a TON of really good drafting equipment for sale, going for pennies on the dollar. I paid $20 for a commercial drafting table that has all-electrical adjustments, and works perfectly. They just wanted to get the thing out of their shop. It was like new, and should last me for the rest of my life, easily. I bet the thing cost $3000 or more when it was new. The same goes for templates, drafting tools, etc.
B. Places like ARC are proliferating. because that is how it's done now. No one even does drawings in their office. The places typically do everything on CAD, and then just send the file to places like this ARC co., and order however many sets of prints they need. (They need a LOT! On a big project EVERYONE involved gets a set of prints.)
And these places can print HUGE!
I found a set of drawings for an antique car, and had them blown up to 1/4 full size so I could estimate dimensions for a body build. I also had the drawings for a German Rail Gun (Ferdinand) blown up to 1/8 scale, for a railroad project. I think the barrel print for that is about 20 feet long.
All of those were handled with ease.
They usually print by the square foot, because we are talking THOUSANDS of square feet of print material. So when I bring my little projects in, it takes them like 5 minutes, and it costs me $4. I think ALL the prints for the rail gun, done in 1/8th scale, only cost me about $60 total.
I asked them once if I was bothering them, bringing in my goofy little steam engines and car projects, and they said "Hell, NO! We see the same boring stuff here every day! The stuff you bring in is really interesting!
So you might want to see about large prints. They definitely make the drawing easier to read.
And if you can't find something close, find a printer in some large city, and go to the library and have the files sent from there. Tell them to give you an estimate before they print. If it seems high, try somewhere else. I stumbled on the ARC place after 3 other places.
Also, the un-castable base may just have some split lines, where they used separate block patterns and block molds, to build it up to the point where it is pourable. I have run into this on one of the designs for the EM Steam Tricycle. It appears I can cast the upper crankcase, with it's supporting arms, but will need a 6 piece pattern, and then all those molds will be placed together to be poured as a single piece crankcase casting.
I bet when you blow the print up, it will be easier to see. Those old engineers were VERY clever!

 

[William May]

What you could do is take the laptop down to a place that does commercial blueprints. They turn out blueprints for building projects, government projects, etc. I take whatever info I have down to mine on a disc, or little thumb drive (Whatever I can get it to load on, I am not good with computers)
My place is ARC Document Solutions in Tucson.
One of the good things about the computer revolution is that everyone has stopped doing manual drawings.
A. There is a TON of really good drafting equipment for sale, going for pennies on the dollar. I paid $20 for a commercial drafting table that has all-electrical adjustments, and works perfectly. They just wanted to get the thing out of their shop. It was like new, and should last me for the rest of my life, easily. I bet the thing cost $3000 or more when it was new. The same goes for templates, drafting tools, etc.
B. Places like ARC are proliferating. because that is how it's done now. No one even does drawings in their office. The places typically do everything on CAD, and then just send the file to places like this ARC co., and order however many sets of prints they need. (They need a LOT! On a big project EVERYONE involved gets a set of prints.)
And these places can print HUGE!
I found a set of drawings for an antique car, and had them blown up to 1/4 full size so I could estimate dimensions for a body build. I also had the drawings for a German Rail Gun (Ferdinand) blown up to 1/8 scale, for a railroad project. I think the barrel print for that is about 20 feet long.
All of those were handled with ease.
They usually print by the square foot, because we are talking THOUSANDS of square feet of print material. So when I bring my little projects in, it takes them like 5 minutes, and it costs me $4. I think ALL the prints for the rail gun, done in 1/8th scale, only cost me about $60 total.
I asked them once if I was bothering them, bringing in my goofy little steam engines and car projects, and they said "Hell, NO! We see the same boring stuff here every day! The stuff you bring in is really interesting!
So you might want to see about large prints. They definitely make the drawing easier to read.
And if you can't find something close, find a printer in some large city, and go to the library and have the files sent from there. Tell them to give you an estimate before they print. If it seems high, try somewhere else. I stumbled on the ARC place after 3 other places.
Also, the un-castable base may just have some split lines, where they used separate block patterns and block molds, to build it up to the point where it is pourable. I have run into this on one of the designs for the EM Steam Tricycle. It appears I can cast the upper crankcase, with it's supporting arms, but will need a 6 piece pattern, and then all those molds will be placed together to be poured as a single piece crankcase casting.
I bet when you blow the print up, it will be easier to see. Those old engineers were VERY clever!

Oh, I almost forgot. I usually have them print 2 copies if I am looking at castings. One drawing set is the MASTER set, which I keep untouched and unmodified. The 2nd set is the one I put notes on, add my own drawings or mods to what exists, and use for making patterns, by cutting out just the part I am thinking of casting, then taking it down to the local UPS store and having them printed at 103% (Or whatever shrinkage I need to compensate for) and then just make the pattern to that drawing. I note the critical dimensions in red (distances between mounting bolt holes etc.) with actual calculations, and when I am making the pattern, those become the absolutes around which the rest of the pattern develops.

 

[Richard Hed]

Oh, I almost forgot. I usually have them print 2 copies if I am looking at castings. One drawing set is the MASTER set, which I keep untouched and unmodified. The 2nd set is the one I put notes on, add my own drawings or mods to what exists, and use for making patterns, by cutting out just the part I am thinking of casting, then taking it down to the local UPS store and having them printed at 103% (Or whatever shrinkage I need to compensate for) and then just make the pattern to that drawing. I note the critical dimensions in red (distances between mounting bolt holes etc.) with actual calculations, and when I am making the pattern, those become the absolutes around which the rest of the pattern develops.

Ah, thanx for that. My prob isn't in seeing the stuff clearly, it is in drawing the stuff. I only have my laptop screen to go back and forth between what I am reading FROM and drawing TO. I have to have both programs on one screen. I am used to having the reading FROM on the laptop and the drawing TO on a 2nd screen but I do not have that at the moment. Using AutoCAD, the program takes up so much space at the top and bottom that very little drawing space is left. Boohoo--I thimk I'll eat some worms.

 

[William May]

Ah, thanx for that. My prob isn't in seeing the stuff clearly, it is in drawing the stuff. I only have my laptop screen to go back and forth between what I am reading FROM and drawing TO. I have to have both programs on one screen. I am used to having the reading FROM on the laptop and the drawing TO on a 2nd screen but I do not have that at the moment. Using AutoCAD, the program takes up so much space at the top and bottom that very little drawing space is left. Boohoo--I thimk I'll eat some worms.

Make the computer eat the worms!

 

[RonW]

Our local copy shop can handle usb keys of pdf drawings. I save/print my AutoCAD LT drawings as pdf files and have them printed on anything up to about 24"*48". I'm sure there's a correct name for the size. They may even do longer as their paper is on a roll so 24" x whatever length is possible.
We have a company, Staples, who have do it yourself printers that will go to 11"*17". I do most of my drawings in multiples of that size. For detailed bits I pdf/print a "window" of the details blown up as many times as makes them understandable. I too use a laptop but a second large monitor makes the job more readable. When I'm on the road though the "zoom" function gets used a lot. Just a few ideas. Ron W

 

[William May]

Make the computer eat the worms!

Hey, Richard!
I was down at a local record store (REAL record store, not a chain, been here for 50 years. Has kind of a new-age, hippy atmosphere. All the employees are what might be termed odd, but I like them. (Blue hair, pink hair, laid back)
ANWHO,
After I pick out the CD's I was looking for, as I am walking up to the counter, I pass their shelf of used stereo equipment. And THERE, right on the shelf, is my Sony CD Changer. I LOVE this changer, and I bought the last new one in Tucson when they quit selling them. I drove about 50 miles round trip on my motorcycle with that thing strapped to my bike. That's how much I like them.
Price?
$15.00
When I saw that, I thought of you. You might want to go to a used computer store, one that has some actual geeks running it, and take your laptop along, and tell them you want to convert to a full-size, real computer. They have them now where you can get BIG monitors very cheaply, and you can put 2 or 3 together, so you can keep a different display on each screen, which is what it sounds like you need.
(Where I worked, the guy in the office in the hangar, who dealt with writing squawks on the aircraft as we documented them, and ordered parts, etc. he wound up with SEVEN screens, set up so he could keep everything on display. He needed them, for all the stuff he did. But that was the first time I ever saw something like that. I always thought "one computer, one monitor, one keypad" But that is no longer the case. And used monitors can cost as little as $10 each.
Just a thought. You may be crotchety like me, and have your own way of doing things.

 

[Richard Hed]

Our local copy shop can handle usb keys of pdf drawings. I save/print my AutoCAD LT drawings as pdf files and have them printed on anything up to about 24"*48". I'm sure there's a correct name for the size. They may even do longer as their paper is on a roll so 24" x whatever length is possible.
We have a company, Staples, who have do it yourself printers that will go to 11"*17". I do most of my drawings in multiples of that size. For detailed bits I pdf/print a "window" of the details blown up as many times as makes them understandable. I too use a laptop but a second large monitor makes the job more readable. When I'm on the road though the "zoom" function gets used a lot. Just a few ideas. Ron W

Yes, I usually use a 2nd monitor, unfortunately, the modern ages rolls over us whether we want it or not. That is, the laptop I have now, (last year's model) does not have a 2nd monitor plug--it all does the 2nd monitor now as wi-fi which is fine, except for the $$ part in which as a retired person, I cannot afford one. This is an HP which I promised myself I would never buy again but my wife talkt me into it. I should have gone with my self promise. The best laptop I ever bought was Samsung. I don't know what is going on with Samsung now, but I can't seem to get one. Anyway, the laptops and computers are all moving one direction and it doesn't seem to be stoppable.

 

[William May]

Our local copy shop can handle usb keys of pdf drawings. I save/print my AutoCAD LT drawings as pdf files and have them printed on anything up to about 24"*48". I'm sure there's a correct name for the size. They may even do longer as their paper is on a roll so 24" x whatever length is possible.
We have a company, Staples, who have do it yourself printers that will go to 11"*17". I do most of my drawings in multiples of that size. For detailed bits I pdf/print a "window" of the details blown up as many times as makes them understandable. I too use a laptop but a second large monitor makes the job more readable. When I'm on the road though the "zoom" function gets used a lot. Just a few ideas. Ron W

Those are all EXCELLENT ideas. I am glad you mentioned them, because not everyone, especially in a small town, is going to have good access to a print shop.
Before I discovered the ARC print shop, I used the FedEX Office place, the STAPLES place, etc. The only problem I had with them was some of the staff were "Copyright Nazis". "Sorry, sir, but we cannot print that, because it might have a copyright!". Everything I print is for my own use, and if I DO share drawings, it is usually free to the person I am sharing them with, although I did charge for my costs on a couple sets of engine drawings that people here wanted.
This happened even with a PDF Disc, that I bought online with some plans. (They had the usual blather in their sales pitch on the plans that "You just take them down to your local copy place and have them printed out! It's Easy!". To which my response is: "Great! It's EASY! So YOU do it, and send me the drawing set!") When I took the purchased disc down, they refused to print anything off of it, "because it could be copyrighted!" So you have to be careful with whom you are dealing, lest you become entangled with the nitwits.

 

[William May]

Yes, I usually use a 2nd monitor, unfortunately, the modern ages rolls over us whether we want it or not. That is, the laptop I have now, (last year's model) does not have a 2nd monitor plug--it all does the 2nd monitor now as wi-fi which is fine, except for the $$ part in which as a retired person, I cannot afford one. This is an HP which I promised myself I would never buy again but my wife talkt me into it. I should have gone with my self promise. The best laptop I ever bought was Samsung. I don't know what is going on with Samsung now, but I can't seem to get one. Anyway, the laptops and computers are all moving one direction and it doesn't seem to be stoppable.

Yes, I bought a Samsung cell-phone, and had it in my shirt pocket. I was up on the tail of one of the aircraft, working on the horizontal stabilizer, and it slid right out of my pocket, down the skin of the stabilizer, and off the edge to the concrete 50' below. I looked down just in time to see it explode into about 15 pieces. CRAP! Someone saw it fall, and I asked them to gather up the pieces and dump them on my toolbox, and I figured I would stop on the way home and get a new one. So I finish the job, and come down, and look at the pile of parts, and notice that it just kind of disassembled itself. Nothing was really broken. Not even the screen. So then I thought " Well, let me see if I can put it back together" and lo and behold, everything snapped back in place. Holy Crap! IT's back together! Will it work? Hit the button.........nothing.......oh well, it was worth a shot. I leave it on my toolbox and go to break, and when I come back, there it is, all lit up and chirping happily! I was astounded. I actually dropped it two more times like that, and the case eventually started to bend, and I finally had to get a new one. But that was one TOUGH phone. I am sold on Samsung products. That was my first phone ever, and it lasted over a year. The new one has lasted a LOT longer, doesn't get dropped anymore, and has a rubber impact case now.

 

[Richard Hed]

Yes, I bought a Samsung cell-phone, and had it in my shirt pocket. I was up on the tail of one of the aircraft, working on the horizontal stabilizer, and it slid right out of my pocket, down the skin of the stabilizer, and off the edge to the concrete 50' below. I looked down just in time to see it explode into about 15 pieces. CRAP! Someone saw it fall, and I asked them to gather up the pieces and dump them on my toolbox, and I figured I would stop on the way home and get a new one. So I finish the job, and come down, and look at the pile of parts, and notice that it just kind of disassembled itself. Nothing was really broken. Not even the screen. So then I thought " Well, let me see if I can put it back together" and lo and behold, everything snapped back in place. Holy Crap! IT's back together! Will it work? Hit the button.........nothing.......oh well, it was worth a shot. I leave it on my toolbox and go to break, and when I come back, there it is, all lit up and chirping happily! I was astounded. I actually dropped it two more times like that, and the case eventually started to bend, and I finally had to get a new one. But that was one TOUGH phone. I am sold on Samsung products. That was my first phone ever, and it lasted over a year. The new one has lasted a LOT longer, doesn't get dropped anymore, and has a rubber impact case now.

Yes, yes. Do you know what happened to the Samsung computer market? Maybe the big guys have pusht them out because they don't want any quality on the market. Planned obsolescence and all that.

 

[William May]

Yes, yes. Do you know what happened to the Samsung computer market? Maybe the big guys have pusht them out because they don't want any quality on the market. Planned obsolescence and all that.

Not a clue. I am not much of a techie. I got my first cell phone last year. I know just enough about computers to have them not work.