Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

Here we are, well into October—— another five weeks and I leave for the USA——- Lake X—— Tavares, my family, Seebold’s—- Serra—- Sirois—— all my old Fart friends.
Certainly some exciting times to look forward too.
Been building “Funny” outboards all night——- Flat fours- sixes and eights—— how to hang ‘em—— all the little things nobody ever thinks about!
In the scrap bin were at least six motors, five screens, three biminis, Radar arches and masts, mounts gear cases, and all the debris that never made it for one reason or another.
Ah Well, ——another day, another dollar——- places to go, people to see, deals to be done——- you never know, it could be my lucky day——- and yours !

Next time I come up with a stupid idea like building a big feck off hydroplane engine——- would somebody somewhere tell me not to be so bloody stupid.
Had another full five hour day beavering away like a demented Gippetto——- getting nowhere very fast.
Can tell you it’s a horizontally opposed four——- made the block, barrels and heads—— got them cobbled together.
Built a pair of those funny weird exhaust pipes, but not before I’d screwed up right royally the first pair.
All I have to bo now is get it onto the back of the chuck away hydro——- first I have to make up a trunk and a gearcase —— steering and pulley system——-/ not beyond the wit of man—- but difficult for an idiot !.

Today I invited my son Mark to visit Lake X with me and a bunch of old boaters——-to my total astonishment, he told me he had been there dozens of times——I was surmazed.
Yeah, been up there testing with Timmy Seebold———- loads of the poker run guys——- used to set up some of the quicker offshore rigs.!!!!
You think you know your own kids ?

Trying to figure out hydro engines——— Koenig made them look simple—— so I thought I might give one a try——- nothing in life worth doing is simple.
Only perfection is nearly good enough !

Attachment 419995

7am this morning looking out from my bedroom ——-perfect October morning—- Somedays you just have to leap out of bed and grab the day by the cajones !

Another long slow day in the shop———- got the top half of the hydro motor done ( well, assembled) need to mount it so it looks like it belongs—- not just hung there !
Did the flywheel and flexiplate, then a pair of oversized fuel intakes, ( used to call them Venturi in the day’s when Pontius was a Pilate)
Remember this thing was so bad, I chucked it in the bin—— I have to make a “silk purse” out of a pug ugly “sowsear”!
Got one or two trimmings to ornate the craft with——— a couple of bright ideas——a bit of flare and imagination—— thinking outside the box—— a bit sideways and upwards who knows how it’ll turn out eventually.
Got myself into a pissing contest with Lassie—— I sometimes get a bit uptight when some folk think they know a hell of a lot more than they actually do ?
You get folk like Roy Ridgell (who should know better) attributing a collage Of men who improved the safety of powerboating yet no mention of Hodges who was solely responsible for the safety cell as we know it today !
How do I know—— I was there—— told him it wouldn’t work—— nobody wanted to be strapped into a boat ! —— we argued—— he hung himself from a crane, strapped into a cell and dropped into the water. He was unhurt, I gradually changed my mind.
A week later, he took all his drawings with him to Holland and showed Cees how to build a safetycell.
Cees had been working with one of the Dutch universities on how the best way forward to improve driver safety———- Chris just wanted all boatbuilders to have access to the cell ——- for free—— no charge—— no patents.
Parkinson did manage to get Mercury to cough up £500 towards the cost of development!
I do not know if OMC contributed in any way?
Bill Brown Tried with an aluminium cell which went disastrously wrong——-he had “borrowed”. a mannequin from the British Motor Corporation that had all the readouts as per the human body—— reputed to have cost over a million pounds—— Bill managed to “Destroy” it the first time it was dropped from a crane!
I was wrong about safety cells——- But was passionate about boat racing, and had opinions of my own, not always right——— but I believed them at the time.
Today, there have been great strides in the development of safety cells——-even beyond the “ Crash Box”—————- how do I know this———-my son and grandson got involved.
All there is to do now is get officialdom to Agree As to where it’s going and what’s allowed !
Chris Hodges and I and all my family !have been very good friends for nearly fifty years——

dude, try to keep it to a few lines, nobody has that much time to go thru all that, love you man, but trying to listen to the princess and read a long rambling post ,,,, my mind is close to be fried. fun out

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Originally Posted by mr fun

dude, try to keep it to a few lines, nobody has that much time to go thru all that, love you man, but trying to listen to the princess and read a long rambling post ,,,, my mind is close to be fried. fun out

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Try reading it over a week—— or giving it a miss for a few days—— it’s not written in stone——— you don’t HAVE to read the ramblings! That short enough for you Mr. Fun ?

cells in F1 boats are working ( one they sorted the lid out) but not in offshore boats that spend lots of time upside down at high speed then fall to bits

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Originally Posted by powerabout

cells in F1 boats are working ( one they sorted the lid out) but not in offshore boats that spend lots of time upside down at high speed then fall to bits

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Theres a whole lot of new goings on in offshore safety cells Pilgrim—— there’s a new training program with a for real in the water experience for drivers——- not the swimming pool gig that F1 carries out.
Mark and Craig got theirselves involved and decided something should be done—— take a look on the dot dot, it makes for some exciting biting.

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Originally Posted by jackiewilson

Theres a whole lot of new goings on in offshore safety cells Pilgrim—— there’s a new training program with a for real in the water experience for drivers——- not the swimming pool gig that F1 carries out.
Mark and Craig got theirselves involved and decided something should be done—— take a look on the dot dot, it makes for some exciting biting.

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I dont think anyone has died escaping did they, the boats fell to bits when they landed?
and or the punters decided they didnt need full time air
H1 Unlimited goes faster and seems to be quite safe these days?

[QUOTE=powerabout;3081705]I dont think anyone has died escaping did they, the boats fell to bits when they landed?
and or the punters decided they didnt need full time air
H1 Unlimited goes faster and seems to be quite safe these days?[/QUOTE

]Pilgrim — do you really want to go down that road! —— yes people have died trying to escape —- SOME boats fell to bits on impact—— didn’t drivers always know best ?
UNLIMITED???? ——- Er, Which of the three boats are we talking about ?
Gieco ?.... pulling well over two thousand horsepower and cruising just a tad over half throttle——- wait until a team comes along with ambition——- puts the hammer down——- pisses on the parade ——- Sh- t hits the fan and suddenly the boats don’t look that safe anymore!
Fact is cells are needed in unlimited racing—— things are not always as it seems—- push the limits and cells are needed!

[QUOTE=jackiewilson;3081766]

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Originally Posted by powerabout

I dont think anyone has died escaping did they, the boats fell to bits when they landed?
and or the punters decided they didnt need full time air
H1 Unlimited goes faster and seems to be quite safe these days?[/QUOTE

]Pilgrim — do you really want to go down that road! —— yes people have died trying to escape —- SOME boats fell to bits on impact—— didn’t drivers always know best ?
UNLIMITED???? ——- Er, Which of the three boats are we talking about ?
Gieco ?.... pulling well over two thousand horsepower and cruising just a tad over half throttle——- wait until a team comes along with ambition——- puts the hammer down——- pisses on the parade ——- Sh- t hits the fan and suddenly the boats don’t look that safe anymore!
Fact is cells are needed in unlimited racing—— things are not always as it seems—- push the limits and cells are needed!

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Who died trying to escape, if you are in a cell and you have air, what goes wrong?

H1 unlimited are the unlimited hydros, they have been doing 200mph for years, class type boat currently holds the prop driven world speed records for mile etc. ( drag boats are faster for a few seconds) Only one engine but well over 2000hp. I dont remember the last time someone was injured as opposed to offshore that cant seem to get their sh1t together and build a boat that can survive an accident, well at least enough to keep the crew alive. Since say the year 2000 offshore has been doing most of the killing of crew in closed cockpits

[QUOTE=powerabout;3081775]

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Originally Posted by jackiewilson

Who died trying to escape, if you are in a cell Since say the year 2000 offshore has been doing most of the killing of crew in closed cockpits

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1994 at Key West--Tom Gentry

[QUOTE=GENE LANHAM;3081787]

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Originally Posted by powerabout

1994 at Key West--Tom Gentry

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yes very sad, before they used constant air so if you get knocked out its all over

[quote=gene lanham;3081787]

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Originally Posted by powerabout

1994 at key west--tom gentry

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cassagahri .?

Pironi .

Don’t think we need to go all the way down the line Pilgrim——- suffice to say—— too many offshore racers died before their time.
Safety cells that work——-Tuition, so they know the correct procedure——— panic avoided—— contributory factors that all go towards making offshore safer.
If you get anywhere near Port St. Lucie between the 12/17th November—— Craig will be happy to show you just how far the safety cell has come this year alone.

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Originally Posted by jackiewilson

Try reading it over a week—— or giving it a miss for a few days—— it’s not written in stone——— you don’t HAVE to read the ramblings! That short enough for you Mr. Fun ?

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Mr Wilson, sorry, didn't mean to ruffel your feathers.

[QUOTE=GENE LANHAM;3081787]

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Originally Posted by powerabout

1994 at Key West--Tom Gentry

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that's exactly my first thought, he never made it out.

Specifically, Tom was disoriented(didn't know which way was up) & swam into the rigging cables & wires under the dash & got tangled up & thats how & where the diver(s) found him & pulled him out... You may know the rest. Ritchie Powers barely made it out on his own.

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Originally Posted by FUJIMO

Specifically, Tom was disoriented(didn't know which way was up) & swam into the rigging cables & wires under the dash & got tangled up & thats how & where the diver(s) found him & pulled him out... You may know the rest. Ritchie Powers barely made it out on his own.

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full time air would have prevented that

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Originally Posted by mr fun

Mr Wilson, sorry, didn't mean to ruffel your feathers.

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Keith, you didn’t ruffle my feathers any —— like it or not, I write what I like here on S&F, and the admin allow me free rein within the guidelines.
Sometimes (When oft upon my couch I lie—) I’m sure you know the rest, I get to recalling times past, incidents, happenings and occasions——— one thing leads to another——- and before you know it it’s past midnight and the page is full.
Thats me Mr. Fun——— it’s what I do—- poke the nest—- without getting stung——try to dodge the hornets—— around four hundred hits a day on the “Tricks” thread, So, it’s not all bad.
I know that’s nowhere near as many as Lassie gets on his “OMC FACTS AND FICTION” thread——— but you get a better class of reader on the ”Tricks”

1986-1990 By Charlie Strang
USF1 United States Formula One

The when, where, who and why of the V-8 racing circuit will all be found in the following story.

When we at OMC were developing a V-8 "fishing motor", circa 1980, we decided to build a racing version of it to replace our Wankel outboards which had been barred from most European races.

Since there were few places to race a 3-1/2 liter outboard in the USA at that time (other than enduros) we decided to race them primarily in Europe. In UIM, the 3-1/2 liters put the V-8 into class OZ (unlimited displacement). At a meeting in Europe the UIM decided OZ would henceforth be known as Formula One. In 1981 the John Player tobacco company of England sponsored the John Player World Championship series for Formula One. There were 10 V-8s running there in 1981, plus a number of Merc V-6 engines.

In the fall of 1982 Bob Spalding realized that the V-8s were running faster in competition than the Class X outboard hydro record---so he ran a Kilo on Lake Windermere in his tunnel boat at 139.66 mph. Not long after, Rick Frost---also of England---ran a Kilo in his F-1 tunnel boat at 144.16.

In those days tunnel boat design had not kept up with the available power and we had 4 deaths in 4 months. This led to the development of the safety cockpit---financially sponsored by both OMC and Mercury---which did a fantastic job of reducing risk.

During 1985 OMC's European operation had a problem with a race promoter who spent ridiculous sums on F-1---about 3.2 million in one summer! As a result, I pulled the plug on F-1 in Europe for 1986.

This incident, plus all we had spent on racing in the factory battles of the 1970s and early 1980s, convinced me we were not getting our money's worth out of the sport---with top-notch factory teams holding great races in remote locations---and the publicity was zilch.

We then decided to concentrate on racing the V-8s in the USA---where most large outboards were sold---and to try to fund it with sponsor money. In other words, to use other companies' money to promote our product through racing.

We hired the top sports promotion company in the USA---or maybe the world---to find sponsors for outboard racing. Four months and $600,000 in fees later they told us that outboard racing was of no interest to the public and sponsorship was not to be had.

We decided to try it anyway, following where possible the example set by car racing. OMC's VP for Marketing, Ron Ingram, and I decided on a USA Formula One circuit with the following points in mind:

1. We would have a series of 6 to 8 races in the USA, open to drivers from all over the world.
2. It would be an F-1 series with the only limitation being that the engines must be available to anyone on the open market---to avoid the expensive and promotionally useless factory competition of the past. I think we set the required number of engines produced at 50. (This led to an interesting and even amusing lawsuit with Mercury.)
3. Our races would only be held at metropolitan locations with good press facilities.
4. The race would always be held in conjunction with existing major waterfront shows or events to insure a maximum crowd on race days.
5. We would have large prize purses, never before seen in boat racing, to excite the media---and the teams.
We then met with representatives of ABC, NBC and CBS to determine the ideal format. The networks designed a one-hour format for ideal TV coverage. This was the source of the 45 minute feature event---still used today at times.

We found a great series sponsor in Champion Spark Plug who regularly brought their distributors and dealers to the races and who also promoted the F-1 races in their ads. OMC also put much money into each race to make it a top-notch event worthy of media attention.

If I remember rightly, we started the US F-1 series in 1986---with over $600,000 in prize money for 7 races. We had plenty of European teams and plenty of US entrants. Probably the top event each year was Pittsburgh---where the police had a real job keeping the huge crowds in safe viewing areas.

The US F-1 series went on for about 4 years with all the top US and European F-1 drivers involved. There were always a few Mercs in the field, but only Bill Seebold was ever competitive---particularly on the shorter courses where the big V-8 boats had a bit more difficulty on the turns. The speeds were high---on the 1-1/2 mile course at Beaumont, Texas, Ben Robertson set a lap speed record of 141.33 mph. They were great races.

We thought it was a great series---as did the teams and the boating press---but the public interest did not warrant the cost. The TV networks finally told us that the F-1 events were great---but that boat racing simply could not draw enough attention to create adequate advertising income for the networks. As I recall, they commented that car racing could attract huge followings because, at that time, about 150 million Americans had cars and could relate to them---while only about 10 million Americans had boats.

At any rate, it became very clear that what was probably the best outboard racing circuit of all time could not justify its cost in terms of promotion, publicity and sales.

So - in 1990 I pulled the plug on the OMC F-1 circuit and we went to putting the money into grass-roots racing by producing the 2, 3 and 4 cylinder engines for OPC and sponsoring activity for those classes.

Now you know why I smile sadly when I hear a would-be promoter telling how he will make millions by turning some boat-racing class into the "next NASCAR"!

The V-8 Johnsons and Evinrudes are long gone. About all that remains on the record books is Bob Wartinger's 176.586 mph speed record of 1989---with a V-8 on a three-point hydro.

So who did all this? As I recall, from the technical side, Jim Nerstrom handled the racing version of the V-8 in OMC Marine Engineering, where Edgar Rose was OMC's VP. Gary Garbrecht and Les Calhoun did a great deal of development work and boat testing at Gary's Second Effort operation in Florida. Jack Leek, OMC's race boss had a finger in everything every where.

Bob DeGrenier was the guy who actually set up and ran the events. OMC Marketing guy, Barry Caris, oversaw OMC's PR and promotional activity and co-ordinated the race setup with DeGrenier.

Charlie Strang

whats the story on the 50 engines?
doc seems to miss the part where they went down to 3.0ltr?

50 engines was meant to insure that engines were available to qualified racer and not a couple of factory sponsored entries only. Strang was trying to avoid the OMC-Merc factory battles of the past. I don't know about the 3l issue.

John, I bow to your superior knowledge on most things in Outboard racing as I know it——- you were employed by OMC——- working on the rotaries i Do know that much, ——— never did know what other outboards you worked on?
Was always amazed that OMC could order cranks by the dozen at $12.500 a time—— but couldn’t find the resources to go testing before a race ?
When Mercury pulled the plug in Europe on Outboard racing ( after the factory battles) I was asked by a number of drivers to try and put a series of races together and form a sort of drivers union——— open to everyone——— so, I dreamed up Fonda——— used all my own money, quickly realised that I was in way too deep and needed help!
Parkinson from JBS came along and offered to help——- we had far more people worldwide wanting to put on events than we could manage—— the series came together very quickly——- we had the F1 title approved by the UIM and backing from Mercury——— two litres were decided as the way to go.
Any motor from anywhere that measured two litres was allowed——— it didn’t need five , ten or fifty homologated motors————- just the one would suffice.
The Formula idea was first mooted at Bristol by Charlie Shepard——- to give the crowds a better idea of the capacity of Outboard engines.
Because of the nature of the course in Bristol—— Charlie, in his wisdom—— decided that two litres would be the maximum capacity allowed to race.
Dirty tricks came into the act when OMC decided they wanted the F1 title ——- with the help of the UIM—— mass bloc of Eastern European votes —— and some “out of pocket” expenses, made sure which way the vote went.
At that period of my life, I Had beliefs, daft things,like the shake of a hand—— a mans word being his bond ! How ridiculous was that?

Attachment 420187Attachment 420188

Remember i I told you about MERT ONE——— the one I binned in disgust and then rescued——— well, here it is ————- don’t look much like any hydro there’s ever been. But it does look like an interesting piece of kit !
Will make a half decent trophy for some hydro event or another.

I like that one; the concept that is..
After a year training program at OMC, I worked on rotaries for 5 yrs. Included were the snowmobile engine, a 5 hp chainsaw, a 6 hp outboard and a 15 hp golf cart engine in addition to full time on the race engine for 2 yrs. When the powers to be decided they could beat Merc with the V-6 and the banning of the rotary, I was assigned to shepherd the new 9.9/15 into production and solve a couple of inherent problems. That lead to 3 patents. I was also responsible for putting CD ignition on all the small outboards 2hp-40hp. When Don Kueny (2 cycle outboard manager)was made Chief Engineer instead of George Miller (rotary engine manager), the hand writing was on the wall, as Kuney was very anti rotary and disliked anyone or anything that had anything to do with them. I left OMC during it's heydays and went to work for Homelite. I designed and developed the worlds first gasoline powered consumer string trimmer with automatic string advance and the worlds first hand held consumer blower.

Hi John
9.9/15 great engines, wish I could buy a new one today
have to ask, why is the gearbox so big?

Always knew you were a smart engineer Johnno, because of the work you did with the Rotory—— but never knew what happened after that !
I just have a feeling that I am going to regret asking this——— can you tell me (without burying me in rocket science ) just why is it that a motor as simple as a Rotory ( three moving parts and all that) is not the basis for multiple uses from drones to race cars ?
I have said many times—— my own belief is that the basic design is fundamentally flawed—— but, I’m not an engineer, whereas you are.
Just what is it about a Rotory that is so tantalisingly near—— and yet so far ?

Looking back on the history of the WANKEL, there have been some illustrious companies that tried to tame it——- Daimler-Benz, Rolls Royce, only to put it on the back burner ? WHY ?

It makes a great race engine, plenty of companies supporting them road racing today
Has a score on the board at Le Mans.

Ps surface to volume ratio bad so it was never going to be an emission winner.
But how about we put some etec injectors in one?? Might get over that problem at lower rpm's?

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Originally Posted by powerabout

It makes a great race engine, plenty of companies supporting them road racing today
Has a score on the board at Le Mans.

Ps surface to volume ratio bad so it was never going to be an emission winner.
But how about we put some etec injectors in one?? Might get over that problem at lower rpm's?

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It made a great race engine while it lasted, which as a rule, wasn’t long.
While it scraped home at Le Mans when Johnnie Herbert refused to come in for a driver change ——-commendable, but, one swallow don’t make a summer. Entry list not exactly full of Wankels ?

Here we are, over a hundred on, since it’s inseption——- still nobody rushing up to the table for it—— Why ? ——— I still reckon there’s still something DODGY about the damn thing !
Reckon old Doc Wankel kicked an Indian who put a Hex on him and his invention!

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Originally Posted by jackiewilson

It made a great race engine while it lasted, which as a rule, wasn’t long.
While it scraped home at Le Mans when Johnnie Herbert refused to come in for a driver change ——-commendable, but, one swallow don’t make a summer. Entry list not exactly full of Wankels ?

Here we are, over a hundred on, since it’s inseption——- still nobody rushing up to the table for it—— Why ? ——— I still reckon there’s still something DODGY about the damn thing !
Reckon old Doc Wankel kicked an Indian who put a Hex on him and his invention!

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wind this conversation forward 20 years and it will be internal combustion versus electric
Spark Plug manufacturers will be having their Kodak moment

Who took second? and who cares. Its all about who go across the line first.

Jackie: To answer your question earleir. The rotary offered a significan HP to Wt to Size advantage over a typical 4 or 2- stroke. In addition, they could be dynamically balanced eliminating linear vibration. If these characteristics were important to your application the rotary makes sense. The down side is much higher surface to displaced volume, resulting in higher hydrocarbon emissions and fuel economy than a 4-stroke but less than a 2 stroke. NOx emissions were lower for the rotary compared to a 4-stroke but similar to a 2-stroke. CO is a function of air/fuel ratio and can be reduced by leaning the fuel. Direct fuel injection (high pressure) may reduce emissions slightly. Several companies are using low pressure injection but its primarily to allow multi fuel.
Early rotaries (back in your day) had durability problems. The OMC race engine suffered from main (rotor) bearings failures and the infamous thru bolt breakage. The thru bot was eliminated with the 4 piece crank and direct oil injection into the bearing has solved the bearing problem.
GM dropped the rotary in 1973 when the Iranian oil crises hit the country. The Mazda rotary and the GM were getting 10/12 MPG while other non performance cars were getting 20/25. Another issue was the enormous capital investment required to machine the non-round trochoid shape. CNC equipment didn't exist at the time. I believe if GM had stayed the course rotaries would be commonplace today.
As Strang said, the V-6 could keep Merc at bay and the rotary had been essentially ban in Europe. With what we know about rotaries today, 450HP from the same 4-rotor engine would be reliably feasible.

The rotary was actually very successful in racing Jackie..

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wyq7lmz/

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Originally Posted by Rotary John

Jackie: To answer your question earleir. The rotary offered a significan HP to Wt to Size advantage over a typical 4 or 2- stroke. In addition, they could be dynamically balanced eliminating linear vibration. If these characteristics were important to your application the rotary makes sense. The down side is much higher surface to displaced volume, resulting in higher hydrocarbon emissions and fuel economy than a 4-stroke but less than a 2 stroke. NOx emissions were lower for the rotary compared to a 4-stroke but similar to a 2-stroke. CO is a function of air/fuel ratio and can be reduced by leaning the fuel. Direct fuel injection (high pressure) may reduce emissions slightly. Several companies are using low pressure injection but its primarily to allow multi fuel.
Early rotaries (back in your day) had durability problems. The OMC race engine suffered from main (rotor) bearings failures and the infamous thru bolt breakage. The thru bot was eliminated with the 4 piece crank and direct oil injection into the bearing has solved the bearing problem.
GM dropped the rotary in 1973 when the Iranian oil crises hit the country. The Mazda rotary and the GM were getting 10/12 MPG while other non performance cars were getting 20/25. Another issue was the enormous capital investment required to machine the non-round trochoid shape. CNC equipment didn't exist at the time. I believe if GM had stayed the course rotaries would be commonplace today.
As Strang said, the V-6 could keep Merc at bay and the rotary had been essentially ban in Europe. With what we know about rotaries today, 450HP from the same 4-rotor engine would be reliably feasible.

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Johnno——- Just had that feeling ——- knew I was going to get spanked.

Just five years after “The Cosworth”, which had a Le Mans spec of 400 hp———- the F1 version was pulling over 800 hp.

Not that that has anything to do with anything——— just making conversation—— I know——- I belong in my shed, making concepts nobody gives a flying fart about. But, it keeps me alive and ticking, out from under the feet of the kitchen goddess.

Doing one last trip to the OFF meeting in Tavares———- you coming Johnno ? —— Tryink to get Willabee to meet me there. Seebold and the Squirt will be there also.
How ‘bout we meet outside the gates of Lake X at 13:00 hrs on Friday the 16th November????

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Originally Posted by AZMIDLYF

The rotary was actually very successful in racing Jackie..

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wyq7lmz/

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I have a Swedish friend who races one in vintage events around Europe!

Attachment 420327

Thats the one my Swedish friend Michael races—— his mechanic Tommy, tells me it’s a really hot piece of kit !
Had a long day in the shop yesterday——- no interruptions——-
have you ever noticed, the one thing in common, all hydros have—— it’s that driftwood pallet they all sit on in the Pitt area———— so I put Mert on a De luxe custom built one.
Started on the next “Concept”——— Another billet project——- this time its the number six racing mercruiser stern drive.
Done the basic cut out from some 4x2 and half inch plate for The gearcase——- that killed off a new carbon blade on the bandsaw———— they don’t come cheap either, around thirty dollars a pop.
Blades do not like, two inch thick aluminium.
Ah well —— haircut and beard trim by my personal barber today——- she’s bloody good—— but then again she should be, having spent forty years in the trade ! Did I tell you, I’m married to her—— yes that’s her, the kitchen goddess——- her who shall be obeyed at all times—- HRH the Duchess .