wrote in message
...

After replacing my original late 1800's DH windows, I have a several dozen
cast iron sash weights, all around 8 lbs each. I hate to toss or even scrap
them, but so far have not come up with a useful repurposing means...
Thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks in advance

A gravity stock feeder comes to mind... When I worked at the Gunsmith Shop
at Colonial Williamsburg there was a gravity feed on the hand cranked barrel
reamer... The carriage that held the barrel had a hook on it. To that hook a
rope was attached. The rope was in turn attached to a weight. As the reamer
opened up the bore the weight pulled the barrel into the reamer bit. The
beauty of it was that if the reamer hit a tight or hard spot the feed
slowed down. Compare this to a power feed that would try to maintain the
feed rate regardless of the cutting conditions. It seems to me that
Wallace Gusler used the feed in the movie Gunsmith of Williamsburg--used to
be widely available from libraries and was available for purchase from CW.
at www.history.org