I just got a flyer from Harbor Freight advertizing an English
   wheel for
       $200. This ad came out in the Phoenix area but may be available
       elsewhere or on line.

       Joel

       Yes, I got the same flyer up here in Redmond, Washington. The
   frame is
       $199, the Big wheel is $29 and the anvils are $84.


       I'm making pretty good progress on the cowl, but it is exercising my
       patience.

       Brian Trubee


       Do you have to normalize the aluminum after it works hardens?

       Paul Lamar

   Yes and no. I tried heating it up with a propane torch, but I don't
   think it really helped, for  a few reasons- I have no way of knowing or
   controlling how much heat I use. usually you can blacken the panel with
   an acetylene torch burning really rich, and then heating up the panel
   with a torch until the carbon is burned off- at least that's how I've
   seen it demonstrated on a video. I'm working with .050 6061 T6 aluminum-
   it's already starting off really hard, but I've been able to get it to
   move the way I want- usually. Lots of trial and error. So far, I've
   gotten two of the four panels required for the cowl pretty close to
   being done. I've also made a couple of  pieces of scrap. The learning
   curve is still fairly steep at this point.

   Brian Trubee

Maybe something like this would be helpful:

http://www.toolrage.com/prodView.asp?idproduct=3698


Regards,

Matt-


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