Sunday, May 25, 2008

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Jerry Pontius DHS57 Wins Model Making Award


Model DHS Classmate

Pontius places second in national model engineering challenge
BY JACI CONRAD PEARSON
Black Hills Pioneer 5-21-08

Jerry Pontius (on right) of Deadwood took second place in the national Sherline Machinist's Challenge, held in conjunction with the North American Model Engineering Society's annual show in Toledo, Ohio, with his small-scale model of a “candlestick engine.” Courtesy photo

For the past 12 years, Jerry Pontius has challenged himself to stretch his imagination and go the extra mile by scaling his huge machine shop know-how down to a surprisingly small, but intricate level. Building small-scale creations, meant to mirror large-scale engineering masterpieces, his most recent independent creation took second place honors at the 2008 Sherline Machinist's Challenge in Toledo, Ohio. This award officially makes him a model dhsclassmates, of sorts.

Competing with other elaborately handcrafted machining projects assembled from a number of fitted, machined parts, honed, for example, from a lathe or mill, Pontius' stainless steel “candlestick engine,” which runs on compressed air, was enough to catch the attention of the judges, made up of engineers and model builders, who deemed his display of engineering one of the most interesting, attractive and appealing.

According to Pontius, the finials on the ends look like candle flames, hence the name.

“I'm elated,” said Pontius of his award-winning status. “Now I can get caught up on my writing.” Pontius, who took first place at a previous challenge in Rapid City, in addition to completing a refurbished model of the Yates Hoist for the mining museum in Lead, also provides written project plans on how to build his model masterpieces and is published in a Village Press publication for model engineers, entitled “Home Shop Machinist and Machinist's Workshop.” His current labor of love is a model of an engine in the Smithsonian Museum that he has been working on for the past two years.

See http://www.bhpioneer.com/articles/2008/05/21/news/northern_hills/doc48343dbf914b3101362719.txt for the compete interesting story.