Infinite range controllers

[Dave Bross]

Country is country.

To quote David Allen coe:

"If that ain't country, it'll harelip the pope"

Explained here for our urban friends:

http://ask.metafilter.com/55852/Yes-...ut-Im-confused

Or the real US history...which involved alternative civilizations like the Dismal Maroons.
If you look them up, official history brushes them off as a few escaped slaves who lived in the dismal maroon swamp in the Carolinas.

The maroons were actually a large civilization of all races and persuasions with the only qualification for entry being opposition to (or being wanted by) the government. They owned that swamp and any lawman who ventured in never returned. Some groups split off and moved elsewhere. Sort of like disgruntled Baptists in the south (inside joke for those who know).

There's a town north of Seattle where everyone has a perfect South Carolina accent. Descendants of the original Dismal Maroons who settled there in the 1800s. That's a long way from the Carolinas.

I've always been amazed at the similarities in rural life be it north or south.

If they could get over the civil war they would all get along fine...for a little while.
Think Hatfields and McCoys...Paddle faster, I hear banjos...

Perhaps best they don't.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Aw..., bless their hearts...

[Rosanna Gusler]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

Aw..., bless their hearts...

SNORT sweet tea on keyboard. rosanna

[Greg Vriethoff]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

*******
With an M16 and a confederate flag on the wall behind the counter. There's a lot of really crazy undereducated people up here in refined New England.

There's a lot of really crazy, undereducated people everywhere.

Regardless of the hipster "weirdness" of Portland, there's a large redneck population in the outlying areas. It's pretty much the same from Northern California all the way up to BC. It comes together in Portland in a way I haven't experienced anywhere else. Portland is weird, but not simply in the ways that are normally touted.

[Steve Beckwith]

I have bought things like this from Johnstone Supply. I think they are called an infinite switch. Call 'em. They are good guys on the phone.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I too have bought them from Johnstone, a company that now has opened retail stores and seems to be going down the path where Brookstone tools, once a fine company went to languish in personal shaving supplies and other sharper image tar pits.

[Steve Beckwith]

http://www.johnstonesupply.com/store...odF16-514.html

I looked in their online catalog, this is the kind of thing I have used in the past for controlling some kilns I have made using oven broiler elements as the heat source.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Thanks Steve. That is one of them, which amperage I can't say since the specs don't list it. Most likely 15 Amp.

In the good old days they would have listed the price. Now I have to log in so I can call one of the stores, which I have already done- twice to different ones, each saying that I needed parts numbers and essentially mumbling that this was too much trouble.

Wes swears by some living God that they will be here friday. I hope it's not that Mormon one.

Pete, if looking for knobs, we have a drop in Frigidaire model and the knobs on is say low simmer for 1 then 2, 3, 4, med for 5 and 6,7,8 and hi for 9. These would work if you can find just the knobs.

Lonnie

[Steve Beckwith]

I might add that these things increase power in either a clockwise or counter clockwise motion depending on the model. The proper knob for the switch will make life easier. Some years back I ordered the wrong combo so low is high and vice versy. Pete, I have a 12 year old catalog from Johnstone. If it will help, I would look up some part numbers for you.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I appreciate it. I think I'm OK now. Wes is sending me the old ones.

[Tom Fuhrman]

nothing's easy anymore. Have a friend who has done appliance repair for Searsfor 30+ years and he tells me that some refrigerators anymore cannot be repaired for less than $500 even if it's just something very simple like a switch. Service call alone starts at about $125 and goes up just to have someone look at it. "The price of cold beer just keeps going up."

[Pete VanderLaan]

Sears now runs appliance repair like a holdup. A service person costs in excess of $200 to show up. I had a fridge fan go down and when the guy gave me the quote after the service charge was already rung up, he said he had the part on his truck. I asked him to just sell me the part and he refused. I have had a publicity war going with Sears appliance repair ever since. Hate them... Independent repairs are still reasonable.

Sorry about weighing in so late. Selection of infinite range controllers and knobs: http://www.bigceramicstore.com/Suppl...pare-Parts.htm or http://www.apwagner.com/index.php?ma...ex&cPath=4_177 I've bought from both companies, they're ok. Not all knobs fit all shafts.
Pargon and other kiln companies sell them too. Here's an example (Paragon is expensive though..) http://paragonweb.com/SW6.cfm