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Post by Oily Rag on Dec 28, 2018 21:10:23 GMT
While I have time at age 55 before I become too feeble I will concentrate on working on the full size steam railway (Mary Valley Rattler) while it is available to me, trainee Cat 2 driver/fireman, steam, diesel and rail motors. It is challenging, physical, rewarding and working with others in a team is rewarding.
Meanwhile I like metal working and I could stop making bikes this afternoon and sate all my creative desires with Model Engineering, but I still have to earn a few gold coins so the plan is to set up the workshop, get the tool and material stash growing and gain some knowledge and skills to put me on a good footing to be off and racing at the loco building when more time can be devoted to it. Meanwhile I and MAM chip away at the garden railway and my little coal fired RC 32mm steamer and back to complete the 5" loco and then onto the more complicated projects.
Motivation. To quote the late great Douglas Adams
"The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied."
Yeah, keep occupied and stay away from the toxic swill that is commercial TV, it is such a waste of human life.
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jma1009
Elder Statesman
Posts: 5,901
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Post by jma1009 on Dec 28, 2018 22:03:47 GMT
These days I don't have the motivation provided by being a member of the right type of Model Engineering club.
The IWMES club (Isle of Wight) was wonderful for motivation! John the Pump's continued involvement and posts on here and those of UUU (Wilf Underwood) and Steve (Spingcrocus) show what a wonderful club it still is. I wish more MES clubs had such a generous approach and diversity.
I fell out big time with the Merthyr Club a few years ago, not that it provided any motivation to my own loco building, as I was the only member actually building his own locos in any event.
For the 3rd time in my life I had spent over 2 years of all spare time helping to build a new club track/tracks. First was Cardiff Heath Park in 85-88, and then IWMES 96-97, and then Merthyr 2010-2012.
Cheers,
Julian
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Post by runner42 on Dec 29, 2018 5:55:08 GMT
My motivation came when a young lad shortly after the second world war seeing the Southern Railway large steam locomotives at the level crossing in Cosham High Street. I was impressed by their size billowing smoke, fire and steam and the animated movement of the large driving wheels, coupling and connecting rods and the other linkages that operate the valve gear. This would be a Walshaerts valve gear locomotive of course. In parallel my father received the News of the World newspaper where I had the opportunity to see an advert for Basset and Lowke live steam locomotive kit, I can't remember the price but it was way out of my budget, I don't think that even my father could afford it, me being the youngest of seven children. However, there was also a Basset and Lowke catalogue which retailed at 1 shilling and 6 pence which after some saving up was able to send for a copy. I looked at this magnificent journal full of kits for all things associated with railways for many days and nights dreaming of owning a live steam locomotive. Also I had for a Christmas present the book "Observers Book of Locomotives", this kept the dream alive. This dream wasn't realised until at the age of 36 newly arrived in Australia, a working colleague was into live steam locomotives which rekindled my interest. On a whim I bought an old Southbend lathe from a guy living close to me and a set of castings and boiler kit for Martin Evans' Rob Roy. The lathe was a dud having had no experience in what to look for in a lathe and to start making a locomotive required a lot more tooling that I currently had. So these items languished in the shed for the next 29 years, but hey the running boom had started so I was fully occupied in Marathon running doing the long runs on a Sunday with the Adelaide Road Running group. I kept journals of times and distances for each year and I estimate that I have run three times around the world. My sedentary hobby was painting pictures, painting a picture a day. My wife says that everything I do is to extremes, no half measures. Back to Rob Roy, I decided to make a start on it when I retired at age 65, but let me say that I was somewhat disappointed because it was a tank locomotive and Stephenson's valve gear where the valve gear action is between the frames. So I started on a 3 1/2" gauge Black 5, LBSC's Doris, having no castings only for the wheels, everything including the cylinders are fabricated. My tooling increase substantially but I was without a Milling Machine. In June 2018 I started on Don Young's 5" gauge Black 5 and bought a Milling Machine. Here's where it all started in the late 40's early 50s. But there were 4 gates that were operated by the signalman in the box on the LHS, now long gone. Brian Cosham Level Crossing by Brian Leach, on Flickr
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smallbrother
Elder Statesman
Errors aplenty, progress slow, but progress nonetheless!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by smallbrother on Dec 29, 2018 9:29:19 GMT
My only motivation for building is the huge challenge for my abilities. I am so far out of my comfort zone you wouldn't believe it. Engineering was my profession, model making is rock bottom for my talents.
Pete.
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 30, 2018 5:45:43 GMT
I think I need constant mental stimulation. Sitting by the pool on holiday with the kids took years to even tolerate! Without the goings on in the workshop, life would be pretty banal. Our family were largely self-sufficient. We repaired our own stuff. We solved our own problems. To get outside help was an admission of failure. Helping my Dad from an early age taught me ‘to problem solve – critical thinking – there’s always a way’ attitudes. The independence that feeling brought was addictive and I got a lot of satisfaction from being able to do things that others made excuses for. My workshops – I think I’ve had 6 or 7 of them – have always been places where there are no excuses. I earned a good living for 20 odd years with just basic tools – the secret ingredient being simply my ability to get things done. Didn’t get the work / life balance thing right but I enjoyed delivering high standards of service and reliability. I was proud of that. School bored me. Couldn’t wait to start work. Always wanted to be 'doing’ rather than ‘watching’. Of course, by doing you get really good at planning too. School is not the only source of knowledge! My models; stationary, rail & traction, have been incredibly fertile sources of learning on many subjects. I’ve been building steam engines more or less continuously since 1974 when Dad got me started on the donkey engine in the back of LBSC’s Shop, Shed & Road. From being a quick metho-fired knock up, mine became a tiny coal fired job with feed pumps, gauges, control valves etc. Fast forward to 2018, engine #12 - 3” ploughing engine – continues to provide plenty of brain food! Traction engines, with all the machinery attached to the boiler, present difficulties not encountered on locomotives. I’m doing the design as I go. Research has led me down many interesting roads on all sorts of subjects. It’s not the only side of life I love but it is certainly a vital component of every day!
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smallbrother
Elder Statesman
Errors aplenty, progress slow, but progress nonetheless!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by smallbrother on Dec 30, 2018 9:24:37 GMT
The ME world mostly consists of people who are born makers and fixers of things.
I was not born that way. As a result I weigh up the time/convenience/cost aspects of many things and where appropriate, pay someone.
This is of course totally unacceptable to many in the hobby. However, I see many re-inventions of the wheel, all fabulous bits of work but to me, I just can't see the point, and the time spent frustrates me.
So I paddle along on the fringe really, admiring the terrific workmanship of others, doing a little bit myself, and I am quite content with that.
Pete.
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 30, 2018 11:13:28 GMT
The ME world mostly consists of people who are born makers and fixers of things. I was not born that way. As a result I weigh up the time/convenience/cost aspects of many things and where appropriate, pay someone. This is of course totally unacceptable to many in the hobby. However, I see many re-inventions of the wheel, all fabulous bits of work but to me, I just can't see the point, and the time spent frustrates me. So I paddle along on the fringe really, admiring the terrific workmanship of others, doing a little bit myself, and I am quite content with that. Pete. Hi Pete, There are many ways to engage with the hobby. It's voluntary. People are free to do so in their own enjoyable way. Sometimes people get defensive but there should be no judgement. I think it's fascinating to drill down to the true purpose the hobby serves in individual cases. The end product is usually only part of a more personal story... I've always said those differences are a great source of strength for the hobby. Many people comment on this forum how much encouragement and information is exchanged. Wonderful how seemingly 'reinvention of wheels' can provide so much sustenance for people!
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smallbrother
Elder Statesman
Errors aplenty, progress slow, but progress nonetheless!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by smallbrother on Dec 30, 2018 11:22:35 GMT
The ME world mostly consists of people who are born makers and fixers of things. I was not born that way. As a result I weigh up the time/convenience/cost aspects of many things and where appropriate, pay someone. This is of course totally unacceptable to many in the hobby. However, I see many re-inventions of the wheel, all fabulous bits of work but to me, I just can't see the point, and the time spent frustrates me. So I paddle along on the fringe really, admiring the terrific workmanship of others, doing a little bit myself, and I am quite content with that. Pete. Hi Pete, There are many ways to engage with the hobby. It's voluntary. People are free to do so in their own enjoyable way. Sometimes people get defensive but there should be no judgement. I think it's fascinating to drill down to the true purpose the hobby serves in individual cases. The end product is usually only part of a more personal story... I've always said those differences are a great source of strength for the hobby. Many people comment on this forum how much encouragement and information is exchanged. Wonderful how seemingly 'reinvention of wheels' can provide so much sustenance for people! 100% agree with that Ross! Pete.
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Post by Jo on Dec 30, 2018 11:49:56 GMT
There are many ways to engage with the hobby. It's voluntary. People are free to do so in their own enjoyable way. Sometimes people get defensive but there should be no judgement. I think it's fascinating to drill down to the true purpose the hobby serves in individual cases. The end product is usually only part of a more personal story... I've always said those differences are a great source of strength for the hobby. Many people comment on this forum how much encouragement and information is exchanged. Wonderful how seemingly 'reinvention of wheels' can provide so much sustenance for people! And that reminds me of an anti motivation: When your hobby is making things, others in model engineering clubs think the hobby is all about running a miniature railway and they continually complain if you are not committed to spend your precious workshop time supporting their hobby of public running which is necessary to cover the cost of maintaining the track/grounds to enable said public running.
Sadly few members of model engineering societies seem to actually make anything anymore, us swarf makers are in a very small minority .
Jo
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 30, 2018 12:02:08 GMT
And that reminds me of an anti motivation: When your hobby is making things, others in model engineering clubs think the hobby is all about running a miniature railway and they continually complain if you are not committed to spend your precious workshop time supporting their hobby of public running which is necessary to cover the cost of maintaining the track/grounds to enable said public running.
Sadly few members of model engineering societies seem to actually make anything anymore, us swarf makers are in a very small minority .
Jo There's usually a bit of mutual dependence there...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 12:23:47 GMT
To add to what I have written, I need to create with my own two hands, I have always been like this and it needs to be good, very good to satisfy my needs. Funny thing is I have yet to build something that I would call 'perfect', it's like a curse but it keeps me striving to do better. It doesn't have to be model engineering, it can be anything, art, modeling, ME, cars etc, the list is endless. I have built most things out there, be it personal, commissioned or with work. Work has offered the biggest challenges but then there's no real budget to worry about if working on a blockbuster film. A 50' model of a Russian attack sub that has to be fully submersible, a 1/8th scale 30' stealth boat capable of 30knts, this speed was later relaxed when the SFX director wanted to see a large rooster tail of water in its wake, this meant that I had to adjust the angle of attack of the two 125bhp water jet motors that I had already designed/built a cradle to hold them at the required angle for max speed. This model also had to sink on que and I was also responsible for the escape hatch for the pilot to eject from safely after it had slipped beneath the waves. Boats, planes or helicopter models that need to fly (either on wire or RC) and duly blown up, cars galore, collapsing buildings, large-scale trains which yes, you guessed it have to crash. the reason for using models in film/TV is that in general the model gets destroyed, if the budget is big enough the golden rule is to build 3 models for 3 takes. In most cases, the shot is got on the first take but I have been on shoots where all 3 have been used and sometimes another shot is required which involves making the best that you can out of the remnants from the models already destroyed. There are a number of reasons for this, can be that something didn't go right with the model, with the set, or believe it or not I've even been on a shoot where the camera ran out of film?? My other great love is cars and making them faster/better than originally designed, there have been a number over the years of different marques but my current car is the 'creme de la creme' a turbocharged Porsche that now develops twice its original power and i can honestly say that the engine is stronger now than when first built, she's a beast, to say she's fast is an understatement... Working on films are all good fun and I loved every minute of it, to not be able to create something would destroy me, I got very close when working on films. In 1996 while working on Prince Valiant, one of my jobs was to set up the explosive charge to be detonated to make the castle drawbridge collapse, Unbeknown to me while I had been setting each charge in the model the guy whose job it was to set the charge off who was hidden from view behind the scenes had been splicing the wires on each occasion for the next 'BANG'. He had been doing this while standing over the damn battery, all I remember is the Director screaming at someone, a reply saying it's ok I've always done it this way and then a large 'BANG@ knocking me off my feet and me being a little death for a few minutes, luckily I had set the charge and was just stepping away from it when it went off, If I'd still been holding the charge it would have at least taken my hand off. To be fair, it had been a very long day, never less than 12-hour shift, it was damp, cold, in the middle of a Welsh field at 1:30 am... even so it was a bloody stupid thing to do...grr I had one other major fright a year later, nothing to do with dangers at work, this was purely down to a health issue that has plagued me all of my adult life, again while working on a film, this time Bond's 'Tomorrow Never Dies' I suddenly lost the sight in my left eye, I knew the cause and won't bore you with details here but it was a very frightening time. I managed to drive the short distance home, got taken to A&E and luckily for me my local hospital has a Moorfields department. My eyes were examined and both needed surgery to save them, I was booked for the next day to operate on the good one first, by some miracle the left vision had cleared enough ( blood had dissipated) overnight for the consultant to see and operate on and so that was done first, over 3k laser blasts, I can tell you that I have never been in so much pain as I was over the next few days even with being given very strong painkillers before and after the operation. The other eye was done the following week with a similar number of laser blasts. I count myself very lucky to have been under the care of Moorfields who I still see today with regular check-ups. The good news is that my eyes have remained stable and according to the consultant, if stable after 10 years they are unlikely to fail again as long as my health doesn't get worse, it's now 21 years since the laser treatment and so I live in hope. Well that's my history and what motivates me, a little more detail than my first post, as long as I can create things with my hands, as long as they meet my expectations, I'll keep building until I finally fall off my perch, may that be some time away yet...may we all live long enough to complete our projects... regards Pete
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mbrown
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,719
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Post by mbrown on Dec 30, 2018 12:43:02 GMT
I am fascinated by the different psychologies emerging in this thread!
My workshop is my refuge from a working life in the world of ideas and policy-making - mostly persuading people to do things and organising projects. To be my own boss and not have to engage with anyone else (and to be able to swear roundly when things go wrong without anyone objecting!) is the perfect contrast. Pete, on the other hand, spent a career making things and is still at it in his own time! (and, Pete, your eyesight must be pretty damn good these days to do the work you are doing on FS).
For some, it seems the making is the key - for others, making something is the first step to using it/playing with it. I empathise strongly with suctionhose's upbringing. I see with hindsight how my parents had been shaped by growing up in small villages where everyone was highly self-reliant, and then living through the war when you had to make do and make things last. I inherited a lot of that attitude and, in fact, the reason I resurrected my little Centrix lathe soon after getting a place of my own was because I had a second-hand cooker with an oven timer which didn't work - I diagnosed stripped gears, made new ones and I could then put my dinner in the oven and come back to find it cooked! Once I was using a lathe again, I wanted something else to make and decided to make a start on the Bagnall.
But, although I don't run my locos much these days, I also sympathise with the "runners" - I would have little or no interest in spending years in the workshop if I couldn't drive the machine when it was finished. As other routes to being an engine driver, like working on preserved lines, take a great deal of time and commitment which not everyone can make, running on a club track is an obvious solution for all the hundreds of people who are engine drivers by vocation and only accountants, teachers, managers or whatever in order to earn an honest crust. And, let's face it, driving and firing a steam loco is a truly sublime experience....
Vive la difference, I suggest!
Malcolm
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Post by Jo on Dec 30, 2018 17:02:17 GMT
And that reminds me of an anti motivation: When your hobby is making things, others in model engineering clubs think the hobby is all about running a miniature railway and they continually complain if you are not committed to spend your precious workshop time supporting their hobby of public running which is necessary to cover the cost of maintaining the track/grounds to enable said public running.
Sadly few members of model engineering societies seem to actually make anything anymore, us swarf makers are in a very small minority .
Jo There's usually a bit of mutual dependence there... Not with what I make: model steam engines, IC engines, Aero engines etc ...... Its over 25 years since I finished my last Locomotive. Every model I choose to build has to provide a substantially different challenge from the previous ones and the wider types of engines we can choose to model are not dependent on infrastructure to give us pleasure and they get done quicker, then you can build more
Jo
P.S. You can build the whole vintage model aircraft or even a diorama to show off your stationary engine in, if you really must
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 30, 2018 17:55:28 GMT
SNIP
Jo
P.S. You can build the whole vintage model aircraft or even a diorama to show off your stationary engine in, if you really must
Jo I couldn't agree more with you over model engineers v. train drivers. John's Stuart Beam Diorama on ModelEngineMaker is a classic example of real model engineering, it is not dolls' house construction! Trouble is, I can't get the link to work! John
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Post by qreidford on Dec 30, 2018 20:27:22 GMT
Seasons Greetings everyone, what a fascinating thread as I’ve often wondered what has motivated the commitment to build a working steam locomotive and particularly which model. As far as I’m concerned, when I was 10 or so I lived in the north east of Scotland and the local ironmonger made model steam engines, frequently showing them off in his shop window . I have no idea if these were ever steamed and I’m pretty sure that he didn’t have any local engineering mates, but his models were great and I suppose I vowed to myself that one day I would make one.. I had/ have no engineering background and, although my father liked his cars and other mechanical objects I can’t remember him even changing a light bulb. So my fascination with cars, repairing them and getting them to work, remains a mystery. Fast forward to 1970’s when i saw and bought a small coloured illustration of the Stirling Single in side elevation and thought that it was the most elegant machine I had seen. Moving on to the late 70’s found me in Sheffield and I met a chap at a dinner party who told me he was making a steam locomotive (Jubilee tank) so with his help I bought an ML10 and get stuck into a V10 engine (never got it to work) and began a Rob Roy. Lack of patience, time and skill plus the purchase of an Apple ][ computer put an end to that. Late 90’s joined the local club and a few years later my mentor gave me a chimney casting as he knew my ultimate goal - The Stirling - I was browsing an me forum and almost as an aside added a post for any castings for the single. I then had a phone call from a chap called Chris who asked if I was interested in buying ALL the castings but also a brand new boiler from Western Steam...I managed to scrape together his very reasonable asking price and collected all the parts from Dorset. That was just over 10 years ago and I have my locomotive, and it works, and it is almost painted. Mind you without this forum and the expertise within, that would not have happened, imagine how disappointing it was to try and get real help from the experts at my club only to face a wall of silence. Strange to realise that you have actually gained more knowledge then they have, because I have built everything (except boiler, safety valve and injector) I really don’t understand the public running thing and probably resent the impact it can have in my very occasional visits to test/ run my loco.
Best wishes for 2019
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Post by doubletop on Dec 30, 2018 20:53:33 GMT
I obviously had some interest in making things from an early age. When I was 5, my parents bought me a set of woodworking tools. Not the tin plate toy rubbish but real tools; hammer, pincers, saw, screwdriver, tape measure and a chisel!. I have a 2” scar on my left hand done with the chisle at the time and I still have the pincers and chisel.
When I was 6, it was Meccano, a set #6. With the set #6 you can start to make serious models. I still have the rusty bent remains of my Meccano and the full instruction book. I made no end of things with that Meccano, there was no problem that couldn’t be resolved with Meccano. When I was 8, I was given a Mamod stationary steam engine. The base was drilled to Meccano hole pitches so it didn’t stay stationary very long. I could just about get it to do a circuit of our block. I did measure the distance on Google maps recently, it was in the order of 300 meters, on one burner of meths.
When I was 10, I was given a set of books, “The Wonders of World Engineering” four volumes, like encyclopedias. They were printed in the 1940’s and covered everything ships, bridges, buildings, tunnels, canals. You name it; it was in there covering the industrial revolution through to the (then) current day. My favorite subject was bridges. My hero was Brunel. I lived near the Great Western Railway. On birthdays we’d have a birthday ‘treat’; most times I’d elect to go and see a bridge. Strange, I don’t like heights they would scare me Sh1tless but I was fascinated. I still have those books.
When I went to secondary school I chose to do metalwork rather than woodwork. I was hopeless, probably no patience, so it was ‘O’ level metalwork ‘failed’ for me. I joined the RAF as an Avionics technician and did 23 years there. In the RAF I got into digital electronics and in the 1970’s built my first computer from a kit A friend introduced me to the CPM operating system so I set about converting my 6502 based system to add a Z80. That evolved into a self designed fully functional, stand alone, CPM system with hard disks. I’ve still got both of those computers.
Computer based systems were coming into service in the RAF and got involved in software support of Avionics systems. That saw me to the end of my time in the RAF and I left to join an IT consulting company which eventually bought me to NZ. Until I retired the other year, I’d been in IT for over 25 years.
My father was a metallurgist, he was the real engineer. When he retired, he set up his own home workshop and started making a Rob Roy, the one that I took back to Andover this year. He tinkered with it over the years and later told me he wasn’t that committed to it. If you’ve seen the pics, if that’s not committed, I’d like to see something he made that he was serious about. Unfortunately, his sight started to fail so he couldn’t see what he was doing to finish it. My parents were getting on and they decided to move house and the basic equipment was shipped to me in NZ. There we no large machines but I had nowhere to put the stuff so it stayed in boxes for 7 years until I had my house remodeled. The first thing on the architect’s brief was “workshop”.
Around 2009 I’d done nothing ‘metalwork’ since failing my O level in the 1960’s. I’d finished a long contract, and had time on my hands so it was a case of “lets see what I can do”. The best way to learn is to make something. I dug around for details of a small steam engine and found the plans for a small ‘wobbler’. I had no idea where to get materials so went to the local club to ask the guys. They put me right and I got hold of what I needed.
That started me on my way and in the 10 years since I started
• Single cylinder ‘wobbler’ and boiler • Double cylinder ‘wobbler’ and boiler • 3.5” Rob Roy completion • ‘Grasshopper’ Beam Engine • Nemet Lynx single cylinder 15cc I/C engine • Nemet Bobcat twin cylinder 15cc I/C engine • 5” Simplex refurbishment • 3.5” Northumbrian, with tender and wagons • 7.25” Dart complete rebuild • 7.25” GWR ‘Toad’ brake van • 7.25” GWR Autotrailer
I must add that the only reason I’ve manage to do all this is through these forums. I tell everybody that I did my model engineering apprenticeship on the internet. Just by reading, asking questions and above all, giving it a go.
Pete
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dscott
Elder Statesman
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Post by dscott on Dec 31, 2018 1:14:08 GMT
I have always been lucky in my education and later Degree and Employment in always making stuff. Mostly for Students!! For 'A' level I designed and built a lathe which still works well and has had many bucket fulls of swarf removed from it! Most machining was done in Keith Wilsons Workshop, a cycle ride away in Devon 1978 onwards! Workshop techniques drifted into my mind weekly! And Alan sends me photos of his latest now he has retired! 1979 I got a Dore Westbury Mill kit! And built this on the lathe! So the workshop was Growing. I was there the Weekend Keith began the Bulldog Series so just had to start one. My first love was the small Prairie tank so Cycling in the other direction got me to Buckfastleigh. All things 4555 and later 80064 in the black shed.
Girls of the Far Eastern variety got me into marriage and Employment in a Prototype Workshop making lighting Thorn in Enfield. Two guys with lifetimes in sheet metal and Machining passed on everything they could before they retired after a year of me being there! I loved the wife having to do overtime which gave me the chance to do bits after. I still have dreams of their Bridgeport Mill. A Gemma and a Boxhill got built during this time. Strange that in the most primitive conditions I was most inspired and most productive. My home workbench was a wooden box rescued from a skip and taken by bus! Clamped to the railings outside the kitchen for stability. The Unimat 3 on a spare chair.
I got a job as a Technician with Polytechnic South West in Exeter, and began new projects! Rebuilt an MGB GT and then began house ownership. Two 5 inch Hunslets emerged and most parts got done. (I have just done a cabinet to store the frames! They are getting HEAVY!!) One was for a friend and this inspired him to renewed passions and live longer than Doctors had prescribed!! INTERESTING!! I got replaced by a younger and taller model? But got to keep all my stuff!!
I made most of the moulds and leveling frame for building the Tiverton Track! Upset some friends by finding another Wife!! (24 hours a day in the workshop lost they said) I just did bits that fitted into the time available as the equipment got beyond imagination in the now University of Plymouth. Solidworks, many things CNC and just as I left a Waterjet Cutter and rapid prototyping! The new management have a rule of NO PRIVATE WORK??? No inspiration among Technical staff and no world beating ideas emerging say friends STILL THERE. Meanwhile in Deepest China!!!
Now if I won the lottery I would build a super Workshop at the bottom of the garden and fill it with lovely machines! Some money from China said WHY WAIT lets build it now! So I did. And the lovely machines turned up but some need attention. Yes even the new Mill out of its box! Stops and DRO to fit. Emco lathe rebuild?? 2 Raglans to get down there as well. And my latest a super 20 ton Press!! Then taking a Year off to re roof the house, work on our Plymouth property! And back to do the garage roof and new porch. Plus Kitchen extension roof. The Reading track being 3.5 miles away does not help. But for inspiration PRICELESS! The Plymouth track is 4.5 miles from number 39!!
David and Lily.
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Post by delaplume on Dec 31, 2018 1:25:00 GMT
sorry--- wrong thread !!
How on Earth did that happen ??
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 31, 2018 2:51:32 GMT
From these tales, often tales of enduring less than ideal circumstances, you see an unstoppable compulsion to make things! I think it is innate for some human beings. And not limited to steam engines either.
Greenglade Pete's story (thank you for sharing) is a good example of making good decisions in life, possibly with a dash of good fortune thrown in? Many of us haven't found work as satisfying and private projects are a vital supplement. I have a young family again now (2nd wife) and I know families with kids like Doubletop's description of himself. There's just no stopping them!
None of my three have followed me around the workshop and that's ok. They all have interests and my job as their father is to help them find what makes them happy.
Creativity extends to music, dance, photography, painting and many other interests (tearing up a peaceful lake with a jet ski is not one of them...grrr)
We in the midst of another technical revolution - digital. On one hand you see mindless consumption on a grand scale - I don't know what people did before they stared at their phones for hours without blinking (maybe stared at the wall?) - and on the other hand there is unfettered opportunity to be creative. As I ponder the habits I hope to instil in my children, I'm conscious Automation / AI / Robots will relieve them of many menial tasks and free them up to explore their creativity. That's what leading educators are saying: teach them to be human; critical thinking, communication, the Arts. Soft skills that robots can't bring to life...
Model engineers are typically "individual achievers" (which perhaps explains the inherent disfunction of "clubs") though collectively we have so much in common. Not by building the same thing over and over but because our individual choices so often result in the same outcomes, albeit with a personal twist.
I see so much of my own life's journey in these stories. Please, continue...!
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Lisa
Statesman
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Post by Lisa on Dec 31, 2018 3:18:00 GMT
The ME world mostly consists of people who are born makers and fixers of things. I was not born that way. As a result I weigh up the time/convenience/cost aspects of many things and where appropriate, pay someone. This is of course totally unacceptable to many in the hobby. However, I see many re-inventions of the wheel, all fabulous bits of work but to me, I just can't see the point, and the time spent frustrates me. So I paddle along on the fringe really, admiring the terrific workmanship of others, doing a little bit myself, and I am quite content with that. My dad grew up with meccano and hornby trains, he first went into business for himself with a letterpress printing press made out of meccano. But when it came to model engineering he didn't build from scratch; preferring to buy a running loco then tinker with it, experimenting and improving things gradually. His first 5" gauge loco ran with a pole reverser made of meccano for many years, replacing the original screw reverser; but then it also had working sanding gear. Dad used to say there are drivers, and there are builders, and sometimes builders who drive, and that he's a driver. Though quite happing to tinker with what someone else built. And that reminds me of an anti motivation: When your hobby is making things, others in model engineering clubs think the hobby is all about running a miniature railway and they continually complain if you are not committed to spend your precious workshop time supporting their hobby of public running which is necessary to cover the cost of maintaining the track/grounds to enable said public running. Sadly few members of model engineering societies seem to actually make anything anymore, us swarf makers are in a very small minority . Jo There's a club near me that requires potential new members to participate in 4 of 6 workdays and public running days (as station attendants), only after that will they decide if you can be a member, or if they'll reject your application (but keep the membership and application fees you paid).
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