EBAY A4 'kit'

[simonwass]

ewal said:

Thank goodness for the people who want an engine but who haven't the time or the skill to build one. Since I started 10 years ago I have built 9 steamers & 1 petrol. I build 3 or 4 then clear them out & start again.I have 3 more boilers already built, A Tinker Belle & 2 Sweet William types, by the way I was 80 the other day & I think keeping active keeps me fit.
Eric Walker.

Many happy returns for 'the other day'!
Not wishing to sound rude, for someone as young as you , the strenuous activity that is building in 7 1/4" sounds like a good tonic, if it were bottled you'd be a rich man!
You're keeping yourself fit & active, the castings man in business, a boiler maker in business, making a 'bob or two' & giving the chance for a non engineering type to own his own loco. Can be all bad, just so long as the new owner then doesnt get all cocky and try to teach the old timers ;D

[stuartthurstan]

I suspect that to some degree or another we are all "chequebook" engineers. In order to qualify as pure model engineers do we need to build every part of the model from scratch? How many people make their own castings, their own patterns? I suspect a good many here have bought the majority of their workshop tools and machinery.

I may be under a misapprehension here because if the rest of you all mine your own ore and smelt it, roll it, use bits of sharpened rocks to create basic hand tools and then use these to create your own lathes, mills etc., I am definitely in the wrong place!

I suspect it would be pretty fair to say that none of us "create" entirely from scratch, leaving me with the assumption that we all buy up to various different levels allowing us more freedom to enjoy the aspects of the hobby that interest us most.

Respectfully,
Stuart

[Deleted]

I think that Stuarthurstan has hit the nail on the head perfectly.

For instance how many of the [proper] engineers manufacture their own injectors ? LBSC has described how to do this even down to making the reamers.

By the way I am an unashamed kitbuilder.

Regards

Jim

[Shawki Shlemon]

I may be considered a scratch builder by the normal perception ,but make no mistake I, like most other people buy castings ,plans , hardware like bolts/nuts/rivets etc and most people including me buy gauge and injectors and some other items too . Therefore everyone does what makes him/her happy and easy to achieve their goal .Let forget this issue of cheque book brigade and move on to enrich our hobby by exchanging ideas and experiences .