# My "Shed"



## Dr Jo

I was requested to post a few photo's of my shed where I make swarf,:

This is my "new" Prazimat lathe:







It was purchased in 2009 along with my BCA to mark the completion of my University studies and being allowed to return to the love of my life: making things in my workshop! Moving round this is my hobbymat lathe and assembly bench, where all the fiddly stuff is done. 






On the end is my Prazimat Mill, which to be honest has been primarily used as a very expensive drilling machine until this September when my Company generously funded the DROs for both this machine and the Harrison you will see in a second. (I still have yet to make anything using the DROs but they have already demonstrated how poor the dials were for measurement!)

This is my biggest lathe, rarely used but wonderfull to have if it is needed, this is my only lathe with a taper turning attachment:





Next set of tools is my Harrison mill, surrounded on either side by a pair of cutter grinders and then my BCA.





Lastly in the corner my old Myford, she is two year older than me and following extensive restoration I hope she will out last me, most of my model making up to 2009 was done on her.






Hopefully something of interest to you guys. 

Jo


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## Blogwitch

I see your 'shed ' is like a lot of UK modellers ones, everything shoehorned into where it will fit, but at least you don't have to walk very far between machines. Very nice setup indeed.
I can now see how you make such nice models.

I do like your BCA. A very versatile and super accurate machine for doing smallish jobs, with the only limitation being the maximum cutter size they can use.
I was given a brand new Mk III one by a company I used to work for. I say brand new, it was bought by mistake by a stupid engineer who didn't know his a**e from his head about ten years before. It had about an hours work done on it, then stood in a corner with a cover over it, then they went out and bought the correct machine they needed, a Bridgeport.

I swapped it for my small Herbert surface grinder and a big handful of notes, as I had no use or room for it in my shop.

John


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## steamer

I would say the UK modelers have a lot in common with the US counter parts....Mine is also crammed in.  Thanks for showing that Jo! NICE TOOLS!

Dave


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## barney_leadhead

Lovely workspace with some very useful machinery in a good range of sizes


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## ///

Dr Jo  said:
			
		

> ....
> Hopefully something of interest to you guys.
> 
> Jo



Understatement.
I have _serious_ tool envy! ;D


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## Dr Jo

Sadly much of this equipment came my way when my ex-husband closed down the local college machine shop. At the time they were accepting scrap metal prices for any of the tools anyone wanted.

Jo


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## steamer

Dr Jo  said:
			
		

> Sadly much of this equipment came my way when my ex-husband closed down the local college machine shop. At the time they were accepting scrap metal prices for any of the tools anyone wanted.
> 
> Jo



Well....at least they made it to your shop...and are not now part of a Hyundai fender.

Dave


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## 1Kenny

Nice shed Dr Jo. One can't have too many tools. I like the magnifier one the lathe.

Kenny


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## barney_leadhead

Is your Colchester lathe running on 1phase or 3phase supply Dr Jo?


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## lazylathe

Thanks for the pics Jo!!

Looks like an awesome shop with great tools! ;D
I am sure you spend a lot of time in there!!

Andrew


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## Boxfordian

Don't suppose you have a room to let ?

Just kidding, very nice shop indeed


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## Dr Jo

Barney: My Colchester, BCA, Harrison, drill and cutter grinders are all three phase, operating off of standard converters. In the depth of winter the Harrison has been known to struggle to start up but I have now learnt to fire up the cutter grinder first and that normally cures the slow start up problem.

Jo


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## barney_leadhead

Thanks Jo; I'm always interested in other peoples experiences with convertors just in case I ever find myself in a position where my 3ph Colchester could be accessed and used - but for now it remains stored elsewhere.


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## G_N_R

Hi Dr Jo
What a wonderful workshop you have. Thm: :bow:

Hows the steam wagon progressing? I would like to see more shots of your build.

Usually modellers start very young in a workshop of a relative or a friend and develop from there. 

So Jo where did your interest in model engineering originate?


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## steamer

G_N_R  said:
			
		

> So Jo where did your interest in model engineering originate?



Yes I think curiousity is rampant in this regard.... ;D

Dave


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## Dr Jo

Where did my interest start? 

Well as a toddler I showed more interest in "diggers" than dolls. I Finally convinced my parents to buy me mechanio at 14 (just what a teenage girl should want for Xmas!). At 16 I started an electrical engineering apprenticeship which for the first year included two weeks machine shop studies, which was the first time I had ever used a lathe: It did not inspire me..... 

At 23 I was invited to a friend's house where his father had a workshop which included a lathe and he was making a 7 1/4" locomotive. It had never dawned on me that one could own a lathe at home. (My friend was clearly not impressed that I was showing more interest in his father's workshop than I was in him, so I was never invited back). 

Within a week I have spotted an advert for my Myford lathe which I immediately purchased and subsequently found that one of the other engineers at work had the cylinder off of a 2" traction engine on his desk and enquired further, that led to finding my first model engineering club. I picked up a Stuart 10V at the White Elephant sale and that was the first thing I built.

Over the years I have slowly began to learn how to use the lathe and various machine tools and make more and more swarf. And sometimes even bits of the odd engine! 

Jo
----
(I had not mentioned the Clayton or any of my part built Locomotives as they are not actually model "Engines".)


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## dalem9

Hay Jo are you married, OOOO I forgot there for a minute I am .Nice shop. Dale


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## Dr Jo

Married (?): Only to my workshop ....

Jo


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## steamer

Dr Jo  said:
			
		

> Married (?): Only to my workshop ....
> 
> Jo




Excellent Answer!  ;D :big:

Dave


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## pete

Dr Jo,
A very nice and well thought out selection of machine tools. For a bit of general interest, I just bought over 60 years worth of old Model Engineer magazines and this morning I ran across an add in one of them from 1965. At that time one of those new BCA machines were selling for 385 British Pounds, While a Brand new Myford Super 7 with the gearbox and a 3 jaw chuck was selling for just over 112 B.P.s. Those BCA's were from my understanding a very well made and accurate machine. I've wanted one for well over 20 years since I first looked at one on the front cover of a older M.E. magazine. To put things into perspective about just how cheap some of our tools have gotten, Electric hand drills were selling for about 1/12th the cost of a brand new Myford.

Pete


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## Dr Jo

Hi Pete, 

Isn't it strange how prices change. A new BCA was last year just over the price of a top of the range new Myford lathe and yet a second hand Mk 3 BCA is often available for half the price of a second hand Myford of similar quality. (At the Guildford ME show last year we had two second hand ones at about £750 including lots of goodies.)

Quality? Even without DRO's I can easily get within 0.01mm on my BCA. The compound rotary table is useful as well. But I am biased, consequently my advice would be if you can get one grab it with both hands and whatever you do don't let it get away!

All I now need is a nice little "house lathe" ...something like a Cowells would be very nice. 

Jo


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## pete

Hi Dr Jo,
They still build new BCA jig boring machines? As far as I know that's what they were designed to do, So yeah the accuracy shouldn't be questioned by the likes of me anyway. Shipping from the U.K. to Canada adds up real fast. For example, I bought a Vertex universal dividing head from RDG in the U.K. last year. It weighs approximately 150 lbs. Shipping was in excess of $400.00. Even with that, It was still a bit cheaper than what I could buy it for over here. So, Any ideas of a rough weight for a Mk 3 BCA? Their size and capability's would work very well for my shop.

LOL, Just from the little I know about them. I sure can't blame you at all for being biased. And a Cowells? You have more than a very refined taste/standards in machine tools. Most manual British built machine tools are at least the equal if not better than anything we've built here in North America.

Oh yeah, For anyone here that just might think machining is a bit odd for a woman to have as a hobby? I might suggest you Goggle Miss/Mrs? Cherry Hill/Hinds. She is arguably the best in the world. To me there's no doubt. She's also British, But now lives in Florida as far as I know.

Pete


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## ///

pete  said:
			
		

> ...
> Oh yeah, For anyone here that just might think machining is a bit odd for a woman to have as a hobby? I might suggest you Goggle Miss/Mrs? Cherry Hill/Hinds. She is arguably the best in the world. To me there's no doubt. She's also British, But now lives in Florida as far as I know.
> 
> Pete



I have seen some of Cherry's work in _Model Engineer_ magazine over the years, absolutely amazing work.


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## Dr Jo

I have seen Cherry's models :bow: :bow:. If only I could make models half as good as her's I would be extremely happy.

Jo


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## Blogwitch

> Isn't it strange how prices change. A new BCA was last year just over the price of a top of the range new Myford lathe and yet a second hand Mk 3 BCA is often available for half the price of a second hand Myford of similar quality. (At the Guildford ME show last year we had two second hand ones at about &#163;750 including lots of goodies.)



When I got rid of mine about four years ago, a good second hand BCA Mk3 would command a price of between 1200 and 1500 UK pounds. But as Jo has said, the bottom has fallen out of the market.

With regards to the weight, I don't know exactly, but two really burly chaps who took mine away really struggled to lift it down off the bench and onto a trolley. My guesstimate would be somewhere around the 250 to 300 LBS mark.


John


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## pete

Thanks John,
Their a bit lighter than I'd guessed.

Pete


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## doubletop

pete  said:
			
		

> Hi Dr Jo,
> ..............Shipping from the U.K. to Canada adds up real fast. For example, I bought a Vertex universal dividing head from RDG in the U.K. last year. It weighs approximately 150 lbs. Shipping was in excess of $400.00. Even with that, It was still a bit cheaper than what I could buy it for over here............



OK this is off topic but I had a similar experience with Vertex equipment. I was looking to purchase a Vertex product and RGD priced shipped was cheaper than I could buy in NZ. I realised this was stupid so went to the source.

http://www.vertex-tw.com.tw/

Their site is hopeless but I made an "inquiry" (their spelling) about buying direct. I quickly had an email from the NZ agent and now I can purchase at prices better than RGD with shipping. They also have a nice catalog which makes identifying stuff way easier. An order I placed didn't have stock in nZ but it arrived direct ftom Taiwan in 4 days. Find you way around the site give them your details.

Pete

OK back to the topic.........


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## Dr Jo

Update: I have finally got around to using the DRO's to drill the PCD mounting holes for my grasshopper cylinder stand: Aren't they good ! 

Normally I would have machined up a drilling guide to slide into the mounting hole in the base and over the stand, hoping to get them square. But using the DRO's, it was so easy to drill the 8 mounting holes "square", do the same on the stand, bolt the two together and then using the DRO drill the 12 mounting holes for the cylinder, which also fitted , no need to open up the holes or tweek them with a file. Amazing! I am never going to use the rotary table to drill a series of PCD mounting holes ever again!

Now I need to learn what some of the other settings do.

Jo


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## dalem9

Having a dro sure will spoil you,they are so great. Like you said you will never go back to the old way of doing things . Dale


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## peterw51

Hi Dr Jo, I am new to this form & like you I have a Prazimat DZL 180 x 450, but I cant work out how to set up the gears for screwcutting, also inside the gear box cover there is a chart, this is missing from mine. I am new to turning & need some help and as prazimats are quit scarce I am having problems finding information on this machine. I did buy a very expensive photo copy of the hand book, but this did not seem to help me,
Would you be kind enough to give a little help to a newby please?

Peter


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## Brian Rupnow

Dr. Jo--Very nice set-up. I envy you all the windows and natural light in your shed. My small shop has one window, but I still need a lot of auxiliary lighting to see what I'm doing on the lathe and mill.---Brian


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## Mosey

Dr Jo said:


> Sadly much of this equipment came my way when my ex-husband closed down the local college machine shop. At the time they were accepting scrap metal prices for any of the tools anyone wanted.
> 
> Jo


Hope you got a good price for the Ex.


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