Hi everyone,
My name is Nick and I live in Gloucestershire in the UK. I'm 51 years old and very new to metal working. I was lucky enough to have plenty of space available to build my workshop and so have opted to go the ex-industrial machine route rather than buy new hobbyist type machines which I noticed tended to be smaller but (I felt) bang for buck cost a lot more than old iron.
It's amazing what you can move with an engine host, some cut down scaffold poles and a flat bed trailer. So I now have a Colchester Student 1800 lathe which was my first purchase, next came an old Bridgeport series 1 milling machine followed shortly afterwards by a DoAll band saw. All of these machine are three phase and I use a rotary convertor to provide the power.
I've started playing with my new toys making, replacement parts to fix things and some simple tooling to bootstrap the workshop. However, I'm amazed how expensive tooling is when compaired to the price of the actual machines. IE. a fixed steady for the lathe or a rotary table for the mill seems well out of proportion to the cost of the machines themselves.
I've always had and interest in engines and all things mechanical, I build and fly RC planes (non electric) and one day would like to try my hand at building my own aero engines. I'm also very interest in steam engines.
I run a small holding which eats up quite a bit of my time and I also run a website/software development business with my wife. We keep sheep, chickens and bees and also have a couple of self catering holiday cottages here on the holding. We grow quite a bit of fruit and veg and my wife makes and sells jams and chutneys from the produce we grow. At the moment we are lambing, nearly done now with just two ewes left to lamb (Due this weekend).
I've been visiting the site for a while now and really like the feel of the place. I've been waiting until I had some free time to get building something before I signed up but free time is always in short supply and I can't see that changing anytime soon so I've decided to join now anyway. As a first engine project I fancy taking a crack at the ez engine which some of you have worked so hard to produce for us new starters, thanks for all your efforts guys.
Well I hope that gives you flavour of what I'm about. When I get a chance and work out how to do it, I'll post some pictures of the machines. I look forward to chatting with you all. Any questions just fire away.
Best regards,
Nick
My name is Nick and I live in Gloucestershire in the UK. I'm 51 years old and very new to metal working. I was lucky enough to have plenty of space available to build my workshop and so have opted to go the ex-industrial machine route rather than buy new hobbyist type machines which I noticed tended to be smaller but (I felt) bang for buck cost a lot more than old iron.
It's amazing what you can move with an engine host, some cut down scaffold poles and a flat bed trailer. So I now have a Colchester Student 1800 lathe which was my first purchase, next came an old Bridgeport series 1 milling machine followed shortly afterwards by a DoAll band saw. All of these machine are three phase and I use a rotary convertor to provide the power.
I've started playing with my new toys making, replacement parts to fix things and some simple tooling to bootstrap the workshop. However, I'm amazed how expensive tooling is when compaired to the price of the actual machines. IE. a fixed steady for the lathe or a rotary table for the mill seems well out of proportion to the cost of the machines themselves.
I've always had and interest in engines and all things mechanical, I build and fly RC planes (non electric) and one day would like to try my hand at building my own aero engines. I'm also very interest in steam engines.
I run a small holding which eats up quite a bit of my time and I also run a website/software development business with my wife. We keep sheep, chickens and bees and also have a couple of self catering holiday cottages here on the holding. We grow quite a bit of fruit and veg and my wife makes and sells jams and chutneys from the produce we grow. At the moment we are lambing, nearly done now with just two ewes left to lamb (Due this weekend).
I've been visiting the site for a while now and really like the feel of the place. I've been waiting until I had some free time to get building something before I signed up but free time is always in short supply and I can't see that changing anytime soon so I've decided to join now anyway. As a first engine project I fancy taking a crack at the ez engine which some of you have worked so hard to produce for us new starters, thanks for all your efforts guys.
Well I hope that gives you flavour of what I'm about. When I get a chance and work out how to do it, I'll post some pictures of the machines. I look forward to chatting with you all. Any questions just fire away.
Best regards,
Nick
Welcome aboard wEc1. I have a tendency to agree with you in regards to the 'old iron' although I do not discount the work that has been produced by the intermediate/home size machines. Gees, just look at all of the gorgeous pieces of machine artistry that has been produced by the m embers of this forum. (of course you have already done that I'm sure) Give us some pictures of some of your old or for that matter new work so we can marvel at yet another persons ingenuity and style. Tooling, yeah, it can be a real bear, cost wise, but I always keep my eyes open and have a 'needs' list that gets filled by watching estate sales or befriending some of the old timers in the area (no, I am not a stalker or gold digger) these gentlemen have been around since the world was new and when I get stuck or have to have a part held or worked on that I can't handle, they are more than willing to lend a hand and even offer to sell me the tooling or, and I especially like this one, donate it ;D to my shop as they either have an extra or no longer feel the need for said tool or machine. This is a terrific place to be and I'm certain you will fit right in, so C'mon in, the water is just right. Thm:
