kvom and Philly,
I think I have stated on this forum somewhere or on another about the quality of a persons work. Everyone is at a different level than the next person for different reasons, probably the greatest reason would be dedication. Some people have better budgets which equates to better machinery and tooling. Some people have more time to spend in the shop. There are many more reasons but I think dedication would be at the top. Let me elaborate a little. When you see something that someone else has made, an engine, a tool or just a trinket, you say to yourself, boy that's great or mine is better than that one. If something is better then there's a reason for it, smoothness of operation, lack of toolmarks, ingenuity of design, quality of finish etc. The next time you make a piece spend a few extra minutes making the radius on the end of a clevis truly round or using just one step finer polishing cloth. It's these little time consuming things that add up to the quality of a part. Being realistic a person should know where their models are on a scale of one to ten. If yours are what you consider a five then the next time just try and make them a six. I had the pleasure of being introduced to Lou Chenot a couple of years back at NAMES. For those not familiar with Lou he's the one that's building the Deusenberg. Where does his model fall on the one to ten scale, at fifteen? Could I do what he does? All things being equal maybe yes maybe no. The one thing I can't match or don't want to match is Lou's dedication. He is totaly dedicated to making that project the best it can be no matter the time it takes, every nut every bolt every spoke in the wheels. At the NAMES show many years ago I overheard several gentlemen talking about this same subject and what one of them said is so true. He said be proud of what you made no matter how simple, how complicated. It's something you created with your hands. Many people never even get that far.
One of my many hobbies is building model engines. It doesn't seem like it's been as long as it has but I got my first lathe when I was sixteen so that makes it 48 years that I have been doing this. I still enjoy it and what's better is I enjoy other people's satisfaction with my work so thank you one and all for the gracious comments.
George D. Britnell