Greetings
I'm a new guy as of May last year. I'm a bit slow getting going here due to a major health setback that has taken since May to recover from. I'm still not out of the woods and am facing another surgery in a week or so.
I'm in my 7th year of retirement and have been a model builder all my life. During my working years I developed an interest in model engineering and always wanted to build engines. I bought a Sherline lathe shortly after they went on the market and after a couple of years sold it and moved up in size to a 6" Atlas lathe. I spent my hobby budget on the necessary accessories and attempted a couple of simple barstock engines with mixed success.
Over the years I acquired several casting sets for engines I would build "one day", a couple of those I wanted to use to power RC boats. One being the Stuart D10 steam engine that I intended to put in a tugboat. I did assemble an engine from Stuart's machined casting set and ran it on air years ago, but it's been sitting ever since. I purchased copper tubing from a long defunct company called "The Steamfitter" intending to build a 5" center flue boiler to power the tug which never got built.
I also acquired castings for the Stuart Twin Launch engine, the Stuart 10V engine, and a Hubbard marine engine. I find myself with for me, a lifetime of work to get these engines built.
Meanwhile, around the time I retired I got interested in RC sailboats which I find extremely enjoyable. I have several in my fleet and have been traveling about the country sailing in regattas and making new friends. It has been much fun.
I found this group and joined to plug into the community and perhaps get my sorry butt in gear and start working on some of these engine kits I have collected. Alas, the health issues have me rethinking priorities. I am seriously considering selling off some or all of these engines and simplifying my life so to speak. It is a decision I am reluctant to make because I have had such a long time interest in the model engineering world. But reality sets in and I think I have to be more selective where I can get the most enjoyment from my modeling efforts. Also, there are competence and cost issues at work. I'm not an accomplished machinist and there is still tooling and material cost to be considered in getting model engines built and running. So it looks like I'm going to start the process of divesting myself of these engines. I am planning on digging them out and taking some photos that can be used to Illustrate the various engine sets, but I probably won't get to it before the next surgery on the 10th.
The reason for this rambling story is to see if any of the folks in this group would have any interest in these engines. I'm not a big ebay fan and really don't want to go through all of the whoo-ha of setting up an account, etc., to get these items on the market. I have lurked here just enough to know there are some nice folks and consumate craftsmen associated with the group and that these items would find good homes and be brought to life.
I will try to get a list of what I have and what I would like to get for them together and post it as soon as I figure out how to do that. In the meantime if anyone has interest in any of the above described materials drop me an e-mail. If any are within driving distance of Youngstown, Ohio drop in for coffee and a visit.
More later, meanwhile Happy New Year to all.
Dave Querin