What started your interest?

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

In the late 1950's, whilst still at secondary school, I was shown how to braze, tin solder, screwcut using a tap & die, and how to use a lathe, both a belt driven job which I understand was the property of the craftwork teacher and a Portass lathe.

Many years later, as described on another thread, I wished to make some replacement 00gauge wheels. A lathe was the obvious requirement and having gone through an attempt at homemade lathe, and a Unimat 1, I ended up with a Hobbymat MD65 with which I started doing other things, eg making a replacement axle for my son's bicycle (wrong steel, but that's by the by). Realising the possibilities together with a book recommendation from a work colleague and the discovery of places like Blackgates Engineering, I started taking much more interest in what I was doing. Ultimately, after getting sick of catching my hand on the Hobbymat tailstock, and finding the Hobbymat too small for some of the things I tried to do, I bought the Warco 220. That was in 1994.

I realized early on that I didn't really have any specific reason for the lathe, just an interest in learning how to use it – Self Education by Experimentation – and that still stands today. Obviously, it isn't only self-education because I do also make or repair articles for which I have a need.

Originally, I had no intention of writing anything for the magazine, I had sent in a small number of letters to ME which got published. One of these lead to some correspondence with one of the ME regulars, hence when one of Neil's pre-decessors in the Editorial chair kept making requests for articles and as I had successfully completed a self-releasing mandrel handle, I submitted it, and much to my surprise it got published. And that lead in turn to me submitting what in effect is a very slow blog about what I have done, mostly about the Warco 220, but along the way some other repair jobs.

One thing that I have realized is that I simply do not have the knowledge or the abiity of some of the other magazine contributors. As a result, my articles are always aimed showing how I did it, what compromises I had to make, and the mistakes I made, believing as I do, that not all of us are capable of turning out first class work first time.

All in all though, I do find it satisfying to accomplish something, no matter how small or insignificant.

Peter G. Shaw

[John CoatesParticipant @johncoates48577]

Made Airfix kits from about 7. Had Meccano and Lego. When dad left home I was 17 and had to learn how to fix and maintain things around the home for mum. Always did the brakes and exhausts on my first cars, fixing holes with baked bean tins and jubilee clips!

Motorbikes came along at 23 and in 2009 I was looking at adapting bits off other models to fit to mine. All the info I got from owner's clubs (plans and specs) required access to a machine shop so I decided to teach myself how to use the machinery to get it done.

One Barker 5×24 lathe, Champion round column mill and an Elliott 10" shaper later I love the hobby and this site and the magazine and just long for more time to be able to devote to it

[Jim GuthrieParticipant @jimguthrie82658]

One day in the mid-1950s, my mother returned from her shopping trip with a copy of the New Model Engineer for me. I think it was the first issue of the re-release of the magazine in a larger and more glossy size after the smaller wartime issues. If you had known my late mother you would have realised how far out of character this was. She had absolutely no interest in things mechanical and she probably thought that it was similar to the Meccano Magazine which I already got. So an eleven or twelve year old was introduced to model engineering with absolutely no knowledge of machine tools. But I did start to pick things up as further issues appeared since Mother had gone as far as putting a firm order from day one. I think I remember that it was the LBSC articles that I understood best. I eventually got my hands on a lathe at school in my later teens but it was a few years more before I got my first lathe.

Jim.

[Dennis DParticipant @dennisd]

Had been making Airfix kits ( 60 odd years ago) and then later on Tamiya and Historex (detailed model figures) modifying and detailing them following articles in magazines. One of the magazines must have had details of the London shows as I then started going to the Seymour Hall swimming baths and later on Wembley when every aspect of modeling was on display. It was there that I then decided to move on to metal but it was another 50 years until I had enough disposable income to buy machines.

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