Hello, my name is Peter and I live in Chesterfield in Derbyshire. I think I am more a hobby engineer than a model engineer but having followed the exploits of Ron Laden from the very beginning he has inspired me to have a go at building a simple model steam engine. I am building an engine based on the E-Z engine from homemodelenginemachinist.com. I enjoy making tooling and bits and pieces for my machines and it is surprising just how useful a lathe is to support all sorts of other interests. I acquired for a nominal sum a lathe and a pillar drill about 30 years ago when my employer was having a factory clear out. I knew nothing about them then but quite fancied learning. Doing a bit of investigation when I got them home I discovered I was to be the proud owner of a Myford Super 7 and a Fobco Star bench pillar drill. The Super 7 is 1959 vintage and I guess the drill is a similar age. They are both in remarkably good condition for 60+ years old! When I fully retired recently these were joined by a Chester V20 milling machine. Another current project is motorising the Z axis on the V20 with a stepper motor and Arduino. Similar to the article in the latest MEW but easier because the manual handle is on the side and the motor connects to the top of the leadscrew.

My background is electrical engineering and electronics though I have spent most of my working life around industrial electric ovens and furnaces. Having gleaned so much from this forum, hopefully I can contribute some thoughts on temperature related matters.

Best regards Peter G1UGL

Andrew, Yes indeed. looks like a late 1970s model. You can tell the age from the serial no. – month and year then a sequential number for that year. We've still got the records of almost all the units we have ever made since about 1960.

Peter