In search of Peter Rawlinson

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Whatever happened to Mr. Peter Rawlinson? for a long time in the 1990’s he was a prolific contributor to MEW and described some very sophisicated bits of tooling including a wire EDM machine.

 

Did he give up writing, or change hobbies, or go on to write for other publications?

 

I enjoyed his writings greatly. I could  only aspire to his skills, but always came away with applicable ideas to things I could do. Such a contrast to the “how to drill a hole with a twist drill” type articles seen frequently in MEW today (to say nothing of the endless plugs for Myford – but that’s another issue).

 

JD

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 26/06/2010 19:50:07

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

NO ONE reading the forum knows anything about Mr Rawlinson or what happened to him?

 

JD

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

He asked for his articles back and stopped submitting them.

regards David

 

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Jeff, I’ll send you a private message with the only info I have – an email address and a phone number… (took 10 minutes to find them, and wasn’t that easy…)

 

And in view of what David said about withdrawn articles, there might be a bit of a clue here from something that Colin Usher wrote:

 

“Peter Rawlinson is a prolific author/engineer who has built a reputation for producing excellent tool and machine designs. He has now produced a series of books where he has pulled together most of these designs. Volume 1 contains over 20 different projects as diverse as Machining Large Tubes thro’ Laser Alignment to a Mechanical Dividing Head. Volumes 2 and 3 are much the same, each detailing over 20 engineering projects. All designs are complete with excellent CAD drawings and colour photographs. Volume 4 is a compilation of the series of articles that originally appeared in Model Engineers’ Workshop giving complete instructions and drawings for the construction of a CNC Milling machine. This volume also contains details of his CNC Continuous wire eroder together with a brief look at “ G “ code programming.

Whilst these books are primarily intended for the model engineer they will surely find a place on the book shelves of many professional engineers.”

Edited By Steve Garnett on 02/07/2010 22:04:02

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Thanks Steve – PM sent to you.

 

David – do you know what year and month roughly that Peter withdrew the articles and stopped submitting?

 

Thanks JD

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Now that it’s mentioned I can remember his doing the print on demand books.

However a quick web search doesn’t show anything so unless he’s like the best whores and is ex-directory he’s making it hard for anyone to buy his product.

 

John S.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Posted by John Stevenson on 02/07/2010 22:46:30:

 so unless he’s like the best whores and is ex-directory

 

 

Uh, pardon?

 

JD

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

Sounds as if Mr Rawlinson’s books would be an education to many of us.  I have no idea whether the author of the following books  is THE Peter Rawlinson but I found the following on Amazon:

 

Tools to make life Easier

August 2006

ISBN-10:0955373603

ISBN-13:978-0955373602

Temporarily out of stock

 

Tools to make Life Easy: Band Saw Blade Welder v.5

February 2007

ISBN-10: 0955373646

ISBN-13:978-0955373640

Toos

42 pages

 

Tools to Make Life Easy: v.5

September 2006

ISBN-10:0955373611

ISBN-13:978-0955373619

Toos

200 pages

 

The reason for two ISBN numbers hasn’t registered on my radar.

 

 

Edited By Niloch on 03/07/2010 09:59:50

[Michael Ellis 1Participant @michaelellis1]

The first book listed by Niloch, Tools To Make Life Easier, is by the same Peter Rawlinson. It was mentioned in MEW #118 with contact details. As I recall from the writing in MEW various series, he was developing or had already developed mobility problems. It is quite possible he has dropped out of active engineering model as a result.

 

ellis 

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Jeff Dayman on 03/07/2010 01:44:22:

Posted by John Stevenson on 02/07/2010 22:46:30:

 so unless he’s like the best whores and is ex-directory

 

 

Uh, pardon?

 

JD

 Jeff,

Bit of an in-joke.

Apparently all the high class call girls are ex directory, you  have to make contact by recommendation, or so I’m told.

 

I use this as a stock phrase as my engineering repair business isn’t in the phone book either, nor does it have any signs at all, all work comes as recommendation.

 

John S.

[Spencer BrookParticipant @spencerbrook26722]

The last article authored by Peter Rawlinson in MEW was in Issue 123 (March 2007) and was on turning large radius items on a lathe.

 

In the introduction to his article on a “Tailstock Power System” in MEW 110 (November 2005) he gives some considerable detail of why he developed this system – he suffers from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (a manual dexterity problem) in both hand.

 

SEGB

 

 

 

 

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

SEGB,

Carpal tunnel Syndrome can be operated upon, so given that there is no reason for PR not to have an operation, he could get this fixed – I know another  model engineer who has.

John.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

John, beware, CTS occurs in varying degrees and in some cases has varying complications, such as diabetes and arthritis which can preclude efective treatment.

Early diagnosis is also key to effective treatment of CTS. If not detected early enough, permanent damage to the median nerve will preclude effective treatment of the condition.

To make such a bland and overarching statement as you have will only serve to inflame the feelings of suffers of this debilitating condition!! And I speak from experience on this.

 

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

My sympathies go out to all of those with carpal tunnel disease of any sort. I know it is a rough one no matter what the severity.

 

However I do not want to see the thread derailed off topic. If it does, I will ask moderator to lock the thread.

 

The subject is Mr. Rawlinson and whether he is writing or working elsewhere. So far I haven’t been able to find any current info on how he is or what he is up to, despite leads from several people above. Thanks to them for their efforts.

 

JD

[Tanya NichollsParticipant @tanyanicholls87224]

Hi to all.. I believe you are asking about my father who very very sadly passed away on Friday.. hoping for a response from any one on here… about him..

[Willem KotzeParticipant @willemkotze19252]

Tanya, My sincere condolences to your family on your loss. I did enjoy his articles very much.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Tanya

May I add my condolences. I too used to enjoy his articles and found them inspiring.

Russell

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

I can only add what others have said. There is a certain comfort I think from knowing that he lives on when any of us use what we learnt from him and that his books continue to give joy to their owners when we read his words. To make people smile after one has left is the best way to leave. Sympathy and thoughts for you and your family at this sad time.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Tanya Nicholls

I was very sorry to learn of Peter Rawlinson's death.

I was friendly with a Jim Smith of Folkestone who knew your father and, frankly, revered him.

Like the others, I very much appreciated his contributions to MEW and his willingness to share his expertise over the phone.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Hello Tanya, I'm very sorry to hear your sad news. My sincere condolences to you and your family. I started this forum thread back in 2010 when I was considering doing a wire EDM machine. I had not seen anything published by Peter in a long time and I hoped to have an email conversation with Peter about some of the EDM machine details, and perhaps find and purchase a couple of his books. As others have said, Peter's articles were enjoyable reading for many of us and his insights into the technology being discussed were most helpful to those following along and building similar equipment. He was a very skilled man and will be missed by the model engineering world. Best regards Jeff Dayman Waterloo Ontario Canada

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 30/01/2019 13:47:37

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Sad to say,this answers the original question.

I read many of his articles ,and while they were way above my standard,the were always well worth reading,as I,m sure others will agree. Such people come along,once in a lifetime,and if you are lucky enough to know them or meet them,that is a bonus.

Others may put it better,all I can say is May God rest him,he will be sadly missed.

[Tanya NichollsParticipant @tanyanicholls87224]

Ohhh wow… this is so nice to read… so nice to know that what he loved to do was appreciated by others… I didn’t know if any one would even reply as I noticed that the thread was started back in 2010… he still tinkered in his workshop at home literally right up until the day he passed away last week..it was just him.. it was what he did…. he was always doing something always had some project or another on the go.. I have always looked up to him and always thought that he must’ve been a very clever man.and your words confirm that to me.. i always said to him.. ‘if only i had half the brains that you have. I might just do ok..’.but I think they missed me.. and went to my daughter instead. I am wondering I don’t really know how these things work but I wonder is there any way of me starting a thread of my own on here.and maybe include pictures.. or are you not able to include pictures. Just so I could see what responses i were to get.. it is so nice hearing how my dad has helped other people in their works.. ohh and before I go for the moment.. can I just ask.. would you all be ok if I were to print out all your lovely comments about him.. so I could perhaps put them together for his funeral perhaps.. And just a great big thank you replying back to me.. I really really do appreciate it.. many thanks Tanya

Edited By Tanya Nicholls on 30/01/2019 17:33:49

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Tanya Nicholls on 30/01/2019 17:15:45:
.. would you all be ok if I were to print out all your lovely comments about him.. so I could perhaps put them together for his funeral..

Please feel free to do so.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hello Tanya,

I'm sorry to hear that Peter has passed on. He was a prolific contributor to Model Engineers' Workshop, with some real ingenuity like his spark eroder and resistance soldering device. He also wrote many articles for Model Engineer. I took on MEW a few years after he ceased to write for us, but I greatly enjoyed his articles as a reader. Peter's articles were always interesting and thought provoking.

Please fell free to pass on our appreciation of Peter's work from my self and my colleagues at MyTimeMedia.

Neil

Neil Wyatt, Editor Model Engineers' Workshop

[Author]

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