New Hampshire member

[Clay JonesParticipant @clayjones22389]

Thought I’d put my head above the parapet and say Hi. I’m a semi retired Carpenter joiner from the New Forest. Embarrassed to say I bought my Myford ML7 R on a whim 12 years ago and apart from regularly cleaning it in my workshop and wiping off wood dust I never actually used it in anger. Finally have a lot more time on my hands and just treated myself to a Sealey mini mill and a Stuart S50….zero experience within the field although I do have two classic cars and restored a few over the years. Looking forward to the new journey and apologies in advance for possibly more than one irritatingly basic questions.

Anyone else with a Carpentry/building background and is this a hindrance or help for what I hope is going to be years of fun. Spent a while reading quite a few threads and have to say full respect to the level of knowledge and expertise within the forum and thank you for sharing.

Clay

[Clay JonesParticipant @clayjones22389]

Finally have some time on my hands

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

Hi Clay

Welcome to the forum, nothing wrong with buying a lathe on a whim! . I'm sure your background will be a help, after all measuring skills are transferrable, be ideal if you need to make patterns!

There's plenty of expertise on this forum to help you if you get stuck with anything, you might get about fifty different answers to the same question, worth looking through some of the albums on here particularly Jason B for stationary engines, good to have some inspiration. Don't forget to post some pictures.

Dave

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Hello Clay and welcome. Come on then, tell us what the cars are! I don't have one any more (getting old) but Austin Sevens were my thing, me favourite being a 1928 Tourer that took me to Holland a few times.

The Stuart will teach you a lot and don't get too despondent if you scrap something, happens to us all.

Please let us know how you are getting on with it and remember, you can come on here any time if you're unsure about something.

Brian

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Welcome!

Lots of help and advice on here, on all sorts of subjects. (Some of which are completely above my head. )

Try and find a local M E Club. There you will find fellow enthusiasts who will help / demonstrate if you have a pressing problem.

When Sabre Engines, in Wimborne took up marinising Perkins engines, used to pass by en route almost every week. Testing was fun, once tearing about in a Fairey Huntress. The highest that I recall was 32 knots!

Also used to have relatives in Broadstone.

Howard

[geoff adamsParticipant @geoffadams14047]

morning Clay just down the road from you Barton on Sea if you need and help give me a shout happy to help

Geoff

[brickyParticipant @bricky]

High Clay and welcome.I too was a builder for 50 years and have been into this hobby since the mid 70,s.Get started and all the help you require will be answered by someone on the forum,you can't ask for a better forum.

Frank

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Welcome to the forum Clay.

Your background is a good fit to 'Model Engineering' because it's a broad church covering most home workshop activities. If it's technical, I'm interested!

Though metalworkers pretend to look down on 'brown stuff', I think the hobby is really about the skills needed to make things with tools. I'm not aware woodworkers have bother taking on metalwork, though of course there's a lot to learn. Working to within 0.02mm ( 0.001" ) involves some new techniques.

Off hand I can only think of three conversion problems afflicting the hobby:

• Imperial measure and Metric! Many of those brought up on Imperial can't cope with metric and anyone trained in Metric thinks Imperial is bonkers! Although impossible in the UK to avoid working with both, it is worth majoring on one of them. Best to go imperial if your hobby looks to the past due to training, inherited tools, renovation work, or building new from imperial plans. Otherwise, go metric because it's cheaper, imperial sized stock and tooling is gradually becoming harder to find, and new plans are mostly metric, as are most manufactured items.
• If you do design, moving from 2D isometric drawing to 3D CAD requires a kind of mental backflip and a fair amount of unlearning. Though it's excellent for design and vital if you move into 3D-printing or CNC, most workshops don't need 3D-CAD.
• Moving from one computer system to another, whether operating system, application or oven timer! Again the problem is the difficulty of unlearning. Anyone who uses a computer is stuck with this one!

Have fun and let us know how you get on.

Dave

 

 

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 27/01/2021 09:48:15

[Clay JonesParticipant @clayjones22389]

Many thanks for the welcome gents, looking forward to the journey….feels like being an apprentice again!

The cars are a 64 Mk2 Jag and an MGC GT Brian, always been a classic car guy and hopefully will learn some more skills via this forum. Respect to you for taking an Austin 7 to Holland!!

Thank you for the offer of help Geoff, I know Barton quite well, I’m at Woodlands near Lyndhurst. Is there a local ME club near us?

keep safe all and thanks again

Clay

[Tony Wright 1Participant @tonywright1]

Hello Clay,I’m a Cabinet maker by trade (oh the shame) metal work is no different to wood work the only difference is metal is harder than wood and you have to be more accurate.Re imperial and metric again it’s no big deal .Just take your time and remember you can’t take as bigger cuts in metal as you can with wood. 😃

best regards Tony Wright

[Clay JonesParticipant @clayjones22389]

Thank you Tony

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Hi there, Clay, welcome.

I'm the other end of Hampshire.

Regarding metalwork vs. woodwork: metal work is usually more neighbour-friendly than woodwork because the cutting speeds are slower. The grain structure of wood also contributes to the noise. My ML7 doesn't make anywhere near the noise level of my 1300 watt Bosch router!!

Mind you, hacksawing sheet metal can get a bit screechy.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[geoff adamsParticipant @geoffadams14047]

hi Clay their is a club in Bournemouth they have a track at the Littledown centre opposite the hospital doubt the track is open at the moment

Geoff

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Welcome along Clay. I tinker with motorcycles so no model making here. I spent 40 years running Series Land Rovers but also restored a few cars, could have done with your skills when remaking an Ash body frame. I am to old and lack the space to do another car but still dream of something from the 1920s/1930s to go with my bikes.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Welcome Clay –

Apologies but I thought you were a member in New Hampshire ………..

Too far for me to go these days!

[Clay JonesParticipant @clayjones22389]

Thanks for the heads up Geoff

Had several bikes Chris including BSA’s and Triumph Bonnie and Tiger, actually learnt to ride after restoring a couple of bikes when I was 40 but this midlife crisis reason to ride was perhaps not the smartest idea and after a couple of near misses I sold the bikes and steered myself fully into the cars and at 59 hopefully many more years tinkering to come.

Thanks Nick, sorry should have worded better…..New Hampshire looks a stunning place to live by the way.

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