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Wasting time constructively
THE RETURN
How hard can it be?
The Return : Welcome
My beloved says that she is going to have how "hard can it be" carved into my headstone; this apparently inspired by taking on things with the sometimes misplaced belief that I can do it.
A few of years back I decided to get back into workshop activities after a 15 year break. Moving, work and travelling had meant that I simply did not have the time to spend making stuff. I had hung on to basic tools and a lathe (Myford Super 7) which had been gathering dust in my vey small integral garage, so small that it is not big enough to take a car as its only 4.3M (14') long by 2.8M (9') wide. It does house a motorcycle and all usual paraphernalia that is needed to maintain a house. My previous workshop had been a much grander affair which was 4 times the size and housed a variety of machines both for metal and wood work.
The Return : About
This is one corner of my old workshop taken about twenty years ago. Behind was a Colchester lathe, milling machine and drill press. The shaper on the right was a great machine which I miss.
The Return : Image
Another view of the workshop, the chassis on the trolly is a Sweet William which is the 7 1/4" version of the well known Sweet Pea Bagnall type narrow gauge locomotive.
The Return : Image
I own a traditional Narrow Boat, a few years ago, just after I acquired it I needed a part for one of door latches which I discovered was no longer made. The alternative was to change the whole mechanism, which would mean fairly major surgery to the door. Then it occurred to me that I could make the missing part. All I had was the lathe which was not level and had not been used for many years. I did have some tooling and a stock of material, after some fiddling about I managed to machine the latch component. A simple enough job but very rewarding as I was reminded how much I used to enjoy making things.
The Return : Image
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