Christmas 2021

The turning of the year marks a change in my attitude to being surrounded by daft creations, so far two engines have been condemned to becoming rusting garden features allowing them to slowly return to nature. After all who would want a very heavy assembly of junk metal that is not of antique interest? Hardly

Groundhog

The lawnmower wheeled ‘Groundhog’ has been put to bed leaving me with mixed feelings about making mobile engines, doesn’t feel right somehow.

Chuffing Jenny

My junk assemblies never benefit from design, I simply cobble together whatever random items I come across that might be adapted to perform some vague engine function. Chuffing Jenny is the latest arrival – from brass candlesticks to a chuffing little engine that lights its own way… The full story is under the ‘Engines’ tab…

Does it drill?

The first job of 2021 was to convert the old ‘gut-buster’ hand drill into an air-powered machine. I did it, but it took a few rethinks to get it right… Read all about it, and see the videos on the ‘Gut-Buster Drill 2021’ page under the ‘engines’ menu tab.

Workshop (I mean studio!)

It seems every model maker wants a Myford lathe. I have no time for those prissy excuses for a machine tool but then you may have noticed I don’t make models and anyway I needed something a bit bigger to satisfy my aspirations. A Myford is a 3.5 inch lathe which means the maximum diameter

Musings late 2020

Opting to use compressed air in place of steam has freed me from safety concerns but it’s painting with water colour rather than oils. Although it’s less dramatic lacking the heat and smell, all the engines still have full steam propulsion capability.Tin Pan Ali has a fake boiler and I don’t mind, in fact it’s

Tin Pan Ali

Take a WW2 shell case, some gym weights, a brass indoor plant sprayer and a cast iron pizza tin, put them together and what do you get? Well, I got this new engine…

Video tour of my workshop

OK, by popular demand… here’s a video tour of the workshop! It seems to be turning into a bit of a gallery for the engines, too…

15th November

Alan’s birthday and the latest engine gets drilled flywheels, these originated from a couple of bar-bell weights from Lidl. There’s treasure everywhere. Also note the cast iron pizza pan base 🙂

Work in progress… not.

Having published that awful diary logging progress on the Grimer Gas engine I promise any work-in-progress reports won’t be in boring detail, I’ll just report the interesting happenings, good and bad!