Member postings for Andrew T

If I cover the box in a Cath Kidston flowery print im sure it will be accepted !

Now I like the sound of the "Suitcase Machinist" .... all good suggestions, think membership of the local model club (seems to be one in Leatherhead) / SMEE is in order

Thanks

Andy

Thanks all, I am overwhelmed by the helpful support with my query

Currently we are renting a somewhat small 1 bedroom flat (Surrey is not cheap !) so ummm somewhat limited on space (living room has the double bed , piano (digital), and dining table / the bedroom is our living room / office due to noisy neighbours and terrible construction), coupled with my obsessive compulsion of buying books and wife's 3 filing cabinets full of scores it leaves little room remaining ! hence renting the garage for storage....

Appreciate the suggestions on the smaller machines / might just have room on the bay window for a small lathe if I come up with a smart way to have it boxed when not in use - sure the wife will not notice a few missing pot plants !

Luckily my interests at the moment are more Stirling engines / LED custom light fittings, so boiler making will be on hold at least initially !

Shame some form of community workshop system could not be set up with some form of subscription / booking system, must be plenty of schools with equipment laying idle but guess local government funding is somewhat under pressure these days + the H&S issues.

Andy

Thanks will take a look into that

Andy

Thanks will take a look into that

Andy

Hi all

Silly question but as a flat renter options on workshops are severley limited (not even allowed to put up a picture without permission from landlord and not sure the wife or neighbours below would be happy with a lathe in the living room !)

I have recently rented a garage from one of the neighbours in another block of flats for storage purposes, and the idea came to mind for a little workshop ...... but alas there is no power and the garage is not close to the block of flats.

I see adverts for older lathes that still have the treadle fitted come up quite frequently, are these a practical proposition ?

Other options come to mind such as:-

Hackspace shared workshops but the closest is Hackney / Brighton and being based in Redhill Surrey they are a touch too far and again not sure me dissapearing for hours at a time would go down well with the wife !

Generator but concerned the noise would upset the neighbours and loose me the garage / cost starts to add up and eat into a very limited budget

Battery power but I dont think I would get the necessary power / length of time from this options and would have to drag batterys back for charging which I believe is not a good idea in flat due to explosion risk !

Im a complete beginner (trained as a furniture maker) but my main area of interest is with medium sized stirling engines and have some ideas I would like to experiment with.

I guess I could CAD up the parts and get made but im working on basis of trial and lots of error so this cost would also quickly increase and still need some form of workshop to assemble and test out.

Any suggesttions / or local groups that run a workshop share ?

Andy