I started a small project of building a lathe to go in the corner of my new locomotive and wheel shop. Since I spent a few decades employed in this occupation, the layout of the shop and design of the lathe was a piece of cake. It still is, however being I could not find my HO scale (have a steel HO rule somewhere, the plastic ones kept getting glued to bridges, buildings, my desk and of course my fingers and such) what the heck, as the guy on T.V. said, “getter done” ,don’t need no stinkin rule.
Before I started to build the carrage"s, I grabed a scale person, as I wanted the controls to be at a certain height, sat him next to the headstock…for a split second thought…“dang I musta grabbed a little ity bid-e kid”. At that moment I realized this lathe just turned into a BIG heavy duty flat car load, and I aint gonna tarp it. LOL Any how this load is scheduled to head to staging and on to that O gauge road on down the line. Ita just a bit to big.
Was fun to make and hated to lose the time in doing it, but what the heck, as I said above, somtimes “Ya gotta just laught at yourself.”…Take care…John
You’re still way ahead of me. I am unsure I’ll ever get to the point in skill development as you have at the moment. It is good that you can laugh it off and try again.
Thanks for sharing the story. I hope it goes better next time. [:)]
Crandell… You Sir are a touch of class, always helping others and I think you underestamate yourself. I am not skilled at being a modeler at all. You guys here absloutly blow me away, the talet is awsome.
What I also kind-a chuckle about, is that the few that overely critique, I have yet to see (I am not going to get into that)…I also feel that even a young lad that has only one engine, an oval and a few cars on his plywood central has a place here to post what he wants. And to critique that in my personal openion is just plain wrong.
The key thing to me is everone that post’s a pic here is a modeler and to over critique (I’m not talking about a kind suggestion) then it is not in my openion what this forum is about. But its not my forum, its just for me to use and enjoy looking at everones personal enjoyment.
Take care and I always look forward and enjoy reading and looking at your posts…John
Exactly John, if there is anyone put off from posting here by self appointed experts then there is a real problem. Of all the forums on the web this has to be the place where modellers of all skill levels are welcomed. There is nothing wrong with offering suggestions, help and advice to help someone improve their skills, but as we have seen there are ways to deliver this help without causing hurt and offence. There are many skilled modellers on this forum that have the personality and humility to be truly great teachers. They are the true ambassadors of this hobby.
I have a similar problem with my landscaping. I made a beautiful 150 foot high plateau with a nice rock cliff face, loose rock falling down to the bottom next to the track. When it was all done, I drove the steam engine up to it to take a nice photo. Then I discovered my beautiful 150 foot high cliff was only about half as high as the whole engine [:I] I have a similar problem with the waves in my harbor. They look like an aerial shot taken from 500 feet up.
I saw the photo of the lathe that you posted over on TrainBoard (I’m assuming it’s the same one you’re talking about here) and I thought it looked pretty good. Of course, the lathe was in the foreground so it would have been tough to tell if it were oversized.
I had a chance to visit an old locomotive repair/erecting shop last year. It had been renovated and turned into a convention center. But they still had several of the old machines (inclding lathes and drop hammers) cleaned/painted and set along the side of the building for atmosphere, I guess. I thought your lathe looked a lot like the ones I saw there.
Hey John–I saw that lathe on another forum we belong to, and I thought it looked GREAT! Just tell anyone who asks that the person sitting at the controls is the operator’s teen-age son and he’s being broken in on Dad’s profession, LOL!
Your lathe sure beats the heck out of the 400-pound oblong crate I perched on one of my workers in the Sierra City railyards and then wondered why he kept falling over onto the tracks right before my “Yuba River Express” came trundling by.
I agree with both of you. Unfortunately, there are still those around who will, if you don’t laugh at yourself, do it for you. [swg] It still surprises me that we have such “classy” types among us. [sigh]
Lathes, like a lot of other things, come in many sizes. Just how big is one meant to turn 80 inch drivers? Maybe all is not lost after all.
If memory serves, the central strength member of a 1960s cargo plane (alleged to be the biggest in the world at the time) was turned on a horizontal lathe originally built to machine the turret ring of U.S.S. Monitor. Now THAT’S big!