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Posted by Peter Neill on February 25, 2008, 3:16 pm
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Sorry, bit long this, but bear with me on this one as I get around to
explaining it.
Popped up the road yesterday to see a friend and have a chat about
this and that. Got talking about my little workshop and mentioned that
I was looking for a new lathe. Friend then pipes up and says "why
don't you go and see old Johnnie R., he's selling up and moving to
America".
Completely bemused I asked who Johnnie was, I'd never heard of the
bloke?
Friend then explains that Johnnie is an 82 year old Suffolk boy who
lives in a ramshackle old farmhouse up a dirt track in the middle of
nowhere, but only about a few miles away from where I live. Turns out
that he learnt to be an engineer/machinist with the Army during the
war, but when he was discharged he moved back home to Suffolk and
became a farm labourer and contractor, digging ditches and cutting
hedges, but never lost his love of machining.
Over the years he bought the odd machine or two as a hobby and started
making a few parts for friends, in between the full time work with
ditches and hedges. After a while more people kept coming to him for
bits (still a hobby) so he bought another machine or two.
Turns out that he made most of the parts for a local millionaire's
gyrocopters and other light planes he was building, including full
gearboxes, transmission shafts, rotors, and engine blocks. Fixed bike
and car engines, tractors, lawn mowers, farm machinery, basically
anything mechanical that was broken.
Still as a hobby for pin money.
Friend got to know him when he needed a driveshaft for his quad bike,
His had broken and a new one was large amounts of unavailable cash, so
he was pointed in Johnnie's direction for a fix. In 3 days Johnnie
made a new shaft complete with integral bevel gear, hardened it
himself and ground it all back and charged him a tenner.
Anyway, his sons have now decided its time for him to sell up and use
the money from the house and land sale to move them all to America.
Having heard all this yesterday afternoon, friend then arranged for us
to go across to Johnnies place this afternoon. Arrived at the house
which looks pretty much the same as it must have done 50 years ago,
and was surprised he wasn't still using gas lamps.
What a lovely old man Johnnie turns out to be. Very quiet, unassuming,
humble, yet incredibly knowledgeable and obviously very skilled.
The workshop is an old tandem farm shed that is literally falling
down, gaping holes in the gable ends and glass with broken panes.
Inside a single fluorescent fitting sheds a small pool of light on
Aladdins Cave.
There are machines everywhere. This place makes John Stevensons
workshop look like there's enough space to park a double-decker bus
in. Small machines are piled on top of larger machines. There must be
several tonnes of barstock on the floor, and you can't actually stand
anywhere without threading on this material, or using a chuck or a
motor as a stepping stone to worm into the gap between machines.
All this stuff is for sale.
Johnnie doesn't really have much of an idea what it's worth, and from
my short time with him today, I doubt he would ask for very much money
for it at all.
If no-one wants the stuff it's probably going to go for scrap value,
and there must be about 30-40 tonnes or more of stuff in this place.
I honestly don't believe I saw it all, as there is stuff hidden under
other stuff, piled behind other stuff.
Further down the page I've put a partial list of what I can remember
seeing.
As you've probably gathered, access to get to machines is a problem as
well, and you would need to hiab half a dozen machines out of the way
to get to what you want.
Much of the equipment is rusty, but everything is in working order.
If anyone is at all interested please get in touch with me, and I can
put you in touch with friend to arrange to go and see this.
I think there is about a 3-6 month window to get this cleared and sold
before the scrap man cometh.
Alternatively, can anyone recommend a machine dealer who might be
prepared to buy the whole lot without ripping off Johnnie? He won't be
expecting that much money for it, but he's such a nice old man I'd
like to help him if I can.
List of the machines I can remember
Hardinge HLV x 2
Ward Capstan x 4
Harrison L5
Pultra 17/70 lathe
Parkson Horizontal Mill
Fellows Gear Shaper
Kempsmith Horizontal Mill
K & T Milwaukee 205 C-12 Horizontal Mill x 2
Bevel Gear Cutter
J&S 540 Surface grinder
Elliot Surface Grinder
Other surface grinder x 2
Cylindrical Grinder x 2
Universal grinder x 2
Tool and cutter grinders x 2
K & W radial arm drill (large)
Beaver Turret Mill
Beaver Turret Mill with extended knee - extra Y travel
Do-All Bandsaw 20" throat depth
3 other Bandsaws
Corona Twin spindle pillar drill
Small high Speed drill
Die filers x 3
Jig borer
Key Seater
Slotter
About another dozen or more machines, small mills etc and even more
stuff - I couldn't remember it all!
All mills with diving heads, some universal
All grinders with mag chucks
About 20 machine vices from 2" to 8"
About 20-30 chucks 3 & 4 jaw, all sizes
100's of collets for Ward and Hardinge
Extra motors all over the place
4 Fly presses, Denbigh/Norton various sizes
Hundreds of bandsaw blades, and hundreds of assorted cutters, drills,
and other tools.
And loads more stuff
Peter
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Posted by Peter Neill on February 25, 2008, 3:36 pm
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On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:16:19 +0000, Peter Neill
>
>List of the machines I can remember...
Just remembered there was a large 'Cardiff' lathe as well.
Peter
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Posted by Peter Neill on February 26, 2008, 3:57 am
Please log in for more thread options On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:36:00 +0000, Peter Neill
>On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:16:19 +0000, Peter Neill
>
>
>>
>>List of the machines I can remember...
>
>Just remembered there was a large 'Cardiff' lathe as well.
>
>Peter
Also remembered today that the horizontal mills have vertical heads as
well, and there is also a shaper and a pantograph/die-sinker.
To those who have e-mailed enquiries so far, I should get back to you
all by tomorrow.
Peter
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Posted by ticktock on February 26, 2008, 3:53 am
Please log in for more thread options Peter, ... I've emailed you off list if you can check your inbox.
Ian
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Posted by Kevin on March 1, 2008, 12:33 pm
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>All this stuff is for sale.
>
>Johnnie doesn't really have much of an idea what it's worth, and from
>my short time with him today, I doubt he would ask for very much money
>for it at all.
>If no-one wants the stuff it's probably going to go for scrap value,
My wife is so relieved that you're such a long way away from me.
Regards
Kevin
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>List of the machines I can remember...