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as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with
all things mechanical. I was fortunate to be born
into a family where I had a well equipped workshop at my
disposal. One half of the family garage was home
to all sorts of tools and raw materials. (The
other side was filled with tropical fish - but that's
another story...) At thirteen, I went
"halves" with my dad on a
Taig Micro-Lathe. At that age, metalworking seemed to
be the most noble of the manual skills one could acquire
- I am still of the same opinion. Of course, it took many years of practice
before I became adept at using the lathe and its milling attachment. Since then, I have added
an Atlas 6" lathe (with milling attachment!) to my
collection. In the mean time, my professional
career has
taken a considerable toll on time available for hobby pursuits. As a
result, I now seem to spend more time developing design
ideas in CAD than making real parts. While I enjoy modeling
in CAD, the greatest pleasure really does come
from making chips.
This website was created as a vehicle to share
the enjoyment I have derived from the hobby of Model Engineering.
I have named the site "Modern Steam" because I
have a passion for blending the use of modern tools with the
sort of traditional craftsmanship that was an integral part of the steam era. This pursuit
continues to provide great opportunities to learn new skills, while at the same time challenging and
strengthening existing skills.
An unexpected benefit of this journey has been the number of great friendships I have gained over the years within the Small Scale Live Steam and Model Engineering communities. I can only hope this site serves
as a way of saying "Thank You" to all those that have been so open and generous with their time and knowledge.
I cannot imagine having a more
interesting and varied hobby to pursue, or better friends to share it with.
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