Harold Hall
Other products
Whilst those reading my articles and books will know me as one who is into making workshop equipment, I do stray occasionally into the fringes of model engineering. My first attempt, as it is for many, was to make a Stuart H10 purely for the satisfaction of making it. Being then asked to give a talk about my numerous hobbies to the local Salvation Army Men's fellowship I was aware that the work involved in the H10 would not be apparent unless a set of raw castings could be shown and so castings for a V10 were obtained and this engine eventually also made. This was then followed by making the Stuart shaping machine, again for no other reason than having something different to make.
Whilst article writing, I produced a series for the workshop that did not possess a milling machine and during which time I decided that should I ever have to down size my workshop then my Series Seven together with a drilling machine would satisfactorily enable me to continue in metalworking activities. I did consider though that a lathe with a milling head would be a major advantage and decided to design one, again for the lathe only workshop, ensuring that any milling in its manufacture could also be carried out on the lathe onto which it would be used. Actually, there was no milling required if one finished the edges of the cut plates by filing. This I made and can be seen in Photograph 21.
I felt though that the reader would like to be convinced as to the capability of the device so decided to make the steam engine "Tina" using the head for all the milling operations, some quite complex. The engine is available from GLR .. Photograph 22 therefore shows the three engines plus the model shaper that completes my activity into model engineering, that is if you do not consider model carts to come under that heading. I did though, subsequently to providing the article regarding my workshop, produce a series for the Model Engineer magazine which illustrated using just a small lathe and drilling machine to make both a 10H and 10V. The result is that I now have 4 Stuart 10s.
I was asked by a friend if I would make him a model litter (wheeled stretcher) and for help in making the cart type wheels purchased a book on the subject. This had the designs for a model Monmouth wagon that I eventually made. Whether this is model engineering I leave it to the viewer to decide but there are 508 metal items not including the chain which is the only metal item that I purchased, the model gained a bronze medal at the 1990 Model Engineering Exhibition.
Also in the book a model tip cart was mentioned and the plans were obtained and this also made, starting this during my time off work due to the accident mentioned earlier. However, this did not get finished until 2013 when I entered it into the 2103 Model Engineering Exhibition, gaining me a silver medal. The two carts can be seen in Photograph 23. See also.
My Workshops
21
22
23