Hi from Colin in Huddersfield.

[Colin]

Hi,


Many thanks once again for your warm welcome to the forum; having now introduced myself and just before I move on to some serious gardening of which I have many questions to ask I'd like to add a bit more detail as to what I do for hobbies. My hobbies are many and varied from full restorations of vintage radio to full restorations of machinery also I do lots of DIY; woodwork of all kinds; home renovation and metalwork in fact anything which grabs my attention and interest. I was honoured in 2009 with best restoration receiving an award for my AVO wave winder restoration; I've had lots of articles published. Once I start something it then becomes an obsession until completed then I quickly move on to other interesting things. I'm not a know it all in fact when it comes to gardening I'm a novice only having worked in our gardens over the last 30 years fire fighting just to keep on top of everything and I'll move on with a new thread shortly as I want to learn a lot more about gardening so I'll be pestering you experts with questions.


Second best and compromise isn't an option for me and I go to extreme lengths to do a job correctly first time; its the way I was taught as an apprentice and I'll never change. Below are just a sample of some of the restorations I've carried out; I derive great pleasure from taking something a skip would reject then restoring it to as new condition; I have lots of skills and many of these in some way or another can be incorporated into my gardening endeavours especially regarding wooden constructions and masonry work; my lathes will be handy for assorted turning jobs in either wood or metal; my welding kit will prove useful on machinery/tool repairs; as I say I'm no one special just a guy getting deeply involved in whatever interests me.


The AVO wave winder is a machine used for winding special tuning coils etc used in radio/TV work and outside the scope of this forum but added just for interest.


The Ekco T311 is a 1957 17" TV but it is also a radio; I bought this knowing it to be scrap because it looked like a nice interesting project; I did the full and comprehensive restoration in front of the world on a forum in real time during the worst winter on record; I ended up doing the veneering on the work surface in our kitchen because the workshop windows were frozen up on the inside; this TV was riddled with old woodworm holes; the cabinet was badly delaminated due to water damage in fact whatever I did to it I couldn't cause further damage; it certainly looks better now than when it left the factory new but its now not original because I chose and installed all the new veneers then french polished it; I spent around ten years on the radio restoration hobby starting from scratch with no training but once I completed this TV restoration I then lost interest because I simply couldn't improve and the challenge was thus gone. The TV is in full working order now; the chassis was in similar condition to the cabinet and the restoration on the forum was a huge one.


The Lorch Schmidt precision engineering lathe had been in a scrap yard for over twenty years up to me buying it; Bron by now is well used to my interests and assorted activities; when this lathe arrived on the truck Bron said that looks like another load of scrap with a big smile on her face. These Lorch lathes are highly desirable and very expensive so I've now got a fully restored one.


The Union Graduate Lathe is regarded by many wood-turners as the Rolls Royce of lathes; I bought this directly from an academy and it was in terrible condition with worn out headstock bearings oozing dirty grease and it had parts missing; I went to town on this restoration and converted it to variable speed using a top quality 1.5hp inverter rated Brook motor and added a VFD (variable frequency drive); new SKF bearings were installed together with drive belt; missing parts I made and then I brush painted it in machine enamel paint; I couldn't spray it because it was like a monsoon outside with rain water pouring down the outside of the workshop doors; most of these restorations have been completed whilst living in a black hole called Yorkshire; I wouldn't be at all surprised if it doesn't pour with rain when I wander into the workshop today?

I've now had to decline requests for help which saddens me but things got out of hand and I only have so much time to do our own jobs; I'd like to help everyone but even small jobs can take up a lot of time; having my skills and the kit its amazing just how many people suddenly have a whole list of jobs which need doing; I'll help anyone in an emergency but I've been fully retired for the last 16 years and still don't understand what retirement means?


I hope I'm not boring anyone as I ramble on but having now settled into the forum its time I got into the garden and start yet another steep learning curve; I love being a novice because in life there is so much of interest and I like trying new things; after bringing our home up to an high standard I feel our gardens are the final frontier and I've got a big job ahead of me.


Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

My late father in law would love to make friends with you. He's a sounds engineer with the BBC and had the first TV in his area. He always used his hands to make this and that and repair this and that. Shame the future generations are anything like him. He used to go to the Buckingham Palace to do the queen's speech. He was furious when I dismissed the propaganda with disdain.. After all these years, I realised that it was the major highlights of his life. He used to say he got shooed to use the side entrance with his Morris Minor!

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Many thanks for adding your story alp; yes I would have liked your late father in law as I like most of the guys of my generation who were taught the old fashioned ways of apprenticeship.

I'm a member of a vintage radio/TV forum and this forum has lots of top experts on the subject whom I learned so much from during my ten years restoring vintage sets.

It's a shame that dinosaurs like me when we die we take our skills with us because kids these days no longer have the hobbies we had even though the hobbies are still available; few want to go into the types of jobs I've held over the years because many of the jobs meant hard graft; going down a deep coal mine aged 15 I doubt would appeal to any of them unless just for a visit? Boiler-making too is another dying trade; there is little heavy industry left here in the UK hence few jobs of this nature; as an apprentice I was surrounded by industry of all kinds from huge blanket mills to lots of pits. Where are all these now?

One such company I worked quite a few years for was Wormald & Walker world renowned for top quality blankets of all kinds; I started as a weft man and eventually ended up working in their top secret plants S11 & S12. Only permitted staff were allowed into these two buildings because they housed two of only four looms in the UK these looms made by The Fiber weaver corporation of America. I became operator in the newest S12 and with two assistants we produced one mile of blanket per shift; three shifts were running and Saturday morning was maintenance only; when I started at the company I worked in the big weaving shed shown in the video; it was so noisy in there I learned how to lip read so a weaver could talk to me from a good distance and I could supply the weft. Sadly the mill buildings although still there are now broken into smaller industrial units.

The pit I served most of my apprenticeship at is now a museum;

I'm an endangered species surviving a lifetime of hard knocks; I know what real poverty is and I can remember days before electricity was invented in our home; we had mains water and gas only until electricity was connected; doors were never locked because burglars were extremely rare no one had anything worth stealing. Both my late father and grandfathers were coal miners so I went into the pit on leaving school but having passed on seven subjects at school I was deemed good enough to train as an apprentice mechanical engineer so my time underground was engineering and not coal cutting.

I try my best to encourage others to have a go at the old skills but find these days there is so much money around few actually want to make anything or indeed do anything of use; why bother when its so easy and quick to throw away and buy new?

Sorry for the ramble but I do enjoy a natter with like minded people.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

This forum is full of clever chatterbox. I'm a chatterbox, but not clever. Love reading your life story, especially the lip reading bit.. So nice to have you here!

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks alp for your kind comments. Its strange how one adapts to a job; as a weft-man in the mill I knew what each loom was weaving the weavers having four looms each; it became natural for the weaver to look directly at me some distance away amidst all the clatter of the noisy weaving shed and as she spoke I could understand the weft she needed; it was just part of the job but I'm unable to do any other lip reading.

I'm certainly not clever; if there are 99 ways to wrongly do a job I'll do it 103 ways wrongly because I do make the same mistake a few times on occasion; I make up for this by being downright stubborn and the harder something becomes the harder I try; once I start I'll not quit I'm just too stupid to let go. I'm definitely in the chatterbox section though but I'm never bored and hope never boring.

Things are moving forward though on the gardening front; I'm expecting a lot of moss killer to arrive today and over the next couple of days a knapsack sprayer should also arrive; I've paid for and got an assortment of shrubs on order from J Parker's which are due Oct/Nov; I've sown some french lavender seed and taken a few bush cuttings just to get me started.

I'm not keen on using chemicals at all but looking at the sheer amount of moss; the grass has disappeared; I was discussing this a couple of days ago with a friend who owns a farm and not only is our rear garden infested with moss the grass is Couch Grass; I love a challenge.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

No problem with long posts here Colin, I enjoy reading them! I'm also an engineer, so I found your story particularly interesting - it sounds like you've worked very hard over the years.

If of interest I don't mind adding a few pictures of the machines I still have and what was involved in restoring them?

Yes please!

 

[alp]

Colin: I hope you go for some easy going and responsive plants as they will boost your confidence and make it fun for you!

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Many thanks for your encouragement Ian; its interesting to learn you too are an engineer; rather than tag the restorations onto this thread I'll start a dedicated thread if OK then hopefully the information might prove of use to anyone with a broken machine; lots of machines are used in gardening so mechanical engineering is all related in some way? I always fancied doing an old tractor restoration but I've nowhere to store the tractor; as a young lad I used to visit a local farm and I was allowed to drive the tractor which I think was a Fordson Major; this to me was a beast and I recall it was started on petrol then once running was switched over to paraffin; this was over 50 years ago and I think one of these tractors today would be quite desirable? Yes I've suffered a number of hard jobs over the years but I've always grafted and now its paid off handsomely; I shudder to think how the UK is heading into a major pension meltdown in a few years with workers living for today and blow paying into a decent pension; Bron and I struggled like most whilst working but I managed to add 5% of my salary into my works pension fund; a lot of people are in for a nasty surprise when they finally retire?

Thanks for your tip alp; fortunately I've got bags of confidence what I need now is the experience which I know will come if I'm patient enough and ask all the silly; sorry basic questions up front. I'm already picking up useful bits of information; our friends from Leicester visited us this afternoon and Harold and Alan are keen gardeners both having allotments but they concentrate on growing produce; Alan though was most helpful in giving me tips on how to harvest seeds and dry them in readiness for their planting season. I've also been viewing YouTube videos on how to get rid of weeds by using cardboard topped with mulch; I've a great deal to learn but the hardest part I'm sure is now over because I've actually made a start?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Logan]

Welcome @Colin My late father was good with his hands. Used to do woodwork and electrical. He used to grow cabbage and potatoes, also in the early years of his marriage to my mom, he'd have 2 jobs. One in the day and the other at night. In those days mom couldn't go out to work until i was 10 years.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks for your interesting reply Logan.

Lots of us old timers lived much differently to the families these days. Poverty ruled for my childhood but money meant nothing; we made do and mended and I think we are better for it knowing the real value of money. At one point I had three jobs whilst Bron too worked full time just to pay our mortgage and keep the roof over our heads; three days in the mill; two days in a cardboard/paper recycling plant and on Saturday mornings collect money for a local tailoring shop. As a child I remember wives remained home looking after the kids whilst the husband was the bread winner.

Those living for money or possessions will never know true happiness and where is the joy in just handing over a wad of cash for something; lots of old things are much better than new things and if they are broken then it gives such a buzz to get them for little money and restore them back into new condition; I derive as much pleasure from restoring a scrap machine as I do in then using it but it's the way I was brought up and trained all those years ago.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Logan]

@Colin