Hobby leads to job

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Busted Bricks
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Hobby leads to job

Post by Busted Bricks » Wed May 02, 2018 5:48 pm

When I manufactured the Busted Bricks range of garden railway kits (now in the safe hands of David at HGLW) I initially had wheels made in China as all the quotes I received from UK machine shops were WAY too high. However the quality of the Chinese wheels started to decline and when I needed a batch for the Cracker project I decided I would see if I could find a supplier closer to home. I sent a request for quote to 5 different machine shops in Denmark. One of the first to reply was also the one with the lowest price. In fact the price was a match for the China price when shipping cost was factored in. The quality of the wheels was much better than the ones from China. I asked the owner of the business if I could stop by on my way from Germany to Faroe Islands to see his workshop and also show him a live steam loco as he was a bit curious about what the wheels were for. We hit it off straight away and stayed in touch even though I was living on Faroe Islands. I visited him again two years ago when we were on holiday in Denmark. I relocated to Denmark in January with a plan to run my own business. It's not been plain sailing and I was struggling to get going. Bo, who owns the machine shop said I could always come and work for him if I needed to make some money. Then we got talking about an apprenticeship as a CNC machinist and he made the offer to take me on full time. I decided to accept as I can still run my laser cutting business part time.

Two weeks ago I started full time and have already learned a lot. Tomorrow I get my first training in CNC programming. We have Mazak machines, both mills, lathes and machining centres. The apprenticeship starts officially in August where I'm off to a 20 week elementary course at the Tech College. We have a special scheme for apprentices above the age of 25 where I get full (minimum) pay throughout the training period. Due to my age and previous education I'm exempt from some courses and the overall duration is reduced from 4 years to 2 years, 5 months. Education is free in Denmark so it's a pretty sweet deal in my opinion - full pay and a qualification thrown in. Since the demand for machinists is very high and more are retiring than are being trained, it's not a bad skill to have from a career perspective.

I will most likely be allowed to use the machines tools we have in my spare time which is a great help in my long term project to manufacture live steam locos. In a couple of weeks time we will get a brand new Swiss type lathe which is ideal for making a lot of parts for small live steamers :D I also have the Schaublin automatic lathe I bought some time ago for making fittings. Other perks of the job includes lots of free bar ends that I can take home and use on my manual lathe.

We are about to run another batch of 16mm scale wheels soon that will be sent off to UK. Guess who will have the "pleasure" of deburring the rear side of the bore.... :thumbup:

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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by ge_rik » Wed May 02, 2018 6:07 pm

Sounds brilliant, Michael. Also great to hear about an education system which actually serves the needs of its 'consumers'. I have always had a great deal of regard for Scandinavian culture and their social and political priorities. It's no wonder that Scandinavians consistently come top in global surveys of happiness and contentment.

All the best with your apprenticeship and this development in your career. I did wonder why your location on the forum had changed to Denmark.

Rik

PS Thanks for the development work behind the HGLW loco kit which I recently put together. A very enjoyable build.
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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by Lonsdaler » Thu May 03, 2018 10:02 am

Good stuff BB. Good to hear that some societies still see the value education can add, rather than seeing it as another cash cow. I hope it all goes well for you, and with that property that you posted a photo of, I won't be surprised to see you become interested in something larger scale :D Except of course, you will be too busy :lol:
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bazzer42
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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by bazzer42 » Thu May 03, 2018 1:02 pm

You deserve that, you're a clever man. Your designs are well thought out and perfect for youngsters to serve their apprenticeship in kit making. I hope your live steamer project comes off at some point the future.

I agree with Rik, Scandavian countries seem to have got it right.

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Busted Bricks
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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by Busted Bricks » Fri May 04, 2018 3:40 pm

Thanks for the comments guys.

It seems I take to CNC programming like a fish to water. I've done a couple of setups on my own today (under supervision) including tool-setting. Mazatrol controls are pretty easy to work with. Knowing some basics about machining from having had model engineering as a hobby for many years certainly helps. Young apprentices often have zero knowledge of the trade. Hence they are often ask to perform tasks such as fetching the box with center punch marks ;)

I wouldn't rule out 5" gauge in the garden in the future. I have plans for the Australian designed "Blowfly" as well as some of the stock material and copper for the boiler. With a 1.65 acre property there is plenty of room for the track.

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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by FWLR » Sun May 06, 2018 8:24 am

Great news for you Michael. An apprenticeship that has a lot going for it, skills like yourโ€™e going to receive are going fast and at least you get to use some steel for your own use. :thumbleft:

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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by cooltrain » Thu May 10, 2018 2:42 am

Busted Bricks wrote: โ†‘Fri May 04, 2018 3:40 pm I wouldn't rule out 5" gauge in the garden in the future. I have plans for the Australian designed "Blowfly" as well as some of the stock material and copper for the boiler. With a 1.65 acre property there is plenty of room for the track.
I'm building a Blowfly myself at the moment. I've scaled mine up to go on 7 1/4" gauge though and am going to replace the slip eccentric valve gear with a improved version of the valve gear used on a lot of Accucraft locos (with the reversing lever moving a piston valve that changes the admission and exhaust ports). The Blowfly is a wonderful design and considerably powerful too for it's size.

Ronan.
"So what's yer name?" asked the driver.
"Charlie, sir."
"I don't address my firemen by their Christian names, son. Give me your surname."
"Darling, sir."
"Okay, Charlie, start shoveling."

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Busted Bricks
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Re: Hobby leads to job

Post by Busted Bricks » Sat May 12, 2018 11:08 am

I would like to go 7 1/4" gauge but I fear the cost would go up quite a lot. I think I will stick with 5". I plan to use gas firing. I love the smell of burning coal but good coal can be hard to get around here and gas is cleaner and quicker.

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