Being self taught in a practical subject that requires many many years experience is difficult. If you are fortunate enough to have a evening class or a model engineering club near you that can help. Unfortunately my disability rules me out of evening outings so I have to rely on reading in the main. This is via the model engineering magazines and I subscribe to four! Namely Model Engine Builder, from America and concentrating on model engines. Second is the well known Model Engineering, a fortnightly magazine with a long and illustrious history and forms a valued reference source. Next in MEW or Model Engineering Workshop, which concentrates in the main on workshop tooling. I find this magazine invaluable for the photo's and how people actually secure their work, irrespective of the subject matter, and finally Engineering in miniature, a magazine that covers its fair share of traction engine subjects and compliments the others.

Another source of information and help have been DVD's of engineering methods. I found those by Jose Rodriguez  in particular to be worth their weight in gold! I admit I do speed up some of the sections but the value of DVD's is the flexibility it gives you. It also gives confidence as you can see how something is done. Just try writing how to boil a kettle and then make a video of it and you'll see what I mean (you would also be very sad if you did that!). I found Jose's Grinding Tools, and making gears of particular value. I grind all my own tool steel and achieve reasonably good results only due to his video's. There are others out there and I find them extremely valuable. Next are the reference books and I am always surprised at the ages of most of them. It is not unusual for a reference book to be over 50 or 70 years old (content wise) although 'updated'.

However in  these electronic times the Internet is also very valuable. There are websites (my own www.mikes-models.comis one such example), article sources, data tables and other useful downloads, but also forums. There are many forums, some of which specialise, such as furnace and CNC, but others cover the subject in general. They also vary in 'friendliness'. Some are very cliquey and unless you are an 'expert' you will never get help, but those are easy to spot. I myself use a very very friendly site (link below) on which the more experienced members willing help us novices. They also have group builds which I find fascinating whereby say 10 members build 10 or 11 models (one given to charity or museum) where one person build one or two particular items. I have yet to take part in one of these builds but hope to in the near future. The site is called Home Model Engine Machinist or HMEM and well worth a visit.

logo for HMEM forum

So there we are, some of the sources of help for the home model engineer. I think the most important lesson I have learnt in my first proper year of model engineering is that even if you go wrong it doesn't matter. The ruined piece of work is a loss, but just your time, the material will find itself just right for some other future part where it can be milled or turned to its new size! If its wrong don't make do. Throw it into your scrap (mine is called recycled) box. make another and if necessary, another. Each one hopefully better than the last (if it isn't go and make a different part and come back to it again, it will be perfect then. Trust me I have a lot of experience in this matter!

I hope you have found this useful and have a go! It is a very satisfying hobby and as some great, but forgotten, man (or it could have been a Woman) said "have a go, you know it makes sense. Lubbly jubbly!"