paul

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " .
So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool .
My hopes were high but not for long .
The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned .
"Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so .....
But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .
 

Thanks for that Alan. Great pictures. Shame you don't know where it is. Like people are saying, I expect you can find it through the dvla. On the plus side I can't comment on you and the hair
Paul

Hi everybody I am a newbie to MY OLD MACHINE my main interests are Allen Scythes and Howard. I bought an Allen Scythe from that famous site for £10, four stroke Villiers engine runner will post pictures when I can figure it out here is a picture of one of my Allen F with cylinder mower attachment

I used to have 15/20 allen scythes & attachments. Inc a cylinder mower. Heavy lumps
 
Sold the lot now as interested in other things
 
Still have my massive folder full of info etc on them which I built up over the years of collecting.
 
Nice machines you have there

Happy New Year to you all.
Best wishes. 
Paul

Happy New Year to you all.
Best wishes. 
Paul

Happy New Year to you all.
Best wishes. 
Paul

Thanks Chris, appreciate it. Still have the little allen junior from you. Used it to cut the wild flowers down at the cross by the red lion in West Meon this year (WORKED A TREAT). Had a good audience to.

Hi here is my BMB cultmate out in the sunshine and running again after a few years my older brother at the controls he likes it a lot i just love it hope you like it too  

You could always fill it with more presidents Titch. Sure the family will love it. Paul

I have two. a ts model with a villiers mk 15 four stroke engine.I prefer the four stroke as found the two strokes get tempremental when hot. Only problem I find is there is no adjustment to the handles and im tall so tend to stoop when using it. The second one I have was chris's on here which is a junior model. The blades only eighteen inches long, powered by a four stroke jap engine.
Nice machines but you know when you've used one. They shake your fillings out.

Also been doing a little digging into the company which started making these machines. The Raven Engineering Co Ltd were in fact quite a small operation. Running their offices from what would appear to have been a residential property, and the works from a nearby small workshop. Here is a copy of the email I received yesterday......
 
Dear Darren
Thank you for your intriguing query sent in via the website. To be honest, I had never come across Raven Engineering until now. However, I found the following entry in the 1956 Outer London (West Middlesex) Phone Book.   These two locations are close to each other at their back entrances (see attached map). As you can see from the attached, the 11 St John's Road premises are residential although I guess Raven were using them as offices (and hence the two phone numbers?). You'll see that a work/live Unit has been squeezed in next door at 11b and there was a very small single story workshop there before, maybe when Raven were there too.    29 High Street (also attached) has had a very varied history: airplane propellers in WW1, parts for cockpit of the Kingston-built Hawker Hurricane in WW2, Celestion Ditton speakers between the two and more recently some of the scenery for the film Alien. But I haven't come across any other Raven Engineering stuff I'm afraid. Best regards Ray Ray Elmittauthor of Hampton Wick: Brick by Brick and other books available now at:  http://www.hamptonwickhistory.org.uk/HamptonWickHistory/Publications.html  
 He also sent me some photographs of the relevant buildings and a small map showing the location, plus the phone book entry.

 
 

I thought I'd post up a couple of my latest projects. The first one is a 1946 Briggs NR6 military engine that was recently given to me by a friend. It was in rough shape, but it was free, and I didn't have an NR6 in my Model N collection yet. The NR6 has a 6:1 gear reduction that is cast directly into the block. Its almost done now, and it turned out quite nice. I'm still waiting on my decals, and new tag to arrive. The paint job isn't that great, but I have to use rattle can paint on my military enges, because if I use a good paint, and spray it with my gun, they always turn out waaay to shiny.   High gloss, and military don't mix! 
 
 The second engine, is a 1952 Sears tagged Briggs NP, with a 3:1 gear reduction designed for use on reel mowers. Its all original, and I won't be restoring this one. I did pull the head, and the base, to clean out the 60 year old carbon, and sludge from the engine. I cleaned the carburetor as well. These are rather strange looking engines with their long gear reduction hanging off the side. It smokes a bit, but being 63 years old, it has the right to. 
 
 Here is a video, and pics of each of the engines. 
 

 
 

This is it now.

Hi all. Just a update on the scythe I got from Chris. I have got the engine all up and running also the spare one is running. They both just need painting now. New blades are fitted, new tubes in tyres and all parts under coated. Have spoke about getting decals/transfers for the wheels as Allen Oxford was painted on these and not a raised casting like on my ts model. Will put some pics up soon. Paul

Hi all. Just a update on the scythe I got from Chris. I have got the engine all up and running also the spare one is running. They both just need painting now. New blades are fitted, new tubes in tyres and all parts under coated. Have spoke about getting decals/transfers for the wheels as Allen Oxford was painted on these and not a raised casting like on my ts model. Will put some pics up soon. Paul

Over the last 13 months my nephew has been (mucking in) well sitting watching, he loves sitting and watching anything to do with machinery, he used to love sitting in this walker in front of his favorite machine which was the Lister D Type engine, 
 
now hes out of his walker, he likes to sit on the machines and have a poke and a prod, and if i have the machines out when he comes over he can have a ride on my lap, 
 
today he tried out his seat I got him a while back, (never actually drove with it today) hes still a bit young for that sort of thing, but i think he approved of it, 
 
lets hope one day he has a collection of his own, 
 
do any of you have sons, daughters, or family members of a young age that enjoy this sort of thing? 
 

 
 

Hello all. I thought I'd share my most recently acquired project. Its an old International LB 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hp stationary engine. I have been collection old air cooled engines for awhile now, but this is my first of this type engine. Its getting a full restoration.
 The engine wasn't in to bad a shape when I got it. No compression, but it wasn't stuck, and it was complete. Here are a couple pics of it before disassembly.  
 
Matt

Lister d finished now. Paul

well its been a year now since this site was launched in the uk, i would like to say many thanks to all the members that have made the site what it is, good company good banter and very diverse, lets make it grow bigger and better in 2015

Hi All
Got this yesterday. A  Allen & Simmonds horti culto with four sets of blades and a spare set of wheels. It has a Villiers mk7 engine on it but no spark as yet. Any info on these machines would be great as I have never seen one. 
Paul

Hi All
Got this yesterday. A  Allen & Simmonds horti culto with four sets of blades and a spare set of wheels. It has a Villiers mk7 engine on it but no spark as yet. Any info on these machines would be great as I have never seen one. 
Paul

Hi All
Got this yesterday. A  Allen & Simmonds horti culto with four sets of blades and a spare set of wheels. It has a Villiers mk7 engine on it but no spark as yet. Any info on these machines would be great as I have never seen one. 
Paul

Wishing you and your family all the best, our thoughts are with you at this difficult time ( chin up )
Best Wishes.
Paul