# Greetings from Toronto(ish)



## GaryE (Jan 16, 2022)

Hello Gang.

I stumbled across this forum while doing some lathe research and thought that it would be good to join.  I'm glad to see that there's a dedicated Canadian forum for all things metal.  My interests lie in repairing anything that's broken, restoring old things back to running condition, and knife making.  I'm surprised I didn't see this site sooner given my normal reading topics on the web.

I'm Gary, 55 yrs. old, and I live in the eastern suburbs of Toronto.  My early schooling and career was all focused in technical areas.  Electronics, electrical, hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, welding, etc.  Troubleshooting and repairing various types of equipment and devices.  For the past 22 years, I've owned a successful financial planning business, and I will be retiring next year.  Since helping my dad change the oil on his car at the age of 5 or 6, I've been working on mechanical things pretty much my whole life.

At this point in time, my two car garage is my workshop, so space is limited.  My wife and I have already purchased our retirement home further east of Toronto, and I have built my 40x60 dream shop.  The shell is up, but I still have lots of finishing details to do.  Floor sealing, painting, plumbing, electrical, & lighting.  Once I get the floor sealed this summer, I'm in a position to jump on the right opportunity for some of the larger shop tools.  I already have many of the small tools, (as much as can be jammed into a 2 car garage), so I'm now starting to get serious about some of the larger purchases.

My hobbies are basically focused around fixing or repairing old mechanical things.  I have three old family Gravely walk behind tractors. The youngest one from 1968 has been used regularly for the past 12 years by me with the bush hog attachment, but the engine is currently in pieces in the garage for it's first bottom end rebuild since 1968.  Pretty impressive considering it ran for over 50 years without a cylinder rebore.  The other two Gravelies are from the 50's and are slated for full restorations.  I ride a modern day motorcycle (but it looks old  ) , but have 4 old ones from the 70s all awaiting restorations. In my retirement future, I also see an antique pick up truck (M37 or a Model A), one or two hit and miss engines, and maybe an antique tractor. I don't have one specific thing that I focus on. I like variety just as long as it's old and mechanical in nature. Knife making is something that I've become interested in in recent years. I have refurbished some old knives, but I'm looking forward to getting more involved in making them from scratch. I have accumulated most of the small tools required, but still have yet to jump in with the larger knife making tools. I have purchased plans for a 2x72" belt grinder that will be my first serious tool construction project. I have a small anvil and all the parts to build a small forge, but just like the previous new member to the forum mentioned, I don't think that my hands and arms will be able to stand the pounding, and I don't think I'll be a serious enough forrger to justify a power hammer. I think I'll be primarily focused on the stock removal process.

It's for the restoration projects I have in mind (and to just have some fun) that I have started looking around a little more seriously for a lathe and a mill.  For those of you that are into restoring 50 -100 year old machinery, you know that some of the parts are made of unobtanium.  The only way to get them running again is to make a new part, and the only way to do that cost effectively is to do it yourself.  Yes, I know you can have A LOT of parts made for the price of a lathe and a mill, but where's the fun in that?  I'm not interested in a large mill or late to do large/specialised machining jobs. I'd just like to be able to make smaller parts that tend to go missing if somethings has been sitting around for decades.

I'll spend a bunch of time reading through all the posts here so that I can ask some semi-intelligent questions.  Unless I get schooled otherwise, I think I'm looking for a relatively small lathe ( 9-12"? ) and small mill.  I'd like them to be DRO capable, and accurate enough to make parts for 50+ year old machines.  If I can find an older mill or lathe that isn't clapped out, then I'm open to that.  If the newer/cheaper Chinese machines are accurate enough for what I'm trying to achieve, then I'm OK with that solution too.

Well, that's it for me for now.  I'm looking forward to the process of researching and tracking down a mill and lathe, and at some point, a heat treatment oven too.  Any help from the forum members will always be appreciated.  Maybe some day I'll have the knowledge and experience to help others in these areas, but I have a feeling that for now, I'll be absorbing more information than I'll be providing.  

Take care, stay safe, and all the best in to everyone in the new year.

Cheers.
Gary


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## trlvn (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from the opposite side of the Big Smoke!

Craig


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## deleted_user (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome Gary from as far east as you can go and STILL be in Toronto proper. 

Need a new friend with a keen interest in metal casting who needs to know someone with more rural location?


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## Brent H (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from just north of Barrie!


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## Chip Maker (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from Peterborough Ont.!


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## YYCHM (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from Calgary.


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## CalgaryPT (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from Calgary Gary. I've a bit of a snowblower collector, and would love one of those Gravelies with the brush to add to my collection.


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## GaryE (Jan 16, 2022)

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes.    

John (Toronto Builder), LOL.....Thank you for your offer to become my new BFF.   My retirement place is definitely rural with 50 acres severed from a farm, and 600 feet to my nearest neighbour on either side.  That will allow for a bit of noise from the workshop without irritating them too badly (I hope).   Unfortunately I'm probably 2 summers from having the workshop fully functional with power and plumbing, and I'm probably 3-4 years before before I'm down there full time.  My wife isn't quite ready to retire next year when I do, and we've got extensive renovations to do on the house before we move in full time.  I don't think my timeline is too supportive to us becoming metal casting friends in the short term. :-(  I've watched a number of videos on sand casting, and although I find it interesting, it's not something that I thought I'd have a need to do myself.  I do have an interest in attempting to make a couple of knives from crucible steel, just for the fun of it, but there's lost of other projects higher up on the list.

Calgary PT.  The three Gravelys belonged to my dad, my uncle, and my cousin.  Being in Canada, they all had a snow blower attachments, so I have three snowblowers.  See attached pics.  The cool thing is that each of the snowblowers clearly illustrate the effect of health and safety regulations.  The oldest blower is what they called a "dog eater".   Very cool to observe, but rather unnerving to be close to.    The middle aged one is more enclosed, but the auger is still fairly exposed.  The latest one is fully enclosed on the sides and has a safety bar across the front.  In addition to the snow blower attachments, I have 2 bush hogs, 2 rototillers, 2 rotary plows, and a sickle bar mower.  Lots of retirement restoration projects just with the family Gravelys alone.

Cheers.


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## whydontu (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from Vancouver! What’s a snow blower?


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## David_R8 (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from Vancouver Island!


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## Dan Dubeau (Jan 16, 2022)

Welcome from another east Gta guy.  Congrats on the retirement and property.  Sounds like you did things in the right order.  We bought a fixxer upper property in 2010 east of the GTA, and I always had hopes of building a shop the size of yours.  I started the house reno first though, and still haven't finished, so no shop yet.   I did it backwards.


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## darrin1200 (Jan 17, 2022)

Welcome aboard Gary.


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## Susquatch (Jan 17, 2022)

Welcome from farm land south of Chatham Ontario. 

My own world is more like yours than not.


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## GaryE (Jan 17, 2022)

@whydontu - my apologies for my poor memory.  I totally forgot that we have a very cool corner of our country on the west coast that  rarely gets snow.  On days like today when we get 25 cms of snow, I think about how nice it might be to live out there.    Then I read the annual weather summary listing the number of cloudy/rain days vs. sunny days and I think that Ontario doesn't look so bad over the entire year.  For purely theoretical/education purposes, see above pictures of snow blowers.  

Cheers.


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## Susquatch (Jan 17, 2022)

GaryE said:


> Then I read the annual weather summary listing the number of cloudy/rain days vs. sunny days and I think that Ontario doesn't look so bad over the entire year. For purely theoretical/education purposes, see above pictures of snow blowers.



ALL of Canada is beautiful except for the downtown parts of the big cities. 

I have two snowblower. A 28" walk behind for around the house, and an 8ft monster for behind the tractor. It's the Ontario snowbelt here through to Barrie. 

My laneway is a half mile long. I am not shovelling it. 

You call your blower #3 a dog eater. I would disagree. ALL SNOWBLOWERS  are dog eaters. 

And you should see what happens when you run over a garden hose the wife left out for the winter. HOLY Fudge! Ask me how I know.......


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## whydontu (Jan 17, 2022)

GaryE said:


> @whydontu - my apologies for my poor memory.  I totally forgot that we have a very cool corner of our country on the west coast that  rarely gets snow.  On days like today when we get 25 cms of snow, I think about how nice it might be to live out there.    Then I read the annual weather summary listing the number of cloudy/rain days vs. sunny days and I think that Ontario doesn't look so bad over the entire year.  For purely theoretical/education purposes, see above pictures of snow blowers.
> 
> Cheers.


In Vancouver, you don't tan, you rust


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## deleted_user (Jan 17, 2022)

speaking of snow blowers, mine was stuck in the garage in front of my car, by the time I could get it out i'd shoveled half the drive.

then when I got the blower out it refused to start.  I need fresh gas


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## GaryE (Jan 17, 2022)

Thanks again to everyone for the welcoming comments.

@Dan Dubeau - re: workshop first, house reno second.  I made a case with my wife that if I am to do, or significantly help with the renovations to the retirement house, I'll need a good shop full of tools to be successful.  She's a very smart woman and basically saw through my argument, but she gave her rubber stamp anyway.  She does seem to remind me fairly oftern that I got my retirement workshop before she got her retirement house, but it's all good.  

Cheers.


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## Susquatch (Jan 17, 2022)

GaryE said:


> Thanks again to everyone for the welcoming comments.
> 
> @Dan Dubeau - re: workshop first, house reno second.  I made a case with my wife that if I am to do, or significantly help with the renovations to the retirement house, I'll need a good shop full of tools to be successful.  She's a very smart woman and basically saw through my argument, but she gave her rubber stamp anyway.  She does seem to remind me fairly oftern that I got my retirement workshop before she got her retirement house, but it's all good.
> 
> Cheers.



My wife fundamentally understands that men never grow up and never mature. 

I fundamentally understand that she is always right.


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