Hi Al, Re your no 7 power hacksaw - having had one, I would say there may be two more useful alternates for it. I'll explain why. -an electric abrasive wheel chop saw works faster and is more compact as well as cheaper than a power hacksaw. A bandsaw is also faster but is expensive unless you make your own (can be done easily). The downside to chop saws is they make an ungodly noise and sling dust everywhere. It is difficult to do any cuts except straight thru ones with them. Bandsaws are amazingly flexible in the cuts they can make. The power hacksaw I had was not great, although when new, I'm sure cost a lot being a professional machine by DoAll. Being a reciprocating machine, it was known to buck and snort through structural iron most unpleasantly. It was OK with cutting cold rolled steel, aluminum or brass. When it broke its' main shaft for the ninth time, I scrapped it. In theory a power hacksaw can be left to work semi-attended, while you do something else, but whenever I left mine running alone it did something nasty either to itself or the stock, so no benefit there. -An oxyacetylene outfit with a cutting torch, combined with an angle grinder, is very flexible at cutting stock and is also capable of welding and brazing light jobs. A really good small OA set and angle grinder is about the same cost as a power hacksaw. My wish list in order if I were just starting out (just my two cents' worth) -good bench with vise and drawers/ shelves -good work lighting and lots of power outlets -hand electric drill -used industrial lathe minimum 9" dia swing x 24, minimum 1/3 HP motor, preferably 1/2 HP or more, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, tailstock drill chuck -double ended bench grinder -drill press 8" capacity 1/2 HP minimum, good fitting quill and chuck, 115 pc twist drill set -oxyacetylene welding and cutting set -4 1/2" angle grinder -milling slide for lathe -milling machine Bridgeport style or Warco T column style -electric welding set -good surface plate and marking out equipment Cheers, Jeff Dayman Waterloo Ontario Canada ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allen Messer" <al_messer@xxxxxxxxx> To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:29 AM Subject: [modeleng] Re: Machinery order > Oh, boy! This is like asking a bloke what is his > favorite sports team or what he looks for in a woman! > LOL! > > 1. Vise > 2. Lathe > 3. Grinder > 4. Drill Press > 5. Shaper > 6. Milling Machine > 7. Power Hacksaw > > Al Messer (Who is still without Nos. 6 & 7) > > --- alanjstepney <alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > > If you were setting up a model engineering workshop, > > what order would you > > buy machinery, and what machines (types) would you > > buy? > > > > alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > > www.alanstepney.info > > Model Engineering, Steam Engine, and Railway > > technical pages. > > > > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email > > to, > > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > > "unsubscribe" in the subject line. > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out! > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.