Auction

Shame that it's on the Isle of Wight. Just adds to the cost of collecting anything - unless of course you live there!

Charles

I am staggered by the sheer quantity of kit - I imagined Fyne Fort as being little more than a one-man band. What turnover would be needed to pay the business rates on a shed big enough to house that lot? Is there a whole continent of Model Engineers we don't know about buying the fittings?

Yes, I thought that as well. Seems almost like they had a different machine set up for each part they made. I would have only expected a few machines. Did they have other ranges of parts that were sold into industry as well as the bits for model engineers?

Regards Kevin

needed to

Presumably it's a closing down sale, so maybe they had overheads too large for their income, and the size and range of stuff in the auction reflects this !

AWEM

Yes, I believe they have now gone bust. But there were about 30-40 production lathes listed, and all manual machines. They can't have employed that many people making model engineering fittings. Which is why I was curious if the model engineering stuff was just a sideline for them. Or perhaps they got a job lot of lathes cheap somewhere when someone else threw them out.

There was a quite nice looking BCA jig borer listed as a "mini-mill" starting at £100. Could be a good buy if no-one notices what it is.

Regards Kevin

I was hoping that no-one would notice that :-(

Mark Rand RTFM

Whoops, sorry. But I think the location is going to put a lot of people off (me, for a start!).

Regards Kevin

there

Yes, I thought that as well. Seems almost like they had a different machine set up for each part they made. I would have only expected a few machines. Did they have other ranges of parts that were sold into industry as well as the bits for model engineers?

Regards Kevin I also thought the amount of machines was OTT for such a small market maybe thats why they went bust. To setup one machine per job seems lik madness, how would you recoup the outlay for the machine and still make profit, oh well, thats another well know name consigned to history, Dav

-- DCree

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The auction details said closing due to retirement.

Most of the stuff is in excess of 50 years old. So the use of a lot of second op lathes and capstans with bar feeders is quite reasonable. The machines probably paid for themselves back in the 60's. The sad thing is that there is nothing much newer.

There are a few things that interest me in this sale, but they'll probably get bid out of my range.

Mark Rand RTFM

AFAIK Fyne Forts main business was in yacht fitting supply, the ME side was an out of season sideline - used to be long lead times on out of stock items. Andy Parker, Agate House Lapidary Ulverston, Cumbria, England snipped-for-privacy@agatehouse.co.uk