The Britan Lathe Our young engineer Cameron Pinder came across a photograph (the colour photograph below) of an unusual machine tool – ‘The Britan Lathe’ and sent it to John Aldersley who thought it would be of interest to members. John said he had never seen one before. Well, I can tell you that I used to operate one during … Continue reading “The Britan Lathe………”
News from World Skills Competition…. John Aldersley sent us the latest update on Cameron’s progress:- ” Cameron is preparing for the next stage in pursuit of winning in the World Skills competition by using the Haas 5 axis at Leeds City College. (Haas Website) He had an idea of doing some tuition to various people, starting with the college tutors. … Continue reading “More Machined Parts from Cameron Pinder…”
Andrew Kibler kindly forwarded another link of Graham Sykes’s Rocket Bike performing a run at Santa Pod Raceway in Bedfordshire. Hold onto your seats as you watch Graham blast up the drag racing strip…. The ‘Festival of Power‘ will be held at Santa Pod on 3rd – 5th April 2026 and Graham will be demonstrating his ‘Force of Nature‘ … Continue reading “Rocket Bike – A Fast Run at Santa Pod Raceway”
The 161st Anniversary Dinner will be held on Saturday 18th April 2026 and you are urged to book your places and menu choices. Contact Dinner Secretary Andrew Kibler now…. Please send in your applications to reach Andrew before 4th April… Click on the Forthcoming Event in the RH menu for full details… Please Book Now !
Cameron Pinder – LAE Council Member & World Skills Competitor No doubt you will have been following the progress of our council member young engineer Cameron Pinder. In further pursuit of developing his skills he has secured the use of the 5-axis Haas machine tool at Leeds City College, using tooling and toolholders supplied by LAE corporate member M.A. Ford, … Continue reading “An Update from Cameron Pinder….”
Report on the visit to ACS John Aldersley kindly produced a report on the recent visit to ACS in Leeds. Thank you John for sharing this with the members. Here is his report:- “It was a great visit (Thursday 26th Feb 2026 7.00pm to 9.00pm), with some very interesting stuff going on with a lot of ‘tech’ involved. I … Continue reading “Report on the Visit to ACS – Thursday 26th February 2026…..”
World Skills Practice Pieces by Cameron Pinder Cameron sent some photographs and videos of his work, practising his CAD/CAM skills for the World Skills competition. Click the photos and zoom in to see the amazing details. The milling cutters he used were courtesy of our corporate member M.A. Ford Click on the videos below to view…..
‘Force of Nature’ ‘Force of Nature’ is a Steam Powered ‘Rocket’ Motorcycle built by Graham Sykes for drag racing, record breaking, exhibitions and events. Four years ago Graham brought along this amazing bike and told members about the project. Graham, a precision engineer from North Yorkshire, designed his rocket bike in his garden shed with his wife, Diane, over the … Continue reading “Steam Rocket Bike – Big Update…..”
Report on Ben King’s Talk – January 2026 John Aldersley attended the talk by Ben King on Thursday 29th January 2026 and kindly produced a report on the meeting. Here are John’s words….. Ben presented his talk using a Power Point presentation. It started with a little family history, which I found fascinating. He said the seed was set … Continue reading “Report on Ben King’s talk – 29th January 2026…..”
