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       The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> General discussion
xlchainsaw

"minitech"

minitech is the name of a business
www.minitech.com.au
it is situated just a five miniute drive from here. my local hardware store is further. its in an industrial park and you have to know its there. they stock everything for the model engineer. i mean everything. brass screws.. lathes,, tools .. hot air engines and so on. they had 6 copies of tubal cains books 1 and two on the shelf!!!! ive been making my own brass stock believing its not available locally.. i asked a local steam associate "where can i get"??? he said you cant get it locally!!!!   it turns out that he is a former employee of "minitech" and knows their products well!!in fact he went there to buy the bits i bought from him and... i had to travel twenty kilometres to do so!! in fact whilst i was browsing their stock my attention was directed to a steam gauge??? i looked and it had a sticker.... private sale  ...contact clinton taylor ????clinton is well known to the staff there. he has a engine in their photo galley. from 2006.
http://www.minitech.com.au/gallery.html
this is the first time ive seen or heard of "minitech"
its a very clear case of .."its not what you know but who you know!" and even then????????

if any member sees something on their website and wants more "hands on" info let me know and i will check it out for you...i think i will be spending heaps of $$$$$$ and time there.
gd9704

Wow, does that look like a fun place to work......  
johnreid

Cool place
Where I used to work there was a need for some specialized machining to be done on a regular basis, the boss sent items there on a regular basis and waiting for UPS to deliver the finished parts was always a big deal. One day I looked at the address for the place and it is out in the middle of nowhere, in fact only three miles from my House! Needless to say I was allowed to arrive at work a half hour late on the days I picked the pieces up and got to leave a half hour early when they were to be dropped off, a sweet deal for me.
xlchainsaw

im going to ask if i can take a pic of their display case.   they have so nice models there!! they have a hot air  traction engine the size of a mamod on display ..... and for sale!!!!!! all the models are for sale.
johnreid

Remember to leave your wallet at home that day
xlchainsaw

johnreid wrote:
Remember to leave your wallet at home that day
yea and top it off!! the staff really know their stuff and are passionate about their business they dont need to advertise????? or very rarely. a lathe and milling machine "walked "out the door whilst i was there!
Graham-Jilly

dont mention my name or they wont let you in the door.

Just joking

that is where I got my lathe and mill from.
didnt know you didnt know they were there mate I thought everyone knew.
xlchainsaw

Graham-Jilly wrote:
dont mention my name or they wont let you in the door.

Just joking

that is where I got my lathe and mill from.
didnt know you didnt know they were there mate I thought everyone knew.
i guess in a way its done me a favour. ive looked into casting all my own brass stock for example.i will just buy it unless i want the big stuff 25mm 30 40..mm 100mm long. then its worth casting. after cleaning the model pumps for petrie i expressed concern that if a metal thread vibrated loose then it would spell the end of the model ...fine ba screws.. it took a lot of phone calls but the name "minitech" popped up! and its on our door step!!!!you see i was i informed that ba screws were no longer available as they had gone metric???????this doesnt explain the packets i saw. they have a nice ba tap and die set there . $148 au. i will get one in due time.
scorpion2nz

Damn you Glen
I just checked out there site  and it looks very interesting I am sure to spend  some money there  as getting bits i want around here are impossible. as for BA tap and die sets I got  english second hand set of TM  0 to 10 dies and 2 taps of each  boxed for NZ$175.00 and i consider it money well spent as as all the parts were looked after and still very sharp
tmuir

I've been buying from them for over a year and I'm on the other side of Australia.  

For BA screws though I still buy them from Reeves because I usually buy them in bags of 50 to give me enough for some time and postage for a light  parcel of 100 to 200 grams from the UK isn't that much more expensive than from the eastern states of OZ so it works out cheaper buying in bulk from the UK.
xlchainsaw

scorpion2nz wrote:
Damn you Glen
I just checked out there site  and it looks very interesting I am sure to spend  some money there  as getting bits i want around here are impossible. as for BA tap and die sets I got  english second hand set of TM  0 to 10 dies and 2 taps of each  boxed for NZ$175.00 and i consider it money well spent as as all the parts were looked after and still very sharp
actually i thinking of you when i made this post.... if you cant get anything.... maybe they have it and if you like i can personally look into it as can paulc ..whistleman... graham.. we all live equal distance from them different directions but the same distance.
xlchainsaw

tmuir wrote:
I've been buying from them for over a year and I'm on the other side of Australia.  

For BA screws though I still buy them from Reeves because I usually buy them in bags of 50 to give me enough for some time and postage for a light  parcel of 100 to 200 grams from the UK isn't that much more expensive than from the eastern states of OZ so it works out cheaper buying in bulk from the UK.
its a small world.???? they had bags of 100 ba screws for $7.50  nuts inclusive .(the real small ones.)im not sure if all their their stock is listed on their web page
paul_c

Looks good, i think I will visit and buy some taps  
xlchainsaw

paul_c wrote:
Looks good, i think I will visit and buy some taps  
leave your wallet at home!!! its for your own good! lol they are open saturday mornings.
       The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> General discussion
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