Thanks John,

I have a manual lathe Myford ML7B, and a little bit of knowledge ( Always a dangerous thing ) Manually making the products I am working on won't be cost effective but its a balance between learning myself or hiring a machinist which in the current climate where they are like Hen's teeth will be an issue. There is not enough margin in the product to outsource the machining plus I want to do it myself and have other products in mind. The model engineering is a good idea, there is a club near me that build steam engines and run a small railway in the local park.