The point being?
EDIT: As others have pointed out in my defense, my original comment was in response to a now deleted comment. I apologize for the confusion
This engine and others like it are a treat. 
I think this is one of his machines being built:
Itās a shame he doesnāt use the internet, there seem to be a number of people with the same passion as him - he said that he thought he was the only one.
The pure grace and the simple beauty
V-12? How about an 18 cylinder (36 piston) deltic? http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Tomlinson.htm
Heās got extraordinary skill, and heās exercising it. His machines are beautiful, precise and well designed. Is that not enough?
Would you be more impressed somehow if the machines were meant to be installed in a smoke-puffing left-handed veeblefetzer factory? What sort of āpointā would you consider valid?
It was in response to a comment that was unrelated to the topic.
Cāmon man, so donāt you think anyone should invest any time in any art or craft or hobby or interest? Isnāt this what 90% of the internet is, people obsessively indulging in a particular interest and making cool stuff? I love stuff like this! Itās point enough for me.
And the internet is great to allow people with niche interests to fine each otherā¦
The āthe point beingā was a reaction to a post that was removed meanwhile, a bare uncommented link to some art photos with absolutely no relation to the post theme.
That said, the engines are sweet.
What a sad story: Retired man hand-builds intricate model engines in his spare time. Thinks he is alone in the world with his hobby because he doesnāt know anyone else who does it. If only he knew how to use the internet heād know there is a whole worldwide community of people with the same hobby sharing successes, failures, ideas, lessons, and camaraderie. But he doesnāt know how to use the internetā¦ Someone should email him this:
I wonder if heās read Trustee from the Toolroom. Iām sure Amazon has it.
The book reportedly features someone working on the rolling ball clock that was shown here short time ago. Small worldā¦
Sorry for the misunderstanding. I have a friend who did say āWhatās the point?ā in earnest and I was ripe for a rebuttal.
No worries, mate. My initial comment, taken out of context as it was thanks to BBās rather kludgy commenting system, was offensive.
In response to the out-of-context comment, there is a kind of beautiful pointlessness to this kind of modelling, when you consider how many hours are put into an object that nobody else will appreciate to anything like the level of passion that you have for it. According to the comments of the guy building these models, there seems to have been this vague desire to show school kids how machines work. He was quite surprised that he was getting attention from a film crew, so it seems that he didnāt expect his creations to be seen outside of a pretty small group of people. There are much, much easier ways to teach mechanical processes to kids, but having this kind of passion for your art will be much more likely to inspire the next generation.
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