Quite a few seems to have a venerable track record here - salute to them.
My background is electrical engineering (machine control, process control etc.) but I never worked as a design engineer. Then I was a "start-up-engineer" for a quite a few years but after seeing airports, hotels and mills on 14 different countries I started to grow out of it. I also met a woman of my life and you know how it goes from then. For beter of course.
I had few hobbies and my success has been very chekkered: I crached my share of electric planes and broke quite a few fly rodds (hence my nic: Pekka No Fish). Pekka is very common Finnish name and I seem to get least of the fish on everyone I know. Or maybe I just suck on telling stories. Anyway, I still have most of the fishing gear, but I haven't build more 2m electric planes.
I have accumulated some old junk to my threasure cave (garage at the house drawing it says, my wife calls it evil den).
My first machine tool was a "petite merde" Minilor lathe. Why anybody would make such a piece of junk is beyond me and why I bought it tells me where I started.
I bought a small semi useful pilar drill and off hand grinder - it was about to time muve out of apartment
Then I bought about 1.5 metric tone of an old german milling machine WANDERER that has MT4 horizontal spindle, but it has permanantly attached MT3 universal head. I really should change oil to it.
I got Myford 10 copy, which hasn't seen much use, I also got complete basket case of old swedish lindköping revolver lathe....maybe these will be modded to something
I also bought about 150 kg lathe, MT4 spindle taper, MT3 tail. This needs more work, but it has to do now.
Have a small metal cutting band saw that is absolutely necessary.
I just housed in somewhat incomplete about 500-600 kg another swedish Lindköping OR2 revolver lathe that has no tail stock or revolver mechanism. I Haven't even run it yet. I'll have a look to it when it finaly gets warmer here.
I avoid grinding and welding at all cost - I have a garage next to house (they share a wall) and aspect of fire does not play well. However, I this is something I have to work with.
I hope I fit in here,
PekkaNF