Biography
Born, raised and still living in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. Married, father of two sons and one daughter, also grandpa of five grandchildren. Retired from October 2001 at the age of 60.
Technical background
I studied physics at the Technical College in Eindhoven. During 40 years I worked at the Philips Company in Roosendaal, mainly in the field of the development and the implementation of physical TL lamp-making processes. With that I cooperated very closely with the mechanical department where the lamp-making machinery is designed, based on that new developed processes. In that collective work I picked up a reasonable knowledge of mechanics, or at least a sufficient good feeling for it, to start my modeling work at the moment I retired.Present status
Almost the first day of my retirement I set up a workshop in my inside garage with an EMCO lathe and milling machine. I could buy up this machinery from an ex colleague, inclusive a lot of accessories and working tools, so that I could start immediately.
Initially I made and renovated steam engines; see the page "Various other modeling work". But rather soon I switched over to the less complex but very fascinating hot air engines according to the Stirling and "Flame-eating" (Vacuum engine) principles. From 2007 I ventured myself also to 4- and 2-stroke internal combustion model engines; till now I designed and build 13 of them.
I am a member of the Dutch Association of Model builders (NVM) and I publish regularly in their monthly magazine "De Modelbouwer". As an appreciation I could receive the so called "Glacius" award 2004; see the picture right under.
I also published several times in the UK magazine "Model Engineer" and in the US magazine Modelbuilder".My working method
Almost always I make my own designs, based on general working principles and ideas, mainly acquired at surfing on Internet websites in this field. In fact, the background physics fascinates me more than the mechanics as such. A good notion of the working principles can lead to creative and unique solutions, according to my explicit parole: "simplicity is the characteristic of the real truth". So I always strive for ultimate simplicity, reliability and friendly behavior of my models, other than for great performances. Additional a nice looking design, suitable for demonstrations in domestic environments. So my pursuit is more aimed at a piece of "technical jewelry" than at a "robust hooligan".
First I generate some ideas with rough sketches. After that I make somewhat more detailed drawings of the most essential parts of the engine. On that basis I start building and add already doing the rest of the engine components, until an active model arises, mostly with trial and error.
If the engine is working as I intended and runs reliable I make a complete set of CAD drawing plans afterwards for interested colleague model builders. Till now I made 27 of such drawing plans; see the concerning pages or the drawing plan overview on this website. All drawing plans are freely available on request via e-mail to: jan.ridders@gmail.com
--Sabine--Danielle--
Gijs----- Wouter----Teun-
